Hayagreeva

 ಓದುಗರಗೆ ವರಮಹಾಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು. ಆ ತಾಯಿ ತಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಸುಖ, ಶಾಂತಿ, ಆಯಸ್ಸು, ಆರೋಗ್ಯ, ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯವನ್ನು ದಯಪಾಲಿಸಲಿ ಎಂದು ಹಾರೈಸುತ್ತೇವೆ

May godess Varamahalakshmi bless you with riches and good health.

Before Pooja:

After Pooja:

Hayagreeva a sweet considard as a holige equivalent :D At times when there is no time to prepare holige you can prepare hayagreeva.

You Need:

kadalebele/chanadal : 2 cups
bella/Jaggery : 1.5 cups
tuppa/Ghee : 2tbsp
gasagase/poppyseeds : 1tsp (pan fry till aromatic and powder it with dry coconut)
Dry grated coconut : 2tbsp
Dry Fruits for garnishing

1.Soak chanadal overnight. Bring to boil 4 cups of water and add a pinch of turmeric. Add chanadal when water starts to boil. Cook dal till it is soft and done. Separate dal and water. Use dal water to make rasam or sambar or soup
2.Add 1/2 cup of water to 1.5 cups of jaggery and bring to boil. Filter the solution to remove dust from jaggery. Bring to boil and continue to boil till you get a thick solution. It takes 2 minutes to reach this stage. 3.Reduce the heat and proceed to next step.

4.Add 1 tbsp of ghee and cooked dal and bring to boil. Add poppyseeds+coconut powder to it and mix well. When the resulting solution starts boiling again switch off the stove and garnish with nuts fried in 1 tbsp of ghee.
5.Serve hot or cold, both taste equally delicious.

Ragi Soup with Vegetables ~ Finger Millet soup

YES!! you heard it right! It is ragi/finger millet soup. I have used 'Ragi hurittu'or  'sprouted and pan fried ragi flour' which is healthy to children as well as adults. It is believed among rural people of south Karnataka that ragi hurittu ganji cools down the body. There are many ways to consume hurittu. I have modernised it and made soup which was instantly approved by my family. Little A enjoyed his share of soup and asked for more cobrolli (broccoli) :)) .

How to make ragi hurittu:
Whole grain Ragi : 1 cup
Soak for a day. Discard the water and tie ragi in a muslin cloth and leave it a closed box for sprouting. Normally takes 1-2 days. Take sprouted ragi and dry it 'indoors'. Fry this 'totally dry' ragi in a thick bottomed pan on low heat; 1 spoon at a time. You can see ragi pops as popcorn. When 50% of them have poped up remove them to a plate and let it cool down. Powder this in your coffee grinder to make ragi flour. Sieve this ragi flour using a muslin cloth to get fine flour which can be used to for making porridge. You can use the flour without sieving too.
Easy way : Buy Ragi hurittu from a nearby store :D

Ragi Soup with Vegetables
Choice of your vegetables (use meat if you are meat eater) : 1 cup
Vegetable Stock (you can use meat stock if you are meat eater) : 2 cups
Garlic : 2 pods (chopped finely)
Ragi Hurittu : 2 tbsp
Salt and Pepper

Fry garlic in a non-stick pan. Keep it aside.
Boil Vegetables in stock water till they are half done. Crunchy vegetables taste good with soups. Separate vegetable and stock water.
Add salt and pepper to ragi hurittu with little water to make it a thick paste.
Bring stock water to boil, add garlic and ragi hurittu paste. When soup starts boiling again mix the soup well and switch off the stove. Remove soup to serving bowl. Add vegetables on top and serve hot!!!

Totally fat free and healthy soup for you and your family...ENJOY MAADI

Jolada Dose / Sorghum Flour Crepes ~ Gluten Free Recipe

I was moved by one of the comments posted on my blog for "Rice Flour Poori" post. Kudos to that mother who tries her best to satisfy her 'milk and wheat intolerant' child! After reading this comment I read numerous articles about gluten intolerant children and adults and how much they miss these foods. While reading, I discovered that joldada hittu (Sorghum flour) and akki hittu (rice flour) and few other flours where mixed together to give a delicious pancake. Ting! flashed the idea of making dose!! yippee..I must say it was a hit at home. Since it was instant dosa recipe it made me much happier too. You all can give it a try if you love sorghum flour like us :)

Jolada Dose/Sorghum Flour Crepes or gluten free indian pancakes

You need the following to make :

Bili Jolada Hittu/ White Sorghum Flour - 2 cups (I had white sorghum flour bought from India so I have used it which is the best, you can use which ever is available at home to try it out)
White Rice Flour - 3/4 cup
Cornflour - 1tbsp (optional)
P.S : You can substiute with maida/plain flour for non-gluten free recipe
Salt, water

Seasoning : oil, jeera, broken red chillies, chopped curry leaves
Heat oil and add ingredients in the order mentioned. Add this seasoning to dosa batter and mix.

Mix everything  and make a runny batter which resembles pancake batter. Dosa tastes good if you allow the batter to sit aside for atleat half an hour.
Heat a tava/girdle. Rub oil over tava. Pour dosa batter over the tava and spread it in circles with the back of the spoon. When dosa is crisp from bottom turn it over and let it brown(cook) on the other side too. 
Remove it to a plate and enjoy with chutney of your choice. I made onion chutney and it was superbly delicious !

Onion Dose :
You can add chopped onions, coriander leaves, greeen chilli paste (click on it for recipe) and a teaspoon of grated coconut and leave it overnight in your refrigerator. Next day make dosa as usual for delicious onion dose!

Jolada Dose is going to participate in Padma's Dosa Corner event at Padma's Recipes.

Other Dosa varieties available on Taste of Mysore :

Thili Dose/  Rice Flour Dosa -Instant

Mysore Masala Dose/Set Dose 


Rave Dose -Instant


Brown Rice Dose 

Soppina Saaru -soup style /greens and lentils soup

This is my mother's way of making soppina saaru. I am not sure where amma learnt this but, this is one of our favorite accompaniment for mudde/raagi rounds.

You Need :

Palaka soppu/Palak/Spinach : 1 bunch (washed and chopped - 5 cups closely packed. 1 cup holds 100ml of water)

Washing Greens : Cut off the root from the bunch. Immerse the bunch in a pan ful of water. The pan should be preferably wide and shallow. Round & deep bottomed pans make good choice as all the dust and sand settles down and your can collect the greens which float on top. Soak the greens in water for 5-10 minutes. Wash 2-3 times before you start chopping.

Togari bele : 1/2 cup (1 cup holds 100ml of water)
EErulli/Onion : 1 (medium sized, deskinned and chopped into 1" cubes)
Belulli/Garlic : 2 big pieces
Onamenasinakayi/Redchillies : 4 - 6 (adjust according to your spice levels)
Kottambaribeeja/Coriander Seeds : 1 tbsp
Jeerige/Jeera : 1/2 tsp
Harishina/Turmeric : 1 pinch

Other ingredients:
Hunasehannu/Tamarind Juice : 2 tbsp
Salt
Oggarane/seasoning (click to follow the link)

1.Pressure cook greens, bele/dal, onion, garlic, chillies, coriander seeds, cumin and turmeric with 2-3 cups/enough of water. Cook everything together in a vessel.
2.Remove the cooked contents outside the cooker and keep it aside. This should come to room temparature.
3.Once the cooked greens has achieved room temparature, add tamarind juice and salt to it. Grind the mixture to a smooth paste in your juicer or mixer grinder.
4.Remove the contents to a pan and add seasoning. Boil it for 2-3 mins. Check for salt and sour levels and adjust.
5.Serve with hot mudde / rice with little ghee. Enjoy Maadi ..! Not interested to eat with rice?? Just drink the soup with a blob of butter on it :D

Charity Appeal: Charmaine is a 4 yr old daughter of Cynthia. Charmaine is diagnosed with neruoblastoma. She is currently in the 4th stage and fighting hard. If you can, please donate to help Charmaine. Every penny counts. You can find about this little princess at http://ourfeistyprincess.blogspot.com

ಶ್ರಾವಣ ಬಂತು ಕಾಡಿಗೆ ಬಂತು ನಾಡಿಗೆ ಬಂತು ಬೀಡಿಗೆ ಓ ಬಂತು ಶ್ರಾವಣ .. ಅಂತ ಬಂದೆ ಬಿಡ್ತು ನೋಡಿ ಶ್ರಾವಣ ಮಾಸ ಈ ಹಬ್ಬಗಳ ಪಟ್ಟಿ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ
Sharavanamasa Begins - 23 July 2009
Nagachaturthi - 25 July 2009
Nagapanchami - 26 July 2009
Mangalagourivratha - 28 July 2009
Varamahalakshmi Vratha - 31 July 2009
Yajurupakarma - 5 Aug 2009
Sharavana Shukravaragalu - 24 July, 31 July, 7Aug, 14 Aug 2009

Some useful links on Taste of Mysore :

AshtaLakshmi Stotra, Lakshmi Ashtaka (click maadi/ Click on the words for the webpage)
Saraswathi Astottara, Lalitha Sahasranama

If you want more details about prayers, festivals, and other lyrics in Kannada do mark a visit to Shree's blog at Pooja Vidhana @ http://poojavidhana.blogspot.com/

You can access Lakshmi Astottara in Kannada on Pooja Vidhana Blog (Click on Lakshmi Astottara)

ಸ್ವಗತ - ಹವ್ಯಾಸ /Random thoughts - Hobby

scroll down for English version........ :D

ಸಣ್ಣವಳಿದ್ದಾಗ ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದ ಮಾತು... "ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಹವ್ಯಾಸ ಬೆಳೆಸ್ಕೊಬೇಕು ಮಗು, ಅದು ನಮ್ಮ ಆತ್ಮೀಯ ಗೆಳತಿ ಇದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ..." ಅದು ಆವಾಗ ಅರ್ಥ ಆಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ....ಈವಾಗ ನನ್ನ ಮಗಿನಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಹವ್ಯಾಸ ಅದೂ ಅವನು ಇಷ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟು ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ತೋರಿಸಿ ಕಲಿಯ ಬೇಕು ಅಂತೆಲ್ಲ ಯಾವಾಗಲು ಮಂಡಿಗೆ ಹಾಕ್ತಾ ಇರ್ತಿನಿ.

ಉಮ್ಮ್..ಇನ್ನು ಏತಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಹವ್ಯಾಸ ? ಹೌದಪ್ಪ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲವು ಹಂತಗಳು ..ಪ್ರೈಮರಿ ಸ್ಕೂಲ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದಾಗ ಆಟ ಪಾಠ ಅಂತ ಏನು ಚಿಂತೆ ಇರೋಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ, ಹೈ ಸ್ಕೂಲ್ಗೆ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದಂಗೆ..ಶುರು .. ಹತ್ತನೇ ತರಗತಿ ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಅಂಕಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಸ್ ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಶುರುನಪ್ಪ ..ದಿನ ಬೆಳಗಾದ್ರೆ ಮನೆ ಪಾಠ, ಸ್ಕೂಲು ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿ ಹನ್ನೆರಡು ತಲೆನೋವು..ಆಮೇಲೆ ಪಿ ಉ ಸಿ ಓಹೋ..ವಿಷಯ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಮುಗಿದು ಹೋಗಲಿಲ್ಲ ..ನಂತರದ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸ, ಕೆಲಸ, ಮಾಡುವೆ, ಮುಂಜಿ, ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಹೀಗೆ ಅರ್ಧ ಅಯ್ಯಸ್ಸು ಮುಗಿದ ಮೇಲೆ .... ತಕ್ಷಣ ಅರಿವು ಮೂಡಿ (ನನ್ನ ತರಹ ..) ಬರುತ್ತೆ ನೋಡಿ ..ಹವ್ಯಾಸದ ಆಲೋಚನೆ ..

..ಅಂದಹಾಗೆ ಈವತ್ತು ಪಾಪುಗೆ ಏನು ಇಷ್ಟ ಅದನ್ನೇ ಮಾಡ್ತೀನಿ ಹೇಳು ಕಂದ ಅಂತ ಮುದ್ದಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿ ಅವ ಕೇಳಿದ್ದನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟಾಗ, ಅದನ್ನು ಅವನು ಆಸೆ ಇಂದ ತಿಂದಾಗ ಎಷ್ಟು ಆನಂದವೋ..ಯಾವತ್ತಾದರೂ ನನ್ನ ಕೂರಿಸಿ ಮಗ ಅಥವಾ ಗಂಡ ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾಡ್ತಾರ? ಅನ್ನುವ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿವರೆಗೂ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ. ಎಲ್ಲರ ಆರೈಕೆ, ಆಸೆ ಪೂರೈಸುತ್ತಾ ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ನನ್ನೇ ನಾನು ಕೇಳಿ ಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು ಉಂಟು..ನಂಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟವಾದದ್ದು ಏನಿತ್ತು ನಾನು ಸಣ್ಣವಳಿದ್ದಾಗ ಅಂತ ...ತಿನ್ನೋದಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ ಎಹೆಹೆ..

..ಹೂ...ನಾನು ತುಂಬಾ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಹಾಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೆ ಅಂತ ಅಪ್ಪ ನನ್ನ ಹತ್ರ ಅರ್ಧ ಡಜನ್ ಹಾಡು ಹೇಳಿಸುತ್ತ ಇದ್ರೂ ನೋಡಿ.. ಆ ಹವ್ಯಾಸ ಇದ್ದಕಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ ಮಾಯವಾಗಿ ಹೋಗಿತ್ತು, ಇನ್ನು ಚಿತ್ರ ಕಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಏನೋ ತುಂಬಾನೇ ಇತ್ತು ಆದ್ರೆ ಅವಕಾಶ ಸಿಗಲಿಲ್ಲ..ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಗೆಳತಿಯರ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಕಲಿತು ಮಾಡಿದ ಪೇಂಟಿಂಗ್ ಶಿಥಿಲಾವಸ್ತೆಗೆ ಬಂದಿದ್ದರು ಅದನ್ನ ಮನೇಲಿ ಬಲವಂತದಿಂದ ನೇತು ಹಾಕಿದಿನಿ.. (ಅಮ್ಮನ ಮನೇಲಿ ರೀ..)..ಹೀಗೆ ಯೋಚನೆ ಮುಂದುವರೆಯಿತು ಬಿಡಿ ಸುಮಾರು ಹೊತ್ತು ..

ಈವಾಗ ಮಗ ಅವನ ಕೆಲಸ ಅವನು ಮಾಡಿ ಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾನೆ, ಇನ್ನು ಯಜಮಾನರು ಎರಡನೇ ಹೆಂಡತಿ ಮುಂದೆ (ಲ್ಯಾಪ್ ಟಾಪ್ ) ಮುಂದೆ ಕುಳಿತರೆ ಮೈಮರೆತು ಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ, ನನ್ನ ಅಡಿಗೆ ಆದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಾನು ಏನು ಮಾಡ್ಲಿ ...? ಅಂದಾಗ ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿದ ಮಾತು ಎಷ್ಟು ನಿಜ ಅನ್ನಿಸ್ತು ಬಿಡಿ...ಮತ್ತೆ ಹಾಡಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದೆ "ಗಜವದನ ಬೇಡುವೆ ಗೌರಿ ತನಯ ..." ಒಳಗಿಂದ ಬಂತು ಧ್ವನಿ "ಯಾಕೆ ....ಮನಸ್ಸು ಸರಿ ಇಲ್ವೆ ? ಆಕಡೆ ಇಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಭಾಷೆ ಮಗ "ವೈ ಅರೆ ಯೌ ಸಿಂಗಿಂಗ್ ? ಎಹ್?
ನೋಡಿ ಹವ್ಯಾಸ ಅನ್ನೋ ಗೆಳತಿಯನ್ನ ಮರತ್ತಿದಕ್ಕೆ .......

I was always told by mother to nurture a good hobby for life. She felt that hobby is man's best friend. I did not realize the importance of it not till now, when I am struggling hard to think about a hobby for my son. Something which he loves to do and learns with 100% dedication and continues to do it through out his life. One question did pass through my mind .....hobby? why?

While I started thinking about my past, my hobby few things un wound ..care free school days, memories of which make me feel happy, tension filled and fun filled college days, responsible working women, a wife and a mother..uffff I have sailed a long way. Life has been busy soo very busy that this word called "HOBBY" was lost. There was no answer to the question "Why??"

Now that my son has grown up, a husband who is busy with his work schedule, I sometimes ask myself "what did I ever do to keep myself busy in life"? Many answers peeped in ..suddenly I realised "singing, painting/drawing". Dad made me sing half dozen songs. It was such a wonderful de stressing activity for both of us, infact to the whole family. Painting! I did not get a good tutor to fulfill that desire. I learned to do couple of art works which I still have at my parent's place.

After thinking much about hobby etc., I thought of re-living it. I started off singing one of my favorite songs, prayer to Lord Ganesha " Gajavadana beduve..gouri tanaya .." there came a voice asking "dear are you ok? .." (read it as are you upset?) and my son came running "what happened mummy..why are you singing?" ..

Simple Dal - recipe for bachelors :D

A simple dal recipe from my husband for all bachelors and forced bachelors :D

you need ;

Toordal or Moongdal
Pressure cook dal with a pinch of turmeric and water till it is soft.

Seasoning : Oil, jeera and mustrad seeds, curry leaves,green chillies slit lengthwise, onions chopped length wise, tomatoes chopped roughly, coriander leaves chopped roughly.

Heat oil and pop mustard and add jeera. Whey jeera turns little brown add curry leaves, green chillies and chopped onions. Sautee them. Let onions turn transcluscent then add tomatoes. When tomatoes become mushy add salt, cooked dal with water and salt. Bring them to boil. Let it boil for next 2-3 mins. Switch off the stove and add coriander leaves and cover the pan with a plate. Let it settle down before you devor it with hot rice.

Result : He says it is awesome!!

ತಿಳಿ ದೋಸೆ (Thili Dose) / Instant Dosa/ Rice Flour Crepes

Few days ago Smi of 'Life Begins Nourish it' wanted the recipe for neeru dose. Smi, we don't make neeru dose but we do make thili dose, so here is thili dose recipe for you.......

You need the following to make thili dose :

Rice Flour : 1cup
All purpose flour/ maida : 1 tbsp
salt
water
Mix all the above to make a runny batter.

Seasoning : 1/2 tsp oil, jeera, broken dry red chillies and curry leaves. Heat oil and add the ingredients in the order mentioned. Transfer this to batter.

Heat dose tava/girdle. Apply oil on the tava and spread it over the it evenly. Pour/Spread a big spoonfull of batter over the tava. Now this batter is not like normal dosa batter so you cannot spread the batter with the back of the spoon. All you need to do is to pour the batter rather than spreading it. Let it become crips before you spoon it out of the tava. Enjoy with chutney powder or chutney :) Thin, crisp lacy creepes are ready in less than 15 mins time. We enjoyed our dose with kobbari pudi (coconut chutney powder)

Few Tips :
1. Do not soak the batter. Mix the ingredients and start making.

2. I use maida because the rice flour which we get here is not very starchy kind. If you reside in India and use home made rice flour you may not need maida.

If you are here on this page do not forget to take a recipe from my husband for a simple dal when he was a 'forced bachelor' for few days :D on Cooking Station blog