Idlis in Jackfruit Leaves-Stepwise; Khotte/Khotte Kadubu; Light Meal On Monday - Post 3

Hello!  I couldn’t post anything last Monday as my head was too occupied with Chennai floods disaster and during that week I was feeling to low to cook or post anything elaborate when so many out there in Chennai had lost their homes.

I have a sentimental attachment with the city where I have spent 5 good years of my life, during two stints and have lived their till 8 months back. Many of my blogger friends spent days without power and proper food, I went sleepless during those days, feeling helpless and miserable.

All the while I prayed, that God shows mercy, the rain stops and people could get back to their normal lives. Now that things have normalised in the city, my head and heart can focus back on the blog

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Avarekaalu Akkitari Uppittu Made Using Borosil’s Digi Kook Rice Cooker- A Product Review

Hi!

Here comes the last and final review of the three products, that I had received from Borosil . The previous two reviews can be read here and here.

I can very happily say that this product has become an innate part of my kitchen. My every day rice gets cooked in the Borosil Digi Kook Rice Cooker and I’m very happy with the outcome.

Not only is the rice cooker very sleek and smart looking, with a great finish but the final product cooked in it has always turned out very well. There are days when I get busy with work and the delay timer on the rice cooker has come to my rescue there.

I put the rice in the rice cooker with the delay timer ‘ON’ and get absorbed in my work. The delay timer helps me get a well cooked rice at a time I want. Once the rice gets cooked, it moves into ‘Keep Warm’ mode, so one always gets a hot rice on the plate. Sounds fuss free right!!

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Gojju Podi | Spice Mix/Masala From Karnataka Cuisine

 

Hi all!!

Sharing another important spice mix used in Karnataka cuisine. This podi/spice mix/masala is used to make a traditional preparation called Gojju which is spicy-sweet-sour curry made using a select few vegetables and fruits. The most commonly used veggies and fruits are Okra, bittergourd, pineapple, mango, onion, tomato etc.

The freshly ground masala adds a better flavour to the gojju which tastes best with steamed rice.

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ज्वारीचा दोसा | Jowar Dosa | Indian Style Sorghum Pancake | Jolladda Dose | Cholai Dosa

Hi!!

Summer has hit now and we are passing through the days of Agninkshatram here. With many guests coming in and going back in these vacations, I’m hardly getting time to try new recipes or click pictures. I’ve many more interesting posts planned for the next month, by which time my life will come to some stability.

I’m always trying to incorporate healthy grains in my diet and the easiest way that I find most of the times is to make a Dosa using them. Married to a South Indian, dosa is heartily welcomed by S and family. I keep changing the proportions of the grains to try new versions.

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Kis's Lunch Box Ideas | Brown Rice & Red Beaten Rice Dosa With Onion-Tomato Chutney | Indian Pancake | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Step Wise

Hi All!!

Sorry for being away from the blog all of a sudden..the intention was definitely not to disappear but somehow life became too busy with traveling, then unpacking and getting back to a regular routine..

I’m posting yet another healthy preparation which is perfect for not only pregnant women but any health conscious person. I’m personally trying to move gradually to eating brown rice rather than the polished rice. I had attempted this  preparation using brown rice before we started on a tour and during my travel I had carried my laptop too so that I could finish the post but life was so hectic that I never found time to complete the post. Finally today I’ve just pushed myself to sit in front of the screen and finish the incomplete job.

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Shahi Dosa, Step By Step Filling & The Winner of March Month’s ‘Only’ Event

 

Hello Friends!!

Firstly apologies for disappearing suddenly, I was just held up with too many things..

Today I’m posting a Dosa recipe very close to my heart. This brings in many childhood memories..Almost once in a month after the Sunday meditation, I and my brother would accompany my parents and visit a vegetarian restaurant called Naivedyam, where I and my dad would religiously order the Shahi dosa and  savor that. While my brother ordered spring rolls and my Mom would order a paav bhaaji or chhole bhature. This happened for several years till the restaurant shut down. My dad also loved their Kashmiri pulao and after the restaurant shut down I tried the preparation

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Barley-Hyacinth Bean Upma/ Javaa-Avarekaalu Uppittu

 

Hello again!

I have mentioned several times that my family is a huge fan of avarekaalu/hyacinth beans/field beans/mochai. Come season and I’m ready to peel the tender pods and extract the beautiful seeds, fresh and green. These days we are getting fresh beans and to my delight it has a good flavor too.

Recently on my visit to a gourmet store here, I picked some barley dalia or barley’s coarse meal. I wanted to use it in an innovative way, especially since I was cooking the barley dalia for the first time. I was super excited with the preparation I wanted to try and at the same time apprehensive too. I thought for the first time I was getting a bit ambitious since I did not know how much time it would take to cook but I had used pearl barley in my cooking earlier, so that helped me. .. I realized while cooking, that’s what the foodie in me wanted, some adrenalin rush and then a hopefully a decent foodie treat at the end…

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Aloo Gadde Hurda Uperi..Karnataka Style Stir Fried Potatoes

Scene1

It's her first day after marriage in her new home and she is midst a new family  where every one is trying to make her feel comfortable and saying nice things to her. There are kids playing in the house and MIL and her co-sister cooking breakfast in the kitchen assisted by her own co-sisters. FIL is watching news on TV and inspite of such normal activities happening around her she is feeling lost and left out. She sits in a corner observing everyone and suddenly notices that her younger brother in law is sitting on a sofa chair with a chopping board and knife and next to him are almost 6-7 kg of potatoes soaked in water. He would remove a potato, clean and wipe it and then meticulously cut thin slices. She wonders, why is he spending so much time cutting thin slices at such a slow pace with so much of patience. Hesitantly, she asks him why are you cutting them? The reply she gets was a simple sentence 'for making Hurda Uperi'.

She is not able to understand the word and with a confused face looks towards her MIL for an explanation, the explanation comes but from MIL's co-sister. The new bride is informed that the dish is a family favorite made using the potatoes and all family members fight, so that they get to cut the potatoes. The bride is satisfied to an extent but not completely. She relishes the preparation during lunch  along with rice and Jeerige Kattu and her husband explains her later on that Aloo Gadde means Potatoes, Hurda means fried and Uperi means slices in Kannda. After given an explanation, she keeps wondering, how difficult the preparation would be...?

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Fresh Red Broad Bean Seeds & Shallots Sāmbhar

Hi! Wishing Every One a Happy Ugaadi/ Gudi Padwa.

I have always had a fascination for the broad beans especially the red ones with white marks on it. Living in North India, those beans were never available. During my visits to hometown I would ensure to pick up a packet of the dry version.  I love making curry with these beans and I’ve posted a spicy one here.

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Very Spicy.. Green Chilli Chutney

Hi All!

While all of you read this post, I'm at Mom's place enjoying my well deserved break and vacation. I'll be back soon to read your posts meanwhile enjoy this spicy chutney..

There are days when you feel like treating your taste buds with something very hot, fiery and spicy. For those days, I’m sharing this chutney with you. This is DH’s favourite and the recipe as usual is shared by my dear MIL.

It’s perfect with hot steaming rice with a dollop of ghee and if you have some filtered ground nut oil, that will be absolutely great.

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Couscous and Corn Idli

Hi All!

For this month’s  Blog Hop Wednesday’s started by Radhika of Tickling Palates, I was paired with Priya of Now Serving. I had an opportunity of meeting this multi talented lady recently. She is not only a great cook but a Bharatnatyam dancer too. She teaches Bharatnatyam  in US. I was definitely in a fix on what to attempt from her space. I was bowled over by her post on the different versions of Hummus recently and I wanted to try that but since the theme of this month’s event is ‘Only’ South Indian, I decided to make an instant version of Idli.

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Cucumber Dosa

Hi All!

As I have been mentioning that these days I am in no mood of elaborate cooking and I tend to make things which are quick to make and hassle free.

Cucumbers are very healthy to eat especially in summer as they help in hydrating the body with it’s large water content and rich source of minerals. I love to eat raw cucumber sprinkled with salt and chilli powder and it can be a feast for me. The flavour of cucumber is amazing so I thought making an instant dosa with it and gladly it turned out very tasty and flavourful so thought of sharing it with every one.

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For My MOMS and Posting the 251st, Sambhar Vadai… a fried treat after a long time

 

Hi All!

Days are rolling by and the work pressure is manifesting and at times managing home and work seems a herculean task. There are times when I wake up with the thought of  quitting the job but by the end of the day I am still working and continuing to hate myself for being so tired and unorganised. I know, all the working Moms would empathise with me and so I dedicate this post to all the Moms and Moms to be who work so hard to keep the family running, to make the family feel special and love them endlessly….

WISH YOU A HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

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Sorghum Idlis….Health all the way!!!

Hi!

Idli or rice pancakes are a common item in all South Indian homes. Idli is considered a very healthy breakfast, light to eat and easy to digest. The only problem that I believe is that since it uses rice in it’s preparation it has high glycemic index.

Sorghum is a grain with low glycemic index and is perfect for diabetics and everyone who is conscious about their health. This particular Idli recipe was shared by S’s aunt Leela, who is an excellent physics teacher and still tutors at the age of 70. She makes this Idli regularly at her place and recommends this highly. She was so sweet to provide me with a batch of sorghum meal to try this preparation.

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Sprouted Moong and Barley Pesarattu

Hi Friends!

As it’s said “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I look forward to make easy, filling and healthier options for the same. Body needs a good dose of balanced diet in the morning after staying without food for about 8-10 hours. I surely try to concoct various pancakes or crepes as they are filling, nutritious and less time consuming.

Pesarattu is a crepe quite similar to dosa made from green gram without using the rice, it is quite a popular dish from Andhra Pradesh. It is either made with the husked or dehusked lentil and based on the type of lentil used it has a green or yellow colour.

This time when I made this I modified it to a large extent, instead of using the lentils I used the whole green gram (sabut moong) and  sprouted them to make it a more nutritive option, to increase the protein content added split black gram flour (urad dal), to further it added the whole barley flour and to keep it crisp used rice flour too.

Sprouting the legumes increases the protein content which is very important for the growth and development of cells. Barley is a very good diuretic and aids in healthy functioning of the kidneys. So this pesarattu is full of health benefits.

Ingredients

about 4 cups of sprouted green gram

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup barley flour

1/2 cup urad dal flour

5-6 green chilies

a handful of cilantro

1 tsp chili pwd

2 tsp cumin pwd

3 tsp coriander pwd

a tsp of cumin seeds

salt to taste

water to make the batter

Method

Make a coarse paste with sprouted moong, cumin, cilantro, ginger and green chilies.

Mix all the flours.

Add salt to taste, cumin pwd, red chili pwd, coriander pwd and add water to make a dosa like batter.

Smear some oil on a non stick pan and spread the batter in concentric circles. This is thicker than the normal dosa.

Cook it from one side till you get a golden hue and then flip and cook on the other side.

Serve it with roasted peanut and coriander chutney.

Raw Jackfruit & Red Lobia Salan

Hi Friends!

It’s summer time and Jackfruits are in season and are available abundantly now. I have already mentioned the health benefits of this fruit in my post Raw Jackfruit Curry earlier.

Today while I was watching a cookery show, I saw a curry made using the jackfruit and lobia (black eyed peas) and I loved the combination. She had made it using coconut and many spices but I decided on making a low spice and low calorie curry.

I have a Muslim friend S who once mentioned to me that she does not use any tomatoes or curds in their Salan (Curry) and their gravy only comprises of onion-ginger-garlic and the only spices that she puts is turmeric, red chili and coriander powder. She explained that the entire stress is on how well the masala is roasted(bhuno) and to that I completely agree. A connoisseur of food can surely make out the difference between a well roasted  and a poorly  roasted masala so I was all set to try her method and was curious to know how would a curry taste without any tanginess.

I’m glad I made this curry because my apprehension of not using any sour flavour in the curry has now vanished from my head. The combination tastes good and the curry was extremely tasty. Personally I loved eating it with rice. I had used very less oil to make this curry and had sauted the masala ingredients prior to grinding them, so in this way I needed very less oil to roast the masala later.

Ingredients

3 cups raw jackfruit cut into pieces

a large handful of red lobia soaked in water

3 large onions

8-10 garlic pods

an inch piece of ginger

a tsp of cumin seeds

3 tbsp coriander pwd

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp red chili pwd

2 whole kashmiri red chilies

oil about 3-4 tsp

Method

Pressure cook the lobia and jackfruit.

Meanwhile in a non stick pan saute the onions, ginger and garlic along with some cumin seeds, red chilies and coriander powder.

Cool this and grind it together.

Heat a non stick pan and take about 2 tsp of oil and roast the masala on low flame till a nice aroma generates.

Add salt, turmeric and red chili pwd and roast for a few more minutes.

Now add the cooked lobia and jackfruit and mix thoroughly.
     
Gradually add water to get gravy like consistency.


Simmer and cook on low flame till all the ingredients imbibe the flavours.

This curry proves completely that low oil curries can be very tasty, it’s time that I indulge more into it.

Mind Cooking by my Dear Husband

Hi Friends.

One might wonder why this title for an egg curry, let me explain. Yesterday night my husband suddenly had a desire to have an egg curry and he asked me do we have some eggs left, and he got an answer ‘yes’. He said I want to do some MIND COOKING, I kept wondering what’s that? As I have mentioned I do keep some chopped vegetables ready in my refrigerator, so he had some handy chopped onions and green chilies to use. I helped him in the kitchen by chopping some tomatoes  and boiling the eggs. While cooking he explained me what he meant by MIND COOKING.

The mind suddenly conjures up a taste that it wants to eat. Once a desired taste builds up   then head keeps working trying to put together a cocktail of spices, which  is likely to result in the desired taste that the tongue was seeking. So the ultimate measure of success of any such foray into the kitchen depends on how close the end result was to the original desire. Since in any case the original desire, the process or the end result are not based on/ comparable to any known recipe. 

Now DH’s  tongue was asking for a particular taste which he said will taste some what like a thick, tangy kerala curry devoid of coconut but with loads of curry leaves  in it and he had a feeling that it will go well with appams or idiappams. So, the skeptical me, while he was cooking  kept asking him that he has hardly used any spices and we should have used more finely chopped onions..but he said that he would have preferred more coarsely chopped onions. To tell you truly I was not too sure whether I would love the end product and might have to search for something else to eat but gladly nothing of that happened, I enjoyed the curry and as he suggested this would taste brilliant with appam. The salt in the curry was on a little higher side which got compensated by the bland eggs but his MIND COOKING was SUCCESSFUL, he got the flavour and the consistency which he had aspired for!

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Maavinkaayi Chitranna (Raw Mango Rice)– Recipe 1, Step Wise|Karnataka Cuisine

 

Hello friends.

As I have mentioned earlier too that with the onset of summer the markets get flooded with Mangoes. We try to use mangoes in all forms whether it’s ripe or raw. I make many recipes using raw mangoes and this is S’s favorite. He had reminded me several times that I had not prepared this and his favorite Maavinkayi chutney which I have posted earlier.

Today I decided to please him so I made this Chitranna, which is a preparation with rice. Now when it comes to regional recipes from Karnataka my ultimate source is my MIL so to re-affirm the recipe I called her up and am glad I did that because she gave me more variations to the basic recipe, I thought mentally ‘Sone pe Suhagaa’. This is the very basic recipe and the  many variations  which I learnt will surely post gradually.

 

 

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Sabudana/ Sago Muruku- March ICC challenge

I was very glad to read the March ICC challenge,  thrown on us by Srivalli as it was a savory. S has been asking me to make some crispy for the past few days and I had been very conveniently postponing or rather avoiding frying. So in my heart of hearts I was delighted that I will fry something for him and make him happy.

I am also sorry friends that I am not posting regularly and not even able to blog hop. Blogging has taken a back seat right now and I am sure in a few days I will be able to blog more effortlessly..fingers crossed!!!

Coming to the recipe, when I read the recipe it sounded simple to make and gladly I had all ingredients at home. My only worry was with the sago that it should turn out soft after soaking, as I have had bad experience with it while making the vada. They can be very dangerous if they burst. So just prayed that things turn out well!!

Though I had a doubt that I may not be able to shape them properly and they will break off in between. Since the sago had soaked well  I ensured that I could crush it with my fingers as much as possible while mixing and kneading, this definitely helped and I got perfect shaped Muruku. Gladly they turned out very well and every body liked it. They are crispy and tasty and perfect as an evening snack. We all loved it. Thanks Srivalli for the recipe. It is a keeper.

Ingredients

2 cups rice flour

1/2 cup besan

1/2 cup roasted gram flour

1/2 cup Sago/ Sabudana

1/4 cup curds + 1/2 cup water to make buttermilk

salt to taste

2 tsp chili pwd

50 gms hot oil for shortening/ about 3 tbsp of oil

and oil for deep frying

Method

Soak the sago in buttermilk for about 3-4 hrs, till they are soft. I  covered the sago with enough buttermilk just to cover it, so I did not make a watery butter milk. This is a very important step as it’s crucial that the sago is well soaked else there are chances of it’s bursting while frying.

Mix all the flours, salt and chili pwd. Pour in the hot oil and rub it on the flours. Now gradually add the soaked sago and knead well using water to get a Chapati dough consistency.

Take the machine to make Chakali/Muruku and use the star shaped disc to make these crispies. Grease the machine well and put the dough in it and close the machine as per the instructions.

Heat the oil and using the machine make the murukus. I made the muruku on plate and then using spoon or ladle transferred into oil. Fry on a medium flame till golden in colour.

Remove on an absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

Cool and store in an air tight container if you are still left with some before they vanish from the plate.

Mensin Saaru..Coconut and Pepper Rasam

Hi.

Today I am posting an extremely simple yet a very very tasty rasam. This is an all time favorite in my family and every body craves for it on a chilly winter day or a rainy day. There’s an immense satisfaction in drinking this rasam. This is my MIL’s version and I tasted it the first time when post marriage I was down with cold and cough and she very sweetly offered me a glass of this and I was instantly a fan of this preparation.

A few days back my elder son demanded this and then my younger one was showing signs of a throat infection…so this healer mom concocted this ‘RAMBAAN DAVA’ for sore throat and every one enjoyed sipping this hot soup/rasam.

This soup/saaru/rasam  has  the sweet gentle flavor of coconut blended with the strikingly hot flavor of black pepper. In the first sip it soothes the throat and as you sip in further your body just gets engulfed in the warmth that the soup provides. This can be eaten with rice  and can be a part of the meal too. It needs very basic things which are readily available in the kitchen..

Ingredients

1 cup grated coconut

2 spoons urad dal

1 spoon pepper corns

1/4-1/2 cup milk

1 tsp ghee

1/2 tsp mustard

few curry leaves

salt to taste

Method

Heat half spoon ghee and fry Urad dal and pepper corns, grind it along with coconut to a very fine paste. Take the paste in a sauce pan and add about 3 cups water, milk and salt to taste. Boil it. Take the remaining ghee and add the mustard seeds, once they splutter add curry leaves and immediately pour it on the Saaru. Bring another boil and serve immediately.

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