Mosaru Kodubale

I am a big fan of these crisp crusted and soft centered Kodubales. It has never happened that my guests have disapproved of this particular dish whenever I made them on special occasions. A perfect snack for winters, rainy season to sit back and enjoy with a cup of hot drink of your choice.

You Need :

Rice Flour : 2 cups
Sour Curd : 1 cup
Greenchilli paste: 1 tsp
Salt
Water
Oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Dilute 1 cup of sour curd with 1 cup of water. Add green chilli paste and salt. Bring this mixture to boil. Add rice flour to boiling water and reduce the heat.
2.Let the rice flour cook for 3-4 mins on low heat. Switch off the stove and mix the contents. Let the flour mixture cool down.
3.If you have a food porcessor fix the dough kneading blade and charge the flour mixture to the FP and let it run for few seconds or till the flour gets kneaded. It should take less than a minute. Remove the kneaded dough to a clean vessel. Alternatively you can knead the dough with your hands till you get lump free soft dough.
4. Pinch a small ball from the dough. Rub little oil to your hands and roll this dough to make long pencils. Seal the edges of this pencil to get a circle. Deep fry them in hot oil till crisp. Tip: Heat oil on medium heat to get crisp kodubales.
5. Enjoy them with coconut chutney or just plain will also taste equally good.

and the winner is.........

The poll results of Indibloggies Weblog awards was finally announced yesterday. You can access the results page here

http://www.indibloggies.org/results-2008

The best indi food blog award went to Akshyapatram which won 141 votes. Taste of Mysore was at second place with 130 votes. Statistics page /Finaly Tally of Votes

http://www.indibloggies.org/stats/2008/index.html

My sincere and heartfelt thanks to many of them who voted for my blog. Being nominated and shortlisted from hundreds of food blogs itself is a greatest achievement for me. I was already a winner!! and don't you think so?? Here is a cake for you all........

With lots and lots of thanks to all readers, admirers and followers for their valuable votes,

Frothy, Tasty Coffee- Barista?? not sure...

My good old comp has given up! We are trying to revive it back. It needs some urgent IT medical services before it starts working again. Till then you all have a caffiene boost and relaxx ..

Our love to coffee is more than words and probably too much to describe in words and sentences. One fine rainy evening, a friend of mine made this frothy and tasty coffee and I fell in love with it. My friend calls it Barista. Since I have not tasted Barista coffee..I will take it as Barista.

Eversince I tasted it I made sure that every other coffee lover tasted it and err..passed on the addiction to my dear colleague A. What else! we enjoy this cup of coffee even in office now :D

Now, moving on to the recipe..you need the following to make 'our style barista coffee' :

Nescafe : 1tbsp
Sugar: 3tbsp
Water : 2 tbsp-5tbsp
Hot Milk: 1 cup (200ml)

Take Nescafe and Sugar in a bowl/coffee mug and add sugar. Add little water at a time and beat sugar and Nescafe with the help of a spoon. Dark brown colored mixture starts changing its color. Dark Brown to Light Brown. The resulting mixture also becomes light and fluffy as shown in the picture below.

Please bear with the picture as my old comp is yet to get repaired.

Take a tbsp of the mixture and mix it with 100 ml of hot milk. Mix it with a spoon and add more sugar if you require. ENJOYY; your hot cup of coffee..I can surely say that a coffee lover would surely fall in love with 'our style Barista' :)

Avalakki Dose/Bread Dose

Avalakki Dose or Bread Dose makes a yummy breakfast. Taste is different from usual dose and is a good alternative too for regular dose. I stumbled upon this recipe at Chitra Amma's Kitchen and from then Bread Dose has been added to our breakfast list.

You need the following to make Avalakki/Bread Dose :

Akki/Rice : 2 cups
Avalakki/Pressed Rice/Poha/Rice Flakes/Beaten Rice : 1/2 cup
Mosaru/Dahi/Perugu/Thair/Curd/Yogurt : 3 cups
Salt

We can make it in two different ways. Method1.Wash Rice and Pressed Rice and soak in Curds for 4-5 hrs and grind it to make smooth batter. Mix salt and make start making dosa.This method suits if you are using sour curds to soak rice and poha.

Method 2 : Wash Rice and Pressed Rice and Soak in Curds for 2-3 hrs and grind to make smooth batter. Mix salt and let it stand overnight before you make dose. This method suits if you are using sweet or fresh curds.

Do not forget to cook dose with lid closed. Enjoy hot dose with your favorite chutney. We had ours with coconut chutney.

Do not forget to vote for Taste of Mysore. Poll ends on 10 Dec 2009 and TOM needs all your support. For voting please visit the following link : http://multivote.sparklit.com/web_poll.spark/21900 (copy paste the link in your browser). Also, do not forget to confirm your vote. Keep checking your email in box for confirmation e-mail from Indibloggies. 

Till then enjoyy..hot hot dose at home with chuteny and palya :)

Vote for Taste of Mysore - Indibloggies 2008 (Indian Weblog Awards)

Dear Friends and Readers,

I am happy to share with you all that Taste of Mysore has been nominated for Indibloggies 2008 (Indian Weblog Awards) awards. It feels great to say that TOM has made it to TOP 12 under Best IndiFoodBlog Category. Here is the link to see the list of nominated blogs and their categories :

http://www.indibloggies.org/nominations-2008

It would have not been possible without the support of you readers to reach this place. I request you all to vote for Taste of Mysore and make it a winner!! :)

Voting Dates : 25 Nov 2009 to 10 Dec 2009

Here is the link for voting :

Category : Best Indifoodblog (Question Number 7 on the Voting form) ... ;)

http://multivote.sparklit.com/web_poll.spark/21900

alternatively, you reach the voting page through this link : (Click on the "click here to visit voting area")

http://www.indibloggies.org/poll-2008

An e-mail confirmation of the vote casted is required by Indibloggies. Please provide a valid e-mail address and don't forget to click on the link sent to your e-mail in-box to confirm your vote. Your votes are precious to TOM :)

You can even click on the logo below to take you to the voting page :

Bakery Style Toast/Vegetable Toast

Quick, simple and easy to make = Namma Bengaluru Iyengar Bakery Style Toast or Toastu as we fondly call it.

Ingredients :
Carrot : 1 (peeled and grated)
Tomato Firm : 1 small (chopped into small pices after removing the seeds)
Onion: 1 (peeled and chopped)
Oil : 1 tbsp
Orange food color : a pinch
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a pan.
Add chopped onions and sautee till they turn soft. Add orange food color.
Next goes grated carrots into hot pan. Stir and mix carrot with other ingredients. Fry it till carrots are done.
Finally add tomatoes and mix. Fry for 1-2 mins. We do not want tomatoes to be mushy here so tomatoes should just done. Add salt and pepper mix and switch off the stove.

To assemble toast :
Whole Wheat Bread/White Bread
Mix Vegetable from above.

Heat Tava and slightly toast the bread. Remove and spread mix vegetable on one side. Put back the bread with vegetable spread over the hot tava with vegetable side facing up. Toast the bread on low flame till the underneath of the bread becomes crisp. The whole process takes around 2 -3 mins and if your Tava/girdle is wide enough you can make 2-3 toast at a time. Serve it with hot coffee or tea.

Mixed bean cutlets

Taste of Mysore went without posts for 3 months. Many thanks to all those followers who tightly stayed on board without loosing patience! Thanks to one and all who left their comments, mails and scraps to check my well being. It was a tough sail  for past 3 months and things are slowly settling down. Recently I had mixed beans which I cooked to make palya/Usli (stir fried vegetable) but I changed my mind and started making cutlets. They came out very well and soon came the request to blog it from my hubby. Here you go with the recipe...

Mixed Beans : 2 cups (Kadalekaalu/Chickpeas/Kalachana, Hesarukaalu/greenbean/sabootmoong), Alasandekaalu (black eyed beans/peas))

Soak them for 7 hrs and cook them. Drain water and keep them aside

Potato :  4 big (cook with its skin intact, cool and refrigerate for 2 hrs)

Seasoning :

Oil-1tbsp,

Jeerige/Jeera - 1/2 tsp

green chilli and ginger paste-1/2 tsp

coriander powder : 1/2 tsp-1tsp

redchilli powder : 1 tsp (use more if you want to make it hot)

garam masala powder : 1 pinch

chopped coriander : 2 tbsp

salt

Oil for deep frying

bread crumbs -2 cups

Maida 2tbsp mixed in 1/2 cup of water (1/2 cup=50 ml)

Method :

1. Peel the skin of potatoes and grate them.

2. Mash cooked beans or blend it for 1 or 2 rounds in a blender/mixer grinder

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and when it is hot add jeera. When jeera turns golden brown add ginger and green chilli paste and sautee. Next goes coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix them well and add chopped coriander leaves and garam masala.

4. Add mashed beans to this above mixture and mix well. You may want to turn off the stove at this stage. If you feel that the mixture is too moist, turn on the stove and sauteed till water evaporates.

5. Add the above mixture to grated potatoes and mix well. Add lemon juice at this stage if you like tangy taste. Taste the mixture and adjust salt levels at this stage.

6. The potato bean mixture looks dry and becomes like dough.Make small balls from this mixture and press them down to make a circle of 5 cm diameter. Cutlet patties are ready to be deep fried.

7. Dip these patties in maida water and immediately dust it with bread crumbs.

8. Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry these patties till they turn golden brown.

9. Serve with tomato sauce or any other sauce/chutney/dip of your choice. Enjoy them hot!

Happy Deepavali to you all

ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗು ದೀಪಾವಳಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು

Taste of Mysore wishes all it's readers and visitors a very happy and prosperous deepavali.

Benne Chakkuli / Benne Muruku

Benne Chakkuli/Muruku is one of the popular snacks in Karnataka. Probably they would never say 'No' to it if you offer them a bowlful of it with coffee or tea like this :D

Caution : Highly addictive high calorie food :)

Here is how you make them :

Easy way : 

MTR or any store bought Muruku mix  - 4 cups

Ghee(Melted Butter) : 2-3 tbsp

Salt as per taste

Sesame seeds -1 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Omam Seeds -1tsp 

Oil for deep frying. Heat oil on medium flame while to prepare the chakkuli dough.

Mix all ingredients except Ghee. Melt ghee and pour over the muruku flour. 

Rub ghee and flour well. Take 1 cup of this mixture at a time and add water to make a soft dough.

Take this dough in muruku maker and press them to make long sticks. Deep Fry in hot oil over medium flame till it is golden brown.

Drain them on a absorbent paper and let them cool down before you munch them..er...keep munching...it goes on batch after batch..

Straneous Way :

Rice/Akki :  4 cups

Deskinned black lentils/Uddinabele : 1 and 1/4 cups

Wash and soak rice and lentils separately for 2 hrs.

Drain water and let them dry separately in a shady area.

When both the ingrediants are thoroughly dried they are milled/powdered together to make flour/fine powder. 

Use 4 cups of the above flour and follow the procedure given above in the 'Easy Way' omitting 'Muruku mix'

Tasty Benne Chakkuli  for you all with little art...

 

Before I sign off I would like to thank Vani of Illatharasi and  Indu of Kaipakkuvam for giving me honest scrap awards. Sorry folks being honest on internet/virtual world is something scary. I mean it honestly. However I enjoyed reading many honest revelations of  other bloggers and appreciate them.

Sanghi of Sanghi's Food Delights has passed on Diamond Friends award. I honor your friendship too Sanghi.

Hesarumolake Dose/ Moongbean Sprout Dosa

A protein rich treat to vegetarian's. Not sure if this is called pesarattu in Andhra as I have never tasted pesarattu. However, this version of moongbean sprout dosa tasted delicious. Try it to know it :) .It can be classified under instant dosa category if you buy sprouted moong bean from supermarket ;)

Though I am a big fan of sprouts I could have not eaten sprouts equivalent to 2 dosas........


Recipe Courtesy : http://greenjackfruit.blogspot.com/2005/05/world-in-pancake-adai-or-sprouted-mung.html and
http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2005/06/12/sprouted-moong-dal-dosa/

My Variation : Added Semolina to dosa batter to make crispy dosas

Ingredients:

Hesarumolake kaalu /Moongdal Sprouts : 2 cups
Ginger+garlic+greenchilli paste : 1/2 tsp
RedChillies :3
Corainder leaves : 10 lines

1.Grind all the ingredients above to make a smooth paste without using water or using very little water.

Onions : 1 medium (finely chopped)
Semolina: 3-4 tbsp
Jeerige/Cumin : 1/2 tsp
Salt

2. Add the above ingredients to ground paste and mix well. Add little water and adjust the consistency of the batter to normal dosa batter consistency.
3.Heat tava and smear oil. Ladle a spoonfull of batter over the tava and spread the batter with the back of the spoon. Close the lid and let it cook for 30 sec-1 min. Turn over and roast.
4. Enjoy protein filled dosas with your favorite chutney. We devoured it with coconut chutney.

Caution : To avoid any kind of disappointments please try with small quantity of sprouts. We liked it :)

Since Dosa can be eaten any time of the day this healthy dosa goes to WYF-breakfast event by EC and Cooking for Kids-Evening Snack hosted by Divya of Dil Se. Happy hosting both of you.

Karida Kadubu/Karjikayi

All readers must have enjoyed Ganesh chaturthi feast. We too enjoyed celebrating the festival and feast :D . I made two types of Karida kadubu (deep fried Kadubu) for Ganesh chaturthi. Hoornada Karjikayi (sweetned dal filled Kadubu) and Kadlehittina Karjikayi (sweetened roasted&powdered chickpea filled Kadubu).

Dear friend Mangala has sent me Ganesh Chaturthi picture. They enjoyed celebrating it. Thanks for the picture Mangala.

Hoornada Karjikayi:
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 Hoorna or stuffing 1 :
split pigeon peas/togari bele/toor dal/arhar ki dal - 1 cup
Water - 5 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup
Turmeric: 1tsp
Gasagase/Khus Khus : 1 tbsp
Ghee : 1tbsp
Raisins and cashewnuts : 2 tbsp

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.
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.Grind cooked peas in a mixer grinder with very very little water (only if required) to make a smooth yet thick paste of peas and jaggery.

5. Pan fry gasagase and powder it. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry cashew and raisins till they are brown in color.  Add powdered gasagase, fried cashew and raisins to the above peas and jaggery paste and mix well.



Ingredients for making Karjikayi Skin :
Madia Hittu/ Plain Flour : 1 cup
Chiroti Rava or Fine semolina : 2tbsp
Hot oil : 1tbsp
water to mix


Mix all the above and make a tight dough.

1. Pinch small portion of the dough and roll it to make a circle of 10 cm diameter.
2. Keep the pea and jaggery stuffing/hoorna in the middle and fold over. You now have a half moon shaped karjikayi with you. Seal the edges by pressing the dough with your finger tip. You can fold the edges to give it a nice ripply edge as shown in the picture below or just leave it plain.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan on a medium flame. Deep fry karjikayi till they turn golden brown.
Enjoy them hot with little ghee on them!

Another look ........

  

Stuffing 2 :

Kadalehittu :
Hurkadale/Putani/Kadalepoppu/Roasted and deskinned chickpeas : 1 cup
Jaggery : 3/4 cup (if you need it less sweet) or 1 cup
Gasagase : 1 tbsp (panfried and powdered
cardamom : 1 pod
Dried Coconut : 3 tbsp (grated)
Take all the ingredients above except coconut in a coffee grinder/mixer and powder it. Add grated coconut and mix well. Stuff this inside the karjikayi skin, seal and deep fry it.
Enjoy hot :)

These two types of Karjikayi will go to Purva and Priti's Festive Food Event. 

 

Awards and Tags :

Many thanks to Sireesha, Nivedita, ShantiKrishankumar for passing me Scrumptous Blog, Kreativ Blog, I love your blog and One lovely Blog awards to me. Few of them have tagged me too. I have already done one of the tags in my earlier post.

It is the Scrumptious Blog Award -a blog award given to sites who:
Inspire you
Encourage You
May give Fabulous information
A great read
Has Scrumptious recipes
Any other reasons you can think of that make them Scrumptious!

Shama has tagged me for ABC's of you tag...here you go with my ABC's :

1) A - Available/Single ? Available to my husband only
2) B - Best Friend ? -- My Sisters
3) C - Cake or Pie ? CAKE
4) D - Drink of choice ?  TENDER COCONUT WATER .
5) E - Essential item you use every day ? Comb.
6) F - Favourite color ? Green, Purple/Lavender
7) G - Gummy Bears or Worms ? Gummy Bears
8) H - Hometown ? Mysore.
9) I - Indulgence ? Singing
10 ) J - January or February ? Both can?
11) K - Kids and their names ? 1, Akash
12) L - Life is incomplete without ? Family
13) M - Marriage date ? May 21
14) N - Number of siblings? 2
15) O - Oranges or Apples ? APPLES
16) P -- Phobias / Fears ? Heightophobia :))
17) Q - Quote for today ? Health is Wealth
18) R - Reason to smile ? Akash's innocent talk
19) S - Season ? Spring
20) T - Tag 4 people ? Sireesha, Nivedita, ShanthiKrishnakumar, Vanishree
21) U - Unknown fact about me ? I have to ask my husband
22) V - Vegetable you don't like ? none..I like all
23) W - Worst habit ? sleeping :(
24 ) X - X-rays you've had ? Someone wants them? :O
25) Y - Your favourite food ? Any tasty vegetarian food cooked with love
26 ) Z - Zodiac sign ? Aries

Eco Friendly Ganesha - DIY Ganesha Idol

Many bloggers around the world make ganesha idol using clay. In my 2 years of blogging experiance I have seen few talented bloggers presenting their handmade ganesha idol pictures in their blog. I am all determined to make DIY (Do IT Yourself) ganesha idol with my little son. I found few links which interested me and thought of sharing it with you all.

1.Parisara Ganapthi or Eco Friendly Ganapathi

This webpage is interesting. They have detailed instruction and a video for making Ganesha idol, check them out!

http://parisaraganapati.net/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ZH0tkh2TQ

2. Hindu Blog

This blog has a you tube video for making Ganesha. Take a look and probably you will make your own Ganesha!

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2007/09/how-to-make-ganesh-idols-at-home.html

Buy Eco Friendly Ganesha and save Mother Earth :)

Here is our 'practise ganesha' that I made from clay that we had at home. Results were good and it has encouraged me to make a nice one for the festival :)

Thondekayi Kadalebele Palya

Thondekayi (Tindora in Hindi, Ivygourd in English) is a favorite vegetable at home. The combination of thondekayi and kadalebele(chanadal in hindi) turned out delicious.

You need :
Thondekayi/Tindora/Ivy Gourd : 200g (washed and chopped into rounds or any shape. )
Kadalebele/Chanadal : 1 fistful (soaked for atleast half an hour)
Palyada Pudi : 1 tsp + a big pinch
Saarina Pudi : 1/4 tsp (Click on it for the recipe or use any sambar pudi)
Tamarind Juice ~ 3/4 -1 tbsp
Jaggery : 1/2 tbsp
Salt

Seasoning ; Oil, hingu/hing, mustard seeds, dry red chillies, curry leaves, urad dal

Palyada Pudi recipe is from the cook book 'Cooking with Pedatha':
Kadalebele/Chanadal/Bengalgram : 1cup (dry roasted)
Uddinabele/Uraddal/split balck gram (husked): 1cup (dry roasted)
Dry Coconut: 1/2 tbsp (dry roasted)

Dry Red Chillies : 1cup (stalks removed) (toasted in a drop of oil)
Curry Leaves : leaves from 2 lines (toasted in a drop of oil)
Asafoetida : 1/2 tsp

When all the ingredients cool down, powder it and store it in a airtight container. You can use it for your choice of vegetable curries.

1.Add 100ml of water to thondekayi pieces and kadalebele. Pressure cook thondekayi and chanadal for 1 whistle or 2 till thondekayi is tender and chanadal is cooked.
2.Heat oil in a pan and add seasoning ingredients in the order. Let mustard pop before you add chillies and let urad dal turn red before you add cooked thondekayi.
3.Add cooked thondekayi and dal along with the water which was added to it for cooking.
4.Add tamarind juice, jaggery, salt, palyada pudi and sarina pudi and bring it to boil. Check the curry and adjust the flavors as needed. Serve hot with chapathi or rice.

Preethi of Preethi's Online cookbook has passed me a tag and also Awards. Thanks Preeti. I too love your blog and you are a Kreativ a blogger with a lovely blog too.

Mysore Masale Chapathi

What is in a name ?... If you are wondering what it might be after reading the title :D

Amma made masale chapathi just like masale dose and in these years we had stopped making chutney and palya for chapthi. One fine day when I had onion chutney and some left over potato palya I just made this and rest is history :) ....it was super hit. R took a bite and asked me "is it Mysore Masale Chapathi"? just like your mysore masale dose ...ehehehe..I had a title for my next post. Masale chapathi is best eaten when it is hot just like MMD.

1.You can access Onion Chutney here (click on here). Alternatively you can use coconut chutney also

2.Make Potato Palya/Sabji in a way you like.

3.Make chapathi (probably thin Paratha in North Indian style). Transfer rolled chapathi to a hot tava/ girdle

4.When one side is cooked/browns flip over the chapathi.

5.Reduce the heat and start making masale chapathi.

6.Take 1 tbsp of onion or coconut chutney and spread it over chapati evenly. Spread potato palya on one side of chapathi. Add a tsp of ghee and fold the chapathi into half. You have a half moon shaped chapathi with you now. Spread ghee on top of the chapathi, flip over and apply ghee again. Total amount of ghee used should not exceed 1.5 tsp..too much ghee spoils the taste unless you love ghee you can spread generous amounts on chapathi.

Another look :

7.Remove to a serving plate and enjoy!! Mysore Masale Chapathi from Taste of Mysore blog :D

On a different note, Uma, Suparna and Raji have showered me with Kerativ Blogger, One Lovely Blog and I love your Blog awards and Tags. Thank you Girls. You all are creative and I 3 love your blogs :)

Kreativ Blogger award comes with some rules :

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

7 things about myself that people might find interesting :

1.Blogging - Recording day to day recipes for consistant taste was the main objective of starting TOM. It has not only served it's purpose blogging has given me much more than that. I could make friends accross the world. I have never seen them but a e-mail from them makes my day.

2. Eating - I love to try different varieties of vegetarian food. Thanks to hubby who made me adventurous or else I would have stuck to same 15-20 types of dishes that I knew before...

3. Cloud 9 : I often travel on this cloud for few seconds( like quantum physics explains 'excited state'..excited atom which cannot be in higher orbit for a long time, I too come back to ground state very soon.....) when I recieve appreciations from my hubby and dear friends; when readers/friends give me a feedback about the recipes published on Taste of Mysore

4... 5...6...7... probably some other time :P
An example .......
One of my reader sends me a graphic designed 'thank you' card. Thanks to you too Mr.Sujay for showing confidence in my recipes and trying them out. Trust you enjoyed Congress Kadalebeeja and Rave Kodubale.

Awards:

8 other bloggers whom I want to nominate for these awards :

Prathibha of the Chef and Her Kitchen
AnuDivya of and a little bit more
Namratha of Finger licking food
Sowmya of Creative Saga
Priyanka of Asan Khana
ChitraAmma and Dibs of Chitra Amma's Kitchen
Vanamala of Mala's Kitchen
Sharon and Rekha of The Key Bunch

Enjoy your awards girls... :)

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!!