Tag Archives: indian

Haagalkai Gojju ~ Amma’s recipe

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Bitter Gourd in a palate clearing sweet and spicy tamarind gravy – mom’s recipe

Haagalkai Gojju and oil

It was end of the 90′s and the beginning of my hostel days. The very first time that I was on my own, in a place far enough from home and certainly with no access to home food. Home sick I was, like hell. Except, once a month when Amma would come to see me. Religiously, I would look forward to the first week of the month, because I could get to see Amma, spend the special day catching up and end the day co-sleeping, sharing the same hostel bed, chatting away into the wee hours until we fell asleep before she left early the next morning.  Continue reading →

Ellu Bella | and an easy recipe for the leftovers

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A festive trail mix of roasted peanuts and sesame seeds, dried coconut and diced jaggery

Ellu Bella

Year after year on the 14th of January or sometimes 15th, like in many Kannadiga homes, the tradition is, whether or not we eat anything else, there is always one thing fixed on the festive menu – Ellu Bella (pronounced yelloo-bella) (sesame seeds – jaggery).

It is not much of a recipe at all but just a medley of simple ingredients as anyone can see it. What makes it special however is that, it is never made for eating alone but, in spite of the tedious work involved it is always prepared in quantities large enough to be shared with as many people as one possibly can.

Or at least, that is how it used to be.

Continue reading →

Soya Beans Shimla Mirch Masala

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Soya Beans in Red Bell Pepper-Cilantro-Cashew gravy

From the viewpoint of any responsible home maker, sustenance almost always also means maximum usage and least wastage of grocery, be it perishable or other staple food with a longer shelf life. It is not beyond common sense that perishable foods be consumed when fresh.

Wait a minute. Hope you aren’t squirming in your seat wondering if I am up to some gibberish all of sudden?! No I ain’t.

What I was coming to say is, more often than not, in a small family like ours, such precisely optimal utilization is far from reality. The vegetable crisper ends up stocking half an onion, a quarter bell pepper, a wedge of lemon, few curry leaf sprigs, a piece of ginger and many other leftover vegetables. There, I’m back on track. While I wish I’d have lesser of such scenarios, sometimes they come as a blessing in disguise.

When I soaked Soya beans that morning, perhaps I had the least of the clues that I’d get to cook it this way later that evening! But since I wasn’t ready to cook it the same old way, I looked into my crisper and found inspiration in a medley of vegetable leftovers.

Sweet aroma of Red bell pepper, heat of green chillies and the freshness of cilantro clearly distinguish this dish from the routine masala gravies. Cashew lends a mild richness and the neutral taste of soya beans takes everything well. And, the nuttiness of the soy beans is a mouthful of fun!

In the end, a good recipe and a clean sweep of leftover veggies. To me, this is a keeper.After watching Food Inc recently, I was alarmed to learn that 90% of the Soya Beans in the US are GMO. Though nothing can be done about what has already been eaten, I’ve resolved to steer clear of GMO going forward.

If you are curious to know more about what GMO means, how to choose Non-GMO products and where to buy them, check the Non GMO Project link on the sidebar.

Ignorance is not bliss. Awareness is the key to make better choices.

On a lighter note, what is your usual way of consuming Soya Beans?

Soya Beans Shimla Mirch Masala Recipe

Printable Recipe
Things you’ll need:

1 cup dried non-gmo soya beans
1/2 medium red onion, minced
1 ripe tomato, finely chopped
3 tsp peanut oil
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/4 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
sea salt
juice of half a lemon
cilantro to garnish

For the gravy

1/2 tsp peanut oil
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeds removed, diced
3 green chillies
generous handful of cilantro
10 cashew nuts

other

pressure cooker

How it’s done:

Wash soya beans well several times and soak in at least 3 cups (3 times) of potable water for 6-8 hours or overnight. Once soaked, wash a few times again and drain. Pressure cook soya beans with salt and water, a little more than enough to cover the beans, for 3-4 whistles or until cooked soft.

Keep the vegetables chopped and paste for the gravy ready while the pressure cooker is on.

paste for the gravy:

Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan. When the oil shimmers, add onions and sauté until translucent. Add diced red bell pepper and sauté until the hissing sound dies out or the rawness disappears.

Transfer sauteéd onions and red bell pepper to a blender and blend along with raw cilantro, green chillies, cashew nuts and some water to a smooth paste.

For soya beans masala

When the cooker has cooled, heat 3 tsp oil in the same pan used earlier. When the oil is hot enough or begins to shimmer, add cumin seeds. When they start sizzling, add minced onions and sauté until translucent. Add turmeric, grated or crushed ginger and tomato, give it a good stir and cook covered on medium until oil separates. Now, add the ground paste, cooked soya beans and salt. Adjust water to the required consistency. Cook covered until well cooked or about 10-12 mins. Stir intermittently. Simmer covered for an additional 5 mins and switch off.

Finish off by squeezing lemon juice and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with roti, phulka, chapati or any indian bread of choice or even steamed brown rice.

Notes:

Once soaked soya beans expand up to triple in quantity.
In the absence of a pressure cooker, cook the beans in an open pot on stove top until well cooked.

This dish can be cooked ahead of time for an even better taste.

Alternatively, fresh or frozen edamame beans would make a good substitute. Skip the soaking part and cook it on stove top until soft. Pressure cooker will make them too mushy.

Use green bell pepper if not for red bell pepper.

Peanuts can be used in place of cashews. Just double the amount and roast before grinding for the paste.

Substitutes will alter the taste, but they will be differently tasty on their own.

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Maavina Hannu Seekarane

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Mango Pulp in Jaggery sweetened Cardamom Coconut Milk

Is it that time of the year, already? Talk about March madness.. means different things to different people..isn’t it?

March brings in the onset of spring, a thing of beauty and joy forever… It is also the time when the Indian Summer bears fruit. Not something ordinary, but the king of fruits – the one and only Mango. And this is exactly the time of the year, I want to be nowhere else, than in India and my hometown Bengalooru (and Mysore), to gorge on these luscious juicy beauties by the basket full. Well, at least I wish!

When I am just left with wishing, I run to the nearest Sam’s and buy a box full of Ataulfo mangoes, fill them in a brown bag, put them in the darkest corner of the laundry room and wait for them to ripen. After a couple of days when they’re ready, I ‘try’ to satiate my mango cravings with these fully ripe, not so flavorful, not as juicy and not quite sweet ‘mango look a likes’ of Indian mangoes…


Eating a mango is more than just delicious, it is pure fun – licking the juice running down the palm or squishing the pulp off the seed to leave no trace of the fruit on it are some of the few times when messy is good! And that is how I always love to eat them..

But, once in a while, when I need a little extra with minimal sophistication, I love this simple Seekarane desert recipe. This is as close a desert can get to real fruit. This recipe needs no selling. The ingredients do all the talking for themselves.

Seekarane or Rasayana is a traditional dessert prepared by squeezing ripe mangoes to pulp, may be due to the lack of mixer/grinders in that era. Even with the latest kitchen gadgets today, I wouldn’t change a thing about how it is made. That’s just me, I guess!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Maavina Hannu is Mango in Kannada btw..

So, what is your favorite mango dessert?

Maavina Hannu Seekarane Recipe

Printable Recipe
Things you’ll need:

4 small-medium ripe mangoes, preferably juicy
3/4 cup freshly grated coconut
3/4 cup water
2 small cubes or abt 4 tbsp grated jaggery (preferably dark variety)
4-5 cardamom pods

Other:

grater
mortar & pestle

How it’s done:

For the mango pulp:

This part can be a little messy, but it is all worth it. Traditionally, most of this is done by squishing the mango to a pulp, by hand. We’ll get some help from the grater though.

Wash the mangoes well and pat dry. Slice off the top at the stalk. Cut off the cheeks on either sides of the mango first. Remove the skin off the seed. Using the grater, grate the fruit off the seed or just squish the seed with your hand until all the fruit is off the seed. I prefer doing this way as there is minimum wastage of fruit.

Halve the cheeks or quarter them with the skin intact, depending on your convenience for grating. Grate the fruit to get all the pulp out of the skin. Do not hesitate to get any remaining fruit either with a spoon or your trusty fingers. Repeat with all the mangoes. Once all the pulp is extracted, give it a nice stir or squish to get a uniform consistency. Taste the mangoes for sweetness.

For the coconut milk:

Blend the freshly grated with a little water to a smooth paste. Add the remaining water to this, stir to mix well and strain the coconut milk. If using frozen coconut, thaw first and use warm water for blending so that the fat does not separate. Refrigerate the remaining strained coconut to be used later in cooking.

Mix Coconut milk with the mango pulp. Grate jaggery into this, less or more depending on the sweetness of the mangoes.

In a mortar, smash the cardamom pods with the pestle and pry the seeds out with your fingers. Save the skin for later for flavoring tea or water. Smash the cardamom seeds first and crush them back and forth with the pestle for a fine powder. Sprinkle generously, not too much though.

Give it a good stir and serve as soon as possible. Tastes best when fresh.  This dessert gets ready in a jiffy. Explaining how to do seems more tedious than the actual doing.

Note

Jaggery can be substituted by brown sugar, but the depth and flavor of Jaggery cannot be. Other mexican unrefined sugars like Pillonchillo or Succanat may come a tad closer than sugar.

Jaggery is available in Indian stores. Always look for unbleached Jaggery

Freshly grated coconut works best, if not, thawed, frozen coconut works just fine if you are not too particular.

Fresh coconut milk is the star of this recipe. If you would rather save yourself the trouble of making it from scratch (which isn’t too difficult), you could use canned coconut milk. I won’t promise great results.

Milk can be substituted for coconut milk and this variation comes out well too.

Raspuri mangoes are best suited for this recipe. In its absence, Alphonso works well. I’ve used Mexican Ataulfo mangoes (that’s the best I can get here) and they are fully ripe when wrinkled and golden yellow.

If you’d rather not get your hands messy, you could blend the cut up mango pieces instead. Blending makes a juice out of the pulp though and doesn’t quite result in a hand squished consistency.

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