mangalorean food

Breadfruit Peel Chutney:

October 10, 2017

Yes!!! You heard it right. In our household we never throw out nutritionally filled outer peel of the veggie or the seeds. I normally make it a point to use as frequently as possible in one form or the other. Normally vegetable stock is an easy option. If only one variety is available, chutney or relish is an alternative tasty option too.

Don’t throw away organically grown or home-grown veggie skins. These are a real treasure of flavour and vitamins. Normally breadfruit is grown without any pesticide.

This chutney can be relished with hot plain rice with ghee or with any flat breads.

chutney main

Ingredients:

Breadfruit peel – From one fruit

Coconut – ½ cup

Urad dal – 1 tea spoon

Cumin – ½ tea spoon

Dried red chilli – 2

Green chilli – 1 or 2

Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves

Tamarind – ½ tea spoon

Coconut oil – 1 table spoon

Salt

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tea spoon

Mustard – ½ tea spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Wash bread fruit peel before peeling. Once again wash and remove white latex, which oozed out while peeling.

-Take one small kadai, pour oil, when it is hot add urad dal fry until it is light brown.

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-Next add cumin, red chilli, and fry until chilli puffs and becomes crisp.

– Now add peels, garlic, green chilli and fry until outer peel changes its colour and wilts a little.

-Next you can add coconut, tamarind and salt, switch off the gas. Toss for one minute and cool this mixture.

-Grind this cooled mixture in a mixer grinder with enough water.

– Do seasoning by heating oil, splutter mustard and add curry leaves and pour it over the chutney.

Breadfruit/Deevi halasu sambar:

October 8, 2017

Breadfruit is seasonal much-loved veggie in our coastal region of Karnataka.

It is something we all grew up with – “a comfort food”

It can be consumed when it is mature, but still firm and can be cooked and eaten in so many forms.

This picture is not enough to bring out the glory of this sambar. This veggie is very soft, melt in the mouth type and combined with this sambar, it makes a heavenly gravy.

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Let us see how to prepare it –

Ingredients:

Bread fruit – 1

Salt

Red chilli powder – 1 tea spoon

Jaggery – 1 to 2 tsp

Toor dal – ¼ cup (cooked)

For masala:

Coriander – 1 table spoon

Cumin – ½ table spoon

Urad dal – 1 ½ table spoon

Hing – ¼ tea spoon

Grated fresh Coconut – 1 bowl

Tamarind – 1 tea spoon

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 table spoon

Mustard – 1 tea spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Onion – ½ (chopped)

Method:

– Apply some oil to your hand. To some extent it will protect your hand from blackening

– Take fresh breadfruit, wash properly. Take one sharp knife and remove outer skin as thin as possible and reserve this to make chutney. Yup!! you heard it right: D

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– Make four longitudinal pieces, remove inner pith (which is slightly harder and rubbery in nature)

-Immerse these pieces in bowl of water for 2 minutes.

– Take out and Make chunk like pieces.

– Cook these pieces with sufficient water, salt, jaggery, red chilli powder.

Ribbet collage 2

– Now take one kadai, add 1 tsp of coconut oil, put coriander, cumin, urad dal, hing and red chillies – fry in a low flame. When urad dal becomes red, switch off.

-Grind this masala by adding coconut, tamarind and required amount of water to fine paste.

-When breadfruit pieces are done, add cooked dal and ground masala. Check for the salt. Keep this on the stove top and boil this mixture.

-After it boils switch off and add seasoning by heating coconut oil, add mustard when it starts spluttering. Add curry leaves and chopped onion. Fry nicely till onion chunks are brown and add this over ready sambar.

-Enjoy this sambar with hot rice.

Genasale/Steamed rice cake with coconut jaggery filling:

September 30, 2017

Genasale is coconut and jaggery filled steamed kadubu or steamed rice cake, usually folded and steam cooked in banana leaves. Banana leaf gives beautiful aroma and a good taste to this Genasale. Genasale is prepared using few basic ingredients but the end result is mouth watering, everyone’s favourite dish.

In my ancestral home, Navaratri/Dasara is celebrated by worshiping Goddess Durga. This Genasale is the main offering to the Goddess during night puja. I still vividly remember waiting for this Genasale prasadam to be served, while having a scrumptious traditional dinner. Now let us learn how to prepare this Genasale or kayi kadubu (kayi = coconut).

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Ingredients:

Dosa rice /white rice – 2 cups

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Grated Jaggery – ½ cup (to taste).

Ghee/ Clarified butter – 4 tsp.

Salt to taste

Banana leaves

Method:

-Wash Dosa rice and soak it for 2 to 3 hours.

– Grind soaked rice in to a fine paste with minimal water and salt.

–Batter should be a little thick but of spreadable consistency.

– Add 2 tea spoon of ghee and mix nicely, keep aside.

–Now prepare filling by mixing coconut, jaggery, and little ghee and mix everything nicely. keep it aside.

–Now take banana leaf, hold this on a gas flame (for wilting), then clean it with a wet cloth.

-Now take one spoon of rice batter, apply on banana leaf like a thin Dosa.

Ribbet collage 1

– Take one spoon of jaggery mixture and Spread it over the thin Dosa and fold the banana leaf like a pocket.

– Steam cook for 30 min.

Ribbet collage 2

– Serve this Genasale with dollop of Ghee and Enjoy.

Citrus medica / Dudle huli Chithranna:

September 28, 2017

Dudle huli is a big lemon and is known as Citrus medica. Citrus medica is much bigger than normal lemon with thick outer rind and less sour and sweeter than normal lemon, excellent for thin Rasam, juice, pickles or Chithranna. This Chithranna is fragrant, rich in vitamin C and very tasty. We normally serve this in any festivals or weddings. It is a no onion no garlic recipe and we use mustard, dry red chilli and coconut for flavour. This is our traditional and much-loved recipe for Chithranna.

chithranna main

Ingredients:

Rice – 3 cups

Citrus medica – 1 (big citrus fruit)

Dried red chillies – 2 to 3

Mustard – 1 tsp

Coconut – ½ cup

Jaggery – 1 to 2 tsp

Salt

Oil – 1 tsp

Seasoning:

Coconut Oil – 3 tbl sp (any refined oil is ok)

Mustard – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Cumin – 1 tsp

Hing – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Ground nuts – ¼ cup

Method:

-For cooking rice:

Boil water in a big vessel by putting 1 tsp of salt and oil. Add washed rice and cook for 7 to 8 minutes or until it is soft and firm and cooks. Drain cooked water and spread this rice in a colander.

– Grind masala by putting coconut, roasted red chillies, mustard, jaggery and dry run without adding any water.

-Seasoning:

-Take one thick bottomed kadai, add oil and heat. When it is hot, add mustard.

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-When it starts splutter, add urad dal and ground nut and fry until it becomes little dark. Next add cumin, hing and curry leaves.

-Now add ground masala and fry for 2 minutes. Add drained rice, juice of citrus medica and salt.

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-Mix well and switch off the gas. Check for the seasoning and adjust according to your taste.

– This is very ideal vitamin C rich option for tiffin box as well.

Arrowroot Halwa:

September 26, 2017

Traditionally we call this Arrowroot halbayi. Which is easy to digest and considered as a very light food during fasting or illness. This should be consumed fresh and the shelf life of any halbayi is only 24 hours.

Arrowroot powder is extracted from the arrowroot plant, which is milky white in colour and powdery like corn starch. It has high nutritional content and is a very good substitute for bleached corn starch as a thickening agent in cooking. It is odourless and works well too.

Arrowroot powder’s “Easy to digest” quality is qualified to make infant food as well as to treat diarrhoea. It is usually consumed in a porridge form in our region. Usually, 1 tablespoon of powder is mixed with little water (according to the consistency) and cooked until it is shiny and glossy. Then with preferred seasonings like salt or jaggery.

Although it is a starch, it contains no gluten, so works well in gluten-free baking or cooking as well.

Ingredients:

Use a small tumbler to measure arrowroot, milk and jaggery or sugar.

Arrowroot powder – 1 cup

Coconut milk or milk – 1 cup

Jaggery or sugar – 1 cup (grated)

Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Water – 2 cups

Cashew bits – 2 tablespoons

Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon

Method:

– Mix arrowroot powder in water and keep aside for one hour.

– After an hour, pour the top/soaked water. Add 2 cups of water, mix nicely and sieve this solution to remove any impurities.

– Make jaggery syrup by adding little water, boil and sieve the solution to remove any impurities.

– Grease one steel plate with little ghee and keep it aside. Roast cashew bits with a drop of ghee and keep aside.

– Mix sieved mixture, coconut milk, jaggery syrup in one thick Kadai and heat the mixture by stirring continuously on low fire.

– Add ghee in-between, when it is half done add cardamom powder, cashew and stir once.

– When the mixture leaves the sides of the vessel and becomes one mass and non-sticky, pour the mixture to a greased plate.

– Take one flat spoon/ladle, apply some ghee to the back of the ladle and press the mixture to give a uniformly smooth texture and even thickness.

– When it cools down a little, mark and cut this into the desired shape and serve.

– Please note, this halwa/ halbayi stands good only for one day. If you want to enjoy this dish over more days, you should store this in a refrigerator and reheat it before serving.

Sorekayi Kottige / Bottle gourd steam dumpling:

September 22, 2017

Sorekayi is nothing but humble bottle gourd, which we usually neglect to use in our daily diet, which incidentally has numerous health benefits. In our native, bottle gourd is mainly used to treat stomach illness or jaundice. It is believed that, it has the power (anti-inflammatory properties) to heal our Liver and intestine during the illness. Bottle gourd has close to 90% water content and is great on the stomach and light on digestion. Apart from this, bottle gourd juice is very good for weight watchers, diabetics and for a healthy heart too. We have so many traditional preparations of bottle gourd and all are very low in calories and tasty too.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 2 cups

Bottle gourd – 1 or 2 (according to size)

Salt

Banana leaves or turmeric leaves – to wrap

Method:

-Wash Dosa rice and soak it for 3 hours.

-Grate bottle gourd by using big hole of a grater or chop it into very small chunks.

-Grind soaked rice into a fine paste with minimal amount of water and salt.

-Mix chopped or grated veggie and rice batter.

-If you are using turmeric leaves, wipe it and use as it is.

-If you are using banana leaves, take banana leaf, hold it over a gas flame (for wilting) then clean it with a wet cloth.

– If you are using turmeric leaves, use 2 leaves, place it in a “Plus” position, now pour one serving spoon of batter and fold the leaves like a packet.

-If you are using banana leaf, pour batter, fold side wise, then close the ends.

-Steam cook these ready packets in a water filled idly steamer for 30 minutes to 40 minutes in a medium heat.

– Serve this kottige with jaggery syrup with ghee / Honey, coconut chutney or sambar.

Onion Chutney with Coconut:

September 14, 2017

We normally refer to this as Neerulli Chutney in Mangalore. Here Neerulli is Onion.Coconut is an integral part of our cooking. This is how we prepare onion chutney traditionally in our households. It can be paired with anything and everything from our breakfast list.

Ingredient:

Grated Coconut – 1cup

Red chillies – 2 (Byadagi variety)

Salt – as required

Tamarind – ¼ tsp

Onion – ½ of medium size.

For seasoning-

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Mustard – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – 1spring

Method:

-Roast the red chillies by putting 2 drops of oil.

-Chop onion

-Grind Coconut, roasted red chillies, tamarind, onion by adding required amount of water and salt into smooth paste.

– Empty out this paste to one small bowl.

-Do seasoning by heating oil, add mustard. When mustard starts to splutter, add curry leaves and pour this over the chutney.

Ili Kivi leaves Tambli:

September 10, 2017

Emilia sonchifolia, Cupid’s Shaving Brush, Lilac tassel flower is locally known as Ili Kivi in Kannada. Sasasruti in Sanskrit and it is one among the “Ten sacred flowers of Kerala state in India, collectively known as Dasapushpam. It has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of fever, sore throat, diarrhoea, eczema and as an antidote for snake bites.

The plant requires well drained soil and grows in open fields. it is an annual herb with weak and erect stems. Leaves are ovate or obovate. The flowers are pinkish purple in colour and usually blooms around July to October. Herb contains Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, sodium and Potassium and some vitamins too. The herb is used as a folk medicine not only in India as well as China and some other parts of the world too.

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According to Ayurveda plant pacifies Kapha, vata and is effective in treating fever, tonsillitis; juice is a natural for eye diseases. It is also good in conditions like worm infections and allergy. Whole plant is crushed and the juice is extracted and is used to cure intestinal worms. The paste of the plant is useful for bleeding piles. A decoction of the plant is good in bringing down fever. The herb is useful in treating cough and bronchitis. Applying a paste on the thyroid region helps to cure the swelling in is sometimes used in cases of diabetes. (Details are from this website)

Whenever I come across this plant, I don’t hesitate to make use of it and usually prepare this Tambli for lunch.

Ingredients:

Ili Kivi leaves – from one plant

Cumin – ½ tsp

Black pepper – 4

Bird eye chilli – 2

Ghee – 1 tsp

Coconut – ½ cup

Salt

Butter milk – ½ cup

Seasoning: ghee – ½ Tsp, cumin – ½ tsp, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

-Wash leaves, Chop.

-take 1 tsp of ghee in a small kadai. When it is hot, add cumin , pepper and bird eye chilli. If you don’t have bird eye chillies, instead you can use half green chilli and roast. Then add chopped leaves and fry until it wilts.

– Now take out all these fried items and cool.

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-Grind this into smooth paste by adding coconut, salt and little water.

-Put this into a vessel, add buttermilk, and adjust the consistency by adding little water if needed.

-Consistency should be like normal milk.

– Add seasoning by heating ghee, cumin and curry leaves.

– Enjoy this with hot rice.

Aviyal/Avial OR Avilu:

September 2, 2017

Aviyal is a mixed vegetable dish cooked in coconut gravy by adding some curd/yoghurt, Raw coconut oil and lots of curry leaves. It is an integral part of any festival cooking and It is believed that Bhima, one of the Pandava’s, invented this dish, during their exile period. Avial is a must dish during Onam Sadhya in Kerala. Aviyal is one of the favorite dishes of my family. I learnt this recipe from my mom-in-law. This is how we do this recipe in our family.

pic main Ingredients:

Ivy gourd – 250gms.

Brinjal – 1

Snake gourd -1

Raw banana -1

Yam -250 grams.

Ridge gourd-1

Yard long beans -250 grams.

Bitter gourd -1

Coloured cucumber – 1

Raw mango-1 or Hog plum -4

Fresh grated Coconut – From one coconut.

Butter milk – 1 cup

Coconut oil – 6 tsp.

Jeera/cumin -1 tsp.

Dry red chilli – 2

Green chilli -4 to 5

Red chilli powder – 1tsp.

Turmeric Powder – 1tsp.

Curry Leaves- 5 springs.

Salt

Procedure:

1. Cut all the above-mentioned vegetables in a matchstick manner (slightly big pieces). collage 1

2. Take all the vegetables and slit green chilies in a heavy bottomed vessel. To this add little red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and little water and cook till the veggies are done.

3. In the meantime, prepare coconut paste by adding grated coconut, jeera, dry red chilli in a mixer jar. Add little water, grind and keep it aside.

4.When veggies are cooked add this coconut paste along with butter milk. Mix nicely.

5.To this mixture add lot of curry leaves and pour raw coconut oil. Press everything using back of the ladle, close tightly using a plate and continue cooking till it boils nicely.

6.Once it starts boiling, switch-off the gas and delicious avial is ready to serve.

7. You can enjoy this Avial with rice, roti or Neer Dosa.

NOTE: -Try to add all the mentioned vegetables as much as possible.

– Usage of coconut oil will give the authentic taste.

Banana Berati / Plantain Preserve:

August 29, 2017

Whenever you have large stock of over ripe bananas, this is one such procedure one can follow and finish off all the stock and preserve this for future use. This preserve stays good almost a year or more in the freezer. It is a very handy when you want to make banana payasam/kheer or Halwa. Here I have used yellow small variety of banana from Mangalore and we call this as Kadali.

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Ingredients:

Over ripe banana – 22

Sugar – 1 bowl

Method:

– Put all the peeled bananas to mixer grinder and make a smooth paste.

– Measure this by using any bowl of your choice. If this paste is 3 cups in quantity take one cup of sugar in that same measurement cup.

– So, your ratio of banana paste and sugar will be 3:1.

– Take one thick bottomed kadai, put this paste and keep gas flame in a very low flame and cook for a while.

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– When it changes its colour to milky white, then to a pale colour and when you smell the banana flavour in the air, add sugar and mix this in a regular interval.

– After some time, it will turn into a pinkish or reddish colour and it will start to leave the sides of the kadai. Now it is the time to remove it from the fire.

collage 2

– Keep as it is and when it reaches room temperature; store it in an airtight container or a zip lock.

– You can do this in a microwave as well. Only thing, you should remove the glass bowl at regular intervals and give a stir and proceed as given above.

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