StepWise - Sabudana/ Sago Khichadi With My Granny’s Kokam-Dalchini Aamti / Dry Mangosteen- Cinnamon Soup| Fasting Recipe | Gluten Free

Hi All!!

The festive and the fasting days have begun, so let me start by saying ‘ A Happy Navaratri’ to all my readers. I have  explained the significance of the Navaratra and Dussehra previously here and have posted a few fasting recipes earlier, which to my delight many of you have tried, liked and appreciated.

Since the ‘Navaratri’ have begun and many people are fasting, I thought of sharing a fasting food recipe. I was amazed at myself that I had never managed to post the most commonly eaten fasting food till date here…I gently admonished myself and steered the foodie in me to cook & post it right away.

Sabudana/ Sago khichadi is loved by all my family members and I cook it quite frequently in my kitchen. As a matter of fact, I stay quite away from fasting and my family does not need any special occasion or a reason to savour this preparation.

As a child I would always prefer sabudana over mordhan/ sama rice during any fasting meal for a simple reason that the sabudana was served with the kokam-dalchini aamti and mordhan with yogurt/dahyatli amti. I would demand my mom to make the kokam-dalchini aamti for me whenever she made sabudana. I loved the combination of the fairly plain khichadi with the spicy- tangy aamti to the core and I was pleasantly surprised when my both the kids also loved it  and started demanding that I should make the aamti if I’m making the sabudana.

The kokam-dalchini amti or the Mangosteen-Cinnamon soup is a recipe that I learnt from my mother, which she had learnt from her mother, who was fondly called ‘Akka’ by all of us. It is a recipe that has come to us from my Granny’s mom’s side, passed through generations. I do not want to sound pushy but still I can’t resist myself saying, please do try it, I highly recommend this aamti/ soup to all my readers as the combination is unusual and absolutely worth a try..

Sabudana Khichadi &Kokam- Dalchini Aamti

Soaking Time: 4-5hrs | Preparation Time:15mins | Cooking Time:30mins | Serves: 4-5| Difficulty Level: Moderate

Ingredients

For Khichadi
3-1/2cups dry sago
8-10green chilies l(spicy)
250gms roasted peanut
3 small potatoes, finely sliced or boiled & cubed
1tsp sugar
salt to taste
1/2 - 3/4cup refined oil for vegan version or ghee (melted)
For Aamti (non vegan preparation)
a large fistful of roasted peanuts
1/4”piece ginger (optional)
a few strands of coriander leaves with stem
1tsp roasted cumin
1/4cup-1/2cup kokam agal or 5-6 kokam soaked in 1/2 cup warm water
1small green chili
10-12 black pepper corn
3-4 cloves
salt to taste
For tempering
2tsp ghee
1/2tsp cumin

Method for Sabudana Khichadi

Wash the sago 3-4 times with plain water to remove excess starch. Decant all the water completely and keep covered for 4-5hrs. Separate the sago with hands.

Grind the roasted peanuts. Mix it with soaked sago. Also mix in sugar and salt to taste.
  
Heat oil and splutter the cumin.

Add green chillies and sauté for few seconds, so that the flavour gets infused in the oil.
 
Tip in the sliced potatoes (I do not peel my potatoes) and also add salt to taste. Mix and cook covered.
 
Add the sago mixture and mix thoroughly. Cook covered for 5-8mins or till done.
Mix in some chopped coriander for more flavour.
Serve hot with the aamti.

Method for Aamti

 
Grind the pepper, cloves and cinnamon first. Now add the remaining ingredients other than the kokam juice and salt.
  
To the ground mix add the kokam juice, salt to taste and about 2-3cups water.
 
Bring it to a boil and simmer for 10-12mins.
 
Make the tempering with ghee and cumin seeds and pour on the aamti.
Serve hot.


Sending both the recipes to my event ‘ONLY’ Traditional Recipes Guest hosted by Jiya's Delicacy.

Tips

1. While making sabudana khichadi get hold of good quality sago else the khichadi can turn gooey.
2. Sago is very starchy so do ensure that the excess starch is washed off thoroughly and all the water is drained off too after rinsing.
3. Another way of soaking sago which I normally follow and was taught to me by my Grand Mom’s sis is as follows…Rinse the sago thoroughly 3-4 times. Pour water in it such that it has water filled up completely soaking the sago. Keep it half an hour and not more. After that place a big plate on the container containing sago and invert the container and remove all the excess water. Leave the container inverted for 4-5hrs.
More Falahari/ Fasting Recipes
1. Sweet Potato Patty
2. Akka Panji’s Thalipeeth For Fasting
3. Batyatacha Kees
4. Watermelon Rind Thalipeeth For Fasting
5. Authentic Maharashtrian Style Sabudana Vada
6. Raw Banana & Tapioca Pearls Patty

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Vaangi Bhaath / Eggplant Rice | Karnataka Cuisine | One Pot Meal | Vegan | Gluten Free

Hello!!

It’s been raining here and I’m more than happy to see that. Monsoon..a beautiful season, in which the sun plays hide and seek behind the clouds. The kids play in puddles and the trees are green, shining with the pearl drops sitting on their leaves. The cool breeze, the thundering, the sunless days..everything is so beautiful!!! My kid loves to go out and stand in the rains with his umbrella and listen to the pitter patter of the falling rain drops…they seem to travel so much distance before they hit the ground, he loves looking at them!!

I love to cook when it’s raining. It’s beautiful to see the rains through my kitchen window, while I cook. Mostly I cook elaborate meals but sometimes I indulge in a one pot meal and then while it rains, cuddle inside the comforter and cherish memories of my childhood.. when after getting drenched in rainwater, me and my brother were pushed to have a bath and then we would cuddle inside the comforter and sleep. Childhood was so much fun!!!

On one such day I made this vaangi bhaath.. ‘Vaangi’ means eggplant and ‘Bhaath’ means rice. Recently during our veggie shopping, we had got hold of the beautiful light green, long eggplants and I picked them instantaneously as S loves them. This variety of eggplant  is perfect for this ‘bhaath’  preparation as there are less seeds and the eggplant has succulence plus great flavor. Also I had challenged S that I can cook better bhaath than one of his relatives, whose preparation I had hated as it was dry and bland. I normally do not criticize any one’s food, as what matters to me is the love with which it gets served, but this particular preparation I would never forget in my life time as I was drinking water after every bite, just to swallow it..Nevertheless, I cooked it and cooked it to perfection, to an extent that DH said it’s restaurant material!!!

Talking of restaurant’s I would like to inform my readers in India that now whenever you are bored of cooking  or have not carried lunch box to the office, you can order food online in three easy steps from Foodpanda. Their services are currently available in 12 cities, of which the major ones are Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai, Chandigarh and their satellite towns. Once you are logged into the site, select the city and area where the food needs to be delivered. One has a choice to select the restaurant cuisine wise also. There are offers and discount vouchers available too from certain restaurants. After selecting the restaurant, check the menu and order the food. The delivery time is about 50mins but varies from restaurant to restaurant and the best part, there are no delivery charges. I simply love the idea of ordering food through www.foodpanda.in , do check it out  and order for food this weekend.

Coming back to my recipe.. I served the bhaath with curds and khari boondi (spicy) and it was a great combination indeed. This bhaath can be a big savior in case you have many guests coming in. One can make the curry(palya) cooked in advance and then mix it with the rice just before serving. The only precautions you should take while making the  curry for this bhaath is, to put more oil, spice and salt, as it gets mixed with the rice. If one can balance the flavors there, the bhaath is a sure hit. That reminds me, my dad loves this bhaath too..

 

Preparation Time: 30mins | Cooking Time: 20mins | Serves: 4-5 | Difficulty Level : Easy

Ingredients

17-18 long, light green variety Aubergines, cut into thin slices

4-5tbsp homemade Palya Pudi (Karnataka style spice mix for making curries)

7-8tbsp oil

2tsp mustard seeds

salt to taste

1/2tsp turmeric powder

3/4 cup peas ( I used frozen)

6-7cups cooked rice

 

Method

Heat oil in a pan (karahi) and add mustard, let it splutter.

Simmer the flame and add turmeric powder followed by eggplant slices, add salt, mix thoroughly. Cook covered till half done. Salt enables the eggplant to release juices and cook faster.

Add the palya pudi and peas and mix. Cook till done.

To one portion of rice and 1/4 - 1/3 portion of the curry and mix thoroughly, serve.

Addition of clarified butter (ghee) adds nice taste and flavor to the rice but that is optional.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

4th Anniversary, 400th Post, Winner Announcement & Quick Farfalle-Basil Pasta to celebrate

Hi All!!

It seems ages that I posted something here, I have been too busy lately..travelling, guests, health issues and many more things but today no reason, no excuse could keep me away from my blog baby. Yes!! My blog turns 4today and it also happens to be my 400th post here. Yippee, Hurray!!!

I must thank my family, friends, readers and blogger friends for being so supportive, for being there to see me grow, to praise me for my creativity and critically analyze me to improve further. Nothing of this was possible without YOU so a big THANK YOU!!! I hope to see your continued support here. I love reading your feedback so please keep giving me that.

I wanted to post an elaborate and a more creative dish here but pardon me friends, I’m just not able to bear the heat  and I simply dread long hours in the kitchen. I’m more into one pot or quick meals and my one BIG savior these days is Pasta which can be cooked in few minutes and you have ample choice to work on the flavors and play around with the veggies. The only thing I ensure is that I use Durum Wheat or Wheat Pasta, so that’s it’s good for my health too.

The pasta I’m posting today has no big recipe and has simple basic flavors and can be cooked on any lazy day without thinking too much..It’s a complete stress free recipe and that’s how I cook these days, which is no tension cooking . Also, I’m hoping that my face book fan page reaches 2000likes today so please head there and join me where I post kitchen tips everyday.

Farfalle With Basil

Preparation Time:15mins

Cooking Time:5mins

Serves:2

Difficulty Level:Easy

Ingredients

2cups Farfalle pasta ( cooked al dente)

1medium onion, cubed

6-7garlic pods, chopped finely

1/4 of green and red bell pepper, cubed

1small tomato cubed

1tsp oregano

9-10basil leaves

1tsp crushed black pepper/ paprika/ cayenne pepper

salt to taste

olive oil + butter mix, about 3tbsp

Method

Boil about a cup of pasta in about 8-10cups of water with a teaspoon oil and a table spoon salt.

Simultaneously, chop the veggies while the pasta gets cooked.

In a pan take butter and olive oil and once hot add the garlic and let it brown lightly.

Add the onions and sauté. Add the seasonings.

Tip in the pasta and toss on high flame for a few seconds. Add the remaining veggies and cook for 1-2minutes on medium before serving.

Add the basil leaves just before the final tossing on flame.

Serve hot garnished with more basil leaves.

Tips:

Add sufficient salt to the boiling pasta and always add the pasta once the water starts boiling, never add pasta to cold water.

Try to boil the pasta while the veggies/ sauce gets cooked. Always add hot pasta to the sauce. If the pasta is already cooked before adding it to the sauce, dip it in boiling water for 5secs and then add to the sauce.

Now comes the winner of last month’s ‘Only’ Cooking With Legumes event which was hosted by Nalini. Out of the 24 entries sent in Indian category

The random picker has chosen 11, which is Anu’s Masoor Patli Dal. Congrats Anu, please mail me within 48hrs to cookingoodfood@gmail.com to claim your win.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Avarekaalu BissiBele Bhaath..a nice twist to the regular Bissi Bele Bhaath, Step Wise

 

Hi All!

I’ve already mentioned my husband’s love for the Avarekaalu/Hyacinth beans. Whenever I get hold of these beautiful beans, they definitely make it to my kitchen. Earlier I would always buy them in bulk at Bangalore and stock then it in the freezer. But now, since it’s available here, I buy the fresh pods and peel them and over the period I’ve mastered quick peeling too..

This time when I got the beans I decided again to experiment it with the regular bissi bele bhaath, where instead of adding all the veggies I added the beans and I must tell you, it was very tasty. The beans with it’s prominent flavor made the bhaath delicious and worth the try. Earlier too I’ve experimented with these beans  and made Ambode using Oats and an Upma using Barley. Other than these two experiments, the akki rotti , uppittu and saaru using these beans are the commonly made dishes at my place.

If you have the Avarekaalu/ beans peeled, this preparation is a breezer, gets ready in 30mins. It’s a perfect meal for lunchtime and even for giving in lunch box as it can be made easily in the morning…

Avarekaalu Bissi Bele Bhaath

Preparation Time: 10mins

Cooking Time:15mins

Serves:3-4

Difficulty Level: Easy

 

Ingredients

1cup rice (soaked for 10mins)

3/4cup pigeon peas/tuvar daal (soaked for 10mins)

2cups avarekaalu/hyacinth beans

1tsp turmeric

2tbsp homemade sambhar masala

15-20 curry leaves

6-7tbsp oil ( I used Fortune rice bran oil)

1 to 1-1/2tbsp tamarind paste

2tsp mustard seeds

about 8cups of water

Method

Heat oil and add mustard seeds, splutter them.

Add the curry leaves followed by the washed beans/avarekaalu, mix.

Add the soaked rice and lentils and mix.

Add tamarind paste, turmeric powder, sambhar masala and salt to taste and give a thorough mix.

Add the water and chopped coriander.

Put the lid and once the pressure comes, reduce the flame and cook for 6-7mins.

Let the pressure drop, serve hot with curd/raita and potato chips/pappadams/fryums. A dollop of ghee on top adds more taste to this preparation, so do not hesitate to add but that’s completely optional.

 

This post is a part of Healthy & Tasty Recipe Contest with Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil & BlogAdda.com .

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Barley-Hyacinth Bean Upma/ Javaa-Avarekaalu Uppittu

 

Hello again!

I have mentioned several times that my family is a huge fan of avarekaalu/hyacinth beans/field beans/mochai. Come season and I’m ready to peel the tender pods and extract the beautiful seeds, fresh and green. These days we are getting fresh beans and to my delight it has a good flavor too.

Recently on my visit to a gourmet store here, I picked some barley dalia or barley’s coarse meal. I wanted to use it in an innovative way, especially since I was cooking the barley dalia for the first time. I was super excited with the preparation I wanted to try and at the same time apprehensive too. I thought for the first time I was getting a bit ambitious since I did not know how much time it would take to cook but I had used pearl barley in my cooking earlier, so that helped me. .. I realized while cooking, that’s what the foodie in me wanted, some adrenalin rush and then a hopefully a decent foodie treat at the end…

Before I elaborate more about the preparation, I do want to emphasize on the importance and health benefits of this grain. For me, Barley is a powerhouse of nutrition. This centuries-old grain is packed with fiber, contains important vitamins and minerals, is slim on fat, and, like all plant products, cholesterol-free. It is also low on GI (glycemic index) making it useful for diabetics. Since it is an excellent source of dietary fiber, especially the  beta-glucan soluble fiber. Research shows that barley beta-glucan soluble fiber promotes healthy blood sugar by slowing glucose absorption and thus helping the diabetics. Barley is also a good diuretic and helps in cleansing the urinary system. With so many  health benefits it is a grain to be eaten frequently and that’s what I’m going to do now..eat healthy and stay fit!!

Coming back to the recipe.. I did not take a risk and soaked the barley meal  and kept checking the grain every 15mins and realized it soaks faster as compared to pearl barley, the grain had soaked well in an hour. I had the hyacinth beans peeled and stored in the fridge and also had freshly grated coconut. I walked on similar lines of  the Avarekaalu Uppittu that my family loves. Fortunately, the cooking procedure was not at all daunting and the daliya/upma was ready in 20mins. I guess, the soaking helped and it reduced the cooking time too.. I ate a small portion of the upma and realized that the grain is very filling and the upma tasted good with the addition of the beans which also adds nice flavor. I also felt that I should have added more green chilies since the grain by itself is nutty and sticky. A spicy upma would have tasted better for my palate, sadly I’m not able to get hold of spicy green chilies these days… Next time I make this, it will definitely have more chilies!!!

Soaking Time:1hour

Preparation Time:5mins

Cooking Time:20-25mins

Serves:4

 

 

Ingredients

3cups of soaked barley dalia/ coarse meal

1cup avarekaalu/ hyacinth/field beans/mochai

6-7 green chilies, finely chopped (use spicy ones)

3tbsp chopped coriander leaves and stem

2tbsp chopped curry leaves/ kadhi patta

1tsp mustard seeds

5-6tbsp refined oil

salt to taste

2tbsp urad-chana dal mix

3-4 cups,boiling water

Method

Wash and soak the barley dalia for an hour.

Boil the avarekaalu/hyacinth beans with some salt to taste in a pan.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom non stick pan. Add the mustard, let it splutter.

Add the urad chana dal mix and fry it light golden.

Add the green chilies, curry leaves and sauté.

Add the coriander too and mix. This adds a nice flavor to the upma.

Tip in the soaked barley meal/dalia. In my case the grains had absorbed all the water. Mix it properly in oil and add salt to taste. Roast it in the oil for 2-3mins.

Add the cooked avarekaalu and give a good stir.

Add the coconut and mix.

Finally, using a measuring cup add 2cups of boiling water (remember avarkaalu also has water).  I felt that 1cup boiling water to 1cup soaked barley was the ratio I followed. Once the mixture boils, put the lid and simmer the flame, cook till done. If required add more boiling water.

Serve hot.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad