vinayaprabhu2 - Vinaya's Culinary Delights

Peas Pulao-2

Posted on February 12, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

This variety of Peas Pulao is a Sattvik one. I have already posted one which makes use of onions in this website. Today’s recipe was shared by my friend Usha Nayak and it is every bit as flavourful as the one with onions. Be sure to be a little liberal with the whole spices as this Pulao doesn’t have green chillies as well. The original recipe is the one made in a pressure cooker. I prefer cooking the rice separately as there’s no fear of it getting mushy which does happen if it is not matured rice. Sharing the link below of how to make the perfect rice for Pulao.

https://vinayasculinarydelights.com/recipe-to-make-the-perfect-rice/

Ingredients:

1 cup/ 250 gms Basmati rice cooked and ready.

1/2 cup or 125 gms of frozen peas

3 tbsps Ghee/ clarified butter

2 Inch piece of Cinnamon

3 green cardamom

1/2 big Cardamom

1 star anise

1 large Tej Patha

4 cloves

15 cashewnuts halved

Salt

Method:

Heat the Ghee in a pan. Drop in the spices and the cashewnuts. Roast on a gentle flame till the cashews turn a lovely golden brown. Add the frozen peas and salt and saute for about three minutes. If using fresh peas, make sure you cook them beforehand. Once the peas are done, add the cooked rice, mix well and check for salt. Heat on a gentle flame till the Peas Pulao is heated well. Serve with a mixed vegetable raita.

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Dadpe pohe/ flattened rice recipe

Posted on February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

Dadpe Pohe Recipe is a delicious Maharashtrian recipe made with flattened rice. The poha or flattened rice is not cooked in this recipe, instead it is mixed with raw onions, tomato, grated coconut, coriander leaves and salt. It turns soft due to the juices released from the vegetables and coconut when salt is added to them. The thin variety of poha or flattened rice is used for this recipe. I thank my friend Vidya Baindur for this lovely recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups Poha (Flattened rice) thin variety

1 Onion finely chopped

1 Tomato finely chopped

1 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped

3 tbsps grated coconut

1 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp Lemon juice

Salt

Ingredients for the tempering:

1 tsp Mustard

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Hing/ Asafoetida

1 sprig Curry leaves

2 tbsps Raw Peanuts

1 Green chilly finely chopped

2 tsps Oil

Method:

Sprinkle just a little water on the poha . Do not make it mushy and keep it aside.

Tip the chopped onion, tomato, grated coconut, lemon juice, sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix it well, crushing the mixture a little. Keep aside a tbsp of this mixture to garnish the Dadpe pohe just before serving. Add the poha to the remaining mixture and set it aside to soak in the juices for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the peanuts and when they are half roasted drop in the mustard seeds cumin seeds, asafoetida. After they crackle drop in the curry leaves. Toss. Add the green chilly , give a quick stir and drop the seasoning over the softened poha. Garnish with finely chopped onion, tomato, coconut and coriander leaves.

Note: I have not used peanuts as the family prefers the Poha without them.

Serves two.

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Lemon leaves Vepilakatti/ dry Chutney

Posted on February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

This fragrant dry Chutney made with fresh ,tender lemon leaves is not only a good digestive, but also stays good for a couple of months. All the ingredients are carefully roasted and ground to a fine powder and then shaped into balls. This is usually served with Curd rice in place of a pickle. This recipe was generously shared by my friend Meena Venkatsubban.

Ingredients:

A large fistful of tender lemon leaves

7 dry red Byadgi chillies

A lemon sized ball of tamarind

1/4 tsp Ajwain/ Carom seeds

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

A kidney bean size piece of Hing/ Asafoetida

A sprig of curry leaves

Salt

1 tbsp oil

Method:

Wash and pat dry the lemon leaves. String the thick vein in the centre. Tear them up roughly and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin and carom seeds, asafoetida, and allow them to splutter. Immediately drop in the dry red chillies and roast them too. Add the ball of tamarind and roast it for a minute. Finally drop in the lemon leaves, curry leaves and salt. Roast till they wilt a bit. The whole procedure should be carried out on an extremely gentle flame to avoid burning of spices. Allow the mixture to cool and then grind it to a coarse powder. Form balls of required size and store in an airtight container.

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Palak Pakora/ Spinach fritters

Posted on February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

These fritters can be served with a tomato ketchup at get togethers or as a quick snack when children have their friends over. A variety of preparations are made using Palak/ spinach, the most popular being Palak Paneer, Palak and corn subzi and even the Lahori Palak Chole…… but who doesn’t love fritters? This is a quick and simple recipe shared by my friend Amruta Prabhu.

Ingredients:

A small bunch of Palak washed, dried and chopped

1 cup Besan/ chickpea flour

3 tbsps rice flour

1 tsp Cumin seeds

5 flakes of garlic minced

1 tbsp Kashmiri chilly powder

1 tbsp crushed coriander seeds

Salt

Oil for frying the Pakora

Method:

Tip the chopped Palak leaves, salt, chilly powder, minced garlic, cumin seeds into a bowl. Mix well and allow to stand for a few minutes. The palak releases a little water. Add the besan and rice flour and mix well. If required just sprinkle a few drops of water to help bind everything together. Heat oil in a pan. Drop in lumps of the mixture and fry on a medium flame till they are crisp. Serve hot with tomato ketchup and mint chutney.

Serves two.

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Strawberry yoghurt

Posted on February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

Fruit yoghurts are relatively new to India. The traditional ones using saffron and mango are called Shrikhand and Amrakhand respectively. With the introduction of a variety of fruit yoghurts from the west, India is fast catching up on this concept and Indian companies are coming out with a number of these yoghurts. These can traditionally be made at home. The only requirement is thick curd or hung curd. Posting the recipe of a strawberry yoghurt today which my friend Jayashree T Rao shared with me.

Ingredients:

1 cup / 250 ml hung curd

5 strawberries chopped

2 tsps sugar

Method:

Spread a cheesecloth or a muslin cloth over a bowl. Tip in 300 ml or 1.5 cups of yoghurt into it and tie the ends of the cloth tightly. Allow the water in the yoghurt to run off into the bowl. After a couple of hours all the water would have drained and what is left behind is hung curd which is approximately around 250 ml. Tip this hung curd into a mixer along with the strawberries and sugar. Using the pulse mode, whip it up till the strawberries and yoghurt have blended well. Chill and serve.

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Paruppu Thogayal/ Split pigeon peas chutney

Posted on February 11, 2021February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

Every region in India has their own traditional chutneys, but the plethora of chutneys that one finds in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh are amazing. They are usually served as an accompaniment with rice. This recipe of Paruppu Thogayal which my friend Janaki Hrishikesh shared with me goes amazingly well with rice and Rasam. In fact I enjoyed it with a simple curd rice as well.

Ingredients:

100 gms/ half cup Toovar Dal/ split pigeon peas

7 Byadgi chillies

A kidney bean size piece of Hing/ Asafoetida

3 tbsps grated coconut

1 tbsp oil

Salt

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan. Roast the dry chillies till they turn crisp. Remove and keep them aside. Saute the Toovar dal till it turns a nice golden yellow. At this stage add the Hing and keep roasting for a couple of minutes till the asafoetida releases it’s flavour and the dal turns a deep golden yellow. Allow to cool. Drop all the ingredients into a mixer jar along with the salt and grated coconut. Grind to a coarse powder. Add a little water to ease grinding it into a thick chutney. The consistency of the Thogayal is thick and never watery. Serve it with hot rice with a dollop of Ghee.

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Masala Neer dosa/ Khara Tellavu

Posted on February 11, 2021February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

Neer dosa is a popular dosa/ crepe from coastal Karnataka and is enjoyed with a chicken curry by the non vegetarians and with a spicy coconut chutney or a pickle drizzled generously with coconut oil by the vegetarians. This is another version of Neer dosa with spices and condiments added. Known as Khara Tellavu in local parlance the recipe of this Masala neer dosa was shared by my friend Flavia Lewis. It is usually served with slices of banana mixed with coconut and jaggery. As the family likes a Chutney to go along, I have made a simple coconut chutney without a seasoning.

Ingredients:

1 cup/ 200 gms rice soaked for five hours

1/4 th coconut gratings

1 large onion chopped roughly

2 tbsps coriander seeds

7 Byadgi chillies

Salt

Oil to roast the dosa

Method:

Powder the coriander seeds and Byadgi chillies. Then tip in the onion and coconut. Grind to a smooth paste. Add the rice and adding a little water at a time grind it too to a very fine batter . Pour the batter in a container and water it down to a flowing consistency. Add salt, mix and keep aside for ten minutes. Heat a tava/ skillet. Splash a ladleful of batter on the tava. Drizzle with oil. This dosa is roasted only on one side as it is very thin and cooks within a minute. Neer dosa batter is never spread but splashed by holding the tava slightly tilted at an angle to facilitate the batter to run. This gives the lacy effect to the dosa. The tava should be extremely hot to get a lacy and porous Neer dosa. Fold and serve hot.

Accompaniment: Slice two elaichi bananas fine. Add three tablespoons of coconut and two tbsps of jaggery syrup and mix well. The link to the Chutney is given below.

https://vinayasculinarydelights.com/simple-coconut-chutney/

This proportion makes 14 dosas.

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The popular Garlic Dal and Potato Tallasani combo.

Posted on February 10, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

This popular North Kanara Garlic Dal and Potato Tallasani combination is a must try for potato and garlic lovers. Hot dal is served over rice followed by a dollop of Ghee and accompanied by the potato Tallasani and papad. Sadhana Kiran my friend generously shared the recipes with me. The recipe link to both is shared below.

https://vinayasculinarydelights.com/garlic-seasoned-dal/

https://vinayasculinarydelights.com/potato-tallasani/

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Garlic seasoned Dal

Posted on February 10, 2021February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

This is yet another traditional North Kanara preparation which uses whole dried red chillies and garlic to flavour the Dal. Served hot over rice with a dollop of Ghee, it is usually accompanied by Potato Tallasani and freshly fried Papad. This is again a recipe shared by my friend Sadhana Kiran.

Ingredients:

1 cup/ 200 gms Toovar Dal/ Split pigeon peas

4 dry red chillies each broken into two

A large pinch of turmeric

Salt

1 tsp Ghee

For the tempering:

1 tbsp Ghee

10 cloves of garlic

Method:

Wash and pressure cook the Dal along with the broken red chillies, salt, ghee and turmeric powder to four whistles. Allow the pressure to release naturally. Churn the Dal well. Add water to adjust consistency and keep boiling it on a gentle flame till the seasoning is ready. Normally the Dal in the South of India is of pouring consistency as it is served over rice. Heat Ghee in a pan. Drop in the crushed garlic and roast to a rich brown. Season the Dal and allow it to simmer for a couple of minutes till the flavours are infused. Serve with a wedge of lemon and a teaspoon of Ghee.

Serves three.

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Potato Tallasani

Posted on February 10, 2021February 11, 2021 by vinayaprabhu2

This dish is a favourite in most North Kanara households. A simple stir-fry of potato seasoned with garlic and accompanied by a garlic seasoned Dal. I had no clue about this combination till my friend Sadhana Kiran shared her recipe with me. For garlic lovers this is a must try. Goes well with Chapati too.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes sliced as shown in the picture

1 tbsp Kashmiri Lal chilly powder

Salt

For the tempering:

1 tbsp coconut oil

10 cloves of garlic gently crushed

Heat oil in a pan. Drop in the garlic and roast to a rich golden brown. Drop in the potatoes, chilly powder and salt. Mix thoroughly and cover and cook over a very gentle flame till done. Takes about seven minutes.

Serves two.

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