Karnataka

Raw Plantain / Raw Banana Pepper Curry

September 20, 2018

This is an age old recipe, which we used to enjoy during our childhood. Usually my paternal aunt used to make this curry by using the small variety of banana. Banana I have used is home grown, small variety which we call as Kadali / Yelakki banana. Non-ripe, green one.

This curry is prepared using little bit of Toor dal and good amount of pepper for heat. Plantain pepper curry is tangy, spicy and little bit sweet all at the same time. This curry goes along with plain rice with a dollop of ghee or Coconut oil.

Ingredients:

Plantain/Raw banana – 7-8 (if it is small variety) 1 or 2 (if it is big variety)

Toor dal – ¾ cup

Salt – to taste

Jaggery – 1 to 2 tsp.

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp.

Tamarind – 1 small lemon size.

For masala: Toor dal – ½ tsp, Fenugreek seeds-¼ tsp, coriander- 1tsp, Cumin – ½ tsp, black pepper – 2 tsp, garlic – 5 -6 cloves, coconut- 2 tsp.

Seasoning: Coconut oil – 2tsp, mustard -1 tsp, Cumin – ½ tsp, red chillies -1 to 2, curry leaves –little.

Method:

-Cook toor dal in sufficient water and keep aside.

– Peel banana and chop it into a tiny bit, immerse in water to avoid discoloration.

– Now take one vessel and prepare tamarind water (by putting tamarind in 2 cups of water). Keep it for boiling.

-To this, add salt, red chilli powder, jaggery, and turmeric powder. When it starts boiling, add banana bits by draining the water in which it was immersed.

-Now prepare masala by roasting toor dal, fenugreek, coriander, Cumin, pepper and garlic with little oil (preferably coconut oil) .

-When dal becomes light brown, remove from the flame and grind this into a smooth paste with coconut.

– When banana is done, add cooked dal, ground paste, required amount of water (adjust according to your requirement), check for salt and sweetness.

-Boil this mixture and add seasoning by using all seasoning ingredients.

-Serve with hot rice with dollop of ghee or coconut oil.

Hitikida avarekalu/ Deskinned Hyacinth bean curry:

December 9, 2017

Avarekai has many names like Lablab or Hyacinth bean.

Avarekai is an integral part of every household of native Bangalore or Mysore region during every winter. People wait for its arrival. Winter special lima bean is called “Sogadavare” and it has double the aroma of what we get normally throughout the year.

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Initially I used to struggle with avarekai recipes and never used to get that authentic touch. Now over the years, I have mastered this authentic, tasty curry and my family started liking it and we do enjoy our share of this traditional curry with soft dosas.

If you are using fresh beans, it is a little time-consuming process. During the season we even get the deskinned ones. If you have frozen beans, curry making is an easy task.

At first, we will see the procedure of de skinning –

-At first take a fresh bean pod, remove outer thick green skin and separate the light yellowish green bean. Collect all the shelled beans, soak it in water for 3 to 4 hours.

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Now starts your time consuming real exercise. Dip your hand in water, remove soaked beans and start deskinning by keeping the bean in between your thumb finger and fore finger and press a little, you will see the transparent outer skin would flip and inner bean will come out. Continue the exercise until it is done and collect deskinned “Hitikida bele” and proceed to make very tasty curry.

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Now we will see the procedure of “Hitikida bele saaru” /Curry

Ingredient-

Deskinned Avarekai – 1 big bowl

Onion – 1 for seasoning

Oil – 3 table spoons

Ghee – 2 tea spoons

Mustard – 1 tea spoon

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Green chillies – 4 (3 for grinding + 1 for seasoning)

Garlic – 8 cloves (4 for grinding + 4 for seasoning)

Coconut – 2 cups

Tamarind – marble size

Coriander seeds – 2 tea spoons

Cumin – ½ tea spoon

Cinnamon – ½ inch

Clove – 2

Ginger – ½ inch piece

Coriander leaves – ½ cup

Method:

-Cook avarekai with required amount of water and salt. You can opt for a cooker or an open vessel. Slow coking gives a better result for this curry.

– Next is the masala preparation. Fry Coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves. When coriander becomes light brown, add garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves,tamarind and coconut and fry until it emits a nice aroma.

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-Switch off the gas, cool the content and grind this in to a smooth paste by adding required amount of water.

-Now do the seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard, curry leaves, garlic, green chilli, chopped onion and fry until onion becomes light brown.

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-Add ground masala paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add cooked avarekai and add enough water.

-At this time, consistency of the curry should be a little watery, as cooking proceeds and after some resting time, it becomes thick and becomes perfect.

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-Boil this mixture until you see a thin creamy layer at the top.

-Switch off and pour 2 tea spoons of ghee, give one mix and close the lid. Rest this for some time, and serve with dosas, chapati’s or plain rice or jeera rice.

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Note:

-I usually prepare this curry in the night, and re heat and serve with dosas in the morning.

-In this way, it absorbs all the flavours and sets properly.

Antinunde /Dry fruit laddu with edible gum:

November 29, 2017

Antinunde aka dry fruits laddu with edible gum is a super food for everyone, especially new moms or girls in their puberty, especially after their first cycle of menstruation. I came to know about this super food through my close friend’s mom, Chandu aunty.

According to her, if you are using it for a girl, after her first cycle. Traditionally it is a practice that, 5^th day onwards girl should consume a little amount of ghee, small piece of copra (which is dried coconut) followed by one dry fruit laddu and a cup of milk for continuous 48 days. It is believed that, all the combined nutrition of dry fruits, edible gum and milk will take care of her and retain the calcium, iron and much needed supplements through the natural form.

If you are using after delivery, for a new mom as a postpartum supplement, method will be slightly different and here we should take care of the new born baby’s health as well. In this case, lady should consume, 1 spoon of postpartum lehya (which is a mixture of so many ayurvedic natural medicines) followed with little ghee, piece of dry coconut, one laddu and a glass of milk from 11^th day onwards until 3^rd month. Initial 1 ½ months content of the sesame should be more (for example 1 cup) other than this one should use ½ tsp of ajwain as well and after 2^nd half one should decrease the quantity of sesame to half and quantity of the dried dates and edible gum should be more to pass on the supplements to the baby as well.

Other than these two instances, one can enjoy these delicious laddu at any given point of time with a whole lot of goodness. I will show you how I prepare this for a regular use –

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Ingredients:

Dates – 300 grams

Almonds – 100 grams

Cashew – 50 grams

Raisins – 50 grams

Fig – 50 grams (optional)

Melon seeds – 50 grams (optional)

Flax seeds – 25 grams (optional)

Desiccated coconut – 50 grams

Edible gum – 40 to 50 grams

Jaggery – 100 grams

Saffron – 10 strings

Nutmeg – 1 pinch (grated)

Cloves – 4

Ghee – 2 to 3 table spoons

Method:

-Chop dates and dry grind this in a small jar of the mixer grinder.

-Chop almonds and cashews

-Dry roast saffron then coconut powder for 3-4 minutes, till you get a nice aroma.

-Dry roast flax seed.

-Heat one teaspoon of ghee and fry one by one, cloves, almond, cashew, melon seed and raisins.

-Put one more teaspoon of ghee to same tawa, fry those edible gum crystals, until it pops up and becomes fluffy.

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-Make powder of this by using mixer jar and keep aside.

-Lastly, fry those chopped or churned dates and add all these items together in a bowl and keep aside.

-Now take jaggery in a small vessel and take ½ a cup of water, boil and sieve this to remove any impurities.

-Put this sieved liquid in a thick tawa, in which we have fried all those dry fruits.

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-Boil this until it reaches one thread consistency. Switch off the gas.

-Mix in all those fried items, nutmeg powder, saffron and mix nicely.

-Rub your hand with little ghee and start to make laddu’s.

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-Eat one laddu a day and enjoy.

Note:

Ratio of dry fruits and jaggery is 600 Grams:150 grams. If Fig is added, you can reduce a little.
I normally use normal dates, traditionally they use dried dates.
Instead of dry coconut (copra) I have used desiccated coconut.
One can use palm jaggery while making it for a new mom or use palm jaggery half and regular jaggery half.
My kids don’t like either poppy seeds or sesame seeds, instead I have added Melon seeds and flax seeds.
I normally add sugar candy crystals to enhance the crunchiness.

Kumbalakai/Ash gourd Dosa:

October 19, 2017

When I prepared Kashi halwa, so much quantity of the inner fleshy part was left and I was not in the mood to throw it away. I immediately made a couple of breakfast options from the remaining inner fleshy part, which can be made by adding ash gourd pieces as well. I feel that the inner core has more flavour than real ash gourd: D Ash gourd is considered as super food which has many healing properties and it is very good for the human body. It is low in calories hence it is good for weight watchers as well as diabetics.

This Dosa batter is like normal urad dal Dosa and one can prepare paper thin roasted Dosa or thick set Dosa as you wish.

Ingredients:

Dosa rice / White normal rice – 3 cups

Urad dal – ¼ cup

Ash gourd inner soft part – 3 cups (you can use ash gourd pieces as well)

Salt

Method:

-Wash Ash gourd, peel outer skin and remove inner core with seeded part. (Core part can be used to make Dosa batter)

-Remove seeds and take white part and keep it ready.

-Wash rice and dal together. Soak for 2 hours.

-Grind soaked rice and dal with ash gourd core part or pieces by adding sufficient salt.

-Batter should be smooth and consistency is like normal Dosa batter.

-Ferment this ground batter for 8 hours or overnight.

-Next day prepare Dosa as you wish.

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

-If you wish soft, porous kind, spread like a set Dosa and enjoy with coconut chutney.

Alasande- Hesaru kaalu Jeerige Bendi:

February 5, 2017

It is nothing but Yard long beans and whole green gram with cumin flavoured coconut gravy.

This is an age old combination and a traditional recipe from Mangalore. Jeerige Bendi is very mild, flavourful and not spicy. It can be enjoyed with hot rice, Whole wheat Roti’s, Dosa or Rice rotti.

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Ingredients:

Yard long beans / Alasande – 250 grams

Green gram – 1 cup

Coconut – 1 bowl

Cumin – 1 teaspoon

Dried Red chilli – 2

Salt

Jaggery – ½ teaspoon

Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon

Tamarind – peanut size.

Seasoning: Coconut oil – 1tsp, mustard – 1 teaspoon, Red chilli -1, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

Wash green gram and soak it overnight.
Next day, wash yard long beans and make one inch pieces.
Cook Soaked green gram with sufficient water, salt, jaggery and red chilli powder.
When it is half done, add chopped yard long beans and cook.

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Meanwhile, grind coconut, red chillies, cumin and tamarind into a smooth paste and add this paste to cooked vegetable and boil.
Check for the salt and add seasoning.
For seasoning, heat oil, add mustard, red chilli. When mustard starts spluttering, add curry leaves and pour this into boiled curry.

It can be enjoyed with hot rice, Whole wheat Roti’s, Dosa or Rice rotti.

Bonda Soup:

November 30, 2016

I am a hard-core fan of “Bonda Soup”. It is very soothing to have in winter evenings. Usually this is an after lunch snack at most of the Darshini’s in Bangalore.

Bonda soup is nothing but Fried Black gram dal fritters or uddina vada which is soaked in Ginger and pepper flavoured dal.

bonda

For this, we have to make Bonda at first:

Ingredients:

Urad dal – 1 cup

Salt

Green chilli -1

Coconut pieces – 1 table spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

-Soak Urad dal for 1 to 2 hours. Grind this smoothly by adding little by little water at interval. Add salt.

-Batter should be smooth and fine. Usage of grinder will yield perfect batter. If you are using mixer grinder, you can use chilled water for grinding, so that batter will not become hot while grinding.

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– Add chopped curry leaves, green chilli and coconut bits.

-Keep oil in a kadai, for deep frying.

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-When oil becomes hot, make small round bonda’s, fry this in a medium heat and keep it ready.

Next we are making the Soup.

Ingredients:

Toor dal – ½ cup

Green gram/Moong dal – ½ cup

Green chillies -2

Ginger – 1” piece

Salt

Hing – ½ tea spoon

Turmeric – ½ tea spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Cumin – 1 teaspoon

Black pepper – 1 teaspoon

Seasoning: Ghee – 1 teaspoon, mustard – 1 teaspoon, Cumin – ½ teaspoon, Red chilli -1, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

Take both the dals ,Wash and cook this in a cooker

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-Cool completely and churn this cooked dal by using hand blender or mixer jar.

-Now Take one vessel ,pour this dal, add salt ,turmeric ,one spring curry leaves ,hing ,chopped green chillies ,ginger juveniles.

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-Take one pestle and mortar, crush pepper and cumin and add this powder too.

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-Boil it nicely, until green chillies are cooked.

-Add seasoning by putting ghee, mustard, cumin, red chilli and curry leaves.

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-Now Soup is ready.-To serve, you should take one serving bowl; Keep couple of Bonda’s and pour one or two ladle full of Soup, garnish with coriander leaves, and serve.