Gluten free

Padenji -Bajil / Whole moong dry curry with Poha:

May 7, 2024

Bajil/ Avalakki is a default name for seasoned paper-thin poha, with added chopped onion or plain. It is a speciality of our native, Mangalore.

When Bajil/poha is paired and served with Whole moong curry, it is known as Padenji – Bajil. It is a nutritious, protein-rich combo breakfast option that fills our tummies. It is two straightforward dishes combined to make a pair. If you prepare without onion, an appropriate breakfast option for any day is feast / Vrat.

Even though many people would have tasted Avalakki oggarane in any of our temples, this combo is almost extinct in today’s world. Hence, I wanted to share it with you all.

First, we would prepare Padenji/moong curry:

Ingredients:

Whole green moong – 1 cup

Onion – 1 (optional) (chopped)

Green chillies – 2 to 3(chopped)

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Coconut – 1 small cup

Salt

For seasoning: Coconut oil, mustard, hing, curry leaves.

Method:

-Soak green gram overnight. The next day, wash properly, put sufficient water in the pot, and cook in an open vessel.

-When it starts boiling, all the scum comes to the top and remove that by using a spatula. It indeed increases the taste of the final dish.

-Switch off the gas and prepare the seasoning when the moong is cooked well (it should be soft but hold the shape).

-Take one kadai, heat coconut oil and splutter mustard, add hing, curry leaves, green chillies, and onion, and fry until the onion is translucent.

-Add the required amount of salt, cooked moong, and whatever water remains. Garnish with fresh coconut and cook until salt absorbs and the remaining water evaporates.

Now we would how to prepare Seasoned Poha/ Avalakki Oggarane:

If you want a pictorial guide, please click the highlighted section above.

Ingredients:

Freshly grated coconut – 1 cup

onion – chopped (optional)

Salt

Rasam powder OR Roasted coriander, cumin, red chilli, little hing.

Little tamarind

Jaggery – ½ tsp to 2 tsp (acc to your preference)

Paper thin poha – as needed.

For seasoning:

Mustard – 1 tsp

Urad dal – ½ tsp

Red chilli -1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-At first, dry grind coconut, Rasam powder or roasted masala, jaggery, tamarind, and salt.

-Add seasoning to this mixture and mix it nicely by hand.

-Add the required amount of poha, mix nicely with your hand, and serve with Chana and Sweet potato curry.

-Relish the Age-old filling breakfast with your near and dear ones.

Instant Khichdi Mix:

January 20, 2024

Instant Khichdi Mix:

Instant Khichdi Mix is a delightful blend of flavours that combines the wholesome goodness of rice, lentils, and aromatic spices in a convenient package. My daughter loves adding readily available veggies, like peas and carrots, to enhance her nutritional intake.

This way, the Khichdi mix is like a culinary hug from home. It allows them to enjoy the comfort of a homemade meal even in a bustling hostel or PG environment.

How I make:

Ingredients:

Split green gram with skin – 2 cups.

Rice – 2 cups

Ghee or Oil – 2 Tbsp.

Cumin –2 tsp

Hing – a small peanut size

Bay leaf – 1 (broken)

Cinnamon – 2 “

Cloves – 2

Cashew bits – 2 Tbsp. (optional)

Salt, Jaggery (optional)

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Red chilli powder – As needed.

Garam masala – As needed.

Coriander leaves – 2 Tbsp. (dried)

Method:

-Take rice and dal, pour them onto a clean kitchen towel, and wipe the grains gently.

-Pulse the grain mix by putting it in a dry mixer jar. This action reduces the cooking time.

-Chop coriander leaves and air dry beforehand and keep it ready.

-Prepare seasoning, heat ghee/oil, fry cashew, cumin, hing, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves. Add in pulsed dal-rice mixture and roast it for 2 to 3 minutes.

-Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, and garam masala; if you are adding jaggery, add that as well.

-Switch off the gas, add coriander leaves or Kasuri methi, mix well, cool the content and pack it in a zip lock pouch or an air-tight container.

How to Prepare the khichdi:

Take ½ cup of readily available khichdi mix; if you want to add vegetables, take chopped veggies, onion or whatever you want.

-If it is in a kettle/induction stove, boil 2 cups of water. Add chopped veggies (if you have them) and khichdi mix. Cook and have it with curd or as it is plain.

Navane -Hesarubele Payasa / Foxtail millet and moong dal payasam:

September 18, 2023

Foxtail Millet Kheer is a delicious addition to the festive menu, including the fasting menu, to the traditional kheer we usually make with rice. This millet, also known as Navane in Kannada & is rich in protein, minerals & dietary fibre.
I have mixed nutty-flavoured Foxtail millet and a little moong dal to enhance the rustic taste.

Soaking millet makes it easier to digest and allows your body to absorb more nutrients. I usually do it overnight.

Foxtail Millet – ½ Cup
Moong dal – 2 Tblsp
Water (to cook Thinai) – 2 ½ Cups
Jaggery – ¾ Cup to 1 cup
Cardamom powder ½ tsp
Coconut milk – 1 Cup (you can add whole milk as well)
Ghee – 2 tsp
Cashew – 10 nos
Method:

-Soak millet for overnight. Morning, drain the water and leave the millet to air dry on a colander.

-wash moong dal and drain that as well.

-Make jaggery syrup by – Add Jaggery and water in a pan and heat it till the Jaggery melts completely. Use a filter to remove the impurities and extract Jaggery syrup. Keep aside

-Now, take a thick-bottomed vessel or kadai, heat ghee, fry cashew bits, and remove it; keep aside.

-Add moong dal and fry it until light brown; add foxtail millet and fry for 2 minutes.

-Add hot water or 3^rd extract of coconut milk or whole milk. Cook until millet and dal turn soft and mushy. (it should hold the texture but turns mushy between your thumb and forefinger while pressing it.)

-If you are using clean Jaggery, here I have used Nolen gur (date palm jaggery); add directly and boil until the raw smell of Jaggery vanishes.

-Add thick coconut milk cardamom powder and allow to boil once. Switch off the stove. Garnish with fried cashews and serve.

Raw /Green Tomato Chutney:

April 20, 2023

Green Tomatoes are firm, unripe and tangy compared to Ripened Red Tomato. Green tomatoes are rich in nutrition and antioxidants.

Raw/Green tomato Chutney makes a delicious accompaniment to South Indian breakfast and is easy to make. When I have homegrown tomatoes, it is a must condiment in our household. Today, I am sharing our favourite, much-loved recipe with you all.

Here is how to make it,

Ingredients:

Raw/ Green tomatoes – 4 to 6 (depending on the size)

Oil- 1tbl sp

Cumin – 1tsp

Garlic cloves – 10 to 12

Green chillies – 4 to 5

Puffed chana / Hurigadle/ Pappu – 1 tbl sp

Coconut – ½ cup

Coriander leaves – 2 tbl sps

Salt

Method:

-Take one tawa, heat one tbl sp of oil, then cumin, chopped green chillies, garlic and roast. Then add chopped tomatoes and fry until it wilts by adding salt.

-Switch off the gas when tomatoes wilts, add puffed chana and coconut and fry for 2 minutes. Cool the mixture.

-Grind this by adding coriander leaves. Enjoy with Dosa, Rotti or idli.

Veg Fried Rice:

January 19, 2023

Who doesn’t love fried rice? Even I love fried rice, especially what my husband makes. Yes! You heard that right. It is his recipe, which I learnt from him. He usually prefers to make vegetable-loaded egg fried rice; today, I kept it simple by preparing veg fried rice.

Here, rice preparation would decide the texture of the final product. So, I suggest preparing rice in advance ( at least 2 hours before the final touch). Remove the starch by using the open vessel cooking method.

At first, I would brief the rice preparation:

Ingredients:

Small grain rice/ sannakki/ Jeera rice – 1 cup

Salt – 1tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Method:

-Boil water in a big pot; add oil, salt and washed rice. Cook for 7 to 9 minutes / Al dente.

-Rice should be cooked as well as firm. Drain the starch and cool the cooked rice grains to room temperature before making the fried rice.

For the Fried rice:

Ingredients:

Cooked rice – From 1 cup of rice

Chopped veggies – Carrot, capsicum, cabbage.

Spring onions – 4 bulbs with greens (chopped)

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp

Salt

Pepper powder – ½ to 1 tsp

Vinegar – 1 tablespoon

Soy sauce – 1 tsp

Method:

-Take one wide kadai, heat oil, and fry the chopped bulb part from the spring onion choppings.

-Add chopped veggies, fry for a while, add ginger garlic paste, and fry further.

-Add vinegar and soya sauce and fry for 2 minutes.

-Sprinkle a little salt and pepper powder, give a toss, add cooled rice, and mix nicely by adding the required amount of salt and pepper powder.

-Garnish with spring onion greens and serve with any Chinese side dish or eat as it is or with fried egg chunks.

-Here, I served it with Veg Ball Manchurian with Hot Ginger sauce.

Avarekai Usli/Hyacinth beans:

December 25, 2022

Avarekalu or Avarekai is pure love for the people of Bangalore- Mysore region. These are seasonal beans available in and around Bengaluru between Nov and Jan., Also known as Hyacinth beans.

We relish Avarekai curry with dosey, a yearly affair at our home. Now, after tasting usli at our friends’ place, there is no looking back. I make it a point to prepare the same combo of vermicelli Uppittu and Avarekai usli.

Avarekai usli is versatile, and it can have it as a salad or with anything and everything.

To make a much-loved effortless dish, here is the method.

Ingredients:

Avarekai ( soaked and peeled one) – ¼ kg

Salt, turmeric

Coriander leaves – 1tbl sp (chopped)

Fresh coconut – 2tbl spoons

For seasoning:

Cold pressed oil – 1 tbl sp (as per your choice)

Mustard – 1tsp

Cumin- 1 tsp

Hing – one pinch

Green chilli – 1 (chopped)

Ginger – 1 tsp (juennile)

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Cook Avarekai ( peeled dals) in water. When it froths, remove all the foam and discard. ( I would help to enhance the taste as well as to help to avoid bloating.

-When the dal becomes soft, switch off the gas and keep the vessel aside.

-Now, prepare the seasoning. Heat oil, splutter mustard, hing, cumin, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, and turmeric and saute.

-Now, add the cooked dal with the remaining water. Add Salt and coconut and allow the flavour to seep by closing the lid. Garnish with coriander greens, and enjoy.

Karjura Payasa/ Dates kheer:

December 5, 2022

I can’t believe it has been six years of blogging and four hundred-plus recipes since I started Shrikripa.in

At first, I intended to restore my recipes to my daughters, near and dear ones. Then, it gave me great learning opportunities, memories, growth, and many beautiful bondings with amazing people.

Today, I want to share our homely recipe of Karjura Payasa, which is nothing but payasam using dates, jaggery and coconut milk, which is a perfect way to end your meal!

Ingredient:

Thank you to all of my readers, who have stood by me, read my recipes, prepared and enjoyed with your near and dear ones, and made an extra effort to write back with beautiful feedback.

Dates – 1 to 1 ½ cups ( chopped)

Jaggery – ¼ to ½ cup ( according to the sweet level)

Coconut milk – 1 tin

Coconut – 1 (To extract milk)

-OR-

Thin coconut milk – 2cups

Thick coconut milk – ½ cup

Salt – ½ tsp

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Ghee – 1 tbl sp

Cashew – 1 to 2 tbl sp (Roasted )

Method:

-Take a thick vessel, add ghee and fry chopped dates until it is flavourful.

-Add jaggery, salt, thin coconut milk or plain water and boil the content until the raw smell of the jaggery vanishes.

-Add a thick extract of coconut milk or if you are using tinned coconut milk, add it now. Add powdered cardamom and give one boil and switch off.

-garnish with ghee-fried cashew bits and serve.

Haalittu Payasa / Rice Noodle Kheer :

August 23, 2022

It is an age-old recipe and an almost extinct dessert in our region/ community. Haalittu, the name itself, suggests the softness of the rice noodles.

Here, freshly prepared rice noodles are cooked in boiling jaggery-laced water, enriched with coconut milk, and flavoured with freshly ground cardamom powder.

The method is straightforward and not so complex.

Ingredients:

Dosa Rice – 1 small tumbler

Jaggery – ½ to ¾ tumbler or more

Salt- ½ tsp

Fresh Coconut – To extract milk or Coconut milk – 1 pack

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp (freshly ground)

Method:

-Wash and soak the rice for 3 to 4 hrs with sufficient water.

-Grind the soaked rice with salt into a smooth paste.

-Take one thick Kadai, pour the batter, heat on a low flame and cook until it forms a smooth pliable dough, with constant stirring.

-When the mixture cools down, take a chakli presser, fix a multi-hole plate, press the noodles and keep it ready.

-In another thick-bottomed vessel, take jaggery, and sufficient water or if you are using freshly extracted coconut milk, take 3 rd and 4^th extract of thin coconut milk and boil until the raw smell of the jaggery vanishes.

– Now, drop the rice noodles and boil further. When noodles are well cooked, add thick extracted coconut milk or open the tetra pack, pour, and give one boil.

-Garnish with cardamom powder and serve hot. Here, we don’t use any ghee-fried dry fruits.

-if you wish to add, you can add and serve.

Soya Nuggets Kurma:

August 15, 2022

Soya Chunks/nuggets curry is a perfect protein rich side dish for any Rotis. I usually make Yeasted Roti’s to go with it. It tastes good with regular whole wheat pulka or chapati as well.

Soya chunks or nuggets, also known as meal makers, are made from defatted soy flour, a by-product of extracting soybean oil. It is easy and quick to cook and known as veg meat. Though it does not have its flavour, it tends to absorb flavours well. I have shared Soya chunks in Biryani, and now, I want to share this kurma.

Ingredients:

Soya nuggets – 1 to 2 cups

Oil – 1 + 1 tbl spoon

Cumin – 1tsp

Green chillies – 2 (slit)

Cashew – 10

Onion – 2 (medium, chopped)

Garlic – 8 – 10 (crushed)

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Red chilli powder – 1tbl spoon

Coriander – 2 tsp

Garam masala – 1tsp

Coconut – 1 cup (grated)

Curds – 1 small tumbler

Salt, sugar – to taste

Coriander leaves – little

Method:

-Take one saucepan, boil water and pour soya nuggets, and when it swells, drain the water and keep aside.

-Now, take one skillet, heat one tbl spoon of oil, and fry cashew, garlic, and onion.

-When the onion turns translucent, add all the dry masalas such as turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala.

-Add coconut, switch off the flame and toss the coconut for 2 minutes.

-Cool the mixture, grind it into a smooth paste, and keep it aside.

-Now, heat one tbl spoon of oil, cumin, and green chillies toss for 1 minute. Next, add ground masala paste, adjust the consistency by adding water and boil.

-When it has boiled for a while, switch off the gas. Add beaten curd and drained soya and mix everything properly.

-Switch on the gas, and allow the gravy to boil. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with roti or any flavoured rice.

Menthya Baath: Fenugreek/ methi greens rice:

July 31, 2022

Menthya baath/bath is a quick, healthy, flavourful south Indian dish, made with methi greens and mixed veggies or plain. It is a one-pot nutritious meal and ideal for lunch boxes.

Here, we use fresh methi/ fenugreek leaves and green peas. The rice’s raw and earthy flavour of methi greens makes it unique. Hence, it is an added advantage to avoid the difficulty of including greens in kids’ diets. Each family has its recipe, and I will share how we like it. Typically eaten with raitha or just with some curds. But it tastes great with any mild vegetable curry, like gobhi and broccoli, which I shared earlier.

Ingredients:

Rice – 2 cups (wash a couple of times, drain and keep aside)

Fresh Green peas – 1 small bowl (frozen would do)

Methi/fenugreek leaves – 1 small bowl ( cleaned, chopped)

Coriander leaves – ½ small bowl (washed, chopped)

Milk – 1 cup ( you can opt for any plant-based milk as well)

Onions – 2 ( medium) thinly sliced

Oil – 2 to 3 tablespoons (As required)

Whole masala: Cumin – 1 tsp, cinnamon – 1″, cloves, Marathi moggu, cardamoms and bay leaves ( 2 each)

To dry grind: Green chillies – 3 to 4, ginger – 1 inch, garlic – 6 to 8 cloves

Coriander powder – 1 ½ tsp

Salt ( as required)

Lemon – ½

Method:

-Take one cooker, heat oil, and put all the whole masalas such as cumin, two pieces each of cinnamon, cloves, Maratha moggu, cardamom, and bay leaves.

-Now, add sliced onion, and fry until it is transparent. Then, add green peas and continue to fry.

-Next, add dry and roughly ground ginger-garlic-green chilli paste. Fry until its raw smell vanishes.

-Next, add chopped methi greens, coriander greens, coriander powder, and salt and fry further.

-Add drained rice and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of milk and allow to boil.

-Lastly, add the lemon juice. When water starts boiling, close the cooker lid. Cook until the first whistle.

-When pressure releases, serve with any preferred raita, plain curd or veg curry.