Badanekai Yennegai, Karnataka Style Stuffed Eggplant Curry

          Jowar Roti With Badanekai Yennegai ( Stuffed Eggplant Curry ), ever since I came to know about this combination, I was waiting to make it. Why waiting, when I could have made it the very next day, well, I wanted to taste the combo at a restaurant serving traditional Kannadiga food, and then try it at home. But that didn't work out, so finally, I gave in and made it at home. With so many wonderful blogs out there, featuring Kannadiga dishes. actually that was not difficult. The curry turned out absolutely delicious and it tasted awesome with the Jowar rotis. I already have two versions of Stuffed Eggplant Curry in my blog, version 1 and version 2, and now this one is yet another and each one is tasty in its own way. Coming back to today's post, if you have not yet tried this combo, do try it and I am sure you'll love it, but if you can't make jowar rotis, then you can still have it with some plain rice and it's equally delicious..

Carrot Dosa

          As I have already told many times, we never get tired of dosas at home, so here is another new dosa for my dosa collection, Carrot Dosa. Actually this is a recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cook book. It's an instant dosa, in the sense, the batter need not be fermented, but of course we have to soak and grind the rice along with the carrots and other spices. As with most instant dosas, it tastes best when served hot, it tends to become rubbery when it gets cold and it goes well with some coconut or peanut based chutney..

Mangai Thogayal, Raw Mango Chutney

          Today's post is going to be a simple one, Mangai Thogayal/Mango Chutney. Though I make sambar or kootu or vegetable gravy to go with rice, we always love to have some kind of thogayal or chutney on the side. When we make thogayals, since we mix it with rice, we make it as thick as possible, without adding water ( or very little water ) and the texture is slightly coarse. I make the mango thogayal just like the coconut chutney, except here, for sourness I add the mango pieces instead of tamarind. This tastes very good when mixed with rice, or if you want to have it with idlis or dosas, make it slightly watery and season it with some mustard and urad dal..

Tomato Rice With Coconut Milk, Thengai Paal Thakkali Sadam

          Thakkali Sadam, this is the favorite mixed rice in our home, I have already posted one version of it ( the one that I make more often ) here in the blog, I don't use any masalas, garlic or coconut milk in that rice, just plain seasoning and green chillies for spice. Today's rice is another version of Tomato Rice, we cook the rice with tomatoes, coconut milk and it has garlic, it's more like a pilaf. This rice tastes totally different from the first one and the flavors are totally different with the coconut milk and garlic. Both are tasty in their own way, you might like one better than the other, depending upon your choice of flavors..

Nellikai Oorugai, Gooseberry Pickle

          I don't make pickles that much at home, because we don't have them regularly in our meals, occasionally we have it with curd rice or with parathas. It's not that we don't like pickles, somehow it has never become a habit, but after a heavy meal I always like to end it with a little curd rice and pickle. Making pickles is an art by itself, I have tried making only a few easy ones, today's Nellikai Oorugai/Gooseberry Pickle is one of them. This was the first time that I had tried it out and it turned out really good..

Eggless Cherry Clafoutis

          I first tasted fresh cherries only in the US, the dark ones, they tasted so good and from then on, I always bought bags of them during the season. In India, it's difficult to find fresh cherries, and even when you get them, you'll find the red ones which are not that sweet. But nowadays, you can find them in bigger cities, at least I found them in Bangalore. So then, when I got this big box of cherries, apart from eating them as such, I wanted to try out some dishes with it and the first one that came to my mind was this Cherry Clafoutis. I have not tasted Clafoutis, but when browsing randomly, I saw it and for some reason it stuck to my mind. I made it with eggs first to know the taste, then I used custard powder as a replacement for eggs and it turned out good. Since I am not a big fan of eggs in baking especially in puddings and in these kind of dishes, I liked the eggless version better. If you can't find cherries, try it with other berries like strawberries and enjoy..

Watermelon Kuzhi Paniyarams

          After the Watermelon dosa became a hit at home, I wanted to try other dishes with the fruit. I tried a couple of them and this Watermelon Kuzhi Paniyarams was the first on the list. I have used the white rind part of the watermelon and to make it more healthy, I made the paniyarams using millets, I have used varagu/proso millet and the paniyarams turned out very fluffy and soft. The batter needs to be fermented overnight or at least for 10 to 12 hours and the same batter can be used for making both sweet and kara/spicy paniyarams. The sweet ones can be had as such and the spicy ones can be served with some coconut or peanut based chutney and they make a delicious breakfast, snack or even dinner..

Peanut Coriander Chutney, Verkadalai Kothamalli Chutney

          The other chutney that I make more often, other than the tomato or coconut chutney, for idlis and dosas is the peanut chutney. I have already posted one Peanut Chutney and another Tomato Peanut Chutney in the blog, and today's chutney is a slight variation to that. I have added some sauteed coriander leaves and green chillies to the peanuts and this gives a nice color and a different flavor to the chutney. This chutney would go well with all types of idlis, dosas, adais and paniyarams..

Gawar Aloo Subzi, Cluster Beans ( Kothavarangai ) Potato Curry

          We use cluster beans/kothavarangai/gawar a lot in South Indian Cooking, we make poriyal, paruppu usili, in avials, dry them and use as vadams, but I have never really tried to do a side dish with it for rotis until recently. I have tasted it in subzis at a Gujarati friend's place and even in restaurants but when I tried it at home, I was not completely satisfied. Then I saw this recipe, it has both gawar/cluster beans and potato in it, the ajwain, peanut powder and coconut and other spices make it so flavorful and it goes very well with chappathis/rotis..

Vazhaipoo Pakoda, Banana Flower Fritters

          Whenever we drive from Bangalore to Chennai, we usually make a break in between at a restaurant, and we usually have some snack and coffee there. The one snack that we have had on all the times we stopped there, is this Vazhaipoo Pakoda, my daughter just loves it. The pakoda is so crispy and the vazhaipoo/banana flower/kele ke phool gives a nice taste to the pakodas. Usually in other restaurants, you'll find vazhaipoo vadai and cutlets but this pakora, I have not tasted anywhere else. I wanted to make it at home, I didn't have any recipe, so I just made it according to the taste that I remembered, asked my daughter to taste and waited for her verdict. She gave me a thumbs up, the pakoras tasted very good and I should say 99% close to the taste of the pakoras from the restaurant. Do try this the next time you buy banana flower, I am sure you'll love it..

100% Whole Wheat Bread, Atta Bread ( No Maida )

         
          It's been months since I bought bread, I have been baking my own 100% Whole Wheat Bread or Atta Bread. I tried this and that and finally settled down with this recipe, even then, I had some flops and then found my mistakes and corrected them. I have given a list of errors that we have a chance to make and end up with a dense and flat bread in the 'Note' section, do read it before baking. Since I have used Atta for baking the bread and no added gluten, the bread might be a little crumbly when compared to White Bread, but otherwise it came out soft and had the porous texture..

Mango Fool, Mango With Whipped Cream

          It's back to back Mango recipes, my previous post Mangai Pachadi is with raw mangoes, this one, today, Mango Fool is with ripe mangoes. It's such an easy recipe but it tastes so rich and delicious, an easy dessert that can be made in advance. We need just a few ingredients, the main ones being ripe mangoes and heavy cream, try this and enjoy it this mango season..

Mangai Pachadi, Raw Mango Sweet Chutney

          When raw mangoes are in season, this is one dish that I never miss to make, Mangai Pachadi ( Mango Sweet Chutney ). This is a simple dish where raw mango pieces are cooked and jaggery and other seasonings are added to it. They also add a little dried neem flowers ( toasted in ghee ) at the end, till now I have never added it, but this time I asked the maid to collect some flowers for me, washed and dried them completely and then used it in the Pachadi. This is traditionally made on the Tamil New Year, the sourness from the mangoes, sweetness from the jaggery and the bitterness from the neem flowers balance each other and the Pachadi tastes great..

Roasted Potatoes With Parmesan And Herbs

          Fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato curry, give us potatoes in any form, we like them at home, so then, when I made this Roasted Potatoes With Parmesan And Herbs, we simply loved it. The best thing about this recipe is, it's so simple, no need to even peel the potatoes, just mix them with the herbs and cheese and then everything is done in the oven. After about 45 minutes, the potatoes turn out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the flavors from the herbs and cheese is awesome..

Cucumber Dosa, Vellarikkai Dosai, Southekayi Dose

          After making cucumber idlis, the next in line was dosas using cucumber/vellarikkai/southekayi. I had tasted cucumber dosas long time back and in fact I had tried making it at home but they didn't turn out that good. Then this summer again, when browsing for some other recipe, I came across them here, and so I tried it out one more time and this time the dosas came out really good. I made the dosas using the ' appam pan ' ( you can use any shallow non-stick pan ) and they came out paper thin and so soft, like thin crepes. Serve the Cucumber Dosas warm, with any coconut based chutney or peanut chutney, I served them with Coriander Peanut Chutney ( will post recipe soon ) and they tasted too good..

Litti Chokha, How To Make Bihari Litti Chokha

          Litti Chokha is going to be our dish today, it's a regional dish from the state of Bihar. I came across this dish when browsing the web for some recipes using  sattu flour ( roasted chickpeas flour ). Litti is baked whole wheat balls which is stuffed with a mixture of sattu flour and it is served with a mashed side dish of roasted eggplant, tomatoes and boiled potatoes which is called as Chokha. It's a little lengthy process, but if you plan it properly, you can make them side by side. Try it on a weekend for brunch or lunch and serve it along with some Masala Chaas (spiced buttermilk ) for a complete and delicious meal..

Mampazha Thayir Pachadi, Mango Raitha

          Today's post is going to be a short one, it's been a busy day and I am not in mood to do a long one, so I chose a very simple dish, Mampazha Thayir Pachadi or Ripe Mango Raitha. Sometimes, at the beginning of the season, the mangoes are not that very sweet, they make a perfect choice for this pachadi, but of course you can use the nice sweet ones too, just leave out the honey that I have added to it. This can be a perfect side to any meal, or have it like I do, as a dessert after a good meal..

Oats Idlis, Instant Oats Idli Recipe

          Idlis with chutney or sambar is a favorite at home, no complaints from the husband and daughter and for me, I need not spend time standing, making rotis and dosas. Instant idlis get another big tick from me, no need to grind the batter and then wait for it to ferment. Instant Oats Idlis is another very easy recipe, I follow the same procedure like the Rava Idlis, except here, I use a mixture of oats and rava ( semolina ) for making the idlis. Though I can have oats every single day for breakfast, my family runs away from it, so I have to sneak it in only in the form of upmas, idlis and dosas. The idlis came out very good, nobody can tell that there is oats in it unless you tell them. Serve it with the chutney of your choice, we had it with carrot chutney and it was absolutely delicious..