Idli-Vade-Sambar (I-V-S)

Bisi Bisi....Idli-Vade-Sambar ..yummm..any SouthIndian (?..probably most Indians) would not deny this combination breakfast. Bisi Bisi=Hot Hot ;  For those who don't understand I-V-S = steamed rice cake - doughnut- lentil curry :)

 I made thatte idlis (plate idlis) which are very popular in some parts of Karnataka & this would participate in SWC-Karnataka event.

here is how it is made :

Idli /Steamed Rice Cake

1.Idli Soji/Cream of Rice/Rice Semolina  - 3 cups (suggested substitute- parboiled rice)
2.Split Black lentils - 1cup
3.Pressed Rice/Avalakki/Poha - 1 fistul
4.Fenugreek seeds/menthya/methi-1tsp

1.Wash and soak ingredient 1 separately and  ingredients from 2-4 together in a separate vessel for 6-7hrs. 2.Grind ingredients 2-4 together in a wet grinder/mixer grinder to a smooth paste using minimum water.
3.Remove excess water from Soji and mix it with paste. Add 2tsp of salt and mix the batter well.
4.Pour the batter into a airtight box and let it sit for next 10hrs for fermentation. Let this box be left in a warm place of your kitchen (not on stove tops or inside the oven plzzz...) Let there be enough space inside the box... this is to avoid the overflow of batter once it is fermented.

Suggestion :Soak the ingredients in the morning, grind it in the evening and let it sit for fermentation overnight and the batter is ready for making idli/cakes next morning.

Method :
1.If you have Idli Plate which has 4-5 shallow grooves in a plate, you just have to pour the batter inside the groves and steam them in a steamer/pressure cooker without weight.
2.Alternative way is to pour the batter in edged steel plate and steam it in a cooker (take a plate which can fit inside your cooker also it should be easily removable)
3.Steam Idlis/Cakes for next 8-10 mins or till a needle/fork/knife inserted comes out clean. Idli is ready to be served.
Suggestion :Place a cooker plate (a plate which you get along with pressure cooker) before you place Idli stand inside the cooker.


Vade/Vada/Deepfried Indian Doughnuts :

 Ingredients & Method:

Uddinabele/Urad Dal without skin - 1 cup
Pressed Rice - 1tsp
Soak both of them together for 3-4hrs and grind them using very little water to a smooth paste.

Then add these 1) finely chopped onion -1tbsp 2)finely chopped green chillies 3) whole black pepper - 1tsp 4) finely chopped coriander leaves -1tsp 5)finely chopped curry leaves-1tsp 6) salt and mix well.

Heat Oil on a low heat in a frying pan. When oil starts smoking/sufficiantly hot to fry..wet your hands and scoop little batter, wet your thumb and make a hole between the batter and push the batter with your thumb into the hot oil from the edge of the frying pan. Fry vade's on both sides till they are crisp and golden brown.

Few Suggestions : 1.The position of batter : they will be in four fingers, keep your thumb empty to make a hole and to push the batter into the oil.
2.Wetting of hand/palm is important....
3. Just watch for extra water that might be dripping from your hand before you push the batter into the hot oil or else water might enter the hot oil and it might be dangerous..



Vegetable Sambar/Lentil Curry :
You need the following :
Onion : 1 big
Tomato : 2 big
Carrot : 1
Beans : 10
Togaribele/Toordal/Arhar ki dal - 1cup
Turmeric : 1 big pinch

Fry and grind to a smooth paste :

1.Grated fresh coconut - 4tbsp (don't fry)
2.Lavanga/Clove/Laung- 2 (fry in half drop of oil)
3.Chakke/Cinnamon - 1" piece (fry in half drop of oil)
4.Kadalebele/Chana dal - 1tsp (fry in half drop of oil)
5.Uddinabele/Urad dal-1tsp (fry in half drop of oil)
6.Onamenasinakayi/Dried red chillies-4 (fry in half drop of oil)
7.Dhania/Coriander seeds - 2tsp (fry in half drop of oil)
8.Jeerige/Cumin -1/2tsp (fry in half drop of oil)
9.Tamarind Paste : 2tbsp (no need to fry)
10.Salt

Substitue with 2tbsp of sambar powder for ingredients from 4-8

Tampering :
Oil, mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida/hing

Wash and chop all vegetables into 1/2" pieces and pressure cook vegetables and dal with little turmeric with sufficiant water. Heat oil in a wide pan and do tampering by adding the ingredients mentioned in order. Pour in the ground masala and fry for a min. Add pressure cooked vegetables and dal. Mix and bring it to boil. Let it boil for 3-4 mins. Check and adjust the taste accordingly.. Serve hot with Idli and Vade.




Now this goes to WBB-Combibreakfast and SWC-Karnataka 

Rave Dose, Chutney and hot hot Coffee.....

Simple south Karnataka oota; Our Sunday Dinner

After practically 'less cooking' on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning...I thought of cooking something which would really make us run to the dining table for dinner! Akash has term tests and cooking had least priority during weekend. It rained soooooo much here from past 3 days (fri, sat and sun) that, there was no mood to cook :(

Oota in Kannada is either lunch or dinner indicates a major meal of the day. Our Sunday dinner plate had Nellikayi thokku (gooseberries chutney pickle), Bendekayi Palya (Stirfried Okra), Hongone Soppina Tovve (Lentil and greens), Moolangi huli (Raddish and lentils in thick coconut sauce), Rice and fritters.

Bonda madla ri? (Shall I fry some fritters?)....... there came an answer...I am not ready to cycle another half an hour to take off those cals :( ....  huh..how I wish I (my body was) were ever young at metabolism ....anyways bonda (deep fried stuffed peppers in chickpea flour ) making was postponed :D and not called off! by me..As I told you elsewhere..growing up in the district of Chitradurga, bonda has looooootzzz of influence in meals. In the districts of Chitradurga, there is no wedding meal without bonda nor there is any rainy or lazy evenings without bonda. We all needed reasons to buy them :D. I miss bonda mandakki (deep fried stuffed peppers in chickpea flour with spiced up puffed rice a super duper combination!  )  ....now, I am again going off the track..before I miss it completely let me come back. We had a bounty of hongone soppu/alternanthera sessilis in our little balcony garden. I decided to make tovve for chapathi/Indian flat bread made of wheat flour.



You can find the recipe of a stirfried palya on TOM here.The only change I made this time is to add a mixture of lentils : Split Pigeon Peas/Togaribele + Hesarubele/split mung beanswithout skins + Masoor dal 2tbsp each and pressure cooked it. Cooked lentils is then added to the stirfried greens. Since the amount of lentils is more here I have renamed it as tovve. Tovve is a lentil dish with vegetables like bottlegourd, greens, ridgegourd etc seasoned with green chillies and salt and tampered with mustard and ghee;served with hot rice/bread. The dish is popular in Karnataka. It made a good match for chapathi.



Apart from Hongone soppu I have doddapatre soppu, Brahmi, Basil, Mint, in my little garden. Hope to blog them soon. This goes to Grow Your Own Event hosted by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes.

Here is our Ootada thatte (dinner plate) with Nellikayi thokku (gooseberries chutney pickle), Bendekayi Palya (Stirfried Okra), Hongone Soppina Tovve (Lentil and greens), Moolangi huli (Raddish and lentils in thick coconut sauce), Rice and fritters. You add  Kosambari (Karnataka style salad), Chitranna (stirfried rice), Paayasa and Mosaru (Curd/Yogurt) to make a festive meal :D.



I will blog nellikayi thokku separately.

Bendekayi palya/stirfried okra :
Wash and pat dry okra and chop them. Clean and chop onions. Cut green chillies or if u have chilli paste just use 1tsp of it.
Okra/Bendekayi - 250g
Onion-1 Big/Huge ;) (chopped lengthwise)
Oil - 2tbsp
Green Chillies-2/1tsp of chilli paste
Curry leaves and salt
Mustard/Jeera for tampering
chopped coriander and grated fresh coconut for garnishing.
Lemon Juice from half lime or 2tsp of tamarind juice

Method:
1.Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add jeera/mustard. Let it pop.
2.Throw in chopped okra and fry till they no longer stick to each other. Do this step on a high heat with continuous stirring.
3.Next step should be done in low heat. Add chopped onions, curry leaves and salt. Stir and let it cook with lid closed. Keep stiring in between. When onions are tender add green chilli paste and stir. Cover and cook for 2 more minutes.
4.If you are using tamarind juice add the juice and continue frying for 30 more seconds till the juice gets mixed with okra and onions .Switch off the stove and lemon juice, garnish with coconut and coriander. Serve hot with chapathi or rice.

Raddish Huli:
Recipe for Huli can be found on TOM here
I have used Raddish and Tomato as vegetables. Rest of the recipe is the same.

This ootada thatte goes to Sheetal of My-Kitchen for SWC-Karnataka

 

Hongone Soppina Tovve to Grow Your Own Event  hosted by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes 

Apple, Orange and Starfruit Juice

Juice drinking in combination is what I learned during my stay in Singapore. People here drink them in different combination for various reasons..like adding celery to the juice reduces cholesterol, adding star fruit provides loads of VitaminC, Apple and Orange keeps your skin young, Carrot and Apple boosts energy, etc etc  the information was overwhelming but interesting! Different people have different versions, so I found few pages which may actually help you know the benefits of drinking juice you can read them here, and here Do not keep these combination juices refrigerated, make them fresh and drink it..this is what I learned from my fellow colleagues and why not?... drinking fresh juice always has more benefit than drinking stored ones.

You need :

Apple : 1 (wahed, deseeded and chopped)

Orange: 2 (peeled and chopped)

Starfruit: 1(ripe starfruit which is orange in color, wash, deseed and chop)

Blend everything in a juicer, if you feel that it is too sour you can add 3tsp of sugar to make it drinkable. No filtration required. Just drink it! :)



You can also see Mix Veg and Fruit Juice with Rose Tea on Cooking Station.

Chiroti Rava Rotti and Onion Tomato Gojju

Chiroti rava rotti is fast to make and yum to eat. Rotti is bland so any kind of spicy gravied vegetable is a perfect match. As I have mentioned in my previous post that we at home have kind of fixed the vegetable and flat breads. This is one such combination which works well together.

You need the following to make Rava rotti :

Chiroti Rava- 1 big cup (about 150-200g) (follow the link to see the picture of chiroti rava
Water : 1cup
salt
Maida/all purpose flour for dusting
Oil for frying rotis

Gadgets :
Rolling pin and a wooden working board to make rotis

1.Bring water to boil with salt. When water starts boiling turn of the stove and add 1 cup of rava and stir well, cover the vessel and leave it aside, till you make gojju.
2.When rava comes to room temparature, spoon it to a big plate and mix it thoroughly. No lumps should be present in the dough. You can oil your hand to prevent dough from sticking to your hand.
3.Divide the dough into equal parts and make balls.
4.Press down each ball and flour the surface of the ball and roll them with rolling pin to make circle.
5.Fry/Roast them on a hot girdle by applying little oil on each side while you turn it over.

This is how it looks when you fry rave rotti ..


Onion and Tomato Gojju :

You need the following to make Gojju Pudi :


1.Coriander seeds - 1.5tsp
2.Peppercorns-1/2tsp
3.Redchillies-2
4.Cumin/Jeera - 1tsp
5.Garlic - 1 pod (smallest one will do)
6.Roasted Chickpea/hurgadale/bhuna chana dal-1.5tbsp
7.Salt
8.Jaggery to adjust flavors (optional)

Panroast the ingredients from 1-4 without using oil. Powder all ingredients. Remove the powder to a little bowl add 2-3tbsp of water and make a paste. Leave it aside

Vegetables :
Onion-1big chopped into 1/2" pieces
Tomato-3 chopped into 1" pieces
Oil-1tsp
Curry leaves
Turmeric powder
Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp

1.Heat oil in a shallow pan, when it is hot add mustard seeds let it splutter. Now add turmeric powder and stir.
2.Add remaining ingredients; onion, tomato and curry leaves. Cover and cook till onion and tomato are cooked.
3.Switch off the stove and add the paste you made above and give a good stir. Turn on the stove again and let it boil.
4.Check the flavors and adjust them accordingly using jaggery or salt. Serve hot with rava/rave rotis.



Onion Tomato gojju goes to Srivalli who is having curry mela event on her blog

 

and to Sheetal of My Kitchen  who is hosting SWC-Karnataka

You may want to take a look at Layered Pudding with cinnamon infused pineapple juice and Vegetarian Fried Rice  on Cooking Station..do drop by and enjoy them too..

Layered Pudding with cinnamon infused pineapple juice

There are childhood memories associated with this pudding. Chikkamma (mom's sister) made them for us when we visited ajji tatha (grand parents) for holidays. 2.5 decades back..having a refrigerator was a big deal for middle class families. They were not affordable and was considered fancy rather than  necessity. My grandparents owned a JOY ice cream shop and refrigerator was a must have at the shop. At night aunt would make jelly dessert or pudding and put them in the freezer and thaw them next day morning for our breakfast. This was our favorite dessert of childhood times few others were Marie biscuit jelly sandwich biscuit, fruit and jelly pudding, glass halwa (agar agar halwa) ..Namratha has this simple and delicious halwa, do take a look at the edible glass here

Coming back to layered pudding, it consists of layers of fruit cake and fruits alternatively piled up and then refrigerated for 8-10 hours before it is served (read as hogged)


Here is what you need to make layered pudding :
Fruit cake : 250g (store bought..I am a pathetic baker :(  .......)
Pineapple pieces : 1cup
Mango Pieces : 1 cup
Banana Pieces: 1cup
Cinnamon Powder : 1/2tsp

1. tear the cake to make crumbs. Keep it aside.
2. Chop pineapple into very small pieces and take them in a small sauce pan. add 5tbsp of water and 1tbsp sugar to it. Bring it to boil on a low heat. Let pineapple cook for 1-2 mins. Drain away the water and store it. Separated pineapple pieces gets into pudding making.
3. Cut mango and then banana into very small pieces.
4. Assemble everything in a cake tin/pan
5. Spread cake crumbs and press them down tightly to make a nice thick surface. Then layer bananas (cut bananas last and line them up first so they would not turn black)
6. Pack another layer of cake, this can be a thinner one, next is mango, another layer of cake, now comes the layer of pineapple. Finally finish off with yet another thick layer of cake crumbs and press them down tight.
7. Mix cinnamon powder with reserved juice of pineapple and spread the juice evenly over the top layer of the cake...you are infusing the pudding with pineapple juice..
8.Put it in the refrigerator for next 7-8 hours. Remove the vessel and cut them into sqaures and serve. A dollop of ice cream will make it even more merrier dessert :D for your children and yourself.

TIP: to pack the layers tightly, press down let it be compactly packed..

Hesarubele Payasa/Moongdal Payasam

This is a simple yet delicious payasam. It is made on festive occassions and devoured at home. My mother-in-law makes yummilicious payasam. On our trip to India hesarubele payasa, shavige chitranna, menthe menasu gojju of her is a must have for us :-) ..Here is her way of doing hesarubele payasa ..

You need the following :
Hesarubele/Dhuli moong dal/split mung beans without skin (scrol down to see the pic of dal) - 1cup
Jaggery
Mung beans : Jaggery Ratio 1:1 if you want it to be absolutely sweet..or else 1:1/2 works fine (this is what i do)
Cardamom powder : 1/2tsp
Ghee for frying dry fruits like raisins and cashews ..if you are using it
Coconut : 1/2 cup (use the same cup for measuring dal, jaggery and coconut)
Milk : 1 - 2 cups

1. Fry/Roast Hesarubele/Dhuli moong dal/split mung beans without skin with little ghee till they turn golden brown and a nice aroma emanates; here is how it looks after you fry them. Do not wash dal before you fry it. You can wash after frying it.



2. Add sufficiant water (1 cup dal:1.5 cups water) and pressure cook or cook it over stove top till they are completely cooked and still retains their shape. Pressure cooking dal will make them mushy.
3. Grind coconut and jaggery with cardamom powder to a fine paste.
4. Add this paste to cooked dal. Add more water/milk to make it little watery and let it boil for 2-3 mins.
5. Keep stirring or else payasam might stick to the bottom.
6. Add fried dried fruits and garnish. Serve hot.



This lota of payasam goes to Priti and Purva (would love to call them Psquare) for their theme based Festive Food event and this month's theme is 'Rakhshabandhan'

















Also this goes to Sheetal of My-Kitchen for her SWC-Karnataka Event

Vegeterian Fried Rice

http://www.monsoonspice.com/2008/07/announcing-jfi-aug-08.htmlA simple fried rice with loads of vegetables and nice to eat ...adapted to Indian taste from a Chinese recipe :D

You need the following :
Carrot : 1/2 Juliened
Capsicum: 1 Julienned
Onion: 1 Julienned
Peas: 1/2 cup Julienned
Baby Corn : 6-7 Julienned (cut into thin strips)

Sauce Mix :
Soya Sauce : 2t bsp
Vegetarian Oyester Sauce : 1tsp
Tomato Sauce : 1tbsp
Maggi Masala Chili Sauce : 1tsp
Salt

Rice : 1 cup
Oil

Method:
Cook rice grains apart.
Sautee all vegetables in oil till they are fork tender.
Add sauce mix, and give a stir let it warm a bit.
Add cooked rice and mix, your delicious chindian rice is ready for dinner. We ate with onion tomato raita. You can have it with any other accompaniment like Manchurian.




This bowl of rice will participate in JFI-Soya started by Indira of Mahanandi and host of the event is Sia of Monsoon Spice.

Hoornada Holige/Pooran Poli..Cooking for Goddess Varamahalakshmi

We at Karnataka celebrate Varamahalakshmi vratha on second friday of Shravana masa before full moon day. It is an auspicious day to worship goddess Lakshmi on this day and pray for your loved one's longeivity, health and wealth. Few of the informative posts on Varamahalakshmi Vrata :
Varamahalakshmi Vratha from Our Karnataka
For a Kannadiga, a online pooja vidhana and other songs for this festive occassion can be found on Kannada Audio
A colorful picture post on Manglorean.Com
A short and sweet post by RK of Rambling with Bellur

We celebrated the festival by making holige. Holige / Pooran Poli is made on festive days, it is a dish cooked for gods :-)

Festive day cooking is not a easy task! A complete meal which comprises of kosambari (Karnataka style salad), palya (stir fried vegetable), tovve (lentils), chitranna (lemon rice), anna (rice), holige(pooran poli) has to be made for offering when we worship goddess in the form of Kalasa (Coconut placed in between betel leaves on a cup of water). Other preparations for vratha itself would take a day of shopping for fruits, flowers, and other prayer materials. Day starts at 4AM in the morning; we get busy cooking for neivedya/offering, prayers should start from 630AM after a complete sunrise. Prayer is very procedural and a CD helps while we are in Singapore; back in India we have easy access to priests who come home to help us with procedures. Altogether it was pleasure celebrating :-)

Coming to Holige procedure, you can refer to my previous post of Biliholige for kanaka/skin making procedure for holige/pooran poli

The stuffing is made of split pigeon peas/togari bele/toor dal/arhar ki dal , jaggery/gur/gud and cardamom/elaichi/elakki

You need them to make holige :
split pigeon peas/togari bele/toor dal/arhar ki dal - 1 cup
Water - 5 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup
cardamom pwd - 1/2tsp
Turmeric: 1tsp

Method:
1.Bring 5 cups of water, turmeric to boil. Add split pigeon peas/togari bele/toor dal/arhar ki dal cover and cook.
2.Watch the vessel carefully as the water might spil, reduce the flame and cook for next 5-10 mins . Spoon out little dal and check whether the outer rim of the peas is cooked, if it is then switch off the gas and let the peas sit in hot water till you make Kanaka
You can happily finish other kitchen work till the hot water of peas comes back to room temperature.
3.Decant the water from peas and add grated jaggery to it. Mix it over low flame till jaggery melts. Let it cool again. Reserve the water to make a sweet and spicy holige saaru*
4.Add cardamom powder and grind it in a mixer grinder with very very little water (only if required) to make a smooth yet thick paste of peas and jaggery.
5.Stuff this inside chiroti rava skin and roll out into thin circles on a non-stick food paper. Roast it with oil till they are red on both sides. Transfer the holige/poli to tava with the paper with holige/poli side facing the tava. Wait for 3 sec and peel the paper of from the surface. Repeat the same process for all holiges.
6.Apply oil generously to rolling pin,skin,holige while making it. Delicious holige is ready to eat with ghee or warm milk.

A collage on holige making :

With the water you can make holige saaru*

The link to make holige saaru is here...

Sending these pile of holige to Sheetal of My Kitchen for SWC-Karnataka Cuisine.

Jolada Rotti, Tumbida Badanekayi Palya, Shenga Hindi and Mosaranna

Raagi Mudde and Massoppu (Finger Millet Rounds)

Ragi Mudde, a popular dish among rural folk in Karnataka and a popular dish of Karnataka. It is a staple food of our farmers in southern parts of Karnataka very popular in Mandya, Mysore district. Have a mudde round and you may not ask for anything more :) it makes such a satisfying meal.... It is considered as a healthy food for all age groups. Srouted Ragi porridge is given to babies, ragi malt to young children, ragi mudde is eaten by adults. There are many combinations which go well with ragi mudde, of them we love spinach and lentils preparation (Massoppu). There may be few more ways of making Ragi Mudde. Here is how my mom and I make ragi mudde :

Ragi Mudde 

You need :
Ragi(Finger Millet) Flour : 1 measure
Water : 2 measures
Salt

Heat 2 glasses of water, add salt to it. In a small cup mix 2 tsp of millet flour with with luke warm water and make a paste. When water is warm add this paste and stir well (if you don't stir the paste sticks to the bottom of the vessel) and bring the water to boil.



Add 1 measure of millet flour to boiling water and reduce the flame to medium



Let it boil for 3-4 mins. Keep a watch on the vessel, it might overflow..reduce the flame. After 3 mins take the vessel from the stove and mix it with a wooden stick
Mix well till no lumps are seen ..like this


Spoon the flour to a edgeless plate. Wet your hands and make a nice ball.
Punch a little hole in the center and add a drop of ghee :) and serve hot!



That is my son's plate :) he loves it hot n nice ..Ragi mudde is tasty to eat even with yogurt/dahi/curd and salt.

How to make Massoppu :

Massoppu = masida soppu = well mashed greens ...this is an attempt to translate massoppu from Kannada to English :D
A medley of spinach and lentils spiced with green chillies, coriander a d garlic seeds is massoppu. Again a dish popular among rural folk of southern Karnataka. Here is how we make it :

You need :
1.Spinach : 1 bunch (Clean and chop)
2.Split Pigeon Peas/Togaribele/Toordal : 1 cup
3.Garlic : 3 numbers (clean and chop into small pieces)
4.Onion : 1 (deskin and chop into 1" pieces)
5.Turmeric : 1 pinch
6.Green Chillies : 4-5 (adjust according to taste)
7.Grated fresh coconut : 2tbsp
8.Coriander seeds powder : 1tsp (freshly toasted and coarsely powdered)
Tamarind juice : 2tbsp

Tampering/Oggarane : Oil, mustard&Cumin mix, red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida/hing ..heat oil and add the ingredients one after the other in the order mentioned.

Pressure cook ingredients from 1-8  for 3-4 whistles with enough water. Once the pressure comes down, remove the vessel and decant the water from dal and spinach mixture. With a hand blender or with a back of spoon mash the mixture well.



Add tamarind juice to the mixture and pour tampering. Add salt and bring the mixture to boil. Check and adjust flavors accordingly. Massoppu is ready to eat with ragi mudde.




Mudde Massoppu goes to Sheetal for SWC-Karnataka event.

Chigali Undi/Unde; Black Sesame Laddu

We hindus celebrate Nagpanchami to pay respect to Nagas/Snakes. We offer milk and other offerings to Nagdevatas/Snake gods. We either worship the statue of Snake or offer milk to snake pits. One such offering which is made by most of us in Karnataka is Chigali Undi /Unde. It is a laddu made of black sesame seeds and jaggery. A simply simple preparation which is tasty. When laddu is made for offering, sesame seeds are not roasted. We make a separate batch of laddu's for casual eating where sesame is roasted. Here is how we make chigali undi/unde.

You need the following :

Black Sesame seeds : 1 cup (sesame seeds are cleaned and made free from dust)

Jaggery : 1/2 cup (grated)

Sprinkle little water over black sesame seeds and pan roast them. Sprinkling water avoids jumping (yes you read it right) up of sesame seeds from pan; Mix sesame seeds and jaggery and pulse it in a blender till sesame seeds are powdered and gets blended with jaggery. Remove from blender and make them into laddus. No ghee/oil needed to make these laddus. Enjoy them!

Edited to Add: If you feel that making laddus is not possible with the powder, just sprinkle little milk and then make laddus.

Sending this undi/unde to SWC-Karnataka hosted by Sheetal of My Kitchen , to EC who is hosting Color in Food event , and to Sweet series -Chikki and Laddu by Paajaka

Dibs says my blog header makes her nostalgic and she has passed me Brilliante Weblog Premio award. Thanks to you Dibs for thinking of me. Sukanya has give me BFF friendship award. Thanks Sukanya I will cherish this blogging friendship forever. Suma Rajesh has passed me rocking girl blogger award. Thanks Suma! You rock too :)!

I would like to give Brillante Weblog award to

Priyanka of Asan Khana
Sowmya of Creative Saga
Lore of Culinarty
Vanisri of Illatharasi
Priti of Indian Khana
Sheetal of MyKitchen

I would love to pass BFF gold friendship award to :

Suma of Suma's Cuisine
Maya of Konkan World
Purva Desai of Purvas Daawat
Sia of Monsoon Spice
Sukanya of Hot n Sweet Bowl
EC of Easy Crafts
Ramya Bala of Ramya Cooks
SriLekha of Me and My Kitchen

I would like to pass rocking girl blogger award to Dibs of Chitra Amma's Kitchen and Sukanya of Sukanya's Musings

Pizza and Kesar Mango Kulfi

My son is a die hard fan of Pizza. There was a constant request for pizza at home from long time. Whenever there is a request all I do is to buy a PPP for him from a near by fast food center :D ..
but Akash wanted to make pizza at home this time .. so I went on buying pizza base and pizza toping ingredients. He helped me to top the pizza and also ate it with lots of happiness. Priyanka's Pizza making episode on Asan Khana was on my mind ..so took her recipe for making Pizza. Thanks Priyanka for sharing your recipe. Just followed her recipe and deleted chicken from her recipe to have a yummilicious Pineapple vegetable pizza :)



For Pizza Sauce
Oilve Oil
Chopped Onion
Chopped Tomatoes
Italian Mixed Spices (storebought) & salt
(Ingredients: Marjoram, Thyme, Rosemary, savory, Sage, Oregano and Basil)
No measurements..here just sauteed onions in hot olive oil and added tomatoes and when tomatoes were mushy added spice mix, salt and the sauce is ready to go on pizza base

Pizza Topping :
Red Bellpeppers
Yellow Peppers
Onion
Pineapple
Mozzarella cheese
red chilli flakes (optional)



Spread pizza sauce, then arrange all vegetables and sprinkle generously mozzarella cheese over the vegetables. I did not bake it in a oven. I have two tawa (girdles) so placed one over the other and heated them on medium flame. Placed Pizza on tava and closed the lid and cooked it till cheese melted and the crust was crisp. By then even vegetables were soft. Remove from girdle and enjoy it hot! This goes to A.W.E.D Italian hosted by DK of Culinary Bazzar.


I made these tanda tanda cool cool Kear Mango Kulfis from Namratha's blog few weeks ago..Thanks Namratha..we all loved it. I am sending them to Color in food event hosted by EC of Easy Crafts blog, Theme of the Week - I-day event and IceCream and Milkshake event hosted by SriLekha.

You can check out Namratha's blog for detailed recipe of making mango kulfi. Here is a summed up recipe...



You need ; agar agar, Mango puree, condensed milk, Saffron strands, chopped nuts (cashews and pistachios)



Soaked saffron strands in 1tbsp of milk. I dissolved agar agar in hot water (about 2-4tbsp of water. You need to chop agar agar strips to fine pieces before you dissolve. Mix a cup of condensed milk, cup full of mango puree, dissolved agar agar, saffron strands along with milk and finally added chopped nuts and poured it into molds. Refrigerated for a day before I served.

Raw Mango Gojju

Gojju is a way Karnatakites savor their vegetables in gravy. You can find 'n' number of gojju's and I loose count every time I make an attempt to keep track of them. There are variations to the recipe which makes them different, different vegetables used in preparing gojju's gives them a new taste.

Each region has it's own way of making! As we move north of Bangalore and reach Chitradurga, Davanagere you see Javalikayi/cluster beans gojju, avarekaalu/surti papdi gojju, mix vegetable gojju, ...list goes on..South of Bangalore..Mysore etc have most popular tomato gojju, mango gojju, menthe menasu gojju etc so we have different gojju's altogether. I have not made an prompt attempt blogging all the gojju's mentioned above.

It is most important (in my house) to find an appropriate partner for gojju, ex javalikayi gojju/cluster beans gojju goes well with joalada/sorgum flour rotti and dose, avarekaalu gojju for joalada/sorgum flour rotti and akki rotti, ufff...so basically you know how we have complicated our lives by matching and pairing them up with certain Indian breads/rottis. But believe me that is the best way to enjoy them :) Now..why did I tell gojju purana? here..oh ya..I have raw mango gojju on menu :D which can be paired with hot plain rice :) simple isn't it?
Raw Mango Gojju (Makes enough for 2 people)

Guest of Honor of the dish :
Raw Mango : 1 washed and cut into bite sized pieces with skin
Taste a piece of mango and you will know the sourness levels of mango. Use tamarind accordingly. Jaggery is used to mellow down the sourness of the dish.

Powder :
Dry grated coconut : 2tbsp
Coriander seeds : 1.5tsp
Fenugreek Seeds/Menthe kaalu/methi daana: 2 seeds
Red Chillies : 4 (adjust according to the hotness levels required)
hurkadli/Huridakadale(split dalia) : 1tbsp
EDITED TO ADD: in case u don't get huridakadale fry and add a teaspoon each of Chana dal/Kadalebele and Urad Dal/Uddinabele

Dry roast coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, redchillies on a hot pan and powder it with coconut and split dalia. Empty the powder to a dish and mix it with half cup of water to make a paste.

Tampering :
Oil, mustard, turmeric, asafoetida/hing & curry leaves

1.Do the tampering in a vessel you intend to make gojju. Allow mustard to crackle fully before you add other ingredients to hot oil.
2.Add raw mango pieces after curry leaves. Stir nicely and add 2 cups of water and cook under medium flame with the lid closed.
3.It takes about 5-6 min for mangoes to cook. Keep checking.. When mangoes are soft ie., when you insert a fork into a piece it should pierce with ease ..reduce the flame or switch off the stove & add the paste that you have made and keep stirring. Add salt.

If you do not stir the mixture paste will stick to the vessel
4. Bring it boil and add little more water if required. Keep the final dish little thick/viscous (?)
5. Taste to see if you have to add any jaggery to mellow down the sourness of the dish. Adjust flavors accordingly. Serve hot with plain rice.

Eating Tip: Half a tsp of ghee with mango gojju makes gojjanna(gojju+rice) a tasty morsel :)

I want to eat it again :D do you?....prepare it to know it!



Other Gojju I have on TOM :
Bendekayi Gojju/Okra in Green Sauce

Sending this to SWC-Karnataka hosted by Sheetal of My Kitchen

Sending this bowl of Gojju to Srivalli for her Curry Mela event