Bende Sannapolo / Okra Spicy Dosa

Sannapolo is spicy dosa usually prepared using coconut based masala. It is usually served as a side dish with rice. Cabbage, drumstick leaves and tender bamboo shoots are commonly used to prepare sannapolo. Okra/ bende is not usually used in sannapolo, but i gave it a try and it came out well. Hence decided to share this in blog. This recipe is not authentic konkani method of preparing sannapolo, but it tastes good though.

Ingredients:

Okra/ bende - 10
Onion - 1 small
Rice flour - 5 tbsp
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Hing/Asafoetida - A pinch
Turmeric powder - 0.25 tsp
Cumin powder -1 tsp
Lemon juice of 1 small lemon
Oil for shallow frying

Procedure:

1. Wash the okra and pat them dry using kitchen towel.

2. Chop the okra into small and thin discs.

3. Chop the onions into fine pieces.

3. Add all the ingredients except oil and mix well. Add little water to make the batter. Adjust amount of salt and spices as required.

4. Heat a pan and add little oil . Spread small dosas with the batter. Spread them as thin as possible.

5. When the dosa are cooked on one side, flip them and cook on the other side as well by brushing little oil.

6. When the dosas are cooked well on both sides, remove them from pan.

Serve these spicy dosas or pancakes as a side-dish with hot rice and daal !!

Egg Masala

Egg Masala is a quick and easy side-dish. It is basically boiled eggs cooked in Indian spices . The masala is of semi-dry consistency and it goes well with steamed rice, chapati, dosa or even idli. It is very spicy and tasty too!

Ingredients:

Boiled eggs - 4

Onion - 1 large

Tomato - 1 medium

Green chilly - 1

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 inch

clove - 2

Bay leaf - 1

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Kitchen King Masala - 2 tbsp

Tandoori Masala - 1 tbsp

Kasoori Methi - 1 tsp

Cashewnuts - 15 

Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp

Oil -  2 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Soak cashews in warm water for 30 minutes and blend them into smooth paste.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard. When mustard splutters add curry leaves, bay leaf, cinnamon, 

clove and cumin. Fry the spices for few seconds without burning. 

3. Now add finely chopped green chilly and saute well. 

4. Add onions and fry till it becomes golden brown. Now add ginger-garlic paste and saute well till the raw smell goes off. Add tomatoes and saute till it is cooked and becomes mushy.

5.  Add red chilly powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, kasoori methi and saute well. Add Kitchen King masala and tandoori masala and fry well for few minutes. ( You can use any other    

good masala powder instead)

6. Add the cashew paste to the masala and mix well. Add little water if the gravy is very thick.

7. Add salt as required and cook the gravy for few minutes.

8. Make slits on the boiled eggs and add them to the gravy. Cook till the masala thickens. 

9. Garnish egg masala with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot as a side dish!

Egg Curry in Coconut Masala / Motte Randayi

This is a simple and aromatic egg curry prepared with boiled eggs and ground coconut paste. This goes well as a side dish with rice or chapati. The roasted spices add nice flavor to the dish.

Ingredients:

Eggs - 4 or 5
Onion - 1
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - around 1/4 cup
Dry Red Chillies - 5
Coconut - 3/4 cup (Fresh/Frozen/Desiccated)
Tamarind - a small gooseberry sized ball
Cinnamon - A small piece around 1 inch
Clove - 2
Cardamom - 1
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Peppercorns - 3
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (Chopped)
Salt to taste.
Oil for seasoning

Procedure:

1. First boil the eggs. Remove the shell and cut them into half. Keep the eggs aside.

2. Finely chop the onions and keep it aside.

3. Now heat oil in a small pan and add coriander seeds. Saute for few seconds and then add dry    
    redchillies and curry leaves. Saute well. Add half portion of chopped onion and saute well till the       onion turns translucent. Then add desiccated coconut ( you can also use frozen/ fresh coconut.             Fresh coconut is the best ) and saute for few minutes till all the spices are roasted well and coconut     turns light brown in color. Make sure not to burn the spices.

4. Grind the roasted spices by adding tamarind, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin and peppercorns.     Add little water while grinding and make the masala into smooth paste.

5. Heat little oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters add curry leaves and saute     for few seconds. Then add chopped onions and saute well. Then add ginger -garlic paste and saute     till the raw smell goes off and onions turn golden brown. Add little turmeric powder and then add       the ground coconut masala paste to the sauteed mixture.

6. Adjust the consistency by adding little water if the curry is very thick. Add salt as required and
    bring the curry to boil. Boil for few minutes till the raw smell goes away.

7. Add the boiled eggs and mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Egg Curry in aromatic coconut masala is now ready to relish !!!

Batate Song (Spicy Potato Curry)

Batate Song is a popular Konkani dish. It is usually very spicy, and it can be prepared in many variations. I prepare it both with coconut and without coconut. This is the recipe to prepare batate song without coconut, hence this is a quick dish which can be prepared with few ingredients.

Ingredients: 

Potatoes - 2 

Onion - 1 large

Red chilly powder - as required

Salt to taste

Tamarind - Little

Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Wash and peel the potatoes and cut them into medium pieces.

2. Remove any seeds from tamarind and soak it in warm water for sometime.

3. Chop the onions lengthwise or into large cubes.

4. Heat Oil in an pan and add onions. Fry them till they turn golden brown and the raw smell goes away.

5. Add the potatoes and saute them on medium flame for few minutes.

6. Add red chilly powder and salt to taste. Fry again for few minutes.

7. Now add soaked tamarind and mix well. Add little water and cover the vessel . 

8. Cook on medium flame till the potatoes become soft.

Batate Song is ready !!

Chicken Curry

Chicken curry can be prepared in numerous ways. This is traditional chicken curry prepared by my Mom, and it is one of my all time favorite. We usually relish this with dosa, idli or rice.

Ingredients:

Chicken - Around 600 gms
1/2 portion of large onion  finely chopped
1/2 portion of small tomato finely chopped
Cashew nuts - 12
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil / Ghee - 1 tbsp

For Green Masala:

Coriander leaves - 12  ( along with stem)
Green chillies - 3
Garlic cloves - 2
Ginger - A small piece
Cinnamon - small piece
Clove - 2
Cardamom  - 1
Cumin seeds - 0.5 tsp
Saunf - 0.25 tsp
Poppy seeds - 0.5 tsp
White sesame seeds - 0.5 tsp

For Coconut Masala:

Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Red Chillies - 2
Tamarind - A small piece
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
1/2 portion of large onion  finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Clean and wash the chicken thoroughly and marinate it with little turmeric and salt for 15 minutes.

2. Soak the cashew nuts in warm water for 1 hr. Then grind it to a smooth paste and keep aside.

3. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under green masala to a smooth paste.

4. For preparing coconut masala paste heat oil in a pan and add coriander seeds. Fry it for few seconds and then add dry red chillies. Now add chopped onion and fry till it become slightly brown. Then add grated coconut and fry it well till it turns slightly brown ( I have used desiccated coconut as i didn't have stock of grated coconut ). Make sure not to burn the spices. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.

Now grind all these fried ingredients and tamarind to a smooth paste by adding little water.

5. Now heat oil/ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the finely chopped onion till it turns golden brown. Now add the tomato and saute for few more minutes. Add little salt to fasten the process of cooking onions.

6. Add the green masala to fried onion-tomato mixture. Saute for few minutes till the raw smell of green masala goes off. Now add the marinated chicken and required amount of salt to this and mix well.Cook the chicken up to 2 whistles in the pressure cooker or till the chicken is completely cooked. If required add little water before pressure cooking the chicken.

7. Now add the ground coconut paste to the cooked chicken and bring the mixture to boil. Let the curry boil for few minutes till the raw smell of the coconut paste goes off.

8. Finally add the cashew paste to the curry and simmer for few minutes. Adjust the salt and consistency of the gravy as required.

Chicken curry is now ready to serve. Happy eating :)

Spicy Potato-French Beans Masala Fry

This is a simple stir fry enriched with the flavours of cumin and coriander. I have prepared this using potatoes and french beans. This can be prepared with other veggies as well.

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes - 5
French beans
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Dry red chilly - 1
Cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Chilly powder - as required
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

Finely chop the potatoes and french beans. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and when the mustard splutters add curry leaves and dry red chilly. Now add chilly powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and keep stirring for a minute. Make sure the spices aren't burnt. Now add the chopped potatoes and fry for a minute. Add the beans, salt and little turmeric powder. Cook them on medium heat and sprinkle very little water to avoid the veggies from burning. Keep stirring frequently. Cook till the potatoes become soft.

Dal Tadka

This is a quick and easy Dal recipe. I learnt about this from one of my colleague who is from Andhra. I prepared this today and absolutely loved it. It is very spicy dal with nice tangy flavor from tomatoes and tamarind. Not to forget, it tastes delicious with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1 medium (Finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 small (Finely chopped)
Green chillies - 3
Asafoetida - A pinch
Tamarind - Small gooseberry sized
Turmeric / Haldi - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp (Finely chopped)

For Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves - 5
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Onion - 3 tbsp ( Chopped finely)
Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Wash the toor dal nicely. In a pressure cooker add dal, chopped onions and tomatoes, slit green chillies, asafoetida, tamarind and a pinch of turmeric. 
• Add around 2 to 2.5 cups of water and pressure cook till dal is cooked completely.

      Seasoning:

• Heat oil in a cooking pan and add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters add cumin seeds, garlic, curry leaves and broken dry red chillies. Fry all these till you get nice aroma. Make sure not to burn anything. 
• Add finely chopped onions and fry well till they become dark brown.
• Now add the cooked dal mixture to the seasoning and mix well. 
• Add required amount of salt and bring the mixture to boil. Let it boil for 5-10 min on medium heat.
• Finally garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Relish yummy dal tadka with hot rice.

Ghosale Ambat (Ridge Gourd In Coconut Based Gravy)

Ridge Gourd is one of our favorite vegetables. It is one of the vegetable where every part of it is used. There are numerous dishes in Konkani cuisine which use Ridge Gourd.

This Ridge Gourd curry prepared using coconut based gravy and seasoned with fried onion is prepared commonly by most of the Konkani people.

Ingredients:

Ridge Gourd -  1 cup chopped
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies - 4 (Roasted)
Tamarind - Small piece
Salt to taste
Onion - 3 tbsp ( Finely chopped)
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure:

• Cook the ridge gourd in a vessel by adding enough water and little salt. 
•  Pressure cook the toor dal with turmeric in pressure cooker.
• Grind the grated coconut, roasted dry red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste.
• Add ground paste and dal to cooked ridge gourd and mix well. Add required amount of salt. The consistency of the curry should be medium thick. Bring the mixture to boil. Let it boil for 5 - 10 minutes.
• For seasoning, heat little oil in a small pan and fry the finely chopped onions. Let the onions fry till they turn dark brown. 
• Season the curry with fried onions. Keep the lid of the vessel covered for some time so that the flavors can blend. 

Enjoy the curry with hot rice.

Dill - Potato Stir Fry (Sabasige - Batate Upkari)

Dill leaves are one of my favorite veggies. I love eating them in any form. The wonderful aroma of the cooking dill leaves itself is tempting. Dill helps strengthen immune system and is considered healthy due to various health benefits.

This is a very easy stir fry prepared with dill and potatoes. After trying this i realized that potatoes and dill leaves go well together.

Ingredients:

Potato - 2 small
Dill leaves - 1 small bunch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Garlic cloves - 4 ( Crushed)
Coriander powder  - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure:

First cut the Potatoes into small cubes and keep aside. Finely chop the dill leaves and keep it aside.

Now heat Oil in a cooking pan. Add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters add slit green chillies and crushed garlic. Saute them well for few minutes.

Add turmeric powder and coriander powder and saute well. Then add potatoes and saute for few minutes.

Now add dill leaves and saute well. The dill leaves slowly start to shrink in size. Add required amount of salt and mix well. Add 4 tbsp water and cook by covering the lid of the vessel. Cook on medium flame till both dill leaves and potatoes cook completely. Keep stirring in intervals to make sure it doesn't burn.

Dill-Potato stir fry is now ready to serve. It goes well as a side-dish with rice and roti.

Green Peas - Potato Masala

Coconut is used in most of the Konkani cuisines. Usually I use coconut based gravy for Green Peas masala. When i had called Mom yesterday, she gave me this recipe. This version of  green-peas masala doesn't use coconut-based gravy.

 I prepared this for the first time today as a side-dish with chapati , and it was absolutely finger licking. 

In addition to Green-Peas and Potatoes, I also added few Mushrooms. You can add any other veggies of your choice. This is a simple recipe which doesn't take much time and effort, yet delicious and healthy.

Ingredients :

Green-Peas - 2  cups (Frozen)
Potato - 2 Medium sized
Mushrooms - 6
Onion - 3 large
Tomatoes - 2 medium
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Ginger - small piece (around 1/2 inch)
Garlic - 5 or 6 cloves
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder - 1 Tsp (Optional)

Procedure :

1. Finely chop the Onions and Tomatoes. Chop the Mushrooms to 2 or 3 pieces depending on their size. Chop the Potatoes into medium thick slices.

2. Pressure cook the Green-Peas and chopped Potatoes in pressure cooker up to 1 whistle.

3. Heat a Kadai and add 3 tbsp Oil. Add chopped Onions and fry them. When the Onion turns golden brown, add chopped Tomatoes.  Fry the Tomatoes well till they turn mushy. Add a little salt to quicken the process. Preferably use ripen Tomatoes for this dish.

4. Keep aside 2 tbsp fried Onion-Tomato mixture and 2 tbsp boiled Peas, which will be used later for blending.

5. Add the Mushrooms and other boiled veggies to the fried Onion-Tomato mixture.

6. Blend together the Coriander leaves, Green Chillies, Ginger, Garlic, 2 tbsp boiled Green Peas, 2 tbsp fried Onion-Tomato mixture to a smooth paste.

7. Add the blend masala to the cooked veggies. Add the desired amount of salt . You can add 1 tsp Garam masala if required. Boil the mixture well. Don't make the gravy too watery. This dish should be of medium thick consistency.

Green Peas-Potato masala ready to serve !

Serve this hot as a side-dish with Chapati, Roti, Dosa or anything of your choice.

Happy eating :)

Time of Preparation : 10 Minutes
Time to Cook : 30 Min
Note :

1. If you are using dry Green Peas, soak them in water overnight and then pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.  As i have used frozen Peas here, I just cooked it up to 1 whistle in a pressure cooker .

Mooga Mole Upkari (Hesaru Kalu Palya/Sprouted Moong Dal Side-Dish)

Hesaru Kalu Palya is traditionally prepared in North Karnataka as an accompaniment with Roti (Rotti). This dish reminds me of my hostel days in Bangalore. There used to be a small North Karnataka food outlet near our hostel which served varieties of traditional North Karnataka food. Sometimes we used to buy Rotti with Kalu Palya from them to avoid hostel food.

This dish is authentic, but the recipe may not be authentic North Karnataka style. Nevertheless, it tastes awesome.

 

Ingredients :

Sprouted Moong dal - 1.5 Cup
Onions - 2 Medium
Tomatoes - 1 Medium
Green chilly - 1
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Turmeric powder - A pinch
Hing/ Asafoetida - A pinch
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - Few

Procedure :

Cook the sprouted Moong Dal and keep aside. I cooked them on medium flame by adding little salt and water in a vessel. If you prefer to pressure cook, then switch off the flame just before one whistle. Otherwise the sprouts may dissolve. After cooking the sprouts, drain the water. You can use this water to prepare Saru-Upkari or add it to any curry.

Keep a Pan/Kadai to heat on medium flame. Pour a little Oil. Add Mustard seeds. When the Mustard splutters, add Green Chilly, Turmeric and Hing powder. Now add the Onions and fry them till they turn golden-brown. Add the Tomatoes and fry till they cook.

Add cooked Sprouts to the mixture and mix well. Add Salt to taste.

Cook for few more minutes and switch off the flame. Garnish with Coriander leaves.

Serve hot as a side dish with Rice or Roti. :)

Note :

1. Adding a pinch of Garam Masala powder enhances the taste of this dish.
2. If you don't like Tomatoes, you can add Lemon juice in the end for the same taste.

Vodi Ambat / Ash Gourd Fritters Curry

Vodi ambat is an authentic Konkani dish prepared using Kuvale vodi (Ash gourd fritters or Boodugumbalakayi Sandige). Vodi is one of the most popular sun-dried items among Konkanis.

I am a big fan of Kuvale Vodi, so I usually have them in my kitchen. I got them recently from my hometown, when I had been for Christmas vacation. There are many variations of preparing Vodi ambat. This dish can be prepared very easily and it goes well with rice.

Ingredients:

Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
5 or 6 Dry Red Chillies (Roasted)
Tamarind (size of medium Gooseberry)
Turmeric/Haldi - A pinch
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp (Roasted)
Salt to taste
10 - 12 Kuvale vodi
Curry leaves - Few
Oil - 1 tbsp
1 Dry Red chilly  (For seasoning)

Procedure :

1.  Deep fry the vodi in oil and keep them aside.

2. Blend the grated coconut, roasted red chillies, roasted coriander seeds, tamarind and haldi to a
    smooth paste in a mixer.

3. Add water to the blended masala to get the desired consistency. The curry tastes better when masala is of  medium consistency.
4. Add desired amount of salt to the mixture and boil for around 5-6 minutes.

5. For seasoning, heat little oil in a tadka pan. Add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters, add curry
    leaves, red chilly and hing/asafoetida. Add this tadka/phanna to the cooked masala and keep the lid
    covered.

6. Add the fried vodi to this mixture just few minutes before serving. Serve this hot as a combo with rice.

Time of preparation : 10 minutes

Cooking time            : 10 minutes

Note : 

1. Adding vodi to the masala just few minutes before serving helps them to remain crisp. If you prefer to  have  the vodi cooked well in masala, you can add them immediately when the mixture boils.

2. Only Kuvale vodi/Ash gourd fritters is suitable for this dish. Other varieties of vodi become soggy and dissolve when added to cooked masala.

Sabbasige Soppu Palya (Dill Leaves Stir Fry With Moong Daal)

Dill leaves are also called as 'Sabbasige soppu' in Kannada . Its flavor and aroma are quite distinct which few people may like and others dislike. It is considered very healthy and has several health benefits of it's own. My mom usually prepares dosa with these leaves. I had learned this recipe from one of my roommate who was from Hubli. She prepared this dish quite often as a side-dish with roti.

This dish is very easy to prepare and healthy as well.

Ingredients :

1. Dill leaves / Sabbasige soppu - 1 bunch ( washed and finely chopped)
2. Hesaru bele / moong dal -   3 tbsp ( soaked in water for 10 - 15 minutes )
2. Garlic clove - 10-12 ( crushed )
3. Chilly powder - 1-2 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - A pinch
5. Salt - to taste
6. Oil - 1-2 tbsp

Method of preparation :

Heat Oil in a thick bottom kadai . Add crushed garlic and fry till the garlic turns brown.

Add finely chopped dill leaves and soaked hesaru bele / moong dal.

Add red chilly powder , turmeric and salt. Adjust the salt and chilly powder as required.

 Add little water and cook on medium flame till the leaves and dal are completely cooked.
Serve hot as a side-dish with chapati/ roti or rice.

Time of preparation : 15 minutes
Cooking time          :  20 minutes

X-Factor :

• Dill leaves are rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It also contains traces of folate, iron, calcium and manganese.
• It aids digestion, improves immune system, provides relief from diarrhea and dysentery, maintain menstrual cycles and also helps to control diabetes.
• It reduces risk of cancer and protects from arthritis.
• Moong dal is a rich source of  protein and dietary fibre. It also helps to decrease high cholesterol.
• Garlic is a good source of Vitamin B6, C, B1, Copper, Calcium, Manganese, Phosphorous.
• Garlic helps in lowering triglyceride and total cholesterol.