Alu palak majjige huli

Majjige huli is a traditional dish, a kind of sambar made without toor dal. Sour curds are used to get the sour tangy taste. It can be made using pumpkin and greens. More popular version is made using pumpkins or mangalore cucumber.

I once had this really different majjige  huli made from potato and palak (spinach). It tasted really good and the combination was awesome. I had been planning to make it at home since the day i had it, but somehow the time had not come.. One fine day when i almost ran out of veggies stock in my fridge, except potatoes i remembered i had to try this. I got a bunch of fresh palak leaves after dropping my son at school.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4


Ingredients: 

1. Potatoes 4-5
2. Palak leaves a bunch
3. Grated fresh coconut 1/2 cup
4. Jeera seeds 1tbsp
5. Ginger a little
6. Salt
7. Oil
8. Turmeric 1/2tsp
9. Coriander leaves a little
10. Green chillies 8-10 (depending upon their hotness)
11. Mustard seeds 1tsp
12. Dry red chillies 2nos
13. Chana dal 1.5 tbsp
14. Rice 1/2tbsp
15. Water
16. Sour curds 1 cup

Method:

1. Wash the palak thoroughly, chop them and keep aside. Cut the potatoes into cubes.
2. Soak the chana dal and rice for about 1/2 hour.
3. Cook the potatoes first, when half done add the palak (palak cooks early)
4. Grind coconut with ginger, green chillies, jeera seeds, coriander leaves, soaked chana dal, rice and turmeric powder to a fine paste. Make sure its not too watery.
5. Add this to the cooked alu and palak. Mix well.
6. Add salt and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes.
7. Now add the sour curds, and a little water if its too thick, mix well.
8. Let it cook for about 4-5 minutes on low flame.
9. Make seasoning of mustard seeds and dry red chillies.
10. Serve hot with rice.. Tastes best when had with puliogare.

Stuffed brinjal (Badanekyi tumbugayi)

Making stuffed brinjals for chapathi is definitely a weekend plan or something for the night dinner, when people at home can relish it with more time and for those who cook it as well. It's a little lengthier process, but the result is a yummy dish.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

1. 3/4kg of purple brinjals (small ones)
2. Mustard seeds 1tsp
3. Jeera seeds 1tsp
4. Poppy seeds 1/2tsp
5. Dry grated coconut 1/2 cup
6. Dry red chillies (guntur and byadagi) 5 each
7. Pepper corns 5-6
8. Methi seeds 1/4tsp
9. Chana dal 1tsp
10. urad dal 1tsp
11. Dhania seeds 1.5tsp
12. Water
13. Salt
14. Oil
15. Tamarind about a lemon's size



Method: 

1. Wash the brinjals and cut their crown, slit them into 4 (not fully)
2. In a kadhai heat 1tsp of oil and roast methi seeds, pepper corns, poppy seeds, chana dal, urad dal, jeera sseds and dhania seeds. Also the dry red chillies.
3. Grind them with dry grated coconut to a powder (don't add water)
4. Now fill some of this powder into the slit brinjals.
5. Heat about 4tbsp of oil in a kadhai and make seasoning of mustard seeds.
6. Add the stuffed brinjals, a liitle water, cover and cook till they turn tender.
7. Then add the ground powder, salt and squeeze the tamarind juice.
8. Mix well, add some more of the powder, water to required consistency and cook for about 4-5 minutes on low flame.

You can substitute groundnut powder in place of poppy seeds, taste will however differ a little.

9. Serve hot with chapathi/jolada rotti.

5 minute omelette in a coffee mug

We're pure vegetarians by birth, but as a kid my mom made sure i got the necessary proteins.. So she made sure that i had eggs almost daily, she would not cook it for me, but i used to go this creche managed by Christians, who even owned a bakery.. so it was my mom's standing instructions to give me an omelette almost daily. So that's how i got used to eating eggs, and I loved the omelette that aunty at my creche made.. i still remember that aroma, i would gulp it down in moments.. but i did not like boiled egg much..

So when it came to giving my son the proteins required, i did cook him omelette's and boiled eggs myself.. to my surprise my hubby made the best omelette for me during pregnancy, very similar to the one i used to have at the creche, so i did learn a bit from him..

It was a rainy evening and i was really hungry, had some eggs in the fridge which i had got for baking eggs, but used them for this.. I wanted to make bread omelette, ended up making just omelette.. my son enjoyed with lots of tomato sauce.. :)

I follow this food community called Etable, on whose blog i saw making omelette's in a coffee mug and that too in five minutes flat.. I had to try this... 

Preparation time: 3 minutes
Cooking time: 2 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

1. Eggs 1nos
2. Onions 1nos
3. Green chillies 1 finely chopped
4. Salt to taste
5. Maida 1.5tsp
6. Oil/butter 1tbsp
7. Coriander leaves a little

Method: 

1. Break the eggs and beat it well. 
2. Add onions, green chillies, salt, oil, coriander leaves and maida and mix well so that no lumps are formed. 
3. Pour them into a microwave sup coffee mug, fill only half of the mug. 

4. Put in the oven at high power for about 1 to 1.5 minutes (or till its done). 
5. The omelette will rise up in between, but dont fret once its out of the oven it goes down. 
6. Check for doneness and let it stand for about 30 seconds in the oven. 
7. Serve hot.. 

You can any veggies to make it more healthy, or even add cheese to it. 

Omelette

We're pure vegetarians by birth, but as a kid my mom made sure i got the necessary proteins.. So she made sure that i had eggs almost daily, she would not cook it for me, but i used to go this creche managed by Christians, who even owned a bakery.. so it was my mom's standing instructions to give me an omelette almost daily. So that's how i got used to eating eggs, and I loved the omelette that aunty at my creche made.. i still remember that aroma, i would gulp it down in moments.. but i did not like boiled egg much..

So when it came to giving my son the proteins required, i did cook him omelette's and boiled eggs myself.. to my surprise my hubby made the best omelette for me during pregnancy, very similar to the one i used to have at the creche, so i did learn a bit from him..

It was a rainy evening and i was really hungry, had some eggs in the fridge which i had got for baking eggs, but used them for this.. I wanted to make bread omelette, ended up making just omelette.. my son enjoyed with lots of tomato sauce.. :)


Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes


Ingredients:

1. Eggs 2nos
2. Onions 1nos
3. Green chillies 2nos
4. Salt to taste
5. Oil


Method: 

1. Break the eggs and beat them well, add chopped onions, salt, green chillies and mix well.
2. Heat a tava, spread some oil over it.
3. Add in the egg mixture and spread it around rotating the tava.
4. Add a little more oil in the corners and let it cook.
5. Turn over and cook for a while.
6. Serve hot with tomato sauce/ketchup..

Brinjal (badanekeyi) gojju

There are a lot of people who don't like eating brinjals, especially the purple ones, since they think it sour, but when the gravy is made this way i guess many people can't even guess its brinjals.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

1. Purple brinjals 1/2kg
2. Onions 3-4
3. Green chillies 5-6
4. Curry leaves a few
5. Oil
6. Salt
7. Tamarind a lemon's size
8. Rasam powder 1 to 1.5tbsp
9. Coriander leaves a little
10. Grated coconut 1/4 cup
11. Water
12. Turmeric powder 1tsp
13. Mustard seeds 1tsp
14. Jaggery 2tbsp

Method: 

1. Wash the brinjals, and slit thiem into half. Cook them in pressure cooker up to 2 whistles and let the cooker cool.
2. In the meanwhile, chop onions and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadhai and make seasoning of mustard seeds, green chillies and curry leaves.
4. Add onions, turmeric powder and saute till onions turn golden.
5. Now add the cooked brinjals, rasam powder (add the required quantity of rasam powder depending upon the hotness of the powder)
6. Add water if required and bring it to a boil. Add salt and mix well.
7. Now squeeze the juice of tamarind and mix well. Add jaggery and mix. Let it melt.
8. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
9. Add grated coconut, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with chapathi/rice.

Bhindi (ladies finger) sambar

Bhindi (ladies finger) is a very popular veggie in India. very healthy as well. Its really good for everyone, kids, elders and especially diabetics.

My 3 year old has a vegetable rhymes dvd, in which this rhymes on ladies finger mentions "ladies finger, ladies finger slim and slender, soft and tender; ladies finger, ladies finger good for brain and memory power" very true i would say.. my little one loves ladies finger to the core..


This is a traditional sankethi style sambar, very tasty and will definitely tickle ur taste buds for sure..


Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1. Ladies finger (fresh) 1/2kg
2. Toor dal 1/2 cup
3. Oil
4. Dhania seeds 1.5tbsp
5. Grated fresh coconut 1/2 cup
6. Coriander leaves a little
7.Curry leaves a few
8. Salt
9. Water
10. Dry red chillies 8-10
11. Rice 1tbsp
12. Mustard seeds 1tsp
13. Tamarind about a lemon's size


Method: 

1. Cook toor dal and keep aside.
2. Wash the ladies finger, wipe them clean and cut them.
3. Heat oil in a kadhai and make seasoning of mustard seeds. Add the cut bhindi.
4. Fry/roast them well, stirring in between until the stickiness is gone.
5. Squeeze tamarind extract and the bhindi cook till tender. Add a little water.
6. Now grind coconut, dry red chillies, dhania seeds, rice and coriander leaves to a fine paste.
7. Add this to the cooked bhindi. Add toor dal, salt and boil for about 5 minutes.
8. Add water to required consistency.
9. Serve hot with rice/chapathi.

Shavige (vermicelli) upma

Shavige upma is a breakfast recipe when you've made everything else for breakfast all throughout the week. It can also be made as snack in the evening. You can vary the taste by adding veggies, or just onions. A lot of variations can be made with shavige, lemon masala shavige, puliogare masala shavige and shavige pulao as well.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

1. MTR roasted vermicelli 200gms
2. Onions 2nos
3. Green chillies 5-6
4. Tomatoes 2nos
5. Capsicum 2 nos
6. Oil
7. Mustard seeds 1tsp
8. Jeera seeds 1tsp
9. Curry leaves a few
10. Coriander leaves a little
11. Grated fresh coconut 1/4 cup
12. Turmeric powder 1tsp

Method: 

1. Chop the onions, capsicum and tomatoes. (you can use beans, carrots and peas as well, omit onions then)
2. Keep about 250ml of water for boiling.
3. If you're using the roasted vermicelli, you can start with the dish right away, but if you're using the regular one, you need to roast it till it turns light brown in 1tbsp og gheee/oil.
4. Heat oil in a kadhai and make seasoning of mustard seeds, jeera seeds, green chillies and curry leaves.
5. Add onions, turmeric and saute well till they turn golden brown.
6. Now add the capsicum and saute till they turn tender.
7. Add in the tomatoes, salt and mix well.
8. Next ass grated coconut and mix well. Simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
9. Slowly add the boiled water observing the need. You can add some more water later if required.
10. Cover the kadhai and cook for about 4-5 minutes on low flame.
11. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Pudina matar rice

Pudina (mint leaves), they smell heavenly and it does have a lot of medicinal values as well. They say raw pudina leaves when chewed early in the morning in an empty stomach helps in bringing the cholesterol level to a control.

I visit the local farmers market (raitara santhe) once in a fortnight to buy vegetables. I use it for about 15 days and they remain fresh even after that.. that's the advantage of straight from the farm i guess and on one such visit i got about 2 big bunches of pudina leaves.. so my menu was planned, pulao, pudina matar rice and pudina parantha. Once back home i removed all the leaves from the stem and stored them in newspaper and put them into the fridge.

Lunch box time and my hubby loves green peas, so does my son. So with menu planned in advance i had to make pudina matar rice. Very easy and hassle free..

Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1. Rice 2 cups
2. Pudina leaves 1 bunch
3. Oil
4. Jeera seeds 1tsp
5. Onions 2nos
6. Garlic cloves 9-10
7. Tomatoes 1nos
8. Green chillies 9-10 (vary according to your taste)
9. Grated coconut 1/4 cup
10. Ginger paste 1tsp
11. Cinnamon stick 1 inch
12. Water
13. Salt to taste
14. Mustard seeds 1tsp


Method: 

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds, jeera seeds, cinnamon stick, ginger paste and saute.
2. Grind the pudina leaves along with onion, tomato, garlic cloves, coconut and green chillies to a fine paste.
3. Add this fine paste to the pressure cooker and saute well and let it boil for about 2-3 minutes till raw smell disappears.
4. Add green peas, rice, water and salt. Mix gently and well so that the rice doesnt break.
5. Cover the cooker and cook for about 2 whistles.
6. Serve hot.

Heerekayi (ridge gourd) keepuli

This one's a superhit with our family, my hubby's granny who happens to be devarayasamudram iyer makes this dish to soo much perfection and sooo yummy that when made at home we store in the fridge for about 2-3 days and relish it along with rice, chapathi and dosa.

This is the recipe for the one made with heerekayi (ridge gourd), it can be made with greens as well (but make sure you dont use methi leaves).


Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 7

Ingredients:

1. Heerekayi (ridge gourd) 1 big
2. Grated fresh coconut 1/2 cup
3. Dry red chillies (byadagi and guntur) 5 each
4. Tamarind about a lemons size
5. Jaggery 2.5tbsp
6. Salt
7. Oil
8. Mustard seeds 1tsp
9. Jeera seeds 1tbsp

Method:

1. Wash the heerekayi and scrape its skin a little.
2. In a pressure cooker add the heerekayi, coconut, jeera seeds, tamarind and dry red chillies and cook it for upto 3 whistles.
3. Once the cooker is cooled, transfer the ingredients to a plate and let them cool.

4. Later grind them in a mixer to a fine paste.
5. Transfer to a cooking vessel and keep it on the stove on low flame.
6. let it boil for about 2-3 minutes. Add salt and jaggery at this stage, mix well and let it simmer.
7. Finally heat oil in a kadhai and make seasoning of mustard seeds and dry red chillies.
8. Serve hot with rice, chapathi or dosa.

Tooti fruity pineapple cake

My 3 year old loves cakes, whenever we pass through a bakery he says amma we'll buy cake.. So one fine afternoon when we were returning home from his school he again said the same words so i told him amma will make it at home and he instantly says i want tooti fruity cake (he had eaten it once in the same bakery that we crossed) and i answered ok..

Once back home i put him to sleep and started with baking the cake. I used pineapple essence rather than the usual vanilla essence this time.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes (depending on the oven)
Serves: 9-10 pieces

Ingredients: 

1. Maida/all purpose flour 1.5cups
2. Powdered sugar 2 cups
3. Eggs 3nos
4. Baking soda 1.5tbsp
5. Butter (melted) 3/4cup
6. Tooti fruity a little
7. Pineapple essence 1tsp


Method:

1. Preheat oven at 200 degrees.
2. Sieve maida and baking powder and keep aside.
3. Beat eggs (both white and yolk), add the pineapple essence and beat well till fluffy.
4. Now fold in butter and sugar and beat really well.
5. Slowly add the maida and tooti fruity and mix really well. More you beat, more fluffy the cake.
6. Grease the baking tray, pour the mixture and bake at 200 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, depending on the oven you use (you can check in between).
7. Once baked, remove from the oven, let it cool and turn around and cut as desired.

Onion and tomato chutney

This chutney was an accompaniment with the Neer dosa i made. It had to spicy and a lilttle different from the regular coconut chutney, so i made this type of chutney. This can be served with regular dosa or even chapathi/rice as well, even idli's too.


Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes
Serves: 5-6


Ingredients: 

1. Onions 2 nos
2. Tomatoes 3-4 depending upon the size
3. Green chillies (spicier ones) 7-8 vary the quantity depending upon the spiciness you require
4. Jeera seeds 1tsp
5. Dhania seeds 1tsp
6. Curry leaves a few
7. Oil
8. Grated coconut 1/4 cup
9. Mustard seeds 1tsp
10. Water
12. Tamarind a little (if you're not using the sour tomatoes)

Method:

1. Heat 1tsp of oil in a kadhai and roast onions slit into halves till they turn light brown.
2. Add jeera seeds, dhania seeds and roast.
3. Now add in the tomatoes as well. Saute them for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Cool it and grind to a medium fine paste along with grated coconut, salt, tamarind (if you're not using the sour tomatoes)
5. Heat another teaspoon of oil in kadhai and make seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves.
6. Add the ground paste and saute for about 3-4 minutes (just for the flavour). You can omit this step if you want.
7. Serve the chutney with dosa, chapathi, idli or rice.

Neer dosa

Well the name Neer dosa is very popular, not only the name but even its taste... but making it some people think is really difficult but its quite easy.. all you need is the right consistency of the batter and most important thing, people at home to eat it quickly, as soon as its served...

I did my part of research before making it, and i wanted it to be right since it was the 1st time I would be attempting it.. I decided to make it over the weekend when my in laws came so that i could at least have people at home to enjoy with..

A few important points to note: There's absolutely no need to ferment this batter.. Some people say that dosa's needs to be made immediately after grinding, while some are of the view that it can be kept for about 30-45 minutes.. Some people according to their convenience make the batter and store it the fridge overnight.

One more point is about using the right kind of tava. I did borrow my mom's old tava (the one that people in Mangalore originally use to make such dosas) but my dosa never turned up using it, in fact the non-stick tava worked wonders for me.. All the dosas came out wonderfully without even sticking once.. But make sure the tava is not too hot (the dosa might turn crispy) nor too cold (dosa might not cook evenly). Maintain the flame venly once the tava is heated up..


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 3-5 minutes per each dosa
Serves: 5 (3 dosas each)

Ingredients: 

1. Raw rice (i took the rice i use daily at home) 3 cups
2. Fresh grated coconut 1/2 cup
3. Salt to taste
4. Water


Method:

1. Soak the rice for about 3-4 hours (i soaked it overnight coz i was making it for breakfast)
2. Grind the rice along with grated coconut to fine paste.
3. Add salt and adjust the consistency of the batter to very watery state.. It should be really watery unlike the normal dosa bater.























4. Heat the tava fully and pour about 1.5 spoon ful of the batter and rotate the tava with your hands, dont spread the batter with the spoon like its done for normal dosa.

5. Spread oil and cook with lid covered till its done on both sides.

6. Serve hot immediately with spicy coconut chutney or tomato chutney. I served with onion and tomato chutney