Avval Dosa/Beaten Rice Pancakes...Tried and Tasted from Chitra Amma's Kitchen

This one was a winner at home. The fragrance of dosa was fantastic. Dosa was soft and very tasty to eat. I just followed the instructions as it is from Chitra Amma's Kitchen. No variation to the recipe was made. Thanks Amma was lovely dosa recipe. Here is the link to the recipe
I like my dosa roasted on both sides so I roasted it that way as you can see in the picture.

I also tried their tengapal rasam, it was yummy too. By the time I could take a picture the rasam was all gone...It was a good change to my regular 'bele saaru'. Thank you Dibs and Amma for wonderful recipes.

Navaratri and Navaratri Festive Food Event

Many thanks to Purva and Priti for giving me an opportunity to celebrate Navaratri with you all. Visit our previous festive food round-up's of Rakhi, Krishna-Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam from Priti, Purva and Priyanka.

Navaratri is a hindu festival where goddess Durga in her nine avtars/forms are worshipped for 9 nights and 10 days. Navaratri in sanskrit means nine nights in its literal translation. Vijayadashami marks the end of Navaratri celebrations enaction the destruction of evil (Ravana destroyed by Rama) is displayed with the lighting of dolls representing Ravana and forces of evil. Navaratri is 'nada habba' (state-festival) for the people of Karnataka

2008 Navaratri calender for you all :

28 Sep 2008 - Mahalaya Amavasya
30 Sep 2008 - Navaratri Begins
5 Oct 2008 - Durga Pooja Begins
6 Oct 2008 - Saraswathi Pooja/Prayers
7 Oct 2008- Durgasthami
8 Oct 2008 - Navaratri Ends/Ayudha Pooja/Mahanavami
9 Oct 2008 - Vijayadashami

Navaratri is celebrated through out India in different ways.

Northern Part of India - it is celebrated with much fervor by fasting on all 9 days and worshiping the Godess Parvati in her different avtars.

Southern Part of India - States of Karnataka, AndhraPradesh, TamilNadu and Kerala celebrate Sharad Navaratri (Sharad = Hindu Month) is celebrated by keeping a doll house and chanting lalitha sahasranama on all 9 days. It is believed that when godess Durga was fighting against evil forces she was given extra powers by rest of the gods and they stood still like dolls. To mark this event with much respect a doll house with all gods with the idol of Chamundeshwari (Durga) is placed in every house.

Gujarat Celebrations - Traditionally either the lamp (the garbha deep), or an image of Amba is placed in the middle of the concentric rings as an object of venration, thereby delineating the dance. People dance aroudn the diety clapping rhythematically. At every step they gracefully bend sideways, the arms coming together in sweeping gestures, up and down, left and right, each movement ending in clap.

While every Hindu follows different ritual based on their culture but they all pray godess Durga on these 9 nights and 10 days.

Do you celebrate Navaratri? Or you have memories attached to it Or enjoy it with other hindu frieds who actually celebrate it. We would love to learn the offerings made by you to godess Durga to appease her and the celebration style.

What can you send?
1. Festive Food and its recipes - 2 entries per blog/non-blogger
2. Picture Essay or a Picture of Navaratri Celebration - 1 entry only
3. Rangoli - 1 rangoli per blog/non-blogger

What should you have in your entries :
1. Festive Food - detailed recipe of the food along with a photo of the dish cooked
2.Picture Essay - Essay of 150 words. Photo details : 1. Place taken 2. Day of Navratri it corresponds to ex-Durgasthami pictures, Vijayadashmi Pictures etc
3. Rangoli - Rangoli Picture with a instruction of 'how to draw it'

Any blogger/non-blogger can send their entries for all categories. Please include the following details to identify yourself and your entries :
1. Your Name :
2. Your Blog Name :
3. URL of the post :
4. Attach a photo of W*L - 250*250 px
Send it to navaratrifestivefood(at)tasteofmysore(dot)com from now until 11 Oct 2008

Please link back your entries to this post and stamp our logo of the event :

Bengali Style Masoor Dal

I have been trying various vegeterian bengali dishes from fellow bloggers for SWC-Bengal. One of them we liked was Masoor dal along with Kalakand and Potatoes with Panchphoran. Thanks to Sandeepa of Bongmom's Cookbook for Masoor dal and Kalakand recipes. Visit her page here for a detailed recipe.



Here is her way of doing it, in-case you are in a hurry...

Masoor Dal or Split Red Lentils- 1 cup washed thoroughly
Onion - 1 red onion medium sized, sliced in thin long slices
Tomato - 1 firm red tomato chopped fine
Green Chilies - 2-3 finely chopped

For Tempering
Panch Phoron or Panch Puran (a Bengali Five Spice Mix) - 1 and ½ tsp

For Garnish
Lime Juice - 4 tsp of fresh lime juice
Coriander Leaves- 3-4 sprigs

Oil
Salt - according to taste
Sugar (I did not use it)
Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp

How She Did It :

Pressure Cook the 1 cup Masur Dal with 2 and ½ cups of water and a pinch of turmeric. Once it is cooked mix it well with a whisk. The time to cook depends on your cooker.
Heat oil and add the phoron, or as we say temper with Panch Phoron.
Add the finely sliced onions and fry till they turn pink in color. Add the chopped green chillies.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they become a fine pulp
Add the previously cooked dal.Mix well.
Add salt, sugar and about 3-4 cups of water. If you feel you need to add more water do so.
Cook till you hear a nice bubbling sound. Remember to stir infrequently during this process.
Also continue cook till the thickness of the dal is according to your liking
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and lime juice

This goes to SWC-West Bengal hosted by me on this blog.

Pudina flavored Adai Rotti

As we all know Adai is native to Tamilnadu. This 'Adai dosa' of Tamilnadu was given a make over when it entered Karnataka :D esp in the hands of my MIL. She turned it to 'rotti', flavored it with pudina, coconut and added green chillies and made rottis. Result of this is Pudina flavored Adai Rotti (PFAR). This was another favorite (god knows how many fav's I have listed down... :P) at my in-law's place.




One rotti is enough to keep your hunger at bay for next 4 hrs. Pudina adds nice flavor to rotti and mixed dals of adai gives superb taste to it. We all love it.

Pudina Flavored Adai Rotti :

(Use same cup for measuring all ingredients)
You need :
Kadalebele/Chanadal : 1/4 cup
Togaribele/Toordal : 2tbsp
Hesarubele/dhuli moong dal : 2tbsp
Uddinabele/Urad dal : 1tsp
Rice : 1cup

Pudina/Mint : 1.5cups
fresh/wet coconut grated : 1/2 cup
Green Chillies : 8 (8 chillies makes rotti very spicy, so adjust according to your taste)
salt
Onions : 2 Chopped

Soak Rice separately. Mix all bele/dal's and soak them. Soak for about 4hrs.
Remove water from rice and dal and grind them separately using very little water. Let the mixture be coarse, do not grind it like dosa batter.
Grind Pudina, coconut and green chillies to a smooth paste. Mix it with rice and lentil batter and add salt. Refrigerate the dough for 1 -2 hrs.
Remove the dough from refrigerator add chopped onions. Mix.
Smear little oil on non-stick paper. Take a handful of dough and pat it into 1/2" thick circle.
Transfer this to hot tava with rotti side facing the tava. Peel off the paper.
Roast rotti on both sides till is red.
Enjoy Hot! Eat it with ghee.

Note: Make only as many as you want. You can refrigerate the dough and use whenever you want.

I am a huge fan of rottis. We had a rhyme in Kannada on rotti...Click here to watch the Video

"Rotti Angadi Kittappa
Nangondu Rotti Tattappa
Putani Rotti, dundage tatti, Kempage sutta tarappa..
Rotti angadi kittappa bisi bisi rotti tarappa.."

A little girl is asking the rotti shopkeeper Kittappa to make her a small and neat round rotti which is roasted red and she would like to eat it hot!

There are many versions of the rhyme and the above lines are what I remember. You tube video has a different script :)

PFAR and Chutney Rotti goes to SunshineMom who is celebrating GREEN dishes this month.

Chutney Rotti

Got some left over pudina& coriander chutney at home? Easy peasy..just add rice flour and salt to left over chutney and mix well to make a soft dough. Pat them on a non-stick paper. Smear little oil on the paper and then pat them into thick round circles and transfer the rotti with paper to hot tava with rotti side facing the tava. Peel off the paper. Fry on both sides till it is red. Chutney rotti is ready. :)

Kalakand and Chola Bhatura - Tried and Tasted

Cham's ooey gooey sweet post drove me to kitchen and here is what I made..Kalakand! We devoured it :) Thanks Cham and Sandeepa for sharing the recipes.

 

It did not take much time to make Kalakand. All I did was :
Boiled half litre milk. Added 1/2tbsp of Vinegar, when milk solids separated switched off the stove.
Filtered and separated solids and the liquid. You can retain the liquid for making your chapati dough.
Measured milk solids(cottage cheese/Paneer) and condensed milk in the same cup and took them in 1:1 ratio.
Took both in a heavy bottomed vessel. Started stirring them on medium heat.
When the mixture started coming as one lump, transfered it to a greased plate. Garnished with chopped pistachios. Took Picture and enjoyed it hot hot :)

This will be my contribution fro SWC-Bengal, hosted by me on Cooking Station.

Also  this goes to Sri who is hosting MBP-Chese event

Chola Bhatura from Priyanka's Blog :
Do Visit her for 'her style' Chola Bhatura making here Just scrol down till the end and stop when you see "My Style Chola Bhatura" 

Masala Mix she uses for Chole :
Two Bay Leaves Crushed (I substituted it for Curry leaves as bay leaves were not in my pantry)
Three Red Chillies
One tsp Coriander Seeds
One tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp each of Pepper and Cloves
One inch Cinnamon stick
Two big Cardamom (black cardamom)
Two small cardamom (green)
One Star Anise (I used 1/2tsp star anise powder)
1/2 Onion Chopped
2tbsp of cooked chana (this would make the gravy bit thicker)
Salt
GRIND ALL THESE MASALAS IN GRINDER AND KEEP ASIDE

Apart from the above modifications(which I have indicated in brackets) I have not used ginger and garlic in the preparation.
Sauteed Onions and Tomatoes in hot oil one after the other.
Microwaved Soaked Chana for about 7-8 mins on medium heat till they were half cooked.
Added the ground masala paste to Onion and tomatoes and sauteed till masala was cooked and oil separated from the mixture. Added half cooked chana and mixed the contents. Pressure cooked the whole mixture for 4-5 whistles. Chole was ready!

Bhatura :
Soak 3-4 bread slices in sour 2 cups (approx 200ml)buttermilk for 15-20 minutes.
Mix salt and 4 cups of maida together.
Mash bread with butermilk and add maida to this mixture and make a stiff dough. Use more maida if required.
Let the dough rest for 4 hrs.
Roll them into 1/2"thick pooris and deep fry them in hot oil till golden brown. Enjoy with chole :)

Biscuit Rotti

Biscuit Rotti :D there is no biscuit in rotti ! Rotti made this way was very crisp so amma named it oven fresh biscuits to lure us ..She had to lure us once and we became ardent fans of these biscuit rottis. It was her creative way of doing-away with left over holige skin dough or we call it 'kanaka' in kannada. You can see the procedure for making holige and its skin on TOM here, here and here.

You need the following :
Left Over holige skin dough, soaked moong dal (split moong beans), Rice flour 1tbsp, chilli paste, salt, grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves (if u have them)
Mix all these using very little water to make a firm dough.
Divide them into equal number of balls. Make thin chapathis on a non-stick paper. Transer it to hot tava along with paper with roti side facing the tava. slowly peel the paper away.
Roast rotti on a medium heat till it is crisp. Leave it in a plate for 2-3 mins before you start munching it..and it is hard to stop...munching :P try it out!

Plantain Thoran

This is my entry for Festive Food-Onam. A easy to prepare and a apt accompaniment for hot steaming rice. Here is my version of Plantain Thoran..

You need :
Plantain : 2 (peeled and cut into 1" thick cubes)
Coconut : 3tbsp
Cumin : 1 tsp
Green Chillies : 3
Salt
Coriander for garnishing
Oil 2tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves from 1 line

Cook chopped plantains in a pot of water. Add a pinch of turmeric and enough salt while cooking. Cook till the plantains are fork tender. Drain them and keep aside.
Grind coconut, cumin and green chillies to make a coarse paste
Heat oil in a wide pan. Add mustard seeds..let it splutter, next goes urad dal (about 1/2tsp) let it brown
Pour in the paste coarsely ground paste and curry leaves and stir. Fry it for 10 seconds. Add salt and cooked plantains. Stir and Mix for next 2 min. Switch off the stove. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

 

Thoran will participate in Festive Food - Onam at Priyanka's Blog Asan Khana.

Continued SWC - Part 2...

Sorry folks I had to stop writing yesterday ...I hope you all had a gastronomic and interesting reading of Yesterday's round-up. Let us continue the culinary journey again..

If Muruku is famous in all south Indian states, Kodubale (deepfried crisp doughnuts) and Nippattu (deepfried crispy discs) are world famous in Karnataka :D . Easy, Cham, Anuradha treated us with Kodubale Fare!

 

Pick up that cup of hot filter coffee and start munching kodubales while we move into next set of snacks...

  

Bengaluru was the first city to get electricity in India. It is fondly called IT capital, Silicon Valley of India for having largest number of IT companies and IT Professionals. 

Buns..anyone? not those baked Iyengar bakery buns no..no..not at all...These are tasty deepfried Mangaluru Buns made from over ripe bananas....take a look and you might fall in love at first sight! Maya brings us these buns from the world of Konkan 

Want to have a "local" market feeling in Bengaluru munching varieties of crispy snacks? Do take a leisurely walk on the roads of Chickpet! Explore every nook and corner of the place..don't worry you will not get lost :D just ask a autofellow or a shop keeper if u feel you are lost. Keep a fast day before you go there and you might end up fasting 2 days after eating those delicious varities of food you get there!  

Churumuri brings "haalu kova" a "local" stamped sweet to all of you! 

Slurrrrrrrrp isn't it! After that sweet treat let us enjoy the crispy goli baje/mangaluru bajji from Tasty Curry Leaf

Have you travelled in train? probably answer is YES but the train which commutes btw Bengaluru and Mysore. Take Tippu Express which departs Bengaluru at 2 PM. Journey starts with roasted peanuts...and as you approach Maddur you can see various vendors walking up and down and looking at you dozen number of times, carrying fragrant vadas which makes you buy atleast 1 ! yaareeee......... "Maddur Vade" ..

you have to taste it to believe it. Sowmya tells us how these vades can be made at home..

In case you have little time read pudina flavored maddur vade with a twist on Taste of Mysore

Priyanka whips up instant wheat dosa for us with tomato gojju! Let us stop buy to re-charge our stomach here...

Who says there cannot be a fusion Karnataka style food? Priyanka combines UP and Karnataka and came up with Aloo Sabji with Rasam Powder!  which she ate with Poori ..Check it out!

I am not sure about the usage of dill leaves in a quantity that we use in Karnataka homes. Aroma of dill leaves makes you grab that plate especially if you are given Dill Leaves Ambode (dal wada) Check out Anuradha's version of fragrant Ambode :-) 

Tingle your taste buds with tangy Raw Mango Gojju and Akki Rotti from Sowmya, Veda and Easy

 

  

 

Badanekayi palya is a yummy combo with Chapathi, Jolada Rotti or Akki Rotti. Learn from Smitha and  Sheetal(photos in order)

Did you know? that Karwar beach inspired Sri.Rabindranath Tagore to pen his first play...so are the beauty of Karwar beaches..

Bell peppers! Do you want to know how to make Karwar style capsicum Curry..? Eat it with any main dish and you have a satisfying meal.. Priti cooks up Karwar style capsicum curry..check out her recipe ...

Snake Gourd..this vegetable has a unique taste. stirfry it, curry it with bengal gram dal or make a coocnut paste based curry Snake Gourd tastes good in all these forms. Check out Anuradha's way of Seekootu with Snake Gourd.

Nuchina Unde is yeat another healthy snack of  Karnataka. Eat them steaming hot! or suspend them in yoghurt coconut sauce, or sir fry the steamed unde with onions and garnish with coconut. Delicous treat and a 3-1 usage from one dish isn't it good? Nuchina Unde is sent to us from Anuradha's Kitchen

Now that there is Ragi Mudde making machine under 'construction phase' check my manual mudde making process till the machine comes out to market...bringing spongy ball from Taste of Mysore. Do not chew Mudde, just gulp it down with little massoppu ..

My sincere thanks to one and all especially Mangala and Anuradha from our women's club and fellow bloggers Priyanka, Priti, Vanisri, Sowmya for taking part in this event with lots of enthusiasm. Special thanks to Sheetal of My Kitchen for hosting the event. 

A special treat to all International Bloggers for participating..Please help yourself to a holige each before you leave Taste of Mysore! Do come back and let us celebrate Mysooru Dasara together :-)

ahahaaa...Mysuuuru Sundara..ahaha sundara..lalalalllaaa..... (a song which says oh..Mysore you are so beautiful...)

Potatoes with Panch phoran

"Panch" in Bengali (& in Hindi too) means five and "Phoran" means spice. This 5 spice blend is added to hot oil to flavor the oil before adding anything else to the tampering mix. The aroma of this spicemix in any dish is aaahhhhh...all I can say :-) ..You can read more about Panch phoran here.

I just used panch phoran to make simple potato fry and it was a huge hit at home. I make this often now. Here is my entry for SWC-West Bengal hosted by me ..Potatoes with PanchPhoran

You need :
Panch phoran : equal quantities of mustard, nigella seeds(onion seeds),Cumin(jeera), Fennel Seeds (Saunf, sompu), Fenugreek seeds (use less qty).
Oil : 2 tbsp
Potatoes : 3 medium sized (peeled and cut into circles or in any other shape. Soak it in water for 5 mins, decant the water before adding to hot oil)
RedChillies : 2 Cut into 1/2 " pieces
Salt

Heat oil in a karahi/pan (pref. nonstick) and add panchphoran. When mustard stops crackling and methi starts emanating its aroma add redchillies and fry for 5 seconds. Throw in chopped potatoes and give a good stir and mix. Cover and cook for 5 mins. Open the lid and cook till potatoes are fork tender. Add salt, mix and cook for next 2-3 mins so that salt is thoroughly mixed. Serve hot with chapathi, rice. Simple yet delicious..
Serving Tip : Tastes good with plain dal and steaming hot rice.

SWC-Karnataka Round UP 2 - Republished for TOM

Trust you all enjoyed a good meal in round up part 1. Let me take you all through a jolly ride of Karnataka with delicious breakfast. The journey may take bit too long so we will stop by at Chikkamagaluru to sip a cup of freshly brewed coffee from Cham with some crispy quick Kodubales from Anuradha

Do you know : Chikkamagaluru (younger daughters city) is where coffee was first cultivated in India.

Do feel free to enjoy crispy lacy Rave Dose and Chutney from Taste of Mysore. Do sip in a cup of coffee here to get a caffeine boost to enjoy rest of the culinary and cultural journey..

Sir M.Visweshwarayya, who was diwan of Mysore, who built Krishnaraja sagar dam, an eminent, honest, punctual,...Engineer was rightly called "father of modern Mysore". Every year 15th of September is celebrated as "Engineers Day" in India in his memory. Read his contributions to India here and here. Kingdom of Mysore is proud to have a Bharat Ratna like him.

Ragi Dose..eat ragi in the form of porridge, make it a spongy ball (ragi mudde),  make malted drink, anything tastes equally good. Veda sends her crispy pudina flavored ragi dose to our feast!

The Kingdom of Mysore was one of the 3 largest princely states within the erstwhile British Empire of India. It was re-named as Karnataka in the year 1973. 

Enjoy Lubna Karim's Masala Dosa. Lubna rightly says a genrous helping of butter on these crispy crepes served with coconut chutney and sambar is difficult to deny anywhere anytime. Mysore masala dosa adds additional zing with red chutney (redchillies+garlic chutney) spread on dosa. Don't forget to taste benne (butter) masale dose in your nearest outlet. White butter on hot dosa is a treat to your taste buds :-) We have Davangere Benne Masale outlets which serve only butted masala dosas..

Shravanabelagola which has a huge Bahubali statue is one of the important Jain pilgrimage centers. It is considard as one of the tallest monolithic stone statues in the world. Do watch this Video of Mahamasthakabhisheka. Shravanabelagola is in the Hassan district.

 

Thatte idlis are very popular among the people of  Hassan & Tumkur. Soft and tasty plate idlis are served with hot red chutney made of redchillies and coconut. Dibs share a similar memory that I have with this particular hotel on Tumkur highway. If my mama (maternal uncle) drove us from Bangalore to Chitradurga he made sure that we ate at this particular hotel. Enjoy the  lovely thatte idlis with  uddina vade and sambar  from Taste of Mysore.

 

Karnataka weddings are incomplete without Chiroti Badami Haalu. Tee of Bhaatukli made these yummy flaky pastries for RCI-K. Chiroti rava which is the key ingredient of Chiroti is used for making may other dishes too and one such dish is Rotti! Dunk them in spicy n tangy tomato gojju and your early morning breakfast is taken care of :-) Rave Rotti with Onion Tomato Gojju for you all from Taste of Mysore

 

Mangaluru is a chief port city of Karnataka. It handles 75% of India's coffeee exports and the bulk of nation's cashew exports. Many classical dance forms and folk arts are practised in this city. Yakshagana, Hulivesha, Karadivesha are few popular dance forms and folk arts. The cuisine boasts one of the bestest fish dishes of its style. Dali-thoy, upkari, neer-dose, patrode, paagilla podi, sanna khoto are few of the authentic dishes from this part of Karnataka. 

Mangala, a non-blogger& a member of SWC has contributed her recipe of Sanna Khoto, Dali-thoy and Paagilla Podi for SWC-K. Do take a peek into her recipes here. Sincere apologies for not posting the pictures. I will publish them once I am able to download them.

Geeta of Fragrant Kitchen has sent us Neer Dose. To visit her to make lacy thin crepes for your breakfast.

Priyanka sends Mangalooru style Gobhi Gashi, Chicken Curry and Chicken Sukka

Malenadu covers the western ghats or Sahyadri mountain range. The cuisine here is a cocktail of Mangalooru and Kodava Cuisine because of its geographic placement. Taro leaf dishes are very popular among these people and you must taste it to believe it. Do visit famous Jogfalls virtually and you will know how beautiful Malenadu is.. :-)

Sheetal of My-Kitchen brings us Patrodo from this part of Karnataka.

The Western Ghats is an area of great biodiversity. and is one of the Conservations International's hotspot for biodiveristy. Bhadra Wid Life Santuary in Muthodi is one the India's Project Tiger Santuaries.

Cauvery is our mother! She gives water to the thirsty lands of karnataka and keeps our rice bowl full. Dance with Kodavas and bow to mother cauvery (picture below- Talakaveri, birth place of the river Cauvery)  in this scotland dubbed land of India, yes it is Coorg!

There we have Dill Leaves and Rice Rawa Kadubu from the land of Coorg from Sowmya Tripurant..

Moving up north we have architecuturally rich and culturally rich land. Belur and Halebidu represent architectural hallmarks of Hoysalas. Hampi tells you the story of great Vijayanagara Empire. Aihole, Badami and Pattadakallu are the historical evidences for Chalukyan architecture.

Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, ... states of Karnataka is a basin of Millet. Groundnut is also abundantly grown along with Sugarcane. Cuisine here has more of flat breads of Millet. Jolada Rotti, Sajje Rotti, Wheat Chapathis with stuffed vegetables like Stuffed bell peppers, aubergines are devoured by these people. Ranjaka is a extremely hot chutney which is very famous in these states. If you are offered rotti and red colored chutney do take sometime to taste a pinch of this chutney before you plunge and feast :D

Stop by to take a look at thise rustic Jolada Rotti and Tumbida Badanekayi Palya from Taste of Mysore. 

 

 Dry Chutney powders esp peanut powders are a delicacy here...again concluding the meal with curd rice

Part 2 will be continued after a short break..till then enjoy the ride and come back for a continued Part 2 .....