Ashtami Laddoos

This is usually made during janmashtami ... This is a healthy and a favourite ladoo.  I have made this with Manna health mix, atta ( whole wheat flour ) with jaggery.  Usually made  with the special sticky jaggery which is usually available during the shravan month. (during ashtami and chauthi). But it can be made wih normal jaggery also.

Ingredients :

Groundnuts

Jaggery.

Whole wheat flour

Manna health flour 

Chutney dal

a small bowl of water

half glass of water

cardamom powder

ghee 

Method:

In a kadai, dry roast the groundnuts, till the skin comes off. Remove from fire and rub the groundnuts till the skin is gone. 

In the kadai, add the ghee and when it is hot, add the whole wheat flour and roast on medium flame till a nice smell comes and the flour is nicely roasted.

 Powder the chutney dal and keep.

Now in the kadai, add half cup water and the jaggery and stir occasionally till the jaggery is fully dissolved.  keep on flame till when a drop of the syrup when added to a bowl of water comes together . ( or you shud be able to make a sfot round with it)

Switch off flame immediately and add the flours quickly and also the cadamom pwd and groundnuts.  mix thoroughly .  the quantitiy of flour depends on the jaggery.

Smear your hands with ghee and make laddoos as quickly as possible.  

These laddoos become harder overnight .

Idly / Dosa Pudi

This is a slight variation from the Molaga or rice pudi.  A little more spicier.  Molaga pudi is used with dal and rice and it gets over in a jiffy at home.

My daughter and I have it with literally everything.  So decided to make this , whichcan be had as a topping for dosas , akki roti and also idly !!

It is from Jayshree's insta story and also from my favourite blog, Hebbars Kitchen.  

Ingredients :

1. Urad dal : 1 cup

2. Tuar Dal : 1/2 cup

3. White til  : 1 tbsp

4.  Red chillies  : 20 - 25 

5. Hing : 1/4 tsp

6. Tamarind Pwd : 1 tsp

7.  Salt as per taste

8. Oil : 1/2 tsp

Method;

1. In a kadai , dry roast the urad dal and then the tuar dal ( separately ), till they become light red. remove and keep in a plate.

2.  Wash the til and strain and then dry roast teh til ( it is ok if it is wet) till it starts popping.  Remove and keep on a plate.

3.  Take a tsp of oil and rosat the red chillies and the hing.  

4.  When the dals cool,  take everything in  the moxie jar, add some salt and the tamarind powder and powder the mixture.

5.  Make the powder as fine as you want and check the seasoning.

Baigan Bhartha (Brinjal roast )

Baigan bhartha is a simple typicla north indian dish.. made with the usual masala.  The trick is to roast the brinjal

 through and get a piece or two of the charred skin too in the gravy, not too much just a little bit.  I started making this with the matti gul , and 

first attempted the gulla gojju ( another amchi delicacy loved by basrur gang).  and then just decided to make this once.  It came out nice and kids

loved it too.

Ingredients :

1.  brinjal 1 large round, or can use two medium ones too.

2.  onions : cut fine 1 medium 

3. ginger garlic paste ( at times i use ginger garlic and green chilli paste made at home )

4. tomatoes cut fine  1 medium 

5.  masala pwd : dhania pwd, 1tsp, jeera pwd ; 3/4 tsp, red chillie pwd : 1 tsp ( as per taste ), garam masala pwd 1 tsp, haldi pwd ; 1/4 tsp

6.  tamarind paste : 1/4 tsp ( 1/2 tsp if needed )

7.  coriander leaves finely chopped : 1 tbsp

salt as per taste , oil 2 tsp + to coat the brinjal

Method.

1.  wash the brinjal and pat dry.  smear it with oil.  take a fork or a cake tester and poke a few holes around he brinjal.

     keep the brinjal directly on the flame of the gas and keep turning it every few minutes.  Roast the brinjal till it is done throughly.

    remove from flame and keep it in a dish, cover the dish with a plate.  Once it is cooled, gently peel off the charred skin and discard.  

    Gently mash the brinjal , remove any seeds if they are too many.

2.  Heat oil, add the chopped onions and fry till golden brown.  add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes . Add the chopped tomatoes 

     and fry well till it becomes a pulpy mass.

3.  Add the dry masalas and a little salt and the tamarind paste. fry well till the oil leaves the masala.  Add some salt and mix well.

4.  Add the brinjal pulp and add some water and mix well.  Check the seasoning and the consistency.   give it a boil and keep on low flame for a 

     couple of minutes. 

5.  Garnish with coriander leaves . Serve hot. 

maavinakayi chitranna

Mavinkayi chitranna is another speciality to be had in the times of mangoes.  This is made with raw tothapuri mangoes.  Have adapted the green chitranna recipe told to me by my friend Geetha .

Masala :

1. Coriander leaves

2. Mint leaves (optional)

3.  Garlic (optional) 

4 : ginger 

5.  Green chillies 

6.  Whole garam masala (clove, cinammom)

7.Tamarind : (if not using raw mango)

8.  rock salt

9.  coconut grated

 

     Grind ingredients 1 - 8 to a smooth paste and then add the coconut and just whir the mixie once.  

     the coconut shud not be fine. the masala shud be tari tari.

Ingedients :

cooked rice : 1 cup

salt per taste

raw mango grated : 2 - 3 tbsp.

tadka ;

oil. 

rai, jeera, chana dal, urad dal, curry leaves,

graundnut

cashews broken (optional)

lemon juice  ( if not using raw mango or if u feel the sourness is not enough)

Method :

in a plate, mix the masala and the rice and keep aside.  ( the cooked rice should be cooled )

in a kadai,  prepare the tadka .  heat oil, add rai, when it splutters add jeera, then the urad dal and chana dal, When it becomes slighlty red add the 

curry leaves and then the Green chillies ( optional).  Then add the groundnuts and fry till the they become gloden brown or slightly red.  tehn add the cashews

and fry for a few seconds.  make the gas sim.

then add the rice mixed with the masala  and mix well.  Check the seasoning.  Sprinkle some water and then cover and cook on dum for a few minutes.  

Keep checking rice, ifrequired sprinkle a tsp of water.  

when it is done if erquired add some lime juice and mix well and serve hot.

Brinjal Rawa fry ( or Phodis)

Though we always make Matti gul phodis, never thought it would be so tasty with teh big purple brinjals too.

This is a common way of making bhajjis in our amchi cuisine.  We make rawa fry out of most vegetables.  Even seemae badnekayi, pumpkin, 

and of course common vegaetables like aloo, sweet potato etc.

Ingredients 

 for coating :

rava :1/4 cup ( can also add 2 tsp of rice flour and 1 tsp of cornflour)

red chilli pwd :1 tsp ( depends on preference)

hing 1/4 tsp

salt per taste 

Masala :

red chilli pwd : 1 -2 tsp ( as per taste )

haldi : a pinch

hing 1/8 tsp

salt as per taste

rice flour : 2 tbsp 

brinjal 1 thickly sliced in rounds 

Method :

1.  In a bowl , mix hte ingredients in the masala well, 

2.  coat the vegetable pieces with this masala and let it marinate for 20 - 3- minutes.

3.  In another flat bowl, mix he ingredients under coating and check seasoning. 

4.  Heat a tawa and grease it well.  when it is hot, roll each marinated vegetable in th ecoating and then place on the tawa.  drizzle with oil and cover.

5.  cook on medium flame and after 5 - 7 minutes, turn the vegetable and again drizzle with oil. 

6.  cook till it becomes crisp and then serve hot.

Garlic Naan

Whenever we go to restaurants , and if we have to order north Indian, Naans are usually ordereed. 

 Mom used to make Naans when I was small and I used to love the colour and the softness.. 

I have made garlic Naan today from Hebbars Kitchen, but have used a mix of maida and whole wheat flour..

Ingredients :

Maida : 2 cups ( Used 1 cup maida, 1 cup wheat flour )

baking soda : 1/4 tsp,

baking pwd : 1 tsp

salt : 3/4 tsp

oil : 2 tbsp

Curd : 1/4 cup

garlic : 1tsp grated 

water : to knead to make dough

Garlic Butter

butter : 3tbsp melted

garlic : 1tsp grated

coriander leaves : 2tbsp Finely chopped 

Instructions 

1.  In a large mixing bowl, take the flour, baking soda, baking pwd and salt and mix well.

2.  Add 2 tbsp oil, 1/4 cup curd, and garlic.

3.  Mix well, combining well.

4.  Add water as required and knead to a smooth and soft dough.

5.  Grease the dough with oil, cover and rest for 2 hours.

6.  Meanwhile prepare agarlic butter by mixing the melted butter, garlic and coriander.

7.  After 2 hours,  knead the dough lightly and then pinch out a medium shaped ball of the dough to make a naan.

8.  lightly roll the naan to an oval shape ( it should not be bigger then your tawa)  taking care not to make it too thin.

9.. Heat the tawa on the gas. Brush the naan on one side with water , covering the entire surface.  gently place the naan withe watered side down onthe tawa.

10.  After a minute flip the tawa on the gas, holding the naan directlyover the flame till it turns light brown. Brush some prepared garlic butter on the naan and then gently scrape off the tawa.

maddur vada

lockdown period and tried quite a few recipes and brushed up on a few old ones too..
this recipe link was given by Vidya kamath ( Akhi's wife) and the vadas came out perfect.  the recipe was very simple too.
this is an adaptation of amddur vada recipe from the blog veg recipes of india.

Ingredients :
1.  rice flour : 1/2 cup
2.  maida ; 1/4 cup
3.  sooji  : 1/4 cup
4.  Onion finely chopped ; 1/2 cup
5.  green chillies : 2 -3 finely chopped
6.  curry leaves : 8-9 chopped
7.  coriander leaves  : 3 tbsp chopped
8.  hing : 1 pinch
9.  oil  : 1 tbsp to be heated and to fry the vadas
10.  salt
11.  water :  4 - 5 tbsp

Method :
1.  Take the rice flour in a bowl, add the rava and teh maida and mix well.
2.  Add teh chopped onions, greenchillies, curry leaves and the coriander leaves and mix.
3.  Add salt, hing and mix well.
4.  Heat one tablespoon of oil till it becomes hot and add it to the flour mixture.  mix well with a spoon.
5.  Add water one poon at a times and mix till you get a nice soft dough. it should not be too sticky ot dry.  If it feels sticky canadd a little maida and mix , if too dry sprinkle some water. 

heat oil to deepfry the vada.  Take a smallportion of the dough and shape it like a round patty.  Place this on a plastic sheet and press with your fingers to make it .25 to .3 mm thickness.
when the oil is hot ( a small piece of the dough should come up gradually and steadily) , add the vada into the oil gently and fry on medium flame. 
you can fry two to four vadas ata time.
let one side get well fried to a light golden brown before turning over. 

Uchellu Chutney

Always wanted to try Uchellu.  Some of my friends us it in gravies and also in salads.  Thought would get a small pack and try.  Tried out the chutney recipe from Archana' s kitchen.  Browsed through a few blogs and most of the recipes were similar. 

Ingredients
1. . Uchellu : 2 tablespoon
2.  Red chillies : 7 - 8 ( this chutney has to be a bit spicy )
3.  Chutney dal : 3 tbsp
4.  Tamarind : twice the size of goose berry seed
5.  Garlic cloves : 7 (peeled and roughly shopped )
6.  Coconut grated : 2tbsp
7.  curry leaves : 20
8..  Salt to taste
9.  oil 2 tsp

tadka
oil, rai, red chillie, curry leaves.

Method .
1.  In a kadai, dry roast the  uchellu, it will start popping.  remove from heat and keep aside.
2.  in the kadai, pour oil, and fry the garlic till light brown.  then add the  red chillies and fry,.  remove from heat. thenadd the curry leaves to the kadai and fry till they become a little crisp.
3.  in the same kadai add the coconut and fry for a minute..
4.  In a mixie, add the uchellu, redchillies, tamarind, garlic, curry leaves and the chutney daal and salt and mix till it becomes a fine pwoder. 
5.  when the powder is fine, add the coocnut and run the mixie for a few seconds.  add some water to get the required consistency and grind till it becomes a smooth paste. and check seasoning.

remove from mixie and give a tadka.
this can also  be served a gatti chutney or made into a runny chutney.

best had with akki, ragi roti.

note :  if u want . u can keep the chutney as chutney pudi in step 3.