Aaviri kudumulu

Bolo Ganesh Maharaj ki Jai!! We wish all of you and you families a great Ganesh Chaturthi. May the Vighnaharatha remove all the evils from our world and keep us happy.

Preparation time: 30 - 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Rice flour (biyyampindi) 2 cups (200 gms)
Refined cooking oil 1 ½ tbsp
Green gram (Moongdal/Pesara pappu) 1/4th cup (50gms)
Dry coconut (Copra/Endukobbari) 1/4th cup (50gms)
Sugar 1/4th cup (50gms)
Cardamom 2
Pinch of salt

Method:

Wash and pressure-cook the green gram to one whistle. Alternatively, cook the green gram on medium heat until soft for around 10 mins.

Boil 1 cup water. To 2 cups rice flour, add the cooking oil, salt and hot water. Mix to dough of chapatti dough consistency. Cover and set aside.

To 1 cup sugar add 1/4th cup water (in this case, 1/16th cup of water) and keep stirring on medium heat to make a sugar syrup.

To the sugar syrup, add the cooked green gram and continue stirring to a thick a lump. Add the dry and grated coconut, crushed/powdered cardamoms and mix. Remove from heat.

Take small lumps of dough and bail to circles ala pooris. Place the stuffing in the centre and fold to a hemisphere-roll. Press the edges to completely close the roll. Twist the edges as we twist a twine. Repeat the procedure and make all the rolls ready to steam.

Apply oil to a vessel/Shallow dish/plate, place the kudumulu at equal-distance from each other, place the dish/plate into water-filled (up to quarter level) cooker/ large vessel and steam for 10 mins on medium heat.

Aaviri kudumulu or Steamed kudumus are done. Feed Ganesha with his favorite food and pray for a prosperous and peaceful world.

Cucumber gojju

Cucumber gojju is a tangy and ‘light on the tummy’ recipe.

Preparation time: 5 – 10 mins

To see how cucumber gojju is made, please click here.
 
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
Cucumbers 2
Green chillies 2
Fresh and grated coconut 4 tsps
Tamarind ½ blob
Sesame seeds (Til/Nuvvulu) 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast the sesame seeds, cool and grind to a fine powder.

Wash and peel the cucumbers. Chop finely.

Grind to a fine paste: fresh and grated coconut, green chillies, tamarind and salt to taste.

Add to the cucumbers, the coconut-tamarind paste and sesame powder. Mix well evenly spicing the cucumbers.

Cucumber gojju can be served with Any Indian bread as a curry or as a salad with any of the soups. The south Indian way is to serve as a supplement to sambar rice or curd rice.

Pesarapappu teepi charu/Sweet moong dal rasam/Hesaru bele sehi saaru

Moong Dal is a nutritious option and sweet moong dal rasam is light on the tummy yet filling. An ideal one for all seasons, especially the festival season considering Rasam is an important inclusion in festival menus.

Preparation time: 20-25 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Green gram (moongdal/pesara pappu/hesarubele) ½ cup (100 gms)
Green chillies 2
Jaggery (gud/bellam/bella) 2 tbsp
Tamarind (imli/chintapandu/hunsehannu) 1 blob
Coriander 2 strands
Fresh and grated coconut (kobbari/hasi kobbri) 2 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra/jeerige) 2 tsp
Mustard seeds (Rai/aavalu/sasuve) 2 tsp
Ghee 1 tbsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch pepper powdered (Miryalapodi)
Pinch Asafoetida (hing/inguva)
Pinch turmeric (haldi/pasupu)
Salt to taste

Method:

Add a pinch of turmeric and pressure-cook the green gram to 3 whistles. Alternatively boil it in a cooking pot for around 20 mins until soft and mashed.

Take a cooking pot/vessel. Add around one and half cups of water, salt to taste, slit green chillies and the cooked green gram and leave to boil.

Grind to a fine paste: Jaggery, tamarind, chopped coriander, fresh and grated coconut, cumin seeds and a pinch of pepper, asafoetida and salt.

Add this paste to the green gram and stir. Cook for another 8-10 mins on low heat.

Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and as they pop, add curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

Season the rasam with this tempering.

Sweet, tangy and tasty - Sweet moong dal rasam is done. Tastes great when had with ghee topped rice and papads.

Cabbage sambar/Kosu huli/Kosu pulusu

Cabbage is a green that we love, specially too cook. Cabbage sambar is a simple sambar recipe, one that can be served when there are loads of people at home.

Thank you Datthatreya for the picture.

Preparation time: 25-30 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Medium sized cabbage 1
Pigeon peas (Toordal/ Kandipappu) 1cup (75gms)
Tamarind (Imli/Chintapandu) 1 blob
Coriander 2 strands
Curry leaves 4-5
Sambar powder 2 tbsp
Ghee 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds(Rai/ Aavalu) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeera/ Jeelakarra) 1 tsp
Pinch turmeric (Haldi/pasupu)
Pinch Asafoetida (Hing/Inguva)
Salt to taste
Fresh and grated coconut

Method:

Pressure-cook the pigeon peas and a pinch of turmeric to 3 whistles. Cool and mash well to make a thick paste.

Wash and cut the cabbage into small cubes. Add around one and a half cups water, salt, coriander, a blob of tamarind/tamarind paste as available and boil until the cabbage turns soft.

Add the mashed pigeon peas, stir and leave to cook for another 5 mins on medium heat.

Add sambar powder and leave to boil. As the sambar boils, Heat ghee in a separate pan, add mustard seeds and as they pop add, cumin seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

Season the sambar with the tempering. Garnish with fresh and grated coconut before serving. Cabbage sambar is a rice supplement and tastes great with ghee topped rice.

Tomato gojju/Sweet tomato chutney

Well, this doesn’t seem a great time to blog about food, especially with Annaji fighting to fast against corruption and for the people. But tomato gojju is a simple and quick recipe, one that is light on the tummy and ideal to have when one breaks their fast. Hoping Annaji’s struggle results in a shining and successful India, here is the sweet chutney:

Preparation time: 10 – 15 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Tomatoes 4
Jaggery (Bellam/Bella/Gud) 2 tbsp
Tamarind (Chintapandu/Imli) 1 blob
Refined cooking oil 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder (Dhania podi) 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Coriander 2 strands
Pinch turmeric (Pasupu/Haldi)
Pinch Asafoetida (Inguva/Hing)
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and cut the tomatoes into cubes.

Heat the oil in a pan/kadai (Bandli/mookudu). Add the tomato cubes and cook until soft and the peel withers off. This takes around 8-10 mins.

Add jaggery, tamarind (or tamarind paste, as available), salt to taste, red chilli powder, a pinch each of turmeric, asafoetida, fresh and chopped coriander, curry leaves and coriander powder.

Add half a cup water if required and stir well. Leave to cook for around 5 mins, till the gojju thickens.

Tomato gojju is an amazing rice/ Indian bread supplement. A favorite combo is curd rice and hot tomato gojju to compliment it.

Besan laddu

Its festival time and tomorrow is Varalakshmi vratham. We wish you all a happy and relaxed vratham.

Besan laddu is a popular Indian sweet made of gram flour. A quick one, ideal as it saves time and energy, especially on hectic days like tomorrow.

Preparation time: 15-20 min

Ingredients:

Gram flour (senagapindi/besan) 1 cup (200 gms)
Ghee 1 tbsp
Powdered sugar 4 tsp
Cardamom powder (yelakkayi podi/elaichi powder) 1 tsp
Grated dry coconut (endu kobbri/dry copra) 2 tsp
Crushed almonds (badam)
Crushed cashewnuts (kaju)
Raisins (kismis)

Method:

Crush a cup of almonds, cashews. Add raisins and mix well.

Sugar and cardamom can be powdered together or separately. It is easier to powder them together though as the sugar imbibes the aroma of cardamoms.

Heat a tbsp of ghee, add the gram flour and sauté till the raw smell is gone and the flour changes colour. Shift into a bowl.

Add the sugar and cardamom powder, crushed nuts, grated dry coconut and mix well.

Make average sized balls or laddus with the mixture. The laddus should be made when the mixture is hot. This will ensure that the mixture binds well. For this, keep dipping your hands in cold water while making the laddus.

Besan laddus are done. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week. Serve as naivedyam to Varalakshmi devi and enjoy.

Avrekai huli/Anapaginjala pulusu/Flat beans sambar

This is a special post. We dedicate the recipe with love and regards to Chaya aunty.

Avrekai in Kannada, anapaginjalu in Telugu are flat beans found abundantly in Karnataka, Tamil nadu and Rayalseema region of AP. While the “Avrekai” season is around November to January, we were lucky enough to find some now, probably the last lot of this season.

We will get back with more avrekai recipes soon, till then the Sambar is here:

Preparation time: 30-45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Flat beans (Avarekayi/ anapaginjalu) 1/4th kilo
Raw rice (Akki/Biyyamu) 4 tsp
Fresh and grated coconut (hasi kobbri/kobbari) 2 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeerige/Jeelakarra/jeera) 1 tsp
Coriander seeds (Dhania/Dhaniyalu) 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick (Chakke/Dalchinchakka/Dalchini) 1
Dried capers (Marat moggu) 1
Tamarind/Tamarind paste(Chintapandu) 1 blob/1 tsp
Fresh and chopped coriander (Kothamri/Kotimeera) 2 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Ghee 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch Turmeric
Pinch Asafoetida (Hing/Inguva)
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and pressure-cook the flat beans to 2 whistles. Add enough water to the beans so that they are well cooked and the sambar feels thick and smooth.

In the meanwhile, soak 4 tsp of raw rice for around 15 mins.

Blend to a fine paste: Fresh and grated coconut, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, dried capers, tamarind/tamarind paste, fresh and chopped coriander and the soaked raw rice. Add a handful of the cooked beans and grind again for thick sambar (optional).

Add salt to taste, the blended rice paste to the cooked beans and mix. Add red chilli powder and place on medium heat and stir well.

Add a pinch each of turmeric and asafoetida, mix and leave to boil for around 5 minutes.

Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and as they splutter, add curry leaves. Season the sambar with this tempering.

Karnataka’s traditional Avrekai huli or anapaginjala pulusu is ready. With protein rich flat beans, the sambar is a good nutritious option. Served with ghee topped rice, avrekalu and congress kadlekai (popular mixtures in Karnataka) to munch along.

Bengaluru tomato rasam

Tomato rasam is the most popular rasam till date. This is the Bengaluru style of making it:

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Tomatoes 2
Pigeon peas (Toordal/ kandipappu/Togribele) 1 cup
Coriander 4 strands
Rasam powder 1½ tbsp
Ghee 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tspCurry leaves 4-5
Fresh and grated coconut 2 tsps
Pinch asafoetida (hing/inguva)
Salt to taste

Method:

Pressure-cook the pigeon peas to 3 whistles. Set aside to cool.

Cut the 2 tomatoes into cubes and finely chop the coriander.

Add into a blender/mixie jar: the cooked pigeon peas, tomatoes, coriander, rasam powder, pinch salt and blend thick and smooth.

Add the blended tomato mix into a cooking pot/vessel, around one and half cup of water, cumin seeds and leave to boil for 10 mins.

Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and as they pop, add curry leaves and pinch of asafoetida. Add this seasoning to the rasam.

Garnish with fresh and grated coconut before serving. Soupy and slurpy, Bengaluru tomato rasam is done. Best when had with ghee topped rice and Iyengar bakery potato chips.

Sweet Potato Fry/Chilakada Dumpa Vepudu

Sweet potatoes are known to be the most nutritious vegetables. Though they don’t look great from the outside, they are probably the best and often included in healthy diets.

Sweet potato fry is a slight variation to the general practice of cooking the vegetable i.e boiling. An Andhra touch to the veggie.

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Serves - 2

Ingredients:

Sweet potatoes (Chilakadadumpa/Genasu gadde/Shakarkand) 1/4th kg
Refined cooking oil 1cup
Red chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash, peel and slice the sweet potatoes into thin circles.

Pour oil into a pan/kadai and heat.

Deep fry the sweet potato slices. Remove onto a tissue to drain out excess oil.

Sprinkle red chilli powder and salt to taste and toss the slices to evenly spice them.

Sweet and spicy, Sweet potato fry or chilakada dumpa vepudu is ready. These can be served as sweet potato chips, starters to compliment any soup. They can also be served as evening snacks. We enjoyed Chilakada dumpa vepudu conventionally like any other vepudu - with ghee topped rice.