Mavinkayi gojju

I had a small raw mango in my refrigerator. I wanted to try this  gojju with that mango. I decided to make my recipe trying to recollect how my mom makes it.I looked up this gojju recipe on Taste of Mysore 

Ingredients : 1 small raw mango ( my raw mango had turned somewhat ripe & it was yellow on the inside & not so sour ) , 1 tbsp fresh dessicated coconut, 2-3 green chillies finely chopped, 5-6 sprigs of curry leaves ( kadi  pattas ) , 1/4 tsp methi seeds, 1 byadgi chilli broken into 2-3 pieces,1/2 tsp jeera, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp hing, 1 tbsp gur or jaggery, 1tsp rasam powder, 1 tbsp oil,salt to taste.

Method : Roughly chopp the raw mango.Keep it aside.

In the dry grinder jar, grind the green chillies with washed kadi pattas.A coarse green mix will be obtained.Keepa side.

Grind the fresh dessicated coconut & raw mango pieces into a paste .Add little water if it gets too dry.Keep aside.

In a kadhai , take oil & warm it on gas.Add mustard seeds.After they pop up, add methi seeds followed by fenugreek seeds.After they have popped up , put the byadgi mirchi pieces.They get fried in a second or so as the oil is really hot now.Next ,add the green mix of chillies & kadipattas.Fry it for a few seconds. Add haldi & hing. Mix nicely.Now , add the raw mango coconut paste mix. Add the guthli or the mango seed as well as it has some remanent raw mango pulp sticking to it. Fry it all for about 3-4 minutes.Add 1/4-1/2 cup water. Bring it all to boil.Add salt & jaggery.Let it simmer for five minutes. Put off gas.Serve gojju with rice and or rotis.

My kadhai had got too hot & the jeera, mustard & methi seeds had turned black.My parents said the gojju was too sour .I found it to be mildly sour.

Bisibele bhaath

This dish from my home state Karnataka , is a complete meal in itself.A very popular dish -my hubby loves this & so do I.

Ingredients :1 cup rice,3/4 cup tur dal,1/2 cup carrots -diced into 1/2 " pieces,1/2 cup beans -diced into 1/2 " pieces,1/2 cup peas( optional ),1 tbsp peanuts,2tsp rasam powder,2 tsp sambhar powder,1-2 byadgi mirch ( dry red chillies ), 1-2 green chillies( optional ),2 sprigs curry leaves,1 tsp urad dal ,1tsp mustard seeds,1tsp hing,,1tsp haldi,2 tbsp oil,salt to taste,1 lemom ball sized tamaraind soaked in 1 cup water.

Method : Pressure cook rice & tur dal  - in different vessel s for 2 whistles.After the second whistle ,slow down the gas & pressure cook on low flame for 5-10 minutes.Put off the gas.

In a kadhai,warm the oil.When it has heated up ,add mustard seeds .After the mustard seeds have popped up add urad dal & peanuts.After the peanuts & urad dal have changed colur add byadgi mirchi. followed by the curry leaves.Put off the gas..Then add hing & turmeric.This is the vagar.Keep aside.

Now  ,in another vessel, add 1 tsp oil ,add the diced carrots& beans, peas,vertically split green chillies & stir fry on a low flame.Add 1/4 cup water   to the veggies till they get tender.Add some salt & turmeric to the veggies.Squeeze the soaked tamrind into the water & strain it.Add the filtered tamarind water to the vessel.One can again soak the same tamarind in water & squeeze to get more pulp & again add the pulp after filtering it to the vessel..Then the remanants can be discarded.Boil the mixture.


Mash the cooked tur dal with spoon to get an even paste.Add this mashed tur dal paste to the vessel.Mix nicely.Now add the bisi bale bhaath  powder.I used  Madhavi Home Foods Kamaal Karnataka Masala ( Bisi Bele Bhaath masala ) .Mix nicely with the dal .Let it boil.Add salt & then add rice.Mix nicely.The bisi bele bhaath is ready .Take vagar set aside earlier & top the vagar on the bisi bele bhaath.

The consistency has to be watery.As the day progresses ,this bisi bele bhaath becomes semi solid & by night ,it is like a solid lump.As the day progresses ,the bisi bele bhaath gets more tasty as well.

Serve bisi bele bhatth with banana chips/potato chips or fried papads or any fried vegetable like aloo fry,bhindi fry etc.In the alternative ,a raita can be served as an accompaniment.

I think the taste of Madhavi Home Foods Kamaal Karnataka Masala is so authentic that it is simply SUPERB !

Tips : Instead of putting peanuts in the oil after the mustard seeds,they can be added to the tur dal & pressure cooked.

One can put the chopped veggies ...carrots , beans & even peas in tur dal & pressure cook veggies & tur dal together.