Shaka Vratha Huri-Uddina Chutney

Ingredients

• Urad Dal (Uddina Bele) – 1 cup
• Pepper Corns – 1 tsp
• Amla Power (preferred) or Amchoor Powder – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste.

Method

• Take a pan, add Ghee and roast Urad Dal and Pepper Corns together.
• Once roasted add Amla (or Amchoor) Power and mix the roasted Dal while hot. Allow the mixture to cool.
• Grind the mixture with a little water & salt to make it into a paste.
• Your Huri-Uddina Chutney is now ready.

Shaka Vratha Saaru (Rasam)

Ingredients

• Pepper (Black Corns) – 1 tsp
• Jeera (Cumin Seeds) – 2 tsp
• Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder) – 1 tbsp
• Toor Dal – 1 cup
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Jaggery (Optional) – As per taste
• Salt as per taste.

Method

• Pressure-cook Toor Dal (Togari Bele) and sift it a little – keep aside.
• Take a pan, add 1tsp of Jeera and Pepper and roast them. Coarsely powder the roasted Jeera and Pepper using a pestle.
• Take a pan, add water, to this add the Jeera & Pepper powder, Salt and Amchoor powder and bring it to boil.
• Add the Toor Dal and continue to boil. Add Jaggery at this stage.
• Heat the Ghee in a ladle and add Jeera to make Vaggarane (Tadka).
• Add this to the Saaru (Rasam).
• Your Vratha Saaru is now ready. (Happy Chaturmaasa!)

Fusion Chitranna !

Fusion Chitranna

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• Rice – 1 cup (washed & soaked)
• Peanuts – ½ a cup
• Capsicum – 1 cup diced
• Paneer – ½ cup cut into cubes.
• Channa Dal – 1 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1 tsp
• Hing – A small pinch
• Turmeric – A small pinch
• Pepper Corns – A few
• Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon - 1 piece
• Green Chilies – 2
• Amchur Power – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• Take a pan add Ghee, to this add Jeera and Cinnamon.
• Add soaked rice and fry. Add water and Pressure-cook the rice. Ensure is not overcooked and sticky, cool cooked rice and keep aside.
• Take a pan and add oil and heat.
• Make Vaggarane (tadaka) of Hing (Asafetida), Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Channa Dal & Pepper until Mustard Seeds splutter.
• To this add peanuts and roast (adding Cashews at this stage enhances taste)
• To this mixture add sliced Green Chilies.
• Now add Capsicum and stir fry. Add Salt. Add Paneer and mildly stir so that you don’t break the paneer. Keep this mixture aside. Add Amchur to add a zing of sourness.
• Add the mixture to cooled rice and mix.
• Your Fusion Chitranna is ready.

I call this ‘Fusion’ as the ingredients are a blend of North Indian Style Fried rice mixed with the key ingredients of South Indian chitraanna (mixed/coloured rice).

Fusion Chitranna packed for lunch !

How to prepare Hakka Noodles?

Folks, here is my simple recipe to prepare fantastic Hakka Noodles ! It's taken me 2.5 years to come back to this blog!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 pack (400gms) of White Hakka Veg Noodles
• Cabbage - 1 cup (diced)
  
• Capsicum - 1 cup (cut length wise - about 3-4 cms to resemble noodles ;) )
  
• Carrots - 1 cup (sticks - length wise)
  
• French Beans - 1 cup cut length wise
  
• 2 Green Chillies
  
• 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (without garlic/chillies)
  
• 1 tbsp White Vinegar
• Salt to taste
  
• White pepper power to taste
  
• Oil to stir fry

Method

• Take about 1200 ml of water and bring it to boil in a large pan.
  
• Add Hakka Noodles + 1 tbsp of oil to the boiling water.
  
• Just stir for about 1 min or so and remove the noodles strain and toss (important to note that Noodles should be par-boiled at this time, otherwise they will stick to each other)
  
• Now take a pan, add the required quantity of oil
• Add the Chillies first and all the Vegetables and Stir fry on high flame with a little salt.
  
• Add Soy Sauce to the veggies and continue to stir
• Add the noodles, pepper & salt at this stage and toss.
  
• Add Vinegar if needed and toss again
  
• Your Vegetarian Hakka Noodles is now ready !
  

Hakka Noodles as usual tastes best with Pure Tomato sauce but a dash of Tabasco & Green Chillies sauces does not hurt !

That's Fried Rice, Gobi Manchuria & Hakka Noodles (with the ladle)

Thanks
Aditya Rao

Mosaru Aambode [ಮೊಸರು ಆಂಬೊಡೆ] ] (Dahi Vada)

Dry Uddina Bonda



Mosaru Aambode (Dahi Vada)

Ingredients (Coming soon)

Method of preparation (Coming soon)

Avarekai Kootu (called Pitlay in Tamilnadu side)

Kootu (ಕೂಟು) is one of the specialties of Karnataka and especially from the Madhwa Brahmin cook pot. Generally kootu is prepared with some standard & hard vegetables (like Yam, Avarekai, Chapprada Avarekai, etc.) . Kootu has to undoubtedly contain a lot of kadLekai (peanuts). It is rather simple to prepare and simply amazing to taste. Kootu with rice, ghee and some Aralu Sandige (fries) is something divine!



Ingredients (coming soon)

Method of Preparation (coming soon).

Aalo Bajji and Jamoon

Found an old snap of Aalo Bajji and Jamoon mom had made during Dasara at Mysore. Watch out of the Bajji Recipe in this section.

The colourful Mysore Devaraja Market

Here you find the colourful Deveraja Fruit market in Mysore. Usually this place is heavily crowded during normal days and swells to its seams during festival seasons, especially Dasara, with tourists adding to the anarchyJ.

Typical South Indian Spreads for Shankranthi & Bhogi 2007

1) Salt 2) Uddina BeLa Kosambri 3) Kadle BeLe Kosambri 4) Beans Palya 5) KumbLekai Raitha 6) Aloo Gadde Palya 7) Uddin Hapla (pApad) 8) Sweet Pongal 9) Anna 10) Dodda Menasinakai Chitranna 11) Towe





1) Salt 2) Uddina BeLa Kosambri 3) Kadle BeLe Kosambri 4) Bonda 5) Beans Palya 6) Kumblekai Palya 7) Mosaru Amboda 8) Anna with Thuppa 9) Panchambrutha 10) Towe 11) Sweet Pongal

Jammy Besan Laddu

Ingredients (makes 4 laddus)

1) Ghee – 2 tablespoons
2) Dry fruits - Resins, Cashews and Badams – a few
3) Besan – 1 cup
4) Kisan Jam (MIXED fruit) – 2 tablespoons

Method of preparation

1) Take 1 tablespoon of ghee and heat it a pan
2) Fry the dry fruits and keep them aside.
3) Clean the pan and heat it along with the other tablespoon of ghee.
4) To this hot ghee add Besan and sauté.
5) Heat and mix well until a pleasant fragrance emanates.
6) To this mixture add fried dry fruits.
7) Mix well and add 2 tablespoons of Kisan Jam and mix well.
8) After cooling, make this mixture into 1inch Laddus.

NOTE: This is my recent creation and needs improvement, but nevertheless has a great taste - so go ahead and enjoy. Note that the brown color is from the jam.

Simple Batani (Peas) Chitranna

Ingredients
1) Cooked Rice
2) Fresh Peas - 1 cup
3) Lemon - 1
4) Chilly - 1-2
5) Chopped Coriander - 1 tablespoon
6) Peanuts - 1 handful
7) Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 pinch
8) Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
9) Channa Dal - 1 teaspoon
10) Salt to taste
11) Curry leaves - a few
12) Oil – 1 teaspoon

Method of preparation
1) Cook normal white rice and keep it aside.
2) Boil the peas with a little salt until they become tender. You could also boil the peas along with the rice in the cooker (separately).
3) Heat oil in a pan
4) Add Mustard Seeds and Hing
5) To this mixture add Peanuts and Channa Dal and fry until they become brownish.
6) Add Curry leaves and cut Chilies.
7) Drain the stock from the peas (note that this stock is very tasty and can be consumed with salt and pepper and makes a wonderful appetizer)
8) Add the peas and squeeze and entire lemon into the pan and mix well.
9) To this mixture add boiled rice and dress it up with coriander leaves.
10) Your chitranna is now ready!

Simple Carrot Halwa

Ingredients
1) Carrots – ½ Kg
2) Milk – ½ Liter
3) Sugar – 300 grams
4) Cashew – 10-15 cut pieces
5) Raisins – 10 - 15
6) Badam – 5 – 10 pieces
7) Pista – 5 – 10 pieces
8) Ghee – 1 tablespoon

Method of Preparation (takes about 40 minutes)

1) Grate Carrots and keep it aside
2) Head some Ghee in a pan and put in all the dry fruits.
3) Mildly fry until Raisins blow up and the other dry fruits get a hint of brownish color.
4) Remove the dry fruits from the pan and transfer it to another vessel.
5) Now add some Ghee into the pan until it melts.
6) Immediately add Milk and boil on low flame.
7) Once the milk comes to a boil, transfer the grated Carrots and continue boiling.
8) When the boiling mixture reaches a medium consitency, add all the sugar followed by dry fruits.
9) Continue boiling until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture attains a thick consistency.
10) Your Carrot Halwa is ready!

Simple Aloo Fry (Vaddakal)

Ingredients (4 servings)
Aloo (Potatoes) – ½ Kg
Karibevu (Curry Leaves) – 10-12
Mustard Seeds – ½ teaspoon
Mirchi Power – ¼ teaspoon (per taste)
Refined Oil – 1 tablespoon
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
A pinch of Arishina power (Haldi/Turmeric)
Salt to taste


Method of preparation (takes 20 minutes)
1) Skin and cut the potatoes into small 1cm cubes (see picture)
2) Heat oil in a pan
3) Add Hing & Mustard Seeds until they burst
4) Add Karibevu and Haldi
5) Immediately add the Aloo cubes
6) Allow the Aloo to fry and become crispy from outside.
7) Remove from heat and add salt and Mirchi power and sauté again.

Your mouth watering Aloo Fry (Vaddakal) is ready! It is best eaten with rice & ghee !!

Capsicum-Coriander Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients (Makes 2 healthy green sandwiches)
Capsicum (bell pepper) – 1 nos (medium size as in the pic attached)
Fresh Ginger – Small slice
Green Chilly – 1 to ½ chilly
Coriander – 2 bunches (freshly cut)
Jeera – 1 teaspoon
Soft Cheese – 1 teaspoon/1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Toasts (I recommend cereal or plain wheat bread to Maida based breads )

Method of preparation (takes about 10 minutes)
1) Heat some Ghee/oil in a pan
2) Add Jeera + Ginger and sauté
3) Add finely chopped green chilies and briefly sauté again.
4) Now add chopped Capsicum, heat and toss the contents after 3 minutes.
5) Remove from heat (ensure that the capsicum pieces are still crunchy)
6) Sprinkle salt and toss.
7) Add a tablespoon of cheese and allow it to settle for 2 minutes.
8) Add finely chopped coriander (cilantro) and mix well.
9) Your Capsicum-Coriander Cheese dressing is now ready!