Recipe world

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

I am back with a traditional Havyaka recipe today! Its a side dish which is not known to many people during this era of modern style cooking. But even now, many of such traditional and rare recipes are still in use at my Grany's place. Authentic name of this dish is 'Kochchuli' and some people call it as 'Palya'. My mom had visited us for few days recently, and she prepared this tasty side dish for our lunch one day. I just tasted a byte and clicked few photos immediately and noted down the recipe from mom.

Not only madras cucumber, normal cucumber also goes well for this recipe. But the veggie must have been well grown, not the tender ones. In rural areas,people use a veggie similar to Madras cucumber, called Mogekayi (Magekayi) and home grown cucumber for this recipe.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 3 - 4

Ingredients:

Madras cucumber (Sambar Soute in Kannada) - 1 halve

Dry red chilli - 1

Green chillies - 2

Lemon - 1 halve

Salt to taste

For seasoning: oil - 3 tsp, urad dal - 1/2 tsp, mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp, one big pinch of asafoetida, curry leaves - 1 strand

Method:

Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds portion. Chop the veggie finely.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add red chilli pieces, urad dal, mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once its roasted nicely and mustard seeds start spluttering, add chopped green chillies and curry leaves.

Then add chopped cucumber, lime squeeze and salt to taste. Cook it on medium flame for 3 - 4 minutes without closing the lid. No need to cook it till very soft.

Simple and delicious Palya is ready to serve! Enjoy it with rice.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

As we all know, finger millet is very good for health. Regular usage of finger millet helps to keep our body cool. But it won't has a nice taste or aroma of its own. That's why many people won't like to eat or drink anything prepared using finger millet!
Long back, I had tasted Finger Millet Rotti in a hotel at Malleshwaram. Never I thought that finger millet rotti can be so tasty! Then, I tried my own version of rotti at home and it came out well. Not regularly, but sometimes I prepare this rotti for our breakfast. I love to add fenugreek leaves to this rotti, also you can substitute fenugreek with dill leaves.

Preparation time: 40 - 45 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
Finger millet flour - 1 3/4 cup
Grated carrot - 1
Shredded coconut - 1 cup
1 medium size onion - finely chopped
2 - 3 green chillies - finely chopped
Fenugreek leaves - 1 bunch
Salt to taste
Hot water - 1/2 to 3/4 cup
Oil

Method:
Clean the fenugreek leaves and chop them finely.
Transfer the finger millet flour to a mixing bowl. To this, add all the ingredients except salt and hot water and mix well.
Now, add hot water little by little and mix it nicely. Consistency should be the same as chapathi dough i.e., you should be able to make balls from the dough.
Let the dough rest for 10 - 15 minutes before making the rotti.
Make lemon size balls from the dough. Pat them thinly on a greased plastic sheet or plantain leaf. Make a hole in the middle of the rotti.
Cook the rotti on hot tava on both the sides. Add 1 - 2 spoons of oil while cooking.
Serve this rotti along with butter or any other side dish.

Tips:

You can substitute fenugreek leaves with dill leaves also.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

This is the season for mangoes in India. Up-to last week we were enjoying only raw mangoes. We both love to eat them in raw form as well as for cooking. Now a days, varieties of ripe mangoes are available everywhere. Frankly speaking, we are making the fullest use of the mango season this year!
Here is a simple recipe using raw mango. In fact, its a Chutney or side dish which goes well with rice. Friends, hurry up and try it out if you are a fan of mangoes like me ;)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 - 5

Ingredients:
Sour raw mango skinned and finely chopped - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 1 1/2 cup
Cloves - 1 or 2
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies 2 - 3 (adjust according to taste)
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a small wok. Roast cloves and coriander seeds nicely, then add chopped green chillies. Saute it for 2 minutes and switch off the flame.
Grind the roasted ingredients along with chopped mango and grated coconut.
Add little water while grinding; don't make the chutney too watery.
Transfer the chutney to a bowl. Add salt to taste and mix well. If you want, temper it with mustard seeds.
That's all, delicious chutney is ready to serve! This can be mixed with rice or can be used as pickle or thokku.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

These days, we were totally busy with trips and attending functions at native. I was thinking of baking something special this time, since it was a long time ago I used my oven. I searched for some cake recipes and finally, decided to prepare my own Black Forest Cake! Also, there was some occasion to celebrate..we were expecting my dear sister for the dinner and the next day was her B'day! So, the celebration went on and all of us enjoyed home made Black Forest Cake :)
As I read in Wikipedia, this cake was originated in Germany. For the traditional Black Forest Cake, they use a liquor prepared using Cherry fruits for flavoring. This liquor is famous in Black Forest Hills region of Germany, hence the name Black Forest Cake! This chocolate cake tastes heavenly with the layers of whipped cream and chopped cherries. Butter cream icing was my favorite earlier and after trying this whipped cream icing, I fell in love with this icing deeply :)
Before I finalize on the procedure, I watched Vah Chef video for Black Forest cake. Also, I checked Easy Cooking, Passionate About Baking, Paritha's World and many other spaces and came up with my own recipe :) This cake is bit time consuming, but worth preparing due to its divine taste..

Preparation Time: 1 hour
Baking Time: 60 - 70 minutes (30 - 35 minutes for each cake) (See tips below)
Servings: 10 - 12

Ingredients:

- For the Cake:

All purpose flour / Maida - 225 gm
Cocoa powder - 25 gm
Condensed milk - 400 gm (1 tin)
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Unsalted butter - 125 gm
Coke / Pepsi - 200 ml

- For Icing:

1 cup heavy whipping cream (See Tips below)
Dark chocolate - 60 gm
Cherries - 100 gm

- For Sugar Syrup:

Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar 4 - 5 tsp

Method:

Sieve together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda together.

Melt the butter in a bowl and allow to cool completely. Then, add condensed milk and beat it well till its combined nicely.

Add the flour little by little to this mixture and mix well. Divide the dough into two equal parts.

Take one part of the dough and add 100 ml of coke little by little. Consistency should be the same as regular dosa batter.

Grease the baking pan with butter or oil. Better way is to use butter paper for the base so that cake won't stick to the base.

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C. Transfer the dough to the baking pan and bake it for 30 - 35 minutes or till done. After baking it for 30 minutes, insert a knife into the cake. If the batter won't stick to the knife, its the indication that the cake is done!

Once the cake is cooked, take it out from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Now, take the remaining batter and mix it with 100 ml of coke. Transfer it to baking pan and bake it for 30 - 35 minutes at 170°C.

Do the icing once both the cakes are completely cool.

For the sugar syrup, take 1/2 cup of water and mix it with 4 - 5 tsp of sugar. Allow to boil till all the sugar is dissolved. That's all, sugar syrup is ready!

Decorating the cake:

Cut both the cakes horizontally into 2 equal slices. Or, if you have prepared only one cake just cut it horizontally into 2 or 3 layers.

Place one layer of cake on the base or on a plate. Sprinkle 3 - 4 tsp of sugar syrup on this layer and apply one layer of whipping cream. Top it with chopped cherries.

Now, place the second layer of cake on the first layer and repeat the same procedure. Do the same procedures with all the layers.

Place the top most layer and now, cover the top and sides of the cake with whipping cream. Then, decorate the cake with chocolate curls and cherries as you like.

I have used grated chocolate and halved cherries for decoration. Strawberry or any other berry fruits will also goes well with this cake.

Chill the cake for at-least 2 - 3 hours before serving. Super delicious Black Forest Cake is ready to enjoy!

Tips:

Here, I have prepared two cakes to get more layers. Also my baking pan was bit small in size. If you are using a wide pan, just mix all the batter at a time and can go ahead with baking one single cake.
If you won't get ready whipping cream, you can prepare your own whipping cream at home using fresh cream. Beat together 300 ml fresh cream, 5 tsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla essence till it forms soft peaks. If you have a electric beater, it will ease the process; else, just use the egg beater like I did! Keep it refrigerated till use.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

As always we do, this time also we brought some home grown 'organic' vegetables and leafy vegetables with us while coming from native. Many of these leafy vegetables have medicinal values and also we can prepare tasty dishes from them. This time I tasted Lemon Grass Tambli in my native place and brought some lemon grass with me. It has a nice citrus flavor and is used in many dishes like soups. Especially for Thai cooking, lemon grass is a common ingredient.

Look-wise, lemon grass is nothing but a variety of grass. If you like it for regular cooking, it can be grown easily in your backyard or in a pot! Below is the recipe of Lemon Grass Tambli which will be best for this summer.

Preparation time : 20 minutes

Servings: 3

Ingredients:

Lemon grass - 2 strings ( finely chopped lemon grass - 1/4 cup)

Black pepper - 2

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1/4 tsp
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup

Butter milk - 3/4 cup

Water - 2 cups approx.

Salt to taste

For seasoning: butter (or oil) - 1 tsp, cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp, mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Finely chop the lemon grass. Grind it with little water and filter it. Add some more water to the crushed lemon grass and collect at-least 1 cup of juice.

Fry black pepper and cumin seeds in 1/2 tsp of oil. Grind the fried items along with coconut shredding into fine paste. Use the filtered lemon grass while grinding.

Add buttermilk and salt to this paste and mix well. The consistency should not be very thick, so you can add water accordingly.

This recipe is complete after seasoning with butter (or oil), mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Serve with hot rice.

Tambli is a main side dish in Havyaka lunch. Havyaka lunch starts with Tambli and after having this, they will prefer sambar or any other hot curry.

Tips:

Tambli won't last for long time since we add buttermilk and raw coconut; if using later, preserve it in fridge to retain freshness.