Menthya Soppina Baath

Avarekaalu season comes, all i remember such aroma of menthya baath amma used to make. Mouth watering taste of avarekaalu menthya soppina baath. Amma used to make lots of recipes from avarekaalu. This was one of the highlights for us all the time. Ingredients listed are as below.

•       Rice

• Fresh bunch of Menthya(Methi)  Leaves 

• Curry Leaves

• Onion

• Tomato

• Avarekaalu/Green Peas

• Oil 

• Lime Juice

• Grinding Ingredients: Used freshly grated coconut, ginger, garlic, green chilies, coriander leaves, onion, and water.

Grind all the ingredients and keep it aside. Heat a cooker and add Mustard, cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and Heeng. Once the ingredients are cooked add Onions and sauté them well. Add Avarekaalu/Peas and sauté well. Now add grinded green paste into this and sauté till the raw smell goes away. Add tomatoes into that and sauté. Now add the rice to this and sauté for a min or two. Add salt as per the taste and add water and keep it for 3 whistles in a cooker. Once cooker is cooled down add lemon juice and mix well and ready to serve !!!

Puliyogreaayana

Puliyogare gojju – Namma karnataka style An authentic and traditional rice-based recipe made with tamarind extract and dry spices. it is perhaps an unofficial lunch box staple in Karnataka. The beauty of this recipe is, gojju can be made once and used to mix it with rice when required with fresh seasoning and the mix and some grated dry coconut and ready to serve

Ingredients:

Puliyogare gojju

100 grams tamarind pulp

2 tbsp sesame

2 tsp oil

¼ cup oil

1 tsp mustard

1 dried red chilli

pinch hing / asafoetida

few curry leaves

½ tsp turmeric

50 grams jaggery

1 tsp salt

Puliyogre Powder Mix:

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin / jeera

1 tbsp urad dal

1 tbsp chana dal

½ tsp mustard

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp methi / fenugreek

¼ cup dry coconut sliced

7 dried red chilli

few curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a pan for the spice mix (Puliyogre). Add mustard seeds and let them splutter.

Add fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, peanuts, dried red chilies, and curry leaves. Sauté until peanuts turn golden.

Add tamarind pulp, salt, turmeric, and jaggery. Cook this mixture until it thickens, and the oil starts separating from the sides. This is your Puliyogre/spice mix.

Let the Puliyogre cool down a bit. Mix it with the cooked rice thoroughly. Adjust salt if needed. This dish is a tangy and spicy rice preparation that captures the essence of South Indian flavors.

Hisikida avarekaalu saaru..

Ingredients:
1 kg idkavare
To fry
1 medium sized onion
5 to 6 green chillies turned red (optional)
Cloves 2
Cinnamon 1 inch pieces 3
Jeera half a tea spoon
10 to 12 cowgram seeds
1 tsp oil
Fry all the ingredients above nicely
For grinding
Fried stuff
Half a coconut
1 garlic
1 and a half inch ginger
Turmeric 1 small spoon
Dhania powder 2 tsp heaped
Red chilli powder 2 to 2 and a half tsp according to ur taste
Coriander 6 to 7 sticks
Pudina 1 handful

For seasoning:
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp ghee
1 small onion slit lengthwise
3 tomatoes chopped finely
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves

Method:
Put oil into the cooker or kadai in which u want to cook. Then add mustard seeds , curry leaves, onions one after the other. Leave it till the onions r fried, then add the idkavare leave it for 2 mins then add tomatoes after 2 mins add the ground masala leave it for 2 mins add water and salt. Now close the cooker and remove it from fire after 1st whistle... Now its ready to serve with Ragi Mudde and rice...

Ragi Manni/Halwa/Kilsa/Halbai/Ginna

 My memories with Ragi Kilsa goes back to my childhood... I remember amma making the yummiest,jiggly wiggly ragi ginna.. I used to love it...  I remember those days she would ask our help to make it just for the stirring part of it.. She used to do all the hard work all the time.. I used to remember her say my arms are aching the next day she used to make it.  This is one of the most tedious sweets amma used to make. It had procedures... I used to love the taste.. In fact i can still remember the taste.... So YUMM... She would always be happy to make it.. So this was my kind of everest in list of things she used to cook.. I finally decide to make it.. 

2 Cups of Ragi

1 Cup of Coconut

2 1/2  Cups Jaggery

2 Spoons of Ghee

Cardamom powder

and a thick based vessel for making this.

Soak ragi for 8 hour. Add coconut and grind it to thin paste. Add lots of water. On the whole make sure 6 glasses of water needs to be added to it. Once it's grind it needs 3 times of filtering. 1st round using thin sieve, then with strainer and after that in a muslin cloth separate the ragi milk. Once its done remove the residue ragi dust and grind again with water and take the ragi milk out.

Use the thick bottomed vessel and pour in ragi milk. meanwhile add 1/4th cup of water and jaggery to be dissolved. once it's dissolved add up along with the ragi milk. Add 2 spoons of ghee to it.Keep stirring the mixture so that there are no lumps. This stirring will go on for around a hour and a half.  Keep medium flame and carry on with the continuous stirring. once it thickens and water content reduces, take a spoon full of mixture from the vessel and put it on plate, it should be non sticking to plate. Once the mixture of completely cooked, transfer the mixture to a greased plate. Let it sit for an hour to cool down. Cut the pieces accordignly. Enjoy and relish the halwa..... 

Rave Kadabu (Sooji Balls)

 Ingredients:

1 Cup Rave(Sooji)

1 1/2 cup water

2 Tblspn of oil

Mustard/Jeera

Hingu

1 Spoon of chilli powder

1/2 spoon of turmeric

  chopped coriander

 pepper and salt for taste

Method:

Heat 1 1/2 measure of water. Add little salt and pepper into it. Once it is boiled add 1 cup of rava slowly into it and keep stirring so that it doesn't form any lumps. Let the water get evaporated and forms semi solid. Let it cool down. Make small lemon sized balls of the mixture and steam them for 10 mins in idly vessel.

Heat 2 spoons of oil in a kadai and add mustard,jeera, hing into it. add turmeric,salt and chillipowder and then add these small rava balls into the kadaiand let everything set for a minute. Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander. Squeeze in some lemon for the flavor. Here u go ready to serve with spicy chutney.

Soppu Kaayi tari idli.... :):)

He he he he.. I know name sounds a lil strange.. But trust me this is one of my Mom's delicacies which i will treasure for life... Idli is so Yummmm soft and smells sooo nice... Slurp Slurp...

Ingredients:

Akki Tari( Broken Rice used for Idli) - 2 cups
Little Milk to soak Rice

Chop it fine:
Sopsige soppu(Dil)- 1
Onions- 2 (finely chopped)

To Grind:
Kaayi (Grated Coconut)- 1 cup
Hasi menasina kaayi(green chillies)- 6
Pudina- 1/4
Ginger- small piece
Kotambari soppu(Coriander)- 1/2
Jeera - 1 spoon


Soak Akki tari in water and little milk and leave it to soak for half an hour...
Grind all the above ingredients (Little coarse)..
Add the grinded ingredients to Rice mix and finely chopped onion and Soppu ... Add salt for taste and keep the idly mix in plates or Idli stand and steam it well...

Eat it with Kaayi chutney and Lots of Ghee.... Tastes YUMMMMMMMMMM......

Gajar ka Halwaaaa.....

Gajar ka halwa... What's the first thing comes to your mind when you hear it... I had always eaten it.. But till now never tried to make it on my own..
Friends visit.... That was enough a reason to give it a shot.. Making of Gajar Halwa..

Ingredients..
Carrot - grated 4 cups
Milk- 2 cups
Sugar- 2 cups
Khova- 1 cup
Cashew n raisens
Ghee

Grate carrot... Make it 4 cups.. Start boiling 2 cups of milk.. Once it starts boiling, add grated carrot... Let yne carrot bake properly.. Add sugar once its done.. Now it becomes little diluted.. Boil it further.. Add kbova and boil.. Add elaichi powdered..
Fry cashew n raisons in ghee. Garnish the carrot halwa with it..
Yummy delicious halwa all ready to eat. Eat it hot,cold... Dessert of a kind.