Recipe world

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Ash gourd is one of the main and very common vegetables of Indian cuisine. During old days, pure vegetarian people were not supposed to eat ash gourd and it was strictly prohibited. These days, everybody is using this veggie, but even now, some people won't prefer this veggie to enter into the home from the front door; just they will take it in from the back door of the house! I really don't know the reason behind it, but if you see the nutrition facts of ash gourd, I'm sure you will fell in love with this veggie :) Ash gourd is a good source of calcium, carbohydrate, protein and iron, which are very essential for our body.

Ash Gourd ('Kumbalakayi' in Kannada) tastes very good when used in different varieties of curries. Here is a yogurt based curry using ash gourd which tastes very good with rice. Other than ash gourd, you can also use Seeme Badane (Chayote Squash), Egg plant or cucumber for this Majjige Huli.

Preparation time: 20 - 25 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Ash gourd - 1/2 kg

Grated coconut - 1 1/4 cup

Chana dal (soaked in water for 1/2 hour) - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 (adjust according to taste)

Chopped coriander leaves - 3 tsp

Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Sour curd (Buttermilk) - 1 to 1 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

For seasoning: oil - 2 tsp, mustard seeds - 1 tsp, curry leaves - 1 strand

Method:

Peel the ash gourd and remove the seeds portion. Cut the veggie into medium size cubes and cook with enough water and salt to taste till smooth.

Grind grated coconut, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves, cumin seeds, turmeric and soaked chana dal into fine paste. Add water if required.

Add this paste to cooked ash gourd and allow to boil for 3 - 4 minutes and switch off the flame.

Heat oil in a small wok. Add mustard seeds and roast till it splutters. Then add the curry leaves, saute for a while and switch off the flame. Add this seasoning to boiled Majjige Huli.

Add buttermilk to Majjige Huli when its still warm. Serve this Majjige Huli with hot rice.

Tips:

If you want to retain this Majjige Huli for night dinner or for next day, take out a portion of Majjige Huli and keep separately before adding the buttermilk. Heat the majjige huli before serving and mix with buttermilk.
Veggies like Seeme Badane (Chayote Squash), Egg plant and cucumber will also go well for this recipe.
I have added the soaked chana dal just to make the curry thicker. You can replace chana dal with Putani (split dalia) also.

Sending this over to 'Spotlight: Curries/Gravies', ongoing event @ Cuisine Delights, which was originally started by Indrani of Recipe Junction.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Here is one more variety of juice or cool drink for the for the summer! I love to have this Jaggery cool drink regularly due to health benefits of jaggery. As all of us know, jaggery is a very good source of iron. So, it helps to increase hemoglobin count in our blood. People suffering from acidity and digestion problems can surely rely on the usage of jaggery as a home remedy. People with digestion problems can have one glass of water mixed with 1 tsp of jaggery everyday half an hour before lunch and dinner for better results.

So, here is the healthy juice recipe for you friends! Try this easy and tasty Jaggery Juice at your home for a healthy living!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Cold water - 2 glass full

Jaggery - 4 tsp (adjust according to sweetness)

Lime squeeze - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - one pinch

Ice cubes - optional

Method:

Add enough jaggery to water and mix it well.

Then add lime squeeze and pepper powder to enhance the taste.

Check the taste and add jaggery or lime squeeze, if needed.

Transfer the juice to serving glasses. Add ice cubes if you would like to.

Enjoy the healthy and tasty Jaggery drink with your family :)

Linking it to the event 'Bon Vivant #6 - Sunny Refreshing Drinks' @ Sumee's Culinary Bites

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Here is a famous sweet dish from my native. Its very royal to prepare Rice Kesaribath in marriages and other functions in our region. 'Kesari' means saffron in Kannada. Kesari or saffron is the key ingredient in this dish, hence the name Kesaribath. Its bit difficult to prepare this sweet in large quantities unless you are an expert, but anybody can prepare it easily in small quantities!

I have enjoyed Rice Kesaribath quite a few times at my sister and sister in law's place, but never thought of preparing my own. But recently, the time has arrived to prepare this sweet dish at my house. I had all the necessary ingredients with me, and hubby was asking me why not to try Kesaribath at our home. Also, mom was there with me, who has got expertise in preparing Kesaribath. I prepared it under the guidance of mom and Kesaribath was a big hit!

For preparing Kesaribath, we have used a variety of rice called Jeera Rice (Sannakki). Experts say that Jeera Rice is perfect for this sweet dish. If you won't get jeera rice, you can use basmati rice.
Today is the first anniversary of my little place. Wish me Happy Anniversary to my blog baby with this sweet recipe :) And thanks to all of you for your love and encouragement!

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Servings: 5 - 6

Ingredients:

Jeera rice (or basmati rice) - 250 gm

Saffron strands - 3/4 gm

Sugar - 375 gm

Pure ghee - 250 gm (can use little less also)

Cloves - 2

Milk 5 - 6 tsp

Lime juice - 4 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Cashews - 10

Raisins 25 - 30

Method:

Cook the rice with enough water and 1 tsp of ghee. Cooking the rice rightly is very important here. All the grains should be cooked nicely, and at the same time, rice should not be sticky. So, be careful.

If any water is remaining in the cooked rice, drain it fully and spread the cooked rice on a wide plate for 5 minutes to cool.

Bring the milk to boil and switch off the flame. Soak the saffron strands in the hot milk for 10 minutes.

Take the cloves and make a fine powder. Cut the cashews into medium size pieces.

Combine the salt the with lime juice to dissolve and keep it ready.

Take a wide vessel preferably with heavy bottom. Combine rice with sugar and ghee. Keep mixing it on slightly high flame.

Once it starts boiling, add milk with saffron strands, salt and lime juice mixture. Keep sauting the mixture to avoid burning.

Once the mixture starts absorbing the ghee, bring the flame to medium.

Add powdered cloves and raisins and mix it well.

Within few minutes, you can see the mixture starts oozing the ghee. Switch off the flame immediately and add the cashew pieces.

Close the vessel with a lid and allow to set for 10 minutes.

Delicious Kesaribath is ready to serve now! This tastes very good when its still hot.

Tips:

Don't try to replace saffron with turmeric or any other artificial color. Saffron is one of the key ingredients for this sweet dish and it will add a nice flavor to Kesaribath.
For good results, use fresh and pure ghee for this recipe.
Its very important to saute the Kesaribath mixture till it comes to boil. If done on low flame, mixture will become sticky.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Here is one more variety of Tambli from my kitchen. Tambli is a raw curry which goes well with rice. Especially during summer, cool side dishes like Tambli are more preferable than hot Sambar. Using Ridge Gourd, two types of Tambli we usually prepare. One is the normal one, which is nor too hot or too sweet, and the other one is Sweet Tambli. Since I have a sweet tooth, I love Sweet Tambli more than Normal Tambli!

Mom tought me this normal version of Ridge Gourd Tambli during her last visit. Let me explain the recipe of Sweet Tambli sometime later, here is the recipe of Ridge Gourd Tambli (normal ones).

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

Ridge gourd - half of one medium size ridge gourd

Green chilli - 1 small piece

Sesame seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Butter milk - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Water - 2 cups approx.

For seasoning: oil - 1 tsp, mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Peel the ridge gourd and chop into small pieces. Cook it with 1 cup of water, salt and sugar to taste, till smooth.

Separate the remaining water from cooked ridge gourd. You can use this water while grinding the mixture.

Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a small wok. Roast the cumin and sesame seeds for a minute or till you hear a nice aroma. Then add green chilli piece and saute it for a while.

Grind the cooked ridge gourd and roasted ingredients along with grated coconut into fine paste. Add water as needed.

Transfer this paste to a serving bowl. Add buttermilk and adjust the taste. If it looks too thick, add little more water.

Do the seasoning with oil and mustard seeds and add it to Tambli.

Serve this Tambli along with rice and pickle.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Mango is one of the fruits which is liked by most of the people. This is the season of mangoes here in India, and we are making the fullest use of the season this year! Apart from the mangoes we buy from nearby fruit stalls and supermarkets in our area, my hubby visited 'Mango Mela' this time and he bought varieties of mangoes from there. Simply we ate mangoes like anything! Also, I prepared Mango Seekarane, juice, milkshake, etc. almost regularly.

Usually, I prepare milkshake from mango, and Smoothie was very new to me. Sometime back, I had seen Smoothie preparation in a TV cookery show and got inspired by them! Here is my version of smoothie, with slight variations in the original recipe..

Preparation time: 10 - 15 minutes

Cooling time: 1 hour

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1 large mango - fully ripen

Thick curd - 200 ml

Milk - 50 ml (See Tips)

Water - 50 to 100 ml

Sugar - 8 to 10 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Pinch of salt

Method:

Peel and de-seed the mango, and chop it finely. Keep 1/4th portion of the chopped mango separately for decoration.

Take the remaining 3/4th portion of chopped mango, blend it into smooth paste along with curd and sugar.

To this, add milk, pinch of salt and little water to adjust the consistency. Blend the smoothie for another 20 - 25 seconds. Check and adjust the taste.

Transfer the smoothie to a bowl and refrigerate it for atleast one hour.

Spread one layer of chopped mango on the bottom of serving glass. Slowly, pour the smoothie and fill it till 3/4th of the glass.

Top it with one layer of chopped mango. That's all, delicious Smoothie is ready to serve!

Tips:

Mango Smoothie can also be prepared without adding milk. If the curd is sour in taste, addition of milk will help to reduce the sourness.
If you use refrigerated mango and curd for preparing the Smoothie, it can be served instantly, i.e., without cooling!

Linking it to my event Love Lock With Juices & Milkshakes

Sending this over to the event 'Dish Name Starts With M' @ Learning to Cook