Month: October 2020

Rajamudi rice Pundi:

October 30, 2020

Pundi/Unde/mudde is nothing but steamed rice dumpling from south canara/Mangalore region. It is our traditional Breakfast recipe. After steaming, we have two to three options to have this super healthy dish. One is with liquid jaggery combined with ghee, or pundi can be drizzled with coconut oil and dipped in an onion flavoured coconut chutney. Last but not the least, by soaking in a masala gravy, known as Unde bendi.

Traditionally we use Red boiled rice to prepare. Here I have used fragrant Rajamudi variety of red rice, that was earlier grown exclusively for the “Maharajas of Mysore” . It is high in fibre, antioxidants, and Iron. It is unpolished and grains are beautiful with the mix and match of pinkish red lines, which has  a nice aroma and it surely enhances the flavour of the Pundi.

I did this particular trial for Rice Calendar 2019. Unique effort by Save Our Rice Campaign and Sahaja Samrudha to Popularize traditional Rice and Recipes.

Save Our rice campaign is proud to proclaim that it has successfully mainstreamed around 100 different varieties of traditional rice across the country. Each rice variety is unique and differs in its taste, colour, texture, and cooking quality and contains some special properties like being medicinal, scented, sticky and so on.

It is one of the four recipes ,which I have shared with and got to be a part of this project in a very small way.

Ingredients:

Rajamudi rice – 2 cups

Salt

Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

Coconut – ½ cup (grated)

Method:

-Wash, soak rice for 3 to 4 hours

-Grind rice into little grainy texture by adding salt.

-Put ground batter, oil, coconut in thick kadai, cook this into ball like mass.

-Cool a bit, take little cooked dough at a time, and make roundels.

– Place this in an idli steamer and cook for 20-30  minutes and enjoy with chutney or liquid jaggery mixed with little ghee.

Unde/Pundi Bendi/ dumpling in masala gravy:

Here, we ned to break pundi into big chunks and keep it ready.

For Masala: Take one bowl of grated coconut, roasted red chillies – 2 to 4 , 1 tsp of coriander, ¼ tsp of cumin, 2 cloves of garlic, little tamarind, and grind into smooth paste.

In a wok, heat 2 tsp of coconut oil, splutter mustard,1  broken red chilli and add curry leaves. Add half finely chopped onion and fry until it turns brown.

 

Now, add ground masala paste into the seasoning and adjust the consistency, add salt, pinch of jaggery and boil.

When it starts to boil, add broken chunks, and further boil for 5 more minutes or until it reaches the thick consistency.

Serve hot and enjoy.

 

 

 

Mangalore style Traditional Chakkuli/Chakli:

October 23, 2020

Today, I am going to post my mom’s chakli recipe – which used to be made on the same day of the festival/ pooja to offer as an offering to the god. This recipe does not need much planning. In our tradition, offerings to the deity should be done on the same day. It cannot be made beforehand nor readymade from the shop.

Here, you can take any tumbler as a measuring device.

Dosa rice – 1 cup

Urad dal – ½ cup

Poha or Sabudana – 1 tablespoon

Salt

Butter – small lemon size

Sesame seeds – 1 to 2 tsp

Method:

-Wash, soak dosa rice for an at least 2 hours.

-Dry roast urad dal until light brown and poha or Sabudana until crisp. Cool and make a fine powder.

-Sieve and collect those rough powder, repeat the grinding process to get fine powder. Keep it aside.

-Now, take soaked rice, grind into smooth paste with very minimal water and required salt.

-Now mix rice batter, sieved powder, butter, sesame seeds and make a smooth dough by adding required water, if needed.

-Heat coconut oil or any vegetable oil, prepare chakli’s by using chakli press. Drain excess oil, cool and store in a sir tight container.

Hasaru Unde/Green gram Laddu/ Whole moong flour Laddu:

October 17, 2020

Wishing all my readers a happy Navarathri!

Green gram / whole moong is very nutritious and loved by everyone at our home. When I found the whole moong flour at my regular organic stores, I was excited to try my hand at using it in my regular cooking. While thinking of utilising it, idea of preparing laddu came to my mind and I immediately tried my best by using my Besan laddu recipe as a base and it did turn out super delicious with its earthy flavour. Everyone gave a thumbs up at home and  liked it .

So, I am sharing the recipe with you all.

Ingredients:

Green gram flour/ whole Moong flour  – 3 cups

Sugar – 2 ¼ cups

Ghee – 1 ¼  cup

Dry fruits – 1 cup

Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon

Method:

-Chop dry fruits. I normally use half cup of cashew bits and half cup of slivered Almond bits.

-Dry roast almond and cashew bits and keep aside.

-Powder sugar and keep aside.

-Take one thick bottomed wok, roast green gram flour in very low temperature.

-When it is a little hot, start adding ghee little by little during the roasting process.

-Do not add or pour all the ghee at one go. It will not help to roast evenly, and it will form a muddy consistency, and will affect it in even roasting.

– I took exactly 20 minutes over a small flame.

-After it roasts and you’ve added all the ghee, mixture becomes very runny and colour will turn greenish brown.

-At this time, your house will filled with roasted flour’s aroma. This is the time you should switch off the gas and leave this mixture to cool completely.

-It will take anywhere between 30 to 40 minutes.

-Now add powdered sugar, cardamom powder and roasted dry fruits and mix everything properly.

-Now start using your hand and mix it once and start making small roundels by taking little mixture at a time.

-At this time, you will feel that the laddus are a little wet and glossy and shining.

-Arrange these over a clean, dry platter. After some time (one hour) laddu’s will be dry and glossy texture will vanish.

-Store it in a dry container and enjoy with your family.

Knol khol leaves and sweetcorn Steamed dumpling/patties:

October 9, 2020

Desi sweet corn is in season now and we get plenty from local vendors. Indian maize corn isn’t sweet, but when it is cooked and mashed  or ground into paste it has the binding ability due to its starchy texture.

We all enjoy our seasonal roadside  bhutta treat, which is nothing but charcoal roasted corn on the cob, makki Ki atta to make roti or as a popcorn. This cereal is healthy, nutritious and can be utilised in a day to day diet, at least in winter months, when it is in the season. Corn kernels have less fat as well as low in calories.

Here, I have used ground corn on knol khol leaves and steam cooked until done. Basic method of making/steaming is like Pathrode or pathra, but ingredients are different. After steaming those folded parcels, it can be devoured as it is like a pathra or steamed dumpling, drizzled with coconut oil or it can be rolled in dry rava mixture and pan fried and served with ketchup.

So, when corn is mixed with Knol khol leaves not only does its nutrition increase but also, we get added benefit of all the goodness of knol khol leaves as well. It is rich in fibre and leaves are big enough to play around and fold however we want.

Recipe goes like this –

Ingredients:

Fresh Sweet corn – 2 cups

Onion – 2 (medium) chopped

Green chillies – 2 to 4

Fresh coriander – 1 fist full (chopped)

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp (dry roasted)

Salt – as needed

Chilli  powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Fresh coconut – 1 cup ( grated)

Fresh Knol khol leaves – as needed (even cabbage leaves would do)

For Tawa roast:

Small size rava – ½ cup ( chiroti rava)

Hing – ¼ tsp

Red chilli – 1 tsp

Coconut Oil – for frying

Method:

-Wash knol khol greens or cabbage greens, drain and keep it ready.

-Make a fine paste of Sweet corn, onion, green chillies, coriander greens, dry roasted cumin, salt, chilli powder, turmeric with coconut.

-Spread the batter evenly on  knol khol leaves, fold the leaves at the two sides, then roll like a mat.

-Finish all the batter, by following this same method, place all those rolls in an idli steamer, cook for 20 minutes.

-After steaming if you want to enjoy hot steamed rolls, smear some coconut oil, and enjoy.

OR

-make a tawa roast by rolling in a rava mix. ( dry mix rava, hing, salt, red chilli powder) :

-Heat iron tawa, place all those steamed dumplings by rolling in rava and pour coconut oil and roast both the sides and serve with tomato ketchup.