That is what happened with me just now. With peanuts! When I learned that peanuts grow underground! I always knew they had brown skins. Then I learnt that they come in shells. Now, I find that they grow on the roots!
Should I have taken the hint when some called them groundnuts? Maybe. But then, are groundnuts and peanuts the same? Or like cookies and biscuits, are peanuts just the American way of saying groundnuts?
If you grew up in Kerala, at some point of time, you learnt that 'kappalandi', the inexpensive treat on your visit to the park or beach, was called 'groundnuts' in English. Just the word 'kappalandi' brings to mind either the image of it getting roasting in the heat of the sand in the push-cart vendor's pan, or memories of popping the nuts into your mouth from a newspaper cone as you walked along the beach.
My father, who loves to guess at etymology, told me that groundnuts were not native to the land and were brought in by ships. That's why they're called kappal-andi, translating to 'ship-nut'. And it's true. Groundnuts originated in South America.
Throughout that period, the only Peanuts I knew were in the comic strip. And that which makes peanut butter, which I tasted once and didn't like. Then, I travelled to Karnataka. There, the street vendors sold steamed nuts. In cylindrical shells. Like the peanuts they showed in English cartoons. But inside the shells, they seemed just like the groundnuts from home!
Now, I have learned that peanuts are a type of groundnut. Something like a Malayali is a type of South Indian. But not all South Indian groundnuts are Malayali peanuts!
I suppose groundnuts/peanuts are not cultivated in Kerala, which probably explains why you don't find them there in their more natural form, with the shells and all.
So how did the peanut find its way into my kitchen? Two ways. Remember gado-gado and the peanut sauce from Indonesia? That's when I first took note of the respect peanut commands as a flavour. The second way is a little less obvious. Through a friend who insisted on extra peanuts everytime I made puliyogare or poha, a packet of peanuts established itself as a staple on my kitchen shelf.
Last week, however, the sneaky fellow bowled me over through two dishes I tried- a rustic Sabudana Khichdi and an exotic Peanut Coconut Noodles.
Sabudana Khichdi is simple and takes no time to cook. The only catch is that you have to soak the sago pearls for at least 3-5 hours. Soak it overnight and it's ideal for breakfast. You can even have the peanut paste ground beforehand with salt and sugar (taste that and you'll remember why you love sago Khichdi).
I understand that sabudana Khichdi is traditionally made with potato but I tried it with green peas, like Tanvi had. I realized it goes back to the same philosophy of avoiding starch on starch. And it also looks more fun with the pop of colour.
The other recipe I tried- the peanut coconut noodles- is the best dish I have made in a long time. It tasted absolutely restaurant-worthy. I found the recipe in a video called Peanut Coconut Noodle Curry Recipe by The Happy Pear.
I used whole wheat spaghetti for the noodles ('cz I had it already), regular onion where they used 'scallions'(=spring onions) and sugar where they added a liquid sweetener (maybe you could try honey). I had half a zucchini that I had bought for the white sauce pasta but cut in thin circles as in the video, I thought they looked stupid. Cut them in semi-circles; presentation matters.
Do try the peanut coconut noodle recipe. If you're anything like me, you'll feel like a Michelin star chef for the rest of the week!
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