Alayile Pita Rotti - Konkani Style..

Alayile Pita Rotti is one of my favourites in the breakfast menu. These rotis are just amazingly soft and melt in the mouth type. The way you make these is slightly different.

Traditionally, these are made with rice flour, but my mom makes them most of the time with wheat flour. So I have followed her way of making it..

So, here goes..

Ingredients

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Salt - a pinch

Oil

Method

- In a wide vessel, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and a tsp of oil to it. Switch off the flame.

- Now to this hot water, add the wheat flour little by little at a time, with constant stirring and mixing, just that the whole thing forms into one mass without any lumps.

- Once done, cover the vessel with a lid so that the dough remains hot.

- Now, once you can handle the dough, take little mixture of the dough at a time, make a small ball, pat with some wheat flour and roll out like regular rotis.

- Heat a tawa, and fry the rotis on both sides till done without any oil.

- Serve hot with a chutney or side of your choice.

Note :

- The method remains the same when you use Rice flour too.

- Don't worry if you cannot make the dough into a uniform mass, take care to avoid the lumps though. When you take little mixture at a time while rolling, you can knead the little ball again and make it even.

- The dough has to remain hot while rolling out, once cold its not possible to roll them out. So ensure that you keep the dough covered everytime you take a little of the mixture.

- These rottis are served usually with a chutney( a coconut-ginger chutney always at my place), but you can serve them with any side of your choice.

- I served mine with a Mushroom-Corn Curry this time..

Mushroom Corn Curry..

Ingredients

Mushrooms, sliced - 2 cups

Fresh/Frozen Corn kernels - 1 cup

Red Bell pepper, sliced thin - 1 cup

Onions, finely chopped - 1/2 cup

Tomato, stewed - 1/2 cup ( I used the canned ones ). You can use fresh also.
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste


Method

- Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and onions and fry till onions are transparent.

- Add the stewed tomatoes and fry well.

- Add the mushrooms, corn and the bell pepper and saute well for a minute.

- Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and garam masala powder.

- Cook till done.

I'd like to send this to Lata's Combi Breakfasts event..

Update : Am also sending this to Deepa's ' RCI- Konkan Cuisine'. Thank you Deepa.

Favourite Spice- Teppal/Sizchuan Pepper..

Am rushing in this entry to Sunita's Think Spice-Think Favourite Event...

When it comes to a favourite spice, its a difficlut choice, since I like most of the spices, but Teppal or Sizchuan pepper as it is known definitely tops my list.

It is very commonly used in Konkani cuisine. During season, people collect it and try to use the fresh spice as much as possible. It is also dried during this season and made ready to stock up for the rest of the year. So a Konkani household will mostly forever have stock of this spice. This is what dried Teppal looks like. It has a black seed inside which is removed and not seen in this pic.

Teppal has a very strong pungent and peppery taste. The spice is just used in dishes for its flavour but cannot be bitten into or eaten. One has to pick it out from the dish and keep it aside. If bitten into by mistake, you will be really sorry, coz it leaves a very strong burning kind of sensation and flares up the tongue. So, though you will love the unique aroma and flavour that this spice imparts to the dish, be sure to remember to pick it out from your dish while eating and not bite into it :)..

Teppal is used in a whole lot of curries and dishes, from vegetarian to fish. But today, I will share with you a very simple potato curry that we make and which is called Talasani..

Ingredients

Potatoes, cut long like french fries - 3 medium

Teppal/Sizchuan pepper - 7-8 pieces

Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind - small lemon sized ball. ( Soak this in water and once soft squeeze out all pulp from it. Alternately, use ready to use tamarind extract ).

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Slightly crush the Teppal/Sizchuan pepper with a pestle, and soak it in very little water. Keep aside.

- In a pan, heat little oil, put in the cut potato pieces, saute for a while.

- Add the soaked Pepper pieces alongwith the water, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, tamarind water, and salt and mix well.

- Add little water, cover the pan and let the potatoes cook till done but not mushy.

- Once done, the dish should be dry and not watery.

- Serve hot as a side with rice and a curry.

Note : You can either cook this without adding any water or the way I have mentioned here, by adding water. To cook without water, you will need to saute the potatoes in slightly more oil and then cover the pan and cook on very low heat till done.

The dish usually is made very spicy, and looks bright red in colour, but somehow, I didn't get the colour.

DO NOT eat the peppers. Pick them out while eating.

So, off this goes to Sunita...Thank- you for hosting and Congratulations on completing one full year with THINK SPICE Sunita..

Click - Citrus..

This is my entry for this months Click event - Citrus hosted by Jai & Bee of Jugalbandi.

This is a shot of Fresh lemon soda that I made today..I got the idea for the shot from a photo that I had seen.

For the soda, I just took some freshly squeezed lemon juice, a tsp of sugar and a pinch of salt and poured some club soda over it. Tastes great :)...So here it is...

Kodubaale-1..From Asha's blog..

This is a Kodubaale recipe that I tried from Asha's blog. She had mentioned that in this recipe, all-purpose flour can be replaced by atta ( wheat flour). What a great idea I thought and gave it a try. All I can say is that at the end of frying, only half the batch went into containers :). Yes, they were that good. So, thank you Asha for a wonderful recipe and this great tip of using atta in this recipe.

I followed Asha's recipe exactly. Only variation is that I added 1 tsp of cumin seeds to the dough alongwith other ingredients.

You can view Asha's recipe here. Thank you again Asha.

Tried & Tested- Watercress with Chickpeas

As I was looking through the recipes to try out from the great duo, Jai & Bee at Jugalbandi, for the Tried & Tested event, I actually came to bookmark quite a long list and then it was quite challenging for me as to which one to try first.

I had never cooked watercress before and when I saw it combined with Chickpeas in their recipe, I thought it was a must try for me.

The verdict...An absolute winner this dish is..We had it with rotis and it was just wonderful..

Thankyou Bee & Jai and your site just rocks with all the informative articles and the mind blowing photograhy, not to mention your sense of humour...

I followed the recipe as is, except that instead of the mentioned Kashmiri garam masala, I just used normal garam masala that I had.

You will find the recipe here.

Thank you Zlamushka, for hosting this event..

Simple Veggie Stir-fry..

This is the first time I tried making a simple veggie stir fry. I just kept the ingredients to the minimum and the result was quite pleasing. Served with some peas rice, it was just wonderful. This is what I did..

Ingredients

Sugar snap peas - 1 1/2 cup

Carrots, cut into rectangular thin long strips - 1 cup

Green Bell pepper, cut into thin long strips - 1 cup

Zucchini, cut into thick long strips - 1 cup

Broccoli florets - 1 cup

Firm Tofu, cut into chunks - 1 cup

Soya Sauce - 1 tbsp

Ground Red Chilli paste - 1 tbsp ( I used readymade )

Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Heat approx. 1 tsp of oil in a non-stick pan. Add the tofu chunks into it, and on medium flame, saute till they turn brown on all sides. Once done, take out from pan and keep aside.

- Add little more oil to the pan, once hot, add the veggies all at once and on high flame, stir for about 2-3 mins. Add the sauteed Tofu chunks also back into it.

- Add the soya sauce, red chilli sauce, lemon juice and salt, mix well and switch off flame.

- Serve hot with mildly flavoured rice or eat plain by itself.

I'd like to send this to JFI-Soya, hosted by Sia of Monsoon Spice..

Thank-you for hosting Sia :)...

Banana Buns/Mangalore Buns..

Famous by the name of Mangalore Buns, I've tasted and had these most in Goa only. Whenever we go to Goa to visit our Kuldevata( family God) temple, this is on our breakfast menu at the temple canteens. Most of the small canteens in and around the temples in Goa have the Buns-Bhaji or Buns-Chutney on their menu. The ones where we have are really to die for, perfectly and evenly golden brown all over, sweetish, they serve it with a simple chutney, but you would care less for the chutney as they taste great just by themselves.

My mom makes these only rarely at home. Maida/All-purpose flour is used traditionally, but my Aayi and MIL both use wheat flour (atta) when making this.

So, here goes..

Ingredients

Over-ripe Bananas, peeled and fully mashed - 1/2 cup

Buttermilk - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp. ( My mom sometimes uses Ajwain/Carom seeds instead of cumin also).

Wheat flour - approx. 2 1/2 cups ( Decide on the amount you need to get a stiff dough. This is the quantity that I used up).

Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - to deep fry

Method

- In a bowl, take the mashed banana, add the buttermilk, sugar, cumin seeds, baking soda and salt and mix together nicely.

- Slowly add the wheat flour little by little and make into a stiff dough.

- Cover the dough and keep aside for about 3 hrs.

- Now, make small round balls out of it, roll slightly thick to the size of a puri.

- Heat enough oil to deep fry in a kadhai and drop in the puris. As it puffs up on one side turn and let it fry on other side till golden brown. Fry this on medium heat, else the inside will remain uncooked.

- Serve with chutney or enjoy just plain. Make sure to consume it while its still hot.

Note : These are supposed to be made sweet, so you would need to add more sugar.. However, I always like them slightly less sweet and as I always serve them with chutney or chutney pudi, I add less sugar.

I'd like to send these to the following two events..

1. WBB-Combi Breakfasts hosted by Lata of Masala Magic..

2. SWC-Karnataka hosted by Sheetal of My Kitchen.

Thank-you Lata and Sheetal..

Batatya Pathal Bhaji/Potato curry using Phova Pitto..

This is one of my favourite accompaniments for dosas and rotis. Its so simple and easy but just finger-licking good in taste. Tastes great with bread or even plain Paej/Kanji.

So here goes..

Ingredients

Potatoes, peeled and diced small - 2 medium ( I used Red Potatoes)
Onion, finely chopped - 1 small
Tomato, finely chopped - 1 small
Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp
Masalya Pitto/Phova pitto - 3/4 - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - to garnish
Oil

Method

- Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, once they sizzle, add the onions and fry only till transparent.
- Add the tomatoes, fry till they soften.
- Add the potatoes, turmeric powder, salt and the Phova Pitto. Add enough water to cook the potatoes, cover the pan and cook. The quantity of water should be such that after the potatoes have cooked fully, there should be liquid gravy left in the pan.
- Finally, when done, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rotis or dosas or bread.

Another way to enjoy this curry is simply by topping it with some Shev and eating it as a snack. Tastes just great..

I'd like to send this as my contribution to the CurryMela hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons. Thankyou Srivalli..

A few days back, dear LG of Taste of Mysore passed me this BFF-Blogging Friends Forever Card. Thanx so much LG for thinking of me and passing this on to me. Really honoured :).

I'd like to pass this on to these wonderful bloggers..

1. Meera of EnjoyIndianFood

2. Purnima of FantasyCookBlog

3. Shilpa of AayisRecipes

4. Vanamala of Nalapaka

5. Seema of MyRandap

6. Ranji of Ranji'sKitchenCorner

Barik Shev/ Thin Shev

I had noted down this recipe the last time that my MIL had made it. This Barik Shev can be used in a million things as a topping, from upmas to pohas to various chats or just plain by itself.

It doesn't take long to make it too. Only the making of the mix is a slightly messy job coz its very sticky.

So here goes..

Ingredients

Besan/Gram flour - 3 cups

Water - 1 cup

Ajwain/Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch (This is optional).

Salt - to taste

Oil - to fry.

Method

- Take the mentioned quantity of water in a wide mixing bowl, dissolve the salt and the hing in it. Add the carom seeds also to it.

- Add the besan also to the water and mix it nicely to get the desired mix.

- Heat oil in a deep frying kadhai.

- Grease the insides and the plate of the mould used to make shev( use the plate with the tiniest holes), add the mix in it and close.

- Now pressing the mould, drop the mixture into hot oil.

- Fry on both sides and take out on paper towel.

- Once cooled completely, store in air-tight containers.

I would like to send in this entry to EC's WYF : Colour in Food, for the colour YELLOW. Thankyou for hosting EC.

Also, check out the Theek Kare/ Khara Shev I had posted earlier.

Do you use these in Upma too ??

It was one of those days where I just spent time thinking of what to make for lunch, but didn't come up with anything. It was almost nearing lunch time too. Finally, I decided to go ahead with upma, but then realised there were no onions too ( I don't like the upma which doesn't use onions). Upon raiding the fridge, found a few things and finally came up with this upma. Now that I am blogging about it, yes, it did taste very good.

I added green mango and matki sprouts along with a little corn and green peppers. If you like the taste of green mango, then you should try using it in upma. So this is what I did...

Ingredients

Fine Rava/Semolina - 1 1/2 cups

Raw Green Mango ( skin removed), diced - 1 cup

Matki sprouts/Moath beans sprouts - 1 cup

Fresh/Frozen Corn kernels - 1/2 cup

Green bell peppers, cut into chunks - 1/2 cup

Green chillies, slit lengthwise - 6 ( I used the small green chillies )

Curry leaves - 5-6 ( I have not used )

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Udad dal - 1 tsp

Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Boiling hot water - approx. 3 cups.

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Adding little water, microwave the matki sprouts for 2 minutes. Drain out all the excess water.

- Heat a pan, dry roast the Rava on low flame till an aroma comes from it. Take care not to burn it. Take it out on a plate and keep aside.

- Now, heat oil in the pan, add the udad dal and mustard seeds, when they start spluttering, add the cumin seeds, curry leaves (if adding) and the green chillies.

- Add the chopped green mango, green pepper, and the corn kernels. Fry till they become soft.

- Add the salt and the turmeric powder and mix well.

- Add the earlier roasted rava to the pan and mix everything together.

- Now add the hot water to the pan. Stir well once and lower flame till the rava cooks in it and the mixture becomes almost dry.

- Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired ( optional).

- Serve hot.

Lentils with Mustard greens and Green Mango..

This is one of the most simple and delicious dals that I have eaten. Easy to make and finger licking look.

Raw green mango pieces gives it a nice tang, roughly chopped mustard leaves makes it wholesome, and the garlic tempering makes it just complete. Also, I have used Red lentils/Masoor dal, which cooks really fast. Now, can't get better than that rite ? Do try it to see what I mean.

Ingredients

Red Lentils/Masoor Dal - 1/2 cup
Mustard Greens, roughly chopped( excluding the tough stems) - 1 cup
Green mango pieces with skin, cut into big chunks - 1/2 cup (approx. 1/2 of a big size green mango)

Onion, cut into chunks - 1 small

Cumin powder/Jeera powder - 1 tsp

Green Chillies - 5-6

Garlic cloves - 4, finely sliced

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Wash the lentils and pressure cook with the mustard greens, onions, green chillies, salt and enough water for 1 whistle.

- Once done and the pressure drops, transfer the contents from the cooker into a pan, bring to a a boil, add turmeric powder and jeera powder. Add water if needed to adjust the consistency, and adjust salt at this point.

- In a separate small pan, heat oil, add the sliced garlic and fry till it turns light brown.

- Now, pour this over the cooked dal mixture and cover the pan immediately.

- Serve hot with rice or rotis and a side curry.

Kaandya Bhakri- A variation..

Well, I made a little variation this time to the Kaandya Bhakri/Onion Rotti, which is a regular breakfast item in Konkani homes. In my kitchen, I also make it for meals though :)..
Well, the recipe is the same, except that this time I used Brown Rice and added Flax seeds powder( just powdered the regular flax seeds in a grinder) to make it more healthy.
The inspiration for using flax seeds comes from Meera's Thali Peethzza :)..So, thanx Meera.

Ingredients

Brown Basmati Rice- 1 cup
Flax seeds powder - 1 tbsp
Onions - 2 small
Coconut - 2 tbspns
Sugar - 3/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method

- The previous night, wash the rice and dry it out on a cloth.
- The next morning, grind it in the mixie and make a coarse powder of it.
- Add the coconut, onions, flax seed powder, sugar and salt to the rice powder and add water to make a thick consistency.
- Spread on the tava(thick) and fry on both sides with oil.
- Fry slightly more towards dark brown. Will be crispy and better in taste that way.
- It tastes great just by itself, but you could serve it with some chutney or chutney pudi if you wish to.

You can either make it less crispy like this picture below or crispier and browner like the first picture in this post. However, the crispier one tastes better and is a personal favourite.

I would like to send in this entry to EC's WYF : Colour in Food. According to her rules and description for the colour Brown, I thought this post would be a good fit. So hopefully, this qualifies for it. Thankyou EC for hosting such a lovely theme.

Snake gourd and Green peas Curry..

After reading LG's (Taste of Mysore) comment on my Black chickpeas and snake gourd curry post, I decided to give a try to her way of using green chillies instead of the red ones.

The curry tastes really good with the use of green chillies. The entire recipe is the same as the above mentioned curry, except replacing red chillies with green ones. Also, instead of black chickpeas, this time I used the dried green peas. So thanks a lot for pointing out your version LG :).

Ingredients
Dried green peas - 3/4 cup
Raw rice - 2 tsp

Black pepper corns - 6-7

Green chillies - 4

Fresh/Frozen grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Garlic cloves - 7-8

Snake gourd, cleaned, de-seeded and cut into bite size pieces - 1 1/4 cup

Milk - 1/8 cup

Tamarind - 1 small piece

Salt - to taste

Method

- Soak the green peas in water for about 8 hours. Then, pressure cook the snake gourd pieces and the peas with enough water and salt for 1 whistle.

- Roast the raw rice for a few seconds.

- Now, alongwith the rice, grind the coconut, green chillies, garlic, tamarind & black pepper together.

- Add this ground paste to the boiled gourd and peas. Once this comes to a boil, adjust salt, add milk, bring to a boil and take off heat.

- Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Note : Adjust the quantity of green chillies and black peppercorns to suit your spice level.