ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ 

'Tambli' is a yogurt based gravy which is easy to prepare and has the health benefits too. When its summer, one or the other variety of Tambli is very common in Havyaka homes, to serve with rice. Here is a unique Tambli recipe which is prepared using Tindora which is known as 'Tonde Ele' in Kannada.

• Preparation time: 15 - 20 minutes
• Difficulty level: Medium
• Serves: 4 - 5

Ingredients:

• Tindora leaves - 5 or 6
• Fresh grated / frozen coconut - 3/4 cup
• Thick buttermilk - 1 cup
• Cooking oil - 2 1/2 tsp (see Tips)
• Peppercorn - 4
• Cumin seeds / Jeera - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Salt - taste
• Sugar - 1/4 tsp
• Lime juice - 2 tsp or to taste

Recipe Instructions:

• Wash and clean the tindora leaves, chop them roughly.
• Take a small wok or frying pan. Heat it up by adding 1tsp of oil. Add 4 peppercorns and fry them for 2 minutes or till its nicely roasted. 
• Then add 1 tsp of cumin seeds. Saute it for a minute or till aromatic.
• Finally add the chopped tindora leaves and sauté for a minute or two, till the leaves change the colour.
• Turn off the flame, and grind this mixture along with grated coconut, into a fine paste. Add water as required while grinding.
• Transfer the grind mixture into a vessel or bowl; add 1 cup of buttermilk. 
• Also add 1/4 tsp sugar, salt and lime juice for taste. Add little more water, if the mixture is thick. 
• Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in a wok or a small pan. Add cumin seeds and mustards when the oil is hot. Once it starts crackling, add the seasoning to the Tambli mix. 
• This healthy and delicious Tambli is a good combination with hot rice. 

Tips:

• Sunflower oil or coconut oil are preferred in this recipe.
• No need to add the lime juice if the buttermilk is sour.

  

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 ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ. 

We had a huge crop of pumpkins this summer. Growing our own veggies during different seasons is not only pocket saver, its stress burster too, in my opinion. It needs a bit of regular maintenance, but seeing the garden brimming with flowers, fruits and veggies, it feels worth the effort. 

Pumpkins last upto 6 months if they are harvested after ripening well. We enjoy pumpkin soup every now and then for our dinner during winter nights. Other dish which my family loves is Pumpkin Sambar. This Sambar won't need onion and garlic, its vegan friendly and tastes similar to the Temple style Sambar. 

Here is the recipe for you all to try:

• Preparation time: 45 minutes
• Soaking time: 20 minutes
• Serves: 6
• Difficulty level: Difficult

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin (de-seeded) - 600gm
• Toor dal - 3/4 cup
• Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Jaggery - 1/4 tsp or to taste
• Water - as needed

- For Masala Paste:

• Cooking oil - 2 tsp (see notes)
• Dry red chillies - 5 (adjust according to taste)
• Fenugreek seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Coriander seeds - 2 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - tsp
• Till seeds - 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Asafoetida / Hing - a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - 2 
• Raw tamarind - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste (see Tips)
• Grated coconut - 3/4 cup

- For Seasoning: 

• Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 
• Hing - big pinch 
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Recipe Instructions:

• Wash the toor dal in water 2 times and soak them for about 20 minutes. Then, add enough water to cover the lentils, also add a few drops of cooking oil, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp fenugreek seeds. Pressure cook till 1 or 2 whistles. Make sure to cook the dal nicely, but it should not become mushy. I have cooked them till 1 whistle. 
• Dice the pumpkin into medium or a bit bigger sized cubes without removing the outer skin. Outer skin avoids them from becoming too mushy while cooking. 
• Heat a wide cooking pan; lightly roast the diced pumpkin along with 2 tsp oil and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Saute them for around 5 minutes and turn off the flame. Keep it aside.
•  For making the masala paste, heat 2 tsp oil in a small wok. Add broken red chillies followed by fenugreek seeds. Stir them for a minute on low to medium flame. Add coriander seeds, cumin seeds. Give it a good stir, then add sesame seeds and mustard seeds. Stir it continuously till you hear the crackling sound of mustard seeds. 
• Turn off the flame and add a generous pinch of Asafoetida, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 2 curry leaves. Also add 1 1/2 tsp raw tamarind (not the puree) and grated coconut. Give it a good mix and keep it in the same pan for another 5 minutes so that all the ingredients will be lightly roasted, including coconut. 
• Grind the roasted ingredients into a thick paste consistency, by adding some water. I prefer to keep it a little course, rather than a smooth paste. 
• Transfer the pressure cooked toor dal into a bigger vessel and allow to heat up on medium flame. Add salt and jaggery to taste. Add some water if its too thick. 
• Once its nicely hot, add the masala paste and boil it for 4 - 5 minutes.
• Then add the roasted pumpkin cubes and adjust the consistency by adding more water (if needed). Check and adjust the taste. 
• Boil it for 5 - 6 minutes or till the Pumpkin cubes are cooked. Take care not to overcook the pumpkin cubes. You can see the oil residue floating on the top of Sambar once its boiled nicely. 
• Turn off the heat, add half sprig curry leaves and cover it with lid.
• Do the seasoning with 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, generous pinch of Asafoetida and 5 - 6 curry leaves. Pour it on the Sambar and mix everything well. 
• Delicious Pumpkin Sambar is ready to serve with hot rice!

Tips:

• Can skip adding jaggery if you don't like a sweet taste.
• Coconut oil is recommended to give it authentic taste. 
• Raw tamarind is preferred than tamarind puree. If using puree, add a little lesser quantity as its concentrated one. 

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ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ 

Majjige Huli / Paladya is one of the most common side dish in Havyaka households at my native place. When you are bored of eating same type of Sambar everyday, Majjige Huli makes the lunch or dinner more enjoyable. Different vegetables are used to prepare Majjige Huli. When made using every different vegetable, taste of this side dish varies. Also, we can make both sweet and savoury version of Majjige Huli with every vegetable!

During our recent visit to Sydney, one of our family friends had kindly shared some home-grown Tondekayi / Dondakaya with us. It was long time since I prepared Majjige Huli using Tindora. We all enjoyed this sweet version of Tindora Majjige Huli, and here is the recipe for you all to try!

• Preparation time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty level: Medium
• Serves: 6

Ingredients: 

Tindora / Tondekayi / Ivy gourd / Dondakaya - 15 nos

Thick buttermilk - 1 1/4 cup 

Salt - to taste

Jaggery (or sugar) - 4 to 5 tea spoon (as per taste)

- For grinding:

Coriander seeds - 1 1/4 tsp 

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Till / sesame seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Green chilli / dry red chilli - small piece (for taste)

Curry leaves - 2 to 3 leaves

Grated coconut (Fresh / frozen) - 1 cup

Water - for grinding the mixture 

- For Seasoning:

Cooking oil - 1 1/2 tsp (see tips)

Urid dal - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 7 to 8 leaves

Recipe Instructions:

• Wash the Tindora thoroughly, and cut them into medium size pieces. 
• Transfer the Tindora pieces into a vessel. Add enough water just to cover the tindora pieces (around 2.5 cup). Also add 1 tsp salt and allow it to cook on medium flame. 
• After cooking for around 15 minutes, Tindora pieces would have been nearly cooked, and you can see the colour has changed. Add jaggery at this stage and cook for 3 - 4 more minutes.
• Add the ground paste to this mixture allow to boil for 5 minutes. If the mixture looks too thick, add little water and adjust the consistency. 
• Finally add the buttermilk. Check and adjust the taste. Boil it for a minute and turn off the flame. 
• Do the seasoning with oil, urid dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves and add it to the prepared gravy. 
• Serve this gravy along with hot rice and pickle. This Majjige Huli stays well for 5 - 6 hours since we have heated it after adding the buttermilk. If you prepare it for lunch time, it stays fresh for dinner as well. 

Tips:

Coconut oil is preferred for an authentic taste  

   

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ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ 

Cucumber is one of those vegetables which is widely used in Indian cooking. Its summer here, and we are making a good use of cucumbers. My cooking style goes more towards my native style food when its summer; we enjoy preparing and eating native style curries like Hashi, Tambli, etc which are mainly yogurt based. But when the winter starts, we prefer more of soups, chapathi and curries.

Hashi or Saasive is a yogurt and coconut based curry which is a good combination with rice. We Havyakas can prepare Hashi or Saasive using almost every variety of vegetables and edible leaves.  

Today, I am going to share the recipe of Savatekayi Hashi (Sasive) with you all. When we were school age kids, we cousins were all very keen to watch how Amma / Aunty / Grandma chop the cucumber so finely using 'Ilige mane' or coconut scraper. We all loved that aroma which comes when the cucumber is chopped finely. And, we used to wait for that small leftover pieces of cucumber which they give at the end!

Below is the recipe of Soutekayi (Savatekayi) Hashi for you all..

• Preparation time: 20 minutes
• Serves - 5
• Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

• Finely chopped cucumber - 1 cup (see Tips)
• Fresh grated coconut (or frozen) - 1 to 1 1/4 cup
• Fresh curd - 1 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Water - about 1 cup (approx)

For Seasoning: Cooking oil - 2 1/2 tsp, Dried red chilli - 2 small pieces, Urid dal - 1 tsp, Till seeds - 1 tsp, Sesame seeds - 1 tsp, Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch, green chilly - 1

Recipe Instructions:

• Grind the grated coconut into a thick, fine paste by adding around half a cup of water. Transfer it into a bowl.
• Cut the green chillies and keep it ready for seasoning.
• Heat a thick bottom pan for seasoning. To this, add around 2.5 tea spoon of oil. Once its heated, add red chilli pieces and 1 tsp urid dal. Saute it for half a minute and add 1 tsp till seeds, 1 tsp sesame seeds followed by a pinch of hing. 
• When the sesame seeds start crackling, add the green chilly pieces and sauté it for 1 - 2 minutes and turn off the flame. To this seasoning, add the finely chopped cucumber when the pan is still hot. Mix it once, and transfer this mixture into bowl where we kept the coconut paste. 
• Crush the chilli pieces using a spoon or using your fingertips (if its not too hot). Add 1.5 cups of curd, 1/2 tsp sugar and salt to taste. 
• Mix everything well, check and adjust the taste. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a few spoons of water to adjust the consistency. 
• Enjoy this Hashi along with rice and pickle.

Tips:

• If you are using the young cucumbers no need to take off the peel while chopping.
• Fully grown cucumbers are not good for this recipe. I normally use lebanese cucumbers for this. 
• Pull chopper comes in very handy to chop the cucumber finely.
• Some varieties of cucumbers comes with a bitter taste. Hence, make sure to taste a small piece before you proceed with the preparation. 
• For that authentic taste, I prefer using coconut oil for the seasoning.

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ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ. 

Zucchini - this vegetable was originated from Italy and is popular in many countries. Look-wise its like cucumber, but tastes like ridge-gourd. Since zucchini won't have any strong taste or smell, it goes well with many other veggies in cooking. 

It was during our initial days in Australia. Dear hubby had brought home a big box full of Zucchini, thinking they were cucumbers! I had no clue how to use zucchini in cooking. I had to look for zucchini recipes over the net, tried using using it in my style of dishes too. Finally, the box got over without wasting too much of them 😅 But now, I love to use zucchini in my day-to-day cooking and kids enjoy eating them. Zucchini is the most common veggie in our grocery list these days. 

Today, I am sharing the South Indian style Akki Rotti recipe (Rice flour roti) using zucchini. Do try this recipe for your breakfast or dinner. 

• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 35 - 40 minutes 
• Difficulty level: Medium 
• Serves: 7 pieces

Ingredients:

• Medium sized Zucchini - 1 (or grated zucchini 1 1/4 cup)
• Onion - 1 (medium size)
• Green chillies - 2 or 3 (adjust according to taste - see tips)
• Capsicum - 1
• Curry leaves - 10 to 12 
• Fresh ginger - 1/2 inch
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Curd - 2 tbsp
• Rice flour - 2 1/2 cup (approx)

Recipe Instructions:

• Grate the zucchini and transfer to a mixing bowl.
• Finely chop the onion and mix with grated zucchini. My pull chopper is very helpful to chop the onion finely.
• Add finely chopped capsicum, crushed ginger and finely chopped curry leaves to the zucchini mixture.
• Crush the green chillies or make them into a paste and add to the veggie mix.
• Add 1/2 tsp of sugar and salt for taste. Also add 2 table spoons of curd and combine everything well. Leave it for 10 minutes, if you have time. Water content in the veggies will come out and it helps to mix the dough without adding any extra water.
• Add the flour in small batches to the veggie mix and keep mixing. Add the flour till you reach the soft, non sticky dough consistency. 
• Grease a plantain leaf or a non-sticky sheet with 1 - 2 tea spoons of oil. 
• Take a lemon size of dough, pat it thinly into a circle on the greased sheet using your finger tips. Make a hole in the middle of the dough circle (See tips).
• Transfer it carefully onto the heated tava and cook on medium or low flame. Add a spoonful of oil or butter while cooking. More the oil or butter, more tastier the Rotis are. 
• Cook it on both the sides till you see brownish spots. If you like the Rotti to be crispy, cook it on low flame for a little longer time. 
• Serve the hot Roti along with butter or coconut chutney!

Tips:

• Green chillies can be replaced with red chilli powder.
• If you don't have plantain leaf or non-sticky sheet handy, just grease the tava when its not yet hot, and pat the dough on the tava directly and cook it. 

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Balekai or plantain is one of our family favourite vegetables. We get raw banana or plantains once in a while in the Indian grocery stores here. We love different dishes made using plantains in our native style. 

I had brought raw bananas after a long time during my recent grocery shopping. My daughter requested to prepare Banana chips since its her all time favourite. Hence, I had to make some Banana / Plantain Chips for her. One dish we never want to miss is Plantain Palya / Poriyal / Fry / Thoran. 

Here is the recipe of Havyaka Style Balekayi / Plantain Palya for you all!

Preparation time: 20 -25 minutes
Difficulty level: Medium
Serves: 4 - 5

Ingredients:

• Medium sized plantains - 3
• Grated coconut - 3 tbsp (fresh / frozen or desiccated coconut)    
• Green chilli - 1 (according to taste)
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - big pinch
• Lime squeeze - 2 tbsp or to taste
• Curry leaves - 1 string
• Dry red chilli - 1 inch piece
• Urid dal - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Hing / Asafoetida - generous pinch
• Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
• Cooking oil - 2 1/2 tbsp (use Coconut oil for authentic Havyaka taste)
• Water - 4 to 5 cups (to cook the bananas)

Recipe Instructions:

• Heat 4 - 5 cups of water in a pan. Add 2 - 3 drops of oil to avoid stickiness. Once the water is hot enough, add the whole plantains and cook for 8 - 10 minutes or till they are nearly cooked, but still firm. Once cooked, their skin will turn darker brown and plantains will be a bit soft than before. 
• Take out the cooked plantains and allow them to cool. 
• Peel the skin and grate the plantains using a grater. 
• Take the grated plantains in a mixing bowl. Add grated coconut, salt, sugar and lime juice for taste. 
• Heat 2 1/2 tbsp oil in a heavy bottom pan for seasoning. Once the oil is hot, add red chilli, urid dal, mustard seeds and hing. When mustard seeds start spluttering, add turmeric powder, slit green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté it for half a minute.
• Add grated plantain to the seasoning and mix it well. Close the lid half way and cook it for 5 more minutes. 
• Serve it as a side dish with Rice, Sambar and Curd.

Tips:

• While cooking, if the plantains became softer than required, wash them in cold water immediately. This will avoid them from becoming smoother again.
• Lime squeeze can be replaced with Aamchur powder / Hulipudi.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ 

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