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

Oats Veg Bhakri

Hello Friends, Its been quite a while ( to be precise almost 6 years ) since I have published any post on my blog. I might say that a lot of water has flown under the bridge. My grand-daughter just completed six years now and in the meantime, we have also changed our residence. So, overall it was quite hectic these last few years; but seeing my grand daughter growing up gave me and my spouse enough joy and believe me she is quite a handful! 

Well, I am now trying to get back to blogging  {I hope I have not forgotten how to go about it :) }.  I have now to get in touch with all my blogger friends, and hope to revive their contacts too. Looking forward to  your comments and reply like the good old days.

Frankly speaking, what gave me this sudden impetus to restart my blog is that I participated (having got the info from my husband's nephew) in a recipe contest organised by youthofGSB (Gowd Saraswat Brahmin community to which I belong) and they have published all the recipes in the book named Gowd Saraswat Recipe contest book in a pdf format. I think that's enough of my blabbering.  

As you all know that we are all looking for a healthy breakfast to start our day. I was in a mood to start something new and hence started searching on the net for some oats preparation. After a lot of search, I came across Oats Bhakri. I made some changes to suit the texture & palate. Bhakri is generally spread thickly. You can also refer to my earlier recipe of Red Pumpkin Bhakri

Oats Veg Bhakri served with a dollop of white home made butter

Ingredients:

Oats (Instant)            - 1 cup

Semolina (regular)    - 1/2 cup

Curds                         - 1/4 cup

Green chillies            - 1 or 2 chopped

Water                        - approx 1 cup

Corriander leaves      - a small bunch chopped

Grated carrot             - 2 tbsps

Capsicum (chopped) - 2 tbsps

Tomato (chopped)     - 1 medium

Onion (chopped)       - 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

Method:

1.  In a bowl, mix oats, semolina and salt.
2.  Add curds & mix again.
3. Next add water to dilute it slightly.
4. Now add all the chopped vegetables, green chilies and coriander leaves and give it a good mix.
5. At this stage, add water and mix again without any lumps. The batter should not be very dilute or thick. Let it sit for for about 10 mins.
6. In the meantime, heat a griddle or tawa . Smear oil
7. When the pan is hot enough, lower the heat and spread a ladle of the prepared batter not thinly.
8. Dribble oil all around the bhakri and keep the flame on medium. 
9. Now flip the bhakri and fry on the other side too.
10. Continue in the same manner with the remaining batter.
11. Tastes good with white home made butter.

Preparation Time: 15-20mins

Cooking time       :  20 mins

Makes                   :  8 Bhakris  of  size approx 5-6inches

Ingredients

                                                                   

Oats, Semolina & Salt placed in a bowl

                                               

Curds added to the above mixture

                                                            

Chopped vegetables added to the above mixture

                                       

                                      Batter is mixed thoroughly so that no lumps are formed

                                      

Bhakri has been spread thickly on the hot griddle

                                              

Bhakri has been flipped over

All set & ready to serve

                                                            

Note: 

• Chop the vegetables as finely as possible.
• Oats can also be powdered though not much change in the texture of the bhakri.
• Do not spread the batter thinly.
• Serve with any chutney of your choice if you do not have white butter.
• Bhakris have to be eaten hot.

Mango Rice

It's the mango season! And I got two home-grown raw mangoes from my friend's backyard (no, I did not steal them !). She distributed it to all her friends as they were in abundance. I made Aam Panna of the large one and decided to make mango rice of the other one. I had never tired it before but I was told that the method of preparation is the same as that of lemon rice. So without much ado, I embarked on this new dish. I cooked rice well in advance and since I also had a stock of roasted peanuts, it halved the cooking time. It tasted good but a bit tangy. You can adjust the quantity of the raw mango as per your taste.

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice	2 cups
Raw mango (grated)	3/4th cup
Oil	2 tbsp
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Udad (split black gram) dal	1 tsp
Roasted Peanuts	1 tbsp
Turmeric powder	1/4th tsp
Green Chilies (chopped)	1 or 2
Ginger (finely chopped)	1 inch piece
Freshly grated coconut	2 tbsps
Freshly chopped coriander leaves	For garnish
Salt	As per taste

Method:

1. Wash, peel and grate the raw mango. Measure 3/4^th cup and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and udad dal.
3. When the mustard seeds starts spluttering, lower the heat and add the curry leaves and the roasted peanuts.
4. Next add turmeric powder, chopped green chilies and chopped ginger. Saute it for a while.
5. Then add grated raw mango. Give it a stir and let it cook for a few minutes.
6. Now add grated coconut. Mix well.
7. Finally add the cooked rice and salt. Mix well and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.
8. Serve hot with fried papads.

Main ingredients

Mustard and Udad dal in a pan of hot oil

Peanuts and curry leaves added to the tempering

Turmeric, chilies and ginger added

Addition of grated raw mango

Freshly grated coconut also added

Finally cooked rice added

Mango rice ready to be served

Mango Rice served with fried Pappads

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time : 10 mins

Serves : 2

Note:

• Rice should be prepared well in advance and cooled thoroughly before preparing this dish to get the best result. Alternatively, you can also use leftover rice.
• You can substitute, cashew-nuts for peanuts.

Palak Raita

Most of us Indians are familiar with the word “raita” but to my surprise, I recently found out that “palak raita” as such is new to some of them. Hence I thought of sharing this side-dish with you all. This is not only easy to prepare but also tastes good with any rice dishes such as pulao, biryani, fried rice or even puliogare to name a few. It's also a good accompaniment to any rotis, phulkas or parathas.

If interested, you can check my other palak (spinach) dishes -  Palak Patradau and Dill and Spinach Curry.

Ingredients:

Palak (Spinach)	A small bunch
Curd (thick)	1 cup
Salt	As per taste
For Tempering:
Oil	1-2 tsps
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Cummin seeds	1 tsp
Fenugreek (methi) seeds	1 tsp
Dry red chilly	1-2

Method:

1. Pick and wash the fresh palak (spinach). Roughly chop them into chunks. If using steamer, steam them for about 12 mins or if cooking in water, ( use very little water as it leaves its own water) cook till they are wilted.
2. In the meantime, beat or whisk the curds well and keep it aside.
3. When the steamed (or boiled) spinach has cooled down, pour the beaten curds over it.
4. Then add salt and prepare the tempering - Heat oil in the tempering pan and add all the ingredients mentioned under it. When it stops spluttering, switch off the flame and pour the contents on to the spinach and curd mix.
5. Mix well and it is ready to be served.

Main ingredients

Spinach chopped 

Chopped spinach in steamer

Just removed from the steamer

Curd beaten and kept aside

                           

Beaten curd poured over the steamed spinach

Tempering under process

Tempering added to the above mix

Palak Raita ready to be served

                                 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking time : 15 mins

Seves : 2-3 persons

Note:

• I used one red chilly for tempering. You can use more as per your taste.
• Curd used should not be sour.
• Ideal side-dish during the summers.
• It tastes good when served chilled.

Red Capsicum & Tomato Soup

Let me start by wishing all my friends and fellow bloggers a Very Happy and a Prosperous 2015.

I sincerely hope the New Year will bring glad tidings to you all. I personally don't believe in making any New Year resolutions as they are generally broken. But I thought it might be a good idea to sincerely make an attempt to eat and prepare healthy foods whenever possible. So what better way to start my first post of this year with this hot, nutritious and tasty soup. It's also perfect for the current chilly weather. Me and my spouse thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I shall be taking a short break from blogging and hope to continue with it next month. 

Ingredients:

Red Capsicum	1
Tomato	2 medium size
Melon seeds	1 tbsp
Garlic (optional)	7-8 pods
Red chilly powder (optional)	1 tsp
Corn flour	1 tbsp
Salt	As per taste
Freshly ground pepper	For garnish

Method :

1. Wash red capsicum and tomatoes.
2. Grind melon seeds to a fine paste using little water and keep aside.
3. Cut tomatoes in large chunks and boil them in a cup of water. When done set aside to cool.
4. Smear Red capsicum with oil and with the help of a fork roast the capsicum directly on flame. Keep turning the capsicum till the whole capsicum is charred from the outside. Switch off the flame and when cooled, skin the capsicum in a bowl of water. Deseed it and chop it into chunks.
5. Now grind the cooked tomatoes and the roasted & chopped capsicum along with garlic (if using) to a smooth paste.
6. In a saucepan, add the ground tomato and capsicum paste, chilly powder and salt. Let it cook on a low flame.
7. In the meantime, mix the melon seed paste and and corn flour/starch into a bowl and pour the entire contents into the saucepan. Keep stirring it so that no lumps are formed and allow it to boil for a minute or two and then remove from the flame.
8. Pour the contents in soup bowls. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper on top.
9. 
   Serve hot.
   

Preparation time : 15-20 mins

Cooking time : 30 mins

Serves: 3-4 persons

Note:

• This is a very healthy and tasty soup.
• Melon seeds have a lot of health benefits and Red Peppers/Capsicum are packed with anti-oxidants.
• The roasting of Red Pepper takes a little more time than the actual cooking.