Panchamrutam - The five Nectars

South Indian festivals are an excuse to indulge in food of the sweet and heavy kind. One of the staples is ‘Panchamrutam’ which means the five nectars. This is prepared as a festive offering and is a medley of all things sweet! It’s a sugar high to say the least and considering this is what we offer our Gods they must be getting off on the sugar buzz! Anyway there are no fixed five ingredients though Milk, Curd, Honey, Ghee, Fruits (esp bananas), Coconut and Sugar are interchangeable. My recipe is almost a fruit salad, but with a holy twist! Bless you…

Panchamrutam

Prep time: 10 mins

Serves: 10 -12

What you need:

2 Bananas

1 Apple

2 Guava

1 Sweet Lime (peeled and segmented)

Handful of Black Grapes

Half a Pomegranate (peeled and separated)

500 gms Thick Curd

250ml Milk

2 Tbsp Ghee

1 Tbsp Honey

5 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

What to do:

Wash and dice the apples, guava and Bananas. Peel the Sweet lime and segment it. Remove seeds and transparent layer as well. Toss into a big bowl. Add the curd, milk, honey, ghee and sugar. Stir to incorporate without mushing up the fruit. Add the Grapes and Pomegranate. Refrigerate. Before serving garnish with extra Pomegranate seeds. Mmmmm…..

Note: To segment Sweet Limes – Cut off a thin slice from the top and bottom. Make Incisions in the outer skin from top to bottom in 4-5 places. Now you can peel the outer skin easily. Next separate the segments. Make an incision on the back of each segment and pry open. Remove seeds. Break away the pulp from the skin in 4 pieces.

Chicken Steak with Mushrooms in a Brown Sauce

This is the kind of steak I remember eating as a kid, when there were no fancy restaurants in Bangalore and Chicken pepper steak was a special treat. You will still get this type of food in a Tiffany’s or Juke Box, but other restaurants have upgraded to more sophisticated versions. I found this recipe on a homely site - wholesome food, no pretence. It sounded very similar to the days of yore, so I gave it a shot and here’s the result. (Sorry for the pictures, I was too hungry and dint bother about appropriate lighting!) The brown sauce is great, I salted it a bit too much though. So just add your seasoning at the end. And don’t forget to go back in time to some childhood foods you can never forget! Happy Reminiscing!

Chicken Steak with Mushrooms in Brown Sauce

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 40 mins

Serves: 4

What you need:

 

4 X 200 gms Chicken breast pieces

Marinade:

1/2 tsp crushed Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Mustard paste

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp Garlic paste

2 Tbsp Oil

For Brown Sauce:

1 Tbsp Oil

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Onion chopped

1 Tbsp Flour

1/2 tsp White pepper

1 Cup Chicken Stock (1/2 chicken cube in 1 cup water)

1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

2 Onion sliced

8 pieces Mushrooms

What to do:

Wrap the meat piece in a wet tea towel and flatten with a hammer. Marinate the meat by rubbing black pepper, salt mustard, garlic paste and Worcestershire sauce on each meat piece.

To make Brown Sauce: In a pan add 1 Tbsp Butter and add a little oil. Add chopped onions and lightly brown. Add flour, white pepper, salt and chicken stock. Add burnt sugar syrup - 1 Tbsp.

To make Fried Onions: In a separate frying pan, add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 tsp oil. Add sliced onions and 1 Tbsp brown sugar and sauté. Add 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce.

To cook the Meat: In another grill/frying pan, add 2 tbs of Oil and add the meat. While frying drizzle a little Worcestershire sauce. Whilst cooking prick the meat with the knife. Once the steaks are nearly cooked add the brown sauce over the steaks. Add sliced mushrooms. Add a little freshly ground pepper. Serve with fried onions and mashed potatoes.

Note: To make Burnt sugar: take an old saucepan, take 1 tsp sugar and let it burn, once it burns add 1/2 cup water and let it cook for another 2-3 mins