Tag Archives: Konkani dish

Chutneys, Curry house, Konkani Recipes, Salads

Vaingana Bajji | Konkani style mashed brinjal

June 29, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

After my last post of Vastad rotti (pan fried version of Mangalore Buns), I was reminded of another Konkani delicacy which I used to literally beg my grandmother to make. It is this Vaingana bhajji. She used to make with green brinjals (or gulla in Konkani/Kannada) and it tasted so heavenly that I could eat it as it is without rice.

Since we hardly get green brinjals here, I use purple ones for making Bajji. Also traditionally, the brinjal is roasted over gas or wood fire and then mashed after removing skin. If you have the option, then you can do it too. But since we have an electric cooking range, I boil it in water and mash it. My grandmother did this way too and as Amma says, this is much easier (mothers always want less work for their kids and Amma told me to try this way 😁). Life became easier after that and Bajji became our regular dish when we got fresh brinjals.

We love simple meals and this is an accompaniment which is very flavorful yet very basic. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 large Purple Brinjal or 2 medium sized Green Brinjal or 3 small purple brinjals (about 2 cups chopped)

1 medium sized Onion, finely chopped

2 to 3 green chillies, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Hing or Asafoetida powder

2 tsp Tamarind paste

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

Salt to taste

3 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Step by step recipe:

1. Take chopped brinjals in a vessel.

2. Add little water and cook till it turns very soft. Water should be absorbed too.

3. Mash the brinjal very well using a masher.

4. Now add chopped onions, green chillies, tamarind pulp, hing, salt and coconut oil.

***I have used pink salt or rock salt or kaala namak here. Hence the colour pink.***

5. Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve immediately as an accomplishment with rice meals.

Notes:

* I have made it with all varieties of brinjals and it tastes great with any variety of them.

* Traditionally bhajji is made by roasted over gas or wood fire but my grandmother made this version too and I make this because I don’t have gas stove here (nor wood fire 😅).

* Don’t add a lot of water while cooking the brinjals and make sure the water is absorbed well and brinjal is cooked well too.

* You can skip onions if following satvik diet but onions does add a wonderful bite.

* I usually make this with our Matta rice congee and it tastes heavenly with it.

* With white rice and rasam, bhajji makes an excellent accompaniment.

Breakfast time, Konkani Recipes, Snacks

Vastad rotti | Wheat Banana flatbread

June 26, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

Click on the image to save the recipe on Pinterest

I am sure if you are checking this recipe, it must be either due to the amazement of the unique name “Vastad rotti” or have savoured this delicious snack made by your grandmother and just wish to recreate it in your kitchen.

Anyhow for all of you, Vastad rotti is nothing but tava fried version of the famous Mangalore Buns. My grandmother made these rottis as evening snack when she did not want to deep fry the leftover buns dough again. They tasted so delicious that I loved it more than buns itself.

After marriage, when I tried it for the first time, my husband did not know about it but to my amazement, he too loved it very much. So now whenever there are leftover bananas, he asks me make these rottis. In fact, sometimes he brings bananas only for this. Such is the love for these cute small Vastad rottis. 😍

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

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

3 Cups Wheat flour (or as required)

1 Cup mashed bananas

1/2 Cup Curd or Yogurt

1/4 Cup Powdered Jaggery or Sugar

2 Tbsp Besan/ chickpea flour

1 tsp Cumin seeds/ Jeera

A pinch of pepper powder

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Baking soda (optional)* check notes

Step by step recipe:

1. Take mashed bananas in a large bowl. Add besan, jaggery or sugar, cumin seeds, pepper powder, salt and baking soda ( if adding).

**This is an old picture. I add powdered jaggery now.**

2. Add curd and mix well using a spatula.

3. Now slowly add wheat flour 1 Cup at a time and keep mixing till it forms a dough. Knead with hands lightly.

4. Coat the dough with oil and cover and keep overnight or for 6 to 8 hours to ferment at room temperature in a warm place.

5. When making vastad rottis, make equal portions of the dough.

6. Roll like you roll out puri into a thick circle. Use dry flour if needed.

7. Heat a tawa and place the rolled roti on it. Look at it puff up and form tiny bubbles on the surface.

8. Add ghee. Flip and cook the other side too.

9. Serve hot with chutney or dalitoy ( Konkani style dal).

Notes:

* Actually the measurements of this recipe can vary a lot depending on the variety of bananas, water content in curd and quality of wheat flour. So please go with the step by step recipe and follow accordingly.

* You can also make with leftover bananas even if you have only couple of them. Not necessarily 1 Cup mashed bananas are required.

* Add curd along with other ingredients and see how much wheat flour is needed to get it to form a dough.

* Please do not add water while forming this dough. The moisture should come only from bananas and curd.

* I skip baking soda sometimes and even though there is a difference in texture, taste is almost the same. With baking soda, the texture is flaky like a paratha and without it, the texture is like a thick chapati.

* After fermentation of the dough, the dough might leave water and turn very sticky. Just add more wheat flour and form a manageable dough.

* Roll the dough into a thick circle and cook well on medium flame. On high flame, the rotis can turn black due to the presence of bananas in it.

* You can use powdered jaggery or sugar in the dough. Does not make much difference.

Other Konkani breakfast recipes that you can try:

Urad Moong dal Idli | No rice idli

Urad Rava Idli | No rice idli

Batat Phovu

Kobi Pohe | No onion Pohe with cabbage

Chane Usli – Godu Phovu

Muga Dali usli| seasoned moong dal

Idli Usli | seasoned leftover idlis

Pejje polo | cumin flavoured dosa

Surnali | Sweet and spongy dosa

Magge Surnali | using Mangalore cucumber

Horsegram Idli

Instant Cucumber idlis | Thoushe mudho

Instant Cucumber Bhakri

Instant Rava bhakri

Undi with Piyava Gojju

Kharbas dosa

Mushti polo

Dosa corner, Konkani Recipes

Magge Surnali | Mangalore cucumber sweet dosa

June 14, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 8 Comments

I have already posted the basic version of Surnali / sweet and spongy dosa. This version is like an upgrade to it by adding Mangalore cucumber. The addition has so many benefits like:

* The dosa turns out very soft and porous as you can see from the pictures.

* The aroma that the mangalore cucumber gives out is simply heavenly.

* You are adding a vegetable in your diet even without your knowledge. (This is the main reason I make these dosas atleast once weekly. Kids love it and they don’t realise they are eating a vegetable hidden in it 😁)

There was one more reason last year why I made this dosa too often. My husband loves gardening had planted these Mangalore cucumbers from seeds that he got from the core of store bought ones and we had a yield of about 50 of them from our kitchen garden. Yes 50!!!! Here is a picture of some of them.

Since they have a very good shelf life, I kept it as such on counter top and it lasted us a good 6 months. Looking at them everyday made me so happy. ♥️

Sharing the dosa recipe for all of you to try and enjoy too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Cups of peeled, cored, cubed Mangalore cucumber / Magge/ Velarikka

2 Cups Raw Rice (Any variety of white rice)

1/2 Cup grated coconut ( fresh/ desiccated)

1 Cup Beaten rice/ Poha

1/2 Cup Curd

3/4 Cup Jaggery

1 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Ghee to cook the dosa

Recipe:

1. Wash well and soak the raw rice for 2 to 4 hours.

2. Take the peeled, cored, cubed mangalore cucumber and grind to a fine paste.

3. Now add soaked rice along with Poha, jaggery, coconut, curd, turmeric and salt to a smooth paste. Add buttermilk instead of water while grinding for spongier surnalis. Pour into a steel vessel. Mix well with hands to start fermentation.

5. Keep aside covered for 8 to 12 hours or overnight.

6. Take a ladle full of the batter and pour a thick dosa. Add ghee on top.

7. Cover and cook on low flame till the dosa cooks. (This dosa requires low flame to cook. Else it will turn black due to jaggery in it.)

8. Remove and serve hot with butter.

Notes:

* Any variety of white rice ranging from Sona masoori to short grain white rice (used for eating) works well to make this dosa.

* You could substitute curd with buttermilk.

* Ensure the batter is a slightly thick ( not very thick) smooth paste and not watery to get perfect surnalis.

* The amount of jaggery is to taste. You could increase or decrease as per your taste. You can also skip jaggery and make plain dosas with Mangalore cucumber.

* I substitute Mangalore cucumber with watermelon rind ( the white part) sometimes and it tastes delicious as well.

For regular Surnali without Mangalore Cucumber, you can try this recipe:

Surnali

For more Dosa recipes, check my Dosa Corner page.

Curry house, Konkani Recipes

Cauliflower phannaupkari

June 8, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

First dish learnt after marriage is always special and I was lucky to learn this curry from hubby’s aunt who is an expert cook. She taught me so many dishes lovingly just like teaching a daughter. I never felt I was in my in law’s house even without my husband. He was in Qatar while I was living in his village home in midst of a farm. One of the best days of my life for sure.

So this cauliflower phannaupkari is one of the curries that mhave (aunty) made and I loved it very much. Even though very simple to make, it tasted so yummy.

Even now when we get cauliflower, hubby asks for this to be made. Such is the love for this simple curry. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

3 Cups Cauliflower florets

1 large sized Onion, finely sliced

1 large Tomato, roughly chopped

2 tsp Red chilli powder or to taste

Salt to taste

2 tsp Oil

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add thinly sliced onions. Fry till it turns translucent.

2. Add tomatoes and cook till it mashes up completely.

3. Now add red chilli powder, salt and mix well.

4. Add cauliflower with little water and cook till cauliflower cooks completely. Done!

5. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Notes:

* I over cook cauliflower since my family likes that way. You can cook till just done if needed.

* Don’t add much water while cooking or else the flavour will be lost.

* This curry is a spicy one and hence the colour. You can adjust red chilli powder as per your taste.

* I usually blanch cauliflower florets in turmeric water before using since it cleans the florets well.

Chutneys, Konkani Recipes

Sambarpalli chutney | Oregano leaves chutney – Version 1

May 17, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 7 Comments

My husband loves gardening. He has grown a lot of plants in our kitchen garden which yields us different varieties of vegetables during winter and herbs like mint all year long. There are two plants among them which I adore as they are medicinal plants and helps us heal ourselves and our kids when they fall sick.

One is the most revered plant in Hindu tradition, Tulsi or holy basil. He has grown it all around the house and it feels so divine when we sit in our backyard filled with Tulsi plants. The second is these Sambarpalli leaves or Cuban oregano. They are very good to cure cold and stomach problems in both kids and adults. Sharing a picture of our plant.

Though people make so many dishes with these leaves including pakoras, my favourite is this simple chutney ad it not only tastes delicious but is easy to make as well. I try to make this chutney atleast once a week so that we consume the leaves regularly in this way.

Hope you all try this chutney too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

5 to 7 leaves of Sambarpalli/ Panikoorka/ Doddapatre / Cuban oregano

1 Cup Coconut (freshly grated or desiccated)

1 small Onion

1/2 inch Ginger piece

3 green chillies

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well and heat the leaves in a pan till it changes colour and starts oozing water.

2. Allow it to cool down.

3. Meanwhile, add coconut, onion, green chillies and salt in a blender.

4. Add the cooled sambarpalli leaves too.

5. Using water as required, grind to a fine paste.

Notes:

* If you don’t have these leaves, skip it and you get simple raw onion chutney which I make regularly.

* Add coriander leaves instead of Sambarpalli leaves and you get coriander leaves chutney.

* You can skip onion if you are making during vrat days or are a Jain.

* Do not add more than the mentioned leaves as it does not taste good.

* This chutney makes a good combination with Instant Rava idlis.

* These leaves are very healthy and I use them in two ways apart from making chutney:::

1. I put couple of leaves in a vessel along with water. Heat it and take steam inhalation when even having the slightest of cold symptoms.

2. Heat the leaves in a pan as shown in the first picture. Then when it starts oozing water, remove it and crush it using mortar and pestle. Sieve the juice and mix honey (for kids above one year old) . Give as medicine for kids and adults when suffering from cold or stomach ache. Works very well. Take about 6 to 8 leaves for one dose.

Hope these home remedies are helpful to you too. These leaves are really magic!

Breakfast time, Konkani Recipes, Snacks

Muga Dali usli | Seasoned moong dal

May 15, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 5 Comments

I love dishes that does not require much of chopping especially when the husband works extra hours and the kids are extra clingy. Chopping becomes very difficult when they are pulling my legs and pushing my hands.

But I am still hungry. What to do? Welcome muga dali usli or seasoned moong dal. Hardly takes 5 mins to dump everything into the pan, I can keep it on medium to low flame and go play with the kiddos.

After a while, healthy and delicious protein packed usli is ready for me to enjoy! How can I not love this usli! Hope you all enjoy too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Cups Moong dal

3 Green chillies

1 Tbsp Ghee or Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 inch Ginger

A pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Freshly grated coconut for garnish

Step by step recipe:

1. Soak the moong dal for an hour if you have time. Else you can just wash well and use straight away.

2. Now heat a pan with ghee or oil. Splutter mustard seeds, cumin seeds and add hing.

3. Now add finely chopped ginger and green chillies. Fry for few seconds.

4. Now add the soaked moong dal along with tumeric powder,sugar, salt and enough water to cook the moong dal.

5. Cover and cook on medium flame till the moong dal cooks really well and turns soft.

6. Garnish with freshly grated coconut.

7. Serve hot!

Notes:

* We like it mushy and over cooked. So I cook the moong dal till really soft and add a lot of water while cooking. If you don’t like it overcooked, remove when the dal is just cooked while adding only sufficient water when cooking.

* The seasoning is to taste. You can skip ginger if you don’t like it but I love the bite of ginger in this usli.

* I also add few peppercorns and curry leaves when I have it.

* Hing gives a very good flavour to the usli. So don’t skip it.

Drinks, Konkani Recipes

Paanak | Jaggery Lemonade

May 13, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

Paanak is a drink made at temples and homes on the occasion of Ram Navami celebrating the birth of Lord Rama. I remember how I used to wait for this drink when they distributed at our local temple at Katapadi and the flavour is still afresh in my memories. That flavour is difficult to recreate at home just like all temple foods as they are filled with divinity.

At my house, I make Paanak for Ram Navami and along with that, it’s a regular during the summer months here in Qatar. We don’t drink carbonated drinks and this is a healthy replacement. When my husband comes back tired after work, Paanak makes him refreshed.

Hope you all try this drink too!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 large block or 2 small blocks of Jaggery (about a cup of powdered jaggery)

1 large Lemon or to taste

1/2 inch Ginger, grated

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder (optional)

A few leaves of Tulsi / holy basil leaves

Step by step recipe:

1. Melt jaggery with little water in a vessel. (Just melt, don’t make it into a syrup.)

2. Strain to remove any impurities. Now let it cool down.

3. After cooling down, add lemon juice, grated ginger, pepper powder, cardamom powder. Also add little more water to dilute the juice as per your taste.

4. Now add Tulsi leaves on top and refrigerate till it cools down.

5. Strain using a sieve and serve chilled. Enjoy!

Notes:

* Refrigerate the remaining drink and sieve and use when needed.

* You can skip Tulsi leaves if not available but it adds a wonderful flavour and also good for health.

* You can add all ingredients to taste as there is no specific measurement while making this.

Dosa corner, Konkani Recipes

Matta Rice dosa | Surai Ukde polo

May 12, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

Has anyone noticed my Dosa Corner page? I have already updated 8 dosa varieties that I always make for my family. This Matta rice dosa or Surai Ukde polo as said in Konkani is our weekly once breakfast.

I can just eat it with butter and do not need any chutney with this dosa. The combination of Matta rice and coconut brings a unique aroma and flavour to the dosa.

Traditionally, when my grandmother or Amma made this dosa, they did not ferment it. They just ground the batter and used it instantly. I like to ferment the batter as not only it increases the health benefits but tastes more delicious as well.

So here’s sharing the recipe. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Matta rice/ Boiled rice/ Brown rice

1 Cup White rice (any variety of white rice)

3/4 Cup grated Coconut (fresh/ desiccated)

Salt to taste

Oil or ghee to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. Soak Matta rice and white rice together for about 8 hours. Matta rice takes a long time to soak. So soak atleast for 8 hours.

2. After soaking, drain the water and add to the mixer jar. Grind till half done.

3. Now add coconut and salt. Grind till it turns smooth. Pour into a vessel.

4. Ferment the batter overnight or for 8 hours. (Not required in traditional style but I love to ferment it as the taste is so much better when the batter is fermented.)

*Does not rise but you can see bubbles in the batter when it’s fermented*

5. Heat a dosa pan and spread a ladle of dosa batter slightly thick.

6. Cover and cook till the surface cooks. Then flip and cook for few more seconds till done.

Enjoy with butter or chutney!

Notes:

* This is a traditional Konkani GSB dosa which does not require fermenting but I like to ferment the batter as it increases the health benefits as well as flavour.

* I soak the rice in the morning and grind the batter at night for breakfast the next day. It needs atleast 8 hours of soaking for the batter to turn smooth.

* This is the rice that I used for the dosa. It’s called Palakkadan Matta rice. This is also the rice we eat on a daily basis for our meal.

Dosa corner, Snacks

Eggless Tomato Omelette

May 1, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

As a kid, I used to wait for Amma to make these tomato omelettes for me from leftover dosa batter. I loved a lot of tomatoes in them and Amma used to purposely give the omelettes which had the most tomato pieces to me and take the less ones for herself. Such is a mother’s selfless love and I understand it now being a mother myself.

These can be made even without the leftover batter by just adding the flours and mixing. I realised it during my pregnancy when I was craving for them a lot and did not have leftover batter. Quickly mixed this batter and there came out these beautiful tomato omelettes with Amma’s love in every bite.

Dedicate this post to you Amma. Love you very much 😍😘

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Cups Besan/ chikpea flour

1 Cup Rava/ wheat semolina

1/2 Cup Rice flour

2 large Tomatoes

1 medium sized Onion

3 green chillies

2 Tbsp Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Take the besan, rava and rice flour in a large mixing bowl. Add salt too.

2. Now slowly add little by little water and whisk till it’s free of lumps and you get a smooth batter of slightly thick consistency.

Note: If you have leftover dosa batter. Add that to the dry flours and then add water as needed.

3. Add chopped tomatoes, onions, green chillies and Coriander leaves.

4. Mix well.

5. Heat a dosa pan and pour a ladle of this batter onto it. Cook on medium flame.

6. When the surface cooks, add oil or ghee and flip to cook for a minute.

7. Remove and repeat the same with the rest of the batter. Enjoy them hot with butter or chutney.

Notes:

* If using leftover dosa batter, add at step no 2 along with water to make a smooth batter.

* Do add loads of tomatoes and onions for a wonderful bite to these Omelette.

* You could also prepare this batter and refrigerate the previous night for breakfast the next day.

Dosa corner

Instant Sabudana dosa

April 29, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

I am always on the look out for instant breakfast recipes and even though there are many seasoned breakfast ideas in our Konkani cuisine like rullav, phovu and uslis, I have to make variety dosas or idlis for my kids as they love it. And what better than this instant Sabudana dosa.

Sabudana is used a lot in Konkani and Marathi households especially during fasting or vrat days. Even though we don’t get good Sabudana here, I bring some from India just to make this dosa. I love these dosas just with butter and they make such a filling breakfast.

Thank you Jayashri Baleri for this recipe and Durga Arvind Hegde for requesting this recipe to be put up in this new blog.

Happy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sabudana/ Sago

1 Cup Wheat Rava/ Semolina/ Sooji

1/2 Cup grated Coconut

3 green chillies, finely chopped

3 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste