Chayote Chutney / Seemae BaDhneKayi Chutney

I came to know about this vegetable when we visited my aunt A in Bangalore. She would make sabzi or chutney out of this vegetable. When my parents shifted to Bangalore, my mom started using this vegetable to make chutney in Bangalorian style. When I came to US, I saw this vegetable in the Indian store by the name of Chayote, but I was not very sure if it was the Seemae BaDhneKayi I had seen in Bangalore. So I never bought this vegetable. Now when my parents visited us, my mom confirmed that the vegetable was indeed Seemae BaDhneKayi and we got it home. This chutney requires only 1 tablespoon grated coconut, but tastes like pure coconut chutney. Also this vegetable does not contain any fat. Read more about Seemae BaDhneKayi here. Here is my mom's chutney recipe.

Ingredients
1 Seemae BaDhneKayi or chayote
1 tablespoon coconut
1 teaspoon jeera
1/2 inch tamarind piece or 1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1-2 green chilies
salt for taste

Method
Peel the chayote and cut it into small cubes. Boil the chayote pieces till soft. Grind the cooked chayote pieces with the rest of the ingredients into a fine paste. You can serve this chutney with dosas, idlis, rice or roti.


Preparation time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Whole Wheat Dosa / Gava ani Urada Polo

My mother used to make these dosas as whole wheat is very healthy. I get whole wheat from the Chinese grocery store. The atta stays in the fridge for 2 days, so I feel it is a convenient way to make quick breakfast. This dosa can be made with ginger- green chili paste or with gur if you want to make sweet dosa.

Ingredients
1 cup wheat
1/2 cup urad dal or split and husked black gram
1 teaspoon salt
oil for frying
1 inch ginger piece
2-3 green chilies

For sweet Dosa:
1/2 cup gur or jaggery

Method
Soak urad dal and wheat in warm water separately for 8 hours.
I change the water and add warm water every 3-4 hours. If you are soaking in cold water or in winter then soak wheat for around 12 hours. Grind half of the urad dal into a fine paste. I check it by putting a drop of the urad dal paste in between my fingers and making a string by stretching my fingers apart. If the string of urad dal paste breaks, I grind it further.

Add half of the wheat in the urad dal and grind further till the wheat is coarsely ground. So, if you grind urad dal and wheat together, the urad dal nor the wheat will be finely ground. Add salt, green chilies and ginger in the final round of grinding. Grind rest of the paste in a similar way. This dosa batter does not need fermenting. Oil a pan and spread the dosa batter thinly. Cook covered on one side. Flip the dosa to the other side and cook uncovered.

Serve hot with sambhar and/or chutney.


Variations: You can make the dosa without the urad dal. You can just omit urad dal. Soak the wheat and grind it with the rest of the ingredients mentioned above. Add maida or all purpose flour. For one cup of wheat add 1/2 cup maida and mix well. Add water to get the consistency of dosa atta and make dosa.

Rice And Sago Kheer / Dudhpak

Dudhpak is a very easy to make dessert. I just adore the saffron flavor and the dry fruits in dudhpak. It can be made with a combination of rice and sabudana (sago) or just rice. Basmati rice imparts a great flavor to the dudhpak, however you can also use ordinary rice. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup basmati rice (if sabudana is not available use 1 cup rice)
1/2 cup sabudana (soaked for around 3-4 hours)
2 pinches of keshar or saffron
1 tablespoon powdered cardamom
2 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts(cashewnut, non-salted almonds, dried raisins)
1 cup sugar or as per taste
4 cups of whole milk

Method
Boil the milk and let it reduce on slow flame for 15 minutes. Ensure that you sit it occasionally to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep the milk aside to cool it down to room temperature. Take 2 tablespoons of this hot milk and add keshar to it and keep it aside. Chop the nuts into desired sized pieces and fry them in 2 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter. Wash the basmati rice. Boil around 3 cups of water add the rice to it. Cook the rice till it is 3/4 done and drain the remaining water. The rice grains should not stick to each other and it should not be overcooked. Spread the rice on a plate to cool it. Meanwhile boil 2 cups of water and add the sabudana to it. Cook for around 4-5 minutes and drain the water. Mix the sabudana, rice, sugar, cardamom, milk with saffron and dry fruits. Stir it gently to fold in the rest of the ingredients with sabudana and rice. Now add the cooled milk and stir well. Keep the dudhpak in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours before serving.

If you want to serve the dudhpak hot, use the same procedure above, but add hot milk to the rice and sabudana mixture and serve immediately.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 5-6

Eggplant and Drumstick Sabzi / Vaigana Ani Mashigasange Upkari

This is one of my favorite sabzis and it goes well with spicy sambhar or rasam. Both drumstick and brinjal contain lot of iron and other minerals, so it is a very nutritious combination of vegetables. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
4-5 drumsticks
1 medium brinjal or eggplant
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 red chilies
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon grated coconut (optional)
salt for taste

Method
Cut the ends of the drumsticks and cut each drumstick into 2 inch pieces each. Cook the drumstick in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle or until soft. Cut the brinjal into approximately 1/2 inch cubes. Add oil in a pan and add add mustard seeds. Add red chilies and fry for a minute. Add cut eggplant and cook covered till the eggplant is soft. Add very little while cooking if needed. Mix the cut drumstick and mix it well with the eggplant. Add salt and grated coconut and cook for 5 minutes or till the salt is well blended with the vegetables. Serve hot with rice.


Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Konkani Fish Curry / Mangalore Pomfret Curry

This fish curry is one of my favorites. I got frozen white pomfret from Coconut hill Grocery store in Sunnyvale and found that it better than the fresh fish I get at the Chinese Ranch market. This is curry made at my home back in India. It is also called "alle piyava ambat" as it uses ginger and onion to make the curry. In many households like one of my aunt's, it is called "Jhalke Randayi". All mean the same yummy curry. Here is the recipe.

Tips: Never stir the fish curry with a ladle as it can break up the fish. Stir the curry gently with a small spoon avoiding the fish or better shake the vessel to mix the masala.

Ingredients
1 cup grated coconut
1 medium size pomfret fish
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1 finely chopped green chili
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
3-4 roasted red byadgi chilies (I roast red chilies on a medium flame for around 10 minutes and cool it. This imparts a better flavor to the curry)
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or 1/2 inch piece of tamarind
1 teapoon coconut oil
salt for taste

Method
Clean and cut the fish into thin slices. Add the onion, ginger, green chili and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a pan and crush it with hand or back of a spoon. Add 1/2 cup water and cook till th onion is soft. Grind the coconut, red chilies and tamarind into a very fine paste. Add this masala to the onion masala. Cover and cook for around 5 minutes or till the masala comes to a boil. Add fish and cook for another 5-8 minutes or till the fish is cooked. Adjust salt as per taste and sprinkle coconut oil on the curry. Mix very gently with a spoon and cover the curry with a lid. This will enable the flavor of the coconut oil to blend with the curry. Serve hot with rice.


Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Chana Sabzi

Kala Chana Sabzi a great for tiffins and goes well with roti. It is very simple to prepare and here is the recipe.

Ingredients
100 gms kala chana
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
3 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon oil
5 tablespoon chopped coriander
chili powder and salt as per taste

Method
Wash and soak the chana for 8-10 hours or overnight. Wash the chana well and keep it aside. Add 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and add chopped ginger and garlic. Saute till the color changes to golden brown. Add the onion and fry till the onion is brown in color. Add 3 chopped tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes are soft. Now add all the powders and cook for 5 minutes so that the masala flavors are absorbed by the gravy. Add the kala chana and 3 cups of water. Pressure cook for 3 whistles or till the chana is soft and well cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti.


Preparation time: 40 minutes excluding soaking time
Serves:2-3