Halsina Hannu Dose (Ripened jackfruit dosa)

After eating whole lot of gujje (raw jackfruit) recipes & receiving the tantrums from hubby & son.., decided to impress them by cooking something different. So, tried recipes like godi shira(wheat flour kesari baath), besan laadu, pundi etc..

Today, While passing by the fruit stall, I again got attracted by the aroma of jackfruit :)))
I was sick for couple of days & wanted to regain my apetite back. Thought, jackfruit could help me in regaining my apetite, but was little hesitant to buy.., as my family members might go on a strike.They were already fed up with raw jackfruit :((

My mind was not ready to give up on this, as I had already decided the recipe & the tangy combination for this dosa. Hence went ahead & got the jackfruit(ripened). Also, prepared the dosa & tangy, spicy gojju with that. I loved eating & not only that.., my hubby didnot utter a word (he was happy eating too..).


Here goes the recipe

Ingredients:
1.5 cups raw rice
3 cups ripened jackfruits (deseeded & finely chopped)
1.5 tbsp grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
salt according to taste

Method:

• Soak the rice in warm water for 3 hours
• Grind together the rice, jackfruits, coconut & prepare a smooth batter out of it. Batter should be similar to the normal urad dal dosa.
• Add salt & start preparing dosa immediately. This batter doesnot need fermentation.
• Have this dosa with honey or any spicy chutney.

I love to have this with a tangy & spicy gojju(curry) prepared with tendli/old cucumber/snake gourd.The sweetness of this dosa combined with the tangy gojju.., wow!!!
I have already published the tondekayi gojju recipe. You can find it here. I replaced tendli/tondekayi with padavalakayi/snake gourd & the gojju is ready

Here is the plate for you & Veda(Iyengar's Kitchen) who is hosting a Challenge event. It has dosa with honey & tangy padavalakayi gojju.

Cabbage Pakoda (Yelekosu Pakoda)

After seeing LG's plate that contained bisibelebath, my tastebuds went crazy & they wanted me to fulfill their wish. Also, started missing Deepavali with all the family members. The entire family meet on these 3 days however busy they are. This year, we 3 were missing & all members celebrated the Deepavali in India.

I recalled my mom-in-laws dishes on the Amavyse day(Lakshmi Pooja). She prepares Paradi payasa (must item, she can never miss this), bisibelebath, vada/pakoda, rice, rasam, palya etc.., the list grows. My hubby's aunt prepares so many dishes on the Naraka Chaturdashi day like ottu shavige(Idiyappam), kaayi-halu, majjige huli, mango chutney, rasam, rice.., che!!, I missed it :(( All 3 days would be a fest for our taste-buds. These days, a special addition would be done along with the above mentioned recipes. My sis-in-law started preparing godi shira (wheat flour kesaribath).

So, I made a subset of what mentioned above on the Amavyse day. I prepared bisibelebaath, godi shira & cabbage pakoda. Had big plans for the Bali-Padyami too, but fell sick. So, didnot prepare anything great on that day :((



Here is the recipe of cabbage pakoda. Godi shira will be posted soon :))

Ingredients:
1 cup besan/channa dal flour/kadale hittu
1/2 cup chiroti rawa/fine semolina
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup akki hittu/rice flour
250gms cabbage (finely chopped)
salt according to taste
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp hot oil
a pinch of baking soda
Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Mix the besan, rawa, rice flour together with hot oil, soda, chilli powder & salt.
• Prepare a batter with the mixture using little water(similar to onion pakoda mixture). The batter should besimilar to idli batter.
• Now, add the cabbage to it.
• Heat the oil (for deep frying) in a kadai & when oil is hot, make small balls of this mixture & fry it till it turns golden brown in color.
• Pakodas are ready to be served with pudina chutney/tomato sauce.

Gujje Palya (Raw JackFruit Stir-fry)

Here I come with one more gujje recipe..Today, we had called up to India and my husband had an interesting conversation with his aunt regarding this downpour of gujje dishes...

Hubby: Hello Auntie
Aunt: Hello, How are you? what did you have for breakfast?
Hubby: Oh aunt! dont ask me about food..we are having gujje dishes from last 15 days (so mean of him..it is only from last 2-3 days :((( )
Aunt: what? last 15 days!!!! what all dishes did she prepare?
Hubby: Gujje palya, Gujje dosa, Gujje Sambar, Gujje Avial, Gujje Rice, Gujje kosambari.....
Aunt: what? Gujje Rice, Gujje Kosambari ![ @#%#$@ - i am guessing this will be the expression on her face]
Hubby: Yes auntie..we are forced to eat such illegal things...
Aunt: Give the phone to her..let me talk to her...

Me: Hello auntie..you wanted to talk to me?
Aunt: Hello..How are you? BTW, can you please share the recipes for gujje rice and Gujje kosambari? Infact, I have already asked my son to browse through your blog to search for these recipes..by now, i think he must have found out....
Me: oh Auntie..hold on (cursing my hubby)...dont go by his words...he is exaggerating things..you being an expert, I have learnt the recipes from you & mom-in-law, how can there be a recipe of gujje that you dont know!! There is no such thing as gujje rice or gujje kosambari..he is trying to make fun of me for my gujje dishes...i have prepared only few of them..that too, I am the only person eating these dishes..those two (my hubby and my son) have stopped eating these gujje dishes from the first day itself....

So, she hung up

This conversation made me even more determined :)..so, here is my next gujje recipe...this time, there was no other choice...both my hubby and my son had to eat this...donno whether they liked it or not....at least i didn't have the courage to find it out..

So, here is the recipe of gujje palya ( a slightly different palya than the normal stir-frys)

Ingredients:
1 cup gujje / raw jackfruit finely chopped(tender green jackfruit)
2-3 tbsp grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
1 tsp mustard seeds/saasive
1 tsp huli pudi/amchur powder/gooseberry powder
1 pinch turmeric powder/haldi/arisina
2 red chillies
salt according to taste
1tbsp coconut oil (normal cooking oil can also be used)
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
4 curry leaves

Method:

• Cook the raw jackfruit until tender by adding little salt (Can pressure cook for 1-2 whistles)
• In a broad kadai, add oil, when oil is hot, add jeera, turmeric & curry leaves
• To this, add the cooked jackfruit, amchur powder & salt.
  
• Make a smooth paste of coconut, mustard seeds, red chillies by adding little water.
• Add this paste to the cooked jackfruit, mix well & cook the whole mixture for 4-5 mins.
• Gujje palya is ready to be served. Can have this with chapathi, rice.

My entry for 'Challenge event' by Iyengar's Kitchen(Veda).

Pundi (Rice balls)

My mom-in-law was surprised when she got to know I prepared pundi/unde for breakfast. My mom never prepared this & neither did I when I was in India. The reason may be because, my mom-in-law used to prepare whenever we visited her & so, I never felt the need to prepare this. This was not my personal favourite too.., but my hubby & my son love eating this. I feel that my son likes south canara recipes more than other recipes. My mom also keeps telling me the same. She tells, "ninna magange naanu maado adige hidisode illa"[English: Your son doesn't like the recipes prepared by me]. The reason could be higher usage of sugar & jaggery than bayalu seeme recipes.

We called our hubby's grandfather today to wish for the festival. We told him that, breakfast was pundi. So, he told us that, pundi has to be prepared tomorrow (Amavyse, new moon day or on the Lakshmi Pooja) & today(On Naraka Chaturdashi), it has to be kadubu (something similar to idli, but it is prepared using jackfruit leaves!!). So, decided to prepare pundi for the amavyse from next year :)

Okay, seems like I have deviated from the topic.
Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups raw rice (soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours)
2 tbsp grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
salt according to taste.
5 cups water.

Method:

• Grind together the raw rice & grated coconut to form a smooth rava like paste (like we prepare for idlis). Dont add too much water.
• Add 5 cups of water & enough salt to a broad & heavy bottomed pan/kadai.
• When water starts boiling, add this rice paste prepared & keep stirring.
• Keep the flame on medium or low, as rice gets cooked faster & lumps may be formed.
• Keep stirring, rice lumps may be formed, but dont worry. Keep mashing them & keep stirring until the entire stuff becomes a single mass ( this may take around 8-10 mins).
• Now, remove it from flame & start making small rice balls from that mixture. Keep dipping your hands in cold water in between & make the balls when the mixture is hot.
• Now steam cook the rice balls (just like a normal idli) for 20-25 mins.
  
• Pundi is ready to be served.
  

Below is the pundi/unde for you with coconut chutney. Enjoy.., the steaming hot pundi with ghee & coconut chutney or sambar or with a pickle

I'm sending this pundi recipe to Veda who is hosting the "challenge" event.

Seeme Badane (Chayote) Chutney

Today on the festival of Deepavali(Naraka Chaturdashi) our family enjoyed eating seeme badane chutney(Chayote chutney), yele kosu palya (cabbage stir-fry), gujje avial (raw jackfruit avial), besan laadu, palak dal & pundi (rice balls).
Here is my festival plate for you.

Now, the recipe for seeme badane chutney.

Ingredients:
Seeme Badane - 1/2 (medium chopped)
Grated coconut - 4 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Dry Chilli - 2
Jeera - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1 pinch
Oil - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 6
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt - according to taste
Tamarind - according to taste

Method:

• Add little water to the chopped chayote. No need to remove the skin of the vegetable, before chopping.
  
• To this, add salt, jaggery, tamarind and pressure cook for 1 whistle
• Allow this to cool
• In a pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add jeera, urad dal. Fry till urad dal turns golden in color
• Add asafoetida, curry leaves and red chillies. Saute for a minute
• Make a paste of all the above ingredients along with coconut and cooked chayote
• Chutney is ready to be served (Salt and tamarind have already been added. No need to add again). This chutney can be served with rice, akki rotti, pundi, idli
  

PS: This chutney can also be prepared using only the chayote skin.

Paradi Payasa (Paradi Kheer)

Thought of doing some sweet taking a break from raw jackfruit dishes. Wanted to prepare something unusual & tastier. What else could I think of, especially during Deepavali festival. Paradi payasa is a special kind of kheer prepared with rice.

My mother-in-law prepares this every year on the Lakshmi Pooja day ( Amavasye, the day after Naraka Chaturdashi). The procedure to prepare this is a little complicated, but I prepare a simpler & yet a tastier version :))

This is also served as prasadam in many south canara temples. Again a authentic south canara recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup thick coconut milk
1.5 cups jaggery/bella
1.5 cups very thin coconut milk or even normal water would do.
1 cup rice flour.
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup water.
1 pinch cardamom/yelakki powder
1 tsp raisins/ona drakshi
1 tsp cashewnuts/kaaju/godambi
1.5 tsp ghee/clarified butter/tuppa

Method:

• Mix the jaggery & thin coconut milk (normal water) & bring it to a boil.
• Meanwhile, mix the rice flour, a pinch of salt & the 1/2 cup water & prepare a batter similar to a dosa batter.
• When the jaggery & thin coconut milk starts to boil, add this rice flour to the jaggery water. But, the procedure to add the paste is quite different. Have a look at the below picture to understand how to add the batter. Take a grater (the one using which we grate carrots), turn it upside down. Pour the batter on it & ensure the batter fall through the eyes of the grater (This will form small rice like lumps & these should directly fall on the boiling jaggery water).

• Cook this for 2-3 minutes.
  
• Add the thick coconut milk & cardamom to it.
• Allow it to boil
• In a separate pan, heat ghee. When ghee is hot, add raisins, cashew nuts.
• Add this cashew nuts, raisins to the payasa prepared.
• Serve hot.

PS: If you use black jaggery the payasa becomes brownish in color. You can use black or normal jaggery.

Here is a bowl of paradi payasa to you. Also, have a wonderful & a memorable Deepavali celebrations.

I'm sending this payasa to Festival Jihva at Cooking 4 all seasons, "Festive Food-Diwali Celebration" at Indian Khanna, "FIC-Brown" at Tongue Tickelers

gujje & hesaru kalu koddel (raw jackfruit & sprouted green gram curry)

It will be raining gujje recipes in my blog for few more days :)) I have 4kg of gujje got from the shop & am happy eating all of them (of course I'll let my family eat too)

Today I will be sharing the gujje koddel recipe. Koddel is a tulu word for sambar. Tulu : Gujje English : Raw jackfruit Kannada : halasina kayi.
Before going to the recipe, I want to share a good news with you. Hurray!!, I got an award for my blog. Thanks a lot Lakshmi for giving me this award.



Now, time for noting the ingredients:
1 cup raw jackfruit (cut into medium sized pieces)
1/2 cup sprouted green gram/hesaru kalu.
3/4 cup grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
2.5 tsps dhania/coriander seeds
1/4th tsp methi seeds/fenugreek seeds
4-5 red chillis (paprika)
1 small lemon sized tamarind (soaked in water)
1 tsp powdered jaggery

for tempering:
1.5 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds/saasive
1 pinch hing/asafoetida
3-4 curry leaves

Method:

• Cook the gujje & sprouted moong dal until they are soft.
• Dry roast the dhania, jeera, red chillis, methi seeds separately. Allow it cool
• Grind the dry roasted masala along with the coconut & tamarind & make a smooth paste.
• Add this masala paste to the cooked gujje & moong dal. Add little water if requred.
• Add salt, jaggery & allow the sambar to boil.
• In a small pan add oil, when oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add hing, curry leaves. Add this tadka to the sambar prepared & mix well.

Note: The authentic gujje koddel will be without the sprouted green gram.

Below picture has rice, gujje koddel & kumbalakayi palya(pumpkin curry)

Gujje dosa (raw jackfruit dosa)

I have a very interesting story behind this. As mentioned in one of my previous posts before that I'm craving for gujje dosa ( gujje is a tulu name for raw jackfruit, it is halasina kaayi in kannada). So, decided to hunt for gujje in Singapore. Asked few of the friends, got a response to find it out from a fruit stall. My friend said, if they are kind enough they'll get one for you. Was so happy & immediately went in search of a fruit stall. The guy was( as said by my friend) kind enough & asked me to come on a friday, he said he would have got 1 for me. He warned me that I have to take the entire gujje as he will not have other customers to buy that. I accepted & started to eagarly wait for friday.

I went there well before the mentioned time & to my surprise, he had got 1 for me (so, nice of him). Listen, my story becomes interesting from here.
He weighed the same & told me it is 9kilos. I was like.., huh......................, what will I do with 9kgs. we are only 2 of us & was wondering what can I do with so much??? He asked me to pay a huge amount ( that amount was equal to buying a week's vegetables for us). But as it was 9kgs, I had no other option & just paid the amount & came home.

I cut open the gujje immediately & was wanting to prepare something out of it. I noticed worms inside (yak, it was). Was completely disappointed, but decided to remove the worms & cook. Then before cooking, thought of taking my mom-in-laws opinion & called her.
Here is our conversation:

Me: Atthe, gujje tandiddene, yen madli adarinda??tumba doddadu ide (English : I have got raw jackfruit, what I can prepare, I have a lot of it)

MIL: wow!!, alli adoo sigutta? sari, waste madbeda, huli, palya, chips yella madu (English: Nice to hear that you get raw jackfruit also in Singapore. Dont waste them, prepare sambar, stir-fry, chips etc)

Me: aadre atthe, nange adara olage hula kanistu, yella gujje nalloo irutta?? (English: But, I saw some worms inside the jackfruit, will it be there in all raw jackfruits???)

MIL: che,che..modalu adannu yesi maraithi, hula irode illa adaralli, adoo olage ide andre, modalu yesi, maguge kottilla thane?? hotte novu bandeetu (English : Yak, throw it away at once, dont ever use it & I hope you haven't given that to my grandson. He & you may get stomach ache)

Me: tumba duddu kottiddene, yesede bidla?? ( English : I have paid so much for it, do you really want me to throw?)

MIL: duddu mane halaithu, yese adanna, Indiage banni, naanu madi kodthene, yeneno thinnakke hogbedi (English: Its ok, whatever you might have paid, it is useless, throw it & next time when you come to India, I'll make it for you, dont do any experimentations with that)

So, finally I disconnected the call & decided to throw it away :((((
All my dreams of eating raw jackfruit dosa, chips, palya came to an end.

Later gave a thought of showing it to the fruit stall owner. Carried the same to the owner & showed him the flying worms from inside of the jackfruit. He was kind enough & showed me a smaller one & asked me "if I'm still interested??" I was like " wow". I told him, I was ready to buy, if it is without worms. He cut the jackfruit & thank god, it was good. It also weighed much lesser than the first. He returned the balance amount & I came home again dreaming of dosa :))))

Now, am I not crazy for this dosa?? Yes, indeed I'm.
You try preparing & you'll also love this as much as I do (or maybe more than me!!)

Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup raw rice (normal sona masoori/ponni would do)
2 cups raw jackfruit (remove the seeds & cut into small pieces, if the jack fruit is very tender then it cannot be used for preparing the dosas)
1 tbsp fresh/frozen grated coconut.
salt according to taste.

Method:

• Soak the rice for atleast 2-3 hours.
• Grind the rice along with the jackfruit, coconut & make smooth paste out of it. The batter should be just like any other normal dosa batter.
• Add salt according to taste & start preparing the dosas immediately. (No fermentation required)

In the above picture, you can see gujje dosa & gujje sambar.
The jackfruit that I got this time was very tender & dosas didnot taste that great :((
But, it was good enough to satisfy our taste buds :))

Neer dosa | Bari akki dose | Rice crepes

This is again a typical south canara recipe. Neer is a kannada word & it means water. It is called Neer Dosa because the batter will be like water. The neer dosa preparation is also little different than the normal ones. Neer dosa is called bari-akki dosa (raw rice dosa) because it is made of only rice & needs no fermentation. It can be prepared as soon as the batter is ready.

Though it is simple, batter consistency plays a major role in preparing this dosa. If it becomes too thin, then dosa cant be prepared. If the batter is thick, then the dosa wont taste good. My mom-in-law who is preparing this from more than three decades certified me that I make good neer dosa. A very happy me :)

Ingredients:
(For 2-3 people)
2 cups raw rice soaked for minimum 3 hours(take normal ponni/sona masoori rice used for preparing rice, dont take idli rice or parboiled rice)
2 tbsp grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
1 tbsp curd (optional)
salt according to taste

Preparation:

• Grind together the rice & grated coconut into a smooth paste.
• Add enough water & salt( almost double the amount of water then the normal dosa).
• Keep it aside for 30 mins, if you want to prepare immediately & cannot wait, add curds/yogurt & prepare dosas immediately
• The dosa batter has to be poured onto the hot tava & left as it is (Please note the batter is poured and should not be spread. One similiar example is rawa dosa prepared in restaurants)
• Serve it hot with kayi-bella.

Now, let me tell what is kayi-bella. Kayi is a kannada word that means coconut & bella means jaggery. Mix together the grated (fresh/frozen) coconut with the grated jaggery. Same measure of both. Kayi-bella is ready. Kayi-bella & honey(jenu tuppa) is a very good combination for neer dosa

Coconut Pulav for Srivalli & Aartee

Wondering why I'm again writing about coconut pulao again, when I posted it just couple of months before? This has a special place in our house & I must admit that we all love to eat it (including our little one). So, thought of sending this recipe to Srivalli & Aartee for their nice theme events.

So, here goes the coconut pulav to Srivalli of cooking4allseasons for the rice mela.


Also, the coconut pulav goes to Aartee for the sapadu ready event.

Tomato Bath recipe: Karnataka Style

Tomato bath reminds me of my mother-in-law. As told umpteen times before, she is a very good cook. She is the one who taught me to prepare this & not only this, many many more recipes.

So, here's the recipe of tomato bath.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice (use medium grain rice like sona masoori/ponni rice)
3 ripened tomatoes (chopped)
1-2 onions (chopped)
a fistful of green peas (optional)
1 tsp red chili powder

1 tbsp MTR or any other pulao masala

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp jeera

4-6 curry leaves

cliantro/coriander leaves for garnishing.

4 cups of hot water

salt according to taste.

For spice paste:

1 inch cinnamon
2 cloves
1 green chilli
1 red chilli
1 pod garlic, optional
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
a few strands of mint/pudina (optional)

Preparation:

Grind the coconut, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, clove, red chilli, green chili, mint leaves using little water & create a paste of it.

Soak the rice for 10 mins.

Meantimes. add butter, oil in a pan. When oil, butter is hot, add mustard seeds, jeera.

When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves, onion & saute for a minute

Add the paste & saute in oil until the raw smell disappears & oil separates from the mixture.

Now add tomatoes, green peas & fry in oil until tomatoes become little soft.

Drain water from the rice. Add drained rice to it and mix it well.

To this, add chili powder, pulao masala, salt and 4 cups of hot water

Close the lid of pan and pressure cook it for 1 whistle

Garnish it with coriander leaves, gently mix and serve it hot with raitha of your choice

I'm sending the plate to Srivalli of cooking4allseasons, who is hosting Rice Mela.

Golibaje | Mangalore Bajji

hmm...what to say about this? my hubby loves it, though it doesnot taste in the same way as it used to, when he was in south canara district. My son also likes eating it ( i think it is in his genes) and, as usual, I love to eat fried foods and golibaje has a special place in the list of fried foods. thats why, in this post, I have put 2 fotos instead of one :))))))))



Ingredients:
Maida - 1 cup
Baking soda - 1 big pinch
Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped)
Sour curd - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves: 5-6, finely chopped
Grated coconut: 1 tsp, optional
Salt - according to taste
Water - As needed
Oil - for deep frying

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients (of course, except oil) and make a paste of it, using curd and water. Batter consistency should be like the medhu vada (a little thicker than the idli batter)
• Keep it aside for an hour.
• Heat oil in a kadai and when oil is hot, prepare the bajes.
• Preparing the bajes: just like you fry any other bajji - Scoop out about tbsp of batter & drop it in the oil. 
• Fry the bajes till they turn golden brown in color
• Serve it hot - My hubby says it tastes better with hot coffee. I couldn't agree more with him :)

I'm sending this fried food to the event "Sunday Snack-Fry it" at Snackorama Blog & to "FIC-Brown" at Tongue Ticklers.

Balehannu chapathi (banana indian bread)

Because of Singapore's weather, the shelf life of banana is very less. Within 3-4 days, the bananas get ripened & cannot be consumed. So.., what could be done to use this completely ripened bananas?? There are many recipes that take ripened banana as an ingredient like banana dosa, buns (Mangalore buns), mulka, appa. I'll post all the above mentioned recipes, but now, I'm publishing a different & a very easy recipe whose main ingredient is ripened banana.

If you are thinking that the chapathi/roti becomes sweet.., you are wrong. It doesn't become sweet, but will have flavor & aroma of banana. You can have it with any palya, gojju or curry.

This is again learnt from my co-sister & here it goes...............

Ingredients:
2-3 ripened bananas (over ripened)
wheat floor/atta (depends on how much bananas are taken).
salt according to taste.
oil for greasing

Method:

• Mash the bananas completely & add salt to it.
• Keep adding the wheat flour to the mashed bananas & mix the wheat flour with the bananas.
• Dont add water to this, but instead the water left out from the bananas will be used.
• Prepare the dough (just like the normal chapathi dough preparation)
• Set aside for 30 mins.
• Roll out chapathis with the atta & cook the chapathi prepared on tava by adding ghee/oil as required.
• Banana rotis, chapathis are ready to serve.
• Serve with any curry, palya of your choice.

In the below picture the banana chapathis are served with hongone soppu palya (ponnangani stirfry).

Tondekayi gojju (Tendli curry)

This one is again a south canara specialty. This is a spicy & tangy curry that tastes great with dosas & idlis. You need very minimal ingredients for this & very simple preparation. Hope you enjoy preparing & eating this as much as me :)))



Ingredients:
15-20 tondekayi
1/2 coconut grated (fresh/frozen)
3-4 red chillies
1 pinch of khus-khus/gasagase
1 small ball of tamarind soaked in water
salt according to taste

For tadka/oggarane/tempering
1 big pod garlic (minced/finely chopped)
3-4 curry leaves
1-2 red chillies
1 tsp saasive/mustard seeds
Oil - 1.5 tsp

Method:

• Slit the tondekayi/tendli/dondagaya into half (Make 2-4 pieces from each tendli)
• Cook for 1 whistle in pressure cooked by adding little water or cook in microwave (high) for 5 minutes.
• Make a paste of coconut, tamarind, khus-khus, red chillies
• Heat oil in a broad kadai
• Add mustard seeds, garlic, curry leaves, red chillies
• Fry this mixture for a minute
• To this, add the coconut paste
• Allow the mixture to boil. Add salt.
• Put tondekayi to this boiling mixture and cook it for 2 more minutes
• The gojju is ready but serve it after 30-45 minutes so that the tondekayi absorbs the masala properly

Thondekayi-kadale palya & Spinach Paratha

This was our dinner tonight. This thondekayi-kadale palya is mainly cooked in South Canara. Most famous one is, thondekayi-godambi palya (English: Ivy Gourd-cashewnuts stirfry).
To help readers know better.., here goes the translation of tondekayi in various languages.
English: Ivy Gourd, Telugu: Dondakaya, Tamil: Kovakkai, Gujarathi: Tindora, Hindi: Kundru/Tendli.
Kannada : Kadale, English: chick peas, Hindi: Kabul Channa
Palya in Kannada means stirfry.

Without wasting your time, here goes the recipe of it..


Ingredients:
15-16 thondekayi
1 cup channa (soaked for 3 hours in warm water)
1/2 cup grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
2 red chillis
1 tablespoon dhania (coriander seeds)
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
1 teaspoon amchur powder
1 small piece of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds/menthya.
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
4-6 curry leaves

For garneshing:
cliantro/coriander leaves

Method:

• Cut the thondekayi into medium sized pieces (One thondekayi can be cut into 3 pieces approximately).
• Pressure cook the channa & tondekayi seperately.
• Dry roast the red chilli, jeera, coriander seeds, cinnamon, fengreek seeds seperately.
  
• Add coconut to the roasted spices & make a paste out of it.
• Drain out the water from cooked thondekayi and channa
  
• In a pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves
• Add thondekayi,channa & salt to this.
  
• Now add the paste prepared & the amchur powder.
• Cook the whole for 2-4 mins & garnish with coriander leaves.
• Palya is ready to be served. It tastes great both with rice & with chapathi.
  

PS: If you want channa to absorb salt, then add salt while cooking channa. Also, amchur powder can be replaced with lemon juice.

Now is the recipe for spinach paratha. This is quite simple.

Blanch the spinach in hot water for 15 mins. Make a smooth paste of it. Mix this paste to the normal chapathi atta (Just like normal chapathi) & prepare parathas with it.

Here is the photo of both together waiting for me to consume ;))

I'm sending this plate to Aartee for the sapadu ready event.
Thanks for the nice event.

Hongone masoppu (Sessile Joyweed Curry)

My grandmom used to & even now prepare kajal (kannu kappu) with honagone soppu; according to her it is very good for eyes :))

Kannada :Hongone Soppu, English: Sessile Joyweed, Tamil: Ponnanganni Kerai (Courtesy Lakshmi)
I had got a big bunch of hongone soppu from the market last week & was wondering what could I prepare with so much of soppu. First day, I prepared palya(stir fry) with it & was wondering what else could be prepared. Later, thought of preparing sambar, but I had never prepared sambar with this or seen anybody preparing sambar. My mom & granny also used to prepare only palya. I have never seen my in-laws using this, so was in a confusion..., then the thing that struct me was masoppu (English translation: Masoppu means., masediro soppu => mashed greens).

I gave a try & the dish was sold out FDFS(First Day First Show) & was a super duper hit. I could not even take a picture of the masoppu prepared, nothing was left :((
Anyways, who needs the picture, what we all need is the right recipe..

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch (washed & chopped) hongone soppu
2. 1 medium sized onion
3. 2-3 tomatoes (if the tomatoes are not sour, you may end up adding more !!)
4. 3 green chillies
5. 1 pod garlic (minced & finely chopped)
6. 2 tablespoons of Toor Dal
7. 2 cups water
8. Salt according to taste.
   

For tempering:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 pod garlic finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon jeera
• 3-4 curry leaves
• 1-2 red chillies

Method:

• Put all the ingredients from 1-7 in a cooker & pressure cook for 3 whistles
• Allow the cooked mixture to cool
• Once cool, put the mixture in a blender & just run the blender for 10-15 secs (It should not become a very smooth paste).
• Heat a pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add mustard & jeera to it. When seeds crackle, add garlic, chillies & curry leaves.
• To this add the mixture(from the blender), add salt according to taste & boil for 5 mins.
• Hongone masoppu is ready, tastes great with rice & papad/chips.

I took a photo of my plate & here it is.., Next time, when I prepare, I'll put the photo of masoppu ;))

Bitter gourd Chips (Karela Chips)

Ingredients:
Bitter Gourd - 4-5
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
Corn flour - 1 tbsp (corn starch)
Chilli Powder - According to taste
Salt - According to taste
Oil - For deep frying
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Method:

• Slice the bitter gourd & remove the hard seeds.
• Add salt, turmeric powder to the chopped bitter gourd
  
• Mix it well and keep it aside for a hour
• Squeeze out the water from karela completely
• Add rice flour, corn starch, chilli powder to the bittergourd slices and mix it well
• The mixture should form a coating on bittergourd
  
• Now, fry the slices in oil.The slices should be fried on a slow flame until they turn golden brown in color.
  
• Bittergourd chips are ready to serve

PS:Updated the photo on 12th Feb 2010.

Appe Huli (Raw Mango Rasam)

Appe huli is consumed as an appetizer in North Canara part of Karnataka, India. This is the first thing served with rice during festivals, celebrations in Sirsi. It will surely impress people who have affinity towards eating sour dishes like pickles, raw mango with salt & chilli powder, raw tamarind chutney etc. I just love eating this.., now don't ask me what is that I don't like ;)

As I mentioned before.., our family members are from various parts of Karnataka. Myself from Chikmagalur, my hubby from Udupi(South Canara), my co-sister is from Sirsi(North Canara), my sister's in-laws are from Belgaum..., so I get a chance to taste the wide range of Karnataka recipes, slurp, slurp... :))

The food prepared in North Canara (Sirsi, Siddapur side) is quite interesting & I must accept that my co-sister is an expert in that ( I don't get tired appreciating her culinary skills :) ). I learnt this one from her & here is my small effort to put North Canara recipes..,



Ingredients:
Raw Mango - 1 (Take a sour one)
Green chillies - 2
Garlic - 1 pod (minced & chopped finely)
4 curry leaves
salt according to taste.
2 cups water
1.5 teaspoons oil (I use coconut oil to this, as the aroma will be good & tastes authentic)
1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Method:

• Chop the mango & green chillies.
• Add 2 cups of water in a vessel & add mango & green chillies to it.
• Cook the same for 10mins or till mango is soft.
• Allow it to cool.
• Now, remove the skin of the cooked mango & mash the mango & chilli in the water cooked.
• Add salt according to taste & bring the water mixture to a boil.
• Heat oil in a tadka pan, when oil is hot, add mustard seeds & jeera. When seeds crackle, add garlic & curry leaves. Add this tadka to the water boiled.
  
• Appe huli is ready to serve.
  
• It tastes good with rice, pickle & papad.

I have a sample plate for you that has appe huli, rice, majjige menasu ( dried chilli in yogurt), bitterguard chips, butter-milk (majjige), pickles.., Aren't you hungry after seeing this????

Pongal

Has anybody tasted pongal prepared in Karnataka restaurants, especially in Sagars, Nalpaks etc?? I just love the way they prepare. It will be semisolid (consistency of bisibele bath) in state & tastes heaven!!

But whenever I tried preparing, it wouldn't become that yummy. So, I got tips from a resturant owner :))) ( My hubby's grandfather was running a hotel business for almost 50 years & he, along with my father-in-law/mother-in-law keep sharing information on how to prepare dishes :)), lucky me, right?? ....).

Although I have made slight modifications to what was told, I give the complete credit of this recipe to them & ......me just posting on their behalf.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (dont take basmati rice, just normal rice)
1 cup moong dal/hesaru bele
6-8 peppercorns
1 teaspoon pepper powder
1 tablespoon fresh coconut (grated or finely chopped)
1 green chilli
1 teaspoon ginger/shunti(grated)
1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds.
8 cashewnuts
4-6 curry leaves
1 tablespoon coriander leaves
salt according to taste
7 cups water
1 tablespoon ghee
1 tablespoon oil.

Method:

• Soak the rice for 30 mins.
• Dry roast the moong dal for a minute.
• Mix the moong dal, rice together, add 5 cups of water & pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.
• Heat a broad kadai, add ghee & oil to it.
• When oil is hot, add jeera. To this add, grated ginger, cashewnuts.
• Add green chilli & curry leaves after cashewnuts become golden brown.
• Add pepper corns & add remaining 2 cups of water to this kadai.
• Add salt, pepper powder. When starts to boil, add the cooked moong dal, rice mixture. Add small amounts at a time, ensure no rice lumps are formed.
• Mix the whole & add coconut & coriander leaves.
• Cook the same in a slow flame for 5 mins.
• Pongal is ready to serve, serve it with raitha, coconut chutney or imli chutney.

(PS: The recipe for stuffed chilli can be found here)

Hope you relish this as much as I do ;)