Recipe world

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

We always prefer some or the other kind of dosa for the daily breakfast. Sometimes, I prepare rotti or idli also, but most of the days, our day starts with dosa! Here, we get a vegetable called Zucchini. It looks like cucumber, but tastes like bottle-gourd! Sometime back, we had been to a Farmers market nearby and bought this vegetable from the market. Somehow, I was not able to finish it off and it started spoiling. I thought of using the zucchini for preparing the dosa batter. Dosas came out very well and we couldn't make it out that it is made of zucchini!! Then, the stock of zucchini got over very easily.

Last week I tried preparing Spicy Dosa or Khaara Dose, which I learned from my mom using the zucchini. It came out very well. I already prepared it three times using zucchini and we people enjoyed it a lot. Now, I am sharing this recipe with you as well! Zucchini is not a must, you can replace it with green cucumber or yellow cucumber.

Preparation time: 1/2 hour

Soaking time: 3 hours

Fermentation time: 7 - 8 hours or overnight

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 1/2 cup

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 spoon

Dry red chillies 3 - 4

Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 spoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 spoon

Turmeric - 1/4 spoon

Carom seeds - 1/4 spoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 spoon

Sesame seeds - 1/2 spoon

Pinch of asafoetida

Curry leaves 5 - 6

Zucchini - 1 (or small size cucumber)

1 medium size onion

Salt to taste

Sugar or jaggery - 1/2 spoon

Oil or butter

Procedure:

Soak the rice and fenugreek seeds in water for at-least 3 hours.

Peel the zucchini and cut into small pieces or grate them using the grater or shredder.

Combine the soaked rice and fenugreek seeds, chopped/ grated zucchini, red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, carom seeds, mustard seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves and grind into a smooth paste.

You may need very less water for grinding them, because of the water content present in the zucchini/ cucumber. If required, add little water.

Keep the batter in a warm place for 7 - 8 hours or overnight.

Before preparing the dosa, chop the onion, mix it with salt and keep it for 10 - 15 minutes. If will make the onion pieces smooth and they will adjust with the batter nicely.

Heat the dosa pan on medium flame. Add salt, sugar and chopped onion to the dosa batter and mix well.

Pour a ladle full of batter on the dosa pan and spread it a little; don't make it too thin.

Cook the dosa on both the sides. Add little oil or butter if you like.

Serve the warm dosa with butter.

Tips:

Add 2 spoons of grated coconut while grinding the ingredients to make the dosas very smooth.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Vade is one of the authentic Havyaka delicacies, especially prepared for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. People will prepare Chakli and Vade in lots for this festival and enjoy them upto a month after the festival. This dish can be prepared with very less items which will be there in everybody's kitchen.. but it needs bit more time and little stressful job! Better to get a helping hand instead of doing it alone..

Preparation time: 1 hour
Soaking time: 5 hours
Yield: 24 vade of medium size

Ingredients:
Rice - 3 cups
Urad dal (split) - 1/4 cup
Fenugreek 8 - 10 seeds
Carom seeds - 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds - 1 spoon
Sesame seeds - 1 spoon
Green chilli - small piece
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Soak urad dal and fenugreek seeds in water for 2 - 3 hours.
Wash the rice thoroughly with enough water and spread them on a cotton cloth for 5 minutes to absorb the excess water. Powder them coarsely like sooji rava before it gets dried up.
Grind the soaked urad dal and fenugreek seeds into smooth paste using water. Consistency of this paste should be the same as Dosa batter.

Add the carom seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and green chilli while grinding, or powder them separately and add to the batter.
Don't use all the batter to prepare the dough; keep around 1/4th portion of the dough separately to add later.
Now, take the batter, add salt and coarsely powdered rice little by little. Prepare a smooth dough like Chapati dough. Knead the dough nicely for at-least 8 - 10 minutes to ensure proper mixing.
Keep the dough covered and let it sit for about 2 hours before preparing the Vade.
After 2 hours, knead the dough again. If needed, add the urad dal batter which was kept aside.
Heat the oil in a pan. Oil should be extremely hot (smoking level) for preparing the Vade; else, it won't puff up nicely.

Take small lemon size dough and knead it nicely for a minute. Roll it into a small roundel like Poori on a greased plastic sheet. Make a hole in the middle.
Once the oil becomes nicely hot, transfer the rolled Vade into the hot oil and deep fry till golden brown on both the sides. It won't take much time to deep fry them.
Preserve the Vade in airtight containers and enjoy eating them upto a month!

Tips:

Don't keep the dough balls ready for longer time to avoid them getting dried up. Simultaneously, you need to prepare the dough balls, roll them and deep fry! That's why it will be better to have some helping hands.

Sending this recipe to the 'Flavours of South India', ongoing event at Simply Food.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Boondi Laddoo is a sweet variety which is popular throughout India. It is common to prepare these laddoos on festival and other occasions. Boondi (small balls) will be prepared from the besan flour and laddoos are made by combining these boondis with sugar syrup; that's the reason its called as Boondi Laddoo!

My mom will prepare similar kind of laddoo for Ganesh Chaturthi festival using the jaggery instead of sugar. Even I wanted to pepare the laddoos this time for the festival, but I prepared them using the sugar. This was the first time I prepared these laddoos and it was a great success! Folks liked it a lot and laddoos got over very quickly :)

Preparation time: 1 hour

Yield: 14 laddoos of medium size

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 2 1/4 cup

Sugar - 2 1/4 cup

Cardamom - 3

Cloves - 4

Cashews, raisins - optional

Water

Oil for deep frying

A ladle with small holes to prepare the boondi

Procedure:

Take the besan flour, add water little by little and make a thick paste without lumps.

Heat the oil in a pan on medium flame. Pour some batter on the ladle and let the drops of batter fall into the hot oil like tiny droplets.

Deep fry the boondi, drain the excess oil and tranfer them to a vessel.

Prepare a thick, 1 string consistency sugar syrup by adding little water to the sugar.

Add the crushed cardamom seeds and cloves to the sugar syrup.

Roast the dry fruits in ghee / oil and add to the sugar syrup.

Add the boondi to the syrup and mix thoroughly.

Laddoo should be prepared when the mixture is still warm. Take small portions of mixture and press then in between your hands to prepare the laddoos.

If needed, you can warm up the mixture again and prepare the laddoos.

These laddoos can be preserved upto a week.

Tips:

Add few strands of saffron to enhance the taste of the laddoo.

If the batter to prepare the boondi is thick, just add little more water to adjust the consistency. If it looks watery, try adding some dryflour.
Food color can be added to make the Laddoo colorful.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

This Burfi is one of the special dishes which my Mom prepares. Using only 3 ingredients, this tasty and easy sweet can be prepared. Whenever I prepare this Burfi at home, I will get over within one day!

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

Groundnut - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Procedure:

Dry roast the groundnut and remove the skin.

Prepare a fine powder from the roasted groundnut.

Take a thick bottom pan, pour the milk and sugar, and bring to boil.

Once the sugar dissolves in milk, add the groundnut powder and mix well.

Keep mixing the mixture till it thickens, separates from the bottom and reach the Burfi consistency.

Pour it on a greased plate and spread nicely. You can use the rolling pin to spread it evenly.

Cut it into desired shapes once it becomes cool.

Tips:

If you are confused about the right consistency for the Burfi, just put few drops of the Burfi mixture on the plate. If it becomes solid when it becomes cool, that's the right consistency!

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

There is a big shopping complex in our area, which is at walkable distance from our house. Normally, we will go there frequently for our household needs. Last week, I had been there for browsing something and I found Totapuri mangoes in a shop there. I just rushed in and bought few mangoes with the idea of cutting and eating them. But it was too much tangy and I couldn't eat even a single pie! Then, I thought of preparing this Gojju (Thick gravy).

More sour the mango is, its better for this Gojju. If boiled nicely, this can be preserved upto 4 - 5 days without refrigeration. Of course, you can use the mangoes preserved in salt water also instead of fresh ones. This gojju will be a good combination with rice.

Time required: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 big raw mango (sour)

Dry red chillies - 2

Green chillies - 6 (Adjust as per your taste)

Urad dal - 1/2 spoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 spoon

Asafoetida

Few curry leaves

Pinch of turmeric

Sugar - 1/2 spoon

Salt - according to taste

Garlic pods 8 - 10 (crushed)

Oil - 3 spoon

Procedure:

Cook the raw mango in water till it becomes smooth.

After the mango is cooked, take it out from the water and allow to cool.

Take out all the pulp from the cooked mango. Use some water if needed.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the red chilli pieces, urad dal, mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric. Once it splutters, add curry leaves and sliced green chillies.

Add the crushed garlic and saute for a while to remove the raw smell.

Add the mango pulp, sugar and salt. If it looks too thick, add some water to dilute it.

Boil the gojju at-least for 8 - 10 minutes and switch off the flame.

Store it in an airtight bottle once it becomes cool.

Enjoy the hot and sour Gojju with rice.

Tips:

If you want to have more aroma of garlic, just skip adding garlic while preparing the Gojju; and once the Gojju is done, do the tempering with garlic.
No need to boil the mangoes if raw mangoes preserved in salt water are used. Because, they will be boiled before preserving in salt water.

This is my entry to the Event 'Herbs and Flowers - Garlic' hosted by Vardhini, which was started by PJ.

Also, sending this to 'Flavours of South India', ongoing event at Simply Food.