Happy Birthday !

2^nd Anniversary of my blog

                                           “The discovery of a new dish

                                           does more for human happiness

                                           than the discovery of a new star.”

                                                                                               - Brillat-Savarin

 

I hope I am able to give you all the happiness that a new dish gives in the way it gives me pleasure when I post a new one.

Time flies so fast! Its celebration time again ! This month is the 2^nd anniversary of my blog. And it is growing each year for which I have to give due credit to all my readers and well wishers.

I also take this opportunity to thank each one of you – all my friends including my blogger friends and those from Facebook, KAF (Konkani Amchi Food), Flickr, food blogs, and last but not the least my close friends and family members without whose help and inputs, all this would not have been possible.

Cheers ! This is my way of saying "Thank you"  with this sweet and sour Mint & Ginger drink ! It is easy to prepare, tasty, and healthy too.

Mint and Ginger Drink

Ingredients :

Mint leaves (1cup), Ginger (11/2” pc), Jaggery/Palm sugar (powdered – 2tsps, lime juice of ½ a lime, chaat masala – 2-3 tsps, Water or club soda – 3 glasses.

Method :

Grind mint leaves, ginger, jaggery, lime juice and a little water to a smooth paste. Place this paste in a jar and add water or club-soda. Finally add chaat masala. Mix well and serve chilled. 

Note : You can use sugar instead of jaggery. Its an ideal summer drink.

Pendaro

What is Pendaro ? This is the question I asked my husband when we visited the market to buy flowers for the Ganesh Utsav as he insisted on buying this vegetable. They were there in plenty. Since this was the first time I had come across this vegetable, I was hesitant. But he informed me that this vegetable is rich in iron. Being a health freak, I agreed to buy provided he knew how it is to be used. But believe me; it (health) does not come cheap! The Pendaros were being sold for Rs.80/- per kg. We bought half a kilogram.

On our return to Bangalore, I was excited to try out this new vegetable and so asked my husband to tell me how to go about cutting the vegetable and preparing the curry. To my surprise he was clueless in the preparation but told me that I can prepare “upkari”, “gojju”, “phodi” and “sukke” out of this vegetable and that he has tasted them during his childhood days!

I then contacted some of my local relatives and friends for any guidance on how to cut and prepare any dish out of it. Most of them seemed to have eaten it sometime but not very sure on the preparation. I finally contacted my sister-in-law in Mumbai who was very pleased to give me all the details that I wanted to know. So here I am !

I am sure most of the Amchis (term used for konkani speaking people) who were brought up in the coastal Karnataka (Mangalore, Udupi etc) region would relate to this vegetable.

I was told that this is a wild vegetable found in the coastal Karnataka forest region and is available only during the monsoons especially during the Ganesh festival time. "Pendaro" is the Konkani word for this vegetable. I have not been able to find its equivalent name either in Hindi or English. I tried to find its botanical name but without success. If anybody reading my blog can give more info on this rare wild vegetable, I shall be much obliged.

 Pendaros in a basket

This vegetable is almost round in shape, dark green in colour and resembles raw mango in appearance.

It cooks easily though. There is a seed inside which need to be discarded. Once cut, the seed turns black immediately (within seconds) and the rest of the vegetable will also change its colour after a while. While cutting, the chopping board and your fingers too will turn dark brown. But you needn’t worry as the stain can be easily removed by scrubbing and washing with soap.

I prepared Gojju (side dish) and  phodi (shallow fried) and upkari  (dry curry) from this vegetable. Since I am trying this out for the first time, I made it in small quantity – serving for two only. I found it quite tasty. The taste of the pendaro upkari was similar to that of  Raw Banana upkari.
Pendaro phodis can be prepared in the same way as  Phagila Phodi

Pendare Gojju

Pendare Gojju

Ingredients:

Pendaros	2
Green chilles	1
Salt	To taste
Curds	½ cup
Seasoning ingredients:
Oil	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Asafetida (hing)	½ tsp (a pinch)

Method :

Pendaro halved

1. Wash the pendaros. Then cut off the ends. Halve it and remove the seed. If the inside is tough near the seed, then remove this thin layer.
2. Chop the rest of the pendaro into medium size pieces.
3. Steam these for about 25-30 mins.
4. Mash them with a potato masher.
5. Roughly grind green chilies and salt and mix it with the mashed pendaro.
6. When cooled, add curds to it and mix well.
7. Finally heat a small pan. Add oil, and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start spluttering, lower the flame. Then add curry leaves and asafetida. Switch off the gas and pour the contents on to the curd and                                                the mashed pendaro mixture.Mix well and serve.

Steamed Pendaro pieces

Serves: 2

Note:

• You can pressure cooker the pendaros. It should not take more than 12-15 mins.
• I used the steamer as I had to steam other vegetable too during that time.
• Can be served as a side dish. 

Pendaro Phodi  (Sliced pendaros being shallow fried)

I also made Pendaro phodi. It tasted fantastic too.  Any phodis for that matter tastes wonderful and this phodi is no exception !

Pendaro Upkari (Dry curry)

Pendaro Upkari was made with garlic and dry red chilies as seasoning in oil. This is a regular konkani upkari. Its taste was similar to that of raw banana upkari.

Bread Rolls (Baked)

Special occasions call for special treats. But time was short and I was in no mood to slog in the kitchen the whole day. But at the same time I wanted something special, appealing, tasty and healthy too! A tall order !

I generally have stock of bread in my bread-box. I went through my refrigerator and found the ingredients for paneer bhurji. So instead of making the usual sandwiches, I decided to make bread rolls. Since I had boiled potatoes in the fridge, I also made potato stuffing (mixture of mashed potatoes, chopped onions, chopped green chilies, asafetida, chopped coriander leaves, lime juice and salt).

The end result  was quite rewarding as these rolls quickly vanished from the plate !

Baked Bread Rolls with tomato ketchup

Ingredients:

Whole wheat bread slices	8
Milk	1 cup
For the Stuffing:
Paneer (cottage cheese)	200 gms
Coriander leaves (chopped)	1 tbsp
Green chillies (chopped)	1-2 (as per taste)
Onions (chopped)	1 medium
Salt	As per taste
Oil	4-5 tsps

Method:

I   First prepare the stuffing: Paneer Bhurji as stuffing :

     Preparation of Bhurji

Getting ready for "Bhurji" filling

1. Crumble the paneer with your hand and keep aside.
2. Heat a small pan. Add 2-3 tsps of oil in it. When slightly warm, add the chopped onions and green chillies and sauté it till the onions turns translucent.
3. Add salt and the crumbled paneer and stir it for 2-3 mins and switch of the gas.
4. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

II  Prepare the bread slices :

• Pour one cup of milk in a wide shallow bowl.
• Take one bread slice and soak it in the milk for few seconds. Remove it and  place it between your palms and press it firmly but gently to drain out the excess milk.
• Prepare all the bread slices in this manner and keep aside.
• Now place the bhurji stuffing on one side of the slice and gently roll it till the stuffing is completely covered with the bread slice. Press the edges with care to seal it.
• Follow the same procedure for all the slices.

III   : Baking :

Ready for baking

         Smear the baking tray with oil and place the prepared bread rolls in the tray.

         Dribble (or smear with a brush) the remaining oil on top of each roll and bake it

         in a preheated oven for 15-20 mins  at 180 degrees Centigrade.

Bread Rolls with chutney & Salsa

IV   : Serve the baked bread rolls with tomato salsa and green coriander chutney
         or tomato ketchup.

Preparation time: 30 mins

Baking time       : 15-20 mins

Makes               :  8 rolls

Note:

• If baking has to be done at a later stage, then refrigerate the prepared rolls.
• If you are in a hurry, there is a short-cut method for preparing the paneer stuffing - mix the crumbled paneer with green coriander chutney and chopped onions. You may have to spice this mixture with salt and chilies.
• Ideal for any parties.