Category: Karnataka

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 3rd 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.

Kodagasana / Kutaja Tambli :

March 14, 2023

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.

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

OR

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.

Sajjige ladoo/ Rava laddu:

October 24, 2022

Happy Deepavali wishes to dear readers.

Sajjige is semolina or Rava in our mangaluru, coastal region of Karnataka. Rava ladoo has never made an appearance in my blog. Hence, I made the ladoo for this Diwali and here I am, sharing a mouth-watering super soft laddu of our region. To make this ladoo, we need minimal ingredients and don’t need any milk or coconut, and it has a good shelf life when stored in an airtight container.

This laddu recipe is an age-old recipe I learned from my friend’s mom.

Method:

Medium Rava – 4 cups (also known as Uppittu rava/Bombay rava)

Ghee – 3 to 4 tablespoons

Cloves -4 (crushed)

Saffron strands – 8- 10

Cardamom – 1tsp

Cashew bits – 3 to 5 tablespoons (fried)

Raisins – 3 tablespoons (use as it is)

Sugar – 3 ½ cups

Water – 1 ¾ cup (just enough to cover the sugar)

Method:

-Take little ghee and fry cashew bits and keep it aside.

-Put Rava, saffron, and crushed cloves, and roast everything until it is grainy and white by adding ghee.

-In a saucepan or thick-bottomed pan, make a sugar syrup of half-thread consistency. Now, this is very important to get soft, melt-in-a-mouth laddu.

(To make sugar syrup, heat sugar and water until it boils and becomes shiny. To test the half-thread consistency, touch the sugar syrup between your forefinger and thumb, and when you open those fingers away, the sugar thread should break).

-Now, mix roasted rava, cardamom powder, roasted cashew, and raisins and mix everything properly. Mass would look watery, no worries. Close the lid and keep it aside for some time ( it takes 1 hour or more) until the mixture dries up.

-start binding the roundels and keep them aside to cool and dry properly. Store it in an airtight container and enjoy.

Hagalakai Melara / Bitter gourd Majjige Huli :

September 7, 2022

Bittergourd always comes under the Love or Hate category. People are fond of this veggie or hate it at the core. Bitter gourd is an acquired taste. All four of us in our family love it and Bitter gourd Melara is synonymous with the Chowthi celebration at our home. As a kid, I relished Chakli dunked in this Melara, and the custom continues with my daughters.

In Mangalore, we always use pale/white bitter gourd the most,taste-wise less bitter and loved by many.

Method:

Ingredient:

Bitter gourd – 1 big

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

Method:

-Wash the bitter gourd, slice roundels, and if seeds are hard, remove seeds.

-Boil little water, add tamarind pulp, slit green chillies, salt, and Bitter gourd roundels and cook until it is soft and perfect.

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

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

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

The best way to have this Melara is during festivals when Chakli is made. That too Chakli immersed in a pool of bitter gourd Melara. Try this if you have not tried it yet.

Sajjige idli/ Urad and Rava idli:

August 29, 2022

It is a no rice, fermented idli using ground urad dal and steamed rava. The outcome is pillowy soft idlies. We avoid rice before the main pooja, which is taboo in our customs. Hence, it is a default breakfast option in our family, especially in our community, on festival days or any auspicious day.

Here is the recipe, which we follow

Urad dal – 1 cup

Upma Rava / Bombay rava – 2 cups

Salt

Method:

-Wash urad dal and soak it for 3 to 4 hours.

-Grind soaked urad dal into fine paste by adding sufficient water.

-Now, take one cotton cloth, pour rava, and tie it like a potli/ packet.

-Take one idli steamer with water at the bottom. When water starts boiling, place the tied towel with rava and steam cook for 10 to 20 min in low heat.  

-After 20 min, remove the towel, loosen the knot, spread the rava and cool it.

-Add cooled rava and required salt to urad dal paste and make a batter by mixing and adding sufficient water.

-Batter needs to be like regular idli batter and allow it to ferment acc to your climate.

-next day, prepare idli like regular idli or by using banana leaf or steel tumblers etc.

-If you are following the procedure like me, use wilted banana leaf, pour the batter and steam for 30 minutes or more, according to the thickness.

-Serve with chutney, thovve,  sambar or menthe kodilu (methi sambar).

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 4th 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.

Capsicum Upma/ Uppittu:

August 10, 2022

Uppittu/ Upma can be prepared in so many ways. Each recipe has its unique flavour and is an excellent option when you want to eat a quick, no-preparation meal. Upma works out well and fits the bill on any meal and time of the day, even as a tiffin box item.

My daughters, who love Upma in any form, have a particular fondness for Capsicum Uppittu, and that was why I want to share this much-loved recipe, under “beginners guide” in my blog. 

Ingredients:

Fine rava / Bombay rava / Uppittu  rava – 2 cups

Oil – 6 tablespoons

Mustard – 1tsp

Urad dal – ½ tsp

Chana dal – ½ tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

Cashew nuts – 2 tablespoons

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Onion – 1 big (chopped)

Green chillies – 2 to 3

Small Tomato – 1 ( optional)

Capsicum – 1

Salt

Water – 5 cups

Coriander leaves – as much as needed

Grated Coconut – as much as needed

Method:

-Boil water in one vessel by adding the required amount of salt.

– Take one Kadai, add oil, splutter mustard, cumin, urad, chana dal, cashew nuts, curry leaves, green chillies, onion, and fry.

-If you are adding Tomato, add now and fry for a while.

-Next, add chopped capsicum and fry until it is soft.

-Now add Rava and fry till it is grainy. Add coriander leaves, and fry until it is crisp.

-Add water, and cook on a low flame by closing the lid.

Garnish with grated Coconut, close the lid, and leave it for resting.

-After 5 to 10 min, if you mix it, upma would turn perfect in texture and soft.

-Serve and enjoy.