Batate Humman

This is no onion no garlic recipe.

Ingredients

Boiled potatoes                                  --  4 to 5

Grated coconut                                  --   ½ cup

Red chilly                                             --  15 to 20

Tamarind                                             --   lemon size

(Instead of tamarind we can use Raw mango or Bimbul)

Hing powder                                       --  ½ tsp

Coconut oil                                          --  2 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

Remove skin of boiled potatoes and make 1” cubes.  Grind coconut, red chilly  and tamarind into fine paste.   Mix the potatoe cubes with masala  add salt add enough  water  to make gravy and boil it for 10 minutes.  Mix hing powder with little water and pour this on boiling gravy.  Switch off gas and pour 2 tsp of coconut oil.  Batata Humman is ready to serve with hot steaming rice.

Kotto (Kottige)-Idly steamed in jackfruit leaves basket

We all know that most of us are very familiar with this dish.   This is a regular weekend breakfast  and festival breakfast in almost all Manglorean Konkani  homes.    I would like to describe about this to the Non-Mangloreans.    Kotto is nothing but Idly batter steamed in mini basket made out of four Jackfruit leaves  pinned together in a form of mould with the help of sharp and clean broom sticks.    From today  lots of   festivals are coming one by one,   today  “Naagara Panchami” then comes “Avani Avittam (Sutha Punnav)” ,  “Ganesh Chaturthi” etc.

 

Nowadays people don’t spend time in making these baskets,  but these baskets  are available readily made in Mangalore market.   But still  all Grand Mothers prepare this very patiently with their hands.  Although  it is idly batter but the aroma it gives when prepared in jackfruit leaves is superb.  Here I would share the step by step method of preparing the basket and then Kotto.

 

 

Making leaf basket

1.   Take four jackfruit leaves of same size washed and cleaned,   few clean broom sticks cut into 1 inch pieces. 

 

 

 

1.   Pin 2 leaves head to head then keep 2 leaves perpendicular to the pinned leaves and  pin head to head. 

 

 

1.   Now it will look like a ‘plus’ sign.  Fold the leaves upwards fold the edges without giving any gap and pin to the adjacent leaves. (otherwise batter will leak). 

 

   Basket (kotto) is ready.   (refer pics)

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

Urad dal                                    --   1 cup

Raw rice                                    --   2 cups

Salt to taste

 

Method

 

Soak urad dal and rice separately for 3 to 4 hours.  Wash and grind  urad dal  into thick batter (add little water while grinding).   Grind rice in to rawa consistency.  Add both batters together add salt and keep for fermentation for 6 to 8 hours.

Add water in a steamer, fill batter in the baskets (please do not fill to the edge fill only 3/4^th of the basket).  Steam for 20 to 30 minutes.  Let it cool for some time. 

 

 

Tear the basket and the kotto is ready to serve with green chutney  or yam pickle(already posted in my blog) or sambhar or chutney powder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meen polichathu (Fish in banana leaf wrap)

I had this for the first time in my first Alleppey visit in year 2007.  We had our trip to House boat and Veegaland in that vacation.   In the House Boat they served us with traditional Alleppey fish curry meals and “karimeen Pollichathu”.  In the evening we all did fishing and enjoyed a lot with “ Nadan Kallu and Karimeen pollichathu”.

I still cant forget the taste of that fish fry in banana leaf wrap. 

I thought of sharing my experience with you.  Here I could not get karimeen so I tried the same recipe with Pomfret (Aavoli/Maanji).   

 

 

 

 

Step 1

Marination for fish :-  

 Clean a full Pomfret fish and cut into thin slices. 

Ginger paste          ½ tsp

Garlic paste           ½ tsp

Chilly powder        4 tsp

Pepper powder      1 tsp

Lemon juice           1 tbsp

Salt   to taste.

Oil  for shallow frying.

Step 2

Ingredients for Masala

Finely chopped small onions               1 cup

Finely chopped  ginger                         2 tbsp

Finely chopped garlic                           1 tbsp

Finely chopped green chilly                 5 to 6

Red chilly powder                                 ¼ tsp

Turmeric powder                                   ¼ tsp

Curry leaves few

Thick coconut milk                                ¼ cup

Salt  to taste.

Oil  for cooking.

Step 3 

Banana leaves to wrap fish.

Step 1 Method:

In a bowl add chilly powder, pepper powder, ginger garlic  paste, lemon juice,  salt, 2 tsp of oil and little water mix well prepare thick paste.  Marinate this paste to fish keep it for at least 2 hours.

Then heat oil in pan and  shallow fry both sides of the fish till half done.   Remove fried fish and keep aside.

Step 2  Method

Heat  oil (in which you had already fried the fish)   add chopped onion, ginger, garlic , green chilly fry till light brown,  then add curry leaves, chilly powder, turmeric powder fry for 2 to 3 min. At this stage add thick coconut milk and little water.   Do not  boil the gravy.

Switch off the gas.

Meanwhile  heat  banana leaves  slightly  so that it can be folded easily

 

Spread little gravy on the leaves keep fried fish then again pour  little gravy on it so that  gravy evenly gets coated  fish slices .  Wrap banana leaves and tie knot.  Prepare all fish slices like this and keep aside.

Heat dosa tawa and  grease little oil and keep all fish wraps on it and   cover and cook both sides for 5 to 10 minutes.

 

 

 

These fish wraps can also be grilled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread dosa

I don’t like cornflakes and I don’t prefer to eat plain bread for breakfast.  I prefer dosa/idly and other traditional breakfast food.  But in lazy weekend mornings  I can’t spend time in making  dosa batter and idly batter and don’t have much time for its fermentation also.    I got this recipe from net which is very easy  to prepare.

 

 

Bread slices                                   10

Curd                                                ½ cup

Rava                                                ½ cup

Ginger                                             small piece

Green chilly                                    2 to 3

Salt to taste

Method

soak bread slices  with little water  for 5 min.

Grind  rava, curd, green chilly and ginger into fine paste. 

Then add   Soaked bread and grind it again.  No need to add more water.

   

Smooth thick batter is now ready then add salt and mix well

then keep aside for 10min.

Prepare thick dosa from this batter fry both  sides. 

 

Serve with any Chutney  .

Tasty   easy  dosa ready to serve.

 

 

Kharkhari machkat

This is my hubby’s favourite Dosa and he use to prepare this whenever   I go my home on vacations.  He prefers this dosa with chutney powder.

 

Ingredients

Raw  rice                           1cup

Urad dal                            ¼ cup

Grated coconut                ¼ cup

Salt to taste.

Method

Soak raw rice and urad dal for 2 hours. This batter does not require fermentation.

Grind soaked rice,  urad dal and grated coconut into coarse thick batter.   Add salt and mix well.

Heat dosa tawa prepare thick dosa cover and cook then turn it and cook for 2 to 3 min.   Serve with any chutney or curry.

 

 

 

Tomato Rasam

 

I got this recipe from my friend Rajeshwari Menon  whose mother used to prepare it well.  She always used to encourage me and regularly  tries my recipes and give valuable feed back on each one of them.  Today  I thought of preparing it because it has lots of medicinal values and feel very good especially when we have a sour throat and cough.

Thank you  Rajeshwari and her mom for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

 

 

·        Tomatoes                                        2no’s

·        Coriander powder                            2tsp

·        Red chilly powder                            1tsp

·        Jeera powder                                   1tsp

·        Black pepper powder                      1tsp

·        Ginger garlic paste                          1tbsp

·        Mustard seeds                                 1tsp\

·        Hing powder                                    ¼ tsp

·        Lemon juice                                     1 big lime

·        Oil                                                    1 or 2 tsp

·        Curry leaves few

·        Coriander leaves for garnishing

·        Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, hing powder and curry leaves fry for a while in a low flame then add chilli powder and coriander powder.   Fry till nice aroma comes (stop frying when you start sneezing).   Add ginger garlic paste fry till raw smell goes then add tomatoes.  Fry for 2 to 3 minutes  till the tomatoes get smashy then add pepper powder,  jeera powder and adequate  water and salt.   Boil it for 10 to 15 minutes.  (If tomato is not sour add  tamarind pulp).   Switch off the gas, squeeze lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.  Serve hot with rice or can be used as a soup.   

 

Mangalorean fish fry

Ingredients

·       Sardines                                           ---     ½ kg         

·        Chilli powder                                     ---     2 tbsp

·        Garam masala/baffat powder           ---     1 tsp

·        Turmeric powder                                ---     2 tsp

·        Ginger garlic paste                             ---     1tbsp

·        Salt to taste

·        Oil for frying

 Method

      i.        Cut and clean  the fish  then marinate with lemon juice and salt keep aside for 10min.

    ii.        Take one bowl add chilly powder, baffat powder, turmeric, ginger garlic paste and little water and make thick paste.

   iii.        Marinate this paste to  fish coat all fish evenly then keep aside for at least 30 min.

   iv.        Heat frying pan grease with little oil add few curry leaves(optional) then keep marinated fish pour little oil over it let it fry 5 to 10 min.

    v.        Then turn the fish and let it fry for 5 to 10 or till done.

   vi.        Fish fry ready to serve.