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.

Idli uppittu

This dish can be prepared from leftover idlies

Ingredients

Idli 10 numbers
Grated cucumber 1 cup
Onion 1 chopped
carrot 1 grated
Fresh Coconut grated 2 table spoons
Lemon 1

For seasoning

Black gram dhal 1 tsp
Bengal gram dhal 1 tsp
Mustered seeds 1/4 tsp
cashew nuts 12 broken in to pieces
Green chillies 3 or 4 chopped
Ginger 1/2 inch chopped
curry leaves 1 fist full
Oil 2 table spoon

Method

Crush idlies lightly till it resembles bread crumbs.
Heat Oil in a pan and add mustered seeds.When mustard seeds splutter add Bengal gram dhal

and Black gram dhal.Fry till they become golden brown.Add cashew nut pieces and fry for a few

seconds.Add green chilies,ginger pieces and and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds .Add idli
crumbs and 1/2 teaspoon full of salt and mix well till the mixture becomes hot(Idli contains salt
so we must be careful while adding salt) .Remove from fire .Add grated coconut and lemon
juice and mix well.Serve hot

ರವೆ ಇಡ್ಲಿ

ಮೀಡಿಯಂ ರವೆ ಎರಡು ಕಪ್
ಉದ್ದಿನ ಬೇಳೆ ಒಂದು ಕಪ್
ಮಾಡುವ ವಿಧಾನ
ಉದ್ದಿನಬೇಳೆಯನ್ನು ಎರಡರಿಂದ ಮೂರು ಗಂಟೆಗಳ ಕಾಲ ನೆನಸಿ ನುಣ್ಣಗೆ ರುಬ್ಬಿ.
ರವೆಯನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಡಬ್ಬಿಅಥವ ಪಾತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಕಿ ಮುಚ್ಚಿ.
ಇದನ್ನು ಒಂದು ನೀರು ಹಾಕಿದ ಕುಕ್ಕರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಟು ಆನ್ನ ಮಾಡುವಂತೆ ಐದು ನಿಮಿಷ ಬೇಯಿಸಿ.ರವೆಗೆ ನೀರು ಹಾಕ ಬಾರದು.
ನಂತರ ರವೆಯನ್ನು ತಣ್ಣಗೆ ಆಗಲು ಬಿಡಿ.
ಆರಿದ ರವೆಗೆ ಒಂದು ಅಥವಾ ಒಂದೂವರೆಕಪ್ ನೀರು ಹಾಕಿ ಕಲಸಿ .ಉಪ್ಪಿಟ್ಟಿನಂತೆ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಸಾಕು.ಇದನ್ನು ರುಬ್ಬಿದ ಉದ್ದಿನಬೇಳೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಮೂರು ಅಥವಾ ರುಚಿಗೆ ತಕ್ಕಷ್ಟು ಉಪ್ಪು ಹಾಕಿ ಎರಡು ನಿಮಿಷ ರುಬ್ಬಿ.ಮಾರನೆಯ ದಿನ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಪ್ಲೇಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಕಿ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿ .ಹತ್ತು ನಿಮಿಷ ಬೇಯಿಸಿದರೆ ಸಾಕು.

ಕಿವಿ ಮಾತು
ರವೆಯನ್ನು ನೀರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲೆಸಿ ನಂತರ ರುಬ್ಬಿದ ಉದ್ದಿನಬೇಳೆಗೆ ಬೆರಸುವುದರಿಂದ ರವೆ ಗಂಟಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.
ಇಡ್ಲಿ ತಟ್ಟೆಯ ಎರಡು ಕಡೆಗೂ ಎಣ್ಣೆ ಸವರಿ. ಇದರಿಂದ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ತಟ್ಟೆಯ ಹಿಂಬಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಅಂಟುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
ಚಳಿಗಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟನ್ನು ಎರಡು ಕಪ್ ಬಿಸಿನೀರು ಹಾಕಿದ ಕುಕ್ಕರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಟು ವಯಿಟ್ ಹಾಕಿ ಮುಚ್ಚಿದರೆ ಹಿಟ್ಟು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಉಬ್ಬುತ್ತದೆ
ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟನ್ನು ತೊಳಸಬಾರದು ಪ್ರತಿಸಲ ತಳದಿಂದ ಹಿಟ್ಟು ತೆಗದು ಇಡ್ಲಿ ತಟ್ಟೆಗೆ ಹಾಕಬೇಕು
ಕುಕ್ಕರಿಗೆ ವಯಿಟ್ ಹಾಕಬಾರದು ಒಂದು ಬಟ್ಟಲು ಮುಚ್ಚಬೇಕು.
ಈ ಹಿಟ್ಟನ್ನು ಒಂದು ದಿನಕ್ಕಿನ್ಥಲೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಗೆ ಇಡಬಾರದು.ಅಷ್ಟುಹಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲೂ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿ ಫ್ರಿಜ್ಜಿನಲ್ಲಿತ್ತು ಬೇಕಾದಾಗ ಬಿಸಿಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ತಿನ್ನ ಬಹುದು .
ಮಇಕ್ರೊವೆವ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಸಿ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ ಎರಡು ಚಮಚ ನೀರು ಚುಮುಕಿಸಿ ಮುಚ್ಚಿ ಎರಡು ನಿಮಿಷ ಬಿಸಿಮಡಿದರೆ ಸಾಕು .
ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಕಾಯಿಲೆಯವರಿಗೆ ಇದು ಒಳ್ಳಯ ಆಹಾರ

Rave idli (idli with samolina)

Ingredients

Medium semolina 2 cup
Black gram dhal 1 cup
Salt to taste

Method

Soak black gram dhal for 2 to 3 hours.
Place semolina in a container and cover it tightly with a plate. Steel boxes can also be used. Cook this in a cooker for 5 minutes without adding water to the semolina.
Allow the semolina to cool.
Grind soaked black gram dhal to a smooth batter.
Add one or one and a half cup water to the semolina and mix well in to a thick paste taking care that there are no lumps.( If dry semolina is added to the batter lumps will be formed and it will be difficult to mix)
Add semolina paste to the black gram dhal paste in the grinder for a minute or two such that semolina is well mixed with black gram dhal paste.
Add 3 tea spoon full of salt (or to taste} and grind again.
Keep this batter overnight. Next day, pour the batter in idly plates and cook for 10 minutes

Tips.

If the weather is cool, to help quicker fermentation pour 2 cops of boiled water in a cooker and place the container with batter in it. Close the lid .Place the weight on top.
Smear oil for the idli plates on both sides. By doing so idlies will not stick to the bottom of the plate
If you are cooking idlies in a cooker do not put weight, just cover the vent with a steel cup.
Do not store idli batter more than a day, as batter will become sticky. Best thing is to prepare idlies and store them in fridge. We can re-heat them in a microwave or cooker again.
While re heating in a microwave sprinkle the idlies with water and cover well and heat for one or two minutes.

Brahmakamala flowers in my garden

I had planted this plant two years ago. Last year I had seen the 4 buds. Next day morning when I went to see the flowers they had already bloomed and all the flowers had closed.I was terribly disappointed.
This year 14th June 2009 fifteen buds were there. Flowers started to bloom around 7 PM and they had bloomed fully at about 10PM.It was a great sight. It was raining when my daughter took these photos

Mango seekarane

Mango seekarane is very famous in karnataka.
Ingredients
Mangoes (Rasapuri) 6nos
Sugar powder to taste
Milk 2 cups
Cardamom powder ¼ tsp
Saffron a few strands soaked in hot milk
Cashew nuts 10 or 12
Resins 1 table spoon
Ghee 1tsp
Fry cashew nuts in 1 tea spoon of ghee till it becomes light brown. Add resins.fry till resins swell up.Keep aside.
Wash mangoes .Peel the skin with hand. Do not use peeler.By doing so we get a even texture and taste.Squeeze the fruit in to a dish by hand. Pulp adhered to the seed is also taken out by squeezing out well.Scrape out the pulp from the peel with a knife. Mix all the pulp and squeeze out large lumps if any. Add sugar powder, cardamom powder, saffron soaked in milk and mix well .Serve chilled. It can used as a dip for Chapatti Obbattu or poori

Mangoes from my garden

Thirty years back I had planted a mango tree in my back yard. It is Rasapuri variety. Fruits are very delicious and juicy. It is a treat to eat fresh mangoes. Mangoes stored in the refrigerator lose their taste.