Instant Sweet Sour Spicy Mango Dish.

 Instant Sweet Sour Spicy Mango Dish.

Using somewhat sour mango fruit this instant dish which can be prepared in about 5-7 minutes will be a great hit with all of you. Try it

Method: 

Blend mango pulp, jaggery and 1/2 -1 green chilli and a pinch of salt and finally garnish/ tadka with oil , mustard curd chilli and curry leaves. Can eat with Idli, Dosa, Rice, curd rice, chapathi, parota  or as it is also.

                                            Ingredients: Mango, Jaggery, Green Chlli & salt.

                                        

                                                   Ready to serve after a Tadka.

 Preparation time : 5 minutes. 

 Serves 3-4 persons depending on size of mango.

Delicious Mango Fruit Gojju.

Delicious Mango Fruit Gojju.

When the ripe mango is not quite sweet, either somewhat bland or even sour, it can be made into a delicious, awesome gojju.

Ingredients:
    1) One or two mangos depending on size.  2) Tamarind juice made from about 1 ½ lime size tamarind.
    3) 2-3 green chillies.  4) Jaggery about 4-5 table spoonful (decide by test tasting) 5) Salt as needed.
    6) Special “gojju powder” -  2 heaped teaspoonful. 7) Mustard, red chilli, oil and curry leaves for tadka.
    8) Good quality asafoetida - about ½ spoon.

Method: 

Wash thoroughly the mango, peel it and cut the pulpy part in 2 layers and into small cubes about 1 cm size.
Cut 2 green chillies obliquely into 2-3 pieces each or split longitudinally.

Make tamarind juice and dilute it as needed into approximately 2 cups, strain it and boil in a tawa till raw smell goes. Add cut or split green chillies, jaggery and stir well to dissolve it. Add about ¾ to 1 spoon of salt and the cut mango cubes. Cook on low flame for about 1 minute. Add Gojju Powder and mix well, add generous quantity of asafoetida, bring to boil and switch off flame. Transfer it to one or two containers and garnish with mustard, red chilli and curry leaves in oil.

                              

Main items: Mango cubes and green chilli slices 

Tamarind juice - strained. 

All ingredients added 

Final product in serving dish.

Mango pulp to be cut in 2 levels

Can be eaten with hot white rice, curd rice, Idli, Dosa, Chapathi 

or bread. It can be preserved for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Preparation time – about 25 minutes.

Can serve large number of persons since only small quantity is consumed at a time over a period of days.

Special note: Making Gojju powder: In a kadai take 2-3 Turmeric roots dabbed with a few drops of coconut oil,
1 ½ spoon methi seeds, 10-12 red ‘Byadgi’ chillies and roast on medium flame till aroma of methi comes. Don’t over-roast methi seeds to black. Cool it and grind in a mixie into a fine powder. It can be preserved for a long time in the freezer compartment.    

Palak and Coriander Pulav

Palak and Coriander Pulav.

This is a tasty pulav, easy and quick to make. It goes well for lunch or dinner and is eaten with some 'Raita' with or without some 'Kara Boondi'.

Ingredients: 

1. Palak - one medium bunch, washed and dried and stems removed.  2. Coriander leaves one small bunch. 3. Onion - one. 4. Green chillies -2 to 3. 5. Ginger - about 1/2 inch  6. Garlic pods 6-8. 7. Lime juice - one tablespoon. 8. Garam masala 1/2 spoon. 9. Assorted vegetables - green peas, cauliflower, brinjal, carrot, potato, radish etc about 1 1/2 cups or more.  10. Masala items - bay leaves-2, cinnamon -2 pieces, cloves 3-4 and cardamom - 2-3.  11. Basmati rice - one cup.
                             
Method:  Step I: Cut palak and coriander leaves and grind into paste in a mixie along with green chillies, garlic pods, ginger and lemon juice. Keep it aside.
 Step II: Heat 2 tsps. of ghee and 2 tsps. of cooking oil in a cooker; add masala items and fry for 2 minutes in moderate flame. Then add finely cut onion and fry a while till it becomes light brown. Then add the palak and coriander paste and cook a while till the raw smell goes.
                           

Masala items fried + Onions+ Palak paste ready.

                               
 Step III: Add all vegetables cut to size, add salt, garam masala and mix well.
                             

Vegetables also added + salt+ Garam masala  & mix.

                                       
                           
 Step IV: Add washed rice, equal quantity of water (1: 1), mix and pressure cook for one whistle.

Washed rice addwed.

                                     
 Allow the cooker to cool. transfer contents to serving vessel. Add some fresh ghee on top and optional topping with some fresh coriander leaves.

                             

Palak Coriander Pulav ready to serve.

 

Serve for lunch or dinner along with cucumber tomato raita and with 'Boondi'.

Preparation time: About 20 to 25 minutes.

Serves 3 - 4 persons.

Masala Motchai or Averekai Masala.

Masala Motchai or Averekai Masala.

This is a preparation of Madurai area in Tamilnadu. This is not an Udupi cuisine. I learnt it from a cookery programme on TV many years back. It is eaten as a snack or with rice or chapathi or poori. Hailing from Udupi, where to almost all dishes we add jaggery, even for this I add a little jaggery to balance the spicy taste.

Ingredients:

 # 1) Motchai kottai or Avare kalu – 1 cup.  2) Chana flour or Basen or Kadale hittu – 2-3 tsps. 3) Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.  4) Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp. 5) Cooking oil (I use coconut oil) – 2+2 tsps. 6) Salt as needed. 7) Mustard – 1 tsp. 8) Sombu or Fennel seeds- 1 tsp. 9) Onions, small(sambar onion) or medium pieces – ½ cup. 10) Ginger finely cut – 1 tsp. 11) Green chillies – 3-4, finely cut. 12) Garlic 4-6 pods – finely cut. 12) Curry leaves – few.  13) Coriander leaves – few. 14) Jaggery – ½ tsp or more, optional.

Ingredients:  Avare seeds, green chillies, garlic pods. Onion (small sambar onions preferred), Ginger,

Chana Flour, Red Chilli powder, Sombu, Turmeric powder,Coriander leaves and curry leaves.

Green chillies, Ginger & Garlic pods -all finely cut, small onions and cooked Avare seeds mixed with masala.

Method of preparation:

Cleaned and dried avare seeds or motchai kotte is cooked in a pressure cooker (one whistle) or rice cooker and cool it.

Mix well Kadale mav or Basen, chilli powder, salt, turmeric and 2 tsps of oil. To this add the cooked avare seeds and mix to give a nice coating of the masala.

In a kadai heat 2 tsps oil, add mustard, sombu, onions (preferably small ones) and fry till mustard spurts. Now add finely cut ginger, green chillies and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium flame when a nice aroma comes. At this time reduce flame and add masala coated motchai and mix and cook for 3-5 minutes. Adding jaggery is an option at this time.

                                                  

After frying all other items add masala coated Motchai to the Kadai to mix and cook for 3-5 minutes more.

Finally transfer to serving dish and garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves.

                                    

Final stage after garnishing with curry leaves and coriander leaves.

                              

Can be eaten as it is as a snack or with rice or chapathi.

Preparation time : About 20-25 minutes.

Serves 3 to 4 persons.

Special note: can make similar masala using Potato cubes instead of Avare kalu.

Green Grams Sprouts Gashi.

Green Grams Sprouts Gashi.

This is a special dish of Udupi called “Gashi”. It is a sweet and sour dish without toor dhal. We can make gashi using green gram (as it is or sprouted) or any of the seeds like kadale (brown variety), peas (fresh, dried green or yellow ones), soya beans, lobia (alasande beeja) etc. All seeds used need to be soaked in water over night.

Ingredients:

 1) Sprouted green grams – ½ to 3/4 cup. 2) Tamarind – ½ lime size  3) Jaggery – 1/2 tsp.  4) For Masala – Jeera seeds – 1 tsp  5) Red chillies (Byadgi) 3-4.  6) Coconut gratings 3 tablespoons. 7) Turmeric powder ½ tsp 8) salt – as needed.  9) Green chilli – one, optional. 10) For tadka – mustard – ¾ tsp, red chilli -1, curry leaves few, cooking oil – 2 tsps, asafoetida -1/2 tsp     

Ingredients: Green Gram Sprouts, red chillies, curry leaves, coconut, green chilli, jaggery,
tamarind,turmeric powder, jeera seeds, salt. And Tadka items seperately.

, 

Method:

In ½ tsp of cooking oil (coconut oil) mildly roast red chillies and finally add jeera seeds and coconut gratings and put off flame. Cool it and grind with some water to fine paste and keep it aside.    

Dissolve tamarind in water and dilute it to one cup and boil it in a kadai till raw smell goes. Add jaggery and stir to dissolve and add turmeric powder also. Add sprouted green grams and cook on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Add salt as needed. Now add the masala paste and again bring ti boil on a low flame.  Test taste it and if needed add more jaggery or salt as needed. Finally add one green chilli, obliquely cut into 2 or 3 pieces (to be squeezed and used later while eating, if anyone desires the dish to be more  spicy). Transfer it to a serving dish and garnish with mustard, red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder.

Boiling Tamarind water. 

Add Jaggery & Sprouts and cook.

   

Add ground masala & salt and then green chilli.

After Tadka, ready to serve..

Eat with hot white rice with some ghee, if preferred or with curd rice or with Idli, Dosa or chapathi.

Cooking time – 15 to 20 minutes.  Serves 2-3 persons.

Kesuvina Soppu/ Colocasia leaves Chutney.

 Kesuvina Soppu/ Colocasia leaves Chutney.

Kesuvina soppu is used commonly for its well-known dish called “Pathrode” and its several variations. But it also lends itself for many other dishes including Chutneys. This recipe with a final “Garlic Voggarane/Tadka” , I learnt from my sister Sharath Kumari – a.k.a Kumari or Vijayalakshmi Ballal of Kinnimulki, Udupi.  

Ingredients:

  1) One or 2 large or many smaller leaves, washed and stem cut off and thick veins shaved off and  cut into small pieces – 1 ½ to 2 cups.        2) Tamarind – one lime sized.    and             3) Salt as  needed.                                                                                          

 4) Three to 4 tsps of Urad dhal. 5) Five to 6 red chillies (Byadgi or Ghati menasu).  6) Chana Dhal – 1 tsp. 7) Mustard – 1 tsp.  7) Curry leaves – a few. 8) Cooking oil - 4 tsps. 9) Turmeric powder – ½ tsp.  10) Coconut pieces or gratings - 2-3 tablespoons. 11) Garlic pods – about 15. 12) Ghee – 2 tsps.

Large Kesuvina Ele, Tamarind & salt for pressure cooking.

      

Ingredients: Soppu with tamarind & salt, Chana dhal, Red chillies, Tadka items in small plate , Urad dhal, Turmeric & Garlic pods.

                                  

Same as above, but with coconut in place of leaves. 

                                  

Method:

 Pressure cook Soppu, softened, cleaned tamarind and adding salt as needed with little water for 2 whistles and allow it to cool.

With one to 1 ½ tsp. oil in a kadai/pan fry urad dhal, chana dhal, red chillies mustard, few curry leaves and finally coconut and turmeric powder. 

                           

Ingredients fried with little l and allowed to cool.

Allow these to cool and grind first in a mixie.

Then add to mixie the cooked leaves /soppu also and grind to fine paste.

Heat the entire paste in a pan with about 2 tsps of oil – so that the reheated chutney would later keep for 7 – 10 days in the fridge.  Transfer to serving dish and garnish with crushed garlic pods and curry leaves in about 2 tsps of ghee.

Heating the ground paste with 2 tsp oil.

Final product after garnishing with Garlic and curry leaves.

It is now ready to serve. Eat with hot white rice & ghee or with curd rice. 

Can be kept in a fridge for up to 10 days using it as & when needed. For reuse, just allow it to come to room temperature by keeping it out of fridge for about 30 minutes.

Preparation time – 25 to 30 minutes.

Serves 8 - 10 persons at lunch or dinner.

Ganige Soppina / Kaage Soppina Tambli.

Ganige soppina/ Kaage Soppina Thambli.

Thamblies are a special group of Udupi speciality dishes very commonly and often prepared in many homes as well as on special large scale lunches and dinners too. It is a curd based dish, used in small quantities and eaten mixed with white rice, in the beginning of a meal. It is believed to be healthy and expected to stimulate appetite and promote digestion.

This plant is also called “Kaage Soppu” in Kannada, “Manathakalli Keere” in Tamil, Telugu  and Malayalam. It is called in simple English “Black Night Shade” and botanical name is “Solanum nigrum”.*

                  

Picture of plant showing leaves, flowers, unripe & ripe fruits * 

       

Kaage Soppu plant in our Suvidha kitchen garden 

Ingredients:

  1) Ganige Soppu/leaves – one bunch – after cleaning and removing thick stems, but retaining all flowers and fruits, both ripe (Black coloured) and unripe (green coloured) – Totally about 1 ½ cups. 2) Black pepper – 1 tsp.  3) Jeeragam – 1 ½ tsps.  4)  Coconut gratings or finely cut – 2-3 tablespoonful.  5) Items for garnishing – mustard – 1 tsp, curry leaves and curd chilli -1. 6) Oil – for cooking and garnishing. 7) Salt as needed.  8) Sour curd – about one small cup.

    

Main ingredients: Kaage soppu, Black pepper, Jeeragam, one spring of Kaage soppu for demo, Tadka items on small plate and coconut.  

       
  Method:

In a Kadai with about 2 tsps of cooking oil, fry jeeragam, pepper for a minute or two on medium flame, then add the Kaage soppu and coconut. Fry well for about 3-4 minutes on medium flame. The leaves shrink to 1/3 to 1/4^th the quatity.

Fresh leaves on Kadai before frying

After frying all ingredients + Beaten curds.

  

Cool the contents and grind fine in a mixie with some water as needed to make a paste. Add salt as needed and beaten sour curds about a small (or more as desired)cup and mix well and transfer to a serving container. Garnish with mustard and curd chilli and curry leaves. Now ready to serve. May be kept in the fridge.

                                     

Final product after the garnishing.

Before adding curds and tadka, if paste is too much for day’s use, the paste or chutney can be kept in the fridge to be prepared and used after 1 or 2 days. But not to keep for more than 3 days, as the taste get altered on long storage.

 To be eaten mixed with mashed rice on your eating plate as the first dish at lunch or dinner.

Preparation time: About 20 to 25 minutes.

Serves 4 – 6 persons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_nigrum *  The leaves and seeds/fruits have lots of medicinal properties like anti-tumourogenic, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepato-protective, diuretic, anti-pyretic etc.