Vegetable Masale Gojju

MIL makes this wonderful curry to go along with anything from Dosa to Chapati and everything in between!! We love it. It is rich and spicy and can satisfy any palate craving something savory.

We will need,

Mixed vegetables     2 cups
Coconut grated         1/3 to 1/2 cup
 Oil                              4 tbsp
Mustard seeds             1/4 tsp
Jeera                           1/2 tspSalt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Grind to paste: 
Onion                        1 small ( chopped and toasted )
Garlic                        3 cloves (optional)
Ginger                        1/2" piece
Coconut grated          1/4 cup
Cinnamon                  1" piece
Clove                         5-6
Poppy Seeds              1 tsp (toasted and coarsely pound)
Green Chillies             5-6 or according to taste
Coriander                   a small bunch
Mint                           about a handful
 
Method:

• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pot. Throw in the mustard and Jeera. Once they stop spluttering pour in the masala paste. Bring it to a boil.
• Throw in the vegetables. Cover and cook till the vegetables are tender- crisp. 
• Adjust salt. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and serve hot with Rice/Roti/Dosa

Tomato Palya

MIL is not just a sweet person but also a super cook. I have always wondered how her signature dishes taste consistently awesome every time she makes them, anytime, anywhere! Me..I get lost if I do not find my measuring cups and spoons :)
This time around I measured all the ingredients so as to never go wrong.
Honey adores Tomato Palya. I like it too. It goes very well with Chapatis and a dollop of ghee. 

We will need,
Tomatoes (Plum or the Jamoon variety )    3 large
Onion                                                        2 large
Oil                                                            4 tbsp
Green Chillies                                            4-5
Channa Dal                                                1 tsp
Urad Dal                                                    1 tsp
Curry leaves                                               a handful
Sugar                                                         1 tsp
Huli Pudi / Sambar Powder                        2 tsp
Mustard Seeds                                           1/4  tsp
Cumin                                                        1/4 tsp
Hing                 a dash
Salt  to taste

Method:

• Dice tomatoes and onions roughly. Slit the green chillies.
• Heat oil a Wok. Throw in the mustard seeds, cumin and the hing. Once they splutter, add the channa dal and urad dal. Saute for a couple of minutes.
• Now add the curry leaves and green chillies. Stir for a minute and add the onions. 
• Once the onions are translucent, about 5-8 minutes add the tomatoes with their juice.  Toss in a pinch of salt. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes.
• Now add the Huli Pudi and sugar and mix well. 
• Cover and cook till the tomatoes are soft. Most often than not tomatoes are juicy and does not need additional water to cook but if the mixture becomes dry before the tomatoes are done add half a cup of water.
• Once the tomatoes are done, adjust salt and serve hot with fresh chapatis.

Ragi Dose

After a long vacation in India, cooking seems like a  very distant proposition! Food and family goes together and no wonder they say, a family that eats together, stays together. Back home it was all about endless dinner-lunch-breakfast invitations. Me and Honey had prepared a chart of all the eateries and restaurants we would visit when in Bangalore, alas, we did not have enough time for all the dinner-lunch-breakfast invitation that we did go to a favorite restaurant to eat. With all the running around we managed to eat at Inchara in J.P.Nagar, S.L.V, Sathayanarayana tiffin (near actor Ambarish's house in J.P.Nagar, Veena Stores and Nandini.

After all the wonderful food and the warm sunlit days, we are back to our normal routine. But the good news is the holidays are just round the corner and I am already humming the holiday tunes...Yeh yeah...Santa is already in town. I got to get down to baking! Got some pumpkin and cheese will see how my cheesecake turns out to be. Till then it is just some Ragi Dosa

We will need,

Urad Dal    1 cup
Ragi Flour   2.5 cups
Fenugreek Seeds 2 tsp

Koshar Salt to Taste
Ghee to cook the Dosa.

Method:

• Soak the Urad Dal and fenugreek seeds for at least four hours. Then Grind it into a smooth batter.
• Stir in the Ragi flour and salt. Set it in a warm place to ferment overnight. Sometimes fermentation requires about 13-15 hours, as it does in the New England region during the Winters. Just that with fermentation the volume of the batter should increase.
• At this point the batter stores well in the refrigerator for a week. 
• To prepare Dosa, preheat a skillet. Pour a ladle full of batter right at the center of the skillet and spread it in a circular action starting from the center, fanning out to the edge of the skillet. 
• Dab some ghee /butter/ oil on the dosa and cover it with a lid for about 3-5 minutes.
• Once the Dosa is cooked it comes off the skillet pretty easily. Serve hot with some coconut chutney.

Happy Deepawali

It was Dasara just yesterday and it is already time to make Kajjayas! I am not complaining..Love the festival season.
Let the festive season bring a lot of joy and prosperity to each one of you and your families! Happy Deepawali.


Here is a peek at our Deepavali celebration..

Mavinahaaina goojju / Mango curry

My sister is married to a wonderful man from Coorg. Coorg is known for its coffee estate and of course fabulous non-vegetarian food. This recipe is courtesy bro-in-law. This recipe calls for both raw mango and sweet ripe mango. Initially I was hesitant to try the mixture, more so, because it also called for shrimp! But lo behold, the curry was exceptional. This one makes it to my bucket list. Ah...it is a treat to the senses and I strongly urge all the skeptics to give it just one shot to get hooked.
I made a vegetarian version and added shrimp to a separate small portion of the curry. I am sure Panner/ Tofu/ Broccoli makes a good addition to the vegetarian version. The curry is just fabulous without any vegetables or protein.
Honey's verdict....ummm...ah......yummm...

We will need,

Shrimp/Tofu/ Panner   1/2 lb
Green chillies               2 slit
Coriander fresh            a handful
Oil                               3 tbsp
Mustard seeds             1/4 tsp
Curry leaves                 a handful
Pearl Onions                4-5 (optional)
Sweet ripe Mango       1 big (I should yield a little over one cup of mango pulp, extracted without any addition of water)

For the masala paste:
Tart Raw mango         1 medium cut into pieces
Dry red chillies            4 Byadigi chilles (for the colour)
Dry red chillies            2 Guntur (hot version)
Ginger                         1/2"
Garlic                          2 cloves
Dhania seeds               1.5 tsp
Cumin seeds               1 tsp
Fenugreek                   1/4 tsp

Method:

• On a heavy skillet, toast all the whole spices listed under the 'Masala Paste' till fragrant. 
• Combine the toasted spices and all the other ingredients for the Masala paste with some water and pulse till smooth.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot. Throw in the mustard and the curry leaves. Once the cracking stops, pour in the Masala paste. Simmer till oil floats on top.
• Once oil floats on top, pour in the sweet mango pulp, 1/2 cup of water. Bring it to a boil.
• Toss in the shrimp/ panner/ tofu/ vegetables.Cover and simmer till it is done. 
• Just before serving, heat the remaining oil in a pan. Throw in the fresh coriander, onion and green chillies.Saute till the onion is golden. Pour this over the simmering curry. bring it to one last boil and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Koli Saaru /Chicken Curry

Susheela Aunty gave us this bowl of heavenly chicken curry that Honey demolished in minutes. It is a typical Gowda style curry that goes very well with Mudde . This recipe goes on to show that Karnataka has some very good non-vegetarian recipes to offer. Watch out for more such recipes...it is on the way.

We will need,

Chicken         1 lb cut into 1cubes
Peanut oil       3 tsp
Salt to taste

For the masala paste:
Garlic             3 cloves
Ginger            1" piece
Cloves           3
Cinnamon       1/2" piece
Poppy seeds   2 tbsp
Chilly powder  2-3 tsp or there about
Dhania powder 2 tsp
Coconut           1/4 cup grated
Onion               1 medium
Coriander fresh   a handful

Method:

• Heat a pan. Toast the poppy seeds in the pan till fragrant. Remove from heat and crush coarsely. Set it aside.
• In the same hot pan, toast chopped onion till golden in colour.
• Combine the toasted onion, poppy seeds and all the other ingredients for the masala paste and grind till smooth.
• Heat oil in a thick bottom pot. Drop the chicken cubes and brown the cubes on all sides.
• Pour over the masala paste and enough water to cover the chicken very well. 
• Cover and simmer till the chicken is cooked through and the masala is well cooked, about 30 minutes. 
• Adjust salt. Chop and sprinkle some fresh coriander on top of the curry if desired.

Rave Unde

Rave unde is a simple and easily scalable sweet dish. We love it in our family. This recipe is courtesy Susheela aunty.
Actually Rave Unde reminds me of Maha Ekadashi, a festival that we are supposed to celebrate by fasting but most often than not we end up feasting. Typically my grandmother would make Chakkli, Kodbale, Nippattu, Kobari Mithai, Rave Unde and Karjikai and store it in huge tins! The entire family would gather for the festival and everything would disappear by the time we did all leave. Ah! how I like those days.

We will need,

Sooji/ Rava   1 Cup (Chiroti rave / or finer rava)
Sugar            1.5 Cup a little more or less ( Coarsely powdered or use the finer variety, preferably Boora sugar)
Ghee                            About 1/2 Cup or little more
Cashew and Raisins      1/2 Cup (more or less is fine)

Method:

1. Heat about 1.4 cup of ghee in a Kadai.Throw in the cashews and Raisins. fry till golden, remove from heat and set it aside to cool.
2. Heat the remaining Ghee and dump in the Rava, toast it on low flame till the sooji is fragrant. Keep tossing the Rava and make sure not to burn it. Remove from heat. Sprinkle a few tbsps of hot water on the rava and mix well. Stand it for a few minutes.
3. While the Rava is still warm, mix in the sugar and the dry fruits and the ghee. Check for the sweetness. If you need it sweeter go ahead and add more sugar. 
4. Grease your palms and press about 2 tbsp of the mixture into small balls. Set it up in a wire rack and when it is cooled and completely set, store it in air-tight jars. They last for weeks this way but will not :)

Ragi Sari

Introducing solids to little ones is a daunting task.. First time moms are especially confused! What to feed, when to feed, when to start, how to feed...etc. We need to figure out answers all by ourselves but then I can do my bit by posting the recipe for Ragi Sari the ragi gruel that is feed to babies back home. We have been feeding our little one Ragi Sari and he loves it...Go ahead and try it with your little one.



We will need to prepare the Ragi powder first and then make a gruel.

To Prepare the Ragi powder/flour,

• Pick and clean Ragi. Wash it in multiple changes of water.
• Soak it for about 6-8 in plenty of water.
• Tie it in a cotton cloth and sit it in a warm place for it to sprout. 
• Once it has sprouted takes about 24 to 48 hours depending on where you live and the season, spread it out on a cotton cloth in shade preferably indoors. 
• Once the Ragi is completely dry, pulse it in a coffee grinder. The mixture should be coarse not fine. 
• Then pass the broken Ragi on a Muslin sieve. Collect the fine Ragi dust store it for future use. I use half a kilo of Ragi for every batch. It does not store very well, not more than two months.

To prepare the Sari/Gruel.

Ragi Sari powder   1/2 tsp
Ghee                      1/4-1/2 tsp
Crushed jaggery      1/4 tsp
Water                     4 tbsp

Method:

• Mix a tsp water with the Ragi powder and set it aside. 
• Heat the remaining water and jaggery together and filter the water to remove any impurities in the jaggery.
• Heat the filtered jaggery-water. Pour the Ragi powder mixture. Bring it to a boil and to a desired consistency. 
• Stir in ghee at the last minutes. Remove from heat and allow it to cool down completely before feeding your baby. 
• Increase the amount of Sari once you know your babies appetite.

Huggi /Seasoned rice gruel

My mother used to tell me a story about a destitute girl who prayed to lord Vishnu to help her ease the pangs of Hunger. Lord Vishnu appears before the girl and presents her an Akshayapatra that could produce Huggi on a particular command, stopping at another command. The girl is generous and kind and serves Huggi to needy. This triggers the neighbour's jealousy. The neighbour steals the Huggi Akshaypatra but does not care much about the commands. She commands it to start whence Huggi starts to overflow. But she does not know how to stop!!! Alas.. first the Huggi fills up her kitchen and then the whole house and then the village that she would have to be rescued by boat :) Then the actual owner of the Akshyapatra turns up, now knowing where exactly her Akshyapatra was and commands it to stop!

Yeah! when ever i make Huggi, eat Huggi, think of Huggi, I kinda of start imagining a girl in a boat rowing across a pool of Huggi! How funny. Who ever wrote the story. But then I love the story for precisely being funny!! Ah! Stories, I love them, much more if they have to do something with food.

Here is a simple Huggi recipe. Huggi is similar to Khichdi/Pongal. My baby son loves it. In fact we have been making Huggi more often than usual for this reason. It is indeed a great baby-friendly food. Try it with your young one.

Rice           1 Cup
Split Moong Dal    1/2 Cup
Water          9 Cups
Black pepper 1 tsp
Jeera               1.5 tsp
Ghee               2-3 tbsp
Curry Leaves      a handful
Green Chillies      4-5 (optional )
Coconut                3-4 tbsp grated (optional)
Mustard seeds      1/2 tsp
Turmeric     a generous pinch
Hing a dash

Method :

1. Wash rice and moong dal in several changes of water, combine it with 9 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook till done, about 2 whistles.Set it aside to cool.
2. Crush pepper and Jeera roughly till the pepper breaks down into two pieces and not more; set it aside.
3. Once the rice mixture is cool, Heat ghee in a pan throw in the Mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves, pepper, jeera, turmeric saute till fragrant. If using coconut and green chillies, throw them in now. Saute till fragrant. Turn off the heat. 
4. Pour the mixture over the cooked rice and dal. Mix well. Bring it to a simmer and adjust salt. Serve immediately.

If serving a young one, avoid chillies and use whole pepper instead of pounded pepper.

Huli Anna /Tamrind Rice

Hulianna is Pulioggare's lesser known cousin. One of the rice dishes that are destined to be lunch-box-hits!
I make a big batch, leave it in the refrigerator. Heating up each serving as I pack Honey's lunch box.

We will need,

Rice                       2 cups cooked and cooled
Tamarind                   size of a lemon (Soaked in warm water for 15-20 minutes)
Huli Pudi /Sambar Powder    1.5 tsp
Jaggery                  1.5 tbsp (crushed, more or less depending on taste)
Peanut Oil              3 tbsp
Green Chillies        2-3 slit
Mustard            1/4 tsp
Hing                   a dash
Onion               1 medium chopped (Optional)
Curry leaves      a hand full
Peanuts              a hand full
Salt to taste

Method:

• Squeeze and extract as much pulp from the tamarind. Discard the fibers.
• Combine the pulp, Huli pudi, jaggery in a thick bottomed pot. Cook till the mixture smells fragrant, about 20 minutes. Set it aside
• In another pan, heat oil. Toss in the mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves, green chillies, onion and peanuts one after the other. Cook till peanuts are toasted. Set it aside.
• To assemble, stir in the cooked tamarind into the rice, a teaspoon at a time. Check the taste and stop mixing once the desired taste is achieved. I like it with a lot of tamarind, MIL likes with just a hint!! So play with it...Adjust salt.
• Finally mix in the onion- peanut takda with the rice and enjoy...

Peanut Chutney

Though it is not quite a native species groundnuts aka peanuts have been something my ancestors relished!! It has a cultivation history of least 150 years in the old Mysore region. Primarily an oil seed, it was also converted into favorite condiment like chutney.

In my kitchen, it is the most accepted and adored Chutney. We like its versatility, taste and the ease with which it ends on the dining table. We eat it with Idli, dosa, Akki rotti, Ragi rotti and plain rice...Could it be better? try it with bread!

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If it my Father-in-law's heart, it is through Peanut Chutney..I discovered it very early on. When ever MIL was out of town and I had an opportunity to cook I would ask FIL about his lunch preference. He did say 'Kadalebeeja Chutney madbudamma' / Please repare some peanut chutney'... It happened a few times to make me feel that he was just being considerate and did not want me to dish out elaborate meals. Considerate he was, but MIL later told me it was his preference as well! So folks, try this one and let me know..

We will need,

Peanuts/ Groundnuts      1/2 Cup
Red Chillies                   4-5 ( Byadigi ) Adjust according to taste
Garlic                            1 small clove
Tamarind                       1/2"strip
Curry leaves                   a handful
Coriander fresh               a handful
Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat a skillet. Toast the peanuts till fragrant about 5-8 minutes. Remove and set it aside to cool.
• In the same skillet, toast the red chillies for about 3-4 minutes till fragrant, remove and cool.
• Turn off the skillet and throw in the curry leaves. Toast it on the hot skillet. Remove and cool.
• Combine all the toasted ingredients and the rest of the ingredients in a blender, add a little water and pulse till almost smooth. 
• Remove and serve it with Idlis, rice...

See/ Sweet Chutney

Idlis are traditionally served with savory chutney, peanut, coconut etc. But we also relish it with sweet coconut chutney. It is my grand mother's specialty. My grand father is a very big fan of this chutney, so am I. It is pretty easy to whip up and makes a breakfast hearty and festive.

We will need,

Roasted Channa Dal / Kadale Pappu    1/4 Cup
Shredded Coconut                                1 Cup
Jaggery                                                  1/2 Cup or so Adjust according to taste
Cardamon                                             1

Method :

• Combine everything in a blender with very little water and pulse till smooth. Serve with Idlis .

Idli

Fermentation is very whimsical here in the US..How hard did i try to make the perfect Idlis that smells so much like home, just as soft, as pillowy...just as heavenly..It did take me quite a while, but now I guess I am in Idli heaven. The secret, ELGI Ultra Wet Grinder my MIL got me from India this summer..The timing could not have been better, as I call spring/Summer - "Idli Season". During this period, the whimsical fermentation turns less temperamental and more predictable.

The other Idli recipe I have here on this blog is made from Idli-rawa, which essentially means the resulting Idlis are kinda second grade, not the best quality that can be called "premium grade A"!!!!The best of idli is always the from the scratch rice idlis. In fact the 'Idli rice' is supposed to yield excellent result. However I figured out that using the Carolina long grain rice yields good quality Idlis as well. Try a few varieties before you know your Idli!! Chances are that you will start appreciating Carolina long grain rice much better. In fact Arborio rice makes good Idlis as well, for those of you who's Risotto plans went sour. Try making Idlis with the Arborio rice that makes you feel guilty every time you reach out for the pantry door.
I have fallen in love with Carolina long grain rice for it takes only about a fourth of soaking time than the traditional Indian Idli rice. Again the choice is yours.
After having these Idlis for breakfast the other Wednesday, I drifted away to a time that would never come back...Lounging on the Mango trees in my late Grandfather's grove. It was like summer vacation all over again, at a time when vacations did not mean coming back home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes crying to be laundered; Vacations meant, sun, summer, mangoes, jack fruits, Grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles,water-from-the-pumpset, delightful aromas from Granny's kitchen, unlimited Idlis, Dosas, Pooris, a hearty appetite, a vocabulary sans words like 'diet' 'weight' 'watch' 'inches' 'kilos' 'pounds'......Ha!

Here we go again...

Idlis...

We will need,

Idli Rice     1 cups
Carolina Rice/ Sona Masuri 2 cups
Urad Dal   1 cup
Beaten rice /Avalakki/Poha 1/2 Cup
Fenugreek    1 tsp
Kosher salt   2 tsp
Channa Dal   2 tbsp

Method:

• Soak all the ingredients except salt separately overnight.
• Grind separately the dals and the rice adding as little water as possible. Try using the soaking liquid instead of water. Mix well. Stir in the salt. Sit it in a warm place, say a warm oven for at least 8-10 hours to ferment. The mixture is ready to be used when it is almost double in volume.
• When the batter is ready, grease Idli moulds. Set a steamer or a pressure cooker with about 2 inches of water. 
• Without stirring the batter, gently scoop a ladle full of batter and pour it on to the Idli moulds. The idea is to retain as much aeration as possible. Steam for 10-14 minutes till the idlis are firm and done.
• Rest the idlis in the mould for a few minutes, Scoop them out and serve then with sweet chutney, peanut chutney and Sambar just like my Ajji / grandmother would.