organic – Page 7

Kanile Uppinakai/ Bamboo shoot-Lemon Pickle:

August 5, 2017

As I mentioned earlier in my “How to Chop Bamboo Shoot” Post, usually, while chopping bamboo shoots for any curries, we use Bamboo shoot’s knots or their nodes in pickle making. Usually, pickles require some souring agent to give a balanced taste. So, the Bamboo shoot needs some souring agent to enhance the taste and the shelf life. That is why we use lemon, Houglum or raw mango as an accompaniment. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is DSC_0631-blog-1-1-1024x762.jpg

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is DSC_0631-blog-1-1-1024x762.jpg

Here, I have used Lemon with bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoot – 1 bowl (chunks from the 4 to5 nodes) Lemon -12 Water -1 lit Salt- 250 grams Byadagi Red chilli -100 grams (around 56) 25 grams of mustard 1.5 tsp – methi 1.5 tsp – turmeric powder 1/4 tsp – hing Method: -At First, Cook Bamboo shoots chunks in adequate water for one whistle in a cooker. Discard that water; air dry those bamboo shoot chunks.

-Wash lemons, wipe and quarter lemon, remove seeds and keep it ready. -In the meantime, Boil water and salt until you find a crystal-like, white, shiny surface. -Now, put lemon pieces into hot, salted water and allow to cool. When the saltwater turns cool, the lemon peel becomes pale in colour. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Picsart_24-09-05_13-35-40-332-1024x387.jpg

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Picsart_24-09-05_13-35-40-332-1024x387.jpg

-Add cooled, drained bamboo shoot pieces to lemon and salt water. Allow to soak and marinate overnight. -Next day, prepare masala. Dry roast methi until dark brown and allow it to cool. -Dry roast mustard, remove it and allow it to cool. -Add a little oil and roast red chillies in the same kadai. When red chilli is puffed and roasted, switch it off, add turmeric powder, and mix well.

-When everything becomes cool, make a powder in a mixer jar, add a pickle masala powder. -Drain the salt water,from the marinated lemon and bamboo shoot, and mix the pickle masala and required amount of drained salt water and mix everything well. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Picsart_24-09-05_13-34-56-437-1024x387.jpg

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Picsart_24-09-05_13-34-56-437-1024x387.jpg

-Close the lid and allow them to absorb all the flavours for at least a day. Then, mix this pickle again, bottle it in a clean, dry bottle, and store it under refrigeration. It stays good for 6 to 8 months under refrigeration.

Bendekayi/Okra Palya:

August 3, 2017

Bendekai/lady’s finger/okra/bhindi- so many names for this simple, high fibre, low calorie vegetable. Some people just avoid this slimy vegetable without knowing how to cook. It is just simple, if you know the right technique.

We normally don’t use any onion, garlic or tomato in festive cooking. In Mangalore, we prefer this simple coconut based side dishes for any weddings or festivities.

Here we use tamarind base to cook Bendekai to remove its slime. To avoid sliminess , you should remember 2 to 3 things. First thing, drops the veggie, only after tamarind water starts boiling. secondly, don’t over mix the veggie, while cooking. Thirdly, don’t cover the lid, while cooking lady’s finger. These are all the tricks I learnt from my elder’s while learning cooking from over the years.

You can use any varieties of lady’s finger for this recipe. Here I have used local variety from Mangalore which I have grown and harvested from my terrace garden. It is Red Okra and after cooking, it becomes like any other okra.

Ingredients:

Ladies’ finger – ½ kg

Tamarind – 1 tsp

Salt

Jaggery

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp

To grind:

Fresh Coconut – 1 small cup

Red chillies – 2 to 3

Mustard – ½ tsp

Hing – very little

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tbl sp

Mustard – 1tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 string

Method:

-Wash and cut the bhindi into half inch pieces.

-soak tamarind in one cup of water.

-Roast red chillies and hing in a drop of coconut oil.

-Dry grind coconut, roasted red chillies, hing, mustard and keep it aside.

– Take one tawa, do the seasoning by putting oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilli.

-When mustard starts spluttering, add curry leaves and pour tamarind water (squeeze soaked tamarind in water and use)

-Add required amount of salt, jaggery and red chilli powder.

-When it starts boiling, add chopped Bendekai and cook this in a low flame.

-when water drains or Bendekai cooks, add ground coconut mixture and mix thoroughly and keep this in a simmer for couple of minutes.

-serve this as a side dish with hot rice or Chapati.

Vegetarian Thai Noodles: Gluten free and Vegan

July 29, 2017

This time when I had visited my sister, who stays in America, I got an opportunity to experiment with some new ingredients, veggies etc and I bought a couple of new items back home as well. This gluten free, Brown rice & millet ramen noodle is one of them.

When we were shopping, my eyes went to this noodle pack. I love to work with new ingredients and wanted to pick it up. After trying a couple of recipes, my daughter told me, how it should be. She asked me to prepare this as a little wet, soup kind. She said, regular kind of preparations tastes bland and it needs some flavoured soup to enhance the taste of this kind of sticky noodles and she was right. Ramen is a Japanese dish, consisting of a clear broth containing thin white noodles and sometimes vegetables, meat etc.

Finally, I came up with this, and got a green signal from my super-efficient critic!!! She said, hmmm yummy, go ahead and post: D

Ingredients:

Noodles – 3 cakes

Shallots – 10

Baby corn -4

Carrot-1

Broccoli- couple of small florets

Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp

Tomato sauce – 1tbl sp

Thai sweet chilli sauce – 1tbl sp

Sriracha sauce -1 tbl sp

Soy sauce -1 tbl sp

Cooked broth – 1 small cup

Salt

Sesame oil – 2 tbl sp

Basil leaves – 5 to 6

Roasted peanut halves – 1 table spoon

Method:

-Boil water with one spoon of salt and oil. Put noodle, cook until al dente (it should cook and texture should be firm)

-Drain the water, rinse the noodle in cold tap water.

-Collect one small cup of drained water and keep aside for next use.

– Chop vegetables according to your taste.

– wash basil and roast peanuts, remove skin and make halves and keep aside.

– Mix all the sauces in one small bowl and keep it ready

-Take one wide kadai, add sesame oil. When it is hot, add chopped shallots and fry for a while.

-Next, drop in all the veggies and fry for a while.

-Add ginger garlic paste, fry until veggies are fried.

-Add all the sauce mixture and fry vigorously to avoid this to burn.

-Add reserved cooked and drained water of noodles. Check for the salt. If needed add and adjust.

-When it starts boiling, add noodles and mix.

-Garnish with torn basil leaves and sprinkle roasted peanuts and serve.

Note:

-You can use any noodles instead of gluten free noodle.

Patholi / Sweet rice dumpling, steamed in turmeric leaves:

July 27, 2017

Patholi is an offering which we make on the day of “Nagara Panchami”, or the snake festival in our house hold. Monsoon is the season in which we get lot of greens in abundance. Maybe that is the reason this dish is made in turmeric leaves.

Patholi is coconut and jaggery filled steamed kadubu or steamed rice cake, usually folded and steam cooked in turmeric leaves. Turmeric leaf gives beautiful aroma and good taste and this pleasantly aromatic dish is favoured by everyone in our family.

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Ingredients:

Dosa rice /white rice – 2 cups

Grated coconut – 1 ½ cup

Grated Jaggery – ½ cup (to taste).

Ghee/ Clarified butter – 4 tsp.

Salt to taste

Turmeric leaves – 8 to 10

Method:

– Wash rice and soak it for 2 to 3 hours.

– Wash turmeric leaves and keep it aside.

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– Grind this soaked rice in to smooth paste by adding ½ cup of coconut, water and salt and little jaggery.

– Now keep thick bottomed kadai, pour this ground batter and add some water to make thin consistency. Now add 2 tsp of ghee and start heating this mixture by continuous stirring. When it becomes little thick and forms a mass, switch off the gas and keep it aside to cool to handle it further.

patholi 1

– In the meantime, make sweet coconut-jaggery mixture. In thick bottomed vessel add jaggery and ½ cup of water and heat. If you find some impurities in jaggery syrup, sieve this liquid and heat further and add fresh grated coconut and cook until it is sticky and forms mass. Add remaining ghee to this and mix. Now stuffing is ready.

– Method to make Patholi:

– Take little water in a bowl to dip your hand in between, while applying rice batter over turmeric leaf.

– Now take lemon sized rice batter ball, apply as thin as possible by using your hand by dipping your hand in bowl of water in between.

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– After applying ,spread coconut –jaggery mixture to half of every leaf in which batter is spread (please refer pictures)

– Now fold this in to half and keep this in a idly steamer and cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until done.

patholi 3

– Serve with ghee.

Plantain stem and Moringa Rasam:

July 16, 2017

Where to start about the benefits of these two super foods? From my childhood, we used to relish banana stem and its flower in various dishes. Every part of banana plant is useful, be it its leaves, flower, stem, its outer fibre or fruit. No wastage of any part. Usually after the harvest of Banana fruit bunch, we should remove that plant and should allow its baby plant to grow and fruit. Usually after the harvest, banana plant is chopped off, outer fibre is peeled off and it is dried under the sun and used as a thread in tying Jasmine flowers. Inner core or pith is divided into 3 parts. Top most part, which is very slender and less fibrous will be used in raw salads. Middle portion is little more fibrous and used in cooking and making Dosa’s. Bottom part, which is more fibrous, mature and hard to chew will be used in juices, soups or Rasam’s.

Plantain stem is one of the best, natural high fibre vegetable. It also maintains fluid balance in our body and acts as a coolant, especially in Summer season.

Moringa or Drumstick leaves are considered as a “Power food” for its nutritionally rich nature.

Here I have combined these two ingredients and made Rasam and trust me it is very tasty and can be used as an appetizer shot as well.

Ingredients:

Plantain stem – 6- 8 inches long

Drumstick leaves – 1 cup

Tomatoes – 2

Tamarind – ½ tsp

Garlic – 8 cloves

Cumin – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 2 to 3

Salt

Jaggery – 1tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 table sp.

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

Hing – one pinch

Red chilli-1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

– Slice plantain stem into discs, remove thread like fibre while slicing.

– Chop the roundels into thin slices.

– Wash drumstick leaves, here you can use as it is, with its sticks intact. No need to remove intact stalks of these tiny leaves.

– Cook plantain stem pieces, drumstick leaves, chopped tomatoes, green chilli, tamarind in a pressure cooker for one whistle. Cool this mixture, grind and sieve. Discard the fibrous part.

– Dry grind garlic and cumin. Add this to collected solution, add salt, jaggery and boil for a while.

– Garnish with coriander leaves and do the seasoning.

– Heat coconut oil, add mustard, when it starts to splutter, add broken red chilli, cumin and curry leaves.

– Serve this as an appetizer shot before food or as a Rasam with hot rice.

Idikayi Uppinakai / Whole mango pickle in roasted masala:

July 3, 2017

Happiness is when your reader as well as a distant cousin of yours messages you and requests you to post one of our traditional age-old pickle recipe. When you respond saying, this variety of mango (wild raw mango) is not available where you reside. Immediately comes the response, he will bring and give it to you. Not only bringing this raw mango from 250 km away, he has not forgot to remind me, “Don’t forget to post”. This post is dedicated to him, Rajendra. G.

Idikayi is nothing but whole mango. We use wild whole mango in this pickle. Speciality of this pickle is, it is fully grown, just before ripening stage of mango. So, while eating, you can enjoy and savour salted seed as well. Usually we relish this with Kerala matta rice kanji or normally we call as, kucchilakki ganji with this pickle.

Masala is used in this pickle is roasted and fried with very little oil. So literally it is very mildly hot pickle without oil. Even small kids relish this.

Ingredients:

Whole mango – 23

Red chillies – 250 gms (I normally use Byadagi variety)

Mustard – 100 gms

Fenugreek /methi seed – 1 table spoon

Hing – ½ tsp

Turmeric – 2 tsp

Salt – 2 to 3 cups

Water – 4 cups

To boil mangoes:

Water – half of the vessel

Salt – 1 fist full.

Method:

– First let’s start the pickle making by preparing the mangoes. Wash mangoes, remove its stalk part and give 3 to 4 slits here and there.

– Boil water in a big vessel (take half of the vessel). Add one fist full of salt to this water.

– Drop all those mangoes, cook until outer skin become pale green and remove from the water and drain.

– Cool this into room temperature.

– Make salt water: Take 3 cups of salt and 4 cups of water in a pan and boil this in a medium heat. How to check the doneness? Whenever salt and water quantity is right, salt will form a glossy layer at the top. If you don’t find any mirror layer, add little more salt and proceed boiling. When it is ready, switch off the gas and cool this water. It should reach room temperature, before using.

– Start making pickle masala.

– Dry roast methi, mustard and hing separately.

– Fry red chillies little by little by putting 1 tsp of oil.

– Cool everything and make powder in a mixer jar.

– After making powder, mix everything together nicely and take required amount of powder, pour required amount of cooled salted water and make a paste.

– It should be a little flowy. Because mango should immerse in this liquid.

– Add cooled mangoes and mix.

– Adjust the consistency either by adding powder or salted water.

– Store this in an air tight glass jar.

– Next 3 to 5 days every day, make it a point to mix it and keep it aside by closing the lid.

– After one week, you can start consuming and store this in a fridge to extend its shelf life.

How to Chop Fresh Bamboo Shoot/Kanile:

June 30, 2017

Kanile or Bamboo shoots are a seasonal, hollow grass which is a young shoot of Bamboo and it is available in a very short period of rainy season. It has very distinct subtle, earthy flavour with crunchy texture while eating. It is considered as one of the health foods because of its high contents of dietary fibres,minerals and low in fat.

Preparing Bamboo shoot for cooking is little bit of a work.

Traditionally We follow 2 methods:

– One is Chopping and soaking in fresh water for 3 days by changing the water regularly every day and using.

– I personally don’t prefer this method, because it emits little odour of bamboo shoot and prepared curry will also contain that odour.

– I usually follow this second method, which I learnt from my father in law, who was super knowledgeable in all these traditional cooking procedures.

– At first take harvested Bamboo shoots which we get in hilly sides, some shops or in all Mangalore stores of Bangalore in this season.

– I usually buy my stock from the Mangalore store. After buying, remove outer tough layer, which is brown in colour by peeling one by one starting from the bottom.

– You can use your hand to peel the outer shell.

– After removing this outer woody shell, you will see only inner core which will be white in colour.

– This white inner layer will have 2 parts. One is soft edible part and in between nodes.

– Nodes will be thick, little sturdy and can be used in pickle making by adding lemons or mangoes.

–Now this is ready to chop. Take one vessel, which is filled with water and chop and immerse it in a water.

– You can either chop circular fashion or bit size pieces. It is up to one’s choice.

– Start to chop from top of the conical area, proceed until you find a hard node. When you feel the node (here nodes were thick from 5^th onwards) discard the node by cutting that part and proceed the chopping.

–Now Take all the chopped bamboo, sieve the immersed water and put fresh water and cook this in a cooker for one whistle.

– When you open the cooker lid, you will see the water in yellow shade, discard this water by draining.

Now collect the cooked Bamboo shoot and it is ready to cook by removing its impurities and natural bitterness.Use it in whatever dish you want to make.

How to Use nodes in Pickle making –

-Collect nodes, chop however you want and proceed with the above procedure as bamboo shoot. Cook in a pressure cooker with water and strain the yellow water, cool completely and use in pickle making.

Jack Fruit Dosa:

June 25, 2017

Jackfruit Dosa is known as “Halasina hannina dose”. It is a traditional recipe of Mangalore. Here we use Soaked Raw Dosa rice and ripe jackfruit to make the batter. we can call this as a Jack pancake and serve with honey or with ginger chutney.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 2 cups

Cleaned jack fruit – 1 big bowl

Salt

Method:

-Wash and soak Dosa rice in sufficient water for 3 to 4 hours.

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

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

-So that while grinding it will be easy to handle.

– Now take soaked rice, ground or crushed fruit, put little water and grind this in to a smooth paste by adding sufficient salt. Batter should be a little thicker than normal Dosa.

-If you want to use this batter for the next morning, please refrigerate the same and use for the next day.

– make Dosa’s by using hot iron griddle. No need to ferment this batter. Use ghee while roasting this Dosa. It should be a little thicker than normal Dosa. (thinner than set Dosa). When it is cooked, flip it and cook on the other side.

-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.

Mango Jam:

June 19, 2017

Who doesn’t love Mango? Unfortunately, all good things only last a while, but no worries, one can preserve mango by making some homemade jams to savour even after its season ends.!

I started making this Jam almost 3 years back and want to share my recipe before it vanishes from the market for this year. So, yesterday I made this and I’m sharing it with you all-

Thanks to my dear friend Poornima, who provides me with a whole lot of home grown organic Mango’s from their garden.

collage

Now I will proceed towards the procedure-

Ingredients:

Mango’s – 500 Grams

Sugar- 500 grams

Saffron – 8 to 10 strands

Red chilli flakes – 1 teaspoon

Method:

– Wash, Peel the mangoes and chop.

– Make puree by putting it in a mixer/ juice jar without adding any water.

– Sieve this pulp to remove fibres (Here I have taken little fibrous home-grown variety)

– Collect the smooth pulp and heat it in a low fire, until it starts boiling.

– Add sugar, saffron and red chilli flakes and cook until it is done.

– To check the doneness, take some water in a small bowl, drop the cooked mixture in it, immediately it should form a thick mass. If it dissolves, then you should proceed cooking.

– When it is done, remove from the fire and cool completely.

– Store this in a clean, dry bottle and refrigerate.

NOTE:

-If you use very sweet mango, adjust the quantity of sugar.

-If you use Alphonso variety, no need of sieving and you can directly proceed towards cooking after making pulp.

– If Mango is very sweet, then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice at the end to give little tangy taste.

Brined Mango:

May 28, 2017

“Neeru Mavinakayi” is what we call Brined mango, which is basically a firm fully grown, matured but un-ripened mango which is preserved in salt water. We usually relish this in the rainy season or in the off season by preparing some of our traditional dishes.

For this we usually use wild mangoes, which are smaller in size and stays and tastes very good too for a long time.

Here in Bangalore, I don’t get wild variety and I usually pick a smaller sized mango, which is sour and locally it is used for pickle.

Now we will see how to proceed with this mango-

Ingredient:

Raw, firm, well grown Mango – 3 kgs

Crystal Salt or table salt – 1 ½ to 2 cup

Drinking water – to immerse.

Glass Bottle – Big size

Method:

Select well grown, firm mangoes.
Wash, and keep it ready.
Take glass bottle or porcelain bottle, fill all these mangoes, put salt and pour water until all the mangoes are immersed.
Close the lid and keep this aside.
Next day morning, check for the salt and if water is not salty in taste, add little more and adjust.
Water should be salty and if it is done, keep this jar in a corner for a couple of months or until its outer skin becomes little lighter in colour.
When it is ready, you can use this for any brined mango recipe. I ahve shared Neerumavinayi chutney as well as Gojju and you can select the hyperlink to see.