Bas saaru and Bas palya

This is my last entry for RCI Karnataka! I know all of you will be wondering , why so late! I could get the authentic recipes for these preparations only now!:)) The main ingredient used is Urali Kaalu ( horse gram)

Bas Saaru

Ingredients

• Horse gram – 1 cup

• Turmeric powder – 1/8 teaspoon
• Onion – 1 medium
• Tamarind – 2 inch piece
• Tomato – 1 medium
• Garlic – 2 pods
• Curry leaves – 1 twig
• Pepper corn – 1 teaspoon
• Jeera (cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Red chillies – 2 nos
• Oil – 2 teaspoons
• Grated coconut – 1 tablespoon
• Salt – to taste
• Coriander leaves – 1 twig

Method

1. Wash and pressure cook the horse gram with 2 cups water and turmeric powder.
2. Cut the onions and tomatoes roughly. Heat oil in a kadai, fry the red chillies.
3. Add the onions and tomatoes and keep stirring on a low flame.
4. Add curry leaves, garlic and grated coconut and fry for 2 more minutes. Allow to cool.
5. Grind this mixture with tamarind, peppercorns and jeera to a fine paste.
6. Add 1 cup water to the pressure cooked horse gram. Strain the water(stock) in to a MW safe container. The whole cooked gram will be used for the palya.
7. To the horse gram water(Stock) add salt and the ground paste and MW high for 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice and ghee.

Bas palya

Ingredients

• Cooked horse gram after stock is strained for the saaru.
• Onion – 1 medium Finely chopped
• Grated coconut- 2 table spoons
• Green chillies – 2 nos finely chopped
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- 2 teaspoons
• Curry leaves – 1 twig
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it crackles add onions, green chillies and curry leaves and saute on a low flame.
2. Add coconut and saute for 1 more minute. Add the cooked horse gram and salt and saute for 2 more minutes on a medium flame.
3. Your bas palya is ready.

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My Cake Book and Hand written Note Book

We had a long weekend and I took to blog hopping and posting random musings – like this previous post on Nagapattinam with pictures of my family temple. While I was blog hopping I saw almost everyone showing off their cook books! After seeing Suganya’s Tassajara cook book, I had to muster some courage to show off my humble belongings! 🙂 . I have a modest collection of cook books. I gather most of my cooking knowledge from my mother and aunts, my friends and acquaintances and their mothers and patties, random people I meet on holidays like this person who cooks at a guest house in a remote hill station, chefs at marriages and functions at all kinds, cookery shows like that of Sanjeev Kapoor and now food bloggers and food websites. Having travelled throughout India, I have met a whole lot of interesting people and been introduced to their cuisine.

So here are my cook books with some memories. Hope you don’t find my narration boring! 😀

Just before my marriage, I was attending a Nirmal (a traditional art form) painting class, around 5 km from my home. I wanted to join the bakery course conducted in the same place. One day on my way back from the classes I lost my purse with around Rs.7! Rs. 7 in those days was a loooooooooot of money for a youngster. I was so upset that I created a scene after reaching home! My mother got scared seeing my crest fallen face and refused to send me to the class from the next day. I somehow convinced her and joined a painting class closer home, though I was pretty upset about not being able to attend the baking class. Since I was so keen to learn baking my Appa who travelled a lot as a part of his job at Telecoms bought a cake book from Manneys, Poona for Rs. 50. Yes 26 years back the book was only Rs. 50 !!

Woman’s Own Cook Book of Cake Decorating and Cake Making is a large collection of recipes published by Hamlyn Publishing, London. No author/s have been mentioned anywhere in the book. This book was my introduction to the world of baking. Though my mother baked eggless cakes in a round gas oven, I learnt baking and decoration from this book! For the rich fruit cake I follow the recipe from this book, omitting rum.

The other book I cherish is my handwritten note book which is a treasure house of recipes from my mom and aunts, with exact measurements and rare dishes! This is the only book I follow 100%, with no modifications to the recipes. 🙂

I am also fond of the Tupperware cook book in which some of my recipes were published. 😉

I have a few cook books by Tarla dalal – some of them are with my daughter now. I like her North Indian recipes – simple and practical. Supersoft naans with Navratna kurma is the first dish I prepared from her books. TarlaDalal comes across as a simple and lovable person in her cookery shows! 🙂

I would like to send this as my entry for “Show me your Cook Book” the event hosted by Nags (Nags, please do accept my entry even if it is 3 days late!:)

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Tomato paste prepared in Micro Wave

In bangalore tomato is available throughout the year. The only problem is , the price fluctuates from Rs.5 per kg to Rs.40 per kg with in a span of three months! I buy a few kilos when it is cheap and make this paste. The paste can be stored in the freezer for more than three months, in Tupperware containers. I am giving the timings for 1 kg tomato.

Fresh tomatoes

Method

1. Wash the tomatoes and drain the water.
2. In a Microwave safe container, MW at 600 watts covered for 10 minutes.
3. Allow to cool for a few minutes and grind to a smooth paste. Pass through a strainer if required and grind again.
4. Transfer the pulp to the same MW container and MW at 600 watts for 1/2 hour stirring once in 5 minutes.
5. Pour this into a freezer container and allow to cool. Keep in the freezer and use as you like.
6. Take out the pulp from the freezer 15 minutes before use. It is easy to scoop out with an ice cream scoop.

This is my entry for Srivalli’s basic MW cooking event.

After cooking in MW for 10 minutes

Storing in freezer container

You can use the pulp for Preparing

1. Tomato thokku.
2. All gravies for which you need tomato paste.
3. Chutney
4. Rasam
5. Soup
6. Tomato rice

Hope all of you find this preparation useful.

I have published a post on Microwave cooking tips almost 2 months back. That is my second entry for Srivallis event.

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Ragi Mudde with Avarekaalina Saaru – Finger Millet Cakes with Flat Beans Sambar

Ragi mudde (Finger Millet Cakes) and Avarekaalina Saaru (Flat Beans) are 100% Karnataka recipes. I know Asha is excited to see these recipes. Do I need to say that I am sending this for RCI karnataka! 🙂

I am surrounded by many interesting and talented people – like this lady who makes and sells sandige(papads etc). She is also a good cook and does catering during monsoon and winter. Her name is Aaruni and she comes to my place to help me with some odd jobs and learn new recipes. She has learnt to make perfect mysoor pak and milk chocolate. When I told her about RCI karnataka, she was very excited and promised to help me in making some Authentic Karnataka recipes. Ragi mudde is one of them.

Aaruni lost her husband quite a while back and is not educated one bit. She brings both her children with the money that her culinary skills bring her. Having a recipe published in her name with pictures in the blog means a whole lot to her. After cooking she always asks “photo thegithiraa?” (Will you take a photo?). Some of my friends and I are helping her to get catering contracts so that she can educate her children. One of her daughter is doing BBA (Bachelors in Business Administration) and the other is doing + 1.

Here goes the recipe for Ragi mudde and Avarekaalina saaru which Aaruni made for my lunch today.

For Avarekaalina saaru

Ingredients

• Avarekai – 1/2 cup(Tender seeds)
• Potato – 1 medium size
• Tomato – 1 small
• Onion – 1 small
• Sambhar powder – 2 teaspoons
• Grated coconut – 1 table spoon
• Tamarind – 1 inch
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Hing – 1 pinch
• Oil – 1 table spoon
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Cut potato into small cubes. Wash avarekai and potato.
2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the potato and avarekai.
3. Add hing and turmeric and saute on a medium flame.
4. Grind all other ingredients together in to a smooth paste. Add to the vegetables.
5. Add 1/2 cup water and close and cook on a low flame till the vegetables are soft.

Tastes good with all kinds of rotis and chapathis also.

 

For ragi mudde

Ingredients

• Ragi flour – 1/2 cup
• Water – 1 cup
• Salt – 1 pinch

Method

1. In a heavy bottomed pan boil water on a medium flame. Add salt and 1 teaspoon ragi flour.
2. Allow to boil for a while and add remaining flour and leave for 1 minute on low flame. Do not stir.
3. Now stir the contents with the back of a laddle and mix well and let it cook for a while. The mixture will look crumbled.
4. Put off the flame and Knead to a ball when still hot. Serve hot with Avarekaalina saaru.

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Vazhakkai (Raw Banana/ Plaintain) Podi Parathas

I like to think of Vazhakkai also known as Raw Banana or Green Plaintain as the unsweetened cousin of Banana. Plaintains and Kerala are almost synonomous thanks to the fanatical devotedness of people to munching on Kerala’s various plaintain delicacies. Yet this aint a recipe from Kerala but Tamil Nadu, the other state where Plaintains are cooked up and served in all kinds of forms.

Vazhakkai Podi or a mix of grated raw banana/unripe plaintain with a powder and is typically served with Rice. Me thinks this will make a superb combination with More Kuzhambu. For a change I used them to make Parathas.

Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes, Serves 3 – 4

Ingredients

For Vazhakkai Podi (Powder)

• Raw Banana/ Green Plaintain * 1
• Channa Dal 1 1/2 tbsp (Bengal Gram Dal)
• Urad Dal 1 1/2 tbsp
• Red Chillies 2
• Hing/ Asafoetida – a small piece
• Salt to taste
• Oil

*Update: Vazhakkai are Plaintains that are unripe or Green in colour not the sweet Bananas that are not yet ripe. Raw Bananas is a colloquial reference used in Madras which also appears on the bill when you pick a bunch of these green plaintains. The term “Raw” is used to refer to the “paccha” or “raw” taste of these as compared to a normal Banana. Since there seems to be some kind of confusion, I have updated to avoid misinterpretation.
For Parathas

• Whole wheat flour 2 cups
• Water to Knead
• Salt
• Ghee

Method

For Vazhakkai Podi
1. Wash and trim the ends of the Green Plaintain/ Vazhakkai. Cut into two and steam in a Microwave for 3 to 4 minutes along with the skin. The Green Plaintain/ Vazhakkai should be cooked about 3/4 and not very mushy. Remove and set aside for cooling.
2. Roast Channa Dal, Urad Dal and Red chillies with a drop of oil. Set aside for cooling. Make sure that you don’t add too much oil for roasting, when ground this must be dry.
3. When the parboiled Plaintain is cool, grate it finely along with the skin. Please don’t discard the skin, it is edible and very nutritious. Ensure that the banana is completely cool, else the gratings may be very mushy.
4. In a blender grind the roasted Channa Dal, Urad Dal and Red Chillies along with Hing and Salt to a fine powder.
5. Mix the grated Green Plaintain/ Vazhakkai with the ground powder. Transfer to a Bowl.

For Parathas
1. Knead the Wheat flour with water and salt into a firm elastic dough, add a drop of ghee towards the end to finish. Set aside for 20 minutes. Divide the dough into round balls. Set aside some flour to dust while rolling.
2. Roll out one ball into a round of 4 inch diameter using a belan or rolling pin using some flour to dust. Ensure that the center is thick while the sides are rolled out thin.
3. Fill in 1 1/2 tbsp of filling in the center, bring the sides together from 5 to 6 points. Press gently. This should give you a flat round with filling inside.
4. Dust both sides of this flat stuffed round with some flour and roll out into a round of 5 inch diameter.
5. Cook both sides on a tawa on medium heat until brown spots. This makes one paratha stuffed with the Raw Banana/ Vazhakkai Podi.
6. Proceed similarly with the rest of the dough.

Parathas stuffed with Vazhakkai Podi for JFI: Banana hosted by Mandira from Ahaar.

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Dry fruit ladoo ( Aantu Unde)

I invite all visitors to see the janmashtami round up. Just click on Balakrishna’s picture for that! To know about the event for Ganesh chaturthi Click on Ganesha.

Aantu unde or dryfruit laddoo is a famous sweet in karnataka! This nutritious laddoo is a must be in the diet of young mothers, three months after delivery. This surely helps new mothers to recover back to their original health.

I have tasted this unde many times but never bothered to prepare at home. But now I learnt the method for Asha’s RCI karnataka!Thanks Asha, I have learnt so many new authentic karnataka recipes because of you!

On thursday when all the people were shopping for Gowri, Ganesha festival, I went around searching for aantu or cooking gum used in this Laddoo. It is available in Granthike Aangadi in Sampige road, Malleshwaram.

All ingredients used in Aantu Unde

Cooking gum or Aantu after dryroasting.

Ingredients

• Cashew – 1 cup
• Badam- – 1 cup
• Dry grapes – 1cup
• Dates – 1 cup
• Dessicated coconut – 1 cup
• Cooking gum (Aantu)- 1 cup
• Sugar – 1 cup
• Ghee – 1 cup
• Cardamom – 6 nos

Method

1. Chop the badam, cashew nuts, dates and dry grapes to small pieces.
2. Dry roast the cooking gum in a heavy bottomed pan, on a low flame till it puffs up as shown in picture. Crush a little when cool.
3. Roast the badam and cashew with 1 table spoon ghee till light golden.
4. Powder the dessicated coconut, sugar and cardamom.
5. Melt the ghee and combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
6. *Make into 2 inch radius balls and store in an air tight container.

The most difficult part is to make the undes. Chopping the dry grapes and dates to fine pieces helps in binding.

You can use sugar as per taste.

You can add any other dry fruit of your choice.

Can be stored for months.

Update: Since dry grapes (raisins) are indispendable for the making of these laddoos I am sending this to Swapna of Swad of India for AFAM – Grapes. “A Fruit a Month” (AFAM) is a monhtly event that rounds up recipes of a particular fruit.

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