Gluten free shakarpara

For those who are gluten sensitive, shakarpara can be prepared with rice flour. Since it doesn’t have the holding property like the refined flour, we can’t spread the dough into round, cut into squares and fry. I took small portions of the dough, pressed and rolled it nicely between the palms to make into a small round, then pressed it to flatten. When about ten of them were prepared, they were fried together and drained.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups rice flour

½ cup ghee

½ cup milk

¾ cup sugar, powdered

½ tsp cardamom powder

A pinch of salt

Oil for frying

Instruction:

- Lightly roast the rice flour for about 5 minutes on low fire and keep aside to cool after adding the salt and cardamom powder.

- Warm the milk, add the sugar powder, let is dissolve and then add the ghee. Stir for a few seconds and remove from fire.

- Add a ladleful of rice flour; mix it into the milk sugar ghee mix. Keep adding ladlefuls of rice flour and when all the rice flour is mixed in, knead into a smooth dough and keep aside covered with cling film for ten minutes.

- Heat the oil. Take small portions of the dough, roll into a ball between the palms, then flatten it and deep fry on medium heat.

- Drain when they turn golden brown in color.

- Cool and store in air tight container, enjoy with tea or coffee.

Shallots thoran

Shallots are rich in minerals, vitamins and trace elements. They also contain phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese, iron and copper. Shallots are also an excellent source of selenium, a trace element that protects cells against aging and contributes to healthy skin and hair. Combined with vitamin E, also found in shallots, selenium contributes to the formation of antibodies that defend the body against microbes and viruses.

Shallots are used in Kerala on a daily basis. It is used to season all our vegetable preparations and in Sambar. Shallots thoran is a delicacy I relish so much. It was not very frequently prepared as it takes a lot of time to peel so many of these small sized onions.

Ingredients:

2 cups peeled and sliced shallots

Salt to taste

To grind:

¾ cup grated coconut

4 flakes of garlic

¼  tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp cumin seeds

To season:

1 tbsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

2 red chillies broken to pieces

A few curry leaves

Instruction:

-Grind all the ingredients together and keep aside.

- Heart oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add broken chilli pieces, curry leaves and the cut shallots in that order.

- Stir on high flame for a minute, reduce the flame, add salt, cover and let it cook ( about 4 minutes). Open in between to check it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan and if needed, add some water.

- When the shallots are cooked, add the ground coconut and cover. After a minute, remove from fire and stir well.

- This tastes awesome with steamed rice and dal.

Small green peas chutney

The small green pea is a seasonal vegetable. It is very good to be added to salads, sautéed with garlic and salt for breakfast, or made into a delectable chutney.

Ingredients:

2 cups shelled green peas

1 green chilli

½ tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of salt

1 ½ tsps sugar

Juice of ½ lemon

Instruction:

-          Put all the ingredients into a mortar and  grind to a rough consistency.

-          Serve with steamed rice or rotis

Shakarpara

These mildly sweet fried crisps are very good to munch on, also a great accompaniment for tea/ coffee.

Ingredients:

3 cups of Refined flour (I take half wheat flour and half refined flour)

¾ cup sugar powdered

5 cardamoms

½ cup milk

½ cup ghee

A pinch of salt

Oil for frying

Instruction:

-          Powder the sugar with cardamom seeds

-          Take the flour in a vessel and add salt

-          Warm the milk, add sugar powder and mix well.

-          Lower the flame, add the ghee slowly, stir for a minute and remove from fire.

-          Slowly add the milk sugar ghee mix to the flour, stirring it into the flour with the back of a large spoon.

-          Now knead into a soft dough, cover with a wet cloth and leave for 45 minutes.

-          Heat the oil in a karahi. Take a small portion of the dough, knead well between the palms and roll out to a round. Cut into small squares and deep fry on medium flame.

-          Drain, cool and store

Pumpkin pie

In the 80s when we were working in Manipal, one American friend made pumpkin pie and it was very delicious. I took the recipe and baked it a couple of times. Once I started baking apple pie, which takes much less time and effort (and it became sort of my signature dish), pumpkin pie was long forgotten. Recently we got some home grown pumpkins. They were of such great quality that I had to bake a pumpkin pie.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups cooked, mashed/grated pumpkin

1 cup sugar

½ cup milk

2 tbsps milk cream

1 egg

¾ tsp allspice powder

1/3  tsp dried ginger powder

For the pie shell:

170 gms refined flour

A pinch of salt

2 tsps sugar

½ cup solidified ghee

¼ cup water

Instructions:

-          Cut pumpkin into large pieces, apply oil on the surface, keep in a container and put it inside the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. Pressure cook for 8 minutes, cool and open.

-          Remove the skin and mash the pumpkin and put it in a thick bottomed pan. Add sugar, milk and milk cream, mix well and cook on low fire till it becomes thick.

-         Remove from fire, let it cool, beat the egg and add it, along with the dried ginger powder and allspice powder.

-          For the pie shell, take the flour; add sugar, salt and the ghee. Mix the ghee into the flour with fork till it resembles bread crumbs.

-         Add water slowly and knead into smooth dough. 

S  Spread it into round, gently put it inside a flat baking dish. Prick the whole surface with fork.

-          Fill the pie shell with the pumpkin puree and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 35 minutes.

-          Cut into pieces and serve, ice cream is a good combination with this. Usually the pie tastes better on the next day.

Bengal gram leaves sabzi

When I entered the farm filled with Bengal gram plants, that green color was so soothing and healing to the eyes. 

I could sense the leaves saying to me, ‘We are very good for your stomach and body.’  The taste and flavour could almost be felt in my brain. And we got to eat its sabzi, which was so delicious, with a distinct flavour. Immediately I took the recipe, brought the leaves home and cooked it, much to the delight of my husband.

Ingredients:

5 cups of cleaned, washed and chopped Bengal gram leaves(without the thick stems)

¾ cup roasted,skinned,crushed peanuts

2 green chillies

1 onion cut fine

4 flakes of garlic, cut fine

Salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

Instruction:

-          Take all the ingredients except the oil in a thick bottomed pan and put on medium heat.

-          Reduce the flame and cover the pan, stirring in between to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

-          When it is cooked, which takes about 6 minutes, add the oil, mix well and remove from fire.

-          It goes well with chapatis and steamed rice.

Raw papaya, mung dal sabzi

Raw papaya has antioxidants, is diuretic in nature and rich in fibre with minimum calories. It can also help you lose weight as it burns fat, and help in detoxification.

Ingredients:

1 small raw papaya

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsps mung dal

¾  cup water

A small ball of tamarind soaked in water

To grind:

½ cup grated coconut

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 onion cut fine

1 small green chilli

To season:

1 tbsp oil

¼  tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp cut onion

1 red chilli broken to pieces

Some curry leaves

Instruction:

-          Remove the skin and seeds of the papaya and cut into small cubes. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder,  salt and mix well. Keep aside for ten minutes.

-          Wash the mung dal, add this and water to the papaya and pressure cook for five minutes. Cool, open and lightly mash the papaya pieces.

-          Grind the ingredients, add this and tamarind pulp to the cooked papaya (add more water if needed) and simmer for five minutes.

-          Heat oil in a pan with mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chilli pieces, cut onion and curry leaves. When the onion browns, pour this over the sabzi.

-          Serve hot with steamed rice.

Rajgira (Amaranth grain) Upma

                                                         Rajgira upma and chana chat

Rajgira or Ramdana, as it is popularly known in Northern India is a power house of nutrients. The English word is amaranth grain. The origin of the word amaranth is Sanskrit, it means, 'deathless'. It is easy to buy rajgira in grain form and flour form.

Amaranth is high in protein and has an abundance of nutrients like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. Also, this is the only grain to have vitamin C. It also has lysine, an amino acid that helps to absorb calcium. Since it contains two times more calcium than milk, it can reduce the risk of osteoporosis. The grain has bioactive compounds which make it anti-allergic. Plus, it is suitable for diabetics because it helps in reducing hyperglycemia.

My husband brought rajgira home and after searching for the recipe on the net, I made upma. It was a disaster the first time. I used it straightway like the sooji and I had to keep on adding water and cooking for almost half hour, and it was not so tasty! Second time I soaked it overnight and pressure cooked for 4 minutes. The water quantity was more and we didn’t relish it. The third time I reduced the water quantity and it turned out delicious! So, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup Rajgira grain

¼ cup water

1 tbsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp cashew nuts

1 onion cut fine

1 green chilli cut

Some curry leaves

Salt to taste

Instruction:

-Soak rajgira overnight. Since the grains are so small and float in the water, you have to drain using a sieve.

                                                        Rajgira in water, soaked overnight

- Heat oil in the pressure cooker, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds, then cut onion, green chilli and curry leaves. Stir, add cashew nuts, when the onion turns transparent, add rajgira, salt and water.

Pressure cook for 4 minutes. Cool and open, serve hot.

Odissi dal

Last week we had dinner with friends and she had cooked Odissi dal that I was having for the first time. My husband and I relished it so much that on coming home I searched for its recipe.  I got the basic idea, which I modified to our taste and prepared today. This is a very delicious preparation that has seven different pulses.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup green gram

1/3 cup black gram

1/3 cup Bengal gram dal (chana dal)

¼ cup tur dal

¼ cup chick peas

¼ cup black chana

¼ cup rajma

1 ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 cinnamon piece

2 ½ cups water

Salt to taste

2 tbsps oil

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 green chilli cut

1 onion cut fine

2 tomatoes cut fine

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

A pinch of asafoetida

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

Instructions:

-          - Soak all the seven pulses together overnight. Pressure  cook them with water, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon piece, salt and turmeric powder for 15 minutes.

-         -  Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, add cumin seeds and cut green chilli. Add cut onion, when they become translucent, add ginger garlic paste and mix in.

-        -   Add the cut tomatoes, stir for a while. Add all the masala powders, asafoetida and  2 tablespoons of water and let it cook and become thick.

-        -   Add the cooked pulses, mix well and simmer for five minutes.

-          - Serve with steamed rice or chapatis.

Proja – a traditional Serbian cornmeal dish

After having tasted the amazing proja for breakfast in Belgrade that Ashwita cooked for us, I was determined to make it at home. It can be prepared with ordinary corn flour, but since I had brought with me the corn flour that remained in Belgrade, I used it up for my first attempt. I had to do some modification to the basic recipe as the cheese used in the recipe is not available in Belgaum. Instead I used milk cream and there was no compromise in the taste!

Ingredients:

100 gms corn flour

1 cup water

2 cups milk

1 cup milk cream

A pinch of salt

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp chia seeds

Instruction:

-          Add the water, milk and milk cream to the corn flour and mix thoroughly, without any lumps.

-          Keep on medium flame and keep stirring, for about 15 minutes ( add salt in between, when it starts thickening) till it becomes quite thick and starts separating from the sides

-          Pat it down onto a shallow container and allow to cool.

-          Cut it into pieces.

-          Heat the butter, add chia seeds. Toss in the proja, stir and let the pieces be coated well with the chia 

       seeds.

-          Serve hot.

Chole bature

 This is a special North Indian dish I used to relish during my post-graduation days in Lucknow  . By the time we left Lucknow, I had learned how to make it and my kids always looked forward to these preparations.

Ingredients:

 3 cups refined flour (maida), for 9 bature

¼   tsp baking soda

 Salt to taste

1 cup curds

2 tsps powdered sugar

Oil to fry.

Instructions:

Sieve the refined flour with baking soda. Add salt.

Mix the sugar powder thoroughly into the curds. Add this to the refined flour and knead into a smooth dough. You may sprinkle some water if you need.

Leave it covered overnight.

Divide into 9 portions, make them into balls, spread each one into a round and deep fry in hot oil.

Chole

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups Bengal gram soaked overnight in water

2 tsp tea leaves
3 cups water

Salt to taste
1 bay leaf

Tamarind pulp

To grind

2 tbsps oil

2 onions sliced

1 large tomato sliced

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

1 ½ tsps. Coriander powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

2 tbsps oil

Coriander leaves to garnish

Instruction:

Boil the tea leaves in 3 cups water for about 2 minutes, drain the tea

Pressure cook the soaked Bengal gram with the black tea, and salt for 15 minutes

Meanwhile grind the onions, tomato into a smooth paste and add it to hot oil, along with the bay leaf, in a thick bottomed pan. Keep stirring and when it starts separating from the sides (takes about 10 minutes). Add all the masala powders and stir well.

Add the cooked Bengal gram, and tamarind pulp into the pan and mix well. Mash a small portion (about 2 tbsps) of the Bengal gram to get a thick gravy.

Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from fire. Garnish with cut coriander leaves.

Serve with bature.

Pumpkin Soup

This is a very delicious, and nutritious soup. You need to make it with a well ripe pumpkin to get the optimum taste.

Ingredients:

3 cups skinned and cubed pumpkin pieces (for 2 bowls of soup)

5 flakes of garlic, finely cut

1/3 tsp garam masala powder

1 ½ cups water

1 tbsp milk cream (malai)

Salt to taste

½ tsp pepper powder

1 tsp butter

Instruction:

Pressure cook the pumpkin pieces with water, salt, garlic and garam masala powder for 8 minutes.

Cool the pressure cooker, use a blender to mash the pumpkin to make it to soup consistency.

Add the milk cream and blend again.

Serve in bowls, garnished with pepper powder and butter.

Jackfruit seeds curry, Sri Lankan way

Jackfruit seeds have many health benefits. The proteins and other vital micronutrients in the seeds are known to keep skin diseases at bay. The iron in the seeds boosts blood health and even treats anaemia – which is one major concern, especially for women.

The seeds, which taste like potatoes when boiled, are also good for the eyes. According to traditional medicine, powdered jackfruit seeds can treat constipation and other digestive issues. The seeds are also rich sources of dietary fiber, which makes them important for digestive health. The seeds contain vitamin A, a nutrient known to boost vision health. The seeds might also prevent cataracts and macular degeneration.

After enjoying my favourite fruit I never throw away the seeds. We make thoran and aviyal in Kerala and my husband is fond of those dishes. This time I wanted to try some different preparation and decided to go the Sri Lankan way. And it turned out amazing. I served it for a friend who visited. He liked it so much that he took the recipe from me before leaving!

Ingredients:

20 nos. Jackfruit seeds

1 medium sized onion sliced

1 sprig curry leaves

Salt to taste

¾  cup coconut milk

Spices to dry roast:

1 tsp red chili powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

1 inch Piece of cinnamon

1 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

To grind:

3 tbsp grated coconut

1 tsp raw rice

Instruction:

-          Wash and pressure cook jackfruit seeds for 8 minutes, after hitting them with a pounding stone to crack the skin so that it will be easy to remove the skin after cooking. Drain and allow them to dry, remove the skin and cut vertically into four pieces.

-          Dry roast the spices and keep aside

-          Now dry roast grated coconut together with raw rice until it turns golden brown, stirring continuously. Grind this toasted coconut and rice with a little water into a fine paste.

-          Take the cut jackfruit seeds in a pan, add the roasted spices, sliced onion, curry leaves, salt and coconut milk, and mix well. Cook for about six minutes till the onion is cooked.

-          Mix in the ground coconut and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

-          Serve with chapatis or steamed rice and dal.

Jackfruit idli

Jackfruit is my favourite fruit and since it’s big in size, when I cut one, I need to make different preparations to finish it in time. I love to eat the fruit bulbs as such, but can’t eat too much at a time. I make jackfruit jam, pakodas and dosas. When I saw the picture of jackfruit idli on facebook put up by a friend, I immediately asked for the recipe and he sent it to me.

The basic mantra of cooking for me has been: it should take minimum time and minimum utensils, without compromising the taste. The recipe which I got used semolina, I thought I can substitute it with rice so that it is gluten free. Today I prepared the idlis and while it was being steamed, the aroma that spread in the house was just divine!

Ingredients:

1 cup rice soaked for 6 hours

12-15 pieces of deseeded jackfruit bulbs

1 cup grated coconut

1 tbsp jaggery

3 cardamoms

1/3 tsp salt

A pinch of baking soda

Instruction:

-          First grind the jackfruit bulbs with cardamoms into a smooth paste.

-          Add the grated coconut and jaggery, grind again.

-          Add the drained rice and grind to a rough paste. No water is added during grinding.

-          This batter does not need fermentation. Add salt and baking soda. Mix well and make idlis. This needs to be steamed for 15 to 20 minutes.

      Serve with ghee, or honey. We had the idlis with ghee and dry coconut chutney, which was a nice combination.
      Traditionally they are prepared wrapped in teak leaves. Since I wanted to try it, I managed get teak leaves and found that they impart a different aroma to the idlis.

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Breadfruit sabzi- Sri Lankan style

This is an amazing preparation that goes well with both steamed rice and chapattis. Addition of drumstick leaves makes it very nutritious too. For Sri Lankan preparations, I take guidance from Ape amma’s site.

Ingredients:

1 breadfruit skinned, central portion removed and cubed

1 onion cut fine

8 flakes of garlic cut fine

Curry leaves

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder

1/3 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp pepper powder

Salt to taste

1 ½ cups water

1 cup coconut milk

½ cup of drumstick leaves

To season:

1 tbsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

2 dried red chillies broken into two

1 tbsp finely cut onion

A few curry leaves

Instruction:

Mix the bread fruit cubes with cut onion, garlic, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, pepper powder and salt.

Add the water and put on high flame. When it starts boiling, reduce the flame to medium and cook for about eight minutes, stirring in between. Check for water and add it is seems less.

Now pour in the coconut milk and add the drumstick leaves. Let it simmer for five minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cumin seeds, red chillies, cut onion and curry leaves. When the onion turns brown, pour over the sabzi and close it. Remove from fire.

Sweet Rice dosa

I love dosas with light sweet taste. Here is one such preparation that can be served with ghee, honey, mango jhunda, or murabba.

                                            Dosas with home made mango murabba

Ingredients;

1 cup rice

¼ cup beaten rice

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

¼ cup grated jaggery

A pinch of salt

¾ cup butter milk

1/3 tsp turmeric powder

Instruction:

Soak the rice, beaten rice, and fenugreek seeds for 6-8 hours and drain.

Grind the above with the butter milk and grated jaggery. Leave for fermentation overnight.

Add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder, mix well and make dosas.

Helappa with rice flour, Ada

Helappa or halappa is a delicious breakfast item we had in Sri Lanka. It is prepared with ragi flour in Macaranga peltata leaves (kanda or kenda leaves in Sri Lankan language). On coming back home I prepared it referring to the recipe by Ape  Amma and everybody liked.

This is very similar to ‘ada’ that we make in Kerala. I have great experience in making ada as I was the one who made it for my baby brother’s breakfast every single day, when I was a school girl. We make ada in plantain leaves or Macaranga peltata leaves, which we call ‘vattaila’ in Malayalam.

Last week while coming back from Goa, I plucked some leaves (vattaila) and brought home, planning to make helappa. As I found that ragi flour had finished at home, I decided to try with rice flour. And I must say that the experiment was successful.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour for 4 helappas

½ cup grated coconut

½ cup jaggery syrup (Put some jaggery pieces in some water and keep on low fire. Stir in between. When the jaggery dissolves, remove from fire. When it cools a bit, sieve and it can be stored in the refrigerator for use)

A pinch of salt

½ cup (approximately) warm water

Instruction:

Heat a thick bottomed pan and roast the grated coconut on low fire till it becomes dry.

Pour the jaggery syrup, mix well and now slowly add the rice flour with salt, mixing well to avoid lumps.

Remove from fire, slowly mix in water, now keep on low fire and stir for about a minute. Let it cool.

Make it into four balls. 

Keep it in the kenda leaf, fold the leaf and use the chapatti roller over the leaf to flatten the dough evenly.

Prepare all four of them.

You can steam them together, turning them over to let both sides cook.

I usually follow the way I used to do in my childhood. Heat a thava with some water. 

When the water boils, keep two leaves with the stuffing over the water. The folds should be facing each other and the water quantity should not be too much to seep through and make the ada soggy

Now keep a vessel with some water inside (to give some weight) over the leaves. 

Within two minutes the bottom portion will be cooked. It is checked by trying to lift the leaf, which will come away clean from the ada, without sticking.

Now turn them upside down, replenish water in the thava if needed, keep the vessel over the leaves and in two minutes the other side will also be cooked and they are ready to serve! 

The leaves are discarded after eating the ada.

28 August 2019 - Today I made ada in turmeric leaves, that imparts a nice fragrance. Here, rice flour with salt is made into a smooth dough by adding water and spread over the leaf. Fillling of coconut scrapings, jaggery, sliced plantain and cardamom powder is spread over one half and the leaf is folded and the sides are pressed to seal the dough. Then it is cooked on both sides as described above and served.

30 September 2020 - Now I learned to make ada on a dry iron thava on very low heat. It takes about four minutes to cook each side.