Bhajje Ambat-Amaranth and Pigeon peas in coconut gravy.

In our old house we used to have a small vegetable  garden in the backyard  where amma used to grow vegetables like Bittergourd,Snakegourd,Amaranth, etc....Amaranth leaves are completely  nutritious coz they are an excellent source of carotene, iron, calcium, protein, vitamin C and trace elements.Infact they contain three times more calcium and vitamin B3 than spinach leaves.Now you know why you need to use them more often in your diet .This combined with pigeon pea(Toor dal),yet another storehouse of nutririon leaves you fully contented in preparing a nutritious curry .Here it is.

Ingredients:-

Red Amaranth leaves (washed thoroughly and chopped)-130gms
Pigeon peas(Toor dal)  -70 gms
Potatoe(diced)-70gms
Grated coconut(fresh/frozen)-50gms
Mustard seeds-1/4tsp
Cumin seeds-1 fat pinch
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Coarse Red Chilli powder -1 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Curds-100ml /kudampuli (also known as Kerala tamarind/ Malabar tamarind.The scientific name is Garcinia Cambogia )-1/2"piece
Oil
Salt

Method:-
Pressure cook  dal and   chopped potatoes.

Grind the grated coconut along with chilli powder, turmeric powder into a thick paste by slowly adding water.This is called Masolu in konkani.This  paste is  the base for the gravy.

In a kadai put oil and splutter the mustard seeds.Add cumin seeds .When the aroma of the cumin seeds starts coming add  curry leaves and stir well.

Add the chopped amaranth leaves and cook till they are half done.To it add the cooked dal and potatoes.

Now add the ground coconut paste(masolu), salt, curds/kudampuli and stir well.Close the kadai with a lid and bring the curry to a boil.

Serve hot with rice.

Beans Sukken-Beans Stir Fry

"Sukken" in konkani means a vegetable curry  prepared with grated coconut as its base.The grated coconut is either used just like that along with some spices or it is ground into a smooth paste along with these spices. While the latter gives a gravy for the curry ,the former one (the one that i'm going to post below) is more like a side dish.

Today i was absolutely confused as  to what i should make for lunch.When i  found some nice french beans in the refrigerator ,the menu was fixed.This curry finds a place very often in my menu when my in-laws visit us since my father in law loves french beans .The curry tasted really good .Here is the recipe for you:-)


Ingredients:-

French beans-250gms
Fresh grated coconut -4-5 tbsp*
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Urad dal-1 tsp
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Coarse red chilli powder-1tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Asaefotida powder-a fat pinch
Coconut oil-1tbsp
Salt


Method:-

Mix together grated coconut,coarse red chilli powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida powder and keep aside.

 In a kadai put coconut oil and add mustard seeds.When they splutter add urad dal and give it a quick stir.

When the urad dal turns into golden brown colour add curry leaves and stir well.

Then add the chopped beans and coconut spice mix and stir well.Sprinkle a few drops of water and close the kadai.Cook in a medium flame.

 You may add some coconut oil as a garnish after the curry is done.This curry goes well with rice.

Soppur kukkachi upkari - Chinese potato stir fry

 Firstly a heartfelt apology to all the followers of this blog for not updating the blog since long .The past few months flied like seconds i must say and it was filled with so much buzzing activity that i rarely found time to even login.But surely i found time to learn so many new recipes which will be featured soon.Let me first post this very recipe one of the favorites of my grandpa,who left us in this April."This one is for you aabu.We all miss you  very much".

"Soppur kooke"(konkani),Koorka (Malayalam) or Chinese potato is a  rare tuber that is mostly available in the coastal regions of Karnataka and Kerala.Though it shares some resemblance with baby potatoes, it is darker in colour and has tiny hair like roots attached to it.The taste is also unique,quite distinct from the normal potatoes.It is truly a seasonal delicacy and is available mostly from September to March.The vegetable is well  known for its nutritional values and is very good for  diabetic patients. But it is very sad to say that many people don't use it nowadays when compared to the past, may be because of the laborious task of cleaning them.

The cleaning process for this vegetable is slightly different .It is a little  difficult to clean these potatoes ,to peel of its skin and get rid of the mud that comes with it.I still remember how my palm used to become black in color when i used to clean them initially.Trust me, as you do it a couple of times you will master the task  easily.After all, the effort will be worthwhile when you get to experience the divine taste of this vegetable.

People use different methods to clean this vegetable.Some people put it in a jute/gunny bag and hit the bag on the floor several times to get rid of the skin.Some others pressure cook the potatoes and peel off the skin. Here is the method i follow:-


1. Soak the potatoes in water for about an hour.

2.Then  remove the skin using a knife.

3.Immediately after peeling  put the potatoes in water.

4. Wash thoroughly many times till you get rid of all the mud.

5.Now cut the potatoes lengthwise and immediately put the chopped pieces in water to prevent them from darkening.

You can make a wide variety of dishes with this vegetable.The stir fry that i have posted below is authentically prepared without onion.You can do it either way.

Ingredients:-

Chinese potatoes-200gms
Onion-180gms
Mustard seeds-1/2tsp
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Coarse Red chilli powder-1 1/4 tsp*
Coconut oil
Salt
*u may adjust the chilli powder according to your taste.

Method:-
In a heavy -bottomed pan heat oil and sputter mustard seeds.Add curry leaves and fry well.

Add the chopped onions and fry till they turn into golden brown colour.

Add the chopped potatoes and enough water to cover them.Keep stirring in between .

Now add chilli powder. salt and give it a stir.

When the vegetable is done it will evenly mash like normal potato.Wait till all the water has evaporated .Serve hot with rice.Hope you will try it.

Note:- you may also pressure cook the curry to reduce the cooking time.

Idli Usli-Idli upma

Sometimes when I'm very busy with my work i had  this habit of making some extra idlis so that i can  refrigerate and use it for another day  .But when these idlis popped out on our breakfast table  for the second time in a week Ranjit would give me a weird smile .This was when i invented this idly upma.It is slightly different from the one that my amma used to make (i shall post that recipe later).I must share this with you that he really liked it .Since this upma includes a lot of veggies you can also make it for your kids as a healthy evening snack. Hope you will like it.  

Ingredients:-

Idli -4 nos,

Mustard seeds-1/4tsp

Channa dal-1/4 tsp

Curry leaves-1 sprig

Ginger -1/2 tsp,finely chopped

Onion-1 medium,finely chopped

Red chilli powder-1 tsp/Green chillies-2nos*

Tomato-1 small,finely chopped

Carrot-1 small,finely grated

Frozen Green peas-1 tbsp

Oil

Salt

Corriander leaves-1 tbsp,chopped

*use chilies/chilli  powder according to your taste

Method:-

Powder the idlis using hand.Take care not to leave big lumps.In a pan heat oil and splutter mustard seeds.Then add channa dal and fry till it turns into golden brown colour.Now add the curry leaves and chopped onion.Stir well.When the onions start turning into golden brown colour,add green chillis or chilli powder and mix well.Then add chopped the  tomatoes and peas.When the tomatoes are half cooked add grated carrot,powdered idlis and salt. Take care while adding salt since the idlis already contain salt.Mix well and leave it on very low flame for a minute.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Bibbe Tendle Upkari - Tender cashewnut and Ivy gourd stir fry

'Upkari' means a stir fried dish in konkani .And 'bibbe' is the konkani name for tender cashewnuts, a delicacy that is  available mostly from January to March.Normally these cashewnuts are found with skin.So you will have to soak it in water for some time  and then remove the skin before using them.An all time favorite of konkanis,this dish  forms an inevitable part of a scrumptious konkani feast for any occasion.This dish is prepared in different variants .While some people use either cashew nuts or potatoes with ivygourd,some others use both potatoes and cashewnuts with ivy gourd (like i have done).So finally the choice is yours.Go ahead and enjoy.....

Ingredients:- 

Ivy gourd(cut into long pieces)-150gms

Potato(cut into 2inch long  pieces)-1medium sized

Tender cashew nuts-100gms(peeled and halved)

Coconut oil

Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp 

Coarse Red chilli powder-1 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves-1 sprig

Salt

Asafoetida-1 pinch

Method:-

Wash the chopped ivy gourd so that the extra seeds come out.Also wash the chopped potatoes thoroughly.In a pan heat oil and splutter the mustard seeds.Add the curry leaves, potatoes  tender cashew nuts and enough water to cover them.When the potatoes are about half cooked add ivy gourd ,chilli powder ,salt and asafoetida.Cook on a medium flame till all the vegetables cook well.Garnish with 1/4 tsp of coconut oil*and serve hot with rice.

*garnish is optional

Pan Polo -Neer Dosa

This is yet another very yummy dosa. I started preparing it after my marriage.I joke that this dosa is the sibling of 'Adsara Polo' coz they are more or less similar .The recipe i have posted below is my version which is slightly different from the original one that uses more coconut .Now you know why i love this coz i can binge on it even when i'm dieting coz it contains very less coconut.Yipieeee!!!

Ingredients:-

Raw rice-200gms

Grated Coconut-2 to 3 tbsp

Cooked white rice/ Rice flakes-2 tbsp

Salt

Methi Seeds -  a fat pinch(optional)

Method:-

Wash the raw rice thoroughly and soak it in water overnight  or atleast for about  four hours along with methi seeds (in case you are using it).Grind it along with the grated coconut and cooked rice or rice flakes.The batter should be very smooth and thinner in consistency than dosa batter .As the name 'Neer Dosa' suggests the batter should be very thin ,almost like water.Add salt.You can use the batter immediately.Grease a hot dosa tawa with oil and make thin dosas. Cover the dosa with a lid so that both the sides get cooked simultaneously.Serve hot with 'Dali Thoy', chutney,sugar or any curry of your choice .Hope you'll like it.

Gova Polo -Wheat Dosa

I'm truly a dosa lover who never hesitates in trying out new dosa recipies .Days are few when i don't get confused , when i have to choose amongst the different varities of dosas  while eating out.But let me confess that before i tried out this variant of wheat dosa i asumed that it was boring.Trust me ,once you try out this dosa even you"l  find it interesting.
Ingredients:-
Whole wheat/broken wheat-200gms
Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)-1/4 tsp
Grated coconut- 2tbsp (optional)
Salt
Oil-for making dosas

Method:-

Thoroughly wash the wheat thrice and soak in water along with fenugreek seeds for atleast 1 hour for whole wheat and atleast 1/2hr for broken wheat.Grind it into a smooth paste by adding required amount of water .The consistency of the batter should be the same as that of dosa batter.Add salt  and grated coconut to the batter.Make dosas  on  dosa tawa using oil.Serve hot with chutney/sambar.Hope u"l try it.