Patholi ~ steamed rice cakes with jaggery stuffing

Patholi is a sweet dish that is prepared on NagarPanchami, Ganapathi Chowthi etc. This sweet is wrapped in fresh tumeric leaves and steam cooked. Tastes best when served hot with a dollop of homemade ghee.

I wanted to make a complete tutorial of this but was unable to do it. But next time I make it will surely update this post. I had brought some turmeric leaves from my uncle's garden during my recent trip to India. While hubby was on vacation we could not prepare it hence I got these leaves with me and made it. If you do not get turmeric leaves you can even make it with Banana leaves.

Here is what's needed:

1 cup Idli rice (Any rice will do. I use idli rice as this is the only one available. At home we use sona masuri) soaked for 4-6 hrs

2 tbsp grated coconut

salt to taste

P.S: Some add a small amount of jaggery about a tbsp or two to the outer batter. It tastes better. I avoided as I wanted to use the leftover batter if any for dosa.

Filling:

1 cup grated coconut

1/2 - 3/4 cup jaggery

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1 fistful Poha roasted lightly and powdered

Procedure:

1) Grind soaked rice, grated coconut and salt with little water to smooth paste. Keep the consistency of the batter thick.

2) Heat 2 tbsp of water and add jaggery. When jaggery has melted and the syrup is slightly thicker add cardamom powder and switch it off. When it has cooled slightly mix the grated coconut and poha powder. Poha powder is optional. I used it as it acts as a binding agent. [Even

Laayi pitto can be used instead of poha]

How to assemble it:

1) Clean and pat dry all the leaves and trim its edges. (Do not discard them. It can be used to make cheppi kheeri..Coming up soon!)

2) With a spoon spread the prepared batter evenly leaving the edges.

3) Take a tbsp of filling and spread it lengthwise along the center.

4) Fold the leaf along the center. Repeat it with the remaining batter. Cook the patholi in a steamer for about 15 mins. When they are done the leaves change the colour and kitchen is filled with wonderful aroma of turmeric leaves.

Remove the leaf and serve the steamed patholi with a some ghee.

Note:If the outer batter remains then you can simply make Panpolo out of it. The inner filling also called the choornu can be served along with panpolo. It is one of the famous combi breakfast in our hometown.

Left Over magic ~ Idli usli and Photos :)

After almost a month I am back to blogging.. This break was not intended but was busy with quite a few things and could not blog for a while. Here are few pics of the Lupu Bridge. We had been there on our anniversary :) These were long due.

The magnifiecient Lupu Bridge. For more info click here

367 steps all the way up :)

Us at the top of the world's longest arch bridge.

The HuangPu River ~ View from the top.

Coming back to today's post it is simple recipe to use up leftover idli. Idli is the most common breakfast item at our place. Though I am not very fond of idli I love its variations. This is one of the simplest way of using it up.

What's needed:

10-12 Idli's

2-3 green Chilli's slit

3-4 Curry leaves

a pinch of Asafoetida/Hing

Salt and Sugar to taste

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

few Urad Dal

Oil

2 tbsp grated Coconut to garnish

Procedure:

1) Finely crush the idli's with hand to resemble rava. Mix salt and sugar.

2) Heat oil. Add in the mustard seeds. When they splutter add the urad dal and curry leaves and fry until urad dal turns pinkish. Add green chilli's,hing and fry for a min.

3) Add the idli and mix well so that it is uniformly distributed.

4) Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot.

On another note, I have recieved a lot of awards from my dear friend Aparna. Thank you dear. I have added them in my side bar. This is for all my dear friends who support me with kind comments and suggestions :) Thank you everyone.

Bibbe Sagle

Thank you all for your wishes on our anniversary. It really felt good to see your warm wishes. We had a very nice day. We visited Lupu Bridge, which is the world largest arch bridge. For more info you can check here. We climbed up all through the arch bridge and got a panoramic view of Shanghai. It was a wonderful day which ended with a nice dinner at the Revolving Restaurant in the Oriental T.V Tower (Pearl tower). Will post few pics in my next post.

Coming to the today's post Bibbo is "Tender cashewnut" in Konkani. Any dish made out of this is considered royal. When in season a lot of dishes are made out of this. It is even thoroughly sun dried and preserved to enjoy all through the year. At home, one of the more popular item at breakfast was Poori and bibbe upkari. I know its a strange combination but we love it a lot. Festive meal usually includes some dish made out of bibbo. I made this for Ugadi this year.

Here is what's needed:

2 cups Tender Cashews

1/2 boiled Potato

1 cup grated Coconut

1 tbsp Asafoetida water

6-7 Red chillies

a small gooseberry sized Tamarind

Salt to taste

Coconut oil to drizzle

Procedure:

1) Soak the tender cashews in water previous night and remove its skin off. Since I used dried tender cashews I pressure cooked it with cubed potato's for 2 whistles. If using fresh you can omit this step and boil it with little water on stove top until soft.

2) Fry the red chillies in little oil until crisp. Take care not to burn it.

3) Make a masala by grinding grated coconut, tamarind, red chillies and salt. Add little water to make it into smooth paste. Just before taking out the masala add the asafoetida and give it a quick grind. I use the gum variety of it so add it in the final step of grinding. You can also dilute with water and add in to the prepared masala.

4) Add the masala to the cooked cashew and potato. Add water to bring it to desired consistency. Give it a rolling boil. Adjust salt. The mixture should have a nice aroma of asafoetida. Drizzle few drops of coconut oil and serve hot with plain white rice and papad.

Kaali tori Bendi

Kaali tori means Black Toor (Pigeon pea) not the dal but the whole. There are two varieties of pigeon pea the white and black. These cannot be used directly as we use the split pigeon pea or dal. These must be soaked well in advance(overnight) and then pressure cooked until soft. Takes about 3-4 whistles in my Prestige Cooker. The whole Toor tastes slightly different from split ones. We use the split dal for dosa or daalithoy and the whole ones are used in masala gravies. I normally avoid using coconut in my daily cooking but once in a while we do indulge.

Kaali tori bendi is signature dish of my mhaav (Elder aunt). She adds green jackfruit when in season and it is had with steaming hot boiled rice. It tastes equally good even with rice noodles or dosa.

Here is what's needed:

1 cup black Pigeon pea

a small piece of peeled and chopped Potato/ Elephant foot Yam (Suran)(Optional)

1/2 cup grated Coconut

5-6 fried Red chilli

a small marble sized Tamarind

Salt to taste

For seasoning

6-8 Garlic pods

Oil

Procedure:

1) Soak the Pigeon peas overnight and pressure cook along with potato or suran if using until done.

2) Grind grated coconut,red chillis, tamarind and salt with water to smooth paste.

3) Add the ground masala to the boiled peas and give it a rolling boil before switiching it off.

4) Prepare seasoning. Slightly crush the garlic. Heat oil and add the crushed garlic to it and fry until golden. Make sure that each of the garlic is crushed else it may start spluttering. Pour the seasoning over the gravy. Mix and keep covered. The gravy tastes better as time passes by. While serving re-heat and serve hot.

P.S: People who do not prefer garlic can substitute it in the seasoning with mustard seeds and curry leaf. When garlic seasoning is used it is called bendi/koddel and if mustard & curry leaf is used it is called ghashi.

Crispy Onion Pakoda ~ a winter treat!

The weather last week had suddenly turned bad and it started raining all through the day. The temperature too came down to 2 C and we both were craving for some spicy snack to enjoy with a hot cup of coffee. 

Here is what's needed:

2 big Onions sliced

1 tsp Coriander seeds roasted slightly and crushed coarsely

1 small bunch of Coriander leaves chopped fine

2 tbsp Rice flour

Chickpea flour (Besan) as needed

Salt and Chilli powder to taste

Oil to deep fry

Procedure:

1) In a vessel add onions, crushed coriander seeds, chopped coriander leaves, salt and chilli powder. Mix well with hand.

2) Add rice flour and chickpea flour (add enough to cover all the pieces of Onion). Mix well. Keep it for five minutes. When salt is added onions release its juice. Use the same to make the batter. If needed you can add little water so as to cover the onions with flour evenly. The mixture should not turn watery but should be semi-dry.

3) Heat oil. Do not bring it to smoking hot. Drop in spoonful of batter and fry till golden and crispy on medium flame.

Serve hot with a cup of tea or coffee.

Stuffed Capsicum ~ Amchi style

Our cuisine is mainly dominated by coconuts. Though I love traditional food I try to avoid the use of coconuts as they are not easily available here and for health reasons too. So once in a week or twice I make dishes with coconut. This is one of my mom's signature dish. I had almost forgotten this dish as I had not made it for almost a year. The other day when I was chatting with amma I was asking her for idea's for dinner. It was then she suggested this dish. We love capsicums in any form so I decided to make this for dinner. This can either be served with plain rice and Daalithoy or with phulka, dosa. 

Here is what's needed:

3 small green Capsicums 

2 large Onions chopped

1.5 cups grated coconut

6-8 red chilli's

a small piece of Tamarind

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

1 tsp Mustard seeds

6-8 Curry leaves

Procedure:

1) Wash the capsicum well and pat dry. Cut off the top. Keep aside.

2) Heat 1 tbsp oil. Fry coriander seeds and Fenugreek seeds until they turn pinkish. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan fry the red chilli's until slightly crisp. Take care not to burn any spices.

3) Grind grated coconut + red chilli's + coriander seeds + fenugreek seeds + tamarind + salt with little water until it forms a smooth paste.

4) Add 1/2 of the chopped onions to the ground masala. 

5) Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add curry leaves and fry for few seconds. Add the rest of the chopped onions with little salt and fry until golden.

6) Meanwhile fill the capsicums with the ground masala. Reserve the remaining masala. (I had large capsicums in hand so I cut them and filled).

7) Slide the stuffed capsicums into the Onions. Keep the heat on low. Add the remaining masala and water. Mix slightly and let it cook covered till done. The capsicums taste good when they are done but still crunchy. Do not overcook it. 

A delicious and simple lunch!

The last 2 weeks have been hectic for us here. First it was me who fell sick and then hubby caught the virus from me! I had not cooked for almost 2 weeks as I was too weak to eat and leave alone cook. I did not have the interest nor the energy to cook. Initially, I had fever and cold. Then the cough appeared. The cough syrups did not give relief neither did any of my home remedies. After few sleepless nigts rushed to the doc who gave some syrup and tabs. Within two days it worsened and again we met the doc and this time after taking an X-ray he put me on anitbiotics. Finally with medicines and home made remidies I am doing much better. In the mean time hubby dear caught cold and fever! both of us were coughing together. Luckily he has a week long holidays for the Chinese New year.. which starts from tomo. I will make a post on Chinese new year soon. 

Yesterday I was longing for something simple and quick along with some fries. My taste buds had gone really bland and were craving for something deep fried. It had been ages since I had fried anything. Thus decided to make a simple meal of rice, horse gram stir fry and horse gram saaru with cauliflower fry!

I am sending the horse gram stir fry over to Srivalli who is hosting My Legume Love Affair - Seventh helping which the brain child of Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.  

Horse gram happens to be one of my fav lentil. It has a very funny story behind. Growing up, I used to always fall every now and then. I dont remember even a single year when I have not fallen! Be it inside the house, school playground or even temple! Whenever I used to come home after falling my mom used to joke and ask me "paay ponu ailie ve?" meaning Did you bow and come?!! After coming to Shanghai until my parents visit I had not fallen. I was mighty proud and told them one day. The same day we were just planning to go for walk and I was walking over the foot path and suddenly my ankle twisted and I was just about to fall but some how I didn't! Mind you I was not even wearing heeled shoes.. it was simple running shoes that I was in. You can imagine the look on my parent's face!! Anyway's due to this my elder brother always made fun of me and told mom to feed me Horse gram everyday so that my legs would becomes strong! Usually horse is fed horse gram and it is said that due to this it has strong legs and can run fast!

Such is the link between me and horse gram!

Anyways, here is the recipe:

Kulitha upkari 

3/4 cup horse gram

2 Green chilli's slit

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds 

oil

a generous pinch of hing/asafoetida

2 tbsp freshly grated coconut

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Pressure cook horse gram with lots of water until soft. Strain and reserve both the horse gram and the water.

2) Heat Oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the cooked horse gram, salt, green chillis  and hing. You can little water too so that the salt is uniformly distributed.

3) When done garnish with freshly grated coconut and serve hot.

To make kulitha Saaru,  Boil the reserved liquid from cooking horse gram. Add two slit green chilli's and salt to taste. Give it a rolling boil. Prepare a seasoning by heating little oil and adding 4-5 crushed garlic cloves. Fry them until nicely browned and pour this over the Saaru. Enjoy with steamed rice :)

This is slightly different way to make the cauliflower bhajji's. I learnt this from my uncle who is a very good cook. His recipe is an all time hit in our family.  I have blogged about his cooking in one of my earlier post. I cannot give you the exact measure to make this as I just add the ingredients as and when necessary. I love this method of frying since it does not absorb a lot of oil and tend to become very crunchy.

I usually soak the bite sized cauliflower in salt and turmeric water to remove any dirt of worms. Ater 10 mins wash them well. In a bowl, add in the washed cauliflower pieces, red chilli powder,salt, jeera, besan, around 2 tbsp of rice flour and hing powder. Do not add any water at this stage. Mix well. The water from cauliflower usually helps to form the paste. After mixing if needed add little water (do not add much to make a paste) and besan as required until the florets are well coated with the mixture. Let it sit for 10 mins. Then Heat oil. While heating oil my uncle usually suggests to keep stirring the oil and when it turns hot deep fry the florets in batches on medium flame until crisp and golden. Enjoy hot.

I made a very small batch of the bhajji's and we enjoyed it with rice, kulitha upkari and saaru. The meal was perfect for the -6C weather we had yesterday. Will start blog hopping soon.. :)

Keerlayile Mooga Usli

I have always loved legumes more then veggies..I love them in their simplest form such as saarupkari which does not need any fancy ingredients.. and occasional indulgence in coconut based dishes. We amchi's eat a lot of coconut based dishes. We do add a little bit of freshly grated coconut to anything and everything! I am not very fond of coconut but when I make coconut based dishes I make sure to make them with the amount of coconut required than skimping on it! These days we have cut down our intake in terms of coconut and decided to stick to keeping it to minimum.

When we first came here, I was disappointed that the Indian stores did not have the variety of legumes that we eat back home. I found only moong,Rajma,Chickpeas both variety. I miss horse gram, whole toor, White beans a lot. Back home I used to cook with beans and veggies alternatively. However, we do get excellent green moong and Rajma in local markets along with soybean.

This is a simple yet healthy breakfast which we make regularly. 

Here is what's needed:

1 cup sprouted Moong (green gram)

2 green chilli's slit

a small piece of Ginger chopped fine

a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida

a very small piece of Jaggery (Optional)

Salt to taste

oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

Procedure:

1) Heat oil. Add in mustard seeds, when they splutter add in the green chilli & sprouts.(You need not remove the skin. I had removed them to make this dish. But then realized that the qty was too much so reserved it. However, I have noticed that most of the times, the skin tends to float in water when being cooked. In such cases I just remove them and discard)

2) Add suffecient water, salt, chopped ginger and jaggery if using.

3) When it is 3/4 th done add the hing and mix well. Cook covered until done on medium flame.

When done the moong should be able to hold its shape and yet be cooked. You can garnish this with grated coconut to enhance its taste. Serve hot.

It can be served for breakfast or as a side dish with rice. We had this for breakfast with banana milkshake. Usually this is combined with Poha but we love to have it as it is.

P.S: In place of the moong you can even use moong dal. 

Update: I am sending this over to Srivalli who is hosting My Legume Love Affair, Seventh helping which is the brain child of Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook. Thank you Srivalli, Susan for this event. Thank you Asha, Namrata for reminding me to send this across.

Batate Bhajjun Upkari ~ Simple Potato Side dish

Batate Bhajjun upkari is simple Potato side dish. This was one of the dishes that amma resorted to when there were not many veggies or during the days when she observed fast. Me and anna always looked forward to this meal. Whenever she made this we were sure that we would have steaming hot white rice and daalithoy. The combination of the these three is heaven for us. Even today when we are at home she makes sure that she makes this atleast once. When amma makes this she generously uses oil and believe me it tastes much better than the way I do it as I always reduce the oil and try cooking with one tsp of oil. 

Here is what's needed:

4 medium sized Potato washed thoroughly, peeled roughly and chopped into small thin pieces and soaked in cold water until used.

Oil 2 tsp

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Urad Dal

2-3 red Chilli torn

salt to taste

Procedure:

 Heat oil. (I normally use 2tsp for this dish but it needs more than that to get a very good crispy taste) Add mustard seeds, when they splutter add in the urad dal and fry until slightly golden. Throw in the torn red chilli and after 20 secs add the drained potato pieces and salt to taste. Cook covered on medium flame until crispy and done. You can add little amount of water for the Potato's to be cooked. Tastes best when hot and served with rice and daalithoy!

The Humble Daalithoy!!

Every Konkani blog in this blogosphere has a recipe for Daalithoy! We amchi's love daalithoy so much that we do not need rice to go with it. We just slurp it like payasa.. Any function is incomplete without daalithoy. A lot of times at functions in Mangalore you will see that we have rice and tomato saaru for the first course and second course rice and daalithoy. Sometimes, people tend to have only daalithoy without rice for second course. Amazed? Most of the amchi houses have daalithoy on everyday basis. People also joke that daalithoy is our KulDevata (Family deity). This also happens to be the first of the recipes that girl's usually cook with and also the first of the food that is introduced to kids when they start with rice.

We love DDT... not Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane.. but Daat DaliThoy (thick daalithoy).

When we were in school, our parents made sure that every year we got to go to different places during our summer holidays. Dad who was then a teacher also got vacations and mom took long off's. We have even taken 45 days long trip within India. We used to pack light and each of us had a suitcase of our own and every suitcase had one set of cloths of every other member. In case any of them happens to lose their bag then they can atleast wear something fresh until new cloths were purchased. We have almost completed the "Theerthyathra" at very young age, i.e when I was in sixth grade. It was during one such trip, that we were out from Mangalore for almost 45 days.We were visiting Mumbai (then Bombay) for my cousin's thread ceremony and from there we had started our trip to Varanasi and covered Badrinath, Kedarnath,Nepal, Kulu,Manali,Shimla,Kolkata(then Calcutta),Delhi,Haridwar, Hrishikesh etc. The first few days we enjoyed eating out and but then it got so boring that we missed home food. We missed the normal simple meal and terribly missed having Daalithoy. On the last day of our trip we had called up my mhaav(Aunt) and when my mom was speaking to her I took the phone and asked her to make rice,Daalithoy and pathrado. I still rememeber the way we hogged food that day!

Now coming back to this recipe there is no approximate measurements for this recipe. It is simple and straight forward. Pressure cook 1/2 cup of Toor Dal with a drop of oil until done. Approximately 3-4 whistles. Mash the dal thoroughly and add salt to taste. Pour water to bring it to desired consistency. Add in 2 slit green chilli's and keep the pot on gas. When it starts to boil add a pinch of asafoetida/hing. Give a rolling boil and switch off. Prepare tempering with heating oil, add in 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds. When they splutter add 4-5 curry leaves and a torn red chilli. Fry for few secs and pour the seasoning over the prepared dal and serve hot with Rice.

There are a lot of varations to make Daalithoy. This is how we make in Mangalore homes and temples. As and when I make different variety will post them here. I also add some chopped corriander leaves for garnishing at times.

This simple dal is off to FIC- Yellow being hosted at Harini's "Tongue Ticklers". 

Tomato Gojju

Some dishes are so simple to make, yet they taste great. One such according to me is this. It does not need too many ingedients and still is full of flavour and aroma. This recipe is from my granny's kitchen. My grandfather was an Ayurvedic pandit and most of the simple health problems were treated with change in diet. This gojju was prepared whenever anyone at home suffered from mouth ulcers. You may find some helpful information here. 

I make this gojju when I am bored of making the usual Saaru, Daalithoy or sambar. 

What's needed:

2 medium sized Tomato

1 small Potato 

1 green Chilli

a pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)

1 tsp grated jaggery

Salt to taste

For Seasoning

Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

5-6 Curry leaves

1 red Chilli torn 

finely chopped Corriander leaves to garnish

Procedure:

1) Pressure cook tomato,Potato and green chilli with suffecient water until done. When cooled mash it thoroughly. 

2) Add water to bring it to desired consistency. Keep the pot on gas. Add salt, jaggery and hing.

Give it a rolling boil.

3) Prepare seasoning by heating oil and adding mustard seeds in them. When they splutter add 

in the curry leaves and red chilli if using. Switch off and pour the seasoning into the gojju. Garnish with chopped corriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Neer Dosa ~ PanPolo

PanPolo is one of our regular breakfast item. In my initial days of cooking in China, this was one dosa that I used to hate to make as it would never come out good. The rice that I used was the main reason for the failures. Now I use the Idli rice or Basmati rice, both give me excellent results. Back home, We use the normal Sona masuri rice. There are various dishes that go along well with dosa. Chutney, Jaggery syrup (Ravvo), honey, any veg or non veg gravy that is spicy.. I even love to have this with Mango pickle drizzled with coconut Oil.

The name Neer dosa is because this batter is very thin unlike regular dosa batter and even the dosa comes out very thin and lacy. Unlike regular dosa batter this does not need it to be fermented.

What's needed:

1 cup Idli rice

3-4 tbsp grated Coconut

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Soak rice overnight or for 6 hrs. Grind it to fine paste along with grated coconut.

2) Add suffecient water to bring it to a consistency thinner than the normal dosa batter. Add salt to taste.

3) Heat a Tava. Pour little oil. (Skip if you are using a non stick pan). Pour a ladle of batter and move the tava in circular motion so that the dosa spreads uniformly. It forms a nice lace like structure. Cook one medium flame.

4) The pattern to fold the dosa is to first fold it in to half and then again fold it so that it forms a triangle like structure.

Serve hot with Chutney or any side dish of your choice.

P.S: If using Sona masuri rice you can use 1 cup of rice and 1/2 cup of grated coconut. But since I use Idli rice which makes the dosa very soft I use just 2-3 tbsp of grated coconut and yet the dosa's are soft and fluffy.

DoodhPaak ~ Traditional Rice Kheer

Making sweets was never my cup of tea. I have cooked a lot of dishes but desserts were something I feared to make until recently that is. Whenever we had some Pooja at home it was usually Fruits or dry fruits that I offered! This Diwali I had teamed up with my friend Smitha here and we did cook up a lot of dishes together. They were a big hit with our families. Since then I decided to give a try and learn all the traditional dishes :) 

I am usually biased towards Coconut milk + Jaggery based sweets than Sugar based milk sweets. But I do have exception! Doodhpak being one of them. This is one of amma's signature dishes. It is simple to make and the end result is awesome. I prefer eating this cold rather than hot!

Here is what's needed:

1/2 Cup Basmathi rice

2 cups Milk

1.5 cup Water

1 cup Sugar

A fistful of Sabudana

8-10 chopped Cashews

8-10 Almonds peeled and chopped(Soaked in water prev night)

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

a generous pinch of Saffron

10 dry grapes soaked in water for atleast an hour

Procedure:

1) Wash rice well. In a pot, Add water and 1/2 cup of milk. Bring it to a good boil and add washed rice + cashews + almonds. While the rice is cooking, bring rest of the milk to a good boil and keep aside.

2) When the rice is half done. Add washed sabudana. If the water is not suffecient add more water. Cook till done (sabudana turns transaprent when completely cooked). Keep stirring in between to avoid it form sticking to the bottom.

3) Add sugar and mix well. Let it come to a rolling boil. Keep stirring at regular intervals.

4) Add boiled milk and dry gapes. After a boil, crush saffron lightly between your fingers and add it. One more boil and switch if off. Add cardamom powder mix well.

Serve warm or cold.

P.S: If you feel that it is too dry just add some milk and give it one boil. You can even add 1-2  cloves. It gives a nice aroma to the sweet.

I am sending this over to Lubna of Yummy Food, Who is hosting the FIC White Event, An event started by Harini of Tongueticklers and hosted at Yummy food this month. Thank you Lubna and Harini for this wonderful event.

Dosa

When I started cooking, I was comfortable with preparing lunch/dinner, but what I feared the most was making breakfast. I was skeptical about soaking the dal's,rice and grinding it to smooth paste,fermenting them. 

As a kid I used to think that making Dosa, idli etc was a very complex thing! Though amma used to always say that she used to enjoy making dosa as it would save her time the next morning! Now I am following her.. I prefer making dosa,idli for breakfast as I do not have to worry in the morning after waking up and think!!

This is one such simple dosa that I have been making every now and then. It is simple and I get the same crispy dosa everytime.

Here is what's needed:

1 cup Urad Dal

2 cups Rice (I used Idli rice as this is the only one available. You can use Sona masuri/Ponni rice too)

1/2 tsp Methi seeds

2-3 tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Wash rice and dal well and soak them along with methi for 3-4 hours. Grind it to smooth paste with water (Add only required qty of water). Let it ferment Overnight.( I had baked some cookies that night so kept the batter in oven to ferment.)

2) Next day morning, Add Sugar and salt. (Sugar gives a very nice taste to Dosa along with colour). Mix well. Add water if the batter is too thick. Mix well.

3) Heat a tawa, Spread a ladle full of batter in circular motion until it forms a uniform circle. Roast it with little oil in medium flame. When it turns to slightly golden colour flip it over and roast the other side for few seconds. Serve hot with Chutney.

I made "Hinga Chutney" with this Dosa.

For Chutney:

3/4 cup grated Coconut

2-3 fried red chilli

small piece of Tamarind

a generous pinch of hing(Asafoetida)

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

4-5 curry leaves

Procedure:

1) I use the sticky variety of hing. So I heat little oil and put the hing in oil until it fluffs up. Remove it and let it cool.

2) Grind grated coconut + red chilli's+ Tamarind + Salt and little water until it becomes a smooth paste. In the last round of grinding I add the hing and grind it for few more secs.

3) Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl. Heat Oil, Add mustard seeds when they splutter add curry leaves and switch it off. If using hing powder then it is better to add hing directly to the seasoning. Pour the seasoning over the Chutney. Mix well before serving.

Churmundo ~ Wheat Laddoo

One of the advantages(disadvantages!!) of blog hopping is that I get to know what I have never made in my life for years (now that does not mean I am very Old!!!!!) One such day I hopped to Harini's blog only to find a Laddu staring at me! Now for a person who is away from her hometown this was hard to resist! But having zero experience in making laddoo it was hard to think of.. But mind was constantly thinking only about laddoo. Finally decided to muster up some courage and try my hand at making them at home. Now this laddoo happens to be our fav,  so thus it was decided that I would make it. When Amma was online pestered her to give me exact  measurements. Now I am sure a lot of you out there will agree with recipes our mom's give us ( I am not complaining but ypou know we need exact measure in Cups,teaspoons!). I ask her "Kithle Tup?" (How much ghee).. her reply would usually be.. "Teh haanv ashi dole andaajeri ghalche!" (That I usually eyeball!!!) and my irritatingly, immediate response .. "tugele dole andaaju makka kashi kalthale???!!!!" (How am I to know your proportion"!!! Finally after she convinced me I wrote it down and kept looking forward for an opportunity to make them. 

Yesterday when I felt my sweet tooth needed some treat decided to make this. It was actually simple and was wondering why I never made it all this while! The main reason why I was worried was I had never helped amma with this laddoo. Usually my aunt's used to come over so they helped her whenever we had to do in large quantities. Anyways, it came out good and that is why I am sharing this with you.

Here is what's needed:

1 Cup Wheat flour/Atta

1/2  Cup Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Ghee

1 tsp Fresh Cardamom Powder

Procedure:

1) Heat Ghee in a kadai and add the Wheat flour. Fry on low until the raw smell goes off and gives out a nice aroma. The colour changes to slightly dark brown. Switch off.

2) Add in Sugar and Cardamom Powder and mix well. (Taste the mixture and add more sugar powder if you desire. The measure given above is for semi sweet laddoo) Let it cool until the mixture is easier to handle.

3) Take some mixture in your palm and roll it into a ball. You cannot use both your palms to shape this up as it is crumbly. 

I could make 15 small laddoo's using this measure. You may add Cashews and Raisins fried in Ghee. I did not. 

I am sending this over to Srilekha, Who is hosting EFM-Sweets. Thank you Srilekha.

Batate Song

Batate Song is a very authentic Konkani dish. Song as pronounced as "English Song", has no relation with it! I still do not have any idea as to why it is called song. If anyone does please let me know. 

It is a very spicy dish and pairs well with Rice & Dalithoy. Ofcourse it tastes good even with Dosa's or Chapathi. I make song either from cubed Potato or whole baby Potato's as in pic or also with cauliflower,tender cashews etc etc.

What's needed:

10-12 baby Potato's or 3 medium sized boiled, peeled and chopped Potato. If using baby Potato after peeling them prick them with the fork all over.

2 medium Onions chopped fine

1 big Tomato chopped fine

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 small marble sized Tamarind soaked in warm water

½ tsp crushed Coriander seeds

1-2 tsp Chilli powder (Increase or decrease based on your spice level)

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

Oil

Salt to taste

Chopped Coriander leaves to garnish

Procedure:

1)Heat oil and add mustard when it splutters add chopped onions and little salt. Fry until they turn brownish.

2)Add chopped tomatoes and cook until mushy.

3)Add crushed Corainder seeds and other powders and fry for sometime.

4)Add Tamarind juice and stir well.

5)Add little water and let the onions cook until done but yet crunchy.

6)Add chopped/whole Potato and salt. Mix well until Potato gets coated with the masala. I usually add little water and let the Potato's boil so that they absorb the flavour.

7)Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot!

Happala Kismuri

Kismuri also known as Koshimbir/Kosumbari is often a part of Konkani cuisine. We make kismuri with a Bittergourd (Karathe Kismuri), Carrot, Surnu (Yam) etc. One among such quick fix kismuri is made from Happolu. Happolu is  Red coloured Chilli Papad. In earlier days during summer, ladies used to make Papad's from Wheat, Urad Dal, Red chilli and Urad Dal and different types of sandige. This was basically done so that they could preserve this for rainy season when it was difficult to get vegetables easily. We do not make these at home and usually buy from stores. Traditionally happolu is fried on charcoal stove and coconut oil is smeared over it. 

Anyways, This kismuri is one of our fav's. It is very simple to make and goes well as a side dish with simple pej (Rice Porridge/Konji) or White rice with some dal.

What's needed:

5-6 Red Happolu deep fried

3/4 cup grated Coconut

1 small Onion chopped fine

Salt to taste

Procedure:

Mix salt + Grated coconut + Onion pieces well. Crush Happolu and add it to the mixture. Serve immediately as the happolu turns soft and soggy after a while.

Keerla Neeli Sukke ~ Tender Bamboo Shoots and coconut side dishM

Bamboo Shoots  are widely used in Konkani cuisine. Usually during the season when they are available it is put in large clay pots (Called Bharni) with salt so as to preserve them and enjoy throughout the year. When in season a lot of dishes are made from this. The one we get in markets in Mangalore look black from outside. Usually the outer layers are removed and then cut into disk's and preserved. The tender part of the keerlu is mostly used for Keerla neeli sukke (Keerla neeli means tender bamboo shoots) or Keerla Sannapolo (Spicy dosa that is made for lunch) or Keerla Phodi (Deep fried shoots with spicy masala). The one's that are preserved are used by washing repeatedly until it loses the salty taste. They can be added with lentils in Coconut based gravies with garlic seasoning/Koddels (Coming soon). When keerlu is added it gives a distinct taste and aroma (Or smell depends on how you like it) to the dish. 

When I first came to Shanghai I was surprised to see these available easily and in large quantities but since I was not very sure of cooking using them I never ventured to buy them. But we had tasted them in few of the Chinese dishes.When my parents came here, we went ahead and bought them and made a lot of dishes using Keerlu. My mother says that the best Keerlu that she has ever eaten were in Shanghai! Keerlu is not available so easily back in Mangalore. We don't even find the need to preserve them as they are available all round the year and that too we get very tender ones!

Coming to this dish, it is usually made with tender bamboo shoots and dried Jackfruit seeds (Bikkand). Since I did not have any Bikkand (Jackfruit is not avaible here ) I substitued it with a very small potato. This dish is mildly sweet and serves as a good side dish with rice.

Here is what's needed:

1.5 cups tender Bamboo shoots chopped fine. (To clean the bamboo shoots, add water until it is slightly above the shoots and 1 tsp of salt. The next day throw the water and add fresh water. It can be used on 3rd day after discarding the water and giving it a rinse. This is supposed to remove the bitterness of bamboo shoots if any)

3/4 cup grated Coconut

a small marble sized Tamarind

2-3 tbsp grated Jaggery (Depends on how sweet you like your dish to be)

1 small Potato peeled and chopped

Salt to taste

To be roasted

1 tbsp Urad dal

1 tsp Coriander seeds

4-5 dried Red Chilli's 

For seasoning

1 tsp Mustard seeds

7-8 Curry leaves

Oil

Procedure:

1) Heat 1/2 tsp Oil and add Urad dal. When it turns golden add in the Coriander seeds. Fry for a min and add the dried red Chilli's. Fry for 30 secs. Remove from flame.

2)Heat 1 tsp Oil in a kadai and add Mustard seeds. When they splutter add curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Add chopped bamboo shoots and Potato along with suffecient water and let it cook covered. 

3) Meanwhile, grind grated coconut, Tamarind, roasted ingredients and salt to a smooth paste. 

4) When the Potato is 3/4 th boiled add grated jaggery and cook until done. Add in the ground masala and mix well. Check for salt and give it a rolling boil before switching it off. Serve hot as a side dish with rice or Dosa's.

Duddhya Upkari ~ Pumpkin Stir-fry

Pumpkin was not one of the vegetables that I loved eating growing up. Until one day I had the upkari made with this at our Venkataramana temple feast. From then on I have been eating this vegetable regularly and love it too. We usually use Pumpkin while making Valval, Sambar etc. When I had been to market here in Shanghai, I was actually surprised to see Pumpkin :) From then on this has been a regular veggie in our kitchen. 

This stir-fry is rather easy to make and goes well with steaming hot rice and Dal. Easy to fix during weekday dinner's.

Here is what's needed:

2 cups of Pumpkin chopped into bite sized pieces

2-3 Green Chilli

4 to 5 Curry leaves

2-3 tbsp grated Coconut (Decrease if you do not like it very sweet)

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Urad Dal 

a generous pinch of Asafoetida

Salt to taste

1-2 tsp Oil

Procedure:

1) Heat Oil. Add Mustard seeds when they splutter add in the Urad dal and fry until pink.Add Curry leaves and the Green chilli and fry for a min.

2)Add in the Pumpkin pieces, enough water for it to cook along with Salt and Jaggery to taste. Cook covered until 3/4 done.

3) Add Asafoetida and grated Coconut and mix well. Cook until done.

Diwali Sweets~ Shankarpali & Malpuri

As Promised I am posting the recipes of the sweets that we made during Diwali. We had made Mysore Pak, Shankarpali and Malpuri. For Shakarpali we followed Vaishali's recipe with no changes and the end result was really good. Everyone loved it. Thanks Vaishali for your wonderful recipe with step by step pictures. It was impossible to mess it up :) Click here to view her recipe

Malpuri is a traditional sweet prepared with maida, Sugar and buttermilk. This is one of my favourite sweet but we had never made it at home. My dad usually buys these from TajMahal Cafe. This was usually made in the morning. When I was learning to drive dad used to take me for a drive on sunday mornings by 5. We used to go for a long drive and at around 6:30 we would reach the market buy fresh vegetables and then go to TajMahal Cafe. Dad would usually buy either Jelebi or Malpuri that are made fresh in the morning. It was great to eat them hot and fresh.

When Smitha, my dear friend suggested that we try our hands at making malpuri both of us were not sure as we had not seen anyone make malpuri. But that did not prevent us from trying it. I made a google search but did not get satisfying recipe. Then we looked upon Our GSB cooking Bible "Oota Upahara" by Jaya V. Shenoy and decided to follow the recipe. We did not get the texture perfect as in Hotels. Though there were crisped edges what we missed was the fluffed up centre. But then the taste was really good and both of us were glad. Well we can always improve!

Here is what's needed:

1 1/2 cup Maida

1 cup Buttermilk

3/4 cup Sugar (Our's was mildly sweet add more if you like it to be sweeter)

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

Ghee to fry

Procedure:

1) In a large bowl mix Maida +  Buttermilk + Sugar well. It should be slightly thicker than dosa batter consistency. If not add little water. Let it sit for 3 hours.

2) After 3 hours add Cardamom powder and mix it well. 

3) Heat Ghee in a Kadai. When hot add one tbsp of the batter as if spreading the dosa on tawa. Bring heat to medium. Flip the Malpuri in ghee. Keep it pressed with the spatula and fry until the sides are crisp.

4) After you remove the malpuri from Ghee, press it with another spatula to remove the excess ghee. Let it drain on paper towel. Store once cooled completely.

P.S: Do not leave it without pressing with spatula when it is in Hot ghee. Else it puffs up completely like Puri and the sides do not get crisp. Even the batter needs to be spread  as if it is dosa, Initially we just scooped the mixture and it came out like Puri all puffed up. It was then Smitha suggested that we spread it like dosa and keep it pressed. It worked and we got nice Malpuri's. We fried it one at a time so it was time consuming. But the end result was worth the time we spent. I never expected that it was so easy to make :)

I am sending this over to Srivalli who is hosting JFI-Nov 08.

I am sending this over to Sunshinemom who is hosting FIC Brown.