Month: August 2017

Chavli kai palya /Cluster beans and chana dal dry curry:

August 11, 2017

Like any other veggie, even most neglected high fibre, low calorie, nutrition filled Cluster beans also has many names like, Gorikayi, chavlikai, Guvar, Kothavarangai, Goru chikkudi etc. in different Indian languages.

It is a type of green beans, which is short, flat and little bitter in nature. It is a “power house of goodness” but neglected in-between  all kinds of veggies.

Yes, it needs some other vegetable, dal or potato to enhance its taste or to tone down the bitterness. Here in this recipe, we use soaked Chana dal and little bit masala to enhance the taste and this recipe is handed down to me by my dear aunty who is a super human being.

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It is a perfect side dish for any kind of Indian flat breads or with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Cluster beans – ½ kg

Chana dal – 1 cup

Onion – 2

Fresh Coconut gratings – 1 fist full

Seasoning:

Oil – 3 to 4 tbl sp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Red chillies – 2

Hing – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 1 string

For masala:

Green chillies – 6 to 7

Cinnamon – 1” piece

Ginger – 1” piece

Garlic – 8 cloves

Coriander leaves – 10 strings

Method:

-Wash, soak chana dal in water for half to one hour.

-Cut cluster beans in to bit size pieces after washing and removing both the ends.

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– Cook soaked dal and chopped beans for 2 whistles in two separate vessels by adding very little water.

– Put aside one serving spoon of cooked chana dal and pulse remaining amount of dal.

– Dry grind all the items under masala and keep aside.

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– Chop onions.

– Take one thick bottomed tawa, Put oil, splutter mustard, hing, red chillies and curry leaves.

– Add onion, turmeric and fry nicely.

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– Add ground masala,required amount of salt and fry nicely.When its raw smell vanishes, add roughly ground dal and fry for a while.

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– Lastly add cooked cluster beans and dal which we have kept aside.

-Cook this until water becomes dry and garnish with fresh coconut. Mix nicely and heat this mixture for a couple of minutes.

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-Serve either with rotti, phulka or hot rice.

Breadfruit chips:

August 9, 2017

Breadfruit is commonly known as Jeegujje or Deevi halasu in our native language. It is a staple food in many tropical region and considered as an exotic veggie and wonder food only because of its richness either in its taste, fragrance, its high source of gluten free carbohydrate, protein and minerals.

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Breadfruit is a seasonal, much-loved veggie in our coastal region of Karnataka. It can be consumed when it is mature, but still firm and can be cooked and eaten in many forms. Today I am going to write about its chips. How we can make this exotic savoury and enjoy the gloomy weather.

I got this fresh Breadfruit from my cousin brother’s farm and got an opportunity to make these chips and had them after ages. Guidance was given by my lovely co sister who prepares this in our native, during every season.

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Ingredients:

Breadfruit – 2

Salt -1 table spoon

Turmeric – ½ tea spoon (optional)

Water – 1 small cup

Coconut oil – To deep fry

Chips slicer – to slice

Method:

– Apply some oil to your hand. To some extent it will protect your hand from blackening.

– Take fresh breadfruit, wash properly. Take one sharp knife and remove outer skin as thin as possible.

– Make four longitudinal pieces, remove inner pith (which is slightly harder and rubbery in nature)

– Immerse these pieces in bowl of water.

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– Take one small bowl of water and mix salt, turmeric powder and keep aside. It is your salted water, which is used while frying and addition of turmeric will enhance the colour of the chips.

– Now you can keep coconut oil for heating. When it is very hot, start making chips. To test the hotness of oil, drop one small piece of breadfruit, if it pops up immediately, it is ready.

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– Take out breadfruit from water, remove traces of water by wiping it out. Make each quarter into half and now you will get 8 total pieces from one bread fruit.

– Take each piece and start slicing directly to the hot oil by using slicer. Keep gas flame at medium.

– When the breadfruit slices cook, the bubbling sound of the oil becomes faint. Now you can add 1 to 2 tsp of salted water.

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– You will hear lot of bubbles and bubbling sound immediately after adding salted water to the hot oil.

– When the sound reduces, the chips are ready to be removed from the oil.

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– Remove the chips from the oil and keep them on a tissue paper laid plate.

– After cooling store it in an air tight container and proceed with the remaining bread fruit.

Healthy Chocolate Brownie:

August 7, 2017

Here healthy refers to ‘No maida’ and personally I prefer to include healthy flours instead of maida and experiment with the same. Today I made this multi millet flour brownie. These brownies turned out to be a soft, fudgy and delicious and no one cribbed about the altogether elimination of all-purpose flour in this bake. It was so delicious, and my dear hubby was all into praise!!! That was the highlight and I don’t get this every day. Yes!!! I need to work hard for it.: D He usually doesn’t prefer to compromise on basic taste. Today I did achieve to get that “classic brownie” taste without any compromising.

This is an excellent,an easy recipe which you can prepare in advance when you are entertaining guests and have many other stuffs to prepare. It is a perfect dessert option along with an ice cream. Re- heat before serving to give an extra zing with cold ice cream.

Ingredient:

Sprouted finger millet/ragi flour – 1 cup

Mix millet flour – 1 cup

Walnuts – 1 cup

Eggs – 2

Cooking Milk chocolate slab – 300 grams

Cocoa powder – 2 table spoons

Butter – 100 grams

Curd – ½ cup

Light brown sugar – 1  cup

Method:

  • Assemble all the materials and keep it ready.
  • Put butter and cooking chocolate in a sauce pan and melt.

  • Add sugar and switch off the gas.
  • Cool this mixture for 2 minutes.
  • Add in beaten eggs and curd. Mix thoroughly.

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  • This is your wet ingredient and keep it aside.
  • Break walnuts into tiny chunks.
  • Now mix all the dry ingredients, two flours, cocoa powder and walnut chunks in one bowl.

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  • Dry mix all the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredient mixture into this bowl and fold in.
  • Pre-heat oven at 180 C

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  • Pour this batter in a greased, butter paper lined baking tin for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean while checking the doneness.
  • After it is done, remove from the oven and cool.

 -Serve hot brownies as it is or with vanilla ice cream.

Note: If your cooking chocolate has sugar, please reduce the sugar quantity to ¾ cup.

Kanile Uppinakai/ Bamboo shoot-Lemon Pickle:

August 5, 2017
As I mentioned earlier in my “How to Chop Bamboo Shoot” Post, usually, while chopping bamboo shoots for any curries, we use Bamboo shoot’s knots or their nodes in pickle making. Usually, pickles require some souring agent to give a balanced taste. So, the Bamboo shoot needs some souring agent to enhance the taste and the shelf life. That is why we use lemon, Houglum or raw mango as an accompaniment. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is DSC_0631-blog-1-1-1024x762.jpg  Here, I have used Lemon with bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoot – 1 bowl (chunks from the 4 to5 nodes) Lemon -12 Water -1 lit Salt- 250 grams Byadagi Red chilli -100 grams (around 56) 25 grams of mustard 1.5 tsp – methi 1.5 tsp – turmeric powder 1/4 tsp – hing Method: -At First, Cook Bamboo shoots chunks in adequate water for one whistle in a cooker. Discard that water; air dry those bamboo shoot chunks.
-Wash lemons, wipe and quarter lemon, remove seeds and keep it ready. -In the meantime, Boil water and salt until you find a crystal-like, white, shiny surface. -Now, put lemon pieces into hot, salted water and allow to cool. When the saltwater turns cool, the lemon peel becomes pale in colour. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Picsart_24-09-05_13-35-40-332-1024x387.jpg -Add cooled, drained bamboo shoot pieces to lemon and salt water. Allow to soak and marinate overnight. -Next day, prepare masala. Dry roast methi until dark brown and allow it to cool. -Dry roast mustard, remove it and allow it to cool. -Add a little oil and roast red chillies in the same kadai. When red chilli is puffed and roasted, switch it off, add turmeric powder, and mix well. pic 33 -When everything becomes cool, make a powder in a mixer jar, add a pickle masala powder. -Drain the salt water,from the marinated lemon and bamboo shoot, and mix the pickle masala and required amount of drained salt water and mix everything well. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Picsart_24-09-05_13-34-56-437-1024x387.jpg -Close the lid and allow them to absorb all the flavours for at least a day. Then, mix this pickle again, bottle it in a clean, dry bottle, and store it under refrigeration. It stays good for 6 to 8 months under refrigeration.

Bendekayi/Okra Palya:

August 3, 2017

Bendekai/lady’s finger/okra/bhindi- so many names for this simple, high fibre, low calorie vegetable. Some people just avoid this slimy vegetable without knowing how to cook. It is just simple, if you know the right technique.

We normally don’t use any onion, garlic or tomato in festive cooking. In Mangalore, we prefer this simple coconut based side dishes for any weddings or festivities.

Here we use tamarind base to cook Bendekai to remove its slime. To avoid sliminess , you should remember 2 to 3 things. First thing, drops the veggie, only after tamarind water starts boiling. secondly, don’t over mix the veggie, while cooking. Thirdly, don’t cover the lid, while cooking lady’s finger. These are all the tricks I learnt from my elder’s while learning cooking from over the years.

You can use any varieties of lady’s finger for this recipe. Here I have used local variety from Mangalore which I have grown and harvested from my terrace garden. It is Red Okra and after cooking, it becomes like any other okra.

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Ingredients:

Ladies’ finger – ½ kg

Tamarind – 1 tsp

Salt

Jaggery

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp

To grind:

Fresh Coconut – 1 small cup

Red chillies – 2 to 3

Mustard – ½ tsp

Hing – very little

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tbl sp

Mustard – 1tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 string

Method:

-Wash and cut the bhindi into half inch pieces.

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-soak tamarind in one cup of water.

-Roast red chillies and hing in a drop of coconut oil.

-Dry grind coconut, roasted red chillies, hing, mustard and keep it aside.

– Take one tawa, do the seasoning by putting oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilli.

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-When mustard starts spluttering, add curry leaves and pour tamarind water (squeeze soaked tamarind in water and use)

-Add required amount of salt, jaggery and red chilli powder.

-When it starts boiling, add chopped Bendekai and cook this in a low flame.

-when water drains or Bendekai cooks, add ground coconut mixture and mix thoroughly and keep this in a simmer for couple of minutes.

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-serve this as a side dish with hot rice or Chapati.

Homemade Vegetable stock /Broth:

August 2, 2017

Vegetable stock is always handy while preparing clear soups or any other soups, as a base and is one of the main key ingredients for any Chinese gravy and one pot meal etc.  I especially like my vegetable stock in soups and Chinese gravy. It gives a depth and enhances the flavour of the dish in any sorts of cooking. Making this at a home is very easy job and not at all time consuming. It can be stored in the fridge for up to one week.

vegetable stock main

Here comes my recipe – Take a cooker, add roughly chopped veggies and herbs like Lemon grass, leek outer leaves and leaf tops (you can use fresh ones in a leek soup), carrot, tomato, beans, cabbage, cauliflower stalk or couple of heads, Coriander stalk (stalk gives very nice aroma) celery stalk -2, pepper corns -5 and garlic cloves -4.      

stock      

Add water (till veggies immerse in water) pressure cook for two whistles, when pressure releases, strain it and collect the stock, keep it in handy for soup making or cooking.

Note:

-You can add or delete any of the ingredients. I personally like lemon grass flavour and try to incorporate it every time.