Sunday Binge! Kudla Ponnu (Lass) Bollywood Actress Shilpa Shetty’s ‘Pelakaida Gatti’ Video Goes Viral
“Once a Mangalorean, Always a Mangalorean’- or like they say “You can take a Mangalurean out of Kudla, but can’t take Kudla out of a Mangalurean”- and for that matter, this quote just not only suits a common Mangalorean, but even celebrities in Bollywood-and here is our very own Kudla Ponnu (lass) Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty who has still kept her love towards Mangalorean traditions, culture and even traditional Mangalorean delicacies, and one that she has promoted through a YouTube presentation is “Pelakaida Gatti”- and it has gone viral with thousands of Mangaloreans worldwide expressing their thoughts.
In a post that went viral, Shilpa shared a video of her indulging in a sweet dish that is made out of jack fruit and is gently steam cooked in teak leaves. In the video, Shilpa confesses that it is one of her top favorites, and it was prepared by her cousins who had come down from Mangaluru. In the video Shilpa takes a bite of the delicacy and then she says “I’m now pairing it with Moong Payasam ( a Mangalorean dessert ) which I absolutely love. This is for all my Mangalurean friends,” she says towards the end of the video. And surprisingly within no time, the post fetched endless comments from true Mangaloreans across the globe. Fans of her posted comments how this actress has still retained her simplicity and praised her for promoting this humble but tasty treat on YouTube. Great initiative by “Kudla Mannda Ponnu” ( Girl/lass of Mangaluru Soil).
Yes, when it’s monsoon in Mangaluru/DK there’s two things that every Tulunad household gets excited having, Wild mangoes and Jack fruits. Not only everyone enjoys eating these fruits, there are also a variety of dishes prepared using these fruits and other seasonal fruits and veggies. There is quite a long list of the dishes prepared using these two seasonal fruits, but one of the most popular among them is the rice cakes prepared with Jack fruit which is called ‘Pelakaida Gatti’ in Tulu and ‘Halasina Kadubu’ in Kannada, or “Ponsache Patholi” in Konkani. This is a slightly sweet breakfast dish, but can even had with after lunch or for evening tea or coffee. But of course, the hardcore “gatti” lovers like to munch them throughout the day.
When it comes to traditional Kudla delicacies, I can say there is no one else other than my neighbor Ushaakkha, who for every Hindu festival or the recent concluded traditional “Aati’ festival, prepares delicious local delicacies- and just recently she offered me a variety of Aati favorites, which were simply awesome… Mama Mia? Just for the readers of Mangalorean.com I asked Ushaakkha if she could tell me the recipe to make “Pelakaida Gatti” – and without any hesitance she obliged-here we go:
She started, ” The main ingredients are Dosa rice, Jaggery, Jack fruit, Salt, Coconut scraping, Cardamom, Teak leaves (If teak leaves are not available, you can also use banana leaves). Soak the dosa rice overnight. Grind it to consistency slightly thicker than the idli dough, with all the other ingredients except coconut scrapings. Add the scrapings just a minute before you remove the mix from the grinder. Clean the Teak leaves or banana leaves and spread it in a plate. Pour some dough in the middle of the leaf. Fold the edges towards the centre and wrap and cover the dough from all the sides with the leaf. Cook the whole thing in a steamer for about an hour. Once it is done, separate it from the leaf cover and the ‘Gatti’ is ready. You can have it with coconut chutney, pickle, ghee or just coconut oil. My personal favourite combination is with Ghee and pickle, but if you’ve got a sweet tooth you can even try it with honey.”
Although it is the end of Pelakai (Jack Fruit) season- you may find a few available here and there in the market- so if you are in the mood to make a “Pelakai Gatti” -hurry up before this “Jack of all Fruits is gone?”.