Healthy version of akki roti with palak and drumstick leaves

Preethi is a multi-dimensional personality with various talents and her passion for cooking is well known. She has not only taken part in various cookery shows but has been enterprising enough to start her brand of pickles Her avakkai and tender mango pickle have a stamp of homemade flavour which makes them distinctive.

Hailing from Thiruvannamalai, she is born in a middle-class Iyer family, Traditions and rituals are part of their life and heritage dishes were an everyday must on the menu. Her grandmother, aunts and mother always cooked in the traditional way using only freshly ground ingredients and masalas. They cooked in bronze, or stone vessels to get the authentic taste. Her mother is an expert in every kind of Indian cuisine. She was also famous for her big boxes of sweets and savouries which stocked their shelves during Navarathri and Deepavali. From kaju katlis, jangiris, ladoos, murukku, everything was made at home. Every festival is observed in Preethi’s house with various celebrations.

Though a vegetarian, Preethi’s marriage to actor Sanjiv made her learn the art of non-veg cooking, especially, various kinds of biryanis. Actor Vijay, her husband’s childhood friend, always request her to cook and bring biryani for their get-togethers. Her neighbour, actress Keerthy Suresh, also waits eagerly for her south Indian delicacies like peerkangai thogayal, beans parusli and nellikka (goosberry) sadam. She and her best friend loved cooking and her dreams have come true by opening a pickle company. Preethi’s roles in TV shows, be it Kolangal or others have always attracted attention and presently, she is acting in a serial called Karma. The actress managed to lose 24 kg in one year with a careful diet plan and exercise. She believes in a high protein diet and loves paneer dishes, dals and nuts. One of the healthiest and tastiest dishes she feels is palak-drumstick leaves akki roti

Akki roti is not just a staple diet of Kodavas, but the entire southern belt under the Vijayanagara empire was introduced to the wholesome taste of it. In 1398 AD, when the Vijayanagar Kingdom ruled southern India, Mangaraja, a Kannada poet, wrote in his lexicon about the Kodavas saying that they were warriors, who were fond of hunting game for sport and eating rice pancakes called akki roti. In India, moringa is called shobhanjana meaning an auspicious tree because of its multiple uses and benefits. Spinach is believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago in ancient Persia, from which it was introduced to India. Today, Preethi share the recipe of palak-drumstick leaves akki roti.

— Chef Ramaa Shanker is the author of Festive Offerings to the Gods: Divine Soul Recipes