Sweet potato patties

This is a nice tea time snack, but serves for breakfast and I have it for lunch too.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized sweet potatoes (for 4 patties)

4 tbps of Ghee

Instruction:

 - Wash and dry the sweet potatoes, smear them with oil, put in a container.

- Pour two cups of water inside the pressure cooker, keep the container inside the cooker and pressure cook for 5 minutes.

- Cool, peel and mash the sweet potatoes.

- Divide them into 4 portions. Take each portion, roll them between the palms, flatten and roast on medium hot pan smeared with ghee and while turning the patties upside down, pour some more ghee. Serve hot.

- It can be stuffed with anything you like. Today I stuffed it with Amul cheese cube and really enjoyed it for lunch, along with salad and pumpkin sabzi.

29 September 2021

Today I just mixed cooked and mashed sweet potato with a pinch of salt and 1 ½ tablespoons of grated coconut and made patties. They were delicious, with a different flavour. 

Pumpkin curry- Sri Lankan style

I love Sri Lankan preparations and look at Apé Amma’srecipes for guidance. This is a mouth watering side dish.

Ingredients:

4 cups of cleaned and cubed pumpkin pieces

¼ cup green gram sprouts(optional)

2 cinnamon stick pieces

2 green chillies

Some curry leaves

1 onion thinly sliced

½ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp garam masala powder

½ tsp fenugreek seeds

1/3 tsp broken mustard seeds or mustard powder

Salt to taste

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ cups coconut milk

¼ tsp pepper powder

Instuction

Take all the ingredients upto the water in a thick bottomed pan, cover and put on high flame.

When it starts boiling, reduce the flame and let the pumpkin pieces get cooked and become soft, takes about ten minutes.

Add the coconut milk and pepper powder and simmer for five minutes. Remove from fire.

Serve with chapatis or steamed rice and Sri Lankan chilli chutney..

Lemon sweet pickle

Limes are small, round, and green, while lemons are usually larger, oval-shaped, and bright yellow. Nutritionally, they're almost identical and share many of the same potential health benefits. Both fruits are acidic and sour, but lemons tend to be sweeter, while limes have a more bitter flavor.

This is a very easy method to prepare tasty lemon pickle that is ready to be consumed in two days time.

Ingredients

3 lemons deseeded and cut into small pieces

2 cups sugar

½ tsp salt

1/3 tsp red chilli powder

Instruction

-          Pour 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Put the cut lemon pieces into the separator; cover it with a lid so that water won’t enter it.

-        Put the separator inside the pressure cooker and close. When it whistles, reduce the flame and cook for 5 minutes. Cool and open.

-           Let the lemon pieces cool (it may take about an hour). Put them in a pan (karahi) and add sugar.

-        It will become quite watery now. Let it thicken, when you take the syrup in a ladle and pour down, it should look viscous. Now add the salt, red chilli powder and mix well, and remove from fire.

-        If you cook it longer, the lemon rind will toughen.
  It is an amazing accompaniment for thalipeeth, apart from steamed rice and chapatis.

Thalipeeth

I had thalipeeth for the first time  in Pune when a Maharastrian friend served it for breakfast. Finding it tasty and easy to make, I have included it into my breakfast menu.

Ingredients

For 3 thalipeeths:

½ cup wheat flour

½ cup gram flour (besan)

½ cup jowar (white millet) flour

1 small onion chopped fine

1 small cucumber grated

1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

1 green chilli finely cut

¼ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

Water

Ghee or oil to use while cooking

Instruction

-          Mix all the ingredients with enough water to make into a smooth dough.

-          Heat a thava (griddle) and grease it lightly with ghee or oil.

-          Take a small ball of the dough and spread it on the thava.

-          When the surface change in appearance as the lower part is cooked, pour some ghee over it and turn it upside down.

-        Once the bottom side is also cooked, remove from the thava.

-         Serve hot with curds, chutney  and pickle.

Today I used ready made thalipeeth mix that a friend form Mumbai had gifted. His friend Sri. Prasanna S. Mhalgi sells this product in his shop Santosh sansar sahitya (23,Pramila sadan, D. L. Vaidya road,Dadar (west )...Mumbai 400028)

I added grated cucumber and finely cut leaves (different types from our garden) and it tasted good. with the lemon sweet pickle and coconut chutney.

Chana dal (Bengal gram) barfi

This is an easy and fast to make barfi with low calory. A colleague’s wife served this when she called us for dinner in Manipal in 1981. I got the recipe from her and it is one of my favourite sweet dishes.

Ingredients:

1 cup chana dal soaked for 5 hours

¾ cup water

1 tbsp raisins

1 cup sugar

½ cup grated coconut

½ tsp cardamom powder

Instruction:

-        Pressure cook the soaked chana dal with ¾ cup water for 4 minutes. Cool and open

          Add sugar and raisins to the cooked chana dal and keep on slow fire. It will become more liquid  now; keep stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom.

-         When it becomes thick and starts separating from the sides, add the grated coconut and remove from fire.

-        Add cardamom powder, mix well and set it into a plate or flat vessel smeared with ghee.

-        Cut into squares when cool. If it is too soft, refrigerate for some time and then cut into cubes.

Tambuli

I came across this soothing dish when it was served in a friend’s house in Aloor (in Kundapura, Udupi). 

I would say it is South Indian version of the North Indian raita. Tambli or tambuli is derived from the word thampada + huli. Thampada translates to "cold" and huli is a general name for gravy recipes in Kannada language. It is a healing, nourishing cold yoghurt curry which can be prepared from a wide variety of leaves (coriander leaves, ajwain leaves, spinach, spring onion, brahmi etc.,), hibiscus flowers, ginger and shallots. Here I have used punarnava leaves.

Ingredients

A small bunch of washed and cleaned punarnava leaves

2 tbsps grated coconut

2 cups yoghurt

Salt to taste

1tbsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

Instruction

-          Grind the leaves with the grated coconut into a fine paste

-          Beat the yoghurt and add the ground leaves and salt. Mix well

-          Season with the mustard seeds and serve with steamed rice.

Idli with hibiscus leaves

Adding hibiscus leaves to the idli batter takes the taste of idlis to a divine level. The hibiscus leaves clean our digestive system and cure many liver related diseases. They are also known to cure high blood pressure. Leaves from white or pink hibiscus plants are preferred as they are not slimy.

Ingredients

1 cup udad dal, for 15 idlis

1 tsp methi seeds

2 cups rice

2 tbsps poha or beaten rice

30 to 40 hibiscus leaves cleaned and washed nicely and cut

Salt to taste

Instruction

- Soak the udad dal and methi seeds in one vessel and rice and poha in another vessel  for 6 to 8 hours.

- Grind the udad dal first to a fine paste and transfer to a vessel which should have enough depth to allow for the rising of batter after fermentation.

Grind the rice along with cut hibiscus leaves. It should be ground a little rough, not very smooth.  Add it to the ground udad dal and mix well. Close and allow fermenting for 8 hours or overnight.

Add salt and mix well and steam on idli moulds for 20 minutes.

                                      Idli with hibiscus leaves, Konkani dal, coconut chutney

Pour ghee over idlis and serve with coconut chutney.

8th October 2019
Today I poured the batter into pouches made with jackfruit leaves and steamed.

Gongura chutney

I first saw the gongura leaves in Manipal in the early 80’s. I had a friend who was from Hyderabad, who told that one can make tasty  gongura chutney. She told me how to prepare it. After we settled in Belgaum, I didn’t get to see gongura till yesterday, 20Aug 2019. It is called pundi palle in this region. Immediately I pulled out my old recipe book, looked at the recipe and made it, and had it with jowar roti. Some I have saved to enjoy with steamed rice tomorrow.

Gongura is rich in iron and consuming it often is one of the best home remedies for treating anemia. Many  studies have proven that gongura has lipid lowering properties which could greatly prevent cardio vascular diseases. The plant extract has wonderful anti bacterial and anti fungal properties. It has wonderful antioxidant properties and regular consumption prevents free radicals which are the main cause of premature ageing of the skin and hair. It also improves immunity.

Ingredients

4 cups of gongura leaves, washed and dried. Stem is fibrous and is not used.

2 tbsps oil                                          

A pinch of asafoetida

4 tsps udad dal

1/3 tsp methi seeds

2 tsps coriander seeds

2 Byadige red chillies broken to pieces

Salt to taste

Instruction

- Roast the gongura leaves lightly and keep aside.

- Heat the oil, add asafoetida, udad dal, coriander seeds, methi seeds, red chilli pieces and fry till the udad dal turns light brown and nice aroma comes. Let it cool

- Grind the masala mixture with salt, add the gongura leaves and grind again.

Arbi (Taro root vegetable) roast

Arbi vegetable has many healing and medicinal properties.  It has a good amount of fibre that helps the digestive process. It gives 19% of the daily required Vitamin E that is required to prevent the risks of a heart attack. Taro is one of the best sources of Vitamin C, which acts as an antioxidant to remove toxins from your body and it also boosts the immunity.

The following recipe  is a nice North Indian preparation which goes well with steamed rice or chapatis.

Ingredients

10 pieces of arbi

2 tbsps mustard oil, can use any other oil, I like it best with mustard oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

¾ tsp ajwain seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/3 tsp red chilli powder

1 ½ tsps coriander powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Instruction

- Wash and clean the arbi pieces, pressure cook them for 4 to 6 minutes depending on the size and quality. Cool and remove the skin. Take them one by one, keep it between your palms and press nicely to flatten it.

- Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, ad ajwain seeds. Now remove the pan from fire, add all the masala powders, salt, and keep on reduced flame. Stir and add the arbi flattened pieces and gently toss around so that the masala is nicely coating the pieces.

Keep turning the pieces so that they are nicely roasted, remove from fire.

Breadfruit payasam

Breadfruit when cooked has a nutty flavour and a consistency that I like so much. I make several preparations with it. First time I had breadfruit payasam was four decades back when my classmate’s mother served it after the lunch. I was like, ‘Payasam from a vegetable?’ and was sceptical. One spoonful and I was hooked to that delicious sensation in my mouth!

Ingredients

1 cup skinned, cored and diced breadfruit pieces

2 cups water

1 tbsp refined flour or corn flour dissolved in ½ cup water

3 tbsps jaggery

1 cup coconut milk

1/4  tsp cardamom powder

Instruction

- Put the breadfruit slices in a thick bottomed pan, add water and bring it to boil. Reduce the flame and cook for about 8 minutes till it is cooked.

- Add the mix of refined flour and water; keep stirring till it is cooked.

- Add jaggery, mix well and pour in the coconut milk. Let it come to boil, stir in the cardamom powder and remove from fire. Serve hot, it tastes good after refrigeration too.

Raw cashew nut curry- Goan style

 

Ingredients

2 cups raw cashews, cooked and peeled

½ cup grated coconut

2 Byadige red chillies broken to pieces

2 tsps coriander seeds

½ tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

Some curry leaves

Salt to taste

21/2 cups water

Instructions

-          - Heat half of the oil and lightly roast the broken chilli pieces, coriander and fenugreek seeds. Let it cool a little and grind with grated coconut and a little water.

-          - Heat the remaining oil, roast the ground coconut for a few seconds, add water, curry leaves and bring to boil.

-          - Add salt and the cooked raw cashew nuts. Simmer for ten minutes and remove from fire.

-          - Can be served with steamed rice or chapatis.

Ragi neer dosa with paneer filling

It is difficult for many to imagine that health foods can be so delicious! Here is an example, the ragi neer dosa.We just love it!

Ingredients:

2 cups rice soaked for about 6 hours

¾ cup grated coconut

¾ cup ragi flour

1 tbsp drumstick leaves (or any edible leaves like spinach) chopped

Salt to taste

For the filling:

1 cup grated paneer

Instruction:

-        -  Grind the soaked, drained rice with water (for neer dosa batter consisitency) and grated coconut. 

-     - Mix in the ragi flour slowly. Add more water if required.

-          - Add salt, the chopped leaves and mix well.

-         -  Smear a thick pan with oil, pour the batter onto the hot pan and cover with a lid.

-      - When it is done, flip it and cook the other side.

-          - Now turn it again, spread the grated paneer onto one half, fold, remove from the pan and serve with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.

Drumstick (moringa) leaves clear soup

Drumstick leaves are highly nutritious and should be beneficial for people who are lacking in essential nutrients. In Bali they call it ‘miracle tree’ and almost every house maintains a drumstick tree.

This soup is very nutritious, soothing and easy to prepare. 

Ingredients:

½ cup drumstick leaves (you don’t have to separate each leaf, use with the small stems)

2 ½ cups of water

½ inch piece of galangal or ginger sliced

4 cloves of garlic sliced

Salt to taste

1 tbsp of grated coconut (optional)

Pepper powder

Instructions:

-       Boil everything except coconut and pepper powder together.

-       Reduce the flame and simmer for 5 minutes.

-       Add coconut and simmer for further five minutes.

-       Pour the soup through a sieve into cups and sprinkle pepper powder.

-       Enjoy the delicious soup!

Cashew apple sabzi

During a casual conversation with a friend from Mangalore I mentioned that we had some cashew apples and she told delicious sabzi can be prepared with them. I was thrilled to hear that and gave some cashew apples to her and she sent me the preparation. We relished it so much that I got the recipe and this week I prepared it. It goes well with chapatis as well as with steamed rice.

Ingredients:

3 ripe cashew apples cleaned and cut into cubes

½ cup grated coconut

3 red chillies broken to pieces

2 tsps coriander seeds

2tbsps oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp fenugreek seeds

A few curry leaves

1/3 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Jaggery to taste

A small ball of tamarind

1 cup water

Instruction:

-          - Heat a small quantity of oil, fry the broken pieces of red chillies, remove and keep aside. In the same oil, fry the coriander seeds and when they cool down, grind with the grated coconut.

-          - Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a thick bottomed pan and add mustard seeds. When the splutter, add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and the cubed cashew apples.

-          - Saute for a few seconds, add turmeric powder, tamarind and water and let it cook (takes about 6 minutes)

-          - Now add the ground coconut, jaggery, and mix well. Let it simmer for five minutes and remove from fire.

Pathrode

This tasty snack is prepared commonly in South Karnataka, with colocasia leaves.

Preparations from these leaves have a tendency to cause itching in the throat, which can be nullified by adding tamarind while cooking. So never forget to add tamarind!

Ingredients:

5 colocasia leaves

To grind

1 cup raw rice soaked for about 4 hours

Salt to taste

2 tsps cumin seeds

2 tsps coriander seeds

½ tsp red chilli powder

A small ball of tamarind

1tbsp jaggery powder

1 tsp black gram dal, lightly roasted

½ tsp fenugreek seeds, lightly roasted

For seasoning:

2 tbsps oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 red chilli broken to pieces

A few curry leaves

½ cup grated coconut

2 tbsps powdered jaggery

Instruction:

-         -  Take the colocasia leaves, gently remove the thick veins on the outer surface with a sharp knife.

-         -  Wash the leaves, lightly shake off the excess water and keep aside for the remaining water to evaporate.

-          - Drain the soaked rice and grind it along with all other ingredients. Add spoonfulls of water as needed, it needs to be a thick mix.

-          - Apply this ground mixture on the outer side of the colocasia leaves and roll them up.

-          - Steam the rolled leaves for 20 minutes.

-          - Take them out and slice them on cooling.

-          - Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the red chilli pieces and curry leaves.

-          - Now add the jaggery and grated coconut, stir for a minute and add the sliced leaves.

-          -  Mix well and it is ready to serve. It is a very good snack for tea time.

There is another, a little easier and faster version of pathrode, see the recipe HERE

Pudina (Mint) rice

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice

½ cup green peas (optional)

2 ½ cups of water

Salt to taste

To grind:

1 cup mint leaves

1 green chilli

½ inch piece of ginger

5,6  garlic flakes

½ cup grated coconut

To season:

2 tbsps oil

1 bay leaf

½ tsp cumin seeds

3 cloves

3 cardamoms

1 mace

1 small piece cinnamon

To garnish:

1 tbsp cashew nuts roasted in 1 tsp ghee

Instruction:

·         Soak the rice for 15 minutes. Add the water and salt and put it on medium heat.

·         Grind the coconut, mint leaves, green chilli, ginger and garlic.

·         Heat the oil in a pan, add bay leaf, cumin seeds, clove, mace, cardamom, cinnamon, and  sauté

·         Add the ground masala, roast lightly, add the green peas. Stir for a second, now put this into the rice.

·         When it boils, reduce the flame and cook for ten minutes. Remove from fire and let it sit for at least ten minutes for the flavours to be absorbed well and the rice to become fluffy. Garnish with roasted cashews before serving.

·         Serve with roasted papad, pickle and raita

Pudina rice with tender jackfruit 'Do pyaza', poached egg and garlic chutney.

Broken wheat Upma

Ingredients:

1 cup broken wheat, soaked for about ½ hour

3 ½ cups water

Salt to taste

2 tbsps oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp udad dal

½ tsp chana dal

1 onion cut fine

2 green chillies broken

A few curry leaves

2 tomatoes cut fine

1 carrot chopped into small pieces

¼ cup shelled peas

2 tbsps grated coconut to garnish

Instruction:

-         -  Heat oil in the pressure cooker, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the udad dal, chana dal, stir, and add cut onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté them on medium flame.

-          - Add the cut tomatoes, after a minute, add the cut carrots and peas and mix well.

-          - Now add the soaked drained broken wheat and salt. Mix them well and add the water.

-          - Pressure cook for 3 minutes, cool and open.

-         -  Serve with a teaspoon of ghee poured over it and garnished with grated coconut.

Brinjal masala, Karnataka style

This is an awesome Karnataka preparation that I learned from a friend. It is great with jowar rotis, but goes well with steamed rice too.

Ingredients:

6 small brinjals

2 onions cut fine

4 tomatoes cut fine

A bunch of coriander leaves cut fine

2 tbsps groundnut chutney

1 tbsp green chutney

2 tbsps oil

Salt to taste

2 ½ tsps sugar

2 ½ cups water

Instructions:

-          Wash the brinjals and slit them twice. Add half of the cut onion, tomatoes and coriander leaves, groundnut chutney (made by grinding roasted ground nuts, salt, garlic and red chilli powder), salt, sugar and mix well. Set aside for ten minutes.

-          Take the other half of the cut onion, tomatoes and coriander leaves and start frying them in oil on medium flame. When it becomes mushy, put the brinjals, mix everything well, add water and let it cook for about seven minutes, then simmer for two minutes and remove from fire. It is ready to be served.