Avisaaku kura/ Agathikire curry/ Bakphool curry/ Agasta curry

Avisaaku or agathi khire are leaves generally cooked in Tamil nadu, Karnataka and Rayalseema regions of AP. These leaves are also found in Assam and Maharashtra and known more for their medicinal importance. The leaves are referred to as Bakphul in English, Bakphool in Assamese and Bengali, Agastha in Marathi and Hindi, Agathi kire in Tamizh, Avisaaku in Telugu and Agise soppu in Kannada.

Avisaaku kura or agathi khire curry is particulary made on the dwadasi day of Kartika maasam early in the morning to break the previous day’s ekadasi fast. The Kartika ekadasi fast is one of the most pious and important rituals believed to be a prayer to Lord Shiva. Avisaaku or agathi khire because of its medicinal qualities is the ideal food to break the fast on dwadasi day.

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Agasta leaves (Bakphool/agathi khire/avisaaku) 2 bunches
Refined cooking oil 1 tbsp
Black gram (urad dal/uddipappu) 1tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra) 1tsp
Red chillies 2
Green chilli 1
Curry leaves 4-5
Jaggery (gud/bellam) (optional) 1tsp
Pinch of Asafoetida (hing/inguva)
Salt to taste

Fresh and grated coconut for garnishing

Method:

Wash and shred the Avisaaku. Slit the green chilli.

Heat a tbsp oil, add mustard seeds and as they pop, add black gram, cumin seeds, red chillies, green chilli, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

Once the seasoning is done, add the avisaaku, salt to taste and jaggery and leave to cook for around 2 mins. (In Karnataka, jaggery is added to compliment the slightly sour taste of the avisaaku. Its optional and the curry tastes great without that as well).

Within 2 mins the leaves get cooked into a dry mixture. Garnish with grated coconut.

Avisaaku kura is generally a rice supplement but tastes good with Indian bread as well. So For this kartika dwadasi , the menu at home has been decided: Avisaaku kura.

Green tomato chutney

Green or unripe tomatoes are tangy in taste and hard as a fruit. Green tomato chutney is another of the popular pachadis relished at most Andhra homes.

Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 4











Ingredients:

Green tomatoes 6
Onion 1
Green chillies 4
Jaggery 1tsp (optional)
Refined cooking oil 1tbsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra) 1tsp
Black gram (urad dal/uddipappu) 1tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Coriander 1tsp
Red chilly 1
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of asafoetida (hing/ inguva)

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and wipe clean the tomatoes. In a shallow pan/kadai, heat a few drops of oil and add the whole tomatoes. Shallow cook till the outer skin of the tomatoes turn soft and wrinkled. Remove and set to cool.

Dice the onion and fry till transparent in a drop of oil. Leave to cool.

Slit and fry the green chillies in a drop of oil. Set to cool.

Blend together the tomatoes, green chillies, onions, a pinch of jaggery (optional) and salt to taste. Add a little water if required and blend to fine paste.

In the same pan/kadai (bandli/mookudu), heat a tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds and as they pop, add the cumin seeds, black gram, red chillies, curry leaves, coriander and a pinch each of turmeric and asafoetida.

To the above seasoning add the above blended tomato paste and stir once. Cook for 5 mins till the raw smell is gone. Remove from heat and serve.

Pulpy, tangy and spicy, Green tomato chutney is a good dosa, vada supplement and tastes well with Indian bread as well. The best way to have it is to mix with a cup of rice and groundnut oil.

Puliyogre and Puliyogre gojju

Puliyogre is tamarind spiced rice that is quite popular in the South of India. While each state has a different variation of it, we are writing the Karnataka version regularly known as the puliyogre. This recipe also includes the preparation of the gojju or paste required for preparing puliyogre.

Ingredients:

Puliyogre gojju

Tamarind (Imli/chinta pandu) A handful (50 gms)
Rasam powder 2tbsp
Jaggery (gud/bellam) 1blob
Black gram (Urad dal/uddipappu) 2tsps
Bengal gram (Chana dal/ senaga badalu) 2tsps
Red chillies 2
Fenugreek seeds (Methi/Menthulu) 1tsp
Sesame seeds (til/nuvvulu) 1tsp
Asafoetida (HIng/ inguva) 1tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeera/Jeelakarra) 1tsp
Pepper corns ½ tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Peanuts A handful
Curryleaves A handful
Refined cooking oil 1tbsp
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Puliyogre:

Rice 1cup
Oil 1tsp
Puliyogre gojju 1tbsp

Method:

Puliyogre gojju


Puliyogre gojju is a tamarind based paste that is made to be mixed with rice. The above ingredient is worth a 200gm paste and the paste can be stored in an airtight container, refrigerated for a week to 10 days.

Take a handful of tamarind and soak in about half a glass of water for 20 mins. Squeeze the tamarind hard for a thick and pulpy paste. The thicker the squeeze, the better the gojju.

Add salt to taste, rasam powder, jaggery and leave to boil for around half an hour till the paste turns soft and thick. Note that the paste will splash all over and that means it is cooking well, though the cleaning part later is also to be enjoyed. Please also do not put any spoon/ladle in as that will reduce the shelf life of the gojju.

In a separate pan, dry roast in a tsp oil a tsp each of black gram, Bengal gram, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, Asafoetida, half a tsp of pepper corns and 2 red chillies. Set aside to cool and grind to a fine powder.

Prepare a seasoning in 1 tbsp heated oil with a tsp each of black gram, Bengal gram, mustard seeds, a handful of peanuts and curry leaves and a pinch each of turmeric and asafoetida.

As the paste turns thick and soft, add the above ground powder, seasoning and stir hard for around 4 mins. Remove from heat and set to cool. Once at room temperature, shift into a clean, airtight container and store.



Puliyogre


Cook a cup of raw rice. Add the above prepared puliyogre gojju, a tsp of oil and mix well. Serve hot.

Puliyogre is generally had as is and is complimented with curd rice. Having a few chips to munch along is a great idea. Puliyogre is an easy lunchbox recipe, if the paste is available. So this weekend prepare the puliyogre gojju and enjoy the week with tangy, hot puliyogre.

Saggubiyyam upma/Saboo daana upma

With kartika masam or the auspicious month of Kartik come the days for fasting and praying. While most of south India celebrates every Monday of the 4 weeks of Kartikam by fasting for Lord shiva, Poojas and rituals in the North are also popular.

Saggubiyyam or saboo daana is considered the right food/snack/tiffin/palaharam as it is called in different places during this fasting season. Saggubiyyam upma or saboo dana upma is a simple recipe for the empty stomach, with the right dose of nutrients.

We Thank Avva (Smt. Krupalakshmi Narayana Sastry) for this traditional and authentic recipe.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients:
Sago seeds (Saggu biyyam/Sabu dana) 1/2kg
Curds/buttermilk 1cup
Onion (Optional) 1
Potatoes (aloo) 2
Carrot 1
Refined cooking oil 1tbsp
Green chillies 2
Red chilli 1
Bengal gram 1tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Ginger 1tsp
Coarsley ground peanut powder 2tsp
Pinch of asafoetida (Hing)
Pinch of turmeric (haldi)
Salt to taste

Fresh and grated coconut and fresh and finely chopped coriander to garnish

Method:

Wash, boil and mash the potatoes. Grate the carrot, ginger and finely chop the onion. (Onion is optional as most people do not eat onion during the fasting period, however it adds taste when had otherwise.)

Take 1 cup of peanuts. Dry roast for a min and remove the outer brown skin. Leave to cool and grind into a coarse powder.

Soak the saboo dana over night in a cup of butter milk. Please add buttermilk enough to just dip the saboo dana and not more. Drain out the saboo dana and leave as it is for around 45 mins to dry. Incase it is required to cook it instantly, then soak the saboo dana for 1 to 3 hrs depending on consistency of the buttermilk and how soggy the saboo dana is turning out to be.

In a pan/kadai (bandli/mookudu), heat oil. Add green chillies, red chilli, Bengal gram, mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger, a pinch each of asafoetida and turmeric.

Once the mustard seeds pop, add chopped onions and fry for 2 mins (optional). Add the mashed potatoes, grated carrot and cook for 2 mins on simmer.

Add salt to taste, the soaked and dried or just soaked saboo dana and keep stirring to ensure nothing sticks to the pan. Stir for around 3-5 mins.

Leave for half a min to cook and add the coarsely ground peanut powder. Mix well.

Garnish with fresh and grated coconut and finely chopped coriander. Serve hot with any of the chutneys, raithas or just as is.

Saboo dana upma is done. Saboo dana upma is colorful and relished both by the young and old. With a variety of tastes tickling the tongue, saboo dana upma is also good for health. So of you have a mother in law who is fasting at home, or you yourself are fasting and if you have kids who want something colorful and new every day, you now know what to make to please all them.

Rava Laddu

We wish all our blog viewers a bright and colourful Diwali. Keep away from crackers, save the environment.
Rava laddu is a simple sweet recipe. What we are writing is Instant Rava laddu that is easier to make.

Preparation time: 20-25 mins





Ingredients:

Semolina (Sooji/Rava) 1 glass
Sugar ¾ glass
Fresh coconut 1/4th glass
Crushed cardamom 1tsp
Milk (paalu) 1cup
Ghee 2-3tsp
Cashews 4-5
Raisins 4-5

Method:

Roast semolina in a drop of ghee till light creamish brown.

Add sugar and keep stirring till the sugar and semolina mix well into fine powder. Set aside to cool.

In a separate pan, ghee-fry cashews and raisins and add to the semolina-sugar mixture. Add crushed cardamom.

Add fresh and grated coconut.

Once the semolina mixture has reached room temperature, around 5-10 mins later, add a few spoons of milk to a portion of the mix, take lumps of this portion and roll into laddus by squeezing in between the fist and making average sized balls. Continue the process till all the laddus are done.

For the proportions mentioned above around 20 laddus can be made. Instant rava laddu is an easy sweet and can be stored for around 2-3 days only, because of the milk content. Enjoy the 3 days of Deepavali with the yummy rava laddus and colorful diyas.

Baby Aloo chutney masala

As the name suggests, Baby aloo chuntey masala is a baby potato recipe with chutney masala and dry. Amma’s recipe and our personal favorite, baby aloo chutney masala takes hardly any time for preparation, provided the chutney podi is ready and available.

Preparation time: 20-30mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes 1/2kg
Refined cooking oil 1cup
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1tsp
Black gram (urad dal) 2tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Redchilli 2
Chutney podi 2-4tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

For chutney podi recipe, please click here.

Wash and pressure cook the baby potatoes to 2 whistles. They can also be boiled for around 15 mins till soft in a shallow vessel that is covered. Set aside to cool.

Once cool, peel the baby potatoes.

In a pan/kadai (bandli/mookudu), heat a cup of oil. Deep fry the baby potatoes in the heated oil till they turn cream in color. We don’t want them brown. Remove onto a tissue to absorb the excess oil.

In a separate pan, heat a tsp of oil, add mustard seeds and as they pop add cumin, black gram, curry leaves, red chillies. Season the potatoes with this tempering.

Add salt to taste and toss. Sprinkle chuntney podi over the baby potatoes and serve.

Baby aloo chuntey masala is a dry rice supplement to be had with ghee topped rice. However it also goes well with any of the Indian bread and also as a heavy evening snack. This is more of a blend between the Andhra vepudus and Karnataka’s Chutney podi, just like food at our place has always been.