Tips:

• After you make ginger paste, add some oil to preserve it for long. 

           Source: NDTV chef Marut Sikka

• To preserve green chillies for long, remove the stem and store them in a air-tight container or plastic cover. 

              Source: My Mother-in-law, and Yes!! it worked. I did a Google search too and found the same solution.

                                                               Do come back for more......

Buttermilk Dosa

I got this recipe from a local magazine and I tried it this morning. It really turned out well. 

Ingredients:

Rice (Sona Masoori or dosa rice) -1 glass

Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 1/2 tsp 

Buttermilk - 1 glass
Jaggery - 1.5 tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Salt 

Oil 

Procedure:

Soak rice and fenugreek seeds  in water 

for 2 hours. 

Later grind soaked rice, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, salt, and jaggery. Grind all the ingredients using buttermilk (instead of water as we do when we grind for normal dosa). Note that you must grind and keep the batter ready the previous day. 

Heat dosa pan, apply oil on the surface, and pour batter using a laddle when the pan is hot. When dosa turns golden brown, you can take it off.

Have these yummy dosas with Brahmi Chutney. 

Gaarige / Pelakaida appa (Ripened Jackfruit appa)

This one comes from my mother's kitchen. These jackfruit recipes are prepared especially during the rainy season. I remember these being prepared in every M'lorean household during monsoon. My grandmom used to dry jackfruit seeds and make yummy curry out of them. During rainy season, when there's not much sunlight, she used to keep all these jackfruit seeds near the chula in the kitchen, so that they dry soon.  

Ingredients:

Rice (Sona Masoori or dosa rice) -1 glass

Ripe Jackfruit flesh- 2-3 pieces 

Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Green Cardamom - 1 (powdered)

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Oil 

Procedure:

Soak rice in water for at least 3-4 hours. You can soak it overnight too.  Wash and drain water from rice.

Remove seeds from the jackfruit flesh and chop them into tiny pieces.

Grind rice, chopped jackfruit, and jaggery. Add little water when you grind. The ground batter must be fine and thick (not watery).

Add powdered cardamom to the ground batter. Add salt if required and mix them well. 

Heat oil in a skillet. Remember to pour enough oil as you will be deep frying these appas. When the oil is hot, take a spoonful of batter and pour it into the oil. 

Let it fry well. 

You can have these with spicy chutney or honey.  And yes, you can have them without chutney/honey too.

Etti (Prawn) Sukka - Traditional way

This the usual way how we prepare this dish. I'll post another version of this recipe soon.

Ingredients:

Prawns - 20 large or small prawns, peeled and cleaned

Red chillies (Large) - 8.5

Coriander seeds - 1.5 tsps

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsps

Tamarind - very small piece 

Onion - 1/2

Garlic - 2 pearls

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup 

Tomato - 1/2

Salt for taste

Oil - 1-2 tsps

Curry leaves(minced) - 5-6 
Coriander - 5-6 leaves

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan. Add red chillies, coriander seeds, mustard, and cumin seeds. Saute until you get the aroma; do not burn the ingredients. Chop onion and garlic. Meanwhile, soak tamarind in water (6-8 tsps of water).

Grind all these sauteed ingredients along with chopped onions, garlic, and turmeric powder. Add 2 teaspoons of grated coconut and grind. Add tamarind puree as you grind. Let the mixture be coarse. 

Heat oil in a pan, add minced curry leaves. Saute for 2 minutes, add ground mixture. Add 1.5 cups of water, and salt. After you take off the ground mixture, add remaining grated coconut and grind for 2 minutes. Add this to the boiling mixture. Close the lid and let it boil. When the mixture starts boiling, add chopped tomatoes. Mash the tomatoes. Add prawns and coriander leaves. Let it cook. Put off the flame when all the water is drained.   

You can have this with rice or roti. 

You can view another version of this recipe in here: http://katmandige.blogspot.in/2011/10/etti-prawn-sukka.html

Soya Biryani

I was hunting for soya biryani recipe and found some beautiful blogs. Here are a few: 

http://sumthinzcooking.blogspot.in/2009/11/soya-bean-biryani.html#.UULZBtZaZi

http://www.tarladalal.com/Soya-Biryani-15513r

http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/soya-biryani.php

Ingredients:

Rice (Basmati or Sona Masoori) -2.5 glass 

Soya Chunks - 1 cup

Cloves - 2

Cardamom -2 

Bay Leaf - 1

Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/4 tsp

Green Chillies - 1 or 2

Onion - 1/2 (chopped)

Tomato (medium size) - 1 (chopped)

Salt for taste

Curd/Yogurt - 3-4 tsps

Ghee/Cooking Oil - 2-3 tsps

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice in water for at least 20 minutes. Boil some water in a pan and add the soys chunks to it, add some salt. Put off the flame after 5 minutes.

 Heat the pressure cooker on medium flame, and add ghee. Add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaf. Saute them for a minute or so, until you get the aroma. 

Do not burn the ingredients. Add onions and fry until translucent. Add ginger garlic paste. Saute until it's fried. Add green chillies and chopped tomatoes. Saute until tomatoes lose water. Add turmeric and chilli powder. Saute for a minute. 

Drain water and add rice. Mix well. Add salt. Drain water from soya chunks and chop them into required size. Add them to the pressure cooker. Now add 4 glasses of water. Mix everything once and check if salt and spice is fine. If not, you can add required amount of salt and chilli powder.  Add curd, mix well, and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

P.S: While you saute the ingredients, see that you don't burn them.

Your soya biryani is ready. You can have it with raita. 

Thimmare (Brahmi) Chutney

Thanks to my sis-in-law and her MIL for this  wonderful recipe. Brahmi comes with a lot of medicinal values. They say, it's a good memory booster and is given to children to have it raw, first thing in the morning. Usually this is found on the wet land, near fields or ponds. You can also grow this in a pot. To learn more about this leaf and to know its medicinal values, please refer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centella_asiatica

The usual way how we make this in Mangalore is different. We grind jaggery, Brahmi leaves,green chillies, few rice grains together along with salt. And this chutney is served along with boiled rice. However, most of them will not like the bitter taste of Brahmi, so the following recipe :).

Ingredients:

Thimmare (Brahmi) leaves - 8-10 

Onion - Small piece

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Coconut (grated) - 1 cup

Green chillies - 1 or 2

Salt for taste

Procedure:

Wash Brahmi leaves thoroughly to remove mud particles. 

 Grind all the above mentioned ingredients.  Add required quantity of water based on whether you wish to keep it watery or thick.  

You can have it with or without garnishing. It tastes great and is good for health :)

You can serve this chutney along with dosa, idly, pundis, etc. 

Cheepe (Sweet) Pundi recipe

Ingredients:

Dosa Rice - 2 cups

Salt for taste

Cooking Oil - 2-3 tsps

Filling Mixture:

Coconut (grated) - 5 tsps

Jaggery - 1/2 of one piece 

Beaten rice - 10 tsps

Procedure:

Soak Dosa rice in water for at least four hours. Grind rice along with salt; do not make it very watery. You can keep it fine or coarse.

P.S: Do not worry, if the batter is watery. You can still make it smooth and thick.

Once you are done, heat little oil in a frying pan, add the batter to this pan. Mix the batter thoroughly. When the batter looks thick and smooth, rub little oil to your palms and start making medium-sized balls. When you make balls, press one side inwards using your thumb to insert the mixture.

P.S: You can avoid heating the batter in a pan. Instead you can grind the mixture thick and immediately make small balls and keep them in the idly vessel.
But I always suggest, you mix it thoroughly in a pan. This makes the surface smooth and soft.

Meanwhile, boil water in an idly vessel. Mix ingredients mentioned under Mixture. Do not add water. Just mix them well.  Insert the mixture and keep these pundis in the idly vessel. Insert the lid and let them cook. Let the flame be in medium. Wait for 15 minutes. To see if it's cooked, insert a knife randomly on these and check. If the knife comes out clean, these are cooked. If not, the under-cooked pundis will stick to the knife. 

Pundis are ready to be served. You can have this without chutney.

Nelli Pundi recipe

Ingredients:

Dosa Rice - 2 cups

Salt for taste

Cooking Oil - 2-3 tsps

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Coconut (grated) - 5 tsps

Red Chillies - 1 or 2

Onion - 1/2

Curry leaves - 4-5 - chop into small pieces

Sugar - 2 tsps

Procedure:

Soak Dosa rice in water for at least four hours. Grind rice along with salt; do not make it very watery. You can keep it fine or coarse.

Once you are done, heat little oil in a frying pan, add the batter to this pan. Mix the batter thoroughly. When the batter looks thick and smooth, rub little oil to your palms and start making small balls. 

P.S: You can avoid heating the batter in a pan. Instead you can grind the mixture thick and immediately make small balls and keep them in the idly vessel.
But I always suggest, you mix it thoroughly in a pan. This makes the surface smooth and soft.

Meanwhile, boil water in an idly vessel. Keep these balls in the idly vessel, insert the lid and let them cook. Let the flame be in medium. Wait for 15 minutes. To see if it's cooked, insert a knife randomly on these and check. If the knife comes out clean, these are cooked. If not, the under-cooked pundis will stick to the knife. 

Once they are cooked, heat oil in a pan and add all the items that are listed under Seasoning, except Coconut and Sugar. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cooked tiny pundis to the pan. Saute them well. Put off the flame, add coconut and sugar. 

Pundis are ready to be served. You can have this without chutney.

Nesal Pundi recipe

Ingredients:

Dosa Rice - 2 cups

Salt for taste

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Coconut (grated) - 5 tsps

Red Chillies - 1 or 2

Procedure:

Soak Dosa rice in water at least for four hours. Grind rice along with salt; do not make it very watery. You can keep it fine or coarse.

Once you are done, heat little oil in a frying pan, add mustard seeds, red chillies, and urad dal. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the batter to this pan. Add grated coconut. Mix the batter thoroughly. When the batter looks thick and smooth, rub little oil to your palms and start making small balls. 

P.S: You can avoid heating the batter in a pan. Instead you can grind the mixture thick and immediately make small balls and keep them in the idly vessel.
But I always suggest, you mix it thoroughly in a pan. This makes the surface smooth and soft.

Meanwhile, boil water in an idly vessel. Keep these balls in the idly vessel, insert the lid and let them cook. Let the flame be in medium. Wait for 15 minutes. To see if it's cooked, insert a knife randomly on these and check. If the knife comes out clean, these are cooked. If not, the under-cooked pundis will stick to the knife. 

You can serve this with chutney. 

Pundi recipe (Basic)

Ingredients:

Dosa Rice - 2 cups

Salt for taste

Procedure:

Soak Dosa rice in water at least for four hours. Grind rice along with salt; do not make it very watery. 

Once you are done, heat little oil in a frying pan, and add the batter to this pan. Keep mixing it thoroughly. When it becomes little thick, rub little oil to your palms and start making small balls. 

P.S: You can avoid heating the batter in a pan. Instead you can grind the mixture thick and immediately make small balls and keep them in the idly vessel.
But I always suggest, you mix it thoroughly in a pan. This makes the surface smooth and soft.

Meanwhile, boil water in an idly vessel. Keep these balls in the idly vessel, insert the lid and let them cook. Let the flame be in medium. Wait for 15 minutes. To see if it's cooked, insert a knife randomly on these and check. If the knife comes out clean, these are cooked. If not, the under-cooked pundis will stick to the knife. 

You can serve this with chutney or sambhar or fish curry.