Passion fruit Gojju:

Passion fruits/Passiflora grows in hill stations of India or the colder region during the May -July months. It contains a hard outer shell and pulpy inner core with a lot of black seeds. As my daughters hate the texture, I love it and include it in my juice or lunch.

Passion fruit has a tart mixed sour taste. The fruit has many beneficial nutrients and a low glycemic index; hence, it is ideal for a diabetic condition. It is my way of indulging the sour fruit in its whole raw form. I followed our traditional charred brinjal gojju recipe and tried it. I loved the fresh fruit flavour, crunchy seeds in this gojju and enjoyed it with red parboiled rice.

Ingredients:

Fruit pulp – from 2 fruits

Green chillies -1 – 2

Jaggery – as per taste (grated)

Salt

Onion – 1 (chopped)

Seasoning: Coconut oil – 2 tsp, mustard – 1tsp, crushed garlic cloves – 6 -8, curry leaves – 1 string.

Method:

-Cut passion fruit in half, remove the pulp with those seeds. 

-Add salt, grated jaggery, crush green chilli by using your hand (it emits a lovely aroma to the gojju) and chopped onion. Adjust the consistency by adding little water.

-Season with coconut oil, mustard, crushed garlic. Fry until garlic is brown. Add curry leaves and pour the seasoning on the gojju.

-Enjoy with hot rice or with curd rice. If you like sweet and sour gojju, it is the perfect recipe.

Wild mango Rasam :

Kadu Mavinahannina saru: is a traditional delicacy of coastal Karnataka, which is a must during mango season. We have several recipes of wild mangoes in the coastal region, and each has its charm and taste. Some varieties are sour and fibrous, and some are sweet and juicy; some mangos do not have much pulp. According to their types, their usage also varies 😉

If tiny wild mangoes are sour, not so sweet, and fibrous, they go into the cooked form of saru / Beyisida gojju.  In this way, we can enhance the taste by adding additional jaggery and enjoy even the sourest mangoes.

Sigh!! These are all nostalgic memories for me. Here, In Bangalore, I do manage to cook all these varieties by using tiny mango, which is also known as Sakkara gutti or Sugar baby 😀

The recipe is simple and goes like this –

Ingredients:

Wild mangos / tiny mangos – 6

Green chillies – 2

Jaggery

Salt

Method:

-Clean the mangoes, remove the peel, put it in the vessel containing half a cup of water, squeeze and collect mango pulp; repeat the process until skin sheds all the pulps.

-Now, take mangoes, squeezed the water into a vessel. Add salt, crush two green chillies by using your hand ( it indeed a vital part to enhance the taste), jaggery ( little more),  1 tbsp of grated fresh coconut and boil until mango cooks. 

-Adjust the water content according to your taste. -Season it with Coconut oil, mustard,  red chilli and curry leaves. Serve with hot rice.

Suvarna gadde- Kadle Melara / Elephant foot yam -Kabuli chana Kayi Huli :

Yam and Chana Melara is the Most loved dish of our community. It is an absolute favourite of my family as well. Today, I will share one more traditional recipe of our region and one of the favourite dishes you find on our wedding menu.

-Now prepare the Elephant foot yam or simply Yam;  if you are new to the usage of Yam, please go through my detailed description of handling Yam, how to chop etc., in “Understanding the roots and tubers.” And go down until Tubers, and you would find the Yam under Number 6, and it is HERE.

Ingredient:

yam – around ¼ kg

White chickpeas – ½ cup

Salt- as needed.

Green chillies – 2

tamarind – one gooseberry size (soak in 1 cup of water)

To grind: Fresh Coconut – 1 ½  cup

For Seasoning: Ghee or Coconut oil- 1 tablespoon, mustard – 1tsp, red chilli – 1 (optional), curry leaves- 1 spring.

Method:

-Soak dry chickpeas overnight and cook in a pressure cooker for 3 to 4 whistles or until done.

-Cook Yam until it is half done, add tamarind pulp, slit green chillies, cooked chickpeas, salt, jaggery and cook until Yam is soft and perfect.

Now, grind the coconut into a fine paste, add the paste into cooked veggies, adjust the consistency, and boil for 2 minutes.

-Add buttermilk or beaten curd, and when it starts to boil, switch off.

-Prepare seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard, add red chilli and curry leaves, fry and pour over Melara. Serve with Rice.