Mangalore Goli Baje

Goli Baje is another of traditional Mangalorean speciality equivalent to Kanda baje in Maharashtra and pakode in North India. Hence it is very popular in Udupi region which has many temples. Goli Baje does not contain rice, onion and garlic and yet tastes great.  It can also be considered upwas or fast food. Goli baje like any fried snacks, should be consumed immediately when it is hot or else it becomes soggy and loses its crispiness. I serve it with coconut chutney and the recipe follows after the goli baje recipe.
 

Ingredients  
1 cup maida or all purpose flour
1 tablespoon besan or chick pea flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2-3 green chilies or as per taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1/2 cup curd or yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar or as per taste ( I like them a little sweeter)
1/2 teaspoon jeera or cumin powder

4 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
pinch of pepper powder
4-5 curry leaves
salt as per taste
oil for frying

Method 

Sieve the flour, besan, salt and baking soda. Add ginger, chopped green chilies, curry leaves , cumin powder, and sugar to the yogurt and give it a pulse or two in the blender. Take care not to make a smooth paste of all the ingredients mixed in the yogurt. Mix the yogurt paste with the flour. Add water if required to make a thick paste. The consistency should be thinner than roti dough and thicker than the idli batter. Add coriander leaves, pepper powder and adjust salt and sugar. Heat oil in a pan and drop "grape-sized" batter in the hot oil. Fry till golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Coconut Chutney
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sliced or grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or small piece of tamarind
1 tablespoon sugar
pea sized piece of ginger
3 green chilies or as desired
salt for taste

Method
Add as little water as possible to the above ingredients to make a smooth paste.

Spring Onion Stirfry/ Zhunka

Zhunka can be prepared with many vegetables like methi or fenugreek, cabbage, carrots, spring onions and onions. I got a couple of bundles of spring onion from my local grocery store and planned to make this dish. The base is made of besan or chick pea flour which is rich in protein. The process involves partially cooking the vegetables and then coating them well with chickpea flour. The vegetables are then cooked to perfection along with the chick pea flour. In Maharashtra it is also called poor man's dish as the ingredients are readily available at low cost and the nutrition content is also very high. It goes very well with roti, but traditionally people have it with bhaktri or millet (Jowar/Bajri) rotis. 

I also use non-stick utensils to make zunka as it is easier to cook chick pea flour. If cooked in traditional iron or steel pans the chick pea flour sticks to the bottom and gets burnt and the flour on the top half doesn't cook well. 

Ingredients 

3 cups chopped spring onions

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

4-5 cloves of garlic (around 3 tablespoons)

4 finely chopped green chillies or as per taste

1 cup besan or chick pea flour

1 tablespoon jaggery

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

pinch of asafoetida

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

4-5 curry leaves or karipatta 

salt for taste

1 tablespoon oil

Method  

Fry the chick pea flour on low flame for 4-8 minutes or till the raw smell goes away. Keep aside to cool down. Crush the ginger and garlic to make a fine paste and keep aside. 

 Heat oil in a non stick pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Coat the curry leaves well in oil and then add garlic and ginger paste. Fry on low flame till the raw smell goes away and then add chopped green chilies. Cook the chilies for a minute and add chopped onions and saute it for 4-5 minutes. Add the spring onions and cook uncovered for 4-8 minutes till the spring onions are half cooked. and the raw smell is gone. Salt the vegetables as per taste. Add jaggery, red chili powder and turmeric powder and mix well. 

 Now sprinkle the besan in 2-3 batches on the vegetable mixing well each time. Sprinkle few handful of water or as required to make the besan a little moist. Cook covered stirring occasionally to avoid big lumps on besan from forming.

Eggless Black Grape Mousse

Geeta Aunty made this when I had visited her in Coorg. She has a treasure of recipes and she was generous to share her recipes with me. I got her recipe book photo copied and I am excited to know so many Coorgi recipes. Her recipe collection also has a excellent collection of pot-luck recipes. One of her recipes was Grape mousse. I tried this recipe in India as black grapes were in season when I was there. Black seeded grapes provide a better flavor to the mousse. It is very simple to prepare and makes a great dessert to make for pot - luck party. 

The grape mousse has a creamy part and a glaze which is darker in color. 

Ingredients:

For Cream base:

1/2 tin condensed milk

250 gms black grapes

2 tablespoon sugar

300 gms cream

4 teaspoon gelatin

Method for Cream Base:

Cook the grapes in 1 1/4 cup of water and 2 teaspoon sugar for 10-15 minutes on low flame till the grapes are soft and cooked. Remove from flame and cool completely. 

Blend the grapes in the blender and sieve the mixture in a sieve. I sieve it in a sieve which has slightly bigger holes than a sieve used to strain tea. 

Mix gelatin in 1/2 cup water and hear it on low flame till the gelatin melts. Add the gelatin to the above sieved grape mixture. 

Beat the condensed milk and add it to the grape puree. Put it in a mould or in the container in which you want to set the mousse and keep it in the refrigerator till the mousse is semi-soft. I put it in fridge for around 25-35 minutes. Blend the cream and mix it with the grape mixture. Keep it in the fridge till it sets well (around 3-4 hours).

For the Glaze:

1 teaspoon gelatin

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup black grapes

2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon corn flour dissolved in 2 tablespoon cold water

Method for Glaze:

Cook 1/2 cup grapes in 1/4 cup water with 2 table spoon sugar. Cook properly and cool down. Blend the cooked grapes in blender and sieve it. 

Dissolve the gelatine in double boiler or on very low flame till the gelatin melts completely. Keep aside.

Mix the dissolved cornflour mixture into the sieved cornflour mixture. Cook the grape mixture on low flame till it is thick. I cook it for 10-15 minutes on low flame. Add the gelatin mixture and cook for 1 minute. Remove from fire and once it completely cooled, pour it over the creamy- mixture of mousse which was kept in the fridge to set. 

Keep it for 2-3 hours in the fridge so that the glaze will set over the creamy mousse. Cut it into pieces and serve chilled. One needs to scoop it with a spoon while serving it. I have tried to cut it into pieces like a cake and have not been very successful :) 

Microwave Easy Cooking - FRUITS, Event

This recipe goes to the event organized by Nivedita and Srivalli. Thanks for organizing this interesting event.

Microwaved Pear With Dryfruits

Cooking With Seeds- Nigella Seeds Event

I saw the event organized on Taste Of Pearl City. This is a unique roundup with recipes which use Nigella seeds or kalonji. Kalonji is mostly used for pickles and is extensively used in sabzis in eastern Indian cuisine. I am sending these recipes for the event organized by Ayeesha and Priya.

Baigan Ka Achaar

Bhindi Do Pyaza

Pumpkin Sabzi

Event starting with B

These recipes go for the event Dish Name Starts with: B organized by Akila.

 

Baigan Bharta 

Bruschetta

Banana flower stirfry

Bitter Gourd Sabzi

Bread Upma

Bottle Gourd Halwa

Bhindi Do Pyaza

Beans Sabzi

Black Beans Sabzi