Category: Uncategorized

Baked Cracker by using Ghee Residue:

September 16, 2019

By now, you would know about my love towards brown sediment which is known as ghee residue. Ghee residue is a moist, brown coloured by-product formed after preparing ghee from white butter.

Ghee residue is a rich source of essential fatty acids, natural antioxidants and proteins.

I have shared my experiments with ghee residue earlier. It all started by trying simple tea cake ,then chocolate cake  then apple -cinnamon cake and by trying chocolate chip cookies.

This time I did try some savoury version, and everyone liked it and it turned out pretty well.

You can use whole wheat flour and oats or a mixture of any flour of your choice.

Ingredients:

Ghee residue – 2 -3  tablespoons

Curd -2 tbl spoons

Water – 4 tbl spoons

Jaggery or sugar – Acc to the taste

Mixed spice powder – 1 tbl spoon (pepper-cinnamon-ginger)

Salt

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup

Powdered Oats – 2 tbl spoons

Rice flour – 2 tbl spoons

Kasuri methi – 1 tbl spoon

Turmeric – 1/2 tsp

White sesame seed – 1 tsp

Method:

 -Take the ghee -residue and all the dry ingredients and mix everything properly. Add curd and sufficient water to make a pliable dough. 

-keep the dough covered, and rest for 30 minutes.

-After 30 minutes, take a small portion, make a ball and roll like thin roti /chapati, cut this by using a cookie cutter or pizza cutter.

-Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 -180 °C for 20 – 30 minutes.

-After cooling for some time, take out it would turn crispy and enjoy it with a cup of coffee or tea.

-Store it in an airtight container. It stays good for many days, and it is an excellent snack for growing up kids as well.

 

 

 

Pepper flavoured Banana Chips:

September 6, 2019

Pepper flavoured banana chips can be prepared by using any local varieties of Raw banana or Semi ripe but firm Kerala plantain. Banana I have used is home grown, small variety which we call as Gali bale. One can use Yelakki or any other variety of banana which is Non-ripe, green one.

Colour of the chips is not bright unlike Kerala plantain chips. It is earthy and peppery in flavour.

Now we will proceed towards the recipe-

Ingredients:

Green Banana – 10

Salt – 1 tbl sp

Water – 1 small cup

Coconut oil – To deep fry.

Chips slicer – to slice

Pepper powder – as needed

Method:

  • Apply some oil to your hand. To some extent it will protect your hand from blackening.
  • Take fresh, green plantain, wash properly. Peel the outer skin by using knife at the upper tip, use hand and proceed to peel till the bottom.
  • Immerse these peeled bananas in a bowl of water.
  • Take one small bowl of water and mix salt and keep aside.it is your salted water, which is used while frying chips.
  • Now you can keep coconut oil for heating. When it is very hot, start making chips. To test the hotness of oil, drop one small piece of plantain, if it pops up immediately, it is ready.
  • Take out plantain from water, pat dry and start slicing directly to the hot oil by using slicer.
  • Use one or two plantains at a time.
  • Keep flame at medium. When the slices of plantain cook, the bubbling sound of the oil becomes faint. Now you can add 1 tbl spoon of salted water, and you will hear lot of bubbles and bubbling sound. When the sound reduces, the chips are ready to be removed from the oil.
  • Remove the chips from the oil and keep them on a tissue-laid bowl and sprinkle some black pepper powder and mix by shaking the bowl up and down.
  • After cooling store, it in an airtight container and proceed with the remaining plantain.

 

 

 

Bendekai sambar/ Okra sambar:

August 28, 2019

Sambar is a very essential part of south Indian meal. In Mangalore region, we normally use freshly roasted and ground coconut masala for vegetables as well as each vegetable has its own suitable masala recipe.

Normally, the main ingredients will be the same and here and there some additional ingredients or frying techniques will be different.

In this particular recipe, we don’t use coconut as it is.  Masala is fried as well as coconut and made into powder form and added. It is very flavourful and tasty.

We normally use heirloom variety of Bendekai/ ladies’ finger /Okra for sambar. This masala tastes very good even with small variety dark green bhindi as well.

Ingredient:

Bendekai/Bhindi /Okra – ½ kg

Toor dal – ½ cup

Tamarind – size of a small lemon

Green chillies – 2

Salt

Jaggery – 1 tsp

Methi – ¼ tsp

Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon

cumin – 1tsp

Urad dal – 1 ½ tsp

Dried Red chillies – 2 to 3

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Coconut – ½  to ¾ cup

For the seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Mustard – ½ tsp

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Cook toor dal and keep aside.

-Soak tamarind, boil with little added water, salt, jaggery, slit green chillies.

-When it starts boiling, add chopped bhindi. Allow to cook in a low flame.

-To avoid sliminess,  don’t close the lid or put a spoon to mix while boiling bhindi.

-In the meantime, prepare masala. Heat coconut oil, fry methi, add coriander, cumin , urad dal, red chillies and fry until all the spices are roasted.

-Next add curry leaves, coconut ,turmeric and fry until you get a nice aroma.

-Cool and make a powder of roasted coconut mix and keep aside.

-When bhindi is cooked, add dhal, masala powder and boil nicely by adding sufficient water to adjust the consistency.

-Do the seasoning and serve with hot rice.

 

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.

 

Whole wheat Jaggery Tea Cake:

June 23, 2019

It is a “Hot milk cake” which I have tried by adding Whole wheat, Jaggery powder, dried blackberries (optional) with added cardamom flavour. It turned out to be really soft, mild in sweet and was perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea. It is a perfect choice for kids snack boxes or as a healthy eggless bake.

How I made-

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp

Dried Black currant – 2 tablespoons (optional)

Milk – ½ litre

Jaggery powder – ¾ to 1 cup ( I have added ¾ cup)

Butter – 50 grams

Method:

-Heat milk and reduce into almost half by boiling it in a low flame.

-When it is done, remove from the flame, add in butter.

-When butter melts, add in jaggery powder and mix thoroughly and keep aside. It is our wet mixture.

-Now, take one dry bowl, mix all the dry ingredients- whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder, cardamom powder, and dry whisk by using whisker or sieve couple of times.

-To this dry flour, add in dried black berries and mix. Add this dry ingredient to wet mixture and fold everything well and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 to 40 minutes or until done.

 

 

Mango- Guava Jam:

June 16, 2019

Homemade jams are full of flavours as well as without any chemicals and preservatives. Mango and guava turn out super delicious and texture of the jam would be little grainy and thick due to guava. If you want a silky-smooth texture, you can use only mango and proceed.

Now I will proceed towards the procedure-

Ingredients:

Mango’s – 600 Grams (roughly)

Guava – 500 grams (roughly)

Sugar- 1 kg (according to your taste)

lemon – 1

Method:

  • Wash, Peel the mangoes and chop.
  • Wash, chop guava into pieces.

  • Put all these pieces, with a little bit of water (till it immerses) and cook for 4 whistles.
  • -Mash the mixture by using masher. Don’t use mixer grinder for mashing. (it would crush the guava seeds)
  • Sieve this pulp to remove fibres and seeds.

  • Collect the smooth pulp and heat it in a low fire, until it starts boiling.
  • Add sugar, 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, add lemon juice and cook for 2 minutes.

  • Remove from the fire and cool for a while and pour it into a glass bottles to set.
  • Don’t close the lid until it is cool. Store this in a clean, dry bottle and refrigerate.

NOTE:

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

 

 

 

 

Paneer Pulav:

June 9, 2019

This is a one pot meal and is wholesome and quick. Working days are always hectic and when you have to pack dabbas, it is a challenge to think of some interesting wholesome food. This pulao is one such thing, my family doesn’t mind having even in dabbas when cold or piping hot for a quick weekend lunch.

It needs very little ingredients as well as time. Here I have taken Beans, carrot, peas along with paneer chunks to enhance the nutrition.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice or any rice of your choice – 3 cups

Veggies of your choice – 1 bowl (Beans, carrot, peas)

Paneer – 200 grams

Bay leaves – 2

Cinnamon- 1 “

Cardamom – 2

salt

Oil – 3 to 4 tablespoons

For Masala:

Cinnamon – 1”

Clove – 4

Ginger – 1”

Garlic – 10 cloves

Green chillies – 5 to 6

Coriander leaves – little

Pudina – little

Coconut – 2 tablespoons

Curd – 1 small cup

Method:

-Wash rice and soak for 20 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

-Chop veggies, grind masala and keep aside.

-For masala: Fry clove, cinnamon, green chillies, garlic, sliced ginger, coriander, pudina and coconut by adding little oil, cool and grind into smooth paste by adding curd.

-Take one cooker, add oil, drop cinnamon, bay leaves ,cardamom. Add chopped veggies and fry until raw smell vanishes.

-Next, add masala, add salt and fry until oil leaves at the sides.

-Add drained rice, fry for 2 minutes. Add paneer chunks mix gently and add water (1:2 cups) and when it starts boiling, close the lid.

-Cook for one whistle, keep in a simmer for 1 to 2 minutes and switch off.

-When pressure releases, mix everything and serve with onion raita.