ELLIPAYA KARAM is a spicy chutney made with Garlic, chilies, and salt. It’s so versatile that it can be used in daily meals with rice, roti, to accompany breakfasts like upma, uppudu pindi, etc. A quintessential dry chutney made in Telangana, and ideally, you can find its existence in many rustic meals of Telangana. As Telangana is a semi-arid region and which has persistent hot weather, having ellipaya karam at the start of the meal makes so much sense. There are a few reasons why we eat spicy food in Telangana one being a scientific note, that eating spicy food makes you sweaty and it helps in cooling the body. And another popular theory I heard a lot is that the Telangana food was deliberately made to be spicy so that the people would eat less, as Telangana was not an agricultural bounty state.
Ellipaya is garlic and karam or miram is spicy and also known by “Goddukaram” or “Ellipaya miram” in a few areas. There are n number of ways to make ellipaya karam, but the most common version is pounding chili powder, salt, and garlic together. Ellipaya karam with steaming rice & a drizzle of oil is soul food for Telanganites and simple comfort food in winters. This is a versatile powder that can be eaten with rice and can also be added to curries and marinades to enhance the spice levels and flavor of the dish.
One can use it as a spice mix in different curries or rice. Mixed along with ghee or oil, it can be enjoyed along with Idli or Dosa. There are different versions available to this by adding different methods of making this. The basic and most commonly made in the countryside is pounding the garlic, chili powder, and salt to a coarse paste and have as is with Jonna rotte or rice. The second method is adding sizzling hot oil to the pounded garlic chili mix and the third version is frying the pounded garlic chili mix until it crispens and it stays good for up to 2 months.
Telangana is home to people from diverse faiths, castes, communities, each of these groups along with the region’s topography, climatic conditions, and occupations, have strongly influenced our rustic cuisine. The majority of Telanganites are farmers making the cuisine deeply rustic and rooted, using simple ingredients making it spicy and delicious. Even though the urban area’s food habits and culture have been transforming slowly yet the countryside is still keeping these things alive.
Every winter we make ELLIPAYA KARAM as a ritual, or whenever someone has a cold at home, this is what mom makes and feeds to their kids in Telangana. The heat and spicy punch from the garlic and chili helps in clearing the sinuses and calming the itchy throat. There’s nothing like a coarsely pounded chutney in a mortar pestle and no modern mixers can replace that intoxicating texture and the way oils blend when pounded by hand. One can grind it in the chutney jar, but the best flavor and texture always come from a hand-pounded chutney. ELLIPAYA KARAM is usually served with various millet flatbreads like Jonna rotte, sajja rotte, or rice with a drizzle of oil accompanied with buttermilk.
Let’s get into the recipe but before that Checkout more traditional and vegetarian Telangana recipes here.
ELLIPAYA KARAM
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 20 Garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp Chili powder more or less as desired
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbsp Oil
Instructions
Goddu ellipaya karam - a traditional method
- In a medium or large sized mortar and pestle, pound the garlic cloves to a coarse texture.
- Add chili powder, salt and pound again until everything comes together. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Serve the raw goddu ellipaya karam with flatbreads or rice with a drizzle of ghee or oil.
Golinchina ellipaya karam - most popular method
- In a medium or large sized mortar and pestle, pound the garlic cloves to a coarse texture.
- Heat a small pan, add about 5 tbsps of oil, once its hot add pounded garlic with to the pan and fry it.
- It takes about 3-4 mins on medium heat for the garlic to crispen up.
- Add chili powder, salt to the fried garlic and mix until everything is combined well.
- Store in a glass jar and it stays good for a month.
- Serve it along with any breakfast, flatbreads, rice, or mix it with parched rice.
Ellipaya karam
- In a medium or large sized mortar and pestle, pound the garlic cloves to a coarse texture.
- Add chili powder, salt and pound again until everything comes together. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Heat a small pan, add about 3 tbsps of oil, once its hot add this hot oil to the pounded garlic with chili powder and salt.
- Mix it and Serve it along with any breakfast, flatbreads, rice or mix it with parched rice.
Veyinchina ellipaya karam
- In a small pan add oil, once it's hot fry the garlic cloves until they turn golden brown and crispens.
- Add the fried garlic cloves to the mortar pestle and pound them coarsely.
- Add chili powder, salt and pound until everything mixed together.
- Serve the pounded veyinchina ellipaya karam with flatbreads, rice or as. condiment with breakfast.
Notes
- You can also add in peppercorns, cumin seeds for adding an additional layer of flavor.
- If you're not a fan of spicy food, add some roasted chana dal, urad dal to the ellipaya karam to make a milder version of this.
- We add some grated dry coconut or desiccated coconut to make KUDAKA MIRAM/KOBBARI KARAM with the base ELLIPAYA KARAM.
- You can use this ellipaya karam in flavoring your curries or making dry roasts like BENDAKAYA ELLIPAYA KARAM(Bhindi roasted with garlic chili powder), MUDDA KAKARAKAYA (Bitter gourds stuffed with ellipaya karam and sesame seed powder)
If you’ve tried this recipe and loved it, I’d love to hear your feedback by tagging your photo and sharing it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda or Facebook
Very nice texture…Will try & make it..
Wow… its nice to see some of our Telangana recipes online. We are very much connected to our place with our food, its a memory never fades and and taste never leaves us. Thanks for uploading most of the Telangana Recipes.