YELLU GOJJU POWDER/ SESAME SEEDS GOJJU POWDER

Serves as a main course for 4

Ingredients

Udad dal: 2 tbspn

Chana dal: 1 tbspn

Sesame seeds, black : 1 tspn

Sesame seeds, white: 1 tspn

Dhaniya/Corriander seeds: 1 tspn

Guntur chillies: 3 nos.

Byadige chillies: 3 nos.

Hing powder/Aesofoetida: 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves: 2 spring, about 20-25 leaves

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn

Preparation

• Dry roast all ingredients separately, as each ingredient requires different temperature to get roasted.
• Roast dals till it'slight brown color. Curry leaves can be roasted along with dal.
• Sesame seeds should be roasted till they splatter. 
• Use a little cooking oil while roasting the chillies to avoid smoking, oil can be skipped if roasted in microwave.
• Dhaniya should be roasted lightly till you get aroma. 
• Add hing powder, turmeric powder, mix all and allow the mix to cool.
• Grind into a fine powder.

Notes

• Roast the dals till it changes colour.
• Use a little cooking oil while roasting the chillies to avoid smoking, oil can be skipped if roasted in microware.
• The powder should look a little more reddish, unlike the image above. I did not have Byadige chillies on hand and hence skipped using it.

SAARU PUDI/RASAM POWDER

Yields: 1.5 cup(approximately)

Ingredients 

Dhaniya/Corriander seeds: 1 cup

Guntur chillies: 1/2 cup

Byadige chillies: 1/2 cup

Black pepper: 1/2 cup

Jeera/cumin seeds: 1/4 cup

Fenugreek seeds: 1 tspn

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tspn

Hing powder: 1 tbspn

Curry leaves: 5-6 sprigs, about 50-60 leaves

Turmeric powder: 1 tspn

Preparation 

• Roast all ingredients separately, as each ingredient requires different temperature to get roasted. 
• Starting with mustard seeds, dry roast till it starts crackling and transfer into a large and wide bowl. Keep adding other ingredients to the same bowl after roasting.
• Now dry roast fenugreek seeds till it turns light brown and transfer to the bowl.
• Dry roast jeera till you get nice aroma and transfer to the bowl.
• Dry roast black pepper till it crackles and transfer to the bowl.
• Mix mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, jeera, black pepper, hing, turmeric powder, cool and grind into fine powder. (1)
• Dry roast the corriander seeds, slightly till a nice aroma comes. Coriander seeds is ground separately, as it requires more grinding to get a fine powder. (2)
• Use a little cooking oil while roasting the red chillies, to avoid burnt smell. If roasted in microwave, oil is not required.
• Dry roast curry leaves and mix with red chilli, cool. Grind into fine powder.(3)
• Mix all three (1), (2), (3) and grind to mix it properly.

HEALTHY PALAK METHI BREAD

Ingredients:

To grind:

1. Palak/Spinach: 1/2 cup
2. Methi leaves: 1/2 cup
3. Corriander leaves: handful
4. Curry leaves: 1 sprig i.e. about 10-15 leaves
5. Green chillies: 4-5 nos.
6. Fresh Ginger, grated: 1 tsp
7. Aesofoetida: 1/2 tsp
8. Salt: As required

Dry Ingredients:

1. Whole Wheat flour: 1.5 cup
2. Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
3. Baking powder: 1 tsp

Wet Ingredients:

1. Curd: 1/2 cup
2. Water: 1/4 cup
3. Oil: 1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. Beat the curd and water together. Add oil to the mix. Keep aside
2. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under 'To grind' section. Add the ground mixture to the curd-water-oil solution and mix it.
3. Fold in the dry ingredients into the above mix.
4. Grease a bread loaf pan and dust it with all purpose flour. Pour the batter into the pan and bake it in a preheated oven at 170°C for 30-45 minutes.

Notes

1. 1 cup = 180 ml
2. Baking time may vary from oven to oven.

HABBADA ADIGE / FESTIVAL FOOD

Festivals form an important part of a Hindu life. Festivals are occassions to pray, rejoice, celebrate, bond with family and friends, wear new and/or festive clothes, and most importantly partake a sumptuous festive meal. Be it Ugadi or Deepawali, Navaratri or Janmashtmi, each festival has atleast one thing in common i.e. "Habbada Adige", which literally translated means festive food.

Food preparation in households during festival is an elaborate effort and involves prior planning and careful pre-work. What comprises of a standard meal during festivals remains common among most madhwa households, however you will find variations based on regional differences and some household specific customs and practices. Further, each festival may also require some dishes specific to that festival.

A standard meal will comprise of these dishes

• Kosambari, 2 types
• Dry Vegetable Palya, 2 types
• Chitranna
• Anna
• Kootu/majjige paldya
• Saaru
• Tavve
• Payasa
• Bhaksha -special sweet
• Some fried item: ambode etc
• Mosaru

Some points to be noted:

1. Standard veggies for palya include French beans, chayote(chow-chow), kohlrabi (nool kol), cluster beans(govardankayi), Indian flat beans (chapparada avarekayi), ridge gourd, raw banana, potato, yam, okra/ladies finger. These palyas can be included in Naivedya . However vegetable like cabbage, carrot, capsicum, etc can’t be offered for naivedya.
2. Vegetables like onions, drumstick, brinjal, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, beetroot, etc and Leafy vegetables cannot be used in any form during any festivals.
3. In case short on time, one can make just 1 palya with 2 vegetables
4. Above applies for kosambri too.

IDLI

Ingredients

Urad dal (gola): 1 cup
Idli rice: 3 cups
Poha/Beaten rice: 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: as required

Preparation

1. Soak all ingredients separately for 3 hours.
2. Grind Urad dal, fenugreek seeds and beaten rice together.
3. Then grind rice.
4. Mix all and grind once.
5. Add salt to the prepared batter and store in a bigger container/vessel, so that there is enough space for the batter to rise.
6. Leave it covered over night for fermentation. Once risen, the batter will be ready for making soft idlis.

Notes

• In case of unavailability of Idli rice, you can use idli rava or small grain boiled rice.
• You get best results when grinding in a grinder, proportions mentioned above also refer to the same. However if grinding the batter in a mixer, then use about 3tbspn udad dal in addition to get results similar to that of Grinder.
• The batter will rise after fermentation in normal warm Indian conditions, but in regions of cold climate or during winters you can leave the batter in used microwave/oven for warmth.
• Above mentioned proportions yields enough batter to have breakfast for 4 people over 2 days and the leftover batter for the 3rd day, can be used to make dosas.
• For making dosas out of this batter you can add a little water to bring the batter to a slightly thinner consistency. Also add 1 tspn of sugar and 1/4 cup of rice flour to the batter just before using it. This results in crispy dosas.

DOSA MOLAGA PUDI / IDLI-DOSA CHUTNEY POWDER

Ingredients

Urad dal: 1 cup
Chana dal: 1/4 cup
Til/sesame seeds: 1/4 cup
Chilli powder: 1/4 cup
Hing: 1 tsp
Salt: As required

Preparation

1. Dry roast both the dals and til separately. Take aside in a plate and add hing, salt and chilli powder when still hot and mix well.
2. After it cools down coarse grind it in a mixture.
3. Store in air tight container.
4. Enjoy (by adding til oil/gingelly oil to the pudi) with idli, dosa, rava dosa.

Notes

• The prepared Molaga pudi can be stored for more than 2 months.
• Instead of chilli powder you can use whole red chillies. In such a case, take 1/2 cup Guntur chilli and 1/4 cup byadige chilli, roast (dry roast if roasted in microwave or use 2 drops of oil if in stove, to avoid burnt smell) them separately and grind it together with the other ingredients.
• Brown til is traditionally used for Molaga pudi, if unavailable one can use white til instead.

PANEER PARATHA (STUFFED)

Makes 5-6 medium sized parathas

Ingredients

Wheat flour: 1/2 cup
Multi grain atta: 1/2 cup
Salt: as required
Oil: 2 tsp
Water: as required, for making dough

For stuffing

Paneer: 1/2 cup, grated
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt: as required
Corriander leaves: 2 tbsp, chopped



Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients under stuffing, make small paneer balls and keep aside.
2. Make soft dough by mixing wheat flour, multi grain atta, salt, oil and water.
3. Make balls of dough and stuff it with paneer balls.
4. Dust it with dry flour and roll into chapatis.
5. Roast chapatis  on hot griddle by applying oil and/or ghee on both the sides.
6. Serve hot with pickle or tomato chutney and curd.

Notes

• Using Multi-grain atta just makes the parathas more healthier. You can use just Whole wheat flour instead.

PANEER CAPSICUM MASALA

Ingredients

Capsicum, large: 1 no.
Tomatoes, medium: 3 nos.
Onion, medium: 2 nos.
Paneer: 10 cubes
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Ginger: 1/2 tspn
Coriander powder: 1 tbspn
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder: 1.5 tsp
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
Salt: As required
Oil: 1 tbsp
Ghee: 1 tsp
Cream: 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves: 2 tbspn chopped

Preparation

1. Cut all vegetables and keep aside.
2. Grind onion, tomatoes along with Coriander powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala.
3. Take a pan, add oil n ghee. When cumin seeds splutters add the ground paste, cook it till oil leaves the pan and the mix doesn't stick to the pan.
4. Now add capsicum,salt and little water, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes till capsicum becomes little soft.
5. Add paneer and cream, mix well. 
6. Garnish with coriander leaves.
7. Serve with Rotis, Chappatis, Poori, Kulcha or Naan.

BISIBELE BATH POWDER

Yields: 5 tbsp

Ingredients

Dhaniya: 3 tbsp
Chana dal: 1 tbsp
Methi seeds/fenugreek seeds: ½ tsp
Guntur Chilli: 5 nos
Byadige chilli: 3 nos
Dalchini/cinnamon: ½ inch
Marathi moggu/kopak buds: 4 nos
Tej patta/bay leaf: 1 no.
Kalpasi/kalhuvvu: 2-3 no.
Hing powder: ½ tsp
Curry leaves: 10-12 nos

Preparation

1. Dry roast all ingredients separately, as each ingredient requires different temperature to get roasted.
2. Dry roast the coriander seeds, kalpasi and tejpatta slightly till a nice aroma of roasted coriander seeds arises.
3. Roast chana dal and methi seeds till it is light brown in color. Dalchini, marathi moggu and curry leaves can be roasted along with dal. After roasting add hing powder, while still hot.
4. Use a little cooking oil while roasting the red chillies, to avoid burnt smell. If roasted in microwave, oil is not required. 
5. Cool and grind into fine powder.
6. Grind ¼ cup of fresh coconut along with the bisibele bath powder and the paste is ready to prepare Bisibele bath.

Notes

• You can roast and grind dry coconut too along with the above ingredients. However, bisibele bath powder prepared with coconut does not store well, hence it is advisable to use it soon. Alternatively, if you plan to prepare the powder in advance and in larger quantities then you can grind fresh coconut with the powder and use it for preparing bisibele bath as and when required.
• You may skip Kalpasi/Marathi moggu/Dalchini/Tej patta if you do not like its flavour, which makes it a plain sambar powder.
• There are two types of chillies used in the powder. Guntur chillies add spice/heat whereas Byadige chillies add colour. Chillies can be used of your choice and taste.

INSTANT KULIPANIYARA (PADDU)

Ingredients

Bread: 1 slice, crumbled
Poha/Beaten rice: 1/2 cup, soaked for 1/2 hr
Curd: 1/2 cup
Rice flour: 2 tsp
Rava/Semolina: 2 tsp
Ginger, grated: 1/2 tsp
Green chilli, finely chopped: 1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste
Onion, finely chopped: 2 tbsp
Carrot, grated: 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Grind the bread pieces and soaked poha in a mixer.
2. Mix all the ingredients and make a batter of a consistency thicker than idli batter. Add water if required to bring it to the desired consistency.
3. Grease paddu vessel with oil n pour batter in it and cook both sides, about 4-5 minutes each.   
4. Serve hot with coconut chutney.