Cucumber Salad (Toushey Hullaal)

These days I have picked a strong fetish for salads and fresh veggies. I have the salad bug biting me hard I guess. The story behind this dish is quite interesting. When I was about to leave my home town to pursue a career in another city, my mom taught me this easy yet enticing recipe. The taste is very simple and alluring. Please try and let me know how you enjoy this dish. The name of this dish is "Toushey Hullal". Mostly prepared by South Canara Konkanis, its easy to make, quick salad with a very mild palate.

Serves: 1-2 individuals

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
Cucumber - 1 (finely chopped)
Asafoetida - 1/10 teaspoon or a pinch
Green chillies - 1 sliced to expose the seeded area
Salt - As per taste

Method:
Add salt, green chillies and asafoetida as per the quantity given. Mix together vigorously. If eating time is further expected to be delayed, please add all the ingredients and do not mix. This prevents the cucumber pieces from oozing excess water which takes off the taste from the salad. Serve with rice as a salad. This dish is very filling and liked by
most of the Konkanis.

Spring Onion Soup

Its always said that certain food types which we relish in childhood days become a habit once you grow up. One such food type is “Soup”. I love the taste and aroma of
vegetarian soup cooked and served straight from the pot. Thanks to Aunty S, my Anglo-Indian neighbor who introduced me to Soups, Cookies and taught me how to eat with fork and spoon. Ever since I tasted her soupy delicacies I think I can survive all my life on soups given a chance. Here’s one created by yours truly and can be prepared quickly without any hassles. Serves as an ideal supper. I love this soup and can survive on this given a chance all through my life. A soup is a healthy appetizer, builds taste and is easy to make.

Serves: 2-3 individuals

Ingredients:
Spring Onion – chopped (around 7-10 spring onions twigs)
Butter – 1 t
Olive Oil – 2-4 T
Macaroni – 1 c
Maggie cubes – 2 (vegetarian)
Pepper powder – ½ t (garnishing)
Water – 6-8 C
Salt – As per taste

Method:
1. Add butter and olive oil in a pot and allow to melt on medium flame.
2. Add chopped spring onion and sauté gently.
3. Add macaroni and add 2-3 C of water and cover the pot with a lid.
4. Allow the spring onion (onion + spring onion leaves) to boil (2-3 minutes) & lower the flame. Add Maggie cubes to the broth.
5. Add rest of the water & salt and bring to boil.
6. Serve hot and garnish with pepper powder.

Mom’s Special Tip: Once the veggies are semi-cooked, add water, bring to boil, cover the lid and turn off the flame. This way we save on fuel and the content cooks due to the heat available inside the pot.

Snake Gourd Upkari (Poddaley Upkari)

We all have pet peeves in terms of vegetables, drinks, food types et al. Ever since I was able to recognize flavors and tastes I could never muster enough courage to like this vegetable – Snake Gourd. However, as I grew up and sometimes had to cook health and nutrition food I realized the flavor if cooked wisely wasn’t all that bad. Snake Gourd can be used for various curries and side dish. It also goes as side dish and is mostly prepared in the prescribed manner by GSB Konkanis. The nutrition value of Snake Gourd is extremely high and is specially good for women's health. We call this dish Poddaley Upkari. Poddaley or Padwaley in Konkanis stands for Snake Gourd.

Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2-3 individuals

Ingredients:
Snake Gourd – chopped - 4 cups
Grated Coconut – 2-4 tablespoon

For Seasoning:
Mustard seeds – ½ t easpoon
Curry Leaves – 5-6 leaves
Green Chillies – 2 (sliced vertically)
Salt – As per taste
Ghee/Oil

Method:
Keep a cooking pot on medium flame, add the ingredients for tempering and stir gently. Be cautious as the oil droplets might spurt on your face. Turn the flame to low, and add the chopped gourd pieces. Keep stirring in between to ensure the vegetable gets evenly cooked. Add salt. Stir well. Keep on flame till vegetable pieces are well cooked. Remove the pot from flame and garnish with grated coconut while serving and cover the lid immediately.

Special Tip: To retain the color of this green vegetable, one needs to cook it on steam with little milk (2-3 tablespoons), which implies that there is no additional water which requires to be added. Once covered the vegetable cooks with the power of steam. However its advisable to stir the dish once in a while while on flame. Thereby we end up using less resources as opposed to more which is water, etc otherwise required for boiling the vegetables.

Potato Gojju (Bataatey Gojju)

Of late its been p0uring cats and dogs in Bangalore. Sometimes I wonder if Mother Earth is heading to dooms day. The weather cycle is getting displaced at an erratic pace. Today when I woke up it was bright Saturday noon and suddenly it was followed by a heavy deluge. Potato Gojju and Paej seemed to be the perfect combination for this day. Paej is a Brown Rice Soup, this rice is available in abundance at Mangalore stores in and around Bangalore. I always like combining Gojju’s with Paej. The combination is yummy and simply delicious.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Processing time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2-3 Individuals

Ingredients:
Potatoes – boiled and mashed - 3 cups
Green Chillies – 2
Grated Coconut – 1/2 cup
Asafoetida – Just a pinch or two
Room temperature water – 2-3 cups
Salt – As per taste

Tempering:
Coconut oil – 2 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 10-15 leaves
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Method:
In a mixing bowl, crush the chillies alongwith grated coconut, chillies and salt. Crush vigorously till an even paste is formed and the ingredients blend well with each other. Now add the mashed potatoes to this mixture. In a pot, heat coconut oil on medium flame. Add curry leaves and mustard seeds and allow the seeds to pop. Temper the ingredients with the curry leaves, coconut oil and mustard seeds. Add Asafoetida powder and mix with water to form a good consistency which is not too brothy. Serve with hot Paej.Enjoy your meal.

Mom’s Special Tip – The consistency and taste of Gojju depends on the taste and flavour of coconut used. Suggested usage of Jeevo Narlu(Raw Coconut) brings about a good flavour. This should not be mistaken for Tender coconut. Jeevo Narlu in Konkanis is the one which has plenty of water in it and has ample of fresh kernel which is super white.

Bhindi Bhaaja

I sampled this dish at my friend's place and simply loved the flavours. I loved the taste especially of the spices and immediately thought of trying it out yesterday. It turned to be pretty easy and the taste was very different. This dish gels pretty well with hot phulkas.

Serves: 2-3 individuals

Ingredients:
Okra – ¼ kg (chopped vertically and further chopped into 1 inch size)
Mustard oil – 2 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 2 teaspoon
Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
Fennel powder – ½ teaspoon
Green Chillies – 2 (sliced vertically)
Salt – as per taste

Method:
1. Wash the Okra and chop and keep aside. Heat sesame oil in a sauce pan and sauté the green chillies.
2. Now add the Okra (chopped) and add the masala along with salt.
3. Keep on low flame and stir once in a while. Turn off flame once the vegetable is completely cooked.
4. Serve hot with Phulkas.

Update - The oil used here is Mustard oil. I realised using a different oil as base just changes the flavour of the subzi.

Mum's Bachelor Pulao

One quick dish which can satiate your hunger during any day is Pulao. I specially like this one made by Mommy and rejoice the taste when she prepares it. This Pulao is easy and quick to dish out. Specially recommended for Bachelor cooking where one has minimum resources and less time to dish out a quick meal. I also learnt while preparing this dish that adding one spoonful of ghee towards the end adds special aroma to the Pulao. One can use the regular MTR Pulao masala one gets at Food World et al. Try it out and enjoy!!

Serves: 2-3 Individuals

Ingredients:
Rice – 1 Cup
Chopped Vegetables – 2-3 Cups (Cauliflower, Onions, French Beans)
Ghee – 3-5 teaspoon
MTR Pulao Masala – 2 teaspoon
Pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Hot water – 2 Cup
Salt – As per taste

Method:
1.Wash the rice and keep aside.
2.Add 3 t ghee in a pot and saute the vegetables. Once the veggies get a coat of fat
all over, add hot water and leave to parboil.
3.After the vegetables are parboiled and the water evaporates, add the rice
pre-washed.
4.Add rest of the ingredients and once mixed well, add 2 t ghee and leave on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with pickle or Raita.

Gung-ho with Garlic Bread!!

I wanted a warm spread for a very light dinner. Found Bagel French Bread at the local store, so thought of dishing out a light snack with Garlic Bread. The final outcome was very tasty and I was surprised that the dish is actually very easy as opposed to the feedback which I had received.

For all those who have a Daredevil Baker’s spirit and wish to know more about Bread and Bread making, here is a site: http://www.bakeinfo.co.nz/school/school_info/types_of_bread.php).
I found the site useful in terms of providing the history and details related to Bread making. It talk about three types of Breads – High Rising Bread, Mid Volume Bread (e.g French Bread), Minimal volume Bread ( e.g Flat Bread aka Indian Naan, Chapatti, Pita).

Serves: 3-4 individuals

Ingredients:
French Bread – 1 loaf
Garlic oil or finely shredded garlic – 1/8th t for each slice
Unsalted butter – 8-12 t (melted)
Mushrooms – ½ C (thinly sliced)
Parmesan Cheese – 1 Cup (grated)
Paprika – as per taste
Oregano seasoning – as per taste


Method:
1. Slice the French Bread loaf to 1 inch size each.
2. Slather the melted butter and garlic oil on the bread surface.
3. Add mushrooms, parmesam cheese, paprika and oregano seasoning.
4. Place in the microwave grill mode on 100% heat for 1 minute.
5. Serve hot with Lasagna or Cream of mushroom soup.

Pampering with Cheese Pasta

I consider Cheese as a total comfort food. Cheese has this innane sublime quality to lift my spirits especially when it’s a tiring day. I was frantically hunting through my pantry stock to check what I can cook and dish out in 10 minutes flat (this is my highest saturation time when I am hungry). I found Sunfeast Pasta packet lying in the jar. I quickly picked the packet and began my cooking process. Next time around, would try to create my own sauce and cook pasta. Since I was feeling lazy this time aound, I decided to take the short cut route

Serves: 1-2 individuals

Ingredients:
Water – 2 C
Pasta pack – 100 gms
Cheese slice – 1 slice
Herbs – ¼ t

Method:
1.Unpack the pasta content in a pot of boiling water.
2.Add the tastemaker sauce and stir vigourously.
3.Caution: Do not leave the pot unattended. The stirring process
ensures that the sauce does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
4.Stir for around 8 minutes on low flame.
5.Add cheese slice and herbs and continue stirring. When the volume
decreases to half, discontinue and put off the flame and allow the pasta
to settle.
6.After a minute, transfer to serving dish.
7.Serve with bread sticks if you will. Serve when its piping hot.

Spicy Puffed Rice (Churmurey Upkari/ Charmuri Pachhadi)

During our childhood days, eating Churmurey was a grand affair. We used to help Mum with her kitchen chores for chopping onions, cilantro and relish the experience. The best I have enjoyed is the one which we get in Udupi Krishna temple premise. They garnish the snack with raw mango (Ambuli) and it tastes amazing. The person there serves it in paper cones and dabs mounds of raw mango on top of the snack while serving.
I prefer Churmuri with Hot Tea. The combination is good and also ensures that your tummy is full with a dry snack and hot tea. A beverage/ drink is always suggested with Churmurey Upkari as the tummy gets dry food alone due to dry-snack nature of Churmurey.

Serves: 1-3 individuals

Ingredients:
Puffed Rice – 6-8 C
Coconut oil – 6 T
Nayak’s Churmuri Powder or Sambhar Powder – 3 T
Red Chillie Powder – 1 t
Finely chopped Onions – 1 C
Finely chopped Cilantro leaves – 1 C
Raw Mango – 1 C (Finely chopped): optional
Salt – As per taste

Method:
1.Fry the puffed rice on kadhai on very low flame (dry without oil). My mum does this exercise before preparing Churmurey Upkari. This also ensures that puffed rice are crispy and fresh and thereby enhance the flavor of the dish. 2.Add the coconut oil, Churmuri and Red Chillie powder. Nayak’s Churmuri powder is easily available in all Mangalore stores in Bangalore and Mangalore. Mix in rigorously to avoid lumps. If one cannot find this powder, plain red chillie powder also serves the purpose.
3.Finally add in salt and chopped onions. This process ensures that onions absorb the oil. Add cilantro leaves while serving the dish.
4.Serve this dish as an evening snack with Cardamom Tea.

Raw Green Plantain Side Dish (Kele Upkari/ Kelichi Bhaaji)

Raw Green Plantain is a rich source of Iron and is often prescribed for women's dietary supplement. I love this vegetable a lot for the simple reason that its a rich source of Iron and Fibre. This recipe has a seasoning of Garlic which adds the extra punch. The Banana to be used for this Side Dish is unripe and bright green in color.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes
Serves: 2-4 individuals

Ingredients:
Plantain or Raw Banana (cubed) - 3 cups
Red Chillies – 2-3
Garlic (crushed) – 8 flakes
Coconut Oil
Salt – as per taste
Water

Method:
Peel the skin from the Raw Banana and chop them into pieces of ½ inch each. Immediately add to tap water and allow the wax to get washed away with water. Discard the water and keep the chopped pieces aside. Take utmost care while chopping the Bananas. Sometimes, the wax (deek as called in Konkani)sticks to your hand. I used hand gloves while chopping to prevent the wax from sticking to my hands.
In a pot, heat oil and add the crushed garlic and sauté till the color of garlic changes to reddish brown. Add the chopped Banana and fry till the garlic gets evenly distributed and mixes well with the chopped bananas. Once mixing is done, break the Red Chillies into bits with your hands and add to the pot. Add enough water and cover for cooking. Since Bananas are hard, water would serve as a catalyst for the banana pieces to cook. Turn over the heat to low flame. Simmer on low flame for 10-15 minutes or till the vegetable is completely cooked. Garnish with grated coconut and serve warm.

Hot Chocolate

It gets very chilly in my area nowadays. Especially during twilight and night time, the temperature drops all of a sudden. I began feeling thirsty and wanted some warm drink.Found a chocolate bar lying in the fridge. Presto! Thought of preparing Hot Chocolate drink. Went through lot of recipes online and then finally thought of preparing something of my own.So here's a simple drink to keep you warm during the chilly days!!


Serves: 1 individual
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Warm Milk – 1 C
Cocoa powder – 1 T OR Chocolate bar – grated (2 cubes of Dairy milk)
Sugar – 2 t
Fresh Cream - 1 t
Cinnamon powder – 1/8 t or one pinch (optional)

Method:
1.Add sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon if desired to one serving of warm cup on milk.
2.Please note that milk should be warm and not hot. You will not be able to enjoy the taste if the milk is very hot.
3.Cinnamon gives that extra dash of spicy feel to the drink and cream adds the much required milky flavour to it. Enjoy your drink!!

Blanched Bittergourd In Coconut (Karaathey Gojju)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Processing time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1-2 individuals

Ingredients:
Bittergourd (chopped into 1" pieces) - 2 cups
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup
Green Chillies: 2-3
Tamarind: 1/2 t easpoon
Cilantro leaves: 5-6 strands (chopped)
Coconut oil
Water
Salt

Method:
Blanch and mash the Karela gently. Preferably mash till the pieces get diced to almost 1 inch size. In a kadhai, pour coconut oil and crush green chillies alongwith grated coconut. Mash and mix and add tamarind thereafter. Pour in enough water to bring about a fine brothy consistency. Add salt as desired. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve as an accompaniement for Paej.

Potato Cauliflower Masala

We had way too much Potato and Cauliflower stocked in the fridge. Mom prepared this dish as a surprise for me and I truely loved it. Once treating myself with the curry and hot rotis I immediately noted the recipe lest Mommie forgets the tasty delight she dished out. This dish is best suggested when you have very less time on hand and have to dish out a quick one.

Serves: 2-4 individuals

Ingredients -
Cauliflower florets - 20 pieces (10 C - pre boiled in hot water)
Boiled Potatoes(Cubed) - 4 C
Chilli powder - 1 t
Turmeric powder - 1/2 t
Pepper powder - 1 t
Coriander powder - 1 t
Cumin powder - 1 t
Garam Masala - 1/2 t
Salt - As per taste

Method -
1. Heat ghee in a kadhai.
2. Add potatoes in the kadhai and roast till the edges turn brown.
3. Saute for a while and then add the Cauliflower.
4. Add the masala one by one and mix thoroughly till the masala gets evenly spread.
5. Serve hot with Chapathi or as a side dish for lunch on dinner.

Chocolate Cake (Eggless)

I prepared my first ever chocolate cake over the weekend. Needless to say was pretty pleased with the results. My brave effort finally culminated in a sinful chocolate mass which I devoured completely with family and friends.
The recipe was as suggested by Shilpa (www.aayisrecipes.com). Thanks Shilpa. It turned out into a quite a yummie delight.

Serves: 2-3 individuals
Equipment: Microwave with an OTG (Oven-Toaster-Griller) option

Ingrdients:
Maida - 1 and 3/4th C
Cocoa powder - 2 t
Vegetable oil - 1/4 C
Sugar (powdered) - 1/2 C
Vanilla essence - 1/2 t
Baking powder - 1/2 t
Milk - 1/2 C
Ghee - 1/2 t

Method:
1. Mix the dry ingrdients separately except sugar. Mix to form an even wholesome mixture.
2. Parallely, mix together the dry ingredients and add the dry ingredients to the wet ones slowly.
3. Be careful to avoid any lumps while stirring. Once the batter is ready, check for one thread consistency. If you get that, your batter is perfect and ready for baking purpose. Grease the deep dish baking container with ghee. Once can also cover the deep dish with butter paper and then pour the batter. This prevents the cake mixtured from sticking against the walls of the container.I preferred ghee to oil for the simple reason that I did not want a oily flavour on the surface.
4. Preheat the oven for atleast 5 minutes. Pour the batter in the container. Place the deep dish container in the oven and cook for 5 minutes on 100% of the oven power.
5. Once done, check with a toothpick by inserting it in the cake. If the tootpick comes out evenly the cake is done.
6. Once done, the cake needs to be refrigerated and then consumed for better results. I decided to volate the rules and tuck into the sumptuous mass waiting for me!!
Enjoy your sinful fare!!!