Category: No Onion No Garlic

Chibud Harshale/ Mash melon Rasayana:

March 26, 2020

Chibud is a variety of Melon which is oblong and larger in size, normally found in various parts of India. Known by many names like chibbada, Chiber, Mash melon, Cucumis melo.

It belongs to the melon family; outer skin is like coloured cucumber and taste is bland and fleshy. Normally used in a raw uncooked form by making juice, lassi, salad or coconut milk or plain milk laden Rasayana as well as Poha added Rasayana. which is a snack by itself and considered as a Vrat/ fasting Food.

Just few days back, when I was returning from Karkal, found this fruit after a long time and picked up and relished with family by making Poha added Chilled Rasayana in this summer Heat.

If you want to try this recipe, you can use over ripe musk melons or Banana and proceed.

Ingredients:

Chibud melon – 1

Grated jaggery – as required

Coconut milk / plain milk – 1 to 2 cups

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Poha – little

Method:

-Chop Chibud melon into small chunks by removing outer skin as well as centre core.

-Mix in jaggery powder, cardamom powder and mix nicely.

-After mixing jaggery, it melts a little. If you are serving it chilled, refrigerate it.

-While serving, mix in coconut milk or plain milk according to your choice.

-Add little poha and serve as a cool snack.

Mango ginger Thokku:

March 17, 2020

Mango ginger! Yes, it is a rhizome, resembles more of a ginger and tastes like Mango sans tanginess.

It is locally known as Mangannari /mavinakai shunti in Kannada and Aam Haldi in Hindi. Mango ginger is an antioxidant, anti-fungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory.

In our native, it is widely used in our traditional cooking.  We usually make Chutney or Tambli and add lemon to the pickle. I’ve never tried or eaten the Thokku version. My dear friend Smitha sent me her grandmom’s recipe and asked me to prepare and post it on my blog. Heirloom recipes are very dear to my heart, and I am fortunate to get the soul-satisfying, tasty, and flavorful recipe of mango ginger Thokku.

 Ingredients:

Mango ginger – 200 – 250 grams (grated or ground to semi-coarse texture)

Hing/ Asafetida – A generous pinch (1/2 Teaspoon)

 Curry Leaves – A sprig or two

 Byadagi Red Chillies – 4 (broken into pieces)

Tamarind – the size of a big gooseberry (soak in a hot water and extract the pulp)

 Fenugreek/Methi seeds – 2 Teaspoons (Roasted and powdered)

Jaggery Powder – 1 to 2 Teaspoons

Oil – ¼ to ½ cup.

Mustard Seeds – 2 Teaspoons

Red chilli powder – 1 to 2 Tbsps.

 Salt – To taste

Turmeric Powder – 2 Teaspoons (You can use freshly grated turmeric too)

Method:

-After Washing, peel the mango ginger, grind it into a semi-coarse texture or grate it.

-Take one kadai, heat oil, splutter mustard, add hing, red chillies, curry leaves and fry.

-Add mango ginger and sauté it well. At this time, add turmeric, roasted methi powder, and red chilli powder. Mix well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

-Add salt, jaggery and tamarind extract and cook on a low flame.

-When almost done, oil leaves on the sides and the mixture becomes a shiny mass.

 -Switch off the gas, allow it to cool and store it in a clean glass jar.

-Stays well for months. If refrigerated, it stays for a year. Just like any other Thokku. Voila! Enjoy with idli, dosa, Uppittu or steaming hot rice with a dollop of ghee or any preferred oil.

Note: If using fresh turmeric, add it with the mango ginger or halfway through.

Whether grinding or grating, the final texture will be like that of chutney… smooth. So, grind it to a coarse texture, as grating can be tedious. If cooking on low heat, occasional stirring and tossing is enough.

Tip: You can grind two green chillies along with the mango ginger. That enhances the taste. In that case, you can reduce the chilli powder by half a teaspoon and one or two dried red chillies in the tempering. Jaggery balances it and tastes Thokku to the next level.

Plantain stem curd curry/ Bale dindina pachadi :

February 19, 2020

Banana stem or Plantain stem is a rich source of fibre ,potassium and Vitamin B6 which helps to maintain a fluid balance within our body. Banana stem is diuretic which helps to detoxify our body and hence it is used extensively to treat kidney stone naturally.

Banana stem can be consumed in a raw form like Juice, Dosa ,curd based pachadi as well as plain Salad. We can make  Rasam, palya or sambar by cooking.

If you want to see a detailed pictorial guide for “How to chop Banana stem” you can refer this link .

Ingredients:

Plantain stem – 6 – 8 inch

Hing – a generous pinch

Salt

Curd – 1 cup

Green chillies – 2 to 3 ( we normally use Bird eye chillies)

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

  • Slice plantain stem into discs, remove thread like fibre while slicing.
  • Chop the roundels into thin slices.

  • After slicing the roundels, stack 5 to 6 roundels one over the other and chop as desired. I usually make square small pieces for this salad.
  • Sprinkle salt, generous amount of hing and mix it thoroughly.
  • If you are using green chillies , chop them. If you are using bird eye chillies, use as it is.

  • Do seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard, add chillies and curry leaves.
  • Add this seasoning over salad. Crush all the seasoning by using hand. This step would help to release the chilli flavour.
  • Add curd and mix. Serve as a side dish with Rice. It tastes good with Roti’s as well.

 

 

Instant Raw Banana Dosa:

February 4, 2020

Raw banana has been used as a baby food from ages. It contains various essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre as well as small amount of protein. It is very good for digestive health and people with diabetes. In our native, raw banana is an integral part of our cooking. It starts from baby food/ banana flour porridge, side dishes, curry as well as instant dosa like this. You might be wondering, how come? Raw banana usage? Indeed, there is a reason behind extensive usage. Our elders are all from agricultural background. They all were into Areca nut farming. In between Areca nut plants, there will be Banana, pepper, Cocoa and many more side crops.

Usually we use small variety banana for this dosa and not a big banana variety. This recipe which I learnt it from one of my Atthey and trust me, it is very tasty. It is quick, instant, vegan, gluten free and what not?

Let us see, how I make it –

Ingredients:

Raw small variety bananas – 9 – 10

Salt

Soaked rice or rice flour – 1 tablespoon.

Method:

-Wash, peel outer fibre or main skin of the banana and chop into bite size.

-Immerse in water and keep aside.

-If you are using soaked rice, make a paste at first, add drained banana pieces, salt and grind into smooth paste by adding sufficient water.

-Batter should not be very thin and watery. It should be like idli batter consistency.

-heat iron griddle. When it is hot, spread thin dosas, cook both the sides by pouring little ghee or oil.

-Serve with chutney or sambar.

Fresh Turmeric Gojju:

January 16, 2020

Turmeric is a  popular spice of Indian Cuisine and we normally use it in powder form almost in all the recipes. In this time of the year, we do use fresh root in our kitchen. The fragrance of the fresh raw turmeric is very different than the powder. If you haven’t tried fresh turmeric root yet, this recipe is a delicious and refreshing way to get a taste of its earthy, sweet flavour of fresh produce.

Our ancestors had a really nice way to taking care of their health . According to the season, and depending on the local produce, they used to make and consume all the goodness of the nature in a natural way.  This recipe is one of them and it is  one of the age-old recipes which I learnt from my atte .

How it is made-

Ingredients:

Fresh Turmeric rhizome – 2 pieces

Coconut – ½ cup

Coriander – 1 table sp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

White sesame seed – ½ tsp

Red chilli – 3

Tamarind – 1 tsp

Salt

Jaggery – 2 table sp

Coconut oil – 2 tablespoons

Method:

-Clean the turmeric rhizome, grate and keep it ready.

-To prepare masala: Fry coriander, urad dal, red chilli and sesame seed in little oil. Grind this with coconut, into smooth paste.

-Now take one tawa, pour oil, fry grated turmeric, add tamarind water, salt, jaggery and cook .

-When turmeric changes its colour, add ground masala. Check for the salt and jaggery.

-Boil this nicely, serve with Hot rice and ghee. It is indeed  pure bliss and oodles of goodness for your body.

 

 

Pirandai Thogayal/Adamant creeper Chutney:

August 6, 2019

Pirandai is a creeper. It is called as Adamant Creeper / Devils Back Bone / Veldt Grape “ in English. Botanically known as Cissus Quadrangularis. Which refers to plants quadrangular sectioned  branches with internodes of 8 to 10 cm in length and 1.5 cm wide.

It has many names in different parts of our country. In Sanskrit: Asthisamhari, Vajravalli, Asthishrinkhala ,Kandavalli ,Vajrangi . In Hindi: Hadjod ,Hadjora ,Hadsankari Kandvel. In Kannada: Mangarahalli . In Tamil: Pirandai ,Vajravalli . In Malayalam: Peranta ,Cannalamparanta. In Telugu: Vajravalli ,Nalleru. In Gujrati: Chodhari , Hadsankal.

Adamant Creeper is a very well-known traditional herb in ancient ayurvedic medicine. which was used in setting bones/ bone fracture healing , gastric ulcer , piles ,anaemia ,menstrual problems as well as in de worming. It is a good source of Vitamin C and Calcium. Usage of the herb is usually by making Chutney or Kolambu or sundried and in powdered form.

If person wants to take it as a healing food, one should consume it weekly twice and mix with a little ghee either with hot rice or with Roti.

Till two years back, I had no idea regarding this plant or its usage. Due to our Foodie Facebook page, got to know about it. My Foodie friend Ashwini shared the plant cutting with me and guided me through. From then on, my experiments went on and I tried out many recipes. The chutney that I make and like is without coconut, mainly because it stays longer and can enjoy for many days. Here I will share both the version.

Pirandai has to be treated like Colocasia leaves and Yam. It is itchy in nature even while cutting as well as till the last stage of its cooking. So, quantity of tamarind plays a major role while cooking and application of oil to your hand will avoid itching while cleaning and chopping. One more thing what I have observed is, before using  keep it for one day ,after harvesting. This also helps in reducing the itchiness.

Now we will see the Thogayal/Chutney preparation:

Ingredients:

Pirandai – one bowl

Tamarind – lemon sized ball

Gingelly oil – 1 tablespoon

Urad dal – 1 tablespoon

Hing – ¼ tsp

Dried red  chillies – 3 to 4

Salt

Jaggery – 1tsp

For Seasoning:

Gingelly oil or any refined oil – 3 to 4tablespoons

Mustard – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Method:

-Apply oil to your hand, cut every node and take out internal sticks, peel outer 4 corners and remove all the fibres.

-Take diluted buttermilk water (add little curd to water and make) and wash these cleaned Pirandai nicely.

-Chop these sticks into tiny bits and immerse in diluted buttermilk or tamarind water.

-Soak tamarind in a little water.

-Now drain the water from chopped Pirandai and keep it ready for the seasoning.

-Now take 1 tbl spoon of oil, fry urad dal ,hing and red chillies. Add Pirandai choppings, fry until it is soft and turns pale in colour.

-Add tamarind water, salt, jaggery and cook until it is soft.

-Cool the mixture and grind into smooth paste by adding required amount of water. If you want to add coconut ,you can add coconut as well, while grinding .

-Now prepare seasoning , take 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil , splutter mustard, curry leaves, add ground paste and boil until oil oozes out at the sides.

-Serve with hot rice , dosa or idlies. It can be stored for many days under refrigeration.

Note: Main picture is (with added coconut)

 

 

Instant Pongal in Kettle:

July 25, 2019

Living away from home can be difficult at times, especially when you are unwell and want to really have a simple homecooked meal. This same situation was the reason behind my experiments in Kettle cooking. Bought a new Morphy Richards Insta Cook Noodle/Pasta and Beverage Maker Electric Kettle( 1 lit) and started my journey to make south Indian comfort meal.

Tried all these for my daughters who will use these premixes and use this kettle in their Hostel.

At first tried my daughter’s favourite comfort meal “Pongal Premix”

For Instant Pongal Mix : I took

Moong dal – 1 cup

Rice – 1 ½ cup

For seasoning: Ghee, mustard, cumin, hing, chopped curry leaves , chopped green chillies, ginger juveniles ,turmeric and pepper powder.

How to make: Take one kadai, add ghee, splutter mustard, cumin, hing, curry leaves ,green chillies ,ginger ,turmeric and fry nicely. Lastly add Pepper powder.

-Now add Moong dal and fry for two minutes. Then add rice, switch off the gas and mix everything nicely for 2 more minutes.

-Cool the mixture, pack it in an airtight container or in a zip lock bag.

Cooking Process:

-Take one and half cup of water, add half cup of Pongal premix and required salt and soak it in a kettle for 10 – 20 minutes.

-Switch on the kettle (Boil mode). It would turn off automatically within 2 ½ minutes if lid is on. Keep as it is for 5 to 10 minutes.

– once again switch on and repeat the procedure for once or twice by checking the doneness as well as water.

-After taking out the Pongal, pour some water for the used kettle to soak in, before you start eating.

-In this way, by the time you finish your eating, kettle will be ready for washing. You can use liquid dish washing soap and nonabrasive scrubber to clean inside. Take care of the outside base (no water should enter)

Note: Here, I have not used any coconut.

It’s ready and you can now enjoy your rice meal hot!

 

Ripe Jackfruit Idli:

July 15, 2019

Jack fruit idli is Instant , if you have left over Jackfruit dosa batter 😀 . Other wise you should soak dosa rice for 2 hours and then you can proceed to make idli. Last week when I made dosa , I had some left-over batter and tried this idli instead of our usual traditional kottige. Which is wrapped and steam cooked in Plantain leaf.

It turned out to be super soft and fluffy. It is very easy, at the same time no compromises in taste.

How I made:

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 1 cup

Cleaned jack fruit – 1 big bowl 

Salt

Coconut gratings – ½ cup

Grated Jaggery – 2 tablespoons ( as required)

Ghee – 1 table soon (optional, but it surely enhance the taste)

Eno fruit salt – ½ tsp (optional)

Method:

-Wash and soak Dosa rice in sufficient water for 2 to 3 hours.

– Chop the jack fruit, remove bulbs and separate outer cover and inner seed.

– Collect only the outer yellow fruit shell and put it in a mixer grinder, give couple of whipping sessions and remove.

-Divide it in half ( use one half for grinding and other half to ready batter. to enhance the taste.

– Now take soaked rice, half of  fruit chunks  , put little water and grind this into a smooth paste by adding sufficient salt. Batter consistency should be  little thicker.

-Take coconut gratings, mix in jaggery, little ghee( if you wish) and mix in half of jack pieces which we have kept aside.

-Mix this mixture with ground batter. If you want, add Eno and mix everything and make idlies by using idli mould.

-serve this with honey or with ginger chutney.            

Note:

For ginger chutney: Fry red chillies with little oil and grind it with coconut, salt, little tamarind and piece of ginger.

If you have ready Dosa batter, add jack fruit pieces, coconut, jaggery ,ghee, Eno and mix everything and proceed.

If you are using idli stand, grease the idli plate with oil/ghee and pour a ladle full of batter and steam cook them in pressure cooker for 10-15 minutes.
Let it cool for few minutes before serving the idlis with spicy chutney and ghee.

Plantain stem dosa / Bale dandina dosey:

July 4, 2019

Every part of the banana plant has its own benefits to our health. Banana stem is one such thing, which is high in fibre and filled with nutritious water. It is very good for Human gut as well as kidney.

The juice of the banana stem helps in flushing out of toxins as well as to prevent kidney stone formation as well. Overall it acts as a healing food for human body. In coastal Karnataka, we do use plantain stem or flower in various recipes. Today I am going to share our traditional Dosa recipe and previously I have shared Raw salad as well as Rasam recipe.

Plantain stem dosa turns out porous, soft as well as crispy and goes very well with any side dish of your choice.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 2 cups

Urad dal – ¼ cup

Methi seeds – 1 tablespoon

Banana/ plantain stem – 2 cups

Salt

Method:

-Wash , soak dosa rice, urad dal, methi in water for 2 to 3 hours.

-Chop Banana stem as I have shown in the picture below.

-Grind soaked rice and chopped plantain stem pieces by adding sufficient salt into smooth paste.

-Ferment overnight or 8 – 10 hours. Next day prepare Dosa .

-If you like crisp roasted one, spread as thin as possible on heated iron griddle.

-Serve with coconut chutney or any other curry.

 

Halasina hannina Guliyappa/ Jackfruit Paddu:

June 2, 2019

Jackfruit is an integral part of our kitchen during the Summer months. In our native, it is an everyday affair to make something or the other out of home-grown huge jack fruits. A lot of family bonding happens during its chopping, separating the fruit bulbs and cleaning. After cleaning, it is time to think about what to make? One says Dosa, other one Kottige or Guliyappa. Even after making all these delicacies if it is in excess, then it is time to make Berati and preserve it for a long.

Guliyappa is usually an instant thing if the rice has been soaked and ready. But I like Paddu out of fermented batter. Let us see how I make it.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 2 cups

Jackfruit – 1 big bowl

Coconut – 1 small bowl

Jaggery – I piece (according to taste) Or Jaggery Syrup as needed.

Salt

Method:

-Wash, soak Dosa rice in water for 3 to 4 hours. Clean jack fruit bulbs by removing fibre and seed.

– Drain the water, grind Rice, jaggery ( I would suggest using jaggery syrup), salt, coconut and chopped jackfruit with adding minimal water.

-The batter should be a little coarse, and the consistency should be like idli batter (should neither thick nor thin)

-Allow fermenting overnight in cold weather, or 2 to 3 hrs is enough.

-Heat Appe or Paddu pan. When it is hot, pour ¼ tsp of ghee or oil.

-Pour the batter into each mould, close the lid, and cook for a few minutes.

-Flip the side and cook the upper side as well.

-Serve with chutney. We normally prefer Ginger and coconut chutney as a side dish for jackfruit items.

-Repeat the process and enjoy your breakfast or brunch or dinner.

Note:

For ginger chutney: Fry red chillies with little oil and grind this with coconut, salt, tamarind, and a piece of ginger.