Kodagasana / Kutaja Tambli :

The Kutaja plant (Holarrhena antidysenterica) is one of India’s most valuable medicinal plants. also known as ‘Indrajav’, ‘Coneru’ in English, and ‘Kutaja’ in Sanskrit,

(Picture Courtesy: Swathi )

In our language, It is called kodagasana, kodasige, kodenchi, kurchi etc.

The scientific name of this plant itself suggests the use of this plant.’ Holos means whole, and ‘Arrhen’ means male. So ‘Holarrhena’ means the male part of the flower or entire anther (The part of the stamen where pollen is produced), and ‘antidysenterica’ is to stop dysentery.

Kutaja plants are common in tropical parts, especially in rocky areas of India. Here, Ku-taja, as the name depicts, is grown in-between rocks.

 Now, how it is procured or stored: In season, we pluck the flowers, clean them and sun dry them for a few days till it shrinks and becomes brown and crisp. We store it for years and use it as and when needed to treat or maintain gut health.

In our region, our ancestors occasionally included Kutaja flowers to maintain tummy health by frying 7 to 8 flowers in little ghee and having it with the first morsel of rice while having lunch.

In some households, it is used while seasoning the Huli menasu ( one of the age-old recipes)

We all know how our grandmoms treated us for our tummy aches, be it because of overeating during childhood, excess indulgence during summer vacation, or any upset tummy episodes.

The only remedy was Kutajarishta, an ayurvedic concoction OR

Homemade kutaja or kodagasana tambli: recipes of our region.

Let us see how it is made in our household –

Ingredients:

Dried Kutaja flowers – 8 to 12

Ghee or coconut oil – ½  tsp

Black peppercorns – 6 to 8

Grated Fresh Coconut – ½ cup

Buttermilk – 1 serving spoon

Method:

-Take ½ tsp of ghee or oil, and fry kutaja flowers and peppercorns.

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

-Add buttermilk and adjust the consistency by adding water and boil once.

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

Raw Mango Thokku:

Raw Mango, the name itself makes us drool. Summer is always the time to relish Mango, from tangy to sweetest form. Here, I have shared a super simple, quickest form of relish. Mango thokku is a perfect balance of hot and sour tastes and goes very well with every possible dish. It can be used as a chutney, spread or with curd rice or Indian dal.

Things which we have to keep in our mind are,

-Use thick bottomed steel or anodised cookware. (please don’t use aluminium or iron Kadai while cooking souring agents) 

-Usage of Mango: Thothapuri variety is ideal for this.

-The quantity of Oil: If you want to store the thokku for a longer duration, use more oil, and if it is for quick use, with a shorter shelf life, use less oil and keep it under refrigeration.

-To get an authentic taste, use cold-pressed sesame oil or Til oil. If you don’t like the overpowering taste of til, add half the amount of sesame oil and half the amount of Sunflower oil.

Ingredients:

Thothapuri Mango – 2

Oil – ½ cup ( ¼ cup of sesame + ¼ cup of sunflower oil)

Mustard – 1 tbl spoon

Broken red chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Salt – acc to your taste

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1 to 2 tbl spoons ( acc to the required hotness)

Roasted methi powder – ½ tsp

Method:

-Wash, peel and grate the mangoes.

-Heat Kadai, add oil and Do the process in low heat to avoid burning. Splutter mustard, fry red chilli and curry leaves.

-Add grated mangoes, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. When it starts wilting, add turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, and cook further.

When oil starts to ooze out at the sides, add roasted methi powder, cook some more time, and switch off.

-Cool the mixture, and store it in a dry glass bottle. Enjoy with hot rice, rotis or even toasted bread.

 

 

 

Basale bendi / Malabar spinach and jack seed curry :

I have shared some Basale / Malabar spinach recipes and jack seed recipes in my previous posts. If you are interested in finding out more Mangalore-based recipes, such as basale Chutney and basale with raw papaya curry, the method to preserve jackseed, hummus, the side dish with coloured cucumber, dry curry with bamboo shoot and Rasam. Please click the hyperlink and check it out.

As we all know, basale is rich in iron, fibre, and vitamins and low in calories. When combined with jackseed, natural plant protein is an added benefit; cooked jackseed is creamy in texture, tasty to the palette and healthy for our bodies.

Here is the most amazing Malabar spinach and jack seed recipe from my family to yours, which is a perfect pair with Hot Rice or traditional red rice rotti or Rotti using rice flour.

Ingredients:

Malabar spinach – 250- 300 grams

Jack seeds – 12 to 15 ( crushed and shelled) OR Soaked black-eyed peas (white)

Onion – 1 sliced (medium)

Turmeric – 1tsp

Salt – as required

Jaggery – ½ tsp (optional)

Red chilli powder – 1tsp

Tamarind – small gooseberry size, soaked in water.

For the Masala Paste:

Grated fresh coconut – 1 cup

Red chillies – 4 to 6 ( Byadagi)

Coriander seeds – 1 tbl spoon

Cumin – 1 tsp

Garlic – 2 cloves (optional)

For the seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tbl spoon

Mustard – 1 tsp

Red chilli – 1

Crushed garlic – 8 – 10

Curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

-If you use Pieces of stems from the Malabar spinach, cook those stems with salt in a pressure cooker for 2 to 3 whistles. Add Jack seed or Black-eyed peas and chopped Malabar spinach greens, tamarind water, salt, jaggery, and red chilli powder when the pressure releases.

-cook further in an open vessel or close the lid of the pressure cooker and give one whistle.

-Now, make masala. Heat a coconut oil, coriander, cumin, garlic, and red chillies, and fry until crisp. Now, grind these fried items with coconut and make a smooth paste.

-Add the ground masala to cooked veggies, boil, and season.

-For seasoning, heat coconut oil, splutter mustard, add crushed garlic and red chilli, and fry until it turns light brown; add curry leaves and pour it over the curry. Enjoy with Dosa, Rotti, or rice.  

Badanekai palya/ Brinjal dry curry:

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.

Ambate /Hog Plum pickle :

We call Hog plum “Amtekai” in Kannada and “ambate” in our local language. In our region, you will find two varieties of hog plums. One is Wild variety, also known as Indian sour hog plum, and the other is grafted or Kashi Amtekai/ hog plum.  Grafted variety is nothing but Hog plums which we usually find in South America or Southeast Asia. Also known as Ambarella or Golden apple, which belongs to Spondias Dulcis.

The wild variety, Spondias pinnata, is commonly known as Amtekai/ Amra/Amda/Hog Plum/Junglee Aam in India. Because of its sour taste, it is usually used in pickle making or as a souring agent in some traditional curries. When it matures, a seed becomes woody, and skin becomes thin.

After a long time, I found these beauties in the Mangalore store, which I frequently visited. A lot of preparation goes behind the making of a pickle. I observed that the recipe flowed down from generation to generation. A spoonful of this pickle, which is spicy and tangy, is enough to perk up a bland meal, or as a south Indian, it is a divine combo with thick curd rice.

Ingredients:

Hog plum – 500 gms

Salt – 2 cups

Water – 2 cups

For the pickle Masala:

Dried Red chillies – 100 grams ( I have taken ½  of Byadagi and  ½ of Guntur to balance the heat)

Mustard – 25 grams

Methi – 1 tbl spoon

Hing – ½ tsp

Turmeric – 2 tsp

Method:

-Wash, drain the hog plums. Put it under the sunlight for 2 hours.

-Now, crush and separate the skin from the inner hard seed. Keeping under the sun would help loosen up the skin from the core.

-Now, prepare saltwater. Take 2 cups of salt, 2 cups of water and boil nicely.

-Switch off the gas, add the hog plum pieces, inner core and leave it to cool. In this way, hog plum would soften quick and absorb the salt properly.

To make Pickle Masala:

-Dry Roast Methi seeds until dark brown, then mustard seeds until it pops, then hing, turmeric.

-Put 1 tsp of oil and roast chillies until it puffs and becomes crisp. Cool everything and make powder.

-Add this powder to a cooled hogplum added salt solution, and mix properly. Store it in a dry glass bottle, leave it aside for a couple of days to mature and absorb all the flavours.

-Then, store it in a refrigerator to extend its shelf life. When it is ready, enjoy it with curd rice.

Bendekai Kayirasa / Ladies finger coconut curry:

Kayirasa is one of our almost extinct dishes, which can be seen only in our rural houses and found only in our community / homely recipe. It is coconut-based, slightly sweetish, and pairs well with hot boiled red rice or white rice.

Like Sambar, we always use a light green or purple coloured heirloom variety of Bhindi to make Kayirasa. I have never tried Kayirasa with any other types of Bhindi. It is my childhood favourite, and I used to ask my ajji / Grandmother to prepare whenever I visited her. Her preparation tasted like heaven, and I could never replicate that taste even if I used clay pot like her. Grandmothers are ultimate, and they have a magic wand in their hand to dish out such a delicious meal.  

Ingredient:

Bendekai / Ladies finger – ½ kg

Tamarind – big gooseberry size.

Salt

Jaggery

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp

Fresh coconut – 1 big bowl

Urad dal – 1 tablespoon

Dried red chillies – 3 to 4

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 to 2 springs

Method:

–Soak tamarind, boil with little added water, salt, jaggery, red chilli powder.

-When it starts boiling, add chopped Bhindi. Allow cooking on a low flame.

-To avoid sliminess,  don’t close the lid or put a spoon to mix while boiling Bhindi.

-In the meantime, prepare the masala: heat coconut oil, fry urad dal, red chillies. Grind into smooth paste by adding coconut and water.

-Add the ground masala to cooked veggie, boil nicely by adding sufficient water to adjust the consistency.

-Do the seasoning and serve with hot rice.

 

Vegetable and Soya Nuggets Biryani:

This recipe is for Soya Chunk/ nuggets lovers. Soya is known as vegetarian meat. A full-fledged protein source is a by-product of extracting soyabean oil and is relatively healthy, fibre-rich apart from the nutritional value.

Even though I’m not fond of the smell of Soya, My family love to have soya chunks in gravies or Biryani.

Let us see the Dum Biryani / which I make.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice – 2 cups (standard cup)

Soya Nuggets – ½ packet ( 2 or 3 cups)

Cashew – 1 fistful ( you can take a  mixture of melon seed and Cashew as well)

Milk – to soak Cashew (vegans can use hot water as well)

Onions – 4 medium-sized ( 2 for frying, 2 for the gravy masala)

Veggies – 1 cup ( Beans, Carrot, green peas )

Garam masala or Biryani masala – 2 tbl spoons

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Oil- ½ cup ( to deep fry onion and further cooking process)

Rosewater – 1 tablespoon

Lemon – Juice of 1 lemon

Saffron – 7 to 8 strands soaked in 2 tbl spoon of milk (vegans can use any plant-based milk)

Coriander and pudina leaves – chopped (as needed)

For the Gravy Masala:

To Ground into a paste:

Dry ingredients: Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon, Cinnamon – 1″, Bayleaf – 1, clove – 2, Star anise – 1, Cardamom – 2, Black cardamom – 1, Black peppercorn – 5 to 6, Red chillies – 3 ( Byadagi)

Ginger garlic paste – 1 ½ tablespoon

Coconut – 2 tablespoons

To Make Gravy:

Cumin or Shajeera – 1 tsp, Cardamom – 2, Star anise – 1, Cinnamon -1″, bay leaf – 2, Black cardamom – 1, Stone flower – 1 small chunk.

Method:

-Wash rice, soak for 10 minutes. Take one big pot, fill the water, add little salt, turmeric, 1 tsp of oil, one bay leaf, one cardamom, 1″ cinnamon. When it starts boiling, add soaked rice, cook only for 7 min (1/2 done), drain the water and keep aside.

-Soak Saffron in a two tbl spoon of hot milk and keep it aside.

-Soak Cashew and melon seeds in hot milk, keep it ready.

-Boil water in a saucepan, add a pinch of salt and give one boil for the soya chunks; drain and keep it aside.

-Slice 2 onions, drain the excess moisture and deep fry and keep it aside. I usually sprinkle little salt and garam masala to this and mix it delicately.

-Now onwards, use leftover oil from the deep-fried onions.

Let us move towards grinding masala:

-Take one Kadai, add little oil, add all the masalas from Coriander seeds, Cinnamon, Bayleaf, clove, Star anise, Cardamom,  Black cardamom, Black peppercorns, Red chillies fry well. Add chopped two onions, fry until it is transparent. Add ginger-garlic paste fry for 2 minutes. Add in coconut fry for 2 minutes. Cool the mixture, grind with soaked Cashew and make a fine /smooth paste.

Next step is making veggie and soya nuggets gravy: 

Take one Kadai, Add little oil, drop everything from shah jeera, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaf, black cardamom, stone flower. After frying for 2 minutes, add in chopped veggies (beans, carrot, peas). Fry nicely by adding salt, a pinch of sugar, garam masala/biryani masala and red chilli powder. Add in ground masala, fry until oil oozes out. Adjust the consistency by adding water. When it starts boiling, add in drained soya chunks and give one boil. Switch off. Now, gravy is ready, and we are moving towards preparing dum by layering this with cooked rice and other elements.

To Make Dum:

We need to layer the veggie and soya nuggets gravy, cooked rice, chopped coriander and pudina, lemon water, rose water, saffron milk, deep-fried onions and leftover oil after deep frying onions. Hence, keep everything in your hands reach.

I use my pressure pan or big Kadai to assemble Dum.

-Apply ghee or oil to the surface of Kadai or pan. Roughly, take one-third of the soya gravy and spread it at the bottom of the vessel.

Next, take 1/3 of the rice, spread it over the soya gravy. Now, Sprinkle 1/3 of each rose water, saffron milk, lemon juice, fried onions, chopped pudina and coriander.

-Next, 2nd layer of gravy, rice and repeat the process.

-Next, 3rd layer of gravy, remaining rice, lemon water, saffron milk, Rosewater, chopped greens, fried onions.

Now, make a hole at the centre by using your forefinger, pour all the remaining onion fried oil to the bottom, close the lid, and keep it in a simmer for 7 to 10 minutes.

 

 

Jackfruit seeds Rasam:

Jack seeds Rasam, perfect for rainy weather. It is a nutritious, authentic way to soothe our souls.

Traditionally, we use freshly roasted and ground masala to prepare the jack seed Rasam. Here, I took a shortcut method to ease my work, without affecting the outcome.

I usually keep the jack seed in my freezer, and the procedure is here. Other than that, I have a couple of other jack seed recipes in my blog. One is jack seed with Bamboo shoot, and another one is with Mangalore cucumber; both are our traditional recipes. Other than that, I have tried and shared jack seed Hummus, which is tasty, creamy and delicious.

Now, let us see the procedure of Rasam. It hardly needs any ingredients. A fistful of jack seeds and Rasam powder creates the magic.

Ingredients:

Jack seeds – 10 -15

Green chillies – 1 or 2

Rasam powder – 1 to 2 tbl spoons

Coconut – 1 to 2 tablespoons

Tamarind – small gooseberry size

Hing – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Jaggery – to taste

Seasoning:

Coconut Oil – 1 tsp, Mustard – 1 tsp, red chilli – 1, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

– Here, I add a little more seeds than the required amount. I like to retain those seeds in the rasam to enjoy the creaminess.

-Cook a fistful of jack seeds in an open vessel or cooker for one whistle. Peel the outer skin ( pink in colour)

-Take one serving spoon of cooked seeds, Rasam powder, coconut and grind into a smooth paste.

-Now take remaining cooked jack seeds with water, salt, jaggery, slit green chillies, hing and boil for 5 minutes.

– Add ground paste, tamarind pulp, adjust the consistency, boil well. Add seasoning and enjoy with hot rice and some papad.

 

 

 

Mundi Gedde – chana palya /Giant taro and dry chickpea curry :

Belong to the Alocasia family, and leaves are giant, glossy, resembles an elephant ear. Hence, it is also known as Elephant’s ear plant. Alocasia means “like the colocasia but not the colocasia”. Giant Taro is a good source of Vitamin C, Iron, and phosphorus.

In our native, leaves are used as an alternative to the plastic sheet, while sun drying papads or fryums in Summer months.

Which is best described as a “Stem crop” as the edible starchy stem is seen above the ground, which is light brown in colour, coarse outer surface grows upright, erect, in a  cylindrical shape.

I have shared the details regarding Mundi Gedde/ Giant Taro in this post,

As most plant in this taro family, even this has Calcium oxalate, which itches our hand or mouth while eating if we do not handle it properly. Here, using hot boiling water and using the right amount of tamarind takes care to emit the itchiness.

Today, I will share one more traditional recipe of our region and one of the favourite side dishes you find in our wedding menu.

Ingredient:

Mundi/ Giant taro – around ¼ kg

White chickpeas – ½ cup

Salt- as needed

Jaggery – as needed

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp to 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

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

For Masala: Coconut – ¼ cup, Methi – ¼ tsp,  Red chillies – 3

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

To garnish: raw coconut oil – 1tsp and curry leaves – 2 springs.

Method:

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

-Now prepare the giant taro;

-We usually do not wash the Giant taro stem before cutting nor peeling. Spread one newspaper, remove all the outer brown woody skin, chop the stem into pieces as you needed.

-Wash those pieces in water by using a spatula, drain and put immediately in boiling water,  cook until it is almost done, drain and proceed to the actual cooking. Now it is ready to cook.

-For palya, prepare the seasoning. Heat oil, splutter mustard, fry urad dal, add curry leaves.

 -Add tamarind extract, salt, jaggery, red chilli powder, turmeric and, boil until water evaporates.

-Meanwhile, prepare the masala. Fry methi seeds in little oil, when it is light brown, add dried red chillies, fry until it is crisp. Dry grind these ingredients with coconut.

-Add the ground powder to cooked veggies and mix nicely, allow it to cook for 2 minutes by closing the lid.

-Now, garnish with raw coconut oil and curry leaves. Close the lid, switch off the gas. Leave this for a while. Before serving, mix nicely and serve.

Gujje Huli menasu / Tender jackfruit curry:

In our region, Raw jackfruit curry relished in every possible way and every possible stage of its growth. Huli Menasu is nothing but tamarind and dried chillies. The speciality of this sambar is no frying or roasting the masala. It is no fuss masala but, the flavour is unthinkable. It is an experience by itself. It is one of our family favourites, and today, sharing it with you all.

I have many raw jackfruit recipes in my blog, including “how to chop” the young jackfruit for beginners.

To get an authentic taste, one should use coconut oil and fresh grated coconut for this curry.

Now we will see the recipe part.

Ingredients:

Raw jackfruit cubes – 1 bowl

Salt

Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Fresh coconut – 1 bowl

Red Byadagi chillies – 3 to 5

Tamarind – gooseberry size

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

For seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

Mustard – 1 teaspoon

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Garlic – 10 cloves (crushed)

Method:

-Cook Raw jackfruit pieces in a sufficient amount of water. Add salt and red chilli powder, turmeric as well.

-In the meantime, grind smooth masala by putting coconut, tamarind, red chillies.

-When jack pieces are soft/ cooked, add ground masala, adjust the consistency and boil.

-When the mixture boils nicely, switch off the gas.

-Prepare seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard, add garlic, red chilli, curry leaves.

-When garlic becomes deep brown, add the seasoning over boiled gravy.

-Keep this closed for a while before serving to absorb all the flavours.

-Serve with hot rice.