Patholi/patholeo/steamed sweet rice dumpling in turmeric leaf

Happy Nagpanchami to all my readers!!

   We celebrate Nagpanchami during the month of Shravan.It is a festival of snakes celebrated on the 5th day of shravan month one of the auspicious month for hindus.we celebrate so many festivals during this month like Nagapachami,rakhsha bandan,Narali purnima,sutta punnav / pavitraropana, gokulashtami / krishnashtami,Mosaru kudikey/dahi handi and so many other small puja's and rituals.

  We konkanis prepare lots of sweets and savouries by using seasonal veggies. Today i have prepared some steamed  sweet rice dumpling in turmeric leaf  .We call it patholi or kadubu(kannada) which is quite popular in south india and some parts of west bengal..In goa people call it patholeo.They use dark goan jaggery which tastes superb and gives rich brown colour. We prepare this specially for this day along with some other sweets too.But this  sweet dumpling is a must on this day.when i was a kid i just used to wait for this day to relish this divine dish!

Turmeric leaves are very aromatic and has got very unique flavour.This leaf is very useful in cooking as it is medicinally very good for health because of its antiseptic property.

Ingredients:

For the rice covering:

Raw rice-11/2cups

Beaten rice-1cup

Turmeric leaves-20 (medium size)

Salt -1tsp

For stuffing:

Coconut -2cups(grated)

Jaggery-1cup

Soak rice and beaten rice for 2 hours.Drain the water from rice and grind both the ingredients to smooth paste without adding too much of water.I have added only 11/2cup of water to the batter while grinding.If you feel the batter is little watery then add some rice flour to adjust the consistency.The batter should be thicker than Dosa/ pancake batter.

Now prepare the stuffing with grated coconut and jaggery.Heat  a pan /wok add jaggery and 1/2 cup of water and let it dissolve completely.Now add grated coconut  and mix it well.Cook till it becomes dry and all the moisture evaporates.If  you prepare the stuffing like this then you can keep the patholis for couple of days without refrigeration.One short cut  method is just add grated jaggery and mix it well with the coconut and your filling is ready.But i always prefer 1st method.

 

• Clean all the leaves in under running water,wipe them with kitchen towel and now its ready for stuffing.

 

• Now boil some water in the idli steamer

• Now arrange all the leaves in a row and start spreading the batter.
•  Spread a table spoon of batter in each leaves as shown in the picture.You have to spread the batter evenly for the better results.

• Now take some stuffing and nicely spread it in a single line.The stuffing should be in the centre.If you want more sweet then you can add little more stuffing.

• Proceed the same with all the leaves.Once done its ready for steaming.

• Now keep all the patholis in a steamer and close the lid.Let it steam for about 15mins or till done.
• Serve hot with ghee.

Note: Its better to trim the leaves on both the ends and if your leaves are too big then its better to make it half so you can arrange the patholis easily inside the steamer.One more important tip is always arrange the patholis in such a way the steam passes through each and every patholi while cooking.

Kanchipuram Idli

Kanchipuram is a famous temple city in Tamil nadu But whenever I think of Kanchipuram the first thing that comes to my mind is silk saries,beautiful hand loom saries and dress materials.It is also know as silk city. Today apart from its sarees this small town is famous of its cusine .One of the famous dish is special kanchipuram Idli.It is a colourful seasoned idli.The seasoning gives a nice flavour and aroma to this idli .

Ingredients:
Par boiled rice-1cup
Raw rice/dosa rice-1/2cup
Urad dal/Split black gram dal-1/2cup
Dried ginger/shunti/saunt powder-1tsp
                  or
Fresh ginger-1"piece
Yoghurt-1cup
Green chillies-2(finely chopped)
Turmeric-1/2tsp(optional)
Salt to taste

Ingredients for tempering:
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Chanadal-1tsp
Cumin-1/2tsp
Asafoetida-1pinch
Curry leaves- 2spring( chopped)
Black pepper corns( coarsely crushed)- 1/2tsp
Cashew nuts- 5-6(chopped)

Method:

• Soak Dal for about 6hours.
• Soak both the rice together for 6-7 hours.
• First grind urad dal to smooth paste  and keep aside.
• Now grind both the rice to semolina consistency
• Mix both the batter well.Add salt to taste and let the batter ferment over night.
• Next day add yoghurt,chopped green chillies,dry ginger powder or chopped ginger and mix it well.
• Now prepare for tempering.
• Heat a small pan ,add some oil or ghee.In that add Chanadal,Muatard seeds,cumin seeds,Black pepper corns,Cashewnuts,asafoetida  and Curry leaves one by one.
• Now add this to the batter and give a quick stir.Let the batter stand for 30 mins.
• After 30 mins heat water in idli steamer .In the meantime grease the idli moulds and then fill it with idli batter and steam on high heat for about 15 mins.
• Let it cool off a bit before taking it out from the mould.
• Serve hot with chutney and sambar 

Bikkanda song(spicy jackseed masala)..a seasonal konkani delicacy

I am here with one more dish which is our family favourite konkani seasonal dish with jackseed.We call it Bikkanda song... Song is a type of dish  in konkani ,which is a spicy dish.In this we use only chilly and tamarind along with coriander and methi for the masala.

Ingredients:
Jack seed-2cups
Onion-4(sliced)
Dry red chillies-8-9
Tamarind-1 big lemon sized ball
Coriander seeds-1tbsp
Methi/fenugreek-1/2tsp
Salt to taste
coconut oil or any veg oil-2tbsp

Method:

• Remove the outer layer of jackseed and then thinly slice all seeds.
• Now roast chillies with a tsp of coconut oil and keep aside.
• Same pan roast coriander when its turns to light brown add fenugreek and fry for a second and switch off the gas.
• Now grind roasted chillies,coriander and fenugreek along with tamarind to smooth paste.
• In a shallow frying pan add oil and fry onion till they turns to light pink color.
• Now add sliced jackseeds and salt to taste.Mix it well and add the ground masala and a cup of water.
• Cover it with a lid and cook on a low flame till jackseed becomes soft and tender.
• Now open the lid and cook until the dish is semi dry.
• Serve hot with rice and dal

Horse gram masala dosa

One more dosa for my dosa feast!! This dosa is bit different from our usual masala dosa because i have used horse gram in this which makes this dosa more healthy and tasty too.Normally we make thick pancake type dosas with this batter which we call kultha(horse gram)doddak but for the first time i tried this crispy dosa with potato masala like our usual masala dosa.

Ingredients:
Horse gram-1cup
Raw rice/dosa rice-3cups
Urad dal /split black gram-1/4
Salt to taste

Ingredients for potato baji(masala):
Boiled potato-5 medium
Onion-3 sliced
Green chilly-3-4 chopped
Curry leaves-2spring
Mustard-1/2tsp
Split Black gram /urad dal-1tsp
Chana dal/Bengal gram dal-1/2tsp
Turmeric-1/2tsp
Oil-1tbsp

Method of making baji(potato masala)

• Cut potatoes into cubes.
• Heat a kadai/pan add oil and let it heat for a second
• Add some urad dal,mustard ,chana dal let chanadal and uraddal change its color to golden brown.
• Now add curry leaves followed by slice onion and chopped green chillies.Saute for 5 mins.
• Add turmeric powder and mix it well.
• At this stage add 1cup of water and let it boil.Now add  boiled potato pieces and salt to taste.Cover it with a lid and cook on a low flame for couple of seconds.Now switch off the gas and its ready to go with your dosa or chapati.

Method of making dosa batter:

• Soak horse gram and urad dal together overnight or 7-8 hours
• Soak rice separately overnight or 3-4 hours
• Next day morning grind all the ingredients together to smooth thick paste.
• Add salt to taste and mix it well.

Method of making dosa

Now heat dosa pan and now pour a ladle full of batter onto the pan and lightly use the ladle to spread the batter into a circular shape from centre outwords.Drizzle with a oil and cook till golden brown

Now put some potato masala in the middle of the dosa.

Now fold the dosa from one side as shown in the above picture.

Now fold the other side too.

Now fold the 3nd side to form a prefect triangle and take it out and serve hot with sambar and chutney of your choice.

Chakke kuru Pajji/jackfruit seed chutney

This chutney is prepared with jackfruit seed .This is a coorgi dish called Chakkey kuru pajji(jackfruit seed chutney) which is quite famous in coorg specially in jackfruit season.There they relish this with Rice rotti/otti or Kodumbuttu( rice dumplings).
  Jackfruit is a unique,exotic fruit from which we can prepared so many dishes whether its raw or ripe.we can use almost all parts of jackfruit tree.In jackfruit the seeds are also important as edibles.We konkanis prepare so many dishes with this goes well with any dish.You can prepare so many dishes with this.Jackfruit seeds are relatively big compared to other fruit seeds.It can easily substitute for potato.

Ingredients:
Jackfruit seed-10
Green chillies-3-4
Fresh grated coconut-1cup
Lemon juice-2tsp
Salt to taste
Garlic-7-8 cloves for seasoning

Method:

• First cook the seeds with salt till soft in a pressure cooker.Take about 2-3 whistle.
• Once it is cool down remove the outer white coloured peel and mash it well.
• Now grind it along with coconut and green chillies to fine paste.
• Mix it lemon juice and salt to taste.
• Now take a small pan add a table spoon of oil and add some crushed garlic and fry till golden brown.Add this to the ground paste and serve with roti or rice.

Sweet thousali(cucumber dosa).. a konkani dish

One more dosa for dosa lovers.This dosa is little sweet with cucumber flavour.We konkanis call it thousali..(thousey means cucumber in konkani ).

Ingredients:
Dosa rice/raw rice-2cups
Cucumber-11/2cup(grated)
Jaggery-1cup(or to taste)
Baking soda-1/2tsp
Salt-1tsp

Method:

• Soak rice for about 2-3 hours.
• Squeeze  1 cup of grated Cucumber and collect the water and keep aside.
• Now grind the rice using the cucumber juice ,1/2cup of remaining cucumber and Jaggery to smooth paste.
• Add salt and baking soda and mix it well.
• The batter should be slightly thinner than our usual plain dosa.
• Now heat dosa tava and spread ladle full and cover it for 2-3 mins on medium flame.
• When you see the crispy outer layer its ready to take out.
• Serve hot with dollop of butter.

Note: No need of fermentation..very quick and easy 

Shaam savera/Palak-paneer kofta in Makhni gravy

Recipe source: Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients for kofta:

Spinach- 2 bunch Approximately 3 cups( finely chopped)
Corn flour-1cup
Wheat flour-2tbsp
Green chillies-3-4(finely chopped)
Garlic-4-5 cloves( chopped)
Cumin -1/2tsp
Paneer/cottage cheese-150 gms/1cup
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Ingredients for Makhni gravy:
Tomato-4
Onion-1
Ginger-1" piece
Garlic-8-9 cloves
Red chilly powder-1tbsp
Green chillies-1(finely chopped)
Garam Masala-2tsp
Kasoori methi-1tsp
Cornflour-2tsp(mixed with 1tbsp of milk)
Cardamom-2
Cinnamon-1" piece
Bay leaf-1
Sugar-1/2tsp
Butter-1tbsp
Cream-1cup

1st prepare Makhni gravy :

• Grind tomato,ginger,garlic and onion to smooth paste.
• Heat butter and a tsp of oil in a pan and add whole spices and stir them for a while.
• Then add chilly powder followed by chopped chillies and ground tomato paste.Saute for 5-6 mins or till the oil floats on top.
• Add garam masala,kasoori methi,sugar and salt to taste.Mix it well.Then add 11/2cups of water.Bring to boil,reduce heat  and simmer for 5mins.
• Stir in fresh cream and corn flour mixed with milk.Stir for 2mins and switch off the gas and garnish with coriander leaves.

Method of making koftas:

• Wash spinach under plenty of running water to get rid of any dirt and let it drain for a while.
• Grate paneer/cottage cheese and a pinch of salt and mix it well.Make 12  marble sized balls and keep aside
• Now add cornflour and wheat flour to chopped spinach/palak along with green chilly,garlic cumin and salt to taste.Mix it well to make 12 lemon sized balls.
• Take spinach ball and flatten them on your plam .Before that its better to apply little oil to your palm.now stuff the paneer balls in them.Shape into balls.
• Heat oil in deep frying pan and deep fry all the balls till crisp.Drain and keep aside.

Method of serving

;

• Tips:
• Cut koftas into halves and place on top of tomato gravy.Do not boil koftas in gravy as they may break.
• If the spinach dough is little soggy then you can add some more corn starch to make it little hard.

Limbiya kanchi/Salted lime with green chillies and ginger

Every year during summer my mom used to make variety of pickle but i have always been afraid to make any sort of pickle especially without oil .I first tried this when my son was ill few years back He was very fussy about the food so thought of some salted lime which is available through out the year unlike mango for which we have to wait for one whole year.Actually my son and husband both love this pickle as it is mild and less spicy and zero oil pickle.This is the reason i thought of making this pickle.Earlier my mom used to send me this pickle .But that year  i prepared it all by myself and it was just like my mom's.In konkani we call this pickle "Kanchi".This goes well with our Boiled rice pyej/rice kanji

  

Ingredients:
Lime or lemon -10
Salt-2cups
Green chilly-5-6
Ginger-2(1")pieces

Method:

• Wash the lime thoroughly .wipe dry with a clean cloth and leave on a clean cloth to dry for some time.Once it is completely dry chop each lime into 5-6 pieces.Same way cut the chillies into 1" pieces and ginger into juliennes. 
• Now dissolve salt in 4cups of water and add lime,green chillies and ginger and bring to boil.Let it cool completely.
• Now transfer this into sparkling clean container preferably ceramic jar or glass jar or any non-reactive container will do.
• Leave it as it is for 10 days.You can either refrigerate or can store in a cool dry place to pickle.
• Remember to stir once in 2days.Normally i refrigerate my pickle so i hardly touch for 10-15 days.
• The self life of this pickle is a year but i prefer making  this in small quantity.Sothat every 6 months i make fresh batch of pickles.

Tip: Always use fresh thinner rind lemon for this pickle.

         

Ambya ( mango)gozzu..an authentic konkani delicacy!

After so many posts on mango,i am here with one more my dad's favourite dish called Ambya gojju which i used to prepare before marriage specially for my dad.This Father's day i have prepared some veg dishes which he used to love and this is one of them.He used to love mangoes a lot.so thought of making his favourite dish since my dad is one of the main reason i am such a food lover.Thank you for everything you have done for me.Anna(daddy) you are the best!! ...we are missing you a lot :(

Ingredietns:
Juicy mango-2
Jaggery-2tsp or to taste
Salt to taste
Green chilly-2(crushed)
Urad dal-1/4tsp
Mustard-1/4tsp
Curry leaves-1spring


Method:

• Soften the mango with the peel on.
• Now slowly peel off the mango and squeeze out all the pulp.
• In a bowl add water and mango peel and nicely squeeze all the juices well with your hand and discard the peel.
• Now add the mango pulp and little water and mix it well.
• Add the crushed green chillies ,salt and jaggery blend it again with a spoon.
• Now heat one small pan for temper the mango pulp.
• Add some oil( preferably coconut oil) and add mustard,urad dal followed by curry leaves and pour this over the mango pulp.
• Serve chilled. 

Alu-methi

Enjoying the monsoon rains with my Aloo-Methi and garam garam puries.......

Monsoon rains have started at last in our city too and people are happy that rains are finally here.Ah what a nostalgia ...getting drenched in the first rain of the season!
   Today after so many days i am enjoying my puries with this simple yet tasty dish.This dish is quite famous in north- India but now it is also enjoyed by south -Indians.This dish is very easy and very aromatic.I just love the smell of the fenugreek leaves which makes a great combo with potato.

Ingredients:-
Fenugreek leaves-2cups (chopped0
Potato-4(thinly sliced)
Cumin/methi-1tsp
Garlic-2-3 cloves crushed(optional)
Green chilly-2 chopped
Turmeric-a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil-1tbsp

Method:

• Cut potatoes into thin square pieces.Apply salt and keep aside for 10-15 mins.
• Wash and clean the methi leaves and finely chop.Strain the excess water.
• Now take a kadai or pan and heat a table spoon of oil.
• In that add cumin and let it crakle, immediately add crushed garlic and chopped green chillies and saute for a second.
• Add a pinch of turmeric followed by methi leaves and a pinch of salt ( as we have added little salt to potatoes so be careful while adding salt )   .Saute for 5 mins or until its almost dry.
• Now squeeze the potatoes and  drain off the the excess water and mix this with methi leaves and fry for a second.
• Now sprinkle some watere and close it with a lid and let it cook for 5mins on low flame.
• Now open the lid check for the seasoning and stir till  the dish is almost dry.
• Switch off the gas and serve hot with roti or puri.

Moong dal-jackfruit payasam/Moogadali goshey

Today is "Ashada Ekadashi" the most important ekadashi virtha which falls on 11th day in bright half of Asada Masa.We hindu's observe fasting during this day.Chaturmasa vratha also begins from this day.The real purpose of the fast is to incessantly think and sing the glory of the lord.It does not matter if one takes milk,fruits and some light food like dishes prepared with Sabudana or moong dal.But in Mangalore we konkanis love to feast rather than fast!

 On this day we konkanis prepare some special dishes like khotto/for breakfast and for lunch  gajbaje(mixed vegetables) moogadali godshe( green gram payasam),kolambya  hinga udka gozzu(salted mango chutney) and some podis( veg fritters) for lunch.Today i am here with one type of payasam prepared specially on this day..MOONG DAL PAYASAM with Jackfruit.

Ingredients:

Moong dal(split green gram) -1cup

Jackfruit-1cup

Jaggery-2cups

Coconut milk-2cups

Wheat flour-1tbsp

Cashew nut-2tbsp

Cardamom-3-4

Method:-

• Cut the jack fruit into medium sized pieces and keep aside
• Pressure cook Green gram dal in 4 cups of water for about 15 mins or just take 2 whistle.
• Once the cooker is cooled down,open the lid and transfer the cooked dal into a heavy bottom sauce pan. 
• Add jaggery to the cooked dal  and a cup of water and bring it to a boil.It will take about 5-7 minutes on medium flame.
• Now add jackfruit pieces and cashew nuts, boil again for about 10 mins on low flame.Keep stirring in between ,or it will stick to the botton of the pan.
• Now mix wheat flour with coconut milk and add this to cooked green gram dal and just take one boil and switch off the gas.
• Add cardamom powder and its ready to serve.
• Serve hot or cold

Mango-semolina cake

This mango cake  is very easy to make ,unlike other maida based cakes- you'll love it.just mix some semolina with mango pulp along with sugar and oil and its done.Tip: try to find fresh ripe mangoes  for this recipe.. the taste is well worth the effort.Make this cake for your friends and family-they won't be able to thank you enough! Once i have tried Egyptian dessert called basbousa but in that  dish butter milk is used in place of mango puree and some sugar syrup on top.So i Googled for this cake and i got  this in food sify.com..It was my 1st attempt with mango cake.

Ingredients:-
Semolina-1cup
Mango puree-1cup
Butter-1/4cup
Sugar-1/2cup or less than 1/2cup
Baking powder-1tsp
Tutti fruitti-2tbsp
Cashew nuts-1tbsp(chopped)
Nutmeg powder-1/4tsp
Salt-1/4tsp

Method:-

• Mix all the ingredients well and leave it for 10 mins.
• Now transfer the mixture into a greased baking dish.Garnish with tutti fruitti and chopped cashew nut pieces.
• In the meantime preheat the oven for 175 degree /345 degree F.
• Now place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 30 mins.

Thai Crab Soup

This past weekend i got this lovely huge crabs and thought of trying something which i have never tried before.Then thought of making some thai soup.Hoping the recipe still in my old books.So started digging my 20 yrs old collection of recipes.Luckily i still have it.It was awesome..i really like the taste and the aroma of the lemon grass which really enhances the flavour of the crab meat.

Ingredients:

1. Crab-2( large)
2. Ginger-1" piece
3. Red chilly paste-2ts  or
4. Thai curry paste-1tbsp( here i have used red chilly paste)
5. Garlic-5-6
6. Onion-2 chopped
7. Fish sauce-2tsp
8. Tomato-1chopped
9. Lemon grass-2 stalks,tough outer layered removed,sliced thinly
10. Pepper powder-1/2tsp
11. Coriander leaves/root-3-4 springs
12. Coconut milk-1heaped tbsp
13. Cornflour/starch-1tbsp(mix it with coconut milk)
14. Salt to taste

Method:

• Clean and cut the crab.You can refer my earlier post   Kurla alley piyava Gashi for how to cut and clean the crabs
• Now take a big sauce pan and add about  2 litres of water.In that add add all ingredients except coconut milk.
• Boil over low flame for about 30-40 mins.Let it cool down for 10-15 mins.
• Now take out the crab pieces and blend the sauce in a blender untill smooth.
• Now take out meat from the body of crabs.There is a lot of good meat in the body of most crabs,especially blue and Dungeness crabs.It is located in the cartilage-lined channels in each of the two equal sides of the body.To get at it,grasp each side and break the body in half and fish out all the yummy meat in maze of cartilaginous channels.
• Now add all the meat and the claws into the soup .
•  Heat  the soup again.Just before switching off check for seasoning and finally add coconut milk-cornstarch and mix it well.Now its ready to serve.You can add little lemon juice just before serving to get that nice tangy flavour.