Quarantine Day no. 9 I have been having a serious Pothichoru craving for a long time when I think about it my friendship with @sangeetaamkhanna started over a discussion over it. Pothichoru in a lot of ways is an antithesis to the thali concept in India where every element is distinctly served in katoris( bowls). Truth be told , Malayalis have never been bothered about this , so for an office lunch or even a farmer toiling in his field, the wives would pack pothichoru which literally means packet rice. The banana leaf imparts its own flavor to the packed meal. The Pothichoru my mom has lovingly prepared has chamba rice, chena Avial, manga inji chammandi, netholi karuvadu porichathu , omelette & Pavakka mezhukkupuratti. Note that something liquid like sambar or pulissery has to be packed separately . Pothichoru usually needs to have one chutney which is mango ginger, coconut & tamarind & an omelette. For some serious Nasi Lemak inspiration there is also deep fried dried anchovies for the rightful umami kick & I must say I am a huge fan of the caramelised Chinese Bittermelon. Mix all these together, you have a rather fulfilling comfort meal. This concept again has various takes in the ancient trading route. Rameswaram supposedly has a packet soru which @savyarasa does a darn good take with thengapaal saadam ( coconut milk rice), chicken salna, nenjina maamsam koora ( Nellore Mutton curry), chicken & Prawn pakoda, masala eggs & maanga kari ( instant mango pickle). One of my favorite meals of 2019. Srilanka has Lamprais which I had in Kandy thanks to the Dutch Creole community called Burghers. That one comes with Pandan flavored rice, chicken curry, fried yams, boiled egg,brinjal moju & cutlets , as a replacement for Dutch meatballs called Frikkadel. Brinjal moju , I particularly loved for its sweet spicy flavor of the caramelised eggplants. They also do the packet rice with their regular dishes which again you see with Nasi Campur in Bali & Nasi Lemak in Malaysia. No wonder, they say it is a small world! #foodloose #pothichoru #lamprais #packetrice #naadan_vibes #rice #nasicampur #ikanbilis #savyarasa #homequarantine #homechef #bananaleaf #brinjalmoju (at Trivandrum, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/B96PxyxFa3U/?igshid=lwrz118omurs
