Fermented, yet tasty TNN, Aug 16, 2010, 04.09am IST Amboli is a fermented pancake, sour to taste prepared on a fired clay tawa. Amboli differs from chulali. The latter being a non fermented pancake prepared from a ground paste of soaked parboiled rice, salt and jaggery.
Amboli is prepared by soaking a cup of parboiled rice or raw rice, two teaspoons of methi seeds and water sufficient to just soak it for 5 hours. Also, a quarter cup of udid dal is soaked separately. All these ingredients are ground into a thick paste using salt (gaunti mith) only. Rice is ground slightly coarse (ravall) in the paste. The combined thick paste is kept for fermentation in a warm place for 16 -18 hours till the batter turns acidic and frothy. To prepare a savoury amboli, ingredients like ginger, tomato, onion, coriander leaves, green chillies and curry leaves are chopped into the batter after spreading the pancake on tawa . The proportion of rice to udid dal should always be 4:1. As per tradition, a newly married daughter from the Kulmi community is invited by the mother's family on the day of barshi punav. This invitation for the guddulya parab is called apovnem. She is supposed to eat amboli in the morning, have lunch and return back to her husband's house on guddulya parab. During the guddulya parab only parboiled rice is used, the udid dal is replaced with vari and finely cut stems of colocasia (alu). Colocasia provides the yeast required for fermentation. The udid dal could also be replaced with moong dal or arrowroot. Converted Bardezkars in Karnataka soak half a kg of raw rice for three hours. After draining the water, the rice is spread on a muslin cloth and completely dried in the sun. It is then powdered with a cup of udid dal and a tablespoon of methi seeds. This flour is soaked in water; a red hot amber is inserted and immediately covered with a lid. The amber is discarded after 3 or 4 minutes. Salt is added and keep for fermentation. Carbon dioxide produced by micro organisms gives the amboli a velvety soft texture allowing it to melt in the mouth. A cup of batter is spread on the tawa. Coconut oil poured from the sides to avoid it sticking. It is then covered and cooked initially on high flame for a minute, then at a lower flame for 3-4 minutes on each side. Lactobacillus present in the batter enhances the process of fermentation and increases the sourness of the batter. In Goa only local salt is used in fermented products as it prevents the growth of undesirable bacteria and in turn encourages the multiplication of lactobacillus. This property is not found in fortified iodised salt. Dr Savita Kerkar of the Goa University has done a comparative study on local salt and fortified iodised salt using various cooking methods followed in Goa. She says "the concentration of iodine in local salt is comparable to fortified iodised salt. Besides, the stability of iodine in local salt is much higher than that of fortified iodised salt." She has found useful minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, zinc and magnesium in local salt . Women suffering from low progesterone, high estrogen are advised to have parboiled rice products, fish, shellfish, karande, coconut, nuts, fruits, sesame, turmeric, methi seeds, moong sprouts, fermented and milk based products. Women with a family history of hirsutism and breast cancer should pay special attention to their diet. It is essential that they consume lot of fermented foods and limit the consumption of excess amount of carbohydrates and completely avoid poultry products which are obtained from artificial feeds, white flour-based products, chocolates, alcohol, aerated drinks, tea, coffee and smoking. Progesterone deficiency is also responsible for bone loss and osteoporosis. Amboli is rich in thiamine, riboflavin and contains zero amount of anti-nutritional factor phytate. The combination of ingredients in amboli provides all the essential amino acids which are required to increase progesterone levels. Amboli is to be relished with gatti, tonak, sambarem, usaal, chutney or nallacho ross. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Fermented-yet-tasty/articleshow/6317045.cms