Simebadanekayi Upkari

When we first came to Bangalore, this vegetable caught our attention as it was available in plenty. This vegetable is known as “Simebadanekayi” in Kannada. In Tamil it is know as chou-chou and in western countries esp. in US it is known as chayote.

This vegetable cooks very easily and varies dishes can be made from it. Besides, it is also very good for health and not expensive too. It is a very versatile vegetable. It can also be used in Sambhar, Sindhi Kadhi, Kurma, salads or even fries or “phodis”.

When I first tried my hand at this vegetable, I was not aware that the skin needs to be peeled. So we all had a tough time eating this - as the peel does not cook and is very hard and chewy! Ofcourse, I have learnt my lesson the hard way - literally!

This dish which I have made here is a typical Bangalorean dish.

Ingredients:

Simebadanekayi	2
Channa Dal (split gram)	3 tbsps
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Jeera (cumin seeds)	1 tsp
Dry Red chillies	2
Green chillies	1
Asafetida	A pinch
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Salt	To taste
oil	1 tbsp
Corriander leaves (chopped)	2 tbsps
Lime juice	2 tsps

Grated coconut (optional) 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and peel the skin of simebadanekayis. Halve it and discard the white seed which is inside. Then cut the vegetable into cubes.
2. Wash the channa dal and keep aside.
3. Heat a pan/kadai/wok on a medium flame. Add to it oil, mustard seeds, jeera and dry red chillies.
4. When mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves, asafetida and green chillies. Then add the washed channa dal. Stir well and add half a cup of water and allow it to cook for a while.
5. When channa dal is half cooked, add the simebadanekayi cubes, salt and mix well. Simebadanekayi leaves its own water. But if necessary, you may add a little water to avoid sticking at the bottom.
6. Cook till done. Add lime juice and mix well.
7. Finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut.
   
8. Serve hot.

Serves: 3

Note:

• Grated coconut is generally also added as garnish along with coriander leaves.
• This dish goes well with rice and dal and even with chapattis.

See here for more info on this vegetable:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote

Madagane (Sweet dish)

This mildly sweet dish is generally prepared during “Ugadi” festival in all Konkani households. In other south Indian states too, a similar type of dish is prepared and it is known as "payassam".

Even though, I enjoy this dish, I would always hesitate to prepare it as it involves a cumbersome process of breaking the coconut, grating it, grinding it and finally filtering it to remove the juice of the coconut.

Thanks to the coconut milk which is readily available in the market, now all this work can be completely eliminated and can be quickly prepared without hassles. Ofcourse not everybody would agree with me but I being slightly lazy would always opt for a litle short-cut method !!

In the market a wide variety of coconut milk or coconut milk powders are available. I would recommend the Homemade brand which comes in tetra packs of 200ml. According to me, these are (as the name suggests) quite fresh and does not give the coconut oil smell if you use it as per their instructions.

Ingredients

Channa dal (Bengal gram dal)	1 cup
Tender Cashew nuts	15 - 20
Powdered jaggery	1 cup
Coconut milk	1 pkt (200ml)
Cardamom powder	1-2 tsps
Rice powder	1 tbsp
Water	3 cups

Method :

1. Soak the tender cashew nuts in hot water for 15-20 mins. Then peel the skin and halve it and keep aside.
2. Wash channa dal.
3. Boil 2 cups of water. Add to it the washed channa dal and when it is almost cooked, add the halved cashew nuts.
4. When dal and the nuts are cooked, add the powdered jaggery and mix well.
5. Lower the flame and add rice powder. Stir well to prevent it from sticking at the bottom.
6. Add coconut milk and stir again. If its very thick add a little water.
7. Bring to boil and remove from flame.
8. Finally add cardamom and mix well.
9. Serve hot.
   

Serves : 6

Note :

You can substitute Moong dal (split green gram) or broken wheat or oats for Channa dal (split black gram) using the above method in which case the cooking time for each will vary accordingly.

Rice powder is added as a thickening agent. You may omit it altogether or use any other thickening agent of your choice ( like corn starch).