Taste of Mysore

Kesuvina gadde Fry/ Taro fry

2017-02-23T07:46:00.001-08:00

Sometimes all you need is simple and satisfying food after a tiring day. Yummy rasam and rice takes away day's stress to much extent. I tried this simple fried & peppered Taro/Kesuvina gadde with rasam and it was a delectable combination.

Kesuvina gadde Fry

Ingredients :

1. Taro root - 200g
2. Salt
3. Pepper
4. Oil for deep frying

Method :

1. De-skin Taro root and steam it in pressure cooker for 15-20 mins.

2. Blot the water away from the slices. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry till brown
3. When warm, sprinkle salt and pepper. Toss it. Serve it with warm rice and hot rasam.

Enjoy a simple, yet hearty meal.

Hunasekayi Thokku/ Chintakaya Pachadi

2016-11-17T08:21:00.002-08:00

Hunase Thokku

Thokku roughly translates to 'coarse mixture'. If you have this coarse mixture in hand, it is easy to convert it into pickle or make any other dish from it.

Hunase thokku/ Raw tamarind thokku is yummy as a pickle.

A simple recipe :

Roughly chopped raw tamarind - 4 cups

Crystal Salt- 1 cup

Green Chilli- 100g

Turmeric - 1 tbsp.

Fenugreek seeds powder - little less than 1/4 cup

Asafoetida powder- 1 tbsp.

Method:

1. Select young tamarind. Mature tamarind has hard seed inside it which makes the pickle bitter.

2. Wash with several changes of water. Wipe it with dry cloth. Let it dry for 30 minutes. Follow same procedure with green chili.

3. Chop the tamarind into small pieces.

4. Grind fenugreek seeds into fine powder. Add tamarind, asafoetida, turmeric, green chilli and grind to coarse mixture.

Store in a dry bottle.

Serving Tip:
Before serving, grind the coarse mixture to little smooth paste. Add seasoning to it (oggarane).
Serve it with regular meal. A spoonful of thokku with ghee on hot rice is yumm to eat.

Enjoy!

Belada Hannu Halwa- Woodapple Halwa

2016-05-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

Belada Hannu is abundantly available in summers. As children, we ate them outside school just by sprinkling salt and chili powder. It tasted yumm! Tangy and Sweet with salt and chili ...a taste to remember! Ripe fruits are mixed with jaggery to make panaka or to make halwa. Here is a simple halwa recipe :

Ingredients

Wood Apple Pulp - From 3 big fruits

Jaggery (Bella or Palm Sugar)- 250g

Cardamom Powder- a pinch

Salt- a pinch

Ghee- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Break open wood apple with a hammer. Scoop out the pulp.

2. Powder jaggery and mix with the pulp. Add a pinch of salt too. Leave it aside for 30 mins.

3. Grind this mixture into smooth paste.

4. In a non stick pan, take this ground paste and heat on medium flame. Keep mixing until the mixture comes together like a ball. Add cardamom powder and ghee and mix well. Switch off the stove and let it cool.

5. Enjoy halwa when it is cool. Tasty and tangy!

Fig, Banana and Sapota Milkshake

2016-04-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

Figs-6
Banana-2
Sapota-1
Boost Powder-1Tbsp
Sugar-2Tbsp
Ice Cubes-10
Milk-50 ml
Vanilla Ice cream-1 big scoop

Method:

Add all ingredients except vanilla ice cream and blend in juicer or mixer grinder. Pour into tall glasses.
Top it with Vanilla Ice cream and serve chilled.

Macaroni Puliyogare

2016-03-03T18:42:00.004-08:00

This is a recipe which comes handy on a busy morning. Easy and quick too.

Macaroni Puliyogare - Serves 3 adults

Ingredients :

Macaroni - 250g

Puliyogare Powder of your choice
Oil - 1Tbsp
Peanuts
Salt
Water to cook Macaroni.

Method:

Cook macaroni Al dente with salt and a few drops of oil and enough water.
Drain water. Pour in cold or normal temp water and drain water again. This stops macaroni from cooking further.
Heat oil in a pan. Add peanuts and fry till its crisp. Add 2 tbsp of puliyogare powder and enough salt. Switch off the stove. Mix the powder and oil. Add in cooked macaroni and mix well.
Ready to eat.. Garnish with coriander leaves if you have .. Serve or pack in lunch box.

Bhindi Masala / Shahi Bhindi

2016-01-07T23:25:00.002-08:00

Continue Reading..

Bhindi Masala /Shahi Bhindi

We love Bhindi or Bendekayi. Here is a delectable Bhindi Masala, restaurant style...

Ingredients:

Bhindi/ Bendekayi - approx half a kilo
Onion - 2 Large
Tomato - 1 Large
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Kitchen King Masala - 1 tsp (you use substitute with garam masala)
Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - To Taste
Oil - 3 tbsp
Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Water - as needed to thin the gravy
Sugar- a pinch
Salt
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp for garnishing

Grind to fine paste:
Whole Cashew nuts - 15
White Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

1. Soak Cashewnuts for 20 mins in warm water. Grind to smooth paste with little water along with sesame seeds and fennel seeds. Keep it aside.

2. Clean, wipe and cut bendekayi/bhindi into 2" pieces. Fry it with little oil till gooeyness reduces. Keep it aside.
3. Add remaining oil to the pan and throw in cumin seeds. When seeds splutter, add onion and ginger garlic paste. Stir and fry till raw smell of ginger and garlic reduces and onions are soft.
4. Add dry masalas- turmeric, redchili powder, kitchen king masala and salt. Mix and add tomatoes. These dry masala should not burn. Sprinkle some water if pan to too hot. I recommend using Kitchen King Masala as it adds a good flavor to the recipe. At this stage you can add a pinch of chaat masala too. Really a pinch and not more. Stir and fry till tomatoes are soft and masalas exude oil. Time to add fried bhindi/okra pieces and ground cashew paste. Mix well.
5. Thin the curry by adding water at this time. Add salt and mix. Bring the mixture to boil. Add a pinch of sugar at this stage and kasoori methi. Give a quick stir and reduce the flame and continue to boil for 1-2 mins. Switch off the stove and let the curry cool for 5 mins before you serve.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander and onion rings before you serve with Roti, Naan or Chapathi.

Enjoy!!!

Methi Matar Malai ~ Flavorful and Simple Dish

2015-11-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

A flavorful and simple dish for winter months when Methi is going to be abundantly available.

Ingredients :

Methi : 2 Big bunches of methi. Leaves separated from stem. Pluck 3 leaves corner

Matar (Hasi Batani/ Fresh Peas): 2 handfuls

Milk: 1/2 cup

Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp

Turmeric : A big pinch

Kasoori Methi : 2 big pinches

Salt

Sugar(a pinch)

Oil for frying : 2 tsp

Jeera (Cumin) : 1/2 tsp

To fry and grind:

Medium sized onion : 1

Green Chilies: 2-3

Ginger: 1/2 inch

Cloves: 2

Pre-Soaked Cashews: 8

Cardamom: few grains or a pinch of powder

Method:

1. Separate methi leaves from stem. Wash and drain.

2. Thaw peas if you are using frozen peas. If you are using fresh peas, shell them. Wash peas and drain.

3. Soak cashews for 10-15 minutes before you grind. Soak them in warm water.

4. Chop onions roughly. Cut green chilies into big pieces. Roughly cut ginger.

5. Add 1/2 tsp oil to frying pan. Fry onions, chilies, cardamom, cloves, and ginger till onions are translucent. Add soaked cashews and grind to smooth paste using water.

7. Add remaining oil to the pan. Throw in cumin seeds. When cumin starts turning brown, add ground paste and fry for 2 seconds. Next add Methi leaves and green peas. Mix well. Add turmeric, garam masala and salt. Fry for 2 more minutes. Sprinkle kasoori methi.

8. Add milk, fresh cream and sugar. Cook on low flame for 4 minutes. Check salt and adjust if needed. Serve hot with parathas or pooris.

Navaratri Pooja Vidhana

2015-10-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

Wishing everyone a very happy Sharad Navaratri -2015

1. Place a kalasha - fill water in a pot. Add turmeric, vermillion, a coin, few grains of yellow rice (akshate). Keep a dot of turmeric and vermillion on kalsha. Place two betel leaves inside the kalasha.

2. Keep this kalasha on a platform which has been cleaned. Draw a 8 petaled open lotus on this cleaned surfaced before placing the kalasha.

3. If chamundeshwari photo or any durga goddess photo is at home, you can place it for prayers.

4. Additionally I have placed Srichakra for prayers. It is auspicious to pray to Srichakra which houses all gods in it.

5. Ganesha idol is placed in front as he is the one who will be prayed first.

6. I have also placed Sarawati and Durga idols in the altar which I had at home.

7. Light the lamp and offer prayers. Offer prayers as per your ability for 9 days.

8. On the 10th day, this kalasha will be removed.

A closer view :

Bonda Soup

2015-10-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

Bonda Soup

Recipe For Bonda: You can follow Uddina Vada Recipe (click on the word Uddin Vada for the recipe link)

Quick Summarisation of Bonda recipe: Soak 1 cup of Urid Dal or Uddinbele as we say in Kannada for 2-3 hours. Grind it to smooth paste by adding enough salt and less water. You can choose to add chopped ginger, coriander leaves and curry leaves to the batter. Take a spoonful of batter and make balls. Slide these balls into hot oil and fry till golden brown. Bonda is ready!

For Soup :

Hesarubele or deskinned Moong Dal - 1/2 cup
Water to cook

For Oggarane / Seasoning
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - few grains
Jeera- 2 tsp
Green Chilies- 2 -3
Curry Leaves
Turmeric
Lemon Juice - 1 Tbsp
Salt
Coriander Leaves chopped - 1 Tbsp

Method:

1. Pressure cook moondal with enough water and a pinch of turmeric.
2. Heat oil in a pan/kadhai. Add mustard seeds and Jeera. When jeera starts turning red, add chilies, curry leaves and a pinch of turmeric. Mix well. Add in cooked dal and enough water to dilute it to a soupy consistency.
3. Add salt and bring to boil. Switch off the stove and allow it cool for 5-6 mins. Add in lemon juice and coriander leaves. Mix well and taste. Adjust the flavors.

Serving:

Place hot soup in a serving bowl and gently drop a Bonda into it and serve with love.

Sprouting Ragi & Sprouted Ragi Flour

2015-08-04T02:17:00.002-07:00

"Sprouted ragi develops vitamin C in the process of sprouting, therefore the iron in ragi becomes more bioavailable when consumed as sprouted ragi flour or ragi malt."

Finger millet contains important amino acids viz., isoleucine, leucine, methionine and phenyl alanine which are not present in other starchy meals.

It has the highest amount of calcium (344 mg %) and potassium (408 mg %). Ragi is a great source of iron making it beneficial for individuals with low hemoglobin levels.

Millets also contains B vitamins, especially niacin, B6 and folic acid. Some of the health benefits of ragi are attributed to its polyphenol and dietary fiber contents. Due to its high content of polyphenols and dietary fiber ragi exhibits anti-diabetic and antioxidant and antimicrobial properties; it protects against tumors and atherosclerosis (narrowing and hardening of blood vessels). Being low in fat and gluten free, ragi is easy to digest. It is therefore, given as first foods to babies in the form of ragi porridge

Ragi in anemia: Ragi is an excellent plant source of natural Iron. Its consumption helps in Anemia. Vitamin C increases iron absorption. Sprouted ragi develops vitamin C in the process of sprouting, therefore the iron in ragi becomes more bioavailable when consumed as sprouted ragi flour or ragi malt.

How to Sprout Ragi :

Step 1: Clean Ragi grains in water untill water runs clean.
Step 2: Drain water and spread ragi grains on a thin cloth. Bring the edges of the towel and tie the grains loosely with the cloth.

Step 3: Place the cloth back in the colander. Keep a bowl to hold this colander. Place this in a dark place for 24-48 hours depending on the humidity or climatic conditions. In summer, 12-18 hours is enough.

Step 4: You can see ragi sprouts by end of 24-48 hours. Spread the cloth or transfer the sprouted grains to new cloth and spread the grains. Make sure the cloth is dry. Let the sprouted grains dry well. Powder it in a mill or in mixer grinder. Filter the ground powder in a muslin cloth. Resulting filtered powder is good for making porridge for babies.

Step 5: Choose a recipe from this blog and make yummy dishes out of the Ragi flour you made :)

Ragi Dose

Ragi Mudde

Ragi Cookies

Ragi Soup with Veggies

Ragi Idli

Ragi Hurihittu/ Ragi Pelala Pindi/ Popcorned Ragi Flour

2015-07-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

Ragi Huirhittu or Pelapindi(in telugu) is one of the healthiest foods. The simple porridge that we make out of this flour is yummy and keeps your hunger pangs at bay for 2-3 hours. The porridge is good for babies to Adults. My children started their solid food with this porridge. I will be blogging few recipes from this flour in upcoming posts. This post will be dedicated to the making of this flour.

Healthy foods are simple to make too. Let me walk you through the simple steps.

Step 1 : Wash Ragi untill water runs clean. Soak Ragi in water or Buttermilk for an hour or two. Drain water and spread it on a clean towel for 5 mins.

Step 2. Take 1-2 spoons of wet Ragi on a hot pan and fry till Ragi pops like popcorn. It takes approximately 40-50sec for the Ragi to start popping. Watch the video below. Once Ragi pops, transfer to a plate. Let it cool.

Step 3: Powder Ragi in your coffee grinder or mixer grinder. Store this flour in an airtight container.

Ragi Hurihittu made with soaking ragi in buttermilk lends darker color to Ragi when fried compared to Ragi soaked in water.

Mango Mastani

2015-06-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

Mango Mastani

A summer cooler for you ..

Ingredients :

Mango: 2 (peeled and cubed)

Sugar : 1 Tbsp (adjust as per your need)

Chopped Nuts (Cashews, Almonds and Pistachio): Few (Toast them lightly)

Ice Cream of your Choice

Ice Cubes

Water

Chilled Glasses

Method:

Peel Mango and cube them. Reserve few pieces for garnishing.
Grind mango with sugar and ice cubes or chilled water.
Pour the juice into tall glasses. Garnish with nuts, mango pieces and serve.
You can simply serve by garnishing with saffron too!
Njoi..

Stuffed Plantains/Raw Banana ~ Stuffed Baalekayi

2015-06-02T23:00:00.003-07:00

It was yummy making this stuffed baalekayi. Try it to know it better.

Recipe inspirations from Monsoon Spice & Sattva.

Ingredients :

Raw Banana (Baalekayi) - 4 (Rinsed and Washed thoroughly)

Boiled Water - 2 cups

For Stuffing:

Peanuts - 1/4 cup

Kadale Hittu or Chickpea flour - 2 tsp (sifted)

Hing - a big pinch

Jeera - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 2-4 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch (washed and chopped)

Oil- 2 tbsp

Salt- 11/4 tsp

Ginger - 2 inch piece (peeled and sliced)

Green Chilies - 5-8 (washed and cut into small pieces.

Garlic Cloves - 2

Ready for the procedure to make it? Let's start..

1. Pound ginger, green chili and garlic in a pestle and mortar or grind it in a mixer grinder. Add a pinch of salt to it. Keep it aside.

2. Powder peanuts in a mixer to make it into coarse powder.

3. Take all these ingredients in a mixing bowl.

4. Add 2 Tbsp of oil and mix well.

5. Wash the green banana thoroughly. This is important because the recipe calls for using banana without peeling it. Cut 1 green banana into 5 pieces. Cut a cross on these pieces by running the knife to 3/4 inch deep. Take care not to cut through them. Stuff the filling in between the slits. Let it marinate for 5-10 mins.

6. Arrange these stuffed plantains in a wide mouthed non-stick pan and sprinkle oil around them and cook for 2 mins with lid closed on high flame. Now add remaining peanut mixture, 2 cups of boiling water, cover and cook for next 5 - 10mins mins on sim flame. Flip the plantains in between so that they are cooked uniformly.

7. Add little more water if you think it is getting dry. You can check if the bananas are cooked by inserting a knife or tooth pick inside. If the fork/knife or tooth pick gets inside easily it means bananas are cooked. Also you can see the skin getting separated from the core when bananas are cooked well.

8. Once plantains are cooked switch off the stove and serve with Rice or Chapathi. We had ours with Khichd, Chapathi and Methi Matar Malai.

Badam Puri ~ Almond Puri ~ Lavanga Latika

2015-05-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

15 years of wedded life ....I calculated again, yes it is indeed 15! So much happened in these years and yet it feels like time went like Zooooom.. 8 years ago I started writing this blog on same auspicious day after my memory failed to capture all ingredients of my recipes in the exact amount. Brain feels better now after off loading all those things onto this blog. There are many more recipes to blog probably.. a mere 500 seems like 'only 500?' as I still scratch my head standing in front the grocery cabinet early in the morning thinking what to make. And every time I think, this is insane..even after having 500 recipes I don't seem to have enough ! I think it's human nature to have more just like our cola ad 'yeh dil maange more'..

We decided to move house on this auspicious wedding day. Even after a week now I still have not got over with sorting things. So is life I guess..by the time I comfortably settle in..I might get an announcement to move again!!! Life is full of surprises :)

After a week of completing this 'wedding day' thing, I decided to try Badam Puri as it was served during my wedding day (as I faintly remember). It was my mom's favorite sweet. She used to call it Lavanga latika. Nice name..I thought always. Here is how I made it. Recipe Courtesy Udupi Recipes

Badam Puri

Serves : 5 Adults Category/Cuisine: Festival/Wedding/Sweet/ Karnataka

Ingredients:

1 cup : Maida (Plain Flour)

½ cup : Rice Flour

25 : Almonds

¼ cup : Ghee (clarified butter)

½ cup: Milk

Cooking Oil for deep frying (I use Rice Bran Oil)

1 cup : Granulated Sugar

4 no. : Cardamom

1 cup: Plain Water

Cloves: Few

Method :

1. Soak Almonds for 2 hours. Deskin almonds and grind to fine paste using milk.

2. Mix almond paste, maida, and rice flour well. Add milk if mixing becomes difficult. Knead the dough well and rest it for min 2 hours. Coat the dough with little ghee while you rest the dough.

3. While dough is resting, prepare sugar syrup. Mix sugar and water (1:1 ratio) and bring to boil. When sugar syrup starts to thicken switch off the stove and add cardamom powder.

4. Pinch little dough and roll them into think circles. Apply ghee on it. Fold it into half to make a semi-circle. Apply ghee again and fold into half which makes a triangle now. You can insert a clove in the center now.

5. Deep fry in cooking oil till it is golden brown. We like it crisp so I fried it a little more than usual. Dip in sugar syrup for 1 min. Remove and serve.

Palya Bun / Eggless Bun / Stuffed Masala Buns recipe

2015-05-03T21:36:00.001-07:00

Palya Bun (Egg less)/ Stuffed Masala Buns Recipe (Makes 6 Buns)

All measurements to be done with standard measurement cups/Tbsp. Baking is different from Cooking. In cooking approx measurements can be used but in Baking one needs to measure exactly to get desired result.

For Buns:

Maida - 1.5 cups

Instant Yeast- 3/4 Tbsp

Warm Milk- 1/4 cup

Water- 1/4 cup

Sugar- 1 Tbsp

Salt- 3/4 tsp

Water- 1/4 cup
Canola Oil or Sunflower Oil or Olive oil-3 Tbsp (Use oil whichever you use for cooking at home)

For Stuffing:

Potato: 2 small

Onion: 1 small

Frozen or Fresh peas: a handful

Green Chili: 5

Curry leaves: few

Garam Masala: a pinch (optional, I don't use it)

Oil

Mustard, urid dal and chana dal, cashews, turmeric for oggarane (tempering)

Salt

For Stuffing:

1. Start with stuffing preparation. Cook Potato in pressure cooker. Cool, peel and mash potatoes. If using frozen peas put them in with potatoes for cooking.

2. Heat oil and add mustard, dals and cashews. When dals brown add in chili, onion and fry till onions are soft. I prefer cutting onions into cubes and chili slit length wise.Add turmeric and mix well.

3. Add in curry leaves, salt and mashed potatoes. You can cut curry leaves into small pieces so it gets mixed easily. Drain peas from water and add them too. Mix well and warm it. Switch off the stove and keep it aside to cool.

For Buns :

1. Measure 1.5 cups of plain flour or maida into a bowl. Add in salt and mix well.

2. Add sugar to warm milk and stir well to combine. Mix 3/4 Tbsp of instant yeast to milk and mix. Leave this mixture for 2-5 mins for it to froth well.

3. Dig a well in the center of the plain flour heap. Measure oil, water and pour in the well. Pour in Yeast mixture and slowly mix the flour from sides to make a dough. This dough looks like chapathi dough . Cover and keep the dough for 30-40 mins for it to rise. Use a damp cloth to cover the bowl or just use cling film. Dough doubles in quantity.

4. After 40 mins, oil your hands (olive oil) and pinch 6 portions of the dough.

5. Flatten each dough into 2" circle. Place a spoon full of filling and pull the dough from all sides to close it. Finish this with all 6 buns.

6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Line all the 6 buns into the tray and cover with damp cloth or cling film for another 10 mins or until your oven is preheated.

7. Preheat the oven to 190 C. Bake these buns for 15 mins or till golden. Cool them on racks for 10 mins. Coat the surface of the buns with butter when it is hot. Serve warm with Coffee or Chai.

Heerekayi Chutny/ Ridge Gourd Chutny

2015-04-26T20:00:00.001-07:00

Heerekayi Chutney/ Beerakaya Pachadi

The recipe is inspired by Vah Chef, Cook Book "Cooking at home with Pedatha" and a restaurant where we had lunch recently. After all these yummy encounters sis in law on skype says "beerekayi chutney sooperagi irutte attige" ..ok needless to say that I wanted to try it then n there.. :D . It was good. Please try to know.

Heerekayi Chutny

Preparation time : 20min Cooking Time: 15mins Total Time Taken : 35mins Serves : 5 people

Ingredients:

Heerekayi (Ridge Gourd): 1 medium sized

Onion : 1 small

Tomato : 1 small

Peanuts: 2 Tbsp

Turmeric: a big pinch

Green Chili: 8-10

Tamarind: 2” piece

Jeera: 1 Tsp

Oil: for frying

Dry Red Chili: 1 for seasoning

Salt

Method :

1. Clean and remove ridge from Ridge Gourd. Do not peel the vegetable more. Cut into 1” pieces. Dice Onion and Tomato too. Wash green chili and slit them into half.

2. In a pan, heat oil. Fry peanuts, tamarind, green chili in batches. Remove them on a plate. Add more oil if needed. Now add jeera and wait till it turns red. Throw in Ridge gourd and onions. Add turmeric and stir. Cover and cook for next 3-4 mins. Add tomatoes and continue till tomatoes become mushy. You can add little water and salt at this stage. When ridge gourd is half cooked, remove the pan from stove and allow it to cool.

3. Grind peanuts, tamarind, chili into coarse powder. Add ridge gourd onion n tomato mixture. Continue to grind to make into smooth paste.

4. Remove chutney to a bowl and check for salt. Adjust salt and temper chutney.

5. For tempering/seasoning- Heat oil add mustard, urid dal, redchili, Asafoetida and curry leaves. When dal turns red pour the mixture on the chutney.

6. Serve with hot rice or Chapathi.

Mix Vegetable Kootu

2015-04-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

Mix Vegetable Kootu

Preparation time : 20min Cooking Time: 45mins Total Time Taken : 1 hr Serves : 5 people

Ingredients:

Togaribele (Pigeon Peas): 1 cup

Alasandekaalu(cowpeas) : 1 Tbsp

Mix Vegetable : Carrot, Beans, Chaoyte Squah(Seemebadanekayi), Potato

Turmeric: a big pinch

Brown Sugar or Jaggery – little for taste

To Grind

Grated fresh Coconut : 3 Tbsp

Red Chilies : 3~4

Urid Dal- 1 tsp

Chanadal-1tsp

Coriander Seeds – 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds- 1tsp

Pepper corns-5

Salt for taste

Method :

1. Clean and chop vegetables into small 1” pieces.

2. Clean and Wash Toordal and cowpeas.

3. Cook dal and veggies in pressure cooker with a big pinch of turmeric.

4. Fry the ingredients under ‘to grind’ category except coconut. Do not fry coconut.

5. Grind the fried masala with coconut with little water to make smooth paste.

6. Mix cooked dal vegetables and ground masala paste. Add salt, jiggery and bring to boil. Taste it to adjust salt levels.

7. Serve with hot rice and sundried & fried yogurt chili

Enjoy Madi!

Nuchhina Unde ~ steamed lentil cakes

2015-04-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

Candid Pictures...No Photoshoot! Rustic foods need no makeover!

To Kannadigas Nuchhina Unde needs no introduction. All I want to say is one must eat it to experience the taste. You can serve this on it's own or serve it with Majjige Saru. Both ways it is yummilicious. If you want to experience rustic Karnataka Cuisine don't forget make them :)

Nuchhina Unde ready to be steamed.

Recipe for Nucchina Unde

Nucchina Unde ~ Steamed Lentil Cakes

Preparation time : 1hr Cooking Time: 30mins Total Time Taken : 1.5 hrs

Serves : 5 people

Ingredients:

Togaribele (Pigeon Peas): 4 fistfuls

Hesarubele(split green bean) : ½ fistful

Kadalebele(split Chickpea)

Grated fresh Coconut : 5 Tbsp

Green Chilies : 5

Onion: 1 big

Ginger: 1 inch add more if you like it.

Coriander Leaves: 3 Tbsp

Asafoetida: 1 generous pinch

Salt for taste

Method :

1. Soak all dals or beles for an hour.

2. Chop onions to fine pieces, coriander and ginger too.

3. After an hour, grind bele, greenchili and salt to a coarse paste. Use less water or minimum water. It should make thick dough.

4. To the ground batter add chopped onions, ginger, coriander leaves, grated coconut, asafoetida. Mix well. Shape them into desired shape and steam for 10 mins or till done.

5. Serve it with coconut chutney or Majjige Saru (Yogurt sambar)

Few Points to Note:

1. You can alter the ratios of the dals or 'beles' in the recipe but you should know the outcome of it
2. Adding more kadalebele or chana dal makes this cake/unde a bit hard.
3. Quantity of Togaribele or Toor dal is more as the resulting unde has better taste, soft and light.
4. Hesarubele or moong dal is easy on stomach, lowers Glycemic Index and also makes the cake softer.

I served it with Majjige Saru/Huli. You can serve hot unde with simple coconut chutney too.

Stuffed Red Chili Pickle ~ Bharwa Mirchi Ka Achar

2015-03-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

2 years of my post-graduate education was in the East of India. I love Bihari, Bengali and Odiya cuisines as much as I love Mysuru cuisine. I made great friends during my stay there, learnt to eat and cook few Bihari type food. Few pickles I loved were stuffed Red Chili pickle, Aam ka kuccha, Green Chili Pickle. Sesame oil (sarson ka tel) is every where in their food. It was not easy to get adjusted to the type of food but now it is not easy to stay away from it either! Love their fresh tamatar ki chutney with hot roti. Roti is not chapathi that we used to make at home, neither their parantha was equivalent or came close to our chapathi. This particular red chili pickle goes very well with chapathi / Prantha/Roti etc. Try it. We all need variety to survive.

This recipe was shared by Ms Hani Gupta on FB. Thanks to her and Chef at Large community.

PICKLING INSTRUCTION : All vessels including knife used to make pickle should be washed, and dried thoroughly. Please do not forget your own hands! Clean and dry hands are a must for pickle making.

Ingredients:
250 g Red Chili (these red chilies are thick skinned plump variety)
Wash, wipe and dry them.

1/4 cup Fennel Seeds
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp onion seeds (nigella seeds)
2.5 Tbsp black mustard
2.5 Tbsp yellow mustard
2 Tbsp Hot Chili Powder (Read Guntur Chili)
2 Tbsp Kashmiri Chili Powder (Read Byadgi Chili)
2 Tbsp Dry Mango Powder
1 Tbsp Haldi or Turmeric
Salt to taste
3/4 cup Sesame Oil (I used Rice Bran Oil since I did not have SO)
Dry container to pickle

Method:

1. Wash, wipe and dry red chilies. When perfectly dry, use dry hands, knife and chopping board to chop off the tip of the chilies :

2. Cut the remove the veins of seeds inside the chili. Let this de-seeded chili dry for an hour.

I was so bored to death while the chilies dried, I did this :P They kind of looked cute to me...!

3. Measure all the dry ingredients. Roast Fennel (Sompu), Methi (menthe) and Kalonji separately. Roast them till they change color to pink and start giving out aroma. Switch off and transfer the ingredients to different containers. Once they cool down, grind Fennel, Methi, black and yellow mustard to coarse powder. Even the mixer grinder should be dry before you grind the ingredients.

4. Transfer the powders to a dry bowl or plate with side. Add remaining ingredients. Mix them well. Now, heat sesame oil till smoky. Let the oil cool down to room temperature. Add half of the oil and mix the powders well.

5. Take a spoonful of this powder and fill it inside red chili. Finish doing this with remaining chili. Line them or tower them up in the container as you stuff the chili.

6. Add remaining oil and to immerse the chili. If oil is not enough, take more and repeat the process of heating it untill smoky hot and cooling it down till luke warm. Cover and keep the chili. It takes 2 days or 5 days for the pickle to get sour. You get lip smacking pickle to eat with chapathis.

The oil can be used to make Achari Paneer or Achari Bhindi. I shall post the recipes soon. Till then, try making these red-hot pickles!

Semolina & Jowar Gundponglu or Paniyaram ~ Instant Mix

2015-02-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

This recipe is adapted from a friend's recipe who posted it on one of the food related forums. Thanks Preethi Prasad for the recipe.

This a simple, yummy and spongy gundponglu/paniyaram you might have ever eaten! The texture and taste just makes you say 'can I have more'...

Here is the simple recipe for the same :

Ingredients:

Semolina - 1 cup
(Uppittu Rave or Chiroti Rave any rave is ok)
Jowar Flour - 3/4 cup
Rice Flour - 1/4 cup
(in case you don't have jowar flour, just add rice flour 1 cup)
Bread Slices - 2
Sago- 1/4 cup
Curd - 1.5 cups
Salt

Optional Ingredients: Jeera, Chili flakes, Eno Salt, grated carrots, chopped coriander leaves, chopped onions
You can even consider adding spinach or sapsige soppu (dill leaves) to make it more veggie friendly gundponglu. Customise it to suit your needs.

Method:
1. Measure all ingredients. Tear bread slices into small pieces. Measure and add curds to this mix. Mix and add water if needed.

2. Leave it aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Mix well again adding salt, jeera, chili flakes. Mix really well. I just gave a quick blend in a hand blender to mix it well. You can skip this step and just beat well to mix it. Before pouring into appe pan, I added half a tsp of Eno salt. Again, this is optional. Appe turns out good without this too. I have experimented various versions and they all work out perfectly well. Adding Eno salt just makes it more lighter.

I did not add jeera etc. I kept it plain. it was awesome. You can consider adding any other veggie you might think would be yumm to add.

3. Heat gundponglu pan and grease the well with oil. Pour in the prepared batter into the wells. Cover and cook for 1-2 mins.

4. When you see the sides getting cooked and leaving the edges of the pan, flip them and cook for another 1-2 mins.

5. Serve it hot with chutney or sambar of your choice. I served it with coconut chutney.

You are welcome to pick one from the lot and enjoy gundponglu. This recipe was an instant like because it was highly customisable and next it was instant type. Give it a try and let me know.

Sago Banana Savory Rings Recipe/Tea Time Snack

2015-02-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there is an instant connect to the recipe when you see it! Love at first sight you can say.

I had this love at first sight with this recipe when I saw it first on Foodelicious.

Here is my version of the Sago Banana Savory Rings :

Ingredients:

Sago(Sabudana or Sabbakki) - 2 cups
Raw banana (balekayi) - 2
Potato - 2 small
Rice Flour - 2Tbsp
Turmeric - A big pinch
Curry leaves and Coriander Leaves - 2 Tbsp (chopped)
Red Chili Powder - 1 Tbsp
Amchoor Powder (Dry mango powder) - 1tsp
Green Chili paste - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying.

Method :

Soak sago for 2 hours. Drain water and dry it on a kitchen towel. Cook potatoes and raw banana with their skin. Cook in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles. Cool. Peel the potato and banana skin. Mash them well.

You need Sago, Raw Banana and Potato. Soak Sago for 1/2 hr, Cook potatoes n banana.

2. Add other ingredients to sago, and mashed banana and potato mixture. Mix well.Check for salt and spice levels. If you don't like it spicy reduce the amount of chili. You can chill this mixture for 30 mins before frying.

Mixture ready to go make vadas.

3. Pinch a small portion of dough and flatten it. Make a hole in the center and slide it into hot oil. Fry till golden brown. Adding rice flour is optional. I added them to bind all ingredients well and also reduces oil absorption. Serve hot with chutney.

Ready to serve Vadas.

Potato Sagu Recipe

2015-01-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

A very simple and tasty side dish for Poori and Rava Idli.

Potato Sagu

Preparation time : 30mis Serves : 4-8 people

Total Time Taken : 40 mins

Ingredients:

Potato: 2 medium sized

Onion- 1 big

Green Chili : 3

Ginger : 1”

Oil, mustard, urid dal, chana dal, curry leaves & turmeric for seasoning

Salt

Maida – 1 tsp.

Water

Lemon Juice – 1tsp (optional)

Coriander leaves – Garnishing

Method :

1.Wash and cook potatoes in pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. Let it cool. Peel the potatoes and mash. Clean and cut onions into small cubes. Slit green chilies lengthwise. Grate ginger and keep it ready.

2.Heat 2tsp oil in a pan. Add mustard. When mustard stops popping add in dals. When dals start turning red curry leaves, green chili, onions, grated ginger and turmeric. Mix well. Fry till onions are soft.

3.Add in mashed potatoes and mix well. Add 100-150ml of water and mix slowly. Sagu has to be thin and runny. Mix a tsp of maida in 2 tsp of water and make a paste. Add this paste to potato mixture and mix well. Add salt and bring to boil. Taste and adjust the salt.

4.If you prefer tangy taste add a tsp of lemon juice and switch off the stove. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve warm with Poori or Rava idli.

Ragi Dosa and Javalikayi Sagu ~ Combo Breakfast

2015-01-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

We love our rustic Ragi dose with Javalikayi Sagu. I have tried various types of chutneys with ragi dose and I don't feel connected when I eat them together. Javalikayi Sagu and Ragi Dose is a very apt combination. You need to try it to believe it.

What is Ragi? (For those who are very new to this millet)

Ragi or Finger Millet s an annual plant widely grown as a cereal in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. Earliest Karnataka civilisation shows it was grown in Hallur in the later Iron Age. It remains one of the main ingredients of the staple diet in Karnataka. Wikipedia

You can read Wiki and other websites to know the nutritional value of Finger Millet / Ragi.

Javalikayi is Cluster Beans also known as Guar in Hindi. Read Wiki

Ragi Dose Recipe (Fermented Method)

Urid Dal - 1 Cup

Menthe Seeds - 1/2 tsp (Fenugreek seeds)

A fistful - Rice Flakes (Avalakki / Avval or Poha)

Ragi Flour - 3 cups

Rava - 1Tbsp (Semolina)

Soak Urid Dal, Menthe and Rice and Poha in Water for 2-3 hrs. Grind with water to smooth batter. Add Ragi Flour and Semolina and mix well. Use water to mix flour and Urid Dal paste. Leave it for 6hrs to ferment. Batter is ready to use.

Instant Ragi Dose

Ragi Flour -3 cups

Sour Buttermilk - ~approx100ml (Majjige)

Rava - 1 Tbsp

Salt to taste.

Mix well and make dosas.

You can use any method to make Ragi Dose. I prefer fermented method.

Method: Dilute dosa batter by adding little water and salt. Batter should be easily spreadble when poured. Heat dosa girdle or non-stick flat pan. Smear the pan with oil. Pour a ladle full of batter and spread it evenly with the back of the ladle. Cover and cook dosa for a min. Pour a spoon of oil over dosa. Flip. Fry well on both sides. Serve with Sagu.

Javalikayi Sagu

Ingredients :

Cluster Beans - 1 bowl of chopped beans (approx 250g)

Onion -1

Green Chili - 5

Tamarind Juice - 1 Tbsp

Jaggery - little

Salt

For Grinding

Kadalepoppu (Fried gram)- 3Tbsp (2 fistfuls approx)

Coriander Seeds +Jeera+Black Pepper - 1Tbsp

Coconut (dried or fresh) - 2Tbsp

Oggarane :

Oil, Mustard, Curry Leaves and Turmeric

1. Clean and cut cluster beans into 1" pieces. Pressure cook for 1 whistle.

2. Heat a tsp of oil and add mustard, curry leaves and turmeric. Throw in onions and green chilies. Fry till onions get cooked. Add cooked cluster beans and 1 cup of water. If you have already cooked cluster beans in water then avoid adding more water.

3. Powder all the ingredients under 'for grinding' list. Add little water at a time and grind to smooth paste.

4. Pour this paste to cooked cluster beans. Add in tamarind juice, jaggery and salt. bring it to boil. Adjust flavors and serve.

Besan Laddu ~ Easy Sweet

2015-01-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

Golden Goddess ~ Besan Laddu

It took very long for this post to get published on my blog. Probably because it was made very often and considard as quick or instant sweet for any occasion. I thought it was too simple to put it on blog. My sis-in-law insisted I blogged it because she just loved eating them.

Ingredients

Besan Flour(Chickpea Flour) - 1 cup

Powdered Sugar- 1/2 cup

Fine Semolina- 1Tbsp (I use 1Tbsp for 200g of Flour)

Ghee (Melted Butter) - a Tbsp less than 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts - a handful
Other nuts - Pista, Almond for garnishing

Very simple method.

1. Sieve the Besan flour to make it more airy. Add Semolina, mix and keep
2. In a thick bottomed pan, add 1 Tbsp of ghee and fry cashew nuts.
3. When cashew nuts brown add Chickpea flour and continue to fry on medium flame. Take care not to burn the four. Fry till you get nice aroma of fried flour.

Semolina added to chickpea flour gives nice texture. Do not add more.

4 Add powdered sugar and remaining ghee and switch off the stove. Mix well and keep it aside for the mixture to cool down.
5 When mixture is warm and manageable, apply ghee to your palm and take a fist full of flour and shape them to make Laddus.
4. Laddus are ready to eat.

Serve with love :) and pick one please ..

It is Ritika's Birthday today. Ritika is my SIL's daughter. Sending these Ladus to her (errr..her mother I guess who loves Besan Laddu to the core!). I was thinking of cooking food for party at home but I was very tired after coming back from office. Had heard about CoupoNation from friends so want to try it. Foodpanda coupons are also slowly gaining popularity. Try them sometime.

Sajje Rotti / Bajra Chapati ~ Easy Way

2015-01-12T01:11:00.000-08:00

This year's resolution is to slowly adopt a lifestyle which is healthy. You will see a lot of healthy food options that will come up on my blog.

Bajra or Sajje as we call in Kannada is a very healthy grain. Here are the top 10 reasons why you must consider adding Pearl Millet into your diet.

1. It is gluten free. 100 grams of Bajra has the following nutritional values: energy 360 calories, moisture 12g,protein 12g, fat 5g, mineral 2g, fiber 1 g, carbohydrate 67g, Calcium 42mg, phosphorus 242mg, and iron 8mg. Low in carbs and high on protien/100gm.

2. Eating Kambu(bajra) provides us with disease fighting phytochemicals that lower cholesterol, antioxidants, plenty of fibre, folate, iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, vitamins-E and B-complex, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin.

3. Bajra, being gluten free, is a very good food choice for those suffering from celiac disease who cannot tolerate gluten.

4. Being rich in fiber content, bajra is good for diabetics, keeping the glucose levels normal.

5. Kambu supports weight loss as the high fiber content leads to a feeling of fullness for a prolonged period of time.

6. Pearl millet is a rich source of phosphorus, which plays an important part in the structure of body cells. Phosphorus, found in pearl millets, is a significant component of several necessary compounds including adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This element is also a crucial component of nucleic acids, which are the building blocks of the genetic code. Phosphorus is a constituent of lipid-containing structures such as cell membranes and nervous system structures.

7. Millets contain an essential phytonutrient, lignin, which is very beneficial for the human body. With the help of natural flora, lignans get converted to mammalian lignans and they fight against hormone-dependent cancers and reduce the risk of cardiac arrests.

8. Recent studies have proven that regular consumption of pearl millets help in preventing gallstones in women. They contain insoluble fibers which not only speed up intestinal transit time but also reduce the secretion of bile acids. Pearl millets are known to increase insulin sensitivity and lower the level of triglycerides.

9. Consumption of pearl millets helps in minimizing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Being a good source of magnesium, millets act as a cofactor in a number of enzymatic reactions.

10. Kambu helps to minimsise acidity problems.

It is suggested that you consult your doctor or nutritionist before you try any new grain or make changes to your diet.

Ingredients :

Bajra Flour : 2 cups

Salt

Water: 1.5 cups

Bring water to boil. Add salt. Add in 2 cups of Sajje Flour and cook for 2-3 mins. Mix the flour with water and switch off the stove. Cover and keep for 10 mins or till the mixed flour cools down to room temperature. Knead the flour well and roll them into circles.

Serve it with any curry. Bajra roti is bland so it goes well with any kind of side dish. I served it with Chili Chutney (khara chutney) and salad.

You can find the recipe for Chili chutney/ Khara Chutney here

Onion as a salad with Sajje Rotti does a magic, try it.

Bajra nutrition information is from the internet. Thanks to Nutrichoices 4U and Pearl Millet Nutrition information.