Huggi (Pongal)

My father and father-in-law love this dish a lot. A favorite of my hubby too but always needs the tamarind sauce to persuade the kids to eat it. This is served as breakfast in almost all hotels throughout tamilnadu. Raita is served alongwith this in many places but i have always liked this best with the tamarind sauce as served in "KADAMBAMS" in Bangalore. Pongal is an easy option to cook for me when i have less time to spare to prepare a meal as this requires very little time for preparation.

HUGGI (PONGAL):




Ingredients:

1 cup raw rice
1 cup moong dal
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp peppercorns (slightly crushed)
4 green chillies
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
4 cloves garlic crushed (optional)
1 tsp jeera
1 sprig curry leaves

Method to prepare:

1. Wash rice and dal seperately.
2. Heal 1 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the moong dal till a pleasant aroma emanates.
3. Add rice and mix well. Add turmeric, ginger and salt.
4. Add 2 and 1/2 cups water and cook for 2 whistles.
5. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a kadai and add jeera. Once it splutters, add garlic (optional), chillies and curry leaves.
6. Add a little water, boil well and mix this with the rice.
7. Roast a little cashews in ghee an add to this for extra taste.

Serve hot with tamarind sauce (hunisehannina gojju). Recipe given below.

Hunisehannina Gojju (Tamarind Sauce)

I always prepare this dish alongwith Pongal. This tangy, spicy sweet dish tastes delightful and enhances the taste of Pongal unfailingly every single time. I always make extra sauce as the kids love eating chips and crispy snacks with this sauce as a dip. This is another recipe that i made a practise to prepare after relishing its combined taste at "Kadambams" in Bangalore.

HUNISEHANNINA GOJJU (TAMARIND SAUCE) FOR PONGAL:





Ingredients:

1/2 cup thick tamarind extract
1/2 cup powdered jaggery
4 slit green chillies
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp jeera
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp oil

Method of preparation:

1. Bring together tamarind extract, jaggery, turmeric, ginger and salt.
2. Add 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil.
3. As the mix is coming to a boil, make a tempering of oil, mustard seeds, asafoetida, jeera, green chillies and curry leaves.
4. Add this tempering to the tamarind mix, mix well and switch off the flame.

Cool this and serve with Pongal.

Pundi Gatti (Steam Rice dumplings)

I like preparing different dishes for dinner rather than chapathi always. Variety always interests the kids and hubby without fail and makes dinner, the only meal together on weekdays, more enjoyable. Making this dish is easy, preparation however takes time and patience. I soak the rice when i'm free in the afternoons and grind it before going to pick my kids from school.

PUNDI GATTI (STEAM RICE DUMPLINGS):





Ingredients:

For batter:
2 cups raw rice
1/2 cup grated coconut
Salt to taste

For tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chana and urad dal mix
4 green chillies roughly minced
1 tsp oil

1. Soak the rice for 3 hours.
2. Gring the rice alongwith coconut to dosa batter consistency (The batter need not be too smooth). Add salt.
3. Heat a kadai, add oil.
4. Brown the dal mix in the oil and add mustard seeds and chillies.
5. Add the batter and keep folding from all sides seeing to that the batter does not stick to the kadai. The batter will get cooked and coming together resembing a dough.
6. Make small balls of this and steam for 15 minutes.

Serve hot with chutney. I made roasted gram dal chutney with this.

Roasted Gram Dal Chutney

I always try out different chutneys mostly to avoid the use of coconut which is a big NO when you wanna watch your weight. Tomato and onion chutney, pudina, tur dal, roasted gram dal are all healthier options. Below mentioned is roasted gram dal chutney which i prepared as an accompaniment to the above mentioned steamed rice dumplings..... It makes a very good combination and is very filling as well.

ROASTED GRAM DAL CHUTNEY:



Ingredients:

1 cup roasted gram dal
4 green chillies
1 inch piece ginger
a small piece of tamarind (wet this with a little water)
salt to taste

for tempering:

1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp urad dal and chana dal mix
1 sprig curry leaves
1/2 tsp oil

Method of Preparation:

1. Blend all the ingredients mentioned for the chutney together. Use a little water.
2. Take this chutney in a bowl.
3. Take a little oil in a tempering kadai and heat it.
4. Once the oil is hot, add the urad and chana dal mix and once it browns, switch off the flame.
5. Immediately add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Stir well.
6. Add this to the chutney

Serve with idli, dosa or chapathi. Goes well with chilli bonda and alu bonda as well.
4.

Bisi Bele Bath

A very famous Karnataka recipe. This dish tastes very good at MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms) in Bangalore. They serve it with a delicious raita. It is a one dish meal, easy to make and one of my favorites to cook after i mastered the art of preparing BBB. It took me 10 times of trying to get the perfect BBB recipe. Now i prepare as often as once in 10 days and it improves with every time i cook it. My kids like to eat potato wafers alongwith it, for me, i like it as is or with raita. Replace white rice with brown rice and it makes for good diet recipe with all the nutrition of vegetables and very less oil. This is how i prepare BBB.

BISI BELE BATH:





Ingredients: (powder)

2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp channa dal
1/2 tbsp jeera
6-7 methi seeds
2 pieces of 1 inch each , chinnamon
2 cloves
5 tbsp dry coconut (grated)
8 dry chillies (adjust this to your taste)

1. Dry fry all the above ingredients seperately and blend it into a powder together. Divide this powder in two portions.

For the BISI BELE BATH:

1 cup rice
3/4 cup toor dal
1 portion of the Bisi Bele Bath powder (recipe above)
1 cup of mix vegetables chopped evenly and washed (carrot, beans, capsicum, turnip)
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2. Wash the rice and dal together.
3. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the asafoetida, add the vegetables.
4. Stir fry vegetables for 1/2 a minute, add salt, turmeric powder and the BBB powder, stir fry.
5. After a minute of stir fry, add the washed rice and dal, mix well, add 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure reduce and then open.
for the tamarind mix:

2 tbsp thick tamarind extract
1 tbsp jaggery

6. Mix the above 2 ingredients in 1 cup water and bring it to a boil.
7. Add this to the rice in the pressure cooker and mix well.

for the tempering:

1 tsp mustard seeds
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 dry chillies (split, i used the byadagi variety)
1 tbsp halved cashewnuts (optional)
1 tomato (cut fine)
the second portion of the BBB powder
1 tsp ghee
1/4 tsp asafoetida

8. Heat the ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add asafoetida and reduce flame and add chillies.
9. Add curry leaves and the tomato. Stir fry the tomatoes till cooked.
10. Add the powder and fry for 10 secs and immediately transfer this to the rice. Mix well.

You can also add onions for the tempering.

Though the recipe looks tedious with the number of steps, it isn't when you cook it.

Seafood platter (Mackerel fish curry)

One of the good things of moving to mumbai is the seafood- fresh, variety, abundance. My kids and I love seafood. My daughter does not eat rice or anything else when seafood is prepared at home. She is satisfied only with eating fish all three meals in the day. The prawns here is excellent. I used to not prepare prawns much when in Bangalore but here i love preparing it since it is fresh and does not smell a lot. I marinate prawns in a little turmeric and salt for 15 mins after cleaning and washing it. For curry, mackerel is the best and tastes yum. The meal posted below was prepared the last sunday before diwali (we don't eat non-veg for a month after diwali).

MACKEREL FISH CURRY:





Ingredients:

1 kg mackerel (wash and pat dry)
1/2 cup coconut
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp dhania powder
a pinch turmeric
1 tbsp thick tamarind extract
salt to taste
8-10 peeled shallots (sambhar onions)
10 cloves of garlic (peeled)
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp vadiyam (if you do not have vadiyam, use 1 tsp mustard seeds, a little jeera, 5 methi seeds)

Method of Preparation:

1. Make a paste of coconut, chilli powder, tamarind extract, turmeric, dhania powder and salt with a little water.
2. Heat oil in a wide thick bottomed vessel. Add vadiyam and fry for 30 seconds.
3. Add the peeled shallots and garlic and fry for a minute
4. Add curry leaves and stir fry for 15 seconds.
5. Add the ground coconut paste and add a little water as the curry will thicken.
6. Let the curry come to a boil and add the fish pieces. Cook for 10 mins, garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice. Also tastes superb with dosas and idli.

Prawn Fry (Royalla vepudu)

There are so many different kind of prawns in all sizes available in the market here, i enjoy shopping for them. They are sold in small heaps and the price differs on the size of the prawns. I love the tiger and jumbo prawns than the small ones. Though it is tedious to de-vein them, i just love the taste. If you are averse to the smell of prawn you can make use of the following method to get rid of the smell. After de-veining the prawns, wash it well and marinate in lime juice and turmeric for 15-20 mins and then use it in your recipe.

PRAWN FRY: (ROYALLA VEPUDU):

Ingredients:

1/4 kg prawns (de-veined)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 tomato (chopped)
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tsp vadiyam
salt to taste
coriander leaves to garnish
1 tbsp oil

Method of preparation:

1. Heat oil in a kadai (wok), add vadiyam, fry for 30 seconds and add onion.
2. Once the onion turns translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes.
3. Add curry leaves and fry.
4. Add the chopped tomato and fry well till it gets mushy.
5. Add chilli powder and salt and mix well. Let this cook for a minute
6. Add the prawns and cook for 15 mins.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves

Goes well as an accompaniment with rice and dal.