Jackfruit Seed (Bikkanda) Koddel

As promised in my earlier post, I am presenting here the recipe made from Jackfruit seeds or Bikkand as it is known in Konkani language. Since the tempering is done with garlic it is called "Koddel".

 It's a simple recipe and is generally prepared by the GSB ( konkani speaking communities). Jackfruit seeds are gassy, hence it is generally combined with "Magge" (Yellow Cucumber) and/or with drumsticks. On the whole this combination makes it very nutritious and tasty too. 

Firstly, jackfruit seeds should be washed and dried in the sun for a day or two. Once dried, you can easily peel off the outer white skin. Once this is done, it's ready for cooking. So let's begin.

Ingredients:

Jackfruit seeds               -     about 15

Yellow Cucumber          -     1/4th Pc

Drumstick                      -     1 

Garlic                             -     5-6 garlic cloves

Oil for tempering           -    2 tsps

Salt to taste

To be ground to a paste

Grated coconut              -      1 cup

Dry Red Chillies            -     2-3

Tamarind                        -     a small marble size

Method:

1.  Wash the Yellow cucumber, Jackfruit seeds & drumstick. Then cut the jackfruit seeds into half,      yellow cucumber into bite-size pieces and drumstick into 2 inch pieces.
2. Then cook the cut vegetables either in water or pressure cook it for about 10 mins till it is cooked well but not mushy.
3. In the meantime, grind all the ingredients ( grated coconut, red chilles & tamarind) to a smooth paste.
4. Now, take a vessel, add little water along with the cooked vegetables  and keep it on a medium flame. Also add the required salt and allow it to boil for few mins, for the salt to be absorbed. 
5.  Lower the flame and add the ground paste and mix it well with a wooden spoon/ladle. Let it boil for a few minutes. Then remove from flame.
6. Now heat a tempering pan, add oil in it and let the oil warm up
7. In the meantime, crush the garlic cloves. Once the oil is heated, add the crushed garlic cloves and fry them till they turn brown. Switch off the flame and immediately transfer it to the vessel containing the mixture of cooked vegetables & the ground paste. Cover the lid immediately.
8. Koddel is now ready to be served.

Dried Jackfruit seeds

Peeled & Cut Jackfruit seeds

Vegetables being cut

                                                                                 

Vegetables boiled in pressure cooker

                                      

Grated coconut, Red chillies & Tamarind ground to a paste

                                   

Ground paste added to the cooked vegetables

Garlic cloves being fried in oil

                                            

Fried garlic cloves transferred into the vessel

Preparation Time : 20 mins

Cooking time   :  20 mins

Serves       : 3- 4 persons

Note:

• The gravy should not be very thick or thin.
• If garlic is not your choice, you can totally omit it. Instead you can add a teaspoon of asafetida water OR  half a teaspoon of the powder along with coconut oil or any other oil of your choice to the boiled veg and ground paste mix. In which case, this dish will be called Bikkanda Humman.  
• I have previously posted Cookaa (Chinese Potato) Humman. Jackfruit seed Humman can also be prepared in the same manner

Jackfruit Idli (Ponsa Idli)

It's the jackfruit season! People in general have a love-hate relationship with this ripened fruit as it is very aromatic. It's grown in plenty in the southern part of India. We Amchis (Konkani speaking people) love this "Ponosu" (as it is called in konkani for the ripened jackfruit) and a lot of sweet dishes are prepared from this fruit. One such sweet dish is "Ponsa Idli". 

Traditionally this idli is prepared in "Teak Leaf " and is called " Ponsa Muddho". When steamed in teak leaf, the "Muddho" turns reddish in colour.  And if "teak leaf "  is not available, banana leaf can be used instead.  But, as you all know by now, that I always choose the path of least resistance - I just steamed them in our regular idli moulds ! And the end result was good. My spouse will vouch for it. It is best eaten with a dollop of ghee (clarified butter).

I have previously posted about the Jackfruit & its recipes  - Jackfruit Payasam (Gharayi), Jackfruit Fritters (Mullik) & Jackfruit Patholi in my blog. You can check it out by clicking on these names. 

Jackfruit (Ponsa) Idlis to be eaten with a dollop of ghee

                                         

Ingredients:

Jackfruit Plums (deseeded) - about 15
Rice - 1 cup
Powdered jaggery - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Ghee (clarified Butter) - for smearing the idli mould & also to be eaten with idli
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Soak rice for about an hour. Then drain water completely.
2. In the meantime, chop the Jack plums and keep them aside.
3. Grind the chopped jack plums, grated coconut & powdered jaggery to a smooth paste without adding any water. When done, remove it in a bowl.
4. In the same mixie jar, add the drained rice and grind it to a coarse powder without adding any water.
5. Add the coarsely powdered rice and salt into the bowl (containing the jackfruit mixture) and mix it thoroughly into a smooth paste without any lumps.
6. Now grease the idli moulds with ghee.
7. Heat the idli steamer with water. If you are using pressure cooker, take care to remove the whistle.
8. Fill the greased idli cups with the prepared batter and steam for 20 mins.
9. When cooled remove the idlis from the mould with the knife/spoon.
10. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee on top.

Jackfruit Plums deseeded

Rice soaked in water

Jackfruit plums being cut into pieces

Jackfruit plums, grated coconut & jaggery added in mixie jar

The above mixture ground to a fine paste

Rice ground coarsely

Rice powder & salt added to the above mixture

Mixed into a smooth paste without lumps

Ready for steaming

Idlis steamed and ready to be removed

                                     

Jackfruit Idlis ready to be served

Preparation time : 20 mins   

Soaking time        : 1 Hour
Cooking time       : 20 mins

Makes                   : 16 Idlis

Note:

• While grinding do not add water at any stage. The batter will be watery and the idlis will not turn out well.
• The quantity of powdered jaggery can be adjusted according to the sweetness you desire and also the sweetness of the jackfruit plums.
• Any type of rice can be used. I have used Idly rice.
• Do not discard the Jack fruit seeds (Bikkand in Konkani) as it can be used in various curries. Will share some recipes of Bikkand in the coming days.

Punar Prathishtha of Venkatramana Temple, Katapady

Last week we returned from our long vacation at our village in Katapady, Udupi district where we attended the “Punarpratishta of Lord Venkaramana” followed by Rathothsav festival or “Teru” as it is called in Konkani language. “Punarprathista” means re-installing the deity in the renovated temple.

I am told that this temple is about 300 years old. It was unanimously decided by the residents to renovate the temple for various reasons. The renovation work started ten months ago and was reopened on 22^nd January 2015 by Srimad Samyameendra Thirtha, the junior Swamiji of Kashi Mutt with great pomp and celebrations which lasted for five days from 17th Jan to 22nd Jan 2015. Many dignitaries from the Karnataka Government as well as religious heads from nearby places graced the occasion and were awed by the wonderful carvings on wood as well as stone in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The architect 25 years old, happened to be the youngest person to achieve this level of perfection.

We watched the actual ceremony of the “Punar Prathista” on the screen installed outside the temple as only a selected few (one of them was my senior brother-in-law) were chosen to participate in the ceremony.

Here are some of the glimpses of the the renovated “Garbha Gudi” and its peripheri. I regret not having taken our cameras. We took all the photos from our mobile phones. I hope we have done justice to the wonderful sculptures that depicted the “Dashaavtar” the intricate wood carvings and the “Vishnu Sahasnam” engraved on the four walls of the Garba Gudi which is unique to the temple.

Beautifully carved entrance door

The main entrance to the temple

Entrance to the Sanctum Sanctorum

The carved structures on the inside of the dome 

Some of the metal carvings inside the dome

Jaya  & Vijaya at the entrance 

Various carvings in the dome

Wooden carvings at the four corners of the Garba Ghudi walls

Close-up of the wooden carvings

                       

The above 10 stone carvings depicting, Dashavatar (Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narsimha, Vamana, Parshurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha & Kalki) at the front wall of the temple.

The illuminated temple

"Teru" in front of our house "Doddamane" being welcomed with "aarti"

The temple premises lit with hundreds of diyas 

                                                                         

Beautifully done Rangoli

Another Rangoli under progress

During this period everyone who attended the function, were served varieties of breakfast items and sumptuous meals on all the days of the festivities. We all had a wonderful time.

Gar Dudhiya Saalli Upkari (Bottle-gourd (peel) skin curry)

This humble “Gar Dudhi Saali upkari” is prepared in most homes of the GSB community especially from Mangalore and Udupi region. I have however made this with a slight twist.

“Gar-dudhi” in Konkani language means Bottle-gourd and “Saali” is the peel/skin and of course upkari means a dry curry. In Hindi it is known as "lauki".  This is normally prepared by cutting a slightly thick slice of the skin and then chopping the skin into strips (breadthwise). Potato is generally added in this curry.

Gar-Dudhi was never a favorite in our family. But believe it or not the Gar-Dudhi Saalli upkari was always welcome. It’s a simple dish but tastes really wonderful. Try it out once and you will never ever discard the precious skin of the Dudhi !

The slight twist that I was talking about is that I have used the manual grater to grate the skin lengthwise so that it resembles like noodles. I have also incorporated carrot to add colour to the otherwise dull looking dish. Hence the whole dish gets a makeover and looks very appealing and to use the well known phrase - “old wine in a new bottle”.

 Ingredients:

Bottle gourd	1 medium
Potato	1 medium
Carrot	1 medium
Water	½ cup
Salt	As per taste
For Seasoning:
Oil	2 tsps
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Dry Red chilies	2
For Garnishing
Chopped coriander leaves	1-2 tbsps
Grated coconut (optional)	1-2 tbsps

Method:

Grated vegetables with the grater

Grated (Bottle-gourd peel, potato and carrot)

1. Wash all the vegetables and wipe them dry with a kitchen towel.
2. Peel the potato and carrot and keep them aside.
3. Cut the bottle gourd (Dudhi/ Kaddhu) in two or three pieces roughly the same size of the carrot. Then grate each piece of the (bottle gourd) lengthwise in such a way that only the outer skin is grated leaving the flesh of the gourd intact as we need only the skin of the gourd for this recipe.
4. Immerse the grated skin into a bowl of water immediately to avoid discoloration.
5. Once this is done, grate the potato in the similar way.
6. Finally grate the carrot also lengthwise so that the length of all the grated vegetables is more or less equal.
7. Heat the oil on a medium flame in a Kadai or pan. Add the seasoning ingredients. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering, lower the flame, add the grated potato (discarding the water). Increase the flame and give it a good stir.
8. Next add the grated carrot and grated skin of bottle gourd and mix well. If it sticks to the bottom, add a little water and stir well. Add salt and allow it to cook for about 10 minutes or till done. Switch off the gas.
9. Finally garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and freshly grated coconut.

Note:

• I totally forgot to add the freshly grated coconut while photographing it.
• This dish tastes good with rice and dal or rasam. Also goes well with chapattis.