Karathe Kismuri ~ Crispy fried bittergourd in spicy coconut masala

Konkani cuisine is mostly vegan and we love our coconut in every form... Most of our cooking uses coconut in one form or the other. Kismuri is a traditional Konkani style salad kind of side dish which is a favourite among many!  This can be made with Raw bananas / Yam / Bittergourd/ Bread fruit or even potato.. I love to pair this with some nice konkani style curry or humble and soul food Dalithoy! Instead of deep frying I add the vegetable pieces in a cast iron kadai/pan, toss in 2 tbsp of coconut oil and shallow fry on low flame until it beautifully crisps up.. And yes do not make the mistake of tossing it into your mouth at this stage because these are super addictive!!

Here is what's needed:
2 medium sized bitter gourds, deseeded and finely chopped
1 cup grated coconut (Fresh) If using Frozen thaw it before you use
4-5 fried red chillies (I use a mix of byaadgi and spicy round chilli)
Marble sized tamarind
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 onion finely chopped
Salt to taste

Procedure:
1) Apply salt to bittergourd pieces and keep it aside for 30 mins. Squeeze the water out of it well and either deep fry or shallow fry the pieces. ( I used a cast iron pan , added 2 tbsp coconut oil and shallow fry). Make sure they crisp up well and take care not to burn them.
2) Grind grated coconut, red chillies, salt, tamarind and coriander seeds. The masala has to be ground coarsely.
3) At the time of serving mix in the finely chopped onions, karela pieces and masala. Serve it immediately. It is best served with hot rice and some hearty Dal!

Variations:
This can be made with Potato or Raw banana or Yam too! They all taste equally delicious.. 

Batate Pej Upkari

Blogging had taken a backseat last year. I was busy with my course,my little boy and a new place. Hopefully this year I will work on blogging not out of compulsion but because I am proud and much in love with this adorable space of mine. I plan to document a lot of family recipes along with the rugular ones from my kitchen. I wish to get into the world of baking and conquer the yeast monster. I have a packet of yeast that I bought some time ago but I am still not confident of going ahead and using it. This year is going to be different in a lot of terms. I wish to step out of my comfort zone in terms of food and would love to try out a variety of dishes.  Hopefully I will present them here.

This is a simple dish that I first tasted at temple feast. During our annual car festival which lasts 6 days, we have a lot of festivities followed by samaraadhana (naivedyam food served which itself is a feast). This feast starts late in the afternoon and goes on till 7-8 PM.  People sit on floor with a mat/newspaper and the food is served on plantain leaf. hundreds of volunteer gather dressed in traditional attire and serve thousands of devotees. In the mornings before the festivities start pejje jevan where kongee (rice porridge) is served. This is served with simple dishes like this pej upkari or exotic dishes like kadgi chakko( made with unripe green jackfruit) etc on a plantain leaf.  The gathering for the Pejje jevan is less compared to the evening samaraadhana. Thousands of people gather to seek blessings from Lord Venkatramana and partake in the samaraadhana. How I miss those days where you could meet friends and family and have fun! I miss Mangalore ~ a small yet beautiful place.

Coming back to this dish, it has minimum ingredients and yet tastes heavenly. Normally potatoes are not peeled for this dish but I did for the little boy.

Here is whats needed:
2 medium potatoes
a big pinch of hing
2 green chilies slit
salt to taste

Seasoning:
1 tbsp oil (Preferably coconut oil)
5 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal

Procedure:
1) Wash and scrub the potatoes. Chop them into bite sized pieces with the peel on. Add water, green chilies and salt and cook till soft and done
2) Prepare seasoning by heating oil and add mustard seeds when they crackle add urad dal, followed by curry leaves and hing. Pour this seasoning over the potato mixture and serve hot with rice and dalithoy!
Simple as it can get and tastes divine. Simple pleasures

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.