Recipe world

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Last month, we had a great family get together here in Bangalore. My cousin was the host this time and I wanted to prepare some special sweet for all of them. Long back, one of my Andhra friends told me about 'Kaja', a famous sweet from her region. Just checked with my hubby and finalized on this sweet for the occasion!

There are 2 - 3 different varieties of Kaja which are famous in Andhra. I went with Kakinada Kaja this time which tastes bit similar to 'Saate' which we prepare in Karnataka. Kaja can be served as sweet as well as snacks!

Preparation time: 1 - 1 1/2 hour

Time required for the dough to set: 1 hour

Yield: approx. 45 pieces

Ingredients:

All purpose flour / Maida - 400 gm (plus little more for dusting)

Ghee - 3 to 4 tbsp

Pinch of salt

Water to prepare the dough - 150 ml approx.

Sugar - 400 gm

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix all purpose flour and ghee in a mixing bowl. To this, add pinch of salt and sufficient water to prepare the dough.

Prepare a non sticky dough ball from the mixture. Dough should be slightly harder than regular roti / chapathi dough. Let it rest for at-least 1 hour before preparing Kaja.

In the meanwhile, mix sugar with little water and bring to boil. Once it reaches one string consistency, switch off the flame. Add the cardamom powder and close it with a lid.

Now, make a big ball from the dough and roll it into a big rectangle on a clean surface using a rolling pin. You can use generous amount for dry flour for dusting.

Roll it as thin as roti / chapathi and cut the edges.

Roll the chapathi tightly like a stick (as shown in the pick) and cut it into pieces of 1 1/2 cm each.

Flatten the cut pieces slightly using the rolling pin.

Bring the oil to medium heat on a heavy bottom pan. Deep fry the flattened pieces on low flame in batches. For me, it took around 15 minutes to deep fry each batch of Kaja.

Transfer the deep fried Kaja onto a tissue paper to absorb excess oil. Then, soak them in sugar syrup for 5 minutes.

Allow them to get dried after taking out from sugar syrup for 5 - 10 minutes.

Delicious Kaja is ready to serve now! Store them in an airtight container and can use up to a week.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

These days, we will get almost all the vegetables in all the seasons. When I see bottle gourd (Lauki, Halugumbala or Sorekayi) in supermarkets here in Bangalore, I always remember my mom growing this veggie in our backyard during my childhood days. Since this veggie can't be stored for long time, its use was limited only for few days. Somehow, I love to use this veggie for cooking and keep buying it frequently!

Last week, I had bottle gourd in my fridge and wanted to try some different recipe this time. Just checked with Mom and she told me the recipe of Palya. This yummy stir fry with the hint of spice and sweetness goes well with rice, roti and chapathi.

Preparation time: 30 - 35 minutes

Servings: 3 - 4

Ingredients:

Bottle gourd - half
Oil 4 - 5 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
A big pinch of turmeric

Curry leaves - 1 strand
Sambar powder - 1 1/4 tsp
Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Sugar - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Salt to taste

Method:
Peel the bottle gourd and chop it finely.
Heat 4 - 5 tsp of oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add urad dal, mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder.
Once the mustard seeds start spluttering, add curry leaves and sambar powder and saute for a while.
Then, add the chopped bottle gourd and mix it nicely.
Add around 3 cups of water and close the lid.
Keep mixing it occationally and cook till the bottle gourd pieces becomes soft. Add little more water if required.
Once the bottle gourd pieces are cooked nicely, add salt, amchur powder and sugar according to taste.
Close the lid and cook it for 5 more minutes.
Delicious Palya is ready to serve with rice, chapathi or roti!

Tips:

You can add grated coconut for more taste. If adding coconut, add it just 2 - 3 minutes before switching off the flame.
I have used the home made sambar powder here..can use any other store bought or home made sambar powder for that matter.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Normally, December and January are the months when we get Avarekaalu (Hyacinth Beans) in Bangalore. But this year, Avarekayi is already there in the market in the month of July itself! My sister had brought some Avarekaalu from a shop near to her house last week. She had shared it with us also. We both are the fans of Avarekaalu Rotti. Just prepared delicious rotti using avarekaalu and enjoyed it! Still I have some avarekaalu in my freezer. So, let me try some other varieties using avarekaalu and share with you soon!

Below is the recipe of Avarekaalu (Hyacinth Beans) Rotti. Try this delicious rotti and let me hear your feedback :)

Preparation Time: 30 - 40 minutes

Yield: 6 Rottis

Ingredients:

Avarekaalu (cooked till soft) - 1 cup

Medium size carrot - 1

Fenugreek (Methi) leaves or Dill leaves - 1 bunch

Green chillies - 2 (adjust according to taste)

Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup

Onions - 2

Rice flour - 1 3/4 cup approx.

Salt to taste

Method:

Cook avarekaalu till soft. I have cooked it upto 3 whistles in pressure cooker. Drain all the water and keep the beans aside.

Grate the carrots and crush the green chillies. Chop dill / fenugreek leaves and onion finely.

Combine grated carrot, crushed green chillies, grated coconut and chopped veggies in a mixing bowl. Add salt to taste and mix ii well. Let it rest for at-least 10 minutes so that the veggies will leave their water content.

Mash the cooked beans (avarekaalu) slightly and add it to the veggie mixture.

Add rice flour little by little and prepare the dough. Dough should be in the consistency of regular chapathi dough. If the dough looks too dry, you can use 1 - 2 tsp of water while mixing.

Make big lemon size balls from the dough and pat them on a greased plantain leaf or a plastic sheet. Make a hole in the middle of the rotti.

Cook it on both the sides on a hot tawa. Add 1 - 2 tsp oil while cooking the rotti.

Cook the rotti on medium or slightly low flame to make them crispier.

Serve this delicious rotti with your favorite side dish. Without any side dish also, this rotti tastes very good.

Tips:

I have used dill leaves for this rotti. Fenugreek (Methi) leaves will also suit very well for this recipe.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Here is one more authentic Malnad recipe from my native. Chakke Paladya is a kind of curry which is prepared using fully grown raw jack fruit flesh. Since the raw jack fruit is the main ingredient, its prepared mostly during jack fruit season.

We rarely get raw jack-fruit here in Bangalore. Usually, we enjoy this curry if we go to our native during jack-fruit season. This year, we have got a parcel of raw jack fruit flesh from there and I had preserved it in freezer. We are enjoying raw jackfriut dishes almost from 2 months and the stock in the freezer is about to exhaust now :)

I am sharing an easy and tasty curry using raw jack fruit flesh today. Don't forget to try this Chakke Paladya when you get raw jackfruit!

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Fully grown raw jack-fruit flesh 10 - 12 whole (or 2 cups of flesh)

Green chillies - 2 (adjust according to taste)

1 lemon

Cooking oil 3 - 4 drops

Water - 3 cups

Salt to taste

For seasoning: oil - 1 spoon, mustard seeds - 1/2 spoon, pinch of asafoetida, few curry leaves

Method:

Remove the seeds from the raw jack fruit flesh and chop it into medium size pieces lengthwise.

In a pressure cooker, add 2 1/2 cups of water, salt and lime juice for taste, 3 - 4 drops of oil and allow to heat. To this, add sliced green chillies and chopped raw jack fruit flesh.

Cook it upto 3 whistles and allow to cool.

Once it is cool, take half (or little less) portion of cooked jack fruit flesh and make it into a fine paste by adding water.

Add this paste to the cooked mixture and allow to boil for 3 - 4 minutes.

Heat oil in a small wok. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and roast till mustard seeds splutter. Add curry leaves and saute for a while. Add this seasoning to the prepared Chakke Paladya.

Serve it hot with rice!

Tips:

You can cook the jack fruit flesh without using the pressure cooker. But comparatively it takes more time to cook.
Adding of grinded jack fruit paste will help to thicken the curry.

Hi all,

Finally I am done with event roundup! I was thinking of selecting one best recipe from the entries and publishing it here at my space. So many delicious and competitive entries, I really got confused and couldn't decide upon anything! So, ended up with giving only the Participation Award.

Here is the Participation Award for all the participants! Friends, do grab your participation award and post it in your space :)

I would like to thank all of you for these lovely and innovative entries and making the event successful. After conducting the event, I am so happy to see a nice collection of cool beverages. Friends, have a look at these lovely entries from my blogger friends..

Prabha @ Cookwell has sent a traditional Malnad recipe which is very healthy and perfect for the summer. Do check her recipe Yellow Cucumber Seed Juice!

Bhavna @ From My Rasoi had sent 2 lovely entries for this event.

Healthy Cantaloupe Milkshake

and summer special Mango Banana Milkshake.

Pranjali @ Taste Bud Delight had sent an innovative recipe from her kitchen.

Orange Squash flavored with ginger and green cardamom.

Do you believe? she had prepared this Squash concentration by herself!

Sanoli @ Sanoli's Kitchen had sent a total of 5 entries to the event! Below are the entries from Sanoli..

Watermelon Agua Fresca - a Mexican delight with Indian twist!

Fizzy Mango Watermelon Juice - very flavorful n healthy drink for the summer..

Jus De Gingembre - healthy pineapple juice with the flavor of ginger

Refreshing Jeera Lemonade - refreshing drink for hot days!

Banana And Mango Smoothie - yummy n creamy smoothie for summer..

Julie @ Erivum Puliyum had sent a refreshing summer drink - Cherry Lassi using fresh cherries.

Sharanya @ Sharan's Samayalarai !! had sent below 3 delicacies from her kitchen..

Mango Lassi - a refreshing and nutritious drink

Avocado Milk Shake - yummy drink with with healthy fruit!

Kiwi Apple Delight - a healthy, low calory drink..

A lovely entry from Meghana @ Megh's Delicious Adventures..Chikoo Nutella Milkshake!

Healthy and flavorful Mint Juice from Kavitha @ Kavi's Kitchen.

2 innovative entries from Sumedha @ Sumee's Culinary Bites..especially I loved the first one..

Spicy Tropical Green Smoothie..a healthy breakfast drink.

Sparkling Watermelon Juice..looks really wonderful!

Yummy Mango Shake - a lovely entry from Shabna @ Shabbu's Tasty Kitchen.

Cool and refreshing Watermelon Lemonade by Kaveri @ Palakkad Chamayal

2 lovely Smoothie recipes from Shree @ Just Cooking N Baking..

Healthy and yummy Avocado Smoothie..

Mixed Fruit Smoothie..sounds delicious with well blended fruits!

Next comes Priyanka's delicacies..3 lovely entries from Priyanka @ Priyanka's Simple & Delicious recipes.

Strawberry Peach Smoothie..a lovely twist with berry and peach.

Delicious Kiwi & Banana Shake..

Mango Roohafza Ice Cream Shake..yummy kids delight!

Finally, here comes my entry - Mango Smoothie!

Thank you, wish you all happy blogging :)

Cheers!

Vani

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Sometime back, I was planning to buy Flax seeds just to experiment it in egg-less baking. But I couldn't find it in any shops nearby. So, we bought it from a shop in our native during last visit. For our surprise, it was available in so many shops there! Its popularly known as 'Agase Beeja' in Kannada. Flax seeds are a good source of Omega - 3 Fatty Acids. So, vegetarians can rely on Flax seeds to get Omega - 3 Fatty Acids, which is not available from vegetarian food. Also, I heard that Flax seeds help to control cholesterol levels in our body.

Due to its health benefits, we have started using flax seeds as a part of our daily food. Flax seeds, when roasted, will give a nice aroma. I tried adding salt and spice to the roasted flax seeds while preparing the powder. It tasted really good with rice. We also tried adding little curd to flax seeds powder which tasted very good with chapathi.

Here is the recipe of Flax Seeds Powder which I prepared..

Preparation Time: 15 - 20 minutes

Yield: 1 1/4 cups

Ingredients:

Flax seeds - 3/4 cup

Dry red chillies 1 - 2 (adjust according to taste)

Garlic - 1 or 2 cloves

Salt to taste

Method:

Take a heavy bottom pan. Combine flax seeds, red chillies and garlic cloves and roast them on medium flame.

Keep mixing them occasionally. Roast them till you hear the crackling sound of flax seeds.

Once it gets cool down, add salt to taste and make a fine powder out of it.

Store this powder in an air tight container and use it as needed.

These days, its the routine at our home to have a spoonful of Flax Seeds Powder with a small portion of rice as a part of lunch as well as dinner. If you are a Roti fan, you can mix 1 tsp of Flax Seeds Powder with little curd and it tastes good with roti or chapathi.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

These days, we are trying to follow healthy food habits as a part of which hubby wants me to use leafy vegetables in cooking at-least 3 - 4 days a week. Normally, he will bring fresh leafy veggies from a vegetable shop nearby. Other vegetables will not be so good, but varieties of leafy vegetables are available very fresh there. If we go in the evening time, shop keeper will be busy arranging the fresh leafy vegetables on the racks. Hubby prefers using spinach in our food regularly since its very rich in iron.

These days, I really got bored with spinach palya and currys due to regular usage. So, thought of trying some new recipes using spinach. This recipe is from an old Kannada magazine which I noted down long back. Already I have tried this Roti quite a few times at home and it was a success! So, here is the recipe for you :)

Other than spinach, fenugreek as well as dill leaves will also go well for this recipe.

Preparation time: 30 - 35 minutes

Time for the dough to set: 30 minutes

Yield: 8 Rotis

Ingredients:

Spinach (Palak), fenugreek or dill leaves - 1 1/2 bunch

Wheat flour - 2 cups

Rice flour - 1/2 cup

Gram (Besan) flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - a pinch

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Ginger green chilli paste - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Cooking oil

Method:

Clean the spinach and chop it finely.

Combine all the flours, baking powder and turmeric powder in a miking bowl. Add 2 tbsp oil and mix it nicely.
Add chopped spinach, ginger- garlic paste and salt to taste and mix it well. Add water little by little and prepare thick, non sticky dough.
Keep the batter closed with a lid and allow to set for half an hour.
Make lemon size balls from the dough and roll them into thin circles. You can use some wheat flour while rolling the Rotis.
Cook the Roti on hot tawa by applying oil on both the sides.
Serve hot Rotis with your kind of side dish!
This Roti will remain smooth after cooling. So, you can plan it for the lunch box as well!

Sending this over to:

Love Lock Series - Breads event hosted by Divya @ Divya's Culinary Journey which was started by Vidhya of Sweet Karam Kapi.

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.