Avalakki Khara pongal

Avalaki khara pongal

Ingredients

 Thick avalakki                           2 cups

Green gram dhal                         ½ cup

Coconut scrapings                      4 table spoons

Coriander leaves                        chopped

For seasoning

 Oil                                              2 table spoons

 Green chillies                             2- chopped

 Mustard seeds                            1 tea spoon

 Bengal gram dhal                       1 table spoon

 Black gram dhal                         1 table spoon

 Cashew nut  

 Broken in to pieces                    2 table spoons 

 Pepper                                       1 teaspoon

 Cumin seeds                              1 teaspoon

 Ginger                                        ½” piece chopped

 Turmeric                                    ½ tea spoon

For garnishing

Coriander leaves chopped           1 table spoon

Method

Wash avalakki well and soak it in 2 cups of water 15 minutes. To hasten the process you can soak it in hot water. 

Dry roast green gram till it gives out aroma and colour starts to change.

Transfer it in to a pressure cooker and wash it well. Pour 2 cups of water and ½ tea spoon of Turmeric powder and cook. After the whistle continue cooking for 3 more minutes under low flame.

When cooker cools open the lid. Add soaked avalakki, coconut scrapings salt to taste and 3 to 4 cups of water and continue cooking in open cooker for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally till salt mixes well. Add 2 more cups of water and cook if needed. Consistency of pongal should be like Dosa batter. Otherwise when it cools it will become a lump.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters add Bengal gram dhal, Black gram dhal and pepper corns. If you want pongal to be hot you can pound pepper corns and use. When dhals become golden brown add cashew nut pieces fry for a minute. Cashew nut pieces will become brown very fast. Add chopped chillies, chopped ginger and curry leaves and fry for a minute .Add seasoning to the pongal mixture and cook. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. If you add Ghee pongal tastes great!!! Serve with Tomato and onion raitha. or Coconut chantey

Nimbe Avalakki ( Lemon beaten rice)

Nimbe avalakki

This is a simple dish and very easy to make. Long-time back in a temple they had distributed it as “prasada” in Dhanurmasa.I liked it a lot .When it is hot, the tangy taste of lemon and the pungent smell of green chillies make the dish very tasty.

Ingredients

Thick Avalakki                      2 cups

Lemon                                   1 big

Fresh coconut gratings          4 table spoons

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves chopped     2 table spoon full

For seasoning

Mustard seeds                      ½ tea spoon

 Gram dhal                           1 table spoon

Black gram dhal                   1 table spoon

Green chillies                       6- chopped

Ground nut                          2 to 3 table spoon

Asafoetida                           2 pinches

Curry leaves                        2 sprigs

Oil                                       3 table spoon full

Turmeric powder                ¼ teaspoon

Method

Grind Avalakki in to a coarse powder in a mixer grinder and remove fine powder by sieving through a sieve which has got fine mesh.

Transfer it into a dish .Pour plenty of water and squeeze the avalakki well to remove dirt and drain it through a sieve quickly. Press and remove water as much as possible. Keep it for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add mustard seeds. When it mustard seeds start spluttering add Bengal gram dhal and  Black gram dhal and fry for a minute .Add groundnut and fry till they all become golden brown in colour. Add chopped green chillies and curry leaves fry for a few minutes. Finally add asafoetida and tuemeric powder. Add soaked avalakki powder coconut gratings  and salt to taste. Reduce the flame and mix well. If avalakki is too dry sprinkle water as much as needed and mix. Cover it with a lid and cook for a few minutes .Switch off the flame and add lemon juice and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot. It will be very nice to eat when the dhals and ground nut are crisp.

Rave dose with Black gram dhal

Rave dose

Ingredients

Black gram dhal (uddina bale)     1 cup

Fine semolina (Chiroti rave)        4 cups

Bengal gram dhal (kadale bele)   ¼ cup

Fenugreek seeds (Menthya)         2 or 3 table spoons

Salt to taste

Method

Soak back gram dhal, Bengal gram, and Fenugreek seeds for 2 to 3 hours and grind them to a smooth paste.

Dry cook semolina  as explained here.Take semolina steel box and close it with the lid. Do not add water to the semolina. Keep this box in a pressure  cooker and cook for 5 minutes .If there is place in the cooker you can keep it on the top and cook while you are doing your regular cooking. If the cooking time is more it does not matter.

Open the cooker when the pressure is reduced. Transfer the hot semolina in a plate and allow it to cool. Crush the lumps.

Add ¼ cup of water to the semolina and mix it well so that there are no lumps.

Add moist semolina to the ground paste and grind for 2 to 3 minutes more, so that semolina mixes with the dhal paste uniformly.

Add salt to taste.

Allow it to ferment overnight.

 Next morning prepare Dosa as usual.

Huli pudi /Sambar powder

Ingradients

Byadagi chillies        ¼ Kg

Coriander   seeds     170 grams    or 2 cups -heaped

Bengal gram dhal     250 grams    or 1  cup

Fenugreek seeds      2 tea spoons

Cinnamon sticks      2” pieces 4

Grated dry coco      1 cup heaped

Oil to fry

Please note- Capacity of 1 cup that I have taken  = 250 Ml

Huli pudi

Method

Fry all the ingredients one by one on medium flame with little oil. Spices give out beautiful aroma.

Stop frying seeds when you hear spluttering sound and the colour changes to brown.

I prefer to fry chillies with both hands using wooden ladles. There will be less chance of chillies

getting burnt.

While frying coconut do not use oil.

Spread the fried spices in a plate and allow them to cool.

Crush fried chillies and mix it with other spices. Keep coconut gratings separately.

Grind the mixed spices in a grinder and transfer the powder in to a dish. Grind coconut. Mix coconut

powder and spice powder and mix  well.  Once again grind them so that Coconut powder mixes with

spice powder evenly. Store in an air tight container.

Hagala kai ( Bitter gourd ) Gojju

Hagalakai Gojju

Gojju is a combination of 5 types of tastes salty, sour, bitter, Pungent and sweet. It can be used as side dish or it can be mixed with rice and eaten.

Ingredients

Hagala kai                 ½ Kg

Tamarind                  big lemon size

Jaggery                    Size of a big lemon- powdered

Salt                          to taste        

Coriander leaves     3 sprigs –washed and chopped

For grinding

Gram dhal                   one fist full

Chillies                       6

Sesame seeds             2 table spoons

Cumin seeds              ½ tea spoon

Fenugreek seeds        ¼ teaspoon

Coconut scraping    

 or                            

dry coconut gratings   4 table spoons

For seasoning

Mustard seeds            ½ teaspoon

Cumin seeds               ½ teaspoon

Chillies                       2 cut in to pieces

Curry leaves              2 sprigs

Method

Wash and slit Hagala kai length wise and remove the seeds with handle of a spoon.

Dice the vegetable in to small pieces. Transfer them into a dish. Add ½ tea spoon of salt Mix well and collect all the vegetable to one side and press it against the wall of the dish and keep it aside for ½ an hour. Juice of the vegetable comes out. Squeeze the juice out of the vegetable and discard. This process removes bitterness from the vegetable. At the same time we will be losing plenty of nutrients. So this step of removing the juice from the vegetable is optional.

In a flat frying pan heat 4 to 5 table spoon full of oil. Add Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds, chilli pieces and asafoetida. When the seeds splutter and chilli pieces become brown add curry leaves. Add Hagala kai pieces and fry till the vegetable becomes brown.

Soak Tamarind in ½ a cup of hot water for 15 minutes  and extract the juice.

Fry Gram dhal, Cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and sesame seeds one by one, separately till they become brown and give out aroma. Allow to cool. Grind them with dry coconut gratings to a smooth powder. If you use fresh coconut scrapings grind them in to a paste adding required amount of water.  

Add this masala powder or paste to the fried vegetable in the pan and add required amount of water and cook for 5 minutes.

Add tamarind juice and cook for 5 minutes.

Add powdered Jaggery and cook for a few minutes.

 Finally add required amount of salt keeping in mind that we had added salt to remove juice and boil. Add more water to get the necessary consistency.

Transfer it into a serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Hagala kai Gojju is ready to eat.

Heerekai Mosaru bajji

Ingredients

Heerekai (Ridge gourd)       2

Curds                                   2 cups

Salt                                      to taste

For grinding

Coconut scrapings              4 table spoons

Cumin seeds                       ½tsp

Green chillies                      3

For seasoning

Oil                                     2 or 3 teaspoons

Cumin seeds                      ½tsp

Mustard                             ½tsp

Asafoetida                        2 pinches

Curry leaves                     2 sprigs

Red chillies                      2 - cut into pieces

For garnishing

Coriander sprigs             3

Method

Wash Heerekai well and lightly scrape the outer hard peel. Sometimes, especially during summer, ridge gourd tastes bitter. Check it by pinching  small bits here and there and  tasting . If it tastes bitter cut that portion and discard.

Wash coriander sprigs and chop.

Cook Heerekai in a pressure cooker with 2 or 3 table spoons of water. Much water is not needed as the vegetable gives out plenty of water while cooking. Allow it to cool.

Grind coconut scrapings, cumin seeds and green chillies in to a smooth paste by adding 2 or 3 table spoons of curds if needed. Finally add cooked Heerekai and grind it to smooth paste. Transfer it to a dish.

Churn curds so that there no lumps and add to the Heerekai paste. Add salt and mix well.

Heat oil in a small skillet.  Add Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chilli pieces and allow them to splutter. Add asafoetida and curry leaves. Cook for 10 seconds. Add it to Heerekai and curds mixture. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Heerekai Mosaru bajji is ready.

Same procedure is followed to prepare Mosaru bajji with  Gundu badane kai ( Brinjal ).Palak , Basale soppu, Sweet potato and potato.

Other vegetables that can be used are   Seeme badane kai(Chow-Chow),Cucumber and Boodugumbalakai(Ashgourd) Only difference is these vegetables are not mashed .

Mysore Sarinapudi /Menasinapudi

Sarina pudi

Sarinapudi is a very useful masala powder in south Indian cooking. It is also called Menasina pudi Usually Sarinapudi is made in large quantity and stored it in an airtight container. A small quantity is scooped out in to a small jar and used as and when it is needed. If you are preparing  small quantity it can be ground in a mixer at home. But when we make large quantity we have to take it to the  mill which is used to grind spices only and get it powdered. First  we have to get the mill cleaned by removing the leftover masala powder which had got collected. Otherwise taste of our Sarinapudi   gets spoiled by getting itself mixed with some other masala powder which was remaining in the mill. This is done by putting 1/2 Kg of Tovar dhal in to the Mill and running the machine while  keeping the belt of the machine loose. Tovar dhal comes out  along with old masala powder.  After this we can get our Sarinapudi ground.  Once again we have to   remove our Sarinapudi that would have been trapped in the machine by putting fresh Tovar dhal and running the machine. Powder can be separated from the dhal by sieving.

Sarinapudi is used to prepare Saru, Gojju, Palya, Huli etc. Churumuri mixed with Sarinapudi,ghee and salt taste great!
Clean and  dry  all the ingredients in sun for 2 to 3 hours. It is better to prepare sarinapudi in summer if we are preparing in large quantities.During winter or rainy season it takes long time to fry chillies as it contains more moisture.

First type of measurement

Coriander seeds       2 Kg

Byadagi chillies        1 Kg

Mustard                  225gms

Cumin seeds           250gms

Fenugreek seeds     275gms

 Black Pepper        100gms

Asafoetida             25gms

Turmeric powder   100gms

Curry leaves          4 or 5 big bunches

Oil to fry                4-5 table spoons full

Second type of measurement (Old type  which my mother used to follow)

I seeru = 4 pavu = 930 grams

Byadagi chillies   1Kg

Coriander seeds   4 seru

Mustered seeds  Talesavari  1 pavu

Cumin seed   1½ pavu

Black pepper   ¾ pavu

Fenugreek seeds 1 pavu

Asafoetida      1 big dabba

Turmeric powder       100grams

Method

Wash and separate the curry leaves from the sprig and dry them spreading on a towel. You can remove excess water by covering it with another towel and patting it. Allow it to dry.

Fry all the ingredients one by one except Turmeric powder and curry leaves, using less oil in a pan till it gives aroma and the colour of the seed changes and makes “pata pata” sound. Medium flame should be used while frying otherwise outer layer of the seed will be fried and inner portion will be raw.

Fry curry leaves adding 2 or 3 teaspoon full of oil trill it becomes crisp.it takes time.

If you are using a microwave it is very easy. Spread a small hand towel in a glass dish. Spread curry leaves on this. Cover the leaves with another  hand towel and cook  for 3 minutes .Remove the upper towel and check whether the leaves are dried or not. You have to repeat this till the curry leaves are crisp.

Crush the fried chillies with your fingers by covering  your hand with  a plastic cover. This reduces the bulk. Mix all the fried ingredients and grind it into powder.  Powder should not be too fine are coarse. At this stage add asafoetida and Turmeric powder Mix it well. Sieve it through a sieve having medium size mesh. Allow the powder to cool. 

Store it in an airtight container.

Gojjavalakki / Huliavalakki

gojjavalakki  /  Huliavalakki

Ingradients

Gatti Avalakki     ( Thick Beaten rice)       2 cups

Mysore  sarinapudi    3 tea spoon full

Tamarind    I big lemon size

Jaggery       size of 1 big lemon

Salt to taste

For seasoning

Ground nut    3 table spoon full

Gram dhal      2 teaspoon full

Black gram dhal     2 tea spoon full

Mustard seed      ½  teaspoon

Asafoetida    2 pinches

Turmeric powder

Cumin seeds and fenugreek seed powder 1 teaspoon.
.

( equal quantities of  fried cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds are mixed and ground in to fine powder and kept in an air tight container and used when needed).

Dried coconut  3 table spoon

Black sesame seeds 3 table spoons

Curry leaves  3 springs

Coriander leaves  3 strands

Oil 3 table spoons

Method

Powder jaggery and keep aside.

Fry Black sesame seeds and powder.

Fry dried coconut and powder.

Boil tamarind in ½ cup of water, cool, and extract paste. Add  sarinapudi Jaggery  salt and boil till it becomes thick paste. This is tamarind gojju..

Grind thick Avalakki  in to coarse powder. Remove the powdered portion   by sieving  through  a sieve which has fine mesh. Powdered portion can be used while making dosa.

.Take the coarse portion in a big dish and pour plenty of water at once  squeeze it well under water and quickly drain the water through a plastic sieve and press  and remove as much of water as you can. This process should be done very fast. Otherwise gojjavalakki will become lumpy avalakki!!!!!!!

Add  tamarind gojju to the soaked and drained avalakki powder   and mix it well.

Keep it aside for 10 to 15 minutes so that avalakki powder becomes soft. Add dry  coconut powder, Black sesame seed powder and cumin and fenugreek powder and mix well.

Prepare seasoning by heating 3 table spoons of oil in a kadai ,add Mustard seeds, Gram dhal,Black gram dhal, and Ground nut. When the seeds become light brown in colour add asafoetida and finally add curry leaves.  Pour Avalakki mixed with tamarind gojju in to the  kadai and mix it with the seasoning. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Boodugumbalakai (Ashgourd) Majjigehuli

Boodugumbalakai (Ashgourd)

Cut vegetable

Ingredients

Boodagumbala kai       1 Kg

Coconut scrapings       ½ cup

Gram dhal                   3 table spoon full

Sour curds                   2 cups (curds should not be too sour)

Salt    to taste

For grinding  

Red chillies             3 numbers

Green chillies         3 numbers

Ginger                     ½” piece

Coriander seeds      3 tea spoons

Asafoetida              1 pinch

Coriander leaves     2   sprigs

Cumin seeds           1 tea spoon 

For seasoning

Cooking oil             1 table spoon

Cumin seeds           2 tea spoons

Asafoetida              1 pinch

Red chillies            2- broken in to 1” pieces

Turmeric powder    1/2 teaspoon

Method

Soak gram dhal I water.

Pee l and cut ash gourd into approximately 1” cubes. Cook in a vessel with ¼ cup of water and 1 tea spoonful of salt till the vegetable becomes tender.

While the vegetable is cooking grind soaked gram dhal, Coconut scrapings, red and green chillies, ginger, turmeric powder  coriander seeds, cumin seeds and coriander leaves in to smooth paste. Mix the paste with 1 cup of water and add to the cooked vegetable. At this stage add salt according to your taste . Cook for a few more minutes stirring occasionally so that the vegetable absorbs the taste of the masala.

Beat curds well and add it to the cooked vegetable. Cook till it starts to  boil. 

Seasoning

Prepare the seasoning by heating one tablespoon full of oil and adding the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, broken pieces of red chillies asafoetida and curry leaves and stirring till the mustard seeds crackle. Pour this over the majjige huli and serve hot with rice.

Other vegetables that  we can use are Seemebadane kai(Chow-Chow),
 Sorekai ( Bottle gourd) 
Soppugalu Greens.
Badane kai( Brinjal)and
 Bende kai (Ladies finger)
While cooking ladies finger and brinjal,we have to fry them in little  oil and continue.

Heerekai ( Ridgegourd )chatney

Heerekai ( Ridge gourd)

Heerekai chatney

Ingredients

 Heerekai or ridge gourd               1 Kg
 Grated coconut scraping              3 Table spoons
 Byadagi red chilli                         6 numbers
 Tamarind                                     Size of a small lemon
 Salt                                              to taste
 Mustard seeds                             ½ tea spoon full
 Black gram dhal                           2 table spoons
 Asafoetida                                    I pinch
 Cooking oil                                  2 table spoon full

 Method

 Wash and scrape ridge gourds lightly. Dice them in to small pieces.
 Soak tamarind in hot water.

 Fry red chillies in tea spoon full of oil in a flat frying pan. Add coconut scrapings and fry for a few minutes.       Transfer this in to another plate

 In the same frying pan fry ridge gourd pieces adding one I table spoon of oil. Add ½ tsp. of salt .Juice from    the vegetable comes out .Fry till all the juice dries and the ridge gourd pieces become light brown in colour. Allow it to cool.

 Extract the pulp from the soaked tamarind.

 Transfer fried ridge gourd pieces, fried chillies and coconut scrapings in to a maxi jar. Add tamarind paste and salt and grind it to a smooth paste without adding water.

 Prepare the tempering by heating the oil and adding the mustard seeds,black gram dhal asafoetida and curry leaves and stirring till the mustard seeds crackle and dhal becomes medium brown. Pour this tempering over the chutney. Mix it just before serving. It feels good to eat crunchy balckgram dhal along with smooth chatney.