Sweet Sour Mango curry

The lovely mango season is just round the corner and what better recipe can I post than that with ripe but sour mangoes which you may have bought by mistake!

Ingredients:
Sweet sour mangoes (size of your fist) : 5 or 6 ( Ripe but sour mangoes)
Jaggery : 250 gms
salt : 1/4 tsp
Green chillies : 5 nos.
Wheat flour or maida : 1 Tbsp
For seasoning:
Mustard : 1 tsp
Edible oil : 2 tsp
karbev leaves: 6 or 7
Urad dal : 1 tsp

Method:
Take a thick bottomed vessel and keep the washed mangoes in it and add water to just cover it.Place on stove, cover & cook till the mangoes are done.When cool remove the skin of the mangoes and put it back in the vessel and slightly squeeze the mangoes in the water in which the mangoes were cooked so that the juice gets mixed with water. Now add slit green chillies,jaggery and salt and bring to boil till the liquid thickens with jaggery. Next mix the wheat flour in 3 Tbsp water so that no lumps are formed.Pour this into the vessel and mix well and bring to boil stirring continuously.You can see the liquid thickening. Remove from the stove.Season with the seasoning items given above by heating oil and adding the mustard, urad dal ( let it become golden brown) and karbev leaves in that order and drop into the curry whrn hot.Stir well and serve hot with Indian any lunch.

Panha

This is a recipe for a fruit drink made out of raw mangoes ideal and cooling for the summer.
Ingredients:
Raw (sour) green mangoes : 2 no.s (Large ones peel and cube)
Sugar : 2 cups
Water : 1 cup
Ginger : 1/4 inch (cleaned and grated)
Pepper powder : 1 pinch
Salt : 1 pinch

Method:

Cook the cubed mangoes in 1 cup of water in thick bottomed vessel till soft and done. Add the sugar and boil till sugar dissolves well . Add pepper, salt and ginger shreds and let boil till the fluid thickens slightly. Remove from stove and cool. Put in a blender to blend. Store in the fridge and use like squash by adding cold water and ice before serving. If you do not like ginger you can do without it.

Some Advice!!

Hi all,

Thanks for browsing through my Blog, my little effort to do something worthwhile in the evening of my life! But here's what I would like you all to do- other than wash,clean,cook ,feed and take care of your family and home ever so lovingly.

Me being so old can't help giving ADVICE!! Try this, do something other than the usual in your life- have you tried to awaken your dormant or hidden artistic talents be it singing,dancing, sewing or even drawing and painting? Just try and see how much more fulfilled you feel. Your own family will love it and look at you in a different light , in fact appreciate you. Reserve a few hours a week for your interests and see how you feel and what you achieve, after all we live only once and on the Womens' Day I have nothing but this to say- do something../anything for yourself.

I may or may not be around , but you will surely remember me for telling you all this!
And don't forget , all good things should be passed on....

Marie Biscuit Cake-Needs no baking

Here's a simple "cake"you can make with Marie biscuits!There is no baking involved!

Ingredients:

• Marie Biscuits : 1 packet ( or 15 biscuits)
• Fresh white butter : 4 Tbsps
• Coarsely powdered roasted cashew nuts : 1 cup
• Milk : 2 to 3 Tbsps
• Powdered sugar : 1 cup
• Cocoa : 4 Tbsps
• Raisins : 1 Tbsps
  

Method :

Crush the Marie biscuits to a coarse powder. Beat sugar and butter well. Next add the milk and cocoa and mix thoroughly. Now add the crushed Marie biscuit and raisins and mix well.
Grease a rectangular baking dish, preferably made of metal and spread the mixture in it evenly.Next sprinkle the powdered cashew on top. Keep in the refrigerator freezer for a short time till it hardens then transfer to the shelf in the refrigerator. Cut into diamonds or squares and serve. Kids will love this!

Kadgi Sukkhe(Raw Jack-fruit dry curry-side dish)

Ingredients:

1. 8" long Raw Jack-fruit (kadgi) , outer thick skin peeled and cubed.
2. Coconut scrapings : 1 cup (250 ml cup)
   
3. Red chillies : 6 no.s
4. SeedlessTamarind : Lime sized, soak
5. Urad dhal : 2 tsps
6. Oil , mustard and karbev (curry) leaves for seasoning . Salt to taste.
   

Method:
Cook the kadgi pieces in very little water in a cooker for 1 whistle. When cooled, drain the water and keep for use later. Now crush the kadgi pieces lightly with a pestle.

In a small pan (panna dhavlo or panna kayili) add 1/2 tsp oil and fry the urad dhal and chillies till golden brown.

Grind in a mixie coconut scrapings, tamarind pulp and chillies to a medium coarse paste with less than 1/2 cupwater used for boiling the kadgi pieces. Add the roasted urad dhal now in the mixie and run it only for 15 seconds. This way the flavour of roasted urad dhal is preserved.

Now take a bigger kadai (pan), pour the oil, when it is hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add curry leaves. Now add the cooked kadgi pieces and mix well.Then add the coarsely ground masala and salt. Mix well and cover and cook for 10 minutes taking care to stir it now and then. The curry should be dry.This is a typical side dish in a Mangalorean Konkani meal.

If you replace urad dhal with a one tablespoon of coriander seeds, then this curry becomes "chakko".

Raw Jackfruit and Raw Mango Pickle

This pickle is called " Raw Jack-fruit Adgayi" in Konkani. As the mango season is so close you can try this mouth watering recipe.

Method:

Take 1/4 of medium size (length about 6 to 8 inches) raw jackfruit and two medium size fresh green and raw mangoes.

Peel and cube raw jack-fruit ( hereafter I will call it Kadgi). Boil these in water to which salt is added. This is just to make the pieces tender but firm enough to eat. Boil say, for 5 minutes.This boiling is NOT for cooking the vegetable. Cool and keep the salt water for use later in the recipe. Cool it and put it on a piece of cloth .

Cut the mangoes to 1/2" squares with the skin on.

Now dry fry in little bit of oil the following till golden brown, adding one by one in the order given below:
Coriander seeds : 1 Tablespoon fry then add
Dry Red chillies : 10 to 12 fry and then add
Fenugreek (methi) seeds : 1/2 tsp
Mustard : 1.1/2 tsp fry all and add
Last
Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida(hingu) : a pinch or two depending on the strength of hing
when hing smell comes up nicely , remove from pan and cool. Grind these in a mixie with the salt water ( adjust the addition of water , to get a fairly thick liquid after grinding- consistency like chocolate sauce)This pickle will be dark brown in color.
To this liquid, add mango pieces and kadgi pieces, and if required add salt. Keep covered for 1 day. Must keep in refrigerator thereafter and will keep for 10 days. Best eaten fresh.

It is difficult to give exact measurements for the recipe because of the size of kadgi and mangoes.
When you make it once or twice you will get the measures right.

Easy Plum Jam

Ingredients:

1. Cherry plums: 1 kg
2. Crystal Sugar: 1 kg
3. Citric acid crystals: 2 pinches
4. Essence : 3/4 to 1 tsp (Raspberry/Mixed Fruit)

Method:

Wash the cherry plums well and put in a thick bottomed pan. Keep the pan on lighted stove, add 1 tablespoon of water and cover with a lid. Cook on high fire. Be near the stove! In a short time the plums would have cooked. Remove the pan from fire.

When cooled, slowly remove the pips (seeds) and lightly mash with a spoon. Do not put in mixie /blender etc. Add the sugar and keep on lit stove again. Keep stirring alternating from medium flame to high flame taking care not to let it get burnt. The hot mixture gets a glossy shine, check for two to three string consistency (when you dip a flat spoon in the mixture and lift it up, the pulp should fall off slowly). Or simply drop a small lump of the sugar plum pulp in a bowl and put a few teaspoons of cold water on it. The jam should not dissolve, then it is done.
Remove from fire, add citric acid crystals and essence and mix well.

Fill in clean, sterilized glass bottles.

Greengram and Methi Sprouts curry

Ingredients

1. 11/4 cup green gram (whole moong) soak and sprout
2. 1/2 cup of methi seeds (fenugreek) soak and sprout.
3. 3/4 of Fresh coconut scraped fine.
   
4. Green chillies : 5 or 6 (or as per taste)
5. Jeera(cumin) seeds : 1 Tbsps
6. Refined Oil : 1 Tbsps

Mustard and Curry leaves(Karbeva) for seasoning.

Method :
In a Pressure cooker, cook the sprouts till one whistle.Don't over cook.
Grind to a course paste the coconut scrapings, green chillies and jeera in a mixie.
Mix this with the cooked sprouts, add some water and salt , mix well and bring to boil on a stove on sim fire. Now season with oil, mustard seeds and karbev. Use as a side dish with South Indian meals or can be had with chappathis. This is a nutritious side dish.

Now Grandma Makes her first Techie Video !

Dhal and Brinjal roast/Stuffed Brinjal fry/Ennai Kathirikai

Ingredients:

Urad dhal : 1 cup
Chana Dhal : 1 cup
Dry red chillies : 15 or more
Violet brinjals : 250 gms
Cocoanut scrapings : 1 tea cup
Oil and mustard for seasoning. Asafoetida : 2 pinches

Wash brinjals, remove stalks. Slit into 4 pieces from the bottom, do not cut fully.
Roast the dhals and chillies separately in a pan without oil. Coarsely powder the roasted items in a mixie and finally add cocoanut scrapings and run the mixie for 1 minute. Take out this dry mixture add salt and stuff into the brinjals carefully.

Keep a thick bottom pan and pour 4 tablespoons oil and add mustard. When it splutters add asafoetida and after 5 seconds place the stuffed brinjals carefully in the oil. Sprinle the remaining mixture above the brinjals . Add some oil if necessary and cover and cook on slow fire till done. If desired can sprinkle tamarind dissolved in water before closing with lid for cooking. This is a dry and well fried side dish for rice and dhal or sambar.

Methi Dhal

Ingredients:

Tender Methi leaves cleaned and washed : 1 cup
Green gram dhal : 1 cup soaked in warm water for 30 mins
Garlic pods : 4 numbers
Red chillies (dry) : 6 nos
Cooking Oil : 2 Tbsps

Method:

Take a deep thick bottomed pan and pour the oil in it and keep on slow fire. Add the slightly crushed garlic pods and red chillies and fry till garlic turns golden brown. Now add the washed and soaked dhal and stir well. Cook for ten minutes and then add the chopped methi leaves and stir again and add salt to taste. Sprinkle water and cover and cook till done and dry. Serve hot as side dish with rice.

Onion Gojju

Ingredients:

Onions - 2 (Medium size)
Red dry Chillies : 5 or 6 (Roasted in oil)
Lime size Tamarind ( Cleaned and washed in drinking water)

Method: Fine Chop onions into small pieces

Crush roated chillies and salt in a wooden bowl with a wooden pound.
Add the onions to this and crush lightly. Add thick tamarind pulp to this and
mix well.Add water to get a thick consistency of "Gojju".
Makes a fine quick side dish.

Stomach upset- simple medicine from your kitchen

Just dry roast methi seeds (1/2 tsp) till it splutters. Pound it coarsely and add to half a glass of
buttermilk/curd with a pinch of salt. Drink this and you will get immediate relief from the stomach ache due to indigestion.

Ofcourse if pain is severe/persists see a Doctor

Calories Free Chutney(no coconut)

Ridge Gourd peel Chutney /Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

Peel of ridge gourd (without the ‘ridgy’ portion) of 1/2 kg ridgegourd(Tamil: Peerkankai,Kannada:Peerakkai).
Dry Red chillies ; 3 or 4
Green chillies : 2
Urad dhal : 1 ½ Tbs Methi seeds : 8 or 10
Hing : a pinch garlic: 2/3 pods fresh coriander leaves : a few sprigs
Tamarind : a little (small gooseberry size)

Method:
Pour 1 Tbs oil in a pan and add urad dhal , red chillies and methi seeds and roast for a while. Now add the peel, and rest of the ingredients with salt and roast dry till the peel gets cooked- changes to dull green colour.

Remove from fire and cool. Grind in mixie without adding any water to as smooth a chutney as possible.

Serve with hot rice and ghee or use as chutney for dosa

Replace the peel with ripe tomatoes cut into pieces and cook without adding water to a pulp and grind to smooth paste in a mixie. Mmmmm....this goes well with hot rice or dosas..

Savoury Pooris

Maida Flour 1/2 lb
Cumin Seeds 1 Tsp
Pepper 1 tsp coarsely ground
coriander seend 1 Tbsp
Green chillies 5
Cloves or garlic 1
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Sieve the flour and salt together and cumin seeds and pepper. Grind garlic coriander and chillies and add to the floor. Rub little ghee intot he flour adding warm water gradually. Knead into stiff dough and make samll balls fo the dough and roll out into puris and fry in hot ghee or oirl. Do not roll and keep. Make two puris at a stretch.

Chow Chow Curry

Beans 1/2 kg
Peas
Caauliflower 1 large
Potatoes 4-5
Carrots 3-4
Red chillies 3
Coconut 1 small
Cinnamon 2-3
Cloves 2-3
Tamarind size of a marble
Pepper Corns 4-5
COriander 1 tsp seeds
Curry Leaves 10-12
Onions 2

Preparation:
Grate the coconut and fry it to a brown colour.Fry the chillies cinammon, cloves pepper and coriander seeds and curry leaves in a teaspoon of oil.Grind them to a smooth paste with coconut and tamarind.Cut up the vegetables and cook them in salted water. Slice and fry the onions to a golden brown colour.Mix the masala paste witht he vegetables and fried onions. Cook till the curry is quite thick. Serve hot with Chappatthis or puris.

Alooo ki roti

Wheat Flour 2lb
Potatoes 1lb
Onions 2
Green chillies 4
Coriander leaves 1 bunch
Ginger a small piece.
coriander seeds 1 teaspoon roasted and ground
Back Pepper 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground
Salt to taste



Preparation:
Chop onion green chillies, coriander leaves and garlic finely boil potatoes peel and chop them. Heat a little ghee in a panand fry the onions till brown and add all the remaining ingerdients into this incluiding the potatoes and remove from the fire, cool and mash coarsely with a fork. Knead the flour with little wate ran a pinch of salt as for plain rotis. Make 8 equal portions of the potato stuffing. Roll out puris making 8 equal portions of the dough also. Place the stuffing in the centre of the puri. Hold bringing the edges to the center and then flatten the chapatthis and fry on a Tava.

Mysore Idlis

Vermacelli 1 1/2 lbs
Sooji (Semolin) 1/2 lbs
Curds 2 Cups
Ginger Piece 1 pod
Mustard 1 tbsp
Black Gram Dhal 1 1/2 Tbsp
Curry Leaves One twig
Corianger Leaves 1Tbsp Chopped
Hingu 1 pinch
Ghee 2 Tbsp or more
Cashewnuts 1 Cup
Salt to taste

Chop the green chillies finely and the cashewnuts coarsely. Heat ghee in a kadai and fry the bengal gram Dhal, mustard, chopped ginger, coprianderand curry leaves finely chopped,green chillies, cashewnuts and lastly fry vermacelli to light brown, add samolin and fry fopr a mixture. Remove from the fire and allow to cool. Mix the curd and enough water tomake a thick batter, adding hingu (asafoetida) and salt to taste. Leave to soak for 2 hours or more covered with a piece of cloth. Fill the idli katoris with this batter and steam in a idli steamer until done (7-10 minutes) Serve with coconut chutney and sambar.

Masala Brinjal Curry

Brinjals - 6 small
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Garlic 1 pod
Black Gram dhal - 2tbsp
Grated coconut 1/4 coconut
Ghee 3tbsp

Preparation:

Fry the above ingredients except coconut milk in a small quantity of ghee and grind to a fine paste. Remove the stalks from the brinjal and slit the quarters not cutting right through. Heat some ghee in a pan and pour in the coconut milk, water and salt. Put the brinjal in and cook until all the gravy is absorbed. Remove from the fire and fill in the masala, fry the brinjals carefully in ghee or oil and serve immediately.

Quick Dahi Vada

4 Cloves
Bread 1 lb
Gram Flour 1 lb
1 Small Onion
Curds 4 Tbsp.
Cumin Seeds (Jeera) 2 Tbsp.
Red Chilli Powder 1/2 Tbsp.
1 Bunch coriander leaves
1 Ginger
Oil to fry

Preparation:
Cut the bread into square pieces of medium size, say 1/4 inch thick. Roast the cumin seeds and cloves on a tava. Grind this finely into a powder and keep aside.Cut the onions, green chillies, ginger and coriander leaves and grind them into a smooth paste. Keep Dahi ready with salt. Mix all of the above adding water and make a thick mixture as you would make for pakoras.

Heat Ghee in a Kadai, dip the pieces of bread carefully in the mixture one at a time and fry in oil. Put all these pieces in the seasoned curd when cool, sprinkle powdered masala and chilli powder. Fry mustard seeds in ghee when they crackle pour the vadais.and you vadais are ready.