cooking – Page 10

Plantain / Banana Flower Chutney:

February 10, 2018

We call Coconut tree as a Kalpavriksha. In my opinion Banana plant also should come under this category, because almost every part of the banana plant is used in some way or the other.

The leaves, flowers, fruits, stem, stem fibre etc. Nothing is wasted over here, and it is very useful in many ways.

The male banana flower is purple coloured, dome shaped, and can be seen hanging at the bottom of every fruit bunch. In banana plant, female flowers appear first and appear as a hand like structure in clusters. These female flowers will develop as the real fruit, which we normally eat, and male flowers will remain intact in layers of purplish outer bracts.

After fruit matures, we harvest the fruit and use the male flower that we see at the end of the fruit bunch in cooking. It is loaded with fibre, anti-oxidants, iron, potassium, calcium, vitamins and all other minerals. Flower is used mainly to treat constipation and anaemia in villages of our native in and around Mangalore.

This Chutney recipe is handed down to me by my amma (mother), and I used to relish this from my childhood. It is a perfect combination with hot rice, topped with fresh home-made ghee. We can feed this to small toddlers as well.

Ingredients:

Banana flower – 1

Cumin – 1 tea spoon

Pepper – 1 tea spoon

Tamarind – ½ tea spoon

Salt

Water – 1 bowl

Curd – 1 serving spoon

Grated coconut – 1 cup

For Seasoning:

Ghee – 1 table spoon

Cumin – ½ teaspoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Wash banana flower from outside and remove outer purple bract (remove 2 layers) and discard.

-Now take one bowl of water with 1 serving spoon of curd and mix and keep it ready. (This water will avoid decolouration of the chopping’s)

-Start chopping banana flower from the tip (refer picture)

-Keep on adding chopped part to curd water.

-While chopping, whenever outer shell opens by itself, discard that and proceed chopping.

– After chopping is done, drain the curd water and collect the banana flower chopping’s.

-Take one vessel, add chopping’s, salt, pepper, cumin, tamarind, 1 cup water and cook.

-When it is done, remove from the fire and cool.

-Add coconut, required amount of water and grind the content.

-Now take one tawa, add ghee, cumin, curry leaves and pour the ground mixture and boil.

-This chutney will stay good for a couple of days under refrigeration and can be served either with hot rotis or with rice.

Gujje palya/ Tender jackfruit Subzi:

February 3, 2018

Gujje is nothing but tender jackfruit. We Mangalore people start using Gujje from its very tender form. This particular recipe is for very tender means even before its formation of eyes (seed) and known as “Guddhi palya” as it is prepared after crushing. We will see how to prepare this in a traditional way.

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Ingredient:

Tender jackfruit – 1

Mustard- 1 tsp.

Black gram dal – 1 tsp.

Red chilli – 1 (for seasoning)

Curry leaves – 4 springs

Coconut oil – 4 tsp.

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.

Turmeric – ½ tsp.

Tamarind – ½ tsp.

Salt and jaggery – for taste.

Grated coconut – 3 tbl sp.

Methi seeds – ½ tsp(roasted)

Red chilli – 2 to 3 (roasted)

Method:

Remove outer thorny skin and centre core. Cut the inner pith into one-inch cubes. Immerse in water for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
Take one thick-bottomed kadai or pressure cooker. I usually prefer one whistle a pressure cooker. This method fastens the procedure.
Put chopped jack pieces, salt, tamarind, jaggery, red chilli powder, turmeric. Now add a cup of water and cook until one whistle.

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When it becomes cool, remove the cooker lid.
Mash the cooked jack a little so that all the segments of the jack pieces will open, and it will help to enhance the taste and structure of the palya.
Dry grind coconut, roasted methi and red chilli into rough powder and add.

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Now check for the seasoning and cook until any remaining water is dried and the masala cooks and coats well.
Garnish with curry leaves, two tsp. Take raw coconut oil, keep it closed, and cook for a while so the coconut and curry leaves’ flavours will spread to give a very authentic “homely” flavour.
Season it by heating coconut oil and adding mustard. When it splits, add Urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves and pour over the ready palya/sabzi.
This palya will taste great with ghee and hot rice or as a side dish with Rasam rice.

Baby potato fry:

January 31, 2018

Baby potatoes are naturally sweetish with thin outer skin. I usually don’t peel baby potato skin, due to its richness in taste as well as vitamins and minerals as well. This potato fry tastes great as it is or as a side dish with plain dal or Rasam.

I am preparing this potato fry from so many years and my guests usually love this and ask for the recipe, so I thought of sharing the recipe with my readers, as well. It is made with very minimal oil and one can indulge in it, as much as they want.

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How I make:

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes – ½ kgs

Salt- as needed

Oil – 2 table spoons

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Turmeric – ½ tea spoon

Red chilli powder – 1 tea spoon

Coriander powder – 1 tea spoon

Garam masala powder – ½ tea spoon

Amchur/ dry mango powder – ½ tea spoon

Method:

-Soak baby potatoes for some time, scrub a little and clean properly.

-Cut all the potatoes in half.

-Take water in a sauce pan, boil, add halved potatoes in this water and cook until it is tender but firm.

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-When you keep the potatoes in between your thumb and fore finger and press, it should crack.

-Switch off the gas, drain the water.

-Now take one tawa, heat oil, splutter curry leaves, add drained potato pieces and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

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-Add all the powders, salt and fry until you get a little charred texture.

-Check the taste and adjust the masala accordingly.

-Serve either as a starter or side dish with rice and dhal.

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NOTE: If you have Ready Tawa fry masala (MDH brand) use 3 to 4 tsp of that, omit coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and amchur powder.

Steamed rice with Hot and sour vegetables:

January 18, 2018

Hot and sour veggies with some steamed rice works perfect for a winter night dinner. It is light, filling at the same time, very nutritious and tasty as well. It doesn’t need any major preparation and I love making it on winter nights when we need a tongue tickling hearty dinner.

It is very simple, usually I use some chunks of veggies which is tossed with chunks of onion and simmered with one packet of hot and sour soup powder with sufficient water. Yes!! It is such a simple affair. While serving I usually take a couple of spoons of cooked rice as well.

This quantity suffices for a 4-member family.

How I make –

Ingredients:

Onion – 1 big

Green chilli – 1

Veggies – 1 bowl (veggie pieces in byte sizes)

Garlic salt or chopped fresh garlic – little

Oil – 1 table spoon

Hot and Sour Veg soup – 1 pack (Knorr Or Maggi brand)

Basil or Lemon grass – for an additional flavour (optional)

Method:

-Chop vegetables and onions into chunk size. Slit green chilli. If you are using garlic, chop that as well.

-I usually prefer French beans, carrot, broccoli or cauliflower, capsicum, cabbage or lettuce.

-Take one big wok, pour oil, when it is hot, if you are using garlic, add garlic, green chilli, onion and fry for a minute.

-If you want to use basil or lemon grass, add now.

-Add vegetable chunks and toss. If you are using garlic salt, add it now, otherwise you can also add plain salt.

-When veggies wilts, add one pack of soup powder and mix.

-Add 4 cups or more of water to adjust the consistency.

-Boil until gravy cooks up and becomes shiny.

-Serve with plain steamed or cooked rice.

Paramanna/ Pindi payasam:

January 13, 2018

Pindi payasam is nothing but our traditional rice kheer without adding any milk or coconut milk, which is usually offered to god as a Naivedyam and served as a prasadam at any pooja. It is considered as a favourite of goddess Devi. When I look back and think, Pandan leaves were widely used in our region(Mangalore) as well. One can make this payasam even without adding Pandan leaves.

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Pandan leaves are known as gandhasaale ele in our Mangalore region.
Gandhasaale rice is a traditional, flavoured and scented rice variety of Karnataka and Kerala, cultivated in small pockets. Gandhasaale rice is the best rice for meals, Pulav, payasam and other eatables. The Gandhasaale rice is known especially for its rich aroma. It is also called Kerala’s basmati.
In our native, to get aroma of “gandhasaale” in ordinary rice, my grand mom used to put these leaves in, while cooking the rice. Pandan (Scientific Name: Pandanus, also known as screw pine or palm pine) is a herbaceous tropical plant that grows in Southeast-Asia. In Chinese, it is known as ‘fragrant plant’ because of its unique, sweet aroma. The cultivated plant features upright bright green leaves, and it’s the leaves that are used for cooking up many Thai and Southeast-Asian dishes. Pandan is also made into a paste that is used in cakes and desserts, much the way we use vanilla flavouring in the Western cuisine. However, in addition to flavour, Pandan paste also instil foods with a bright green colour. Some Thai and Malayan desserts which I have tasted are Pandan baked cake, Pandan jelly and Pandan sticky rice in Malaysia. Personally, I dint like it much because of its overpowering fragrance and felt that, like my ajji (grand mom), one should use one or 2 leaves to get that perfect blend.

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Ingredients:

White rice – 1 cup (I have used small grain rice)

Grated jaggery – 1 cup

Ghee – 2to 3 table spoons

Coconut – 2 table spoons (grated)

Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon

Pandan leaves – 2

Cashew bits – as needed

Method:

-Wash rice, Pandan leaves. Soak rice for 10 minutes.

-Boil 2 to 3 cups of water, add rice, Pandan leaves and cook until it is done.

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-After cooking, remove Pandan leaves.

-In the meantime, take one cup of water, boil, add jaggery and melt.

-Sieve this solution and remove all the impurities.

-Add this solution to cooked rice and boil.

-When the mixture becomes thick, add ghee and mix nicely.

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-Lastly add coconut, cardamom powder and give a stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until it becomes like a creamy mass.

-Roast cashew bits in a little ghee and garnish.

-If you want to offer this to god, do that and then serve. Other wise serve hot and enjoy this delicacy.

Fresh Chick Peas Pulav:

January 9, 2018

Fresh chick peas are green in colour and known as Cholia / Hara Chana. They are fresh young Garbanzo beans which are usually sold as a small bundle of plants with roots intact. These are found only in winter months here in Bangalore. People usually enjoy eating this as a fresh bean by shelling its outer green pod. Chickpeas are high in dietary fibre, mineral, vitamins, proteins.

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These pods are tiny compared to green peas pods. Usually one pod will contain only one garbanzo bean, rarely we find two beans as well. Not more than that.

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One pot meal is a super cool idea to consume these fresh beans, which I have paired with a cucumber chutney, which I will post next.

Here we will see how I made this Pulav –

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Ingredients:

Small grain rice – 3 cups (we call this as Jeera samba rice)

Onions – 2

Green chillies – 3 to 4

Ginger garlic paste – 1 table spoon

Fresh chick peas /green Chana – 1 small cup

French beans – 8 to 10 (chopped)

Pudina leaves – 2 tblsp (chopped)

Coriander leaves – 2 tblsp ( chopped)

Salt

Lemon – ½

Ghee – 1 table spoon

Oil – 2 table spoons

Shahi jeera – 1 tea spoon

Bay leaves – 2 small

Cloves – 4

Cinnamon – 1” piece

Mace – 1

Cardamom – 2

Method:

-Wash rice, drain and keep aside.

-Slice onion, green chillies.

-Take one cooker, heat oil, put all the masalas from Shahi jeera to cardamom.

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-Fry onion, green chillies till it is light brown.

-Add ginger garlic paste and toss. Add chopped beans, fresh chick peas and fry for a while.

-Add salt, drained rice, chopped coriander, pudina and fry for 2 minutes. Add 5 ½ cups of water (rice 1: 1 ½ cups of water + 1cup for veggie)

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-When water starts to boil, check for salt, add lemon juice and I table spoon of ghee. Close the cooker lid.

– Cook until one whistle, then simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the gas.

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-When steam relieves mix the rice and serve with Hot cucumber chutney.

Note:

-I usually use 1 ½ cups of water for 1 cup of small grain rice.

-Here additional 1 cup of water is to cook fresh bean.

-Instead of Chana one can use fresh green peas as well.

Radish Thepla/Paratha:

January 3, 2018

Thepla is a Guajarati word. It is an easy form of paratha. Enjoyment without much work 😉 Yes!!! There is no need to prepare stuffing separately. Put everything together, knead and make.

Radish is not liked by many, let alone be in their list of favourite vegetables. But it ranks very high in nutrition and health benefits. You can make raw salads, sambar or add them in any veggie recipes. If you don’t like the pungent taste, add couple of carrots, tone down the taste and enjoy.

Winter is the time when we get fresh juicy radishes in India. When It is home grown, the joy doubles. I wish to use every edible part without any wastage and without any usage of pesticide. Thus, it is healthy as well.

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Ingredients:

Radish and its greens – one small bunch

Coriander – 1 tea spoon

Cumin – ½ tea spoon

Carom seeds – ½ tea spoon

Garlic – 3-4 cloves

Green chilli – 1

Coriander leaves – 1 table spoon (chopped)

Curd – 2 table spoons

Salt- to taste

Whole wheat powder – as required

Oil – to cook

Method:

-Wash radish as well as green leaves.

-Grate the radish and chop the greens. Sprinkle salt.

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-Crush coriander and cumin, add.

-Dry grind green chilli and garlic, add.

-Add carom seeds, chopped coriander and curd as well.

-Mix everything, make a firm dough by using required amount of whole wheat flour.

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-Now take lemon sized chapati dough in hand, roll this ball by using a roller, like regular chapati.

-Cook both the sides by using either oil, ghee or butter.

-Serve with sweetened curd or pickle.

Fresh Pigeon pea and Methi Pulav:

December 28, 2017

Winter is that time of the year, where you can relish all the fresh produce from the bean family. One such bean is Thogari kayi/Fresh Tuvar/Pigeon peas. These are beautiful green pearls with maroon spots all over them and we can make so many varieties of dishes from them. This rice dish is a very easy, one pot meal which has the goodness of Tuvar dal, methi leaves with coconut flavour which will enhance the flavour of the dish to another level.

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Recipe goes like this-

Ingredients:

Rice – 3 cups

Onion – 2

Fresh Pigeon peas – 1 cup

Fresh methi leaves – 1 small bundle

Veggies of your choice – 1 cup (French beans, carrot)

Ghee /oil – 2 to 3 table spoons

Bay leaves -2

Cumin – 1 tea spoon

Mace – 1

Marathi moggu – 2

To grind: Little coriander leaves, Cinnamon one stick,3 to 4 green chillies and 1-inch ginger.

Coconut milk – 1 cup

Lemon – ½

Salt

Method:

-At first take a fresh Tuvar bean pod, remove outer thick green skin and separate the green bean with the beautiful red spots. Collect all the shelled beans.

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-Wash rice and soak for 10 minutes, drain and keep aside.

-Chop onions, methi leaves and vegetables of your choice.

-Grind a paste of coriander leaves, cinnamon, green chillies and ginger by adding little water and keep.

-Take one cooker, add oil and ghee or only ghee. Drop whole masalas like bay leaves, cumin and mace.

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-Fry onions until brown and add methi leaves, fresh tuvar, chopped veggies and fry until it wilts.

-Add salt, ground masala and fry for 2 minutes and add drained rice and fry for a minute.

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-Add coconut milk and 5 cups of water, juice of half lemon, boil, close the lid and cook until one whistle and 2 minutes into simmer.

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-Serve with any kind of raita.

Pineapple Menaskai/ Gojju:

December 12, 2017

Menaskai/Menaskayi is one of our coastal specialities, which is a hot, sweet and sour, sesame flavoured coconut-based curry. Normally made with bitter or tangy things like Bitter gourd, raw mango, wild mango or pineapple. We even prepare by mixing Bitter gourd and raw mango as well. It is a common dish in any of our elaborate menus for festivities, usually served on a plantain leaf, like poojas or weddings. This same curry is prepared in a little different way in other parts of Karnataka and known as “Gojju”.

Here, the main trick is-balancing of all the flavours.

If you are preparing with sour vegetable or fruit, there is no need to add additional tamarind. For example, if you are preparing raw mango or mixture of bitter gourd and raw mango Menaskai, there is no need to add tamarind. If you are using pineapple, tamarind should be added.

Here I have used pineapple and the procedure goes like this-

Ingredients:

Pineapple – 1/2 (chopped into bits)

Raw mango – 1/4 (chopped into bits)

Tamarind – gooseberry size (if the mango is not available)

Jaggery – as needed

Salt

Green chillies – 2 (slit)

For masala:

Fresh Coconut gratings – 1 to 1 ½ cups

Methi seeds – 1/4 tsp

Urad dal – 2 teaspoons

Sesame seeds – 2 teaspoons (U can use black or white)

Dried red chillies – 8 – 10 (we use Byadagi variety)

Coconut oil – 2 to 3 teaspoons (1 for roasting + 1 for seasoning + 1 tsp to garnish)

Mustard – 1 tsp

Dried red chilli -1

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Method:

-Clean pineapple by removing the outer skin, chop into bite-size pieces.

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-Cook pineapple pieces and mango pieces or tamarind with little water, turmeric, salt, jaggery, green chillies and curry leaves.

-Dry roast sesame seeds. Now fry all the masalas for grinding. First heat 1 tsp of oil, put methi(fenugreek) seeds. When it is light brown, add all the other ingredients like urad dal, red chillies and fry until urad dal is light brown. Now it is the time to put coconut and fry further for 2 minutes or until you smell the nice aroma.

-Cool the mixture, grind into a paste by adding sesame seeds and sufficient water as well.

-Add this paste to the cooked pineapple, check for salt and jaggery. Adjust the consistency by adding water and boil nicely in a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

-After boiling, add 1 tsp of raw coconut oil as well as the seasoning with coconut oil, mustard, red chilli and curry leaves. Close the lid and leave it to soak all the masalas for half an hour.

-Serve with hot rice.

Note:

-After boiling, the gravy should be a little thicker than normal sambar.

-Taste should be sweet, sour, hot. So adjust the addition of jaggery accordingly.

– We usually relish this dish the next day of preparation, usually with Neer Dosa or chapati/Roti. 😊

Hitikida avarekalu/ Deskinned Hyacinth bean curry:

December 9, 2017

Avarekai has many names like Lablab or Hyacinth bean.

Avarekai is an integral part of every household of native Bangalore or Mysore region during every winter. People wait for its arrival. Winter special lima bean is called “Sogadavare” and it has double the aroma of what we get normally throughout the year.

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Initially I used to struggle with avarekai recipes and never used to get that authentic touch. Now over the years, I have mastered this authentic, tasty curry and my family started liking it and we do enjoy our share of this traditional curry with soft dosas.

If you are using fresh beans, it is a little time-consuming process. During the season we even get the deskinned ones. If you have frozen beans, curry making is an easy task.

At first, we will see the procedure of de skinning –

-At first take a fresh bean pod, remove outer thick green skin and separate the light yellowish green bean. Collect all the shelled beans, soak it in water for 3 to 4 hours.

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Now starts your time consuming real exercise. Dip your hand in water, remove soaked beans and start deskinning by keeping the bean in between your thumb finger and fore finger and press a little, you will see the transparent outer skin would flip and inner bean will come out. Continue the exercise until it is done and collect deskinned “Hitikida bele” and proceed to make very tasty curry.

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Now we will see the procedure of “Hitikida bele saaru” /Curry

Ingredient-

Deskinned Avarekai – 1 big bowl

Onion – 1 for seasoning

Oil – 3 table spoons

Ghee – 2 tea spoons

Mustard – 1 tea spoon

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Green chillies – 4 (3 for grinding + 1 for seasoning)

Garlic – 8 cloves (4 for grinding + 4 for seasoning)

Coconut – 2 cups

Tamarind – marble size

Coriander seeds – 2 tea spoons

Cumin – ½ tea spoon

Cinnamon – ½ inch

Clove – 2

Ginger – ½ inch piece

Coriander leaves – ½ cup

Method:

-Cook avarekai with required amount of water and salt. You can opt for a cooker or an open vessel. Slow coking gives a better result for this curry.

– Next is the masala preparation. Fry Coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves. When coriander becomes light brown, add garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves,tamarind and coconut and fry until it emits a nice aroma.

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-Switch off the gas, cool the content and grind this in to a smooth paste by adding required amount of water.

-Now do the seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard, curry leaves, garlic, green chilli, chopped onion and fry until onion becomes light brown.

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-Add ground masala paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add cooked avarekai and add enough water.

-At this time, consistency of the curry should be a little watery, as cooking proceeds and after some resting time, it becomes thick and becomes perfect.

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-Boil this mixture until you see a thin creamy layer at the top.

-Switch off and pour 2 tea spoons of ghee, give one mix and close the lid. Rest this for some time, and serve with dosas, chapati’s or plain rice or jeera rice.

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Note:

-I usually prepare this curry in the night, and re heat and serve with dosas in the morning.

-In this way, it absorbs all the flavours and sets properly.

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