Pidi with Kozhi Curry

I had never heard of Pidi before, leave alone tasted it. So when I saw Gautam Krishnakutti praising the Pidi and chicken curry made by Sreedevi Mohan, I reached out to her to ask if I could order some.

Turns out she isn’t a full time home chef so I had to wait a while until she felt like cooking it again but it was really worth the wait. 

The Pidi itself is made of roasted rice flour with some onions and cumin, all mixed to make a dough, then made into small balls and then steamed. Then it’s cooked for a few minutes in a you make a coconut milk and rice flour broth and finally tempered with cumin and dried chilli. 

It was served with a classic, home style coconut milk based spicy curry. 

Pidi is apparently a classic Syrian Christian dish from Kottayam, a cuisine that is rarely found in restaurants, and that I have had far too little of. That being said it was strange, how heartwarming and comforting and familiar it felt.