Category: Gluten free

Badanekai palya/ Brinjal dry curry:

March 13, 2022

Usually, Brinjal/ Eggplant of Mangalore/Udupi region is known as “UDUPI GULLA”. No! We have two varieties.

Both are Heirloom, native variety.

How to differentiate our native varieties of brinjal? It is so easy.

Here, I am talking about our “Oora Badane”, “Native Brinjal” of Mangalore. 

Much bigger (almost like purple brinjal, used in Bhartha). The outer skin is shiny pear-shaped; the outer skin is thinner, pale green with white lines.

It is fleshy and used in our style of Bhartha ( Roasted sweet and sour Gojju), Palya, Sambar and kayi Huli.

We all know that GI tagged “Udupi Gulla”, which is small, darker in the shade, matte-finished outer skin with a couple of thorns at the woody stalk. ( which is at the backside in the picture) 

For this palya, we use fleshy, seasonal native brinjal. This one side dish, which my husband craves for and asks to make, and he relishes with Ghee smeared Chapathi.

The recipe is simple and needs freshly ground masala or readily available Rasam powder.

Ingredients:

Round Brinjal – 1

Onion – 2 ( medium)

Green chillies – 2

Salt

Tamarind – gooseberry size

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Jaggery – as needed

For the masala powder:

¼ cup – grated coconut

2 -Red chillies

Coriander -1 tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

For the seasoning:

Coconut oil – 2 tbl spoons, mustard – 1tsp, urad dal – 1tsp, Chana dal – 1tsp, hing – 1 pinch and curry leaves – 1 spring

Chopped coriander – to garnish.

Method:

-Slice onion. Chop green chillies. Soak the tamarind in a small cup of hot water.

-Roast the coriander, cumin, red chillies in a drop of oil, make a coarse powder and keep it aside.

-Now take a bowl with water and immerse the chopped brinjal. Brinjal pieces should be slightly bigger and ¼” thicker. (Please refer to the pictures)

-Now, we would do the seasoning, take one Kadai, heat oil, splutter mustard, add urad dal, chana dal, hing and fry until it is slightly brown. Add curry leaves.

-next, add onion and green chillies and fry until it is transparent and wilts.

-Extract tamarind water pour-over. Add turmeric, salt, jaggery. When water starts boiling, add brinjal and mix everything properly.

-Close the lid and cook the veggie on a low flame. Add freshly dry ground coconut masala, mix everything, once again close the lid and cook further to absorb the flavour.

-Switch off the gas and garnish with the chopped coriander leaves. It pairs well with Roti or rice.

NOTE:

If you are using the rasam powder, add little coconut and proceed with the procedure with the Rasam powder.

-Freshly made masala and the usage of cold-pressed coconut oil does give the authentic taste.

Rice flour Ubbu rotti / Ukkarisida akki rotti:

March 5, 2022

Rotti is an integral part of our breakfast menu. In Karnataka, every region has a different method to make Akki rotti/Rice rotti. Mangaloreans prefer to make Red boiled rice rotti by grinding the soaked rice, I have already shared the recipe, and the link is HERE.

After some exposure to Bangalore, I learned this shortcut method to make equally satisfying no preparation or soaking, an instant and quick method, which uses readily available rice flour.

One can use a Rotti press or coupe of wooden planks or roll like a chapati/ pulka.

Ingredients:

Rice flour – 2 cups

Water – 2 ½ cups

Salt – as needed

Oil – 1 tsp

Method:

-Boil water in a thick bottom vessel by adding salt and oil.

-When it starts boiling, switch off the gas, add rice flour mix everything, close the lid and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes.

-The build-up Steam would help you get a smooth, crack-free dough to make perfect rotti.

-After 10 minutes, Open the lid start kneading the dough. Take out the little dough, make the roundel and start making the flat disc.

-To make the disc, take two thick plastic or butter paper sheets. Use Roti press and keep the lemon-sized ball between two papers and press.

OR

-Roll like a chapati/ Pulka by dusting the dry flour.

-Cook on tawa, just like whole wheat pulka —Cook both sides by flipping. Then, place it on gas fire to puff.

-If you wish, you can apply coconut oil or ghee on top of the puffed rotti. Serve with Chutney of your choice of curry.

NOTE:

While kneading the dough, If you feel it is dry, breaking and not holding together, please add little hot water and adjust it until it turns out pliable.

-Each rice flour acts different, and the water absorption happens accordingly. 

 

 

 

Omum and dry ginger Tambli:

February 26, 2022

Omum/ Ajwain/ carom seeds are the lesser-known spice of our Indian Kitchen. Our moms turn their hands whenever we complain about bloating or Indigestion and feed us Omum water by infusing it with water. It has been known for its benefits in treating bloating and diarrhoea due to intestinal inflammation for ages.

As we all know, Carom seeds have Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal properties. We are here, Combining Carom with dry ginger, which has the capacity of cleansing our digestive system and nourishing our body. The taste of the tambli is so refreshing and soothing.

—such a simple preparation.

I learnt this recipe from my Foodie friend, Lakshmi Akka.

Ingredients:

Carom seed/ omum – ½ tsp

Grated dry ginger – ¼ tsp

Ghee or coconut oil – ½  tsp

Grated Fresh Coconut – ½ cup

Buttermilk – 1 serving spoon

Method:

Take ½ tsp of ghee or oil, fry omum and dry ginger.

-Grind fried items, coconut, salt and water to make a smooth paste.

-Add buttermilk adjust the consistency by adding water.

-If you like seasoning on tambli like me, please go ahead and heat some ghee add cumin and curry leaves. Pour on Tambli and enjoy it as a soothing drink or with Hot Rice.

Khara Pongal/ Ven Pongal :

January 9, 2022

Ahh..what to say about humble Pongal? It is one of the comfort food for any South Indian. It is most prevalent in Tamilnadu as a Ven Pongal and a Khara Pongal at Bangalore.

Be it breakfast or as popular Tiffin Item or Lunch or Dinner in a chilly winter season, with added healing properties of ginger, black pepper, hing and loads of ghee to soothe your soul.

It is one of the wholesome, one-pot meals. As the Makarasankranthi festival is around the corner, I would love to share the recipe I follow at home and loved by my family.

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup

Moong dal /green gram dal – 1 cup

Ghee – 2 tbl spoons

Cumin – 1 tsp

Hing – ¼ tsp

Green chillies- 2 (slit)

Ginger – 1′ ( julienne)

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Milk – 1cup

Water – 7 cups

Salt

Fresh coconut gratings – ½ cup

Tempering: Ghee – 1 tbl sp, mustard, cumin- 1 tsp, black pepper – 1 tsp – 2 tsp, curry leaves – 1 spring, chopped cashew nuts – 1 to 2 tbl spoons.

Extra ghee – to serve ( optional)

Method:

-Dry roast yellow moong dal for 2 to 3 minutes. Cool it. Wash rice and dry roasted moong together and soak it for some time, or you can use it directly.

-Take a cooker, add 2 tbl sp ghee, add cumin, hing, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and turmeric and fry for 2 minutes.

-Now drain the rice and moong dal, add-in, mix everything and add water, milk and boil.

-When water starts boiling, add salt, coconut, close the lid, and cook for three whistles.

-Crush black pepper and cumin by putting them together in a mortar and pastel. Keep it ready.

-After opening the lid, make tempering by heating ghee, splutter mustard, add crushed pepper and cumin, curry leaves, cashew bits and fry until the cashew becomes light brown. Pour over the tempering on ready Pongal.

-Mix everything, serve with tamarind gojju, sambar, Raita or chutney.

NOTE: I usually use Broken rice, which is used explicitly for Pogal and available in all the local Rice traders here in Bangalore.

If it is not available, I would prefer to use Jeeraga samba rice/ small grain rice/ sannakki.

 

Carrot Kosambari :

December 14, 2021

Kosambari is a South Indian style vegetable salad, an integral part of any festival South Indian menu. It can be made with or without the tempering, which has significantly less oil, with all sorts of fresh flavours, such as grated veggies, raw legumes, raw mango or lemon,  coconut oil and hing.

Here, what I am sharing is our family favourite, Carrot corn salad. That is how my family identify this salad and demands it. Here, one can add or delete or increase or reduce the quantity of any ingredients without any compromise on taste.

Ingredients:

Grated carrot – 1 or 2

Boiled corn – 1 small cup

Sprouted Moong/green gram – 1 small cup ( optional)

Pomegranate kernels – as needed

Grated Raw mango/lemon juice – as needed

Salt

Chopped coriander – 1 – 2 tbl spoons

Fresh Coconut – 1 to 2 tbl spoons

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tsp, Mustard – 1 tsp, Hing – ¼ tsp

Green chilli – 1 or 2 (chopped), Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Take one bowl, mix in Grated carrot, boiled and cooled corn, Pomegranate kernels, Sprouted moong, Grated raw mango, Salt, chopped coriander, fresh Coconut and mix everything.

-Do the seasoning by heating coconut oil, splutter Mustard, add hing, chopped green chilli roast a bit. Add Curry leaves and put them over the salad.

-Mix everything, enjoy as a filler, healthy appetiser or as a side dish or as an evening snack.

Air potato onion soup:

November 14, 2021

I am fortunate enough to experiment with this rare tuber for Roots and Tubers 2020 calendar project—by Sahaja Samrudha noble cause of supporting farmers and introducing all the nutritious and most ignored products to the community at large.

Who doesn’t love soup? That too in winter months. This Air Potato onion soup recipe is earthy, delicious, healthy and soothing to our souls.

It uses simple everyday ingredients. In place of Air potato, one can use our regular potato. It doesn’t use fresh cream, so it is excellent for people with a sensitive gut. It is easily adaptable to make vegetarian or vegan.

If you are new to the usage of Air potato, please go through my detailed description regarding the aerial tuber, how to cook etc., in “Understanding the roots and tubers.” And go down until Tubers, and you would find the Air potato under Number 8, and it is HERE. 

Ingredient:

Air potato – 2 

Spring onion – 3 to 4 springs

Sweet corn – 2 tablespoons

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Garlic – 3 cloves

Seasoning – oregano or any preferred choice of yours.

Pepper powder – ½ tsp

Method:

-Peel potato, dice. Chop spring onion.

-Heat butter, sauté Spring onion and garlic, add potato, sweet corn and fry for a while.

-Add salt, preferred herbs as a seasoning, pepper and mix everything. Add sufficient water and cook.

-Churn the content, adjust the consistency by adding water. Boil, adjust the seasoning and serve.

Taro Root/ Arbi Fry:

November 9, 2021

A perfect side dish to enjoy with humble curd rice or Rasam rice. It is flavourful, healthy, and easy to make a side dish.

Now prepare the Taro root or Arbi;  if you are new to the usage of Arbi, please go through my detailed description of handling Arbi, how to cook etc., in “Understanding the roots and tubers.” And go down until Tubers, and you would find the Taro/Arbi under Number 7, and it is HERE.

Now, the procedure for Arbi Fry:

Ingredients:

Arbi root – ¼ kg

Salt – as needed

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Red chilli powder – 1tsp

Tamarind powder or paste – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – ½  – 1 tsp

Hing – one pinch

Garam masala powder – ½ – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 – 2 springs

Oil – 2 – 3 tablespoons

Rice flour – 1 to 2 tablespoons

Method:

-Wash the Arbi root, cook for one whistle in a pressure cooker. Peel the skin and slice it ( ½ inch thick pieces).

-Take one bowl, put these slices, all the masalas from salt to garam masala from the ingredient list. Let it sit for half an hour to 1 hour.

-Take one iron skillet, heat oil, put curry leaves, then marinate taro, toss-up and down in a slow flame.

When it is slightly crisp, sprinkle some rice flour and toss further and enjoy with your meal to make it crispier.

Tips: For example, while roasting Arbi, adding little rice flour when 3/4 is done gives it a crisp texture and does not get sticky and mushy. And the necessity to use excess oil also does not arise, thus making it healthier.

 

 

Mullu Sauthe Guliyappa / Cucumber Appe:

November 1, 2021

Like Kendathadya, this is one more recipe, which I love and cherish the fond memories of my childhood. This recipe is usually made with heirloom cucumber of our region, which is flavorful and watery compared to commercially available salad cucumber.

Ajji, my maternal grandma or my aunt used to prepare this dish for the evening snack. It used to be real fun, sitting in front of the wood fire, chatting with ajji, holding the plate full of two types of Guliyappa. One is the sweeter version with added jaggery, and the other is savoury, with added onion, chilli, and curry leaves. It is pure bliss, and we never recreate the moment of such a warm, comfortable atmosphere in today’s world.

Now, we would see the procedure of making Sweet and Savory version –

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 1 + 1 cup

Cucumber – 1 Big

Fresh grated Coconut – ½ + ½ cup

Salt

Jaggery – ½ cup (grated)

Onion – 1 medium

Curry leaves

Green chilli

Method:

-Wash, Soak rice in two bowls separately for 3 to 4 hours. Drain soaked water before grinding. (We are using an oozed water out of cucumber for grinding rice)

-Make jaggery syrup by boiling grated jaggery with very little water, sieve the liquid to remove all the impurities.

-Take one big cucumber, peel the skin, make halves, remove the inner core and seeds and grate it. Mix salt to the gratings, leave aside for 5 minutes.

When cucumber oozes its water, strain it through a sieve by extracting all oozed water and collecting it for grinding rice.

-Now, grind the batter for a sweeter version, take one set of drained rice, add ½ cup of Coconut, jaggery syrup, required amount of cucumber water and grind into not so smooth batter.

-To this batter, add tightly packed one cup of cucumber gratings and whip the mixer grinder to mix it thoroughly with the batter.

-Remove this batter to one vessel and allow to rest for 2 to 3 hours. (Resting the batter would help to make Guliyappa softer and flavorful)

-Now, it is time to make batter for the Savory version. Grind the same as the sweet version without adding jaggery. After adding and mixing the cucumber gratings, add chopped onion, green chilli and curry leaves.

-Remove this batter to one vessel and allow to rest for 2 to 3 hours. (Resting the batter would help to make Guliyappa softer and flavorful)

-After the resting period, heat the Appe/ Paddu pan, pour little ghee into each mould. When the paddu pan is hot, pour the batter, cook in a low flame, turn around, cook both sides properly, and enjoy the flavourful and delicious Sweet and Savoury Cucumber Guliyappa.

 

Bassaru Palya :

September 20, 2021

Now, what is bassaru? The literal transition of bassaru is Basida (drained) saru (Curry) in the Kannada language.  Here, we cook the legumes or dals and the choice of greens or veggies in an open vessel with little more water than the required amount to cook. When the cooking process ends, drain the water (stock) and use it for gravy by adding ground masala. Cooked veggies would turn into the dry curry with added seasoning. They are usually served with Ragi Mudde (finger millet balls) or Rice, topped with ghee with chopped onions or papads as an add-on. Bassaru is a staple affair in Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya, Hassan, Kolar, Tumkur region of Karnataka.

Bassaru Can be prepared using either Toor dal, Sprouted green gram, soaked black eye peas (karamani or Alasandekalu) or Sprouted horse gram etc. for protein ( also as a thickening agent to the curry)

If you prefer Greens, you can use the choice of greens except for fenugreek or Methi leaves.

If you don’t prefer greens, you can opt for any veggies such as French Beans, Ridge gourd, Cabbage etc.

Bassaru can be prepared in various ways, and each family has their method. Here, I am sharing how I make it and relish our Mudde Oota.

Ingredients for Saru:

Black eye bean – 1 cup (overnight soaked)

Chopped greens – 1 bowl

Salt

Green chillies – 4 to 5

Onion – ½ (chopped)

Garlic – 5 – 8

Curry leaves – 4 leaves

Coriander – 1 tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 tablespoon (chopped)

Coconut – 1 tablespoon

Tamarind – 1 tsp

For seasoning:

Oil – 1 tbl spoon

Mustard – 1tsp

Onion – ½ (chopped)

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Take one vessel, cook soaked bean. When it is half done, add chopped greens, salt and a pinch of jaggery (it is purely optional) and cook further.

-When beans and greens are perfectly cooked and done, drain the stock, collect the water and keep it ready. (take out one serving spoon of cooked legume to grind the masala).

-At first, we would prepare the masala.

-First, heat 1 tsp of oil, add coriander, cumin, curry leaves, green chillies, onion, garlic and fry until onion becomes translucent. Switch off the gas. Add in chopped coriander, coconut, tamarind and mix everything.

-When fried content is cooled, grind it into a smooth paste by adding one serving spoon of cooked legume by adding a little water.

-Now, reserve little ground masala in the mixer jar ( to make palya) and proceed to make saru.

-Take one vessel, mix drained water/stock, ground masala, adjust the consistency, check for the salt, boil until it is frothy.

-Do seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard, add curry leaves, chopped onion and fry until light brown. Add it to boiled bassaru.

Now we would see the procedure of palya:

-Take one tawa, heat oil, splutter mustard, add curry leaves, chunks of onion, fry until it is translucent. -Add reserved ground masala, fry for 2 minutes. Now, add cooked and drained legumes and greens.

-Check for the salt, seasoning, garnish with freshly grated coconut and mix everything and enjoy with ragi mudde or Rice.

Note:

-Please cook legumes or dals in an open cooking method. Don’t use the pressure cooker. It indeed makes it mushier and soggier.

 

Ragi Mudde/ Finger millet balls:

September 15, 2021

Ragi Mudde is a Humble, day to day meal of Hassan, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Tumkur, Kolar region of Karnataka. As a coastal girl, I never used to like Ragi Mudde earlier. As time passed, I learnt to make perfect; please read as “suitable to our palate” mudde and tasty Bassaru palya to go with it. It is one of our family favourites too.

Ragi Mudde is rich in calcium, well balanced, wholesome, healthy food. Perfect meal for elderly, diabetics, weight watchers.

Making of mudde is a real art. It needs little patience and perseverance. Like preparation, eating is also a tactic. Instead of chewing, Ghee laden mudde should be swallowed by dipping it in veg or non-veg curry.

Mudde can be prepared in various ways, and each family has their method. Here, I am sharing how I make it.

Ingredients:

Finger millet / Ragi flour – 1 cup

Water – 2cups

Salt – one pinch( optional)

Cooked rice – 1 or 2 tbl spoons

Ghee – 1 tsp

Method:

-Take one saucepan or thick vessel, heat water by adding salt, ghee, rice.

-When water starts boiling well, keep it in a simmer, add ragi flour and keep one wooden spoon or steel spoon and close the vessel with leaving a gap to allow to escape steam.

-After 5 min, you could smell the cooked ragi. At this juncture, open the lid, start to move the spoon in a circular motion to cook further until you feel the dough doesn’t stick to your finger while checking and the aroma of cooked ragi fills the nostrils. It takes a reasonable amount of time ( from 5 to 10 min)

When ready, transfer the cooked dough to a wooden chopping plank or a wet steel plate. Immerse your hand in a bowl of water, start making the required sized ball by pinching the main dough.

-If you are serving immediately while serving, add ghee and serve. Otherwise, reserve all the balls in a hot box.

Note: -The colour of the Mudde depends on the Ragi flour. 

-For the vegan version, omit ghee and use any vegetable oil.