Tendle Kajjubi Upkari | Ivy gourd – Cashewnut stir fry Konkani style

May 10, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

Click on the image to save the recipe on Pinterest

Having grown up now (though I would love to be a child 😍), I realize how much my food choice has changed over the years. From loving hotel food as a kid to now, loving all the dishes that were made at home by my Amma and Grandma, recreating them in my kitchen and remembering my childhood memories with the dishes, I have come a long way. ❤️

Even though I still like to enjoy restaurant dishes occasionally, my comfort will always be the simple dishes that I make daily. We have pej or matta rice gruel for dinner and any kind of stir fry or upkari (as we call in Konkani) is a must with it.

So whenever I get good ivy gourd, I make this tendle kajjubi upkari which is an alternative to the famous Konkani dish called Tendle Bibbe upkari which is made with Bibbo or Fresh Cashews. They are available during our new year festival or Ugadi and in every Konkani household, either Bibbe upkari or Tendle Bibbe upkari is made.

Since I live in Qatar and we don’t get fresh cashews here, I make this upkari with regular cashews and it tastes delicious too. I made it yesterday and decided to share this easy recipe with all of you too. I know Konkanis already know this easy recipe but I am sure it will be new to atleast some of my readers.

So here’s sharing the recipe. Hope you all try and love this yummy dish. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

A sprig of Curry leaves

3 Green chillies

About 20 Ivy Gourds/ Tindora/ Tendle (2 Cups sliced)

3/4 to 1 Cup Cashews (regular ones)

Salt to taste

2 Tbsp freshly grated Coconut for garnish

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash ivy gourds well, then chop off the ends and slice them as shown. You can slice one ivy gourd into 6 long pieces.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, allow it to splutter. Now add curry leaves and green chillies. Fry for few seconds.

3. Now add the sliced ivy gourds and cashews together. Mix well.

4. Add little water ( about 1/4 cup) along with salt. Cover and cook on medium flame for about 10 mins. Check in between if the water has evaporated. Add little more if needed.

5. Once the ivy gourds change colour to light green and turns soft along with cashews turning soft too, the upkari is done. If water is remaining in the stir fry, just keep the flame on high and fry till the mixture turns dry. Now garnish with freshly grated Coconut. Done 🙂

6. Serve with rice meals or with congee (pej/rice gruel). Tastes so yum ❤️

Notes:

* The ratio of ivy gourd to cashew is upto you. We love cashew in this upkari. So I add 1 Cup for 2 Cups sliced ivy gourd. You can also add just a handful. Tastes good even then.

* Remember to cook both the ivy gourd and cashews till soft. Ivy gourd takes time to cook, so keep the flame on medium, add little by little water and cook till it changes to light green and soft.

* We Konkanis make this with Bibbo or fresh, tender Cashewnuts during our New year festival called Ugadi. But since I live in Qatar and am here during Ugadi, I make it with cashews.

* You can check all my Konkani recipes here:

All Konkani Recipes

Breakfast time, Desserts, Millet recipes, Snacks

Ragi Ela Ada | Steamed Finger Millet snack | Vegan, Gluten free and Oil free

May 8, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

Kids’ schools have started after Eid holidays and days have started flying again. Waking up early, preparing their snack boxes, sending them to school, morning walk, cleaning the house, relaxing till they come back and after that hearing about their day at school, teaching them, walking again in the evening while they play outside, finally preparing for their next day at school and putting them to sleep.

Days are super busy but I would not want it any other way. I have realized being busy is actually great than sitting idle and overthinking. So it’s a blessing in disguise for me. ❤️

In midst of this, is cooking which I love and which brings me happiness. I listen to bhajans and songs while cooking which makes it so peaceful. Music is truly therapeutic. ❤️

Apart from breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is one meal of the day which is most difficult for me – Snack time. Finding a quick, healthy and tasty snack which the kids also love is very hard. So when I tried this Ragi ada inspired by my Kochi memories of the regular ada and it came out so well that we all loved it, I knew I had to share it with all of you too. ❤️

I don’t know why some people think Ragi is bitter. Ragi is such a tasty millet and I use it regularly in my cooking. It is tasty and very healthy too. Have shared all the recipes that I make using Ragi in the notes section towards the end. Do try and I think if you follow the recipe well, adapt it in your cooking, in few days, you will love Ragi too, just like we do. ❤️

Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { to make about 5 adas }

1 Cup = 240 ml

Banana leaves to make the ada

To make outer covering:

1 Cup Ragi flour ( finger millet powder)

Salt to taste

Approx 1 Cup hot water

To make inner filling:

3/4 Cup Jaggery

3/4 Cup freshly grated Coconut

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Step by step recipe:

1. Dry roast Ragi flour ( do NOT add oil while roasting) on medium flame till you get an aroma of the flour and it changes colour to a darker tone.

Note: Even if you have roasted ragi flour with you, dry roast for few minutes as it enhances the flavour a lot.

2. Transfer it to a bowl. Add salt.

3. Now add hot water, little by little. Mix as you add water.

4. As you add hot water, little by little, after mixing, the dough will look like this. Do NOT add water after this.

5. Now the dough will be warm. Using hands, mix together to form a smooth and soft dough.

6. Now make the inner filling. Take coconut and jaggery in a pan. Heat it together on medium flame till the jaggery melts and coconut will stick to jaggery. Remove from flame. Add Cardamom powder. Mix well.

7. Now cut the banana leaf into rectangle pieces as shown. Clean it with water and wipe it dry.

Also divide the ragi dough into equal sized balls. If you have taken 1 Cup (240 ml) of Ragi flour, you will get 5 balls.

8. Take a ball of ragi dough and spread it using slightly wet fingers as thin as possible.

9. Take a spoonful of the filling and place it on one half side. Spread it on the half side using spoon as shown in the image below.

10. Fold the banana leaf while closing both the halves as shown.

11. Seal the edges of the dough using fingers so that the filling does not come out.

12. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough balls. Place it on a idli steamer.

13. Steam for 20 to 25 mins on high flame till the ada cooks thoroughly. Remove from flame. Allow it to cool for 5 mins.

14. Now peel off the banana leaf, discard it and enjoy the warm Ragi ela adas. 😍

Just look at the inside of the ada. Sweet, juicy and so delicious 😍

Notes:

* As you can see from the above picture, the ada is of the right thickness and also steamed fully. This is due to spreading the dough thin over the banana leaf and also steaming for atleast 20 mins.

* Even if you have roasted ragi flour with you, dry roast for few minutes to get perfect aromatic ragi adas.

* Do use only hot water while preparing the dough. It took me around 1 Cup hot water for 1 Cup Ragi flour. Add only 1/4 Cup at a time and mix well till you get the dough as in step number 4. Then mix using hands to form a smooth dough.

* Don’t add a lot of water while making dough. It will be difficult to spread if dough is too soft.

* For 1 Cup Ragi flour, 3/4 Cup coconut and 3/4 Cup jaggery made the right filling for me. If you add a lot of filling, it will be difficult to seal the edges. So add only a spoonful to cover half of the ada.

* I have not made this without banana leaves. So can’t say the alternative to it. Spreading the dough on the leaf is easy and the ada turns aromatic too. So try to get the leaves if you can.

* These adas are best eaten soon after they are steamed but tastes yummy even after few hours too. So you can carry it in tiffin box and during travel too.

* A similar recipe with coconut jaggery filling is this Kerala style Nendrapazham nirachathu or stuffed Nendran Bananas..

Nendrapazham nirachathu

* I make many dishes using Ragi flour. You can check the recipes here:

Instant Ragi Rava dosa

Ragi Set Dosas

Instant Ragi Idlis

Ragi Urad Idlis

Ragi Malpuas/ Ragi Pancakes

Ragi Jaggery Ladoos

Ragi Butter cookies

Eggless Ragi Chocolate Cake

Salads

Beetroot Raita

May 3, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

Here’s welcoming my favorite veggie as a child – Beetroot into the blog ❤️ I have never posted a recipe with beetroot before as my husband used to dislike it so much that we hardly bought it. Even if we bought it after my hundred requests 😁, it used to go into only two dishes:

* Amma’s Carrot Upkari, where carrot is replaced with beetroot, like how my Amma made and is my favorite dish with Beetroot.

* Restaurant style Vegetable Kurma, where I add Beetroot too which gives it a delicious flavour due to the coconut masala.

But still it was rare as he still did not like the flavour of beetroot at all. 😔

Then one day, I tried this Beetroot Raita as a quick side dish for Pulao and everything changed 😍 He said it’s the best dish he had ever tasted with beetroot and now he himself gets the veggie to make this raita (Happy me ❤️)

And the kids? Yes, they too love it for it’s Gorgeous colour and enjoy dipping it in their parathas and theplas.

So, finally our love – hate relationship with Beetroot turned into love, much to my delight, all due to this delicious raita. ❤️

Hope you all try it and love it too. It’s a very easy recipe. Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

1 Cup Yogurt/ Curd

3/4 Cup grated Beetroot (half a medium beetroot)

1 small sized Onion, finely chopped

1 Green chilly

2 Tbsp Coriander leaves

1 tsp Cumin powder / Jeera powder

1/2 tsp Chaat masala

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Take yogurt in a bowl and mix with a spoon till it becomes creamy in texture and lump free.

2. Now add all the ingredients – peeled and grated Beetroot, finely chopped onion, green chilly and coriander leaves, jeera powder, Chaat masala and salt.

3. Mix well. Done 🙂

4. Serve with Pulao or with any meals. I also serve it with parathas or theplas and it tastes delicious. ❤️

Notes:

* I have used homegrown mint leaves in the presentation above which I fine chop and add to the raita sometimes. So if you have mint leaves, you can add it as well ( about 5 to 6 leaves).

* The yogurt we get here is thick. If you get watery curd, sieve it to make it thick and then add other ingredients.

* Alternately if you like slightly thin raita, you can adjust the consistency as you like.

* Chaat masala can be substituted with amchoor or dry mango powder.

Makes a great combination with:

* Easy Vegetable Biriyani

* Soya Chunks Pulao

* Amma’s Carrot Pulao

* Mooli Paratha

* Methi Thepla

* Bottlegourd Theplas

* Masala Oats Paratha

* Drumstick leaves Aloo Roti

Breakfast time, Idli Stand, Konkani Recipes

Idli Usli | Idli Upma | Seasoned leftover idlis

May 1, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

As a kid, whenever my Anama (grandmother) or Amma made idlis, I would ask them to keep some extra to make idli usli as breakfast for next day. The super soft hing flavoured idli usli with bites of green chillies in it was, is and will always be one among my most favorite breakfast. Childhood nostalgia. ❤️

Now in my kitchen, where I am the manager 😂😂, I purposely make a whole batch of idlis extra just to savour idli usli the next day. My family too likes it ( Thank God! 😁), so two days breakfast is set when I make idlis.

Even though I make it every couple of weeks, it never occured to me that I could share this easy recipe with all of you too. But yesterday when I was about to make it, the idlis in my steel case looked so beautiful that as I admired it, I thought why not share this recipe on the blog too. If it helps even one of you, I will be very happy. ❤️

So here’s me sharing this super easy, quick and very tasty recipe of Idli Usli, Konkani style. Hope you all try it and remember me while enjoying it. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

The Idlis used here are : Mallige idlis

Ingredients:

About 10 to 15 Leftover idlis (depends on how much you have)

1/4 tsp Hing/ Asafoetida

1 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste (be mindful as idlis already have salt)

For seasoning:

2 Tbsp Coconut oil

2 tsp Mustard seeds

2 tsp Cumin seeds/ Jeera

2 tsp Urad dal

A sprig of Curry leaves

3 to 4 Green chillies

Freshly grated Coconut for garnish

Step by step recipe:

1. Leftover idlis : I keep them in the refrigerator the previous night. Since they are cold and slightly hard, it’s easy to crumble them. You can also use idlis that are at room temperature. Fresh idlis need to be cooled completely before making usli.

2. Crumble them using hands as shown in the picture. Add salt ( be mindful as idlis already have salt) , sugar and hing.

3. Mix everything well and evenly with hands. Keep aside.

4. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Allow it to splutter. Now add cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry on medium flame till urad dal turns brown.

5. Now add the crumbled idlis and mix well on medium flame. Cover and keep for 5 mins.

6. Garnish with freshly grated coconut and serve hot. Done 🙂

Notes:

* If you don’t have leftover idlis, you can make the same recipe using Thick Poha. Only addition is peanuts in the seasoning which needs to be fried till crisp. Rest recipe is same. I make this regularly for a light and tasty evening snack. In Konkani it is called Phova Usli.

* I make regular idlis using this recipe of Mallige idlis. They come out super soft and very tasty.

* Since I love Idli Usli, I make an extra batch of Mallige idlis and refrigerate. Next day morning for breakfast, I make Idli usli.

* In this recipe, you can adjust the seasoning according to how many idlis you have leftover. I even make the usli when I have 6 to 8 idlis. It serves two people.

* Do remember to add less salt as idlis already have salt in them. Hing gives a wonderful aroma in the usli. So don’t skip it. Sugar gives a good balance in flavours too. Just a little is enough.

* You can also check these seasoned breakfast recipes that I make often:

Chow Chow Bath (Upma and Sheera)

Batat Phovu

Muga Dali usli

Chane Usli – Godu Phovu

Kobi Pohe

Bhajjil Phovu

Undi – Piyava Gojju

* You can also check different varieties of Idlis in my Variety Idlis collection.

Curry house

Kerala style Vegetable stew | easy stew recipe

April 26, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

I love different varieties of mixed vegetable curries and Vegetable Kurma is one of my favorite. Apart from that, I also make Vegetable stew for a change as it’s very quick to make, tastes divine and so aromatic too.

Though it is usually eaten with Appam and Idiyappam, it is a great combination with chapatis and pulav too. Today I made it with dosas for breakfast and it was amazing as well. The soft dosas dipped in this stew was a tasty and healthy breakfast.

Hope you all try this delicious stew and enjoy it’s aroma in your kitchen too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

(Sorry for short writeups nowadays. My kids hardly give me time to write blogs as they need me always. But I really wanted to share this recipe right away. So writing this quickly for all of you. 😍)

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Coconut oil

2 Cardamom pods

2 Cloves

1 inch Cinnamon stick

1 Bay leaf

1 inch Ginger, finely chopped

1 medium sized Onion, finely chopped

1 long Carrot, diced (about 1 Cup)

10 to 15 medium sized Beans, chopped

2 medium sized Potatoes, diced

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

2 Cups thin Coconut milk

A sprig of Curry leaves

1 Cup thick Coconut milk

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Prepare the vegetables first by peeling and dicing carrots, chopping beans into 1 inch pieces (discard the ends), peel and dice potatoes. Keep aside. Also cut green chillies into long pieces and finely chop onions and ginger.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add a bay leaf, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Also add ginger, green chillies and onions. Fry till onions turn translucent.

3. Now add the vegetables along with curry leaves and mix well. Add the thin Coconut milk (about 2 Cups). Also add salt and pepper powder. Cover and cook till the veggies turn soft.

4. Once vegetables turn soft (about 10 mins), add thick Coconut milk ( 1 Cup) and mix well.

5. Let it simmer on medium flame for about 10 mins till the gravy thickens. Now adjust water and salt. Done ❤️

6. Vegetable stew is served with Appam or Idiyappam. You can also serve it with rice or pulav, chapatis or dosas. It is so simple yet aromatic and delicious. ❤️

Notes:

* You can also add fresh/ frozen/ dried peas if you have.

* There are so many variations to stew as some add turmeric powder and even Garam Masala powder but this is a basic recipe close to the authentic Kerala style Vegetable stew. You can make variations as per your taste.

* Thick Coconut milk means when you grind fresh coconut with little water and sieve.

* Thin Coconut milk means when you grind the sieved coconut again with water and sieve again. That is the second coconut milk.

* What I do is, I use coconut milk powder diluted with water to get thin Coconut milk and use canned coconut milk for thick Coconut milk.

* You can use fresh, powder or canned coconut milk in this recipe as per what is easily available for you.

* Cooking the vegetables in thin Coconut milk is what gives the stew it’s flavour. So don’t skip it.

* After adding thick Coconut milk, don’t cook it on high flame for long. Just simmer it till it boils and remove from flame.

* You can also try this recipe of Restaurant style Vegetable Kurma.

Dosa corner, Millet recipes

Instant Ragi Rava Dosa | Quick finger millet dosa

April 16, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 6 Comments

Click on the picture to save the recipe on Pinterest

Of all the millets, Ragi has been my favorite and I make so many dishes with it like dosas, idlis, ladoos, cookies and even a cake. But I had not tried a Rava dosa with it, partially because I am scared of such thin dosas which is tricky to get right.

But few months back, I had this sudden mood in the morning to try it for breakfast and imagine my happiness when it came out so perfectly. Hardly took me about 10 mins to make the batter and within 20 mins, our breakfast was ready. 😍

So now, whenever I have not soaked for regular dosas, ragi rava dosas are our breakfast. It has truly become a favorite ❤️ Not only is it filling but very tasty too specially due to the addition of onions, green chillies and coriander leaves in it.

Hope you all try and love it too. I have added all the tips and tricks to get it perfectly. If you still have doubts, you can comment below or message me on my Facebook or Instagram handle – ” Healthy cooking with Mitha ” and I will help. ❤️

Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes about 10 dosas }

1 Cup = 240 ml

1 Cup Ragi powder / finger millet powder

1/2 Cup Rava/ Sooji

1/4 Cup Rice powder

2.5 to 3 Cups Water ( to make thin batter )

1 medium sized Onion

3 Green chillies

3 Tbsp Coriander leaves

1 tsp Jeera or Cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Ghee or oil to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. Take 1 Cup Ragi powder, 1/2 Cup Rava and 1/4 Cup Rice powder in a mixing bowl.

2. Now add salt and 2.5 cups water, mixing well with a whisk to form a lump free batter.

3. When the above batter is ready, start chopping onions, green chillies and coriander leaves. Thus the batter gets few minutes of rest too.

Now, add finely chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and cumin seeds/ jeera to the batter. Mix well. Batter ready!

You can make dosas instantly with this batter. No need to ferment the batter.

4. Heat a flat dosa pan till it becomes really hot. Pour a ladle full of dosa batter over it such that it fills the pan.

Just as an example, I have taken two pictures to show how the batter should look in the pan for perfect Ragi Rava Dosa.

If batter is thick and needs more water : The dosa will be thick with less holes and will seem uncooked on the surface.

Not a perfect dosa.. needs more water in the batter.

If your dosa looks like the above one, add about 1/4 to 1/2 Cup water each time till the batter turns perfect.

Once the batter is of perfect consistency, the dosas will turn thin with full of holes like this.

5. Cover and cook on medium to high flame. Add ghee or oil on the sides of the dosa. After a while, the dosa will cook and the thin portions of the dosa will turn brown and crisp.

6. Remove it slowly using the spatula over the edges and then folding it. Repeat the same with the rest of the batter. Serve hot with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

* I usually serve this dosa with either Amma’s tomato chutney as I have served in the above picture or Hing chutney. Both taste amazing with these dosas.

* For Hing chutney, grind together 1 Cup of Coconut with 3 to 4 Red chillies, 1 tsp Tamarind, 1/4 tsp Hing, salt to taste and little water to a smooth paste. I don’t season it. You can season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves fried in coconut oil.

* Please take care of the ratio of Ragi powder to sooji to rice powder for perfect dosas.

* Also, the batter should not be thick and should be thin to get perfect dosas with holes in it. I have explained it with pictures above. You can read it.

* It took me close to 3 Cups of water to get the right texture of the dosas. It might take you few attempts to perfect these dosas.

* This dosa batter does not need fermentation. You can make dosas instantly.

* They come out well in non stick pans. If using cast iron pans, see that it’s seasoned well..else the dosa can stick to the pan.

* You can also add peppercorns and curry leaves to the batter.

* I refrigerate the batter if leftover and it does not change the texture of the dosas. Just adjust the water quantity in case the batter gets thicker on refrigeration.

* One more similar kind of thin dosa that I make is our own Konkani style Panpolos or Neeru dose. It is with rice and tastes so delicious.

* Other recipes with Ragi that I make always:

* Ragi Set dosas

* Ragi Urad idlis

* Instant Ragi Idlis

* Ragi butter cookies

* Ragi Chocolate Cake

* Ragi Malpuas

* Ragi Jaggery ladoos

* You can check all my ‘No rice dosa recipes’ including dosas with millets here –

No Rice dosa recipes Compilation

Chaat street, Curry house, Snacks

Ghugni | Bengali Matar Ghugni | Peas curry/chaat

April 11, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

Chaat of any kind has been my favorite since a child, may it be the eating waala spicy, tangy chaats or the talking waala chatting. 😂😂 In fact talking my heart out while eating chaats with my loved ones is my dream kind of outing. During my college days, me, my brother and parents used to go out to eat chaats on Saturday evenings. It used to be so much fun and I still cherish those memories. ❤️

Now, whenever we go out and there are chaats available, my first order would definitely be atleast one among the various chaats in their menu. 😍 Karnataka style Masala Puri is my favorite among all chaats followed by Dahi Puri.

Bengalis make a similar chaat like our masala puri with peas, which can be had as a curry too. I had shared it in my old blog and I am happy to share it here too. This Chaat is very flavorful and so easy to make that you will be tempted to try it as soon as possible.

Hope you all will try it for your next evening snack and enjoy it with your cup of tea or coffee. Enjoy cooking and eating with your loved ones. It is these moments that we remember all our life. Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 Cup dried Green peas/ white peas

1 Tbsp Oil

2 tsp Ghee

1 Bay leaf

2 Cloves

1 inch Cinnamon stick

1 Cardamom pod

2 Dried Red chillies

1 inch Ginger, grated

2 Green chillies, finely chopped

1 medium sized Onion, thinly sliced

1 medium sized Tomato, diced

1 medium sized Potato, peeled and diced

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

2 tsp Coriander powder

2 tsp Red chilli powder or to taste

3 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

1 green chilli and few finely chopped onion pieces, for garnish

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well and soak the dried peas in enough water overnight or for atleast 8 hours.

2. Drain the water completely and wash again. Add the peas to a pressure cooker with fresh water to the level of about 2 cm above the peas level. Pressure cook till soft. Take care to not overcook it.

In my electric stove top, I keep on high flame for 10 mins and it gets very soft.

3. Now heat oil + ghee in a pan. Add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, red chillies, ginger and green chillies. Let it cook for few seconds.

4. Now add sliced onion and fry till it turns translucent. Add potatoes and fry in the oil for few seconds.

5. Add tomatoes and mix well. Let it turn soft.

6. In a small bowl, add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder. Add about 2 to 3 Tbsp water and make a smooth paste with it mixing well with a spoon.

7. Add this to the pan and mix well stirring continually for few minutes till the powders cook.

8. Add the cooked green peas along with salt. Also add water if needed to get the desired consistentency. I prefer it thick, so don’t add much water. Cover and cook for about 10 mins on medium flame till the gravy thickens.

9. Remove from flame. When serving, garnish with chopped onions, green chillies and coriander leaves.

Notes:

* You can use dried Green or white peas to make Ghugni. Frozen or fresh ones will not give the same taste.

* Do soak the peas for atleast 8 hours so that it gets digested well by the body.

* Don’t overcook the peas that it gets mashed. We need it go be soft yet retain it’s structure.

* You can enjoy Ghugni as a Chaat or like a curry with rice or chapati.

* For Ghugni Chaat, you can make additions like tamarind chutney/ coriander leaves- mint chutney and sev or bhujiya as topping but I love it just as it is.

* The gravy can be thick or thin like how you prefer but Ghugni is usually had thick.

* With leftover Ghugni, I add paneer cubes to make it Matar Paneer. Tastes so yum too. 😍

My favorite Chaat recipes:

* Masala Puri Chaat

* Bhel Puri Chaat

* Sprouted Moong Chaat

* Paneer Pav Bhaji

Chutneys

Red Capsicum Peanut Chutney| Red bell pepper chutney

April 6, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

As many varieties of dosas and idlis that I make, I love to try different varieties of chutneys as well. Spicy chutneys are my favorite as they make such an amazing accompaniment to dosas. So when I tried this red capsicum chutney recently, it instantly became my favorite as it turned out spicy and delicious.

Even though red capsicums are sweet, the peanuts and red chillies give a wonderful flavour to this chutney which makes it a very tasty dip for dosas. A definite must try if you get your hands on red capsicums. ❤️

Apart from this chutney, I also make Tri colour Capsicum Salsa and fried rice with these capsicums but I must say, red capsicum chutney has won my heart with it’s flavours. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Serves 2 to 3 people }

1/2 a large Red Capsicum

1 medium sized Onion

4 Red chillies (adjust to taste)

2 Tbsp Peanuts

1 tsp + 1 tsp + 1 tsp Coconut oil (for frying and seasoning)

2 tsp Mustard seeds

2 sprigs Curry leaves ( for frying and seasoning)

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan and fry peanuts in it on medium flame till the peanuts change colour and start to open slightly.

2. Remove it in the mixer jar and let it cool down.

3. In the same pan, heat 1 tsp oil and add roughly chopped onions, curry leaves, red chillies and roughly diced Red Capsicum. Fry well till onions turn translucent and capsicum turns soft.

4. Now transfer this to the mixer jar too and let it cool down.

5. Add salt and little water as needed to grind it to a smooth paste.

6. Now heat 1 tsp oil in the pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let mustard seeds splutter. Now remove from the flame and add the ground chutney to the pan. Mix well. Done 🙂

7. Serve with dosas or idlis. Tastes so yum ❤️

Notes:

* I have served it with Methi dosa or the regular way I make my dosas. Makes for such a great combination.

* Don’t add more than two spoons of peanuts as otherwise the chutney will have a nutty flavour than that of red capsicum.

* This ratio of 1/2 capsicum, 2 spoon peanuts, 1 medium onion and 4 Red chillies works perfectly for me. If you prefer less spicy, add 3 red chillies and then you can adjust the spice using red chilli powder.

* This chutney is very unique in it’s taste due to the sweetness of the capsicum, spice from the chillies and the nuttiness from the peanuts. A must try if you love different flavours in chutneys.

* Since oil is used thrice while frying and seasoning, add very little each time so that the chutney does not turn oily. You can skip oil while frying if you prefer less oil.

* This chutney is based on my recipe of Peanut Onion Chutney which tastes amazing as well.

* You can check my other chutney recipes too:

* Amma’s tomato chutney

* Coriander leaves chutney

* Sambarpalli leaves chutney version 1

* Sambarpalli leaves chutney version 2

* Hotel style Tomato Chutney

* Gooseberry or Amla Chutney

* Pudina lehsun Chutney

* Allam Pachadi or Ginger Chutney

* Walnut Chutney

* More than 30 Dosa recipes : Dosa Corner

* 21 Varieties of Idlis : Variety Idli Compilation

* “No rice” Dosa recipes Compilation

* If you have three coloured capsicums, you can try this: Tri colour Capsicum Salsa/ Salad

Curry house

Easy Tomato Curry | To eat with dosa, chapati and rice

April 1, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

After homegrown methi leaves, one produce that has been growing abundantly in our garden is the gorgeous red tomato 🍅. It’s also one of my favorite as I love the flavour it brings in my chutneys and curries.

During off season, I use it only in North Indian gravies but now that they are available in abundance, this tomato curry has been my first choice to make always. I made it as an accompaniment with dosas as a change for breakfast and we loved it so much that now I make it regularly to eat with chapatis and rice too.

The quantity of tomatoes that grows in our garden make me so happy and I want to share it with all of you too. Homegrown love 😍 Look at the variation in size and colours as some are yet to ripe. They stay well at room temperature and the green ones will soon turn red sitting with other ripe tomatoes. It’s a treat to see and use them daily. ❤️

Hope you all try and love this curry with tomatoes too when they are in season. It’s a very simple recipe but tastes really yummy specially with ripe tomatoes. Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

6 to 8 medium sized Tomatoes

2 medium sized Onions

1 inch Ginger piece

3 Green chillies

A sprig of Curry leaves

1 Tbsp Coconut oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

2 tsp Red chilli powder or to taste

Salt to taste

1/2 Cup Coconut milk ( I mix 2 Tbsp Coconut milk powder with 1/2 cup water)

3 to 4 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, finely chopped green chillies and ginger.

2. Now add finely chopped onions and fry till it turns translucent.

3. Now add deseeded and roughly chopped tomatoes. Add salt and mix well.

4. Allow tomatoes to cook well. It will leave water and the mixture will be watery. Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder.

5. Mix well and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Now add coconut milk and mix well.

6. Cook till tomatoes blend well and the mixture thickens ie for about 5 mins. Check for salt and other spice powders. Adjust and then remove from flame. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Notes:

* This curry tastes really delicious as an accomplishment with dosas, chapatis, parathas and rice.

* I add 6 to 8 tomatoes as I have plenty of homegrown tomatoes. You can also use 3 to 4 as per what you have.

* For satwik version, skip onions and add hing instead in the seasoning.

* You can also add rasam powder for a unique flavour. I keep alternating between powders to give different taste each time.

* I also add a dash of pepper powder sometimes. Tastes yum too.

* I use instant coconut milk powder to make coconut milk. You can use fresh coconut milk or even skip it completely. But coconut milk gives a nice thick texture and flavour to this curry.

* For other tomato dishes:

Ammas Tomato Chutney

Hotel style Tomato Chutney

Eggless Tomato Omelette

Salads, Snacks

Tri colour Capsicum Salsa | Easy Capsicum salad/dip recipe

March 23, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 1 Comment

Tri colour Capsicums always attracted me when I went for grocery shopping but it used to be super expensive and I never felt like buying it. Recently Qatar has been growing a variety of veggies locally and hence we have been getting even expensive vegetables like Broccoli and coloured capsicums considerably cheaper. Also just see how fresh they are! 😍

So, whenever I get my hands on them, it’s either this salsa or fried rice. Both ways, it is consumed happily by my kids which is most important for me whenever I cook something. With salsa, I present it to them with nachos for evening snack and they munch it on happily. ❤️

Also, these capsicums are best when they are had raw with their flavours intact. Cooking them leads to make it soft and is not as fresh. So my preferable way to use these capsicums is by making this salsa which we have as an accompaniment with rice meals as well. Tastes so yum. ❤️

Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1/2 a medium sized Green Capsicum

1/2 a medium sized Yellow Capsicum

1/2 a medium sized Red Capsicum

1 medium sized Onion

1 medium sized Tomato

3 Green chillies

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 Indian lemon or half of large lemon