Of Painful Abscesses and Acquiring a Breather Through Thakkaali Tambuli

 I have been suffering from abscesses all my life. They started bothering me when I was 15 years old. I tried many treatments including Allopathy, Ayurveda and Homeopathy. The latter gave some relief, but the resilient and bothersome abscesses never really left me alone. 

So, it was with utter resignation that I noticed a couple of abscesses forming over my belly few weeks ago. Usually, I just dab a bit of prickly heat powder over them and they subside over the course of a few weeks. This time, one proved rather too irksome and decided to burst forth with all insolence. The past few weeks have been quite challenging with my mother having suffered a foot fracture and being incapacitated. I was just coming to terms with the daily grind of cooking, cleaning and looking after the children assuming complete sway over my time, when the dreaded abscesses struck.

Once the abscess burst, there was no other option than to consult a doctor. The affected area had become like a battle site with blood, pus and inflammation all carefully surrounding a sizable hole in my belly. The location of the abscess assumed particular importance as the high concentration of fat in the tissues contributed to making it a most painful affair.

I visited my gynecologist, who promptly referred me to the surgeon, saying he was the person best equipped to deal with the issue. He took one look at it and commented, "Aaiyyy did you burst it open?" I calmly responded, "No sir, it burst on its own." He continued, "It will need to be cleaned and I will numb the area first." Motioning towards the nurse, he told me to wait outside. What followed was an extremely painful procedure of draining out the abscess. The surgeon went about methodically pricking the perimeter of the affected area with a needle containing medication to numb the area. In other words, a local anesthesia was given to me. Each time I received a prick, I would cringe and writhe in pain, my feet and toes going into all forms of distortion and my forefingers digging into my thumb for any sliver of pain relief. Next, came the step of draining the abscess and cleaning the infection. Around this time the anesthesia had kicked into action and I was left breathing in sighs of relief. After applying the dressing, the doctor turned towards me with a perfunctory smile - I was lying face up, ready for any possible attack of pain that came my way - and said, "It's all finished. You can get up now." Shakily, I rose up and gingerly tested my body trying to get down from the bed. Slowly, I made my way outside and after a visit to the pharmacy to buy medicines, I managed to reach home, not much worse for the hospital visit.

That episode was four days ago. Today, after two changes of dressing, without any anesthetic and managing to shout out in pain every time the doctor touched the affected area, I am trying to survive the onslaught of the abscess. Yesterday, when I opened the Facebook app on my phone, it opened to show me a recipe that I found interesting. In between dealing with the abscess and trying my best to stand in for my mother in the kitchen, I have been on the lookout for simple recipes that can be cooked in little time. It gladdened my heart when I saw the recipe for Thakkaali Tambuli -  an Udupi curry that I found both interesting and fascinating - not to say that it can be cooked quickly with little effort and time.

I could not cook the dish yesterday, but today I did and I am happy to say that the result was a success  - as evinced from the way it diminished in no time from the serving bowl. The recipe is simple. All you need are a few tomatoes, couple of green chilies, couple of dry red chilies, red chilly powder (optional) some curry leaves, mustard seeds, jeera, turmeric powder (optional)Hing powder or asafetida, some refined oil or coconut oil, some ghee, shallots (optional), salt to taste, buttermilk and some grated coconut. I am deliberately omitting the quantity of coconut and buttermilk as these you can fiddle with depending on your wish.

First, roughly chop up the tomatoes and green chilies and keep aside the grated coconut and fresh buttermilk. Don't worry if you do not have fresh buttermilk. I also did not. However, I improvised a bit - I will tell how when i come to that point. Next, heat a pan and add some ghee - don't panic if you don't know how much, I always add these on instinct. But you may add a tablespoon as a rough measure. Next, add some jeera and once they sputter add in the turmeric and the red chilly powder. These are optional and the quantities are up to you - add as you see fit; some people may like the dish a bit more spicy and colorful while others may not; but I added the turmeric for color and the chilly powder for taste. Saute for a while until the raw smell of the chilly powder goes away. Next, add in the chopped tomatoes and green chilies. Saute for a while until the tomatoes turn a bit on the mushier side. Turn off the stove and keep aside to cool.

Once the mixture has cooled, transfer to a grinder and add the coconut and salt. Add in a little boiled and cooled water and grind the ingredients into a fine paste. Next, transfer the contents of the mixer to a bowl, add in the fresh buttermilk and stir until the entire contents combine well. A note to those who don't have fresh buttermilk at hand - use whatever you have but take care to heat and then boil the final mixture over a medium flame, taking care to stir the mixture all the time.

The last step is the garnishing, and for that, heat a small pan and add in the oil (roughly a tablespoon). Next, add in the mustard seeds, the curry leaves, the dry red chilies and stir. Here, I did a bit of improvisation again - I added a few chopped shallots for extra taste and flavor. You may follow me, but the shallots are not part of the original recipe as far as I know  - at least when I searched on YouTube.

Lastly, after the shallots turn golden and just before turning off the stove, add in the Hing powder. Do not continue to keep the flame on after you add the asafetida as it will burn! Quickly, add this 'chhonk' as they say in Hindi to the bowl with the Thakkaali Tambuli. Pair the dish with hot rice and pappadams or simply have it with idlis and dosas as a chutney - it is really yummy eitherway! Hope you do try it out  - happy cooking and happy eating...Bon Appetit!