Avial

This recipe is from an ex-colleague who is from Kerela.I love avial & make it whenever I have, even a little amount of fresh coconut, at home.

Ingredients : 10 beans,1 big carrot,1-2 drum sticks,1-2 raw bananas,150-200gm yam( suran ),150-200gm red pumpkin,150-200gm white pumpkin,2-3 hari mirchi,1 cup dahi,1 cup fresh grated coconut,a few kaddipatta leaves ,1tbsp jeera ( cumin ),1/2 tsp haldi,salt to taste.

Method : Keep 1 cup water to boil in a pot.Now start cutting vegetables.Cut 1 inch pieces of drumsticks & put them in the pot of boiling water.Next cut the carrots - thin 1 inch pieces.Add carrots to the pot.Next cut the beans in to 1 inch pieces- this can be managed by fingers - no need to use knife.The beans also added to the pot.Add more water to the pot -the water must be just enough to drown the vegetables,not more.No standing water on the veggies.

Remove skin from bananas,yam ,red & white pumpkin.Now cut bananas similarly & put them in the pot.Next goes the yam ,followed by white & red pumpkin. All must be sliced into thin 1 inch pieces & put in the pot.Add water if level goes below that of the veggies.Add haldi & hing.Also add salt to taste.

Take grated coconut ,mirchi,kadipattas & jeera & grind them nicely in mixture.Add this ground mixture to the pot after the veggies are cooked.Let this ground mixture & veggies simmer for 4-5 minutes.Put off the gas.After it cools down to room temperature,add beaten curds to the mixture.Mix nicely.Salt can be added if needed.

Another method is to keep all the cut veggies ( except drumsticks which get overcooked in pressure cooker)   in a cooker by adding salt & haldi to washed & diced veggie pieces. Pressure cook for  cooking for 2 whistles..Cook drumsticks in water with haldi n salt. Cook in water sufficient enough to drown diced drumsticks.

After drumsticks are cooked, add pressure cooked veggies to cooked drumsticks in vessel .

.Then add the coconut mixture & simmer for 4-5 minutes.Lastly, add dahi after veggie coconut mix has cooled down.

If there is need for watery avial ,one can add water or chaas.As you get the hang of it ,you can reduce the amount of coconut also.One can use sour curds to make this dish tangy.I make avial with sometimes 3 veggies only -like banans,red & white pumpkin.Also the proportion of veggies can change depending on what suits your taste & availability.

I added lots of curry leaves while grinding & got this green avial another time when I made it ! More nutritious !

Raagi dosa

Raagi or nachni or finger millet.

Raagi or nachni or finger millet is an excellent source of calcium....

Ingredients : 1 Cup leftover  idli or dosa batter , 1 cup ragi atta ( nachni atta ),1/2 cup dahi or chaas or buttermilk,,1/2 inch grated ginger,2 tbsp oil,salt to taste.

Method : Mix raagi atta with dosa batter .Add dahi or chaas to make it into a paste.The result should be like dosa batter consistency.Keep aside for half an hour to 1 hr.

Add salt to taste & grated ginger & mix.Take a ladle full of dosa batter mixture & spread it on the tawa.Cover with a lid.Turn on the gas to high & cook for a minute.Remove the lid & if the sides of the dosa have seperated from the tawa ,spread a tsp of oil on the dosa & turn it upside down.Now cook the dosa for a minute.Remove it from the tawa & serve with chutney or sambar or chutni powder with til oil.

Similarly make more dosas.

If the dosa batter is thinner in consistency ,just drop it on the tawa. Just rotate the tawa .And the batter will spread itself on tawa.Do not try to spread it.Follow same steps thereafter.

Con uttapa

Ingredients : 1 carrot,1 onion,few kadipatta leaves,1/2 " ginger piece ,dosa atta,3 tbsp oil,salt to taste.

Method : To the dosa atta ( 1 cup urad ,3 cups rice ,1 tbsp methi seeds,1 /2 cup cup thick poha -ground fine after soaking for 5-6  hrs),add grated ginger & carrot.Also add finely cut onions & kadipatta leaves.Another option is to add whole kadipatta leaves.Add salt to taste.Add some water to this mixture & mix nicely.Water is needed as the veggies make it difficult to spread the batter on tawa.


Heat the tawa & spread some oil on tawa.Now put a ladle full of batter on the tawa & spread it .It cannot be spread too thinly like dosa.Cover with the lid & let it cook.After 1-2 minutes,just turn down the uttapa on its back & heat it .After a minute or two, ,it can be removed & served.It can be eaten with chutni ,sambar ,chutni powder & gingelli ( til )oil .Chutni powder can be added to dahi & served with uttapas.

Chana masoor sprouted dal

I tried this dish once & my kid loved it. So ,I started making it fairly regularly.

Ingredients :1/2 bowl masoor ,1/2 bowl kaala chana,1 large onion,1 tomato , 1/2 carrot,1-2 hari mirchi,1/2 inch ginger,a few leaves of kadipatta ( optional ),1 tsp garam masala,2 tbsp oil,1/4 tsp hing ,salt to taste.

Method : Soak masoor & kaal chana in the morning.By evening ,remove the water & strain.Keep them covered in a perforated vessel.They can also be kept tied, in a clean piece of cloth to generate sprouts.Next morning ,they will have sprouted -masoor more than chana .If more sprouting is needed ,they can be kept for one more night & then cooked.

Take the sprouts & add water .Also add salt & pressure cook for 2 whistles.Then keep gas on slow & cook for another ten minutes.Now ,put off the gas. 10-15 minutes later  ,after the cooker has cooled,take out the sprouts .It will look like this.




Take a kadhai & put oil in that.Now add grated ginger & finely cut hari mirchi into the oil.Saute them all. Now add diced onions.Saute them.Add hing & mix well.Add diced carrot & mix.Finally, add diced tomatoes & mix well.Now add garam masala .Put off the gas after 5 minutes. When this mixture has cooled to room temperature ,take it out & make it into a paste by grinding the mixture in the mixer.Now add this paste to the sprouted dals.

There are two options now : one can cook the dal -paste mixture in cooker for 1-2  whistles depending on how soft one needs the sprouts to be .One can also opt to heat  the dal -paste mixture in a vessel till it boils once, if the massoor is not to  become a complete paste.

Now the dal is ready.One can add a dash of lemon juice to make it tangy.One can   garnish with hara dhania.

This dal can be accompaniment to chapatis ,rice & even pulav.

Khatta dhokla

Ingredients : 2 cups left over idli batter ( ratio :1 cup urad dal & 2 cups idli rava ),1 tbsp dahi,1 tbsp idli rava,1hari mirchi ,1/2 inch ginger ,2 tbsp oil,1/4 tsp hing,1/2 tsp eno fruit salt,1 tsp mustard seeds,1 tsp black pepper powder,few kadiaptta leaves,salt to taste.

Method :I mixed 1 tbsp dahi to the 2 cups idli batter & then realised that the consistency had become like dosa batter.So ,I added 1 tbsp idli rava.I also added 1/2 tbsp oil & salt to the batter & mixed it nicely.I left it overnight .

Next morning ,I added chilli ginger paste - either cut the hari mirch very finely & grate ginger.Another option is to pound the hari mirchi & ginger with apestle.Now mix this mirchi-adrak with the idli batter.Add 1/2 tsp eno fruit salt to the batter & mix the batter again.

In the cooker, I put water & let steam be generated .I put  a stand in the cooker.The water must be generating staem before the dhokla batter is kept in the cooker.I greased a flat bottomed vessel with oil & poured  the batter into it.I  sprinkled black pepper powder on the batter.I put on the cooker lid.I let  the dhoklas be steamed for 7-8 minutes.I then  off the gas.I took  the cooker lid off & put a knife into the steamed batter to check if the dhokla is ready .As the knife came out clean, the dhokla cake  was ready.

I prepared the seasoning or vagar by heating oil & putting mustard seeds,hing & kaddipattas into the hot oil.I poured this vagar on the steamed dhkla cake.Then, I cut the cake into dhokla pieces.

Hashi mandakki

Hashi mandakki means wet murmura...hashi stands for wet & mandakki stands for murmura in Kannada. It can be called masala murmura. This is a popular snack in Hubli Dharward belt.  It is a dish made famous at khanavalis  ...the term used for eateries in villages  & small towns in Karnataka.

Ingredients : 250gm murmura,2 large onions,1 tomato,1capsicum,1 carrot,2 hari mirchi,1/2 inch ginger,10 -12 kadipatta leaves, 1 tsp urad dal,1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp hing,1/4 tsp haldi,2 tbsp oil,hara dhania - a few sprigs,salt to taste.

Method : Wash the murmura in water:take a large bowl of water & put some murmura in it.They will float.Try to drown them in water by hand & when they come up to the surface ,collect them & put in a plate.Wash all the mumura & keep aside in the plate.

Cut  all the vegetables except the carrot & the ginger, into fine pieces.Grate the carrot & the ginger.Take a frying pan & heat the oil.Add mustard seeds & when they splutter, add urad dal.After the urad dal gets golden brown add the onions & saute them Now add hari mirchi ,kadi patta, ginger,haldi & hing.Nicely mix them all.Add the diced capsicum & grated carrot. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.Now add the diced tomato.& cook for a minute.Now add murmura & mix thoroughly.Add salt to taste & cover the pan to cook for 1-2 minutes.Put off the gas.Wet murmura is ready.

It can be garnished with fresh  dhania.

Tip:Towards the end,one can add methkoot to the murmura & mix thoroughly.This is to prevent the mumura from sticking to the pan.Hence ,just cook for 1-2 minutes after adding murmura.

Instead of methkoot, powdered daaliya can be added.Daaliya is called puttani in Kannada.

Instead of adding tomato ,one can squeeze lemon juice after the murmura is ready.

In North Karnataka ( especially , Girmit is from Hubli Dharwad belt )  , roasted bengal gram powder or puttani powder  ( in Kannada ) or daalia powder ( in Hindi )  is added in place of methkoot after this hashimnadakki is prepared & mixed all over to give a unique flavour ! I added puttani chutni pudi instead of methkoot .

Unlike poha , which increases in volume when washed ,murmura will reduce in volume on washing.