Category: traditional

Millet –banana stem dosa:

February 18, 2021

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

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

When Plantain stem and millet combine, it is a perfect balance and can be a diet food or whoever is cutting down their rice intake due to their health issues. This dosa turns crispy and goes very well with any side dish of your choice. Tried and did this for my millet calendar project, published in 2017 and filing the recipe under Diabetic friendly recipe in my blog.

Ingredients:

Foxtail Millet – 2 cups

Rice – ¾ cup

Urad dal – ¼ cup

Banana stem – from 6” piece

Methi – ¼ tsp

Poha – ½ cup

Buttermilk – 1 cup

Method:

-Wash millet, rice and urad dal together. Add poha.

-Soak in buttermilk for 2 to 3 hours.

– To chop banana stem, remove the outer cover and make slices of inner pith.

-While slicing, you will find little thread-like fibre, discard that by drawing by hand.

-After slicing into round pieces of dice and use this for grinding.

-Grind soaked items with banana stem and salt.

– Ferment overnight and next day morning you can prepare Dosas.

Note: You can use any millet instead of foxtail. Taste doesn’t change.

Instant Ragi Rava Dosa:

February 5, 2021

Instant preparations are always handy when you are in a hurry or in a “no mood to cook” situation. I usually prefer Ragi Rava dosa to make, because it has the goodness of Ragi/ finger millet and everyone likes it in this form. Dosa turns out very crispy and tasty. One can have it with coconut chutney or any leftover sambar or with pickle or as it is. It has a nice natural flavour as well.

If you plan to make Rava dosa, you can mix the batter and keep it at night itself. Otherwise, no worries, mix and proceed to make dosas. Even some ingredients are optional; if you add coconut, greens, it would surely enhance the taste. 

Ingredients:

Ragi flour – ½ cup

Fine Rava – ½ cup

Rice flour – ¼ cup

Salt

Hing – a pinch

Black pepper – ½ tsp

Cumin – ¼ tsp

Grated coconut – ¼ cup (optional)

Coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons (optional)

Methi leaves – 2 tablespoons (optional)

Method:

-Crush black pepper and cumin in a mortar and pestle.

-For dosa mix: Mix in Rava, rice flour and Ragi flour, salt, hing, crushed cumin -pepper and a little water and keep aside at night (optional) otherwise mix in the morning and proceed.

– If you have mixed and kept it at night, add in grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves or methi leaves in the morning.

-Make batter into pourable consistency like Rava dosa or neer dosa batter and check for the salt.

-Now keep Iron griddle for heat.

-When it is ready, grease with oil, pour one serving spoon of batter-like how we make Rawa Dosa, you can see it in the picture below.

-Now close the lid by keeping the gas on full flame.

-After two minutes, remove the lid and keep the gas in simmer. The edges of the Dosa rise a little.

-Now flip this Dosa on the plate, leave for 2 minutes, then fold like this.

– Now keep repeating this with the remaining batter and stack one over the other or take one big plate and stalk one opposite another alternately.   

-Serve these Dosa with coconut chutney or with any other gravy of your choice or have it as it is.

 

 

 

 

Khara Neer Dosey / Savoury Neer dosa :

January 16, 2021

Neer dosey is an integral part of coastal breakfast. I usually prepare Neer dosey or my own version of Healthy neer dosey. Leftover neer dosey would turn into another dish, with sweet seasoning for an evening with a cup of tea. Khara neer dosey is one more variety of dosa from our region. 

Khara neer dosey is also known as Khara Thellavu /savoury neer dosey which is nothing but a spicy version of normal white neer dosey. It is quick, no fermentation is required. Soak the rice, grind, maintain the right consistency, use a well-seasoned cast-iron tawa to get the super-soft, authentic taste.

Ingredients needed:

Dosa rice -2 cups

Red chillies – 4 to 5

Onion – 1 big  Or Coconut – 1 bowl

Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon (optional)

Cumin – 1 tsp (optional)

Hing – generous pinch

Salt

Iron griddle /tawa.

Method:

-Wash and soak Dosa rice at night or 2 to 3-hour soaking is needed.

-In the morning grind this soaked rice into fine paste by adding chillies, chopped onion OR Coconut, coriander, cumin, salt with water (I use soaking water while grinding, it gives pleasant aroma for the Dosa) and salt as per requirement.

– Make batter into pourable consistency like this and check for the salt.

-Now keep Iron griddle for heat, smear oil and keep it ready. 

-Pour one serving spoon of batter-like how we make Rawa Dosa, you can see it in the picture below.

-Now close the lid by keeping the gas on full flame.

-After two minutes, remove the lid and keep the gas in simmer, the edges of the Dosa rise a little, like this.

-Now flip this Dosa on the plate, leave for 2 minutes, then fold like this.

-Now keep repeating this with the remaining batter and stack one over the other or take one big plate and stalk one opposite another alternately.

-Serve this Dosa with Coconut and grated jaggery mixture or coconut chutney or as you wish.

 

Sankranthi Bhogi Palle/ Multi greens and vegetable palya:

January 13, 2021

Wish you all Happy Bhogi! While it is not a huge festival in our native. After coming to Bangalore, I learnt Some of my favourite North Karnataka recipes from my previous neighbour aunty, who hails from Solapur near Gulbarga. She used to offer some of her preparations. It starts from simple triangle chapati, obbattu, obbattu Saru, chapparadavarekai palya, chavlikai palya and khara byale Saru, Godhi nucchina Huggi, which she used to offer to God, every Friday evening and she used to distribute as a prasadam to us. Aunty used to prepare Sajje rotti and Bhogi palya, a mixed dry curry, with winter veggies, pulses and greens.

Bhogi Palle or Bhogichi Bhaji is a traditional winter recipe cooked all across Maharashtra and  Uttara Karnataka region on the day of “Bhogi” a day before Makara Sankranti. This dish celebrates the seasonal bounty of winter vegetables and groundnuts and sesame seeds which provide the much-needed warmth and nourishment to the human body during winters. It contains all the nutrients, vitamins, and healthy fat from seasonal fresh harvest with no other added masala other than the ingredients’ flavour.  

Ingredients may differ from family to family. But I like it in this way.

Ingredients:

Mix vegetables – 1 bowl ( Potato, Red carrot, regular carrot, beans, brinjal, broad beans, cluster beans etc.)

Mix greens – 1 bowl ( palak, dill, methi, amaranth etc.)

Mix green pulses and nuts – 1 bowl ( lima beans, toor, choli or chana, double beans, groundnuts etc.)

Spring Onion – 1 small bunch

Tomato – 2 to 3 (Round heirloom variety)

Green chillies – 5 to 6 ( chopped)

Ginger – 1inch ( juveniles)

Garlic – 10 – 12 cloves

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Salt

Jaggery – ¼ tsp to balance the flavour ( an optional)

Seasoning: Oil, mustard, cumin

Coriander leaves – 1 small cup.

Garam masala – ½ tsp (an optional to garnish)

Method:

-Clean everything, keep greens, veggies, pulses separate.

-Chop spring onions, green chillies, crush the garlic. Coriander leaves and keep.

-Take one Kadai, heat oil, splutter mustard, cumin, curry leaves, garlic, ginger, green chillies.

-After frying for a while, add white part of spring onion, then tomato, turmeric, salt, and add jaggery, fry for two minutes. And all the other things from greens to pulses, veggies and give a stir.

Close the lid and cook in a small flame, When it is ready, garnish with chopped coriander leaves. If you wish, add little garam masala and stir well.

Serve with Sajje roti or any other millet roti or regular chapati. I like to have it as it is as well 😀

 

 

 

Lemon pickle:

December 29, 2020

Pickle is an essential part of our Indian meal and we South Indians enjoy our pickle with curd rice as the last leg of our meal, which will tickle and will remain for some time in our taste bud with its right amount of salt, spice, sour, tangy and tartness.

This particular pickle is the non-oily, south Indian style, which I learnt from my mom. This pickle has lemon, green chillies and ginger and goes very well with curd rice.

Ingredients:

Lemons – 15

Ginger – 50 Gms

Green chillies – 5

Salt – ¾ cup

Water – 1 ½ to 2 cups.

Masala:

Dried red chillies – 28 -30

Mustard – 2 Table spoons

Hing – peanut size

Fenugreek – 1 tsp

Cumin – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Oil- 1 to 1 ½ tsp

Method:

-Wash lemon, ginger and green chillies. Pat dry and chop however you like it.

-Boil water and salt together.

-When it is ready, you could see the glossy, shiny layer at the top.

-Drop all the chopped items to this. Boil till lemon rind becomes pale. Switch off and keep this for cooling.

-Gradually while cooling, the lemon rind will wilts and rind will fold backwards, don’t worry. It would become normal once it sets/marinates properly.

-Next, we will prepare the pickle masala.

-Dry roast mustard until it pops, remove and keep aside.

-Take one teaspoon of oil, roast fenugreek, cumin, hing one by one and keep it aside.

-Lastly, fry red chillies until it forms crisp with very little oil.

-Cool everything, make powder all these by adding turmeric.

-When salted lemon cools down, add this masala, mix and store this in an airtight bottle.

-After ten days, you can use this.

-I suggest storing this in a fridge so that its shelf life will be one year or more.

NOTE:

– If you want a little thicker consistency to take one and a half cup of water. If you wish to get, a thin consistency takes 2 cups of water.

  -Here I have taken 2 cups of water.

Guava Cheese/ Perad/halwa :

December 18, 2020

When the neighbour comes and hands me a big bag full of substantial sized overripe guavas, I knew, it is going to be a strenuous task. I need to deal with my mindset of ‘no wastage.’ First thing, came to my mind was my favourite Guava cheese.

When I was reading about the guava cheese, its origin, it traces back to Portuguese settlers in Brazil where it’s known as Goiabada. I am guessing that is how this recipe landed with them in Goa and is known as Perad/Peraad.

In simple terms, guava cheese is nothing but guava halwa. It doesn’t taste like cheese. Its texture is something you can easily bite into, yet is slightly chewy, somewhat like our Banana halwa, with a grainy texture, of course with added guava taste. Colour of the cheese depends on the variety of the Guava. If it is white, the colour turns our light brown, like mine. I usually mix a half red and half white variety of Guava to get beautiful hue.

Ingredients:

Overripe Guava – 2kgs

Sugar – 800 grams to 1 kg (acc to your palette)

Salt – ½ tsp

Butter – 3 tablespoons

Lemon juice -1 tablespoon 

Method:

-Wash, chop the fruit into quarters—Cook with sufficient water for two whistles, cool.

-Pulse it in a mixer jar along with cooked water, sieve the Puree, separate the seed and its roughage.

-Weigh the pulp. For 2 kgs of pulp, I have taken 800 grams of sugar. You can take up to one kg if you prefer sweeter.

-Take one thick bottomed Kadai, add the pulp and boil for 20 minutes or until it starts boiling. Allow 10 minutes more to boil and add sugar and salt, continue to cook in a low flame.

-When the mixture turns pinkish brown add butter and proceeds to cook further. When it starts leaving the sides, add lemon juice, cook ten more minutes.

-Remove the mixture to the greased plate, leave 4 to 6 hours and then cut.

-Stays good for 3 to 5 months without any problem, at room temperature, stored in an airtight container.

 

 

Cheenikayi thirulina dosey/ Pumpkin Core dosa:

November 26, 2020

Delicious dosa by using nutritionally rich , pulpy pumpkin cores which we usually tend to throw away. Whenever we use pumpkin in larger quantities such as pumpkin puree  , Sambar , kalasu etc, the inner core would be more in quantity and it is an awesome way to utilise in dosa batter. In this way, it can be utilised and turned into a healthy breakfast option.

Let us see how I make this super soft, porous dosa.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 2 cups

Urad dal – ¼ cup

Methi seeds – 1 tablespoon

Inner soft core – ¼ cup to ½ cup ( quantity may vary according to the availability)

Salt

Method:

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

-Clean the pumpkin core, remove seeds, and keep it ready.

-Grind soaked rice and pumpkin core by adding sufficient salt into smooth paste.

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

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

-Serve with coconut chutney or any other curry.

Overripe Banana Dosa/ Bale hannina dosey :

November 18, 2020

After the festivals or any poojas, over ripe Bananas are everyone’s headache. When skin of the banana turns black, no one prefers to eat. If you have abundant supply of homegrown bananas, it is a constant headache and we normally make Banana Halwa or Banana preserve if it is in large quantities. If it is very less, I normally prefer Dosas ,Mangalore Buns or plantain upside down cake.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 3cups

Methi seeds – 2 tablespoons

Overripe Ripe bananas – 6 – 7

Salt

Eno fruit salt – 1 tsp (optional)

Method:

-Wash Rice along with methi seeds. Soak for 3 to 4 hours and grind into smooth batter by adding chopped banana, salt.

-Keep the consistency as well as ferment like normal dosa batter. It takes anywhere between 8 to 12 hours according to the outside temperature.

-Next day, if you want extra soft dosas, add Eno fruit salt, mix nicely and proceed.

Otherwise, mix the fermented batter and make dosas in hot iron griddle by spreading a tsp of ghee or coconut oil before flipping upside down.

-Serve with your choice of chutney.

 

Menthe Idli /Fenugreek sweet idli:

November 8, 2020

We Indians do not need any introduction for methi. Methi seeds are an integral part of our day to day cooking and has an important role in our cooking, even though it is used in a minuscule portion.

Fenugreek or Methi is a power packed, nutritionally rich and produces heat in our body. Hence, the usage of methi is recommended in winter months to keep our body warm and disease free. Traditionally methi has been used as a seed as well as greens. It plays a main part in post-partum/ after delivery diet of Indian ladies. It is believed that it helps in breast milk production.

Today, I am going to share our age old, traditional recipe, which I used to relish during my childhood.

It is a semi sweet idli and tastes really good with methi flavour and is usually served with coconut – ginger chutney, to give it a bit of a kick.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 2 cups

Methi – 1 fistful ( approx. 2 tablespoons)

Jaggery –  2 / 2 block  ( according to the taste)

Poha – ½ cup

turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

-Soak methi and rice separately for 4 hrs , after washing it properly.

-Grind methi into a fine paste, by adding sufficient water.

-Add soaked rice into it, add salt, jaggery and grind, until rice turns into small grainy texture. Like a small rava consistency.

-After grinding, remove the batter, it should be a little watery. Now add turmeric, poha into the batter, mix properly, leave overnight or until it ferments. It takes a little longer in cold regions.

-Next day, mix nicely, make idlies in an idli mould, like a regular idli.

-Serve with coconut – ginger chutney.

Chutney in brief: Fresh coconut, roasted red chillies, fresh ginger, little tamarind, and salt.

 

Rajamudi rice Pundi:

October 30, 2020

Pundi/Unde/mudde is nothing but steamed rice dumpling from south canara/Mangalore region. It is our traditional Breakfast recipe. After steaming, we have two to three options to have this super healthy dish. One is with liquid jaggery combined with ghee, or pundi can be drizzled with coconut oil and dipped in an onion flavoured coconut chutney. Last but not the least, by soaking in a masala gravy, known as Unde bendi.

Traditionally we use Red boiled rice to prepare. Here I have used fragrant Rajamudi variety of red rice, that was earlier grown exclusively for the “Maharajas of Mysore” . It is high in fibre, antioxidants, and Iron. It is unpolished and grains are beautiful with the mix and match of pinkish red lines, which has  a nice aroma and it surely enhances the flavour of the Pundi.

I did this particular trial for Rice Calendar 2019. Unique effort by Save Our Rice Campaign and Sahaja Samrudha to Popularize traditional Rice and Recipes.

Save Our rice campaign is proud to proclaim that it has successfully mainstreamed around 100 different varieties of traditional rice across the country. Each rice variety is unique and differs in its taste, colour, texture, and cooking quality and contains some special properties like being medicinal, scented, sticky and so on.

It is one of the four recipes ,which I have shared with and got to be a part of this project in a very small way.

Ingredients:

Rajamudi rice – 2 cups

Salt

Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

Coconut – ½ cup (grated)

Method:

-Wash, soak rice for 3 to 4 hours

-Grind rice into little grainy texture by adding salt.

-Put ground batter, oil, coconut in thick kadai, cook this into ball like mass.

-Cool a bit, take little cooked dough at a time, and make roundels.

– Place this in an idli steamer and cook for 20-30  minutes and enjoy with chutney or liquid jaggery mixed with little ghee.

Unde/Pundi Bendi/ dumpling in masala gravy:

Here, we ned to break pundi into big chunks and keep it ready.

For Masala: Take one bowl of grated coconut, roasted red chillies – 2 to 4 , 1 tsp of coriander, ¼ tsp of cumin, 2 cloves of garlic, little tamarind, and grind into smooth paste.

In a wok, heat 2 tsp of coconut oil, splutter mustard,1  broken red chilli and add curry leaves. Add half finely chopped onion and fry until it turns brown.

 

Now, add ground masala paste into the seasoning and adjust the consistency, add salt, pinch of jaggery and boil.

When it starts to boil, add broken chunks, and further boil for 5 more minutes or until it reaches the thick consistency.

Serve hot and enjoy.