Kitchen Diaries

 Ingredients:  Drumstick flowers: 2-3 cups  Freshly grated coconut: 2 cups  Dry red chillies byadagi: 7-8  Tamarind Salt Rice : 1/2 cup  Preparation:  1. Soak the rice for half an hour. 2. Prepare masala: In a mixi jar, add grated coconut, red chillies, tamarind into a coarse paste. To this add the previously soaked rice and grind it again.  2. Clean the flowers thoroughly.  3. Mix the drumstick flowers and the masala with hands. Add salt. 4. Grease the tava with oil.  Method:  1. Take a ladle full of masala.  2. Make it into small thin dosa. Likewise, put multiple such mini dosas in the whole tava. 3. Add oil on each vada. After 4-5 minutes, turn it over and add oil again. Let it fry on a low flame for about 5 minutes. Again turn it over and if needed add oil and fry for 5 more minutes.  Serve it as a side dish along with meals. Goes very well with rice + tuvar dal (tovve)              ...

 Shev Bhaji is a snacks food item made in the evening. This an easy and quick , without much of preparation yet, a very good chat item.  This is my grandmother's recipe, she used to make it really good.  This serves 4 plates.  Ingredients:  1. Moong dal : 3/4 cup 2. Potato: 1 medium size  3. Onion : 2 medium size  4. Green chilli: 1  5. Jaggery : 1/2 tsp  6. Chilli powder: 3/4 tsp  7. Garam masala: 1/2 tsp  8. Garnish : Thin and crispy Shev,  Coriander leaves, Lemon  Preparation:  1. Wash and cook moong dal in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water for one whistle.  2. Chop the potato into small chunks and chop one onion.  3. Once dal is cooked, add the chopped potato chunks and onion and cook together with one whistle.  3. Slit thele green chilli. Chop another onion into fine pieces. Chop coriander leaves.  Method:  1. In a thick bottom pan, add the previously cooked dal + potato+ onion....

Bamboo shoot (kirlu) coconut gravy (kirla randayi in Konkani) is a must seasonal dish, during monsoon, as fresh bamboo are available. The tender ones are preserved in salt water and used throughout the year.  There are a varieties of dishes such as sprouted moong ghashi with kirlu, tawa fry, palya (upkari) etc.  Let's see how to make coconut gravy which is served with rice.  Ingredients:  1. Tuvar dal : 1/2 cup  2. Bamboo shoots cut pieces : 10 approx  3. Freshly grated coconut: 3/4 cup  4. Dry red chillies(byadagi) : 5 to 6 5. Tamarind: small gooseberry size 6. Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp  7. Chinese pepper(jummanakayi in Kannada/ teppal in Konkani) : 10 to 15 crushed a bit 8. Salt  Preparation:  1. Cook tuvar dal in a pressure cooker for about three whistles. Keep aside.  2. Cut the bamboo shoots into thin longitudinal pieces. If using brined bamboo, soak in normal water for overnight. This removes the extra salt.  3. Cook these...

 Vali bhajji in Konkani, Basale soppu in Kannada, Malbar spinach is abundantly grown in coastal and malenadu region of Karnataka. This is grown in almost everyone's courtyard.  There are a varieties of dishes made which includes - randayi (nothing but soppu cooked with tuvar dal with coconut gravy), majjige huli, sikka etc. Among this, randayi is predominantly prepared among GSBs. Here goes the recipe: Ingredients: 1. Basale soppu : 250 gms 2. Tuvar dal : 1/2 cup (200 ml cup) 3. Onion : 2 medium size  4. Freshly grated coconut: 3/4 cup 5. Coconut oil: 2 tbsp  6 Dry red chillies : 4 to 5 (byadagi menasinakaayi) 7. Tamarind  8. Turmeric powder  9. Salt  Preparation: 1. Firstly wash tuvar da. Pressure cook with 2 whistles.  2. Wash basale soppu thoroughly in running water. Soak in turmeric water for few minutes. Discard the water and chop the green leaves.  3. Cut one onion into smaller chunks. Keep the other onion for seasoning for later. ...