Arrabiatta ? nah...It's Jeera-abiatta!

I have always been fascinated by Italian, French and Spanish cuisine. The dream combination would be Spanish tapas, Italian main course followed by a French dessert. Slurp! That sounds delicious and is sending my brain into a tizzy. Before I loose myself, Italian food is good if eaten at the right place and right time. For me, that meant one of these chain restaurants here or the specialty restaurants back home that would charge an arm and a leg for a simple dish of pasta. Of late I have stopped relishing the standard pasta fare served at these restaurants. They are loaded with grease and cheese and hardly any thing to address the need of my palate so long used to complicated spices and their flavors. May be it is aging too. As I grow older I realize I cannot be eating the way I used to anymore. Now a days, If I need my stomach to be peaceful, I need to avoid all those grease laden food these chain restaurant serve. So I started making my own sauces to enjoy an Italian inspired-Kannada dinner!! I find Marinara very boring. Alfredo, love it but yes, it can be way too rich. So say Hi to Jeera-abiatta sauce.

Serves 6-8

Extra-Virgin olive oil 1/4 C
Cardamon 1
Bay leaf 2
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Garlic clove 2
Green chillies 2 (Add more if you like it hot)
Italian herb blend   a generous pinch
Tomatoes 14 oz  can  2
Sugar as desired
Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat the oil in a thick bottom sauce pan. Throw in the cardamon, bay leaves and Jeera.
• Once the spices start to sizzle, Throw in the garlic and slit green chillies. Saute till garlic is fragrant about 10 seconds.
• Throw in the herb blend. Once the herbs are fragrant , throw in the tomatoes along with their juice. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes till the sauce kind of thickens a bit.
• Once the sauce is slightly cool, transfer the sauce to a blender and pulse till the tomatoes are slightly chunky but sauce-like.
• Adjust salt and sugar and remove from heat. Toss with desired cooked pasta and serve.

Badanekayi Sukka

It is pickling season back home. I can actually smell the salty air, as the mangoes, limes and a variety of other vegetables are brined and left to settle down a bit before they get doused in all the spices. When I close my eyes, I see my grandmother sitting the way she does while working on time consuming processes like pickling, folding one of her legs while the other remains out stretched as she cuts the carefully selected vegetable with her 'Eelege Mane', a sharp rather large cleaver life knife fitted on to a wooden plank. She would get very upset when we as kids would run into her right after our hours on the dusty streets playing and yelling. She was so very finicky about keeping her kitchen clean, more so while pickling. Probably that is why, her pickles last so long, at least two years. She would not touch the huge pickling jar on Tuesdays, Fridays and assorted other occasions. I do not remember then any more! All I remember was the being shoed away during the pickling process and being enticed for the watching over the Happalas.

The 'Happala' or Papad process on the contary was something she could not do with out us! She would lure us with tasty treats for watching over her Happalas set to sun dry on the terrace. We would arm ourselves  with long sticks and drive away birds, monkeys, squirrel  and  other unwanted intruders. I might not have appreciated her efforts as a kid, but now I look back and see how much of an effort it was for the poor soul. Was it enthusiasm for life or love for family I do not know. All I know is when I do have grand kids of my own, I want to be just like her.

 Serves 3-4

Eggplants 1 lb (The slender green Eerinagere variety would be perfect in this dish)
Peanut oil 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp + 1 tsp
Fennel 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies 5-6 (adjust according to taste)
Garlic cloves 2
Kopra  1/4 cup
Dhania seeds 1 tbsp
Cloves 4
Cinnamon 1/2"
Jaggery 1 tbsp (crushed)
Tamarind concentrate 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Chop the eggplant into lengthwise and then into 2" strips. Soak it in water and set it aside.
• Heat oil in a wok. Throw in the mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp of Jeera and fennel seeds. 
• Once they stop spluttering, drain the eggplants well and throw it into the wok. Stir gently and saute till they are slightly tender about 5 minutes.
• Throw in the chillies and minced garlic. Saute for a few more minutes till the garlic is fragrant.
• In a spice grinder, combine the remaining Jeera, dhania seeds, Kopra, cloves and cinnamon. Pulse till the mixture reduces to a meal.
• Throw the spice mixture into the eggplants along with the turmeric. Stir well. Saute till the spices are fragrant another 5 minutes or so.
• Throw in the tamarind concentrate about 1/2 cup of water and Jaggery. Simmer till the eggplants and tender.
• Adjust salt and serve warm with Akki Rotti
Sending it to Healthy diet event created by dear Priya

Hagalakayi fry / Bitter gourd fry

It is again a cloudy and gloomy looking day. I am a sunny gal! Love it when it is bright and sunny outside and would not mind it if it is a little hot either. But rains and clouds, take the spirit of my soul away. All I want to do is curl up in bed and sip something warm, cuddled up with a book or my laptop in my favorite blanket. Obviously that is so much of a luxury to expect especially with Sunny boy home with me all the time.  Thankfully I did not have to cook much today as we are sitting over lots of left over from earlier in the week. Thanks to my maniacal shopping bouts. I just make a quick soup for Sunny boy and fixed a salad for myself. Dinner is waiting for us in the fridge for now.  Part of it is the Hagalakayi fry that I made yesterday.

Me and Honey both love bitter gourd. I always buy them when ever I see them fresh and inviting. We also pick them up from the farms during the growing season. I can barely wait for the season to start though. I always make the Gojju . Of late I wanted to try it in a different dish, may be with potatoes just the way they did back in Sabarmati, JNU. Not that they were great by any chance, but it was one of the few things they served that made me happy. It was during those days that I realized people either loved this vegetable or hated it to the core. There were people like me, fighting with out mess staff for more bitter gourd, and then there were others fighting for the potatoes. I think it would  have been a better idea for the cooks to make two different dishes, one entirely of bitter gourd and the other of potatoes, that way both the camps would be happy. 

Last night was our movie night. We watched Kannada movie called Milana and had a TV dinner of Pulkhas, bitter gourd and a few other things. Sunny boy still does not appreciate bitter gourd as much as his parents. Let alone bitter gourd, I did be happy if he eats any vegetable at all. He is a thorough protein boy which makes me sad. Wonder when at all he would start loving vegetables as much as I do.

Serves 2

Bitter gourd  3 medium sliced 

Potatoes 3 medium chopped into cubes 1"

Peanut oil 4 tsps

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp

Jeera 1/2 tsp

Green chillies 5-6 (adjust according to taste)

Onions 2 medium chopped

Jeera powder 2 tsp

Dhania powder 2 tsp

Amchoor to taste (optional, omit this if the tomato is tart)

Tomato 1 medium chopped

Sugar 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

•  Heat 2 tsp oil in a wok. Toss the bitter gourd in and fry it till the bitter gourd is brown. Do not move them much in the wok, else it will take for ever to brown. Remove from the wok and set it aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in the same wok. Throw in the mustard, Jeera, chillies followed by the onion. Once the onions are golden brown, throw in the potatoes. Add a pinch of salt and cover. Cook till the potatoes are almost cooked but still is firm. 
• Throw in the Jeera powder, Dhania powder and Amchoor if using. Stir fry for a few seconds. Throw in the tomatoes and cover. Cook till the tomatoes are tender.
• Return the bitter gourd back to the wok and mix everything. Adjust the salt and throw in the sugar. Cook for a couple more minutes for the bitter gourd to heat up nicely. Remove from heat and serve hot with Phulkas or any other bread of choice.

 

Kumbalakayi Kayirasa /Pumpkin coconut curry

I am very fond of my vegetables. I am so lost without them. My brain stops functioning if I do not have at least 5 vegetables in my refrigerator-pantry. That makes me greedy. When ever I go shopping for vegetables, I end up buying way more than what the three of us can finish. My previous vegetable shopping trip ended similarly. I had run out of onions midweek and though I will just pick up a couple of bags of onions at the Indian stores. As usual I picked up the shopping basket, went into the vegetable aisle not wanting to make eye contact with any of the vegetables sitting on the shelves, lest I fall in love. Sunny boy who was with me started with his mischief, he picked up one huge cabbage in his tiny hands and came running to me. 'Amma cabbage togoli' and with that his tiny hands dropped the beast of a cabbage into our shopping basket in one loud thud! 'No baby' I said as I tried to figure out where to put the cabbage back. We had had cabbage that very day and there was enough in the fridge to last for a couple more meals.But before I could find a place for the cabbage, me eyes caught the sight of this very beautiful and fresh hunk of Pumpkin, beckoning me. Ah! it was perfect piece of pumpkin, the flesh was bright orange, the rind shinny and green, the seeds were still moist. My eyes devoured half the pumpkin right then and there. Thankfully we are not charged for doing that. I had to get that pumpkin. Sunny boy helped the piece of pumpkin into our shopping basket. My love affair did not end with just pumpkin that day. It continued with two different types of mushrooms, some ash gourd, spring onions, a red bell pepper and more. Now after coming home and opening the produce tray of my fridge, I came out of my stupor. I already had so many vegetables to be finished in the next couple of days. 

This is the story every week, sometime even twice a week; that is how many times I go shopping for food. I guess that is part of being a foodie. I never go shopping for clothes, shoes etc. I always shop for food, from farmers' market to super market.

So once I had the pumpkin home, I kept thinking about what to make out of it. Somehow I could not get my head to stop thinking about Kayirasa. A very simple curry with very mild spices. If people find Indian food spicy, they should start with Kayirasa. It is a silky smooth, rich broth of coconut, chillies,ginger and some herbs, mild and slightly sweet. The silkiness possible only if the coconut is ground in an old fashioned stone mortar. I have tried various blenders, food processors, none of them come close to the old fashioned stone mortar in terms of efficiency. It is indeed not a bad idea to use some coconut milk instead. But this time I did use the coconut ground up sort of coarse.

Serves 4

Pumpkin 1.5 lb

Coconut 1 cup

Green chillies 5-6 (adjust according to taste)

Ginger 1" piece

Turmeric a generous pinch

Coriander fresh a handful

Jeera 1 tsp

Ghee 1 tsp

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp

Hing a dash

Salt to taste

Method:

• Clean the pumpkin, remove the rind and discard it. Scoop out the seeds and chop it into 1" cubes. Wash it and place it in a thick bottom pot with about 3 cups of water and cook on a medium heat.
• While the pumpkin cooks, grind the coconut, green chillies, turmeric, coriander, jeera and 3 tbsp water into a very smooth paste. Reserve.
• Once the pumpkin is cooked but still firm enough to bite, stir in the ground paste of coconut. Stir well and add more water to get the curry to the desired consistency, start with 1/4 cup of water at time and keep adding more as required. Once the curry comes to a boil, turn of the heat.
• To prepare the Oggarane, heat ghee in a pan. Toss in the mustard seed and hing. Pour the prepared ghee over the curry and adjust salt. Serve immediately with hot rice.

Goes out to the VFAM Pumpkin event.

Tovve

I have always been a daddy's gal. I went with him everywhere he went, rode pillion with him on his motorbike as he performed an acrobatic maneuver, went to pubs/bars and munched on chips and ketchup while he downed lagers, climbed Chamundi hills by foot twice a week and went jogging early in the morning halfheartedly. It was fun. Neighbours called us Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Cousins joked that I was my father's walking heart. But as I grew up, Pappa was posted to a far a place and we could visit him only during school holidays. It was arduous in the beginning without my trusted ally cum friend cum guide cum eveything.  That was the time, when just the three of us, me Amma and my sister stayed back  home and spent countless hours together and became the best of buddies.

My Amma, a petite woman, always had a problem finding the right footwear and bangles because no one makes them small enough for her. She might as well have better luck in a well stocked kids' store. But her size  does not say anything about the person she actually is, she is the emotional support -the buttress that holds all of us together. As me and my sister stepped into teenage, we became best of pals. We shared stories from college, gossiped and had great fun. She would help me with my Kannada papers as I was so poor in writing my mother tongue. She is a voracious reader and has an amazing memory power. Before we got internet at home, Amma was our go to source of information :) After all these years what do I have to say to her? Thanks for being there and standing all my idiosyncrasies. 

Amma is needless to say a fabulous cook, not as good as her mother but her Vangibath wins hands down my Grandmother's.Amma also makes awesome Tovve. I love it with just some hot rice and ghee. 

Serves 4

Toor dal 1/2 cup

Turmeric a generous pinch

Ghee 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp

Jeera 1/2 tsp

Hing a dash

Curry leaves a handful

Red Chillies 2 (Byadagi variety)

Green Chillies 2  add more if preferred

Salt to taste

Lime juice to taste

Method:

• Wash the dal in several changes of water. Combine it with 4 cups of water, turmeric and a drop of ghee.
• Set the mixture in a pressure cooker and cook till the dal is done.Remove from heat and allow it to cool.
• Once the pressure cooker is cool enough,  open the lid.
• Prepare the Oggarane. Heat the remaining ghee, toss in the mustard, Jeera and Hing in quick succession. Once the spluttering stop, throw in the curry leaves and chillies. Once the mixture is fragrant, pour it over the cooked dal.
• Adjust salt and lime juice to taste and serve with hot rice.

Goes to CC #10 Mom's recipe hosted by dear Sravani.

Ghee / Tuppa

We love the dairy products we are currently getting from udder milk creamery coop . The milk is tasty and creamy. I make butter out of the cream I skim from the milk. Sunny boy gobbles up some butter, we slather it on toasts, rottis and what ever. The remaining gets converted into Ghee- 'Tuppa'. I love ghee. We end up consuming about 3/4 to a kilo of Ghee just the three of us,if I do not make any sweets! I use it in most of my curries. Sunny boy licks it off a spoon and demands 'tuppa' with everything including Mosaranna- curd rice. 

Most of my family members love ghee. My grandmother and mother made their own ghee so do I. The ones they made used to be thick and grainy. I never got similar texture or flavor when using the super market butter. But butter from pastured unprocessed milk scalded at home makes the best of ghee. Got to make it to fall in love with it.

Ghee being a saturated fat is solid at room temperature. A gentle heat will cause it to melt away. So a dollop of ghee on warm rottis/idlis/dosa will be perfect.

We will need,

Butter 1 lb

Turmeric  a pinch

Fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp

or

Garlic 1 small clove

Method:

• Place the butter in a large mouthed heavy pot. Gently heat it.
• Once the butter is completely melted, throw in the turmeric.
• For a sweeter flavored ghee, add the fenugreek. (If ghee is to be used in the preparation of deserts and sweets) Else throw in the garlic. (This version is perfect for use in curries, Rasams and Saaru)
• Cook till the butter is frothy on a medium heat.
• Once the frothing subsides, reduce heat and look for the sediments at  the bottom of the pot to turn golden brown. The butter itself should be clear and a golden colored liquid by now. Turn off the heat.
• Filter the ghee using a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the sediments for another use. (I throw mine in curries and saaru, it is heavenly)
• Store the ghee in a glass /steel jar. It stays good for at least a couple of months. (May be long, it never does in my place).

Saag Panner

After all my years in the northern plains and my familiarity with Punjabi cuisine, it is quite surprising to me that I still do not have either Saag panner or Palak panner on Kannada cuisine!! In fact Palak panner is one of the first foods that I cooked, all by myself as a 13-14 year old. My father was posted in Amritsar, somewhere during the time when commandos, machine guns and 'encounters' were as common as Aloo-Pyaz in Punjab. But what I still remember of Amritsar is the food...Lawrence road, Kesar Dhaba, the Langar at Harmandir Sahib, Ghadiwali khoti's Jaleebi and the ubiquitous samosa and panner pakode...Ah! those were the days when food was plenty as appetite was very healthy. (Kinda remember Papa saying that Ghadiwali khoti belonged to legendary cricketer Madan Lal.) Those were the days of endless eating.Boy! I miss those days.
Then,, when it was almost time to head back to south, I was in sheer despair. Where will I find Chole, Palak Panner, Tandoori Rotis, Rasmali back home. I kept pestering my mother to take down the recipe from my land lady Mini aunty -a genial Sardarni. Mother did not show the least bit of interest. So I  went ahead and asked my landlady for recipes. She was very happy, just that, she wanted me to learn everything that comes out of a Punjabi kitchen. She was training a daughter she never had. So in order to learn a handful of my favorites, I had to sit through the ordeal of making Tinda ki subzee, aloo badi and Roghun Josh. Well, I should say, it was not just sitting through but very much a hands-on affair and over a few weeks, I had prepared a lot of Punjabi delicacies. I most probably wrote down those recipes as well. But over the years, I lost those recipe.
I had also prepared Rogun Josh too with lots of tomatoes, but did not care for it much. My father the only one who would eat meat, said it was unremarkable. Others that I lost were not something I cared for away way. But who knew that I would have a food blog one day and it did not matter if I liked something or not.
The ones that remains with me are Palak Panner, Chole, Rajma,Mutter Panner, Saag, Dal Makhani,Rasmalai-Kheer, because I made these so often that my then young brain lapped it up in its folds. Now I can make these in my sleep.

I have never seen chard in India, but it is one of the most common vegetable available during winters. I have used it here. Use any greens of choice.

Serves 4

Spinach 1 small Bunch (about 4 cups)

Chard 1 small bunch (about  5-6  gaint leaves)

Ghee 1/4 cup

Onions 2 medium

Jeera 1/2 tsp

Garlic  5 cloves

Ginger 2"

Green Chillies 6 +(adjust according to taste)

Turmeric 1/4 tsp

Dhania powder 1 tbsp

Cummin 2 tsp

Pepper powder 1 tsp

Panner 400 grams

Garam Masala a pinch

Heavy cream 2 tbsp (Malai /Kene)

Juice of a lemon.

Butter (optional)

Method:

• Wash and clean the greens thoroughly. Dice the Panner and saute it in a tsp of oil/ghee till golden brown. Set it aside.
• Bring a big stock pot filled with water to a rapid boil.Blanch the spinach in the hot water for 10 seconds and remove from heat. This gets rid of the slightly bitter finish of the spinach.
• To the same stock pot, squeeze the juice of half a lemon. Blanch the chard in the hot water till the chard is slightly tender about 10 minutes. Remove and allow it to cool. Once it is cool, combine it with the blanched spinach and green chillies in a blender and pulse till smooth. Set it aside.
• Combine the onions, ginger and garlic in a blender and blend with a little water till the mixture is smooth.
• Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pot. Throw in the cumin.Once the cumin stops spluttering, throw in the onion paste. Cook till the oil floats on top. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pot, add a little water to it.
• Now throw in the dhania powder, cumin powder and turmeric powders. Stir well, cook till the oil floats on top and the spices are fragrant and cooked.
• Stir in the pureed greens and heat thoroughly. Stir in the panner. Simmer for a few more minute.
• Adjust salt and finish with Garam Masala and butter if using.
• Serve with a dollop of cream, lemon wedges, sliced onions.and green chillies.

Vegetable Korma

Korma also pronounced as 'Kuurma' back home is one of those indulgent dishes that I make when cooking for a large dinner party. It is easy to scale up and sinfully delicious. It reminds me of umpteen tonnes of Ghee rice and Kuurma I have devoured at all the wedding receptions while growing up. Now if I think of the vanaspati laden Ghee rice or the greasy and unflavored korma, my appetite dies a sudden death! But when I think of my sister's rich, spicy but satisfying Korma, my stomach screams 'here! I live again'. She makes the best Korma I have ever tasted. With mom's ghee rice, it is mind blowing. I have always made Korma her way, but yesterday midway through the Korma, I realised that I had ran out of cashews. I had to think of substitutions and fast. I tossed in  a mixture of poppy seeds and sesame seeds and the combo gave my Korma a special spin. We all loved it.

Serves 8-10

Mixed vegetables 4 cups chopped

Peanut oil 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp

Star anise  2

Marathi moggu  2

Bay leaves 3

Cardamon 3

Onion 1 medium minced

Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Red Chili powder 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Dhania powder 1 tbsp scant

Cumin powder 2 tsp

Tomato 2 medium

Mint a generous  handful

Fresh coriander a handful

Sesame seeds 2 tbsp

Poppy seeds 1 tbsp

Kopra 1/2 cup

Heavy cream 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Lemon segments to serve

Method:

• Throw the chopped vegetables into a microwaves safe bowl and pop it into the microwave oven to slightly soften the vegetables about 4 minutes.
• Heat oil in a thick bottom stock pot. Throw in the cumin, fennel, star anise, Marathi moggu,  bay leaves and cardamon. 
• Once the spices stop sizzling, throw in the minced onions, cook the onions till they are deep brown in colour, about 15 minutes.
• Throw in the ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw smell disappears about 5-7 minutes.
• Throw in the turmeric, red chilli, dhania and cumin powders, stir continuously to make sure the spices do not burn at the bottom. Add a little water if the mixture is drying out too rapidly. 
• Once the spices are fragrant, throw in the vegetables and add 5-6 cups of water, cover and bring it to a boil. 
• Meantime pulse the tomatoes, mint and coriander in the food processor, set it aside. Toast the sesame seeds, kopra and poppy seeds separately in a hot dry skillet, remove from heat and pound till the seeds are reduced to a fine powder. I blitz mine in the coffee grinder.
• Once the vegetables mixture comes to a boil, throw in the tomato and herb mixture and the nut mixture. Stir well to make sure the nut mixture is not lumpy. It is a good idea to temper the nut mixture with the hot liquid from the sauce, mix well and pour the mixture into the simmering curry. Simmer for about 10 minutes till the curry comes together.
• Adjust salt and pour over the heavy cream. Stir once more and heat the mixture for another 3 minutes and remove from heat.
• Serve it with Ghee rice, Raita and lemon wedges.

Apple and avocado salad

I love salads. It could be a simple Kosambari or a Italian or Mediterranean salad, I love them all if the salad has the right balance of flavours. I love mine dressed generously with citrus juice, has something crunchy and a little sweet. Most often then not, I combine fruits and vegetables in my salad, because fruits add a lot of sweetness without weighing down the Salad. I have never purchased dressing of any sort ever from a super market. I always make mine right before I am ready to eat. I  hate the gooey Cesar's salad dressing they  serve with lettuce at the fast food joints. I always wondered why people would want to eat just plain lettuce for a salad when there is a great array of fruits and vegetables to choose from. I would probably start mooing if I am fed the so called lettuce (Cesar's) salad with the gooey dressing!! However, I have loved the plain Cesar's salad served at quite a joints. A good salad can appear boring till the first bite and then it will be love at first bite.

Today was a busy morning, therefore I settled down for a simple salad for lunch. This is what I make for myself when I am having a salad for an entire meal.

Serves 1 (as an entree)
Serves 2(as a side dish)

Lettuce of choice  3 cups (washed and drained well -I use a salad sinner)
Apple  1
Avocado 1
Parmesan Cheese 2 tbsp (more or less according to taste)
Lime juice to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Coconut  1 tbsp grated
Coriander fresh a handful chopped
Olive oil or Peanut  oil (optional)

Method:

• Place the chopped and cleaned lettuce in a salad platter. 
• Throw in the diced apple, avocado. Top it with cheese, coconut and coriander.
• Squeeze the lime juice right over top and adjust salt and pepper. 
• Drizzle the oil if preferred. Serve immediately.

Tomato Rasam

Spring is in the air. This time around, it has been a roller coaster ride weather-wise; It was so warm that we forgot it was march, then it grew chilly. Looks like finally there is some nice warming up happening. When I saw these goslings in the backyard, it is spring indeed!These tiny goslings are so cute, in just a matter of few week they will grow into big geese! I wish they did stay like this for long :)

A thorough bred south Indian can never say no to Rasam! How delicious can it be just a simple combination of stock, spices and some ghee, unbelievable indeed that it can be so very delicious and addictive. I make Rasam when ever we have guests and when ever I am cooking for a large party. If someone does not like the other foods, Rasam is always there to fall back upon. I actually do not know anyone who does not like Rasam. In fact I discourage my mother from making Rasam everyday because I know from experience that when we see Rasam on the table, we end eating more rice than usual and that is not a healthy habit at our age.
We make a variety of Rasam/ saaru with are equally good. It amazes me that there can be so many variations in some thing as simple as rasam!!This is the default version - the tomato rasam. 

Serves 4

Toor dal 1/4 cup
Tomato  1 big
Tamarind concentrate 1 tsp
Jaggery  1 tbsp (crushed)
Jeera 1.5 tsp
Garlic 4-5 cloves
Pepper 1.5 tsp (more if preferred spicy)
Ghee 1 tbsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Hing a big pinch
Curry Leaves 6-7
Dried red chillies 3-4 (Byadagi variety)
Fresh Coriander/ Cilantro

Salt


Method.

• Wash the toor dal in several changes of water and combine it with the tomato and about 2 cups water and cook till the dal is soft, about 2 whistles. Remove from heat.
• Once the pressure cooker is cool and safe enough to open, remove the tomato into a mixing bowl and mash it thoroughly. Separate the cooked dal and the stock. Reserve the dal for another  use.
• In a stock pot, combine the mashed tomatoes, dal stock, tamarind paste and jaggery. Add more water to make it thin- into rasam like consistency. There should be approximately 4 cups of liquid here. Bring it to a gentle boil. Simmer.
• Pound the pepper, jeera and garlic into a course powder. Set it aside.
• For the Oggarane, heat ghee. Add the mustard, hing, dried red chillies and curry leaves. Stir for a minute. Once the mustard stops spluttering add the garlic-spice combo and stir till fragrant. Take it off the heat and pour it over the simmering tomato broth.
• Adjust salt and finish with fresh coriander. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice and papad.

Sweetheart cake

Just before you draw conclusions by reading the title, let me tell you, this is not valentine's day stuff. The story behind the cake is this. Sunny boy loves cake and chocolate. I do not make it very often because I have these huge cake tins that I will have to make huge cakes and me and Honey end up eating way more than what we should. So I went shopping for a smaller cake tin, so then I get to make cake more often, Sunny boy gets to eat cake more often, and we do not have to eat a mountain of left over cake. Unfortunately, I could not get either a square or a round cake tin in small size. So I was forced to by a silly heart shaped cake tin. So here it comes, a home make heart shaped cake for my sweetheart, therefore called sweetheart cake :)

We will need,

For the cake

Flour 1/2 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup
Butter 1 stick (1/2 cup) (room temp)
Eggs 2 (room temp)
Baking powder 1/8 tsp
Vanilla 1/2 tsp
Yogurt 2 tbsp

For the filling/ frosting
Cream cheese  1 tub (8 o)
Bitter sweet chocolate squares 3 (2 oz each)
Strawberries fresh 5-6
Sugar about 1-2 tbsps
Heavy cream (if needed)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line a 6" cake tin with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter till pale and fluffy. Throw in the sugar and cream till the sugar dissolves.
• Crack one egg into the butter sugar mixture and beat till well combined. Repeat with the other egg.
• Stir in the yogurt and the vanilla.
• Sift the flour with baking powder. 
• Fold the flour into the butter mixture. 
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake till a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire  rack.
• For the frosting, melt the chocolate squares either on a double broiler or in the microwave. 
• Cream the cream cheese and then stir in the melted chocolate. Add the sugar and check if it tastes good. Adjust with more sugar if necessary. Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream if the mixture is too tight. It should be light and fluffy. 
• Chop the strawberries. Divide the frosting to two equal parts. Add the chopped strawberries to one part. 
• Once the cake is completely cool, cut it horizontally into two. Gently set aside the top half. Spread the strawberry frosting mixture on the the bottom half of the cake. Place the top part back and spread the remaining frosting on to the cake. 
• Garnish with some more strawberries. Serve it with a dollop of whipped cream.

Kumbalakayi Sorekayi Huli

Huli is probably the common dish on my family table. We make Huli with everything, vegetables, greens, beans aka pulses and yogurt too. The broad contours of all these Hulis are same, but there will be slight differences here and there. What matters is the combination of the base vegetables. My favorite happens to be the Mangalore soutekayi, Kumbalakayi (pumpkin), sorekayi (bottle gourd) and tondekayi (ivy gourd).

My grandmother's Huli probably took her two hours to make. But I am lazy, I did rather finish my entire day's cooking in two hours! The way she would make it is thus. She would trim and chop the vegetables and cook it till al dente. She would cook the dal separately till soft. Then she would grind coconut and spices into a smooth paste using a mortar-pestle (our own rubbo gundu). Then cook the coconut and spice mixture with other things like tamarind and jaggery. Combine the vegetables, dal with spices and then finish it with some ghee Oggarane. How do I do it? dump dal and vegetables in  the pressure cooker and cook the pre-made spice mixture and then combine everything; finishing with the Oggarane.

There are days when I do make from the scratch,  Arida huli , just the way grandma did it, but it is usually reserved for special occasions. for a regular week day this is it.

We will need,

Pumpkin /Kumbalakayi 1 lb trimmed and chopped into 1"  cubes
Bottle gourd/ Sorekayi 1 lb  trimmed and chopped into 1"  cubes
Toor dal 0.25 cup
Turmeric a pinch
Huli Pudi 2 tsp
Tamarind concentrate 1/2 tsp
Jaggery 1 tbsp
Coconut 1/2 cup (grated)
Ghee 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies 4 (byadagi variety)
Curry leaves a handful
Hing a dash
Salt
Coriander fresh

Method:

• Clean and wash the dal and combine it with 1 cup of water turmeric and a few drops of ghee and pressure cook till done. 
• Combine the two vegetables in a stockpot with about 1-2 cup of water and cook till crisp tender. Else, combine the vegetables along with cleaned and washed dal and turmeric and a few drops of ghee in a pressure cooker and cook till dal is soft (about 2 whistles). (The disadvantage with cooking everything in the pressure cooker is that, by the time dal is soft, the vegetables will be mushy)
• Stir together the Huli pudi, tamarind,  coconut and jaggery with about a cup of water and bring it to a boil. Simmer till the flavors combines and the curry mellows, about 20 minutes.
• Now pour the spice mixture into the cooked vegetables. Add the cooked dal and stir together and simmer.
• Adjust salt.
• To prepare the oggarane, heat the ghee in a small pan. Throw in the mustard seeds, cumin, hing, curry leaves and dry chillies in quick succession. Once they stop spluttering, remove from heat and pour right over the simmering vegetable-dal-spice mixture.
• Finish with fresh coriander. Serve with rice and some papads.

Avarekalu Usali

And finally, one of my favorite foods will finally see the light of the day  on this blog. I have written so much about my love for this beans, but I never did a post on this recipe. The biggest problem being the quality of the beans. Here we get only the frozen ones so tiny that the texture of the final product is not remotely similar to the one I grew up eating.But after all these years, I figured out, frozen is still better that nothing at all.

This Usali is served with chapatis, akki rottis, doses and goes well with jolada rotti too. A dollop of butter definitely adds to the meal and I like mine with oodles of ghee.

We will need,

Avarekalu /Lilva beans/Indian beans  2 cups
Onion 1.5 medium
Garlic 4 cloves
Ginger 1"
Green Chillies 5-8 (adjust according to taste)
Peanut oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves a handful
Turmeric  a generous pinch
Coconut 1/2 c shredded
Salt
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/8 tsp
Juice of 1/2 lime
Coriander fresh a handful

Method:

• Clean the beans and wash it in several changes of water. Set it aside to dry.
• Combine onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies in a food processor and pulse till minced. Else mince all these ingredients on a cutting board using a knife.
• Heat oil in a pan. Throw in the mustard and curry leaves. Once they stop spluttering, add the minced onion mixture. Saute till the rawness disappears, about 10 minutes.
• Throw in the beans, turmeric and coconut. Stir to combine. Transfer this mixture to a pressure cooker and add about 1 cup of water. Stir and cook till the beans are soft. (depending on the cooker used, mine is done at the first whistle) Remove from heat.
• Meantime, toast the cumin and fenugreek separately on a medium hot skillet till fragrant. Remove from heat and crush it into a coarse meal. Set it aside.
• Once the cooker is cool enough to open, open the lid and stir the mixture. Throw in the toasted cumin and fenugreek meal. If the Usali is too dry, add about 1/4-1/2 cup of water and cook the mixture for another 5 minutes. Usali is usually quite thick with just enough moisture to soften the accompanying bread
• Finish with salt, lime juice and fresh coriander. Serve with a bread of choice

Sending it to the MLLA 46 hosted by Susan herself . 

Menthya Huli Gojju

Sunny boy was down with a flu a couple of weeks back. He passed it on to me very generously  and the unrequited guest stayed with me for a week. After a dose of antibiotics, my palate was reduced to the status of an old worn out aluminum spatula. To get rid of the metallic-bitter taste, I ended up making this Menthya Huli Gojju. This is what MIL makes somebody who is sick. It works like a charm and I love it. It does not look all that appetizing but one has to eat it to appreciate it. MIL actually used Huli Pudi but I tweaked the recipe a bit. I will upload the Huli Pudi version very soon.

We will need,

Pearl onion / Sambar onions 1 cup
Peanut oil  3 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4tsp
Fenugreek seeds  1/2 tsp
Curry leaves  3 sprigs
Ginger 1/2"
Garlic 2 cloves
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder 1/4 tsp
Dhania powder 1/2  tsp
Tamarind concentrate 1/2 tsp (about a lemon sized  tamarind otherwise)
Green Chillies 3
Coriander fresh a handful
Salt to taste.

Method:

• To trim the pearl onions, chop and discard the top and the tail part of the onions. Throw them into a pot of cold water. Peal them as they soak in the water. This way they will not burn in the eye and the peel also comes out easily. 
• Chop the peeled and trimmed onions and set it aside. Mince the garlic and ginger.
• Heat oil in a pot. (I use my new earthen pot, the results were fab) Throw in the mustard and fenugreek. Once they stop sizzling, throw in the curry leaves.
• Follow it with the chopped onions and saute till the onions are golden brown. Throw in the minced garlic and ginger. Once the raw smell of ginger garlic mellows down, about 1 minute, throw in the turmeric, chilli powder and Dhania powder. Stir the mixture and make sure it does burn. 
• Once the spices are fragrant about 3-5 minutes, throw in the tamarind concentrate along with 2 cups of water.
• Bring it to a boil, throw  in the green chillies and simmer for 15 minutes till the curry is fragrant. Adjust salt and finish with some fresh coriander. Serve it with rice.

Cultured Butter the home made way

Butter is yummy, after all it is 'utterly butterly delicious'. This very morning when I was preparing breakfast, Sunny boy stole up to the refrigerator and opened it, (yes now it is the newest headache) grabbed some butter right off the dish and stated nibbling it. He was like this cute mouse gnawing it's cheese. I gave him a 'look', he gives me his sweetest smile and says 'Amma benne tumba yummy Amma' (Amma, Butter is very Yummy). I know he loves butter and ghee. The other day I forgot to put away the bottle of Ghee, and this little mouse found the bottle with a spoon conveniently on  the dining table. He scooped spoonful of ghee and finished quite some before it came to my notice!! Honey calls him little Krishna, the naughty little lovable  god who stole butter in Vrindavan.So be it, my little Krishna.

My grandmother and my mother always had homemade butter on hand. It was probably  not enough given the size of their families, they also purchased good quality butter from dairy farmers. In fact my home town was famous for its dairy products in the past century and finds a mention in most gazetteers published during the time. The love for good dairy has passed on to the younger generations in the family too. We all love our milk,yogurt, butter, buttermilk, cheese ,name it, we love it.

Ever since I found this fresh raw milk source, life has been good. The milk actually forms a thick cream on top when heated. I skim the cream and churn butter out of it.  I make ghee out of the butter and some times we eat our butter with toast, Dosa, Rotti and Sunny boy will eat just the butter, nothing with it :) It is pretty easy to make and worth the extra effort by all means.

 

This is how we do it.

Milk 1 liter (everyday of the week)
Yogurt 1 tbsp (only on  the 7th day)

• Heat milk till cream begins to form on top. Remove from heat and cool it down to room temperature. 
•  Set it in the refrigerator for at least4-5  hours, so that the cream solidifies and it is easy to transfer. 
• Skim the cream and store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Do this everyday for a maximum of 7 days. That is everyday, heat the milk, skim the cream and collect the cream and store it in the glass jar. If using more than one liter a day, you can start making the butter early.  However, do not wait for more than 7 days because then the cream will develop an off-taste and butter will taste rancid.
• On the 7th day, pull the jar of cream collected out of the refrigerator. Add the tablespoon of yogurt thinned down in two tbsp water into the cream and let it ferment for about 6 -15 hours. 
• After the cultured creamed has been sitting for some time, transfer it into a blender with 1.5 to 2cups of water and pulse for 5 seconds at a time, totally under a minute to separate the butter and the buttermilk. Do not run the blender continuously, just pulse.The butter will separate in under a minute.Letting the blender run continuously will result  in a butter smoothie which is sort of irreparable. Keep a close eye, the texture changes in an instant and the smooth cream appears curdled, sort of crumbly. That is when the butter is ready.
• Once the butter has separated, collect it using either a strainer or your fingers. 
• The buttermilk- the liquidy part of the mixture tastes great with just a dash of hing, salt, ginger and curry leaves. It can also be used to make Mosaru shaaleor Majjige Huli. We mostly end up drinking ours. There is hardly anything left after one round of me and Honey checking out the buttermilk. 
• Store the butter in the refrigerator or convert it into ghee.

Mango Egg Curry

We have been getting some great dairy products home delivered for quite some time now. The milk forms a cream top when heated which I skim and churn some great butter out of it. The eggs are tiny but tastes way better than the super market organic/cage free stuff. The other day our friendly delivery man left us with our supply for the week. By the time I could put away the two gallons of milk in the  refrigerator, Sunny boy toppled the carton of eggs waiting for me at the door step. Most of the eggs tumbled down and a few bumped into the wall as well. After yelling at him and calling him a 'Katte' or donkey, I felt very bad. I gave him a hug and brooded over the six cracked eggs (the ones that had bumped into the wall). After inspecting the refrigerator, I decided it was time for some mango curry with the damaged eggs. So  here it is.

We will need,

Eggs 6
Raw Mango 1 Small
Salt to taste

 for the masala paste:
Onion  1 small
Coconut  1/2 cup
Garlic  3 cloves
Ginger  1"
Clove  4
Cinnamon 1/2"  piece
Turmeric

for the Oggarane:
Peanut oil 2 tbsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Fennel 1/2 tsp
Marati Moggu 2
Cardamon 2
Star Anise 1
Kalhuvu 1 piece (optional)

Method:

• Wash the egg set it aside
• Peel the skin on the green mango and grate it using a box grater. Discard the seed. Set it aside.
• For the masala paste, heat a pan and toast the sliced onions till  brown and remove. Toast the remaining ingredients except turmeric, one after the other till fragrant.  Set it aside.
• Once the toasted spices and aromatics are cool enough to handle, throw it into a blender along with the grated mangoes and turmeric. Pulse till the mixture is smooth. Add a little water if necessary.
• For the oggarane, heat the peanut oil in a wide mouth pan. Throw in all the spices. Once the spices stop sizzling, dump the masala paste into the hot oil. Add 3-4 cups of water and bring it to a boil. 
• Cover and simmer till the masala is no longer  raw and is fragrant about 15-20 minutes.
• Adjust salt. 
• Crack the eggs into the curry one at a time. Poach the eggs in the curry till done. I like mine with the yolks still  slightly runny, so I cook them for about 8-10 minutes or so. Remove from heat and serve it with rice or bread of choice. We had it with Chapati and Dosa.

Hisakidabele

I love avarekalu -the Indian beans. I hail from a place that is famous for Avarekalu recipes and for eating ludicrous amounts of the beans. When I was younger and lived with my parents we usually brought like 5 to 7.5 kilos (strangely produce there is sold in the multiples of 2.5 kilo called 'tooka') of this beans and ate it every which way possible Huli, Usli, Hisidabele, Uppitu and invariably the beans would find it's way into everything coming out of my mother' kitchen. Well guess what! we were the poorest of eaters in the whole neighborhood. Avarekayi vendors would give me a 'look' when I ask them for 'bari( just) 5 kilo kodappa' .My neighbors would be buying 10 or 12.5 kilos and they would giggle at me saying we were not actually a 'local'. We were not locals in a sense. We were nomads who thought had finally settled down. Wrong again, we still are nomads. But nomads who miss their beloved Avarekayi.

When my maternal grandfather was alive, he did plant these beans in his patch next to the mango groves. Me Amma and Appaji (as we called our grandfather fondly), we would go to the Avarekayi patch early in the morning and harvest baskets full of these goodies. Then my Ajji (grandmother) would make the ultimate 'Akki tari avarekalu uppittu' for breakfast. For lunch we would have something like Huli or Hitikidabele. I remember my grandmother soaking these beans in a huge bucket and making a cauldron full of curry. We would all sit and deskin the Avarekayi. It was quite tough back then, we would smear our fingers with lime and then try deskinning the beans. But these days they just  give way. Anyway, there would be mounds of skin and mounds of Hisikidabele in the living room. Eventually a big cauldron of curry in the making.  I would be so happy looking at the cauldron thinking that the curry will last for at least two days, but inevitable would always happen and I did be lucky if it lasted for another meal. For a good reason, everybody in the family ate like the end of the world that day. That is probably when I understood the meaning of our stomachs being a distensible sack. After the meal we would go and dump the discarded skin right in the middle of the road. Appaji always told me that if we did that all the Hisikidabele in our tummy will not bother us. Wonder what it was all about? feeding the stray cattle? I do not know. That was the practice.To this day I am sure it  is being practiced in my part of the world.

 We will need,
Avarekalu/ Indian beans/Papdi lilva  5 cups
Butter  3 tbsp
Fenegreek greens 1 big bunch
Curry leaves a handful
Salt
Juice of a Lemon

for the masala paste
Peanut oil 1 tsp
Onion 1 medium
Garlic  8 cloves
Ginger 1"
Cloves  8
Cinnamon 1" piece
Dhania seeds 2 tbsp
Dried red chillies 10-15 (preferably Byadagi, adjust according to taste)
Coconut grated 3/4 cup
Tomato 1 medium

Method:

• Wash and clean the Avarekalu and soak it in water for 3-6 hours. Drain and sqeeze the beans between your thumb and forefinger to remove the skin of the beans. Discard the skin and save the endosperm which is referred to as the Hisakidabele or Hitakidabele. 
• Clean and trim the fenugreek greens, retaining only the leaves and discarding the stems and woody portions.
• For the masala paste, heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Toast in the hot pan, one at a time, all the vegetables except tomato and all spices listed under the masala paste.
• Once the toasting is done, throw them all into a blender along with tomato and grind it into a very smooth paste.
• Heat butter in a thick bottomed pot. Throw in the Hisakidabele and toss around gently in the melted butter. Saute for 10-15 minutes till the raw smell disappears.
• Throw in the fenugreek greens and  curry leaves into the pot. Once the greens start wilting, pour in the ground masala. Add about 2-3 cups of water, even more if necessary to bring the curry to a desired consistency.  Bring the curry to a boil and simmer covered till the beans are tender and the curry fragrant.
• Adjust salt and lemon juice. Enjoy with rice, Ragi Mudde, Roti,Dosa or Poori.

Brown Rice Paddu

I am not a person who would deliberately try and sneak in oats in every other recipe, nor am I a big fan of  brown rice. Give me my white rice, however unhealthy they might say it is, I did rather die eating my white rice than eat say the cardboard oats or brown rice. To think of it even in olden days folks in my place ate polished rice. But polish those days meant leaving the reddish tint on the rice, I presume it was all the vitamins and things intact. They never consumed unpolished-brown-rice nor did they eat the completely bleached variety that we see in the super market shelf. Probably they ate that way for a reason and taste was certainly not one of them. Now the counter-research recommend white over brown rice. Oats! Come on Mr.Quaker a.k.a Pepsico foods, you cannot have me believe that oats is the newest panache. Yeah! it is probably the most healthiest food in your stable (Pepsi, Lays,Kurkure), that does not mean I am sold or that there aren't better alternative.
Ironically, people in India (the great educated middle class) are made to believe that if you eat oats you will beat the  ubiquitous diabetes. So guess what Aunt M gives uncle B for dinner? A bowl of oats instead of rice/mudde with vegetable curry. Ha! how smart. So instead of adding a salad and cutting down on the quantity of  rice/mudde, you eat a whole big bowl of oats? It is definitely good for Pepscio foods but I doubt if it is good for uncle B. Me? No thanks. I am beyond the marketing tricks.
I just wanted to get behind all the marketing hype. So here is what happens in terms of number. Aunt M serves uncle B a bowl of oats. Uncle B eats it and gets about 607 kilo calories, 26.3 grams of  protien, 10.8 grams of fat, 16.5 grams of fiber and now the killer about 103.4 grams of carbs!

If Aunt M were to serve Uncle B the regular dinner consisting of rice, Huli (sambar/dal), green beans palya and some yogurt, then the numbers would look like this. About 636 Kcal, 22.7 grams of protein,  15.3 grams of fat (most of it saturated fat from Ghee and coconut, therefore it is good fat), 14.26 grams of fiber and just 79  grams of carbs. Since uncle B is diabetic, the regular meal with a lower carbohydrate count appears better than just the bowl of oat meal. I wounder what Aunt M has to say to this.

	Calorie	Protein	Fat	Fiber	Carbs
Oats (1cup)	607	26.3	10.8	16.5	103.4
Rice 1 C	205	4	0	1	45
Chayote Huli	212	8.7	5.3	6.7	15
Green Beans Palya	148	4	8	6.6	11
Yogurt 4 oz	71	6	2	0	8
Total meal	636	22.7	15.3	14.26	79

I do not know what to say when people make poor food choices. Well they are educated, smart and successful, but then...

Now for the Paddu. I have never been a big fan of brown rice. But I can eat it once in a while. Honey in one of his 'healthy-eating-shopping-spree' got this 20lb bag of brown rice which we could not finish.  So sitting over a big bag of brown rice started me thinking  on ways to utilize it. Naturally Idli, Dose and Paddu came up. No one could make out the substitution. So  here it is the brown rice Paddus.

We will need,

For the batter,
Split urad dal  3/4 cup
Idli Rice (short grain raw rice) 3/4cup
Brown rice 1.5 cups
Beaten rice (Avalakki) 3/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds  1 tsp
Koshar salt 

For the topping
Onion 3 medium
Curry leaves  1 generous handful
Coriander leaves  1 cup chopped
Green chillies 4-5 slit into two or minced (slit into two if serving children)
Peanut oil to grease the paddu mold

Method:

• Pick and clean the urad dal and rice. Wash each separately  in multiple changes of water. Soak them separately in generous bowls of water for 6-8 hours or overnight.
• Grind separately the soaked dal and rice and the beaten rice and fenugreek in a blender/grinder into a smooth batter. Mix the batters in a big plastic container and add salt to taste. Set the container in a warm place overnight for the batter to ferment. Once the batter rises double in volume, it is ready to be used.
• Just before ready to serve, ladle about a third of the batter into smaller container and add the ingredients under topping. The quantity of topping added can be adjusted according to taste.I love a lot in mine and end up with the above mentioned quantity of topping for about half the batter mentioned here. Fold the topping into the batter gently.
• Preheat the Paddu mold. Grease the mold with some peanut oil.Once it is hot, spoon in the Paddu batter into the mold. Cover and cook till golden on and outside and tender on the inside.
• Serve it hot with chutney of your choice.

Easy Khoya Gulab Jamoon

We had a great Ugadi, though we missed family, we had family-away-from-family- the best of our friends with us. So it was all about feasting and merry making. It was good. As usual it was Obbattu and the rest of the usual suspects for the festive spread. I also made some Gulab Jamoon because my little Sunny boy would not eat Obbattu and I did not want him to go without something sweet on Ugadi. Thus was  added these lovely Gulab  Jamoon to the standard Ugadi menu. Well the updated menu will probably be the new standard, at least till Sunny boy grows to like Obbattu.

I always made Gulab Jamoon out of the pack. I did like the results, till Honey's aunt came up with these khoa (khoya) Gulab Jamoon. Sunny boy fell in love with these beauties on his latest trip to India. The love was affirmed when we visited family in Lucknow. There is this joint called Ritz where the Gulab Jamoons are as  big as tennis balls, melts in the mouth and is served warm, just right for Sunny boy and a lot of us of course. After knowing how fond of such Gulab Jamoons Sunny boy is, I had to make it. I decided to simplify the recipe for convenience. It worked! I will never make Gulab Jamoons out of the pack.

We will need,

Khoya /Mawa/ Khoa    341 grams (one pack)
All Purpose Flour  2 tbsp
Baking Soda 1 tsp
Sugar  2.5cups
Cardamon 1 pod the skin discarded and the seeds crushed.
Saffron a few strands
Ghee to deep fry

Method:

• Dump the Khoa into a food processor with the all purpose flour, baking soda and about 3 tablespoons of water. (If the khoa is home made and has a lot of moisture, do not add water)
• Pulse it till the mixture comes together like a soft dough. Remove and dump it onto a clean surface. Kneed till the mixture is soft and pliable. 
• Pinch about 1 tbsp of dough and roll it between your palms to get a smooth and soft ball (or 1" long logs). Repeat till all the dough is used up.
• Meantime, combine the sugar and about 2.5 cups of water in a wide mouth pot. Cook the mixture till the mixture reaches one thread consistency i.e. pinching the syrup between the thumb and forefinger should yield a thread like structure. Throw in the cardamon and saffron.Keep the syrup warm.
• Heat the ghee in a thick bottom Kadai. Once the ghee is hot enough  lower the prepared khoa balls. Deep fry till golden on low-medium heat. If the heat it slightly high, the Jamoon will turn out to be very dark. Once the Jamoons are golden brown remove from the ghee using a slotted spoon and lower gently into the hot syrup. 
• Let the Jamoons soak in the syrup for a couple of hours at least. I let it sit overnight.
• Serve Jamoons warm with a dollop of ice-cream on top. (That is how one of our friends enjoyed it)

Countdown to Ugadi 2012

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous Ugadi.. Nandana nama samvatsara da shubhashayagalu.

Planned Menu:

• Mango chitranna
• Holige
• Tovve
• Holige Saaru
• Beans palya
• Carrot palya
• Cabbage palya
• Kosambari
• Gulab Jamoon
• Happala
• Maggige
• Mosaru
• Bilianna

Prep work for today :

• Make Gulab Jamoons out of the MTR pack :( Indian store had ran out of Khoa 
• Clean and chop green beans  for beans palya
• Clean and cut carrots for palya
• Prepare hurana for Holige
• Got to Indian stores and check out if they have raw mangoes..

Happy eating people enjoy!!

Blueberry Cupcake with almond brittle topping

Spring is almost here. This winter has been very nice, much of it was warmer than normal. I am not the one  to complain. I did miss the snow a bit but after two mega snow storms last year I was more than happy to see great sunny days. Now the berries are popping up here and there. The other day Sunny boy wanted some Blueberry cupcakes. So here it is.

We will need,

All purpose flour 3/4c
Sugar    3/4 c
Salt a pinch
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Butter  1/2 C  + 1 tbsp
Eggs  2
Blueberries 1/2 C
Almonds 1/4 C

Method:

• Preheat oven. Grease and line cupcake tin and set it aside.
• Cream 1/2 cup of butter till pale in colour. Throw in all but 3 tbsp of sugar. Cream till the sugar is almost dissolved.Beat in egg one a time till well combined.
• Toss the blueberries in a tbsp of flour and set it aside. 
• Shift the remaining flour with baking powder and salt. Stir in the flour into the butter-egg mixture.
• Fold the blueberries into the flour mixture. 
• Pour it in to the cupcake tin and bake in a moderately hot oven till a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool it on wire racks.
• To prepare the topping, Toast the almond in the oven for about 6-8 minutes, remove and cool to room temperature. Chop the almonds and set it aside.
• Melt the remaining 3 tbsp sugar in a thick bottom pot till golden in colour. 
• Carefully stir in the chopped nuts and the remaining butter. Remove from heat.  Spoon the mixture over the cool cupcakes and let the brittle harden on top of the cupcakes.
• Serve it  once the brittle is set.

Sweet Pongal

After a few weeks of feasting with family, it is time to fast! Well actually 'fasting' and me does not sound alright. I should say normal eating after a much needed trip back home. Tried some awesome foods will post about them shortly. For now it is all about sweet Pongal.

We will need,

Rice   1/2 cup
Split green gram  1/4 cup
Ghee  2 tbsp + 2tbsp
Jaggery 3/4 -1 cup
Water 2.5 cups
Cardamon 1 pod
Saffron a few strands
Raisins a handful
Cashews broken a handful

Method:

• Pick and clean rice. Wash it in several changes of water and drain very well. Pick and clean the green gram and wash it also in several changes of water. Drain well and set it aside. (Actually washing the green gram is not a standard practice, but I simply cannot use it without washing it well, think of rodents, roaches and what not!!eeek)
• Heat two tbsp ghee in a thick bottom pot or pressure cooker. Throw in the green gram and saute till nutty and fragrant.
• Throw in the rice and saute it again for a few more minutes. Pour 2 cups of water. Cover and cook till soft and done. Remove from heat and set it aside.
• Mean time, crush the Jaggery and place it in a pan with the remaining half a cup of water. Bring it to a gently boil till all of the Jaggery is dissolved. Remove from heat and filter the mixture over several layers of muslin cloth to remove impurities. 
• Once the Jaggery syrup is filtered, add the saffron and cardamon to it. Stand it for a few minutes to steep the saffron, about 10 minutes.
• Pour the Jaggery syrup into the rice mixture and place it on a gentle heat. Cook till the mixture comes together.
• In another pan heat the remaining ghee and saute the raisins and cashews till golden in colour. Remove from heat and fold it into the rice mixture gently. 
• Mix the rice mixture gently and remove from heat. Serve warm with a dollop of ghee.

Besan Unde/ ladoo

March already seems like April-May but our lucky stars are going to sullen starting next week. These two weeks we have been eating plenty of salads and enjoying the weather as long as it lasts.

Besan Unde reminds me of Nagarapanchami. Back home in the northern part, the celebrate the festival of Nagarapanchami with great gusto. A variety of undes or ladoos are made and lots of goodies including Jowar/Bajra rotti. These rottis are served with assorted side dishes. Slurp...We in my family make Besan Unde when ever we feel like eating! It is pretty easy to make, the ingredients are all off the self and it stores well for a week - 10 days. My sister makes excellent Besan Unde. She had made it the last time I visited her and I kept on eating till the whole box was empty. This is my humble version, not as good as the one she makes but not bad either.

We will need,

Chickpea flour  1 cup
Ghee      1/2 cup
Sugar (fine variety) 3/4 -1 cup  (I prefer it at the lower end, but if I am making it for my FIL I will go all the way up to 1 cup and may be a couple of tablespoons over it)
Cardamon 1 (seeds crushed and the pod discarded)
Almonds 1/4 c toasted and chopped fine (optional)
Copra   2 tbsp grated and toasted (optional)
salt a pinch

Method:

• Sift the chickpea flour a couple of time to ensure that it is free from impurities and is lump free.
• Melt the ghee in a thick bottom pot and throw in the chickpea flour. Keep moving the mixture till well combined. Make sure it is not lumpy. 
• Cook the mixture till it changes colour and is fragrant. Remove from heat and set it aside to cool.
• Once it is slightly cool, but still warm to touch, stir in the remaining ingredients.
• Gather enough mixture to fit in your palm and pat it into balls the size of golf balls.
• Cool it on parchment lined cookie sheet and store it in an air tight box once it is completely cool.

Tomato soup

A few decades back, I was just a little kid. Whenever we went to a fancy restaurant to eat 'North Indian Food' we did order tomato soup, gobi manchurian, roti, panner and probably a vegetable subzi and fried rice- noodles. Finish it with the tall decadant 'Gud-Bud' icecream. I was a kid who loved slurping the scary red tomato soup. In fact soup to most of us back then meant tomato soup. Was it not the food colour tainted thinned down version of a cheap bottled ketchup tongue ticking? Of course it was, for my untrained palate and my blissful ignorance.
Then a few years later during the peak of Delhi winters, the Maggi version of tomato soup kept my heart warm and my body and soul together.
Now it is time to think of Sunny boy and what he did like to eat. He is a 'soup guy'. He adores soup. Just this afternoon his lunch was two tiny bowls of thinned down tomato ketchup version of Tomato soup. My heart bled looking at him eat the warmed up concoction of artificial food colours and unidentified stuff out of all sort of coloured cans. I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs, to convey the point. But it is hard to convince a two year old.
Never mind, another day he will figure out what is the better deal. This is a picture of something made at home and tastes like nothing ever served at a regular restaurant.

We will need, Tomatoes canned 1 (Else 3 medium tomatoes blanched and skin removed)
Butter 1 tbsp
Cloves 2
Garlic clove 1
Cilantro 1/2 cup
Sugar  1 tbsp
Salt
Black pepper
Heavy cream (optional)

Method:

• Heat butter in a soup pot. Saute the garlic and throw in the cloves.
• Once the cloves are fragrant, throw in the tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes are soft. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.
• Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, throw it into a blender with the cilantro and pulse till smooth. Thin it down with water to the desired consistancy.
• Pour the soup back into the soup pot and turn on the heat. Adjust salt and pepper.
• Once the soup is hot,stir in the heavy cream if using. Else serve it with a crouton of your choice.

Spinach Mosaru Shaale

We all love yogurt in my family. Sunny boy adores dairy, be it yogurt, be it butter or cheese. The other day I just opened my refrigerator to get some butter for blueberry muffins, I noticed that the butter had been gnawed all over. 'Could it be rats?' came a horrified thought, the very next second, Sunny boy grabbed the butter from my hand, 'Benne....Amma benne kodi, Thank you' and started gnawing at the butter that very moment. My heart almost skipped a beat. Thank god it is not rats it is just my Sunny boy. The same thing with yogurt. I would keep the yogurt to set in the oven, If I am not around, two little hands will grab the bowl of yogurt and eat it with bare fingers, licking, spilling et al. If I am in my patient mode, I did smile and say 'Ah! nanna chinni Krishna' and give  him a hug, If I am in my not-so-patient mode, I will yell 'A*****, you little monster, katte nan magane' and probably spank him on his bums.

So that is story of dairy in my house. I get raw dairy,which is creamy,rich and yummy beyond words. It makes for the ultimate yogurt, butter and ghee. The creamy rich and sweet but tart yogurt is perfect for a dish like Mosaru Shaale . It is nothing but uncooked mixture of coconut and spices combined with yogurt.The other day I was talking to my Doddamma, and she gave me an idea to spruce up the dish with some crunchy onions. We loved it. I also managed to sneak in some spinach, thus the lovely green color. It is a good way to use up buttermilk as well.

We will need,

Yogurt 1.5 cups  or butter milk 3cups
Spinach  2 cups
coconut 1/4 c
Green chillies 4-5 (adjust according to taste)
Cilantro a handful
Ginger grated 1/4 tsp
Garlic 1 clove
Black pepper corns 6
Peanut oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves a handful
Onions 1 small chopped.

Method:

• Beat yogurt well, combine 1.5 cups of water and beat it again till homogeneous.
• Cook spinach in the microwave oven till soft but still vibrant in colour. Else blanch it in hot water and  allow it to cool.
• Once cool, combine the spinach, coconut, green chillies, cilantro,ginger, garlic and pepper cloves in a blender and pulse till smooth.
• Stir the spice mixture into the yogurt and stir it well.
• Heat oil in a Kadai. Throw in the mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves. Once they stop spluttering throw in the onions.
• Once the onions turn pink, remove it from heat and allow it to cool. When it is reaches the room temperature, stir it into the yogurt mixture. Serve it with hot rice and some ghee.