Author: ashashenoy

Categories
festivefood konkanirecipe Lunch thali

Tomato Saaru

Tomato saaru / Saaru powder

There are a number of ways in which saaru is prepared. Different communities and even households have their own recipe as per their liking. Sharing here the recipe of saaru powder which we prepare and store for about a month.

Ingredients required-

For Saaru powder –

  1. Coriander seeds – 2tsp
  2. Methi seeds – 2tsp
  3. Jeera – 2tsp
  4. Chana dal – 5tsp
  5. Urad dal- 5tsp
  6. Toor dal – 5tsp
  7. Hing- a big piece
  8. Curry leaves- fist ful(4-5 strands)
  9. Byadagi red chilly-8-10

For saaru –

  1. Water -3 glass
  2. Ripe tomato-1
  3. Green chilly -3-4
  4. Tamarind- lemon sized
  5. Salt to taste
  6. Coriander leaves
  7. Mustard- 1tso
  8. Curry leaves- 1 strand
  9. Red chilly- 1
  10. Coconut oil – 2tsp

Method of preparation-

  • Dry roast all the items under Saaru powder till aromatic on medium flame.
  • Powder it, cool and store in a air tight container
  • To prepare saaru, to a vessel add finely chopped tomatoes, slit green chilly and water.
  • Boil it. Also add the extract of tamarind after soaking it in water.
  • Now add about 5tsp of above powder, salt to taste and cook for another 10min
  • Finally add chopped coriander leaves
  • Add a tadka of mustard, curry leaves and cut red chilly in coconut oil.

Note : A small piece of jaggery also can be added.

Categories
festivefood konkanirecipe Lunch Side Dish thali

Kadgi Chakko

Kadgi Chakko

This dish is prepared when tender most jackfruit is available. So i can say it is one of the first dishes we make when jackfruit season starts because we can prepare ghashi, koddel etc even after it is grown a bit(bikkand starts forming). Being a kadgi fan this one is my favorite dish too.

Ingredients required:

  1. Jack fruit
  2. Mustard seeds – 1tsp
  3. Curry leaves- 2-3 strands
  4. Urad dal -1.5tsp
  5. Coconut oil – 3tsp
  6. Urad dal – 2tsp(for masala)
  7. Coriander seeds- 2tsp
  8. Coconut- half
  9. Roasted red chilies- 6-7
  10. Tamarind- gooseberry size
  11. Jaggery- lemon sized
  12. Salt to taste

Method of preparation-

  • Cut the jackfruit remove skin and inner hard part(maavu)
  • Make tiny pieces of it
  • Take a heavy bottom pan and add oil
  • Add urad dal, mustard and curry leaves to prepare tadka
  • Then add jackfruit and add required water and cook till it becomes soft. Time may vary depending on jackfruit
  • Meanwhile roast urad dal and coriander seeds with little oil
  • To this add Coconut, tamarind and red chilly and prepare a coarse masala
  • Once jackfruit is cooked add the masala and jaggery and salt to taste.
  • Cook for 5-10 min or till raw smell of masala goes away.
Categories
Snacks

Veggie loaded Pizza

Veggie loaded Pizza

I am a beginner when it comes to baking. Considering the time and efforts it needs I bake rarely. But some recipes my family has learnt (I must say hard way, after a lot of failed attempts) and we keep preparing them. Pizza is one such thing. As this is expensive and we get to customize as per our taste at home(like more cheese 😁) we prepare it when everyone is at home. This was prepared today because our microwave oven got repaired.

Ingredients required-

For dough –

  1. Yeast – about 5tsp
  2. Sugar – 4 tsp
  3. Water – 1 cup
  4. Maida – about 2 cups
  5. Oil – about 7-8 tsp
  6. Salt to taste

For veggies mix

  1. Onion- 2
  2. Capsicum- 2
  3. Sweet corn – 1
  4. Pepper – 2tsp
  5. Any other vegetable of choice
  6. Salt to taste

For Paneer

  1. Paneer cubes – about 15
  2. Thick curd – 5tsp
  3. Salt to taste
  4. Chilly powder- 2tsp
  5. Pav bhaji masala – 1tsp

Other ingredients-

  1. Pizza sauce- about 3tsp for a pizza
  2. Mozzarella + cheddar cheese

Method of preparation-

  • First prepare the dough by mixing yeast, sugar and water for about 10min
  • After that add salt, oil and maida and kneed well to prepare a soft dough. Don’t add as much yeast as you add for the bread, it will make the crust very soft
  • Keep the kneeded dough for about 1hr by covering with a damp cloth
  • Meanwhile dice the veggies such as onions, capsicum, tomatoes etc
  • Prepare paneer by mixing curd, salt, chilly powder and pav bhaji masala. Mix well
  • Add paneer cubes and refrigerate. If you keep it outside it might leave water during baking
  • Once the dough is raised properly take a big dough ball
  • Greese the baking pan with oil and spread this dough
  • Next take the pizza sauce and spread it
  • Then spread the cheese
  • Next layer the veggies and paneer cubes
  • Next spread more cheese on top
  • Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 15min

Note

  1. Spread the cheese in the bottom. Spreading all the cheese on top my result in burning
  2. If preparing multiple pizza, refrigerate cheese and paneer after spreading. Keeping them out may result in release of water during baking
  3. Baking time may vary based on oven. I have a microwave oven. I used microwave convection mode.

Categories
festivefood konkanirecipe sweets

Gulab Jamun

Gulab jamun

We have 2 birthdays in January and February within a span of 15days. So before ordering cakes for birthday became a trend we always bought gulab jamun as the birthday sweet for 2 reasons. 1 it is not prepared always, so special sweet. 2nd most brands have buy 1 get 1 free offer so it was perfect for us to use in 2 occasions 😁 since it is read the instructions on the pack and prepare business its always given to me but I always messed up! Jamuns never became perfect until 1 day when my mom wasn’t well and I prepared it in hurry. That day I learnt few of my mistakes and corrected them. When we prepare something in hurry usually it becomes tasty as perfect right?

Ingredients required-

  1. Gulab Jamun mix – 1pack
  2. Water – about 1/2 glass
  3. Oil – for deep frying
  4. Sugar – 2cup
  5. Water – 2 cup
  6. Cardamom- 1

Method of preparation-

  • Empty the entire pack into a vessel and add water little by little while mixing
  • Continue till you get a soft dough. Make sure to add enough water else jamun will crack while frying if it is too dry.
  • Heat the oil and once hot, turn flame to medium
  • Add few jamuns and fry with continuous stirring. If flame is high it will turn brown from outside and will not cook inside.
  • Keep the fried jamuns for cooling
  • Meanwhile take the water and sugar to prepare a sugar syrup. Cook for about 15min till you get the syrup. Add crushed cardamom.
  • Once this is ready allow to cool.
  • Finally mix cooled jamun to cooled sugar syrup and allow to rest for about 1hr. Cooling is important to prevent cracking of jamuns. I always used to add hot jamun to hot sugar syrup and that was biggest mistake.
  • Garnish with chopped almonds while serving.

Note :

You can fry the jamoons in ghee but if you are planning to refrigerate, they might turn little hard.

Categories
Breakfast konkanirecipe Snacks

Poori Bhaji

Poori Bhaji

Winter naturally makes us crave more for deep fried food. Poori bhaji for breakfast in this season definitely makes most of us raise our eyebrows out of happiness. I am usually more of a chapati person, like in restaurants if waiter asks chapati or poori I always choose chapati. But with bhaji it always has to be poori. This bhaji is without onion and can be had on fasting days as well. Do check notes at the end for multiple uses of this bhaji.

Ingredients required-

For bhaji

  1. Oil -4tsp
  2. Chana dal – 1/2tsp
  3. Urad dal – 1/2tsp
  4. Jeera -1/2tsp
  5. Hing – pinch
  6. Curry leaves – 1strand
  7. Mustard- 1/2tsp
  8. Turmeric powder- 1.5tsp
  9. Green chilly- 6-7
  10. Boiled potatoes- 5-6
  11. Salt to taste
  12. Coriander leaves

For Poori

  1. Wheat flour- 1 cup
  2. Water for kneeding
  3. Salt to taste
  4. Sugar -1tsp

Method of preparation-

  • First mix the wheat flour, salt, sugar and add water to prepare a dough.
  • Kneed it well and keep aside
  • Meanwhile chop green chilly and coriander leaves. Also boil and peel the potatoes
  • Take a pan, add oil, chana dal, urad dal, mustard, jeera.
  • Once spluttered add curry leaves and turmeric and hing.
  • Then add finely chopped green chilly and fry well.
  • Now add mashed potatoes and salt to taste.
  • Very little water can be added while mixing
  • Finally add coriander leaves.
  • Using the prepared dough prepare small dough balls and roll pooris.
  • Deep fry them in oil.

Note

  • After preparing tadka, chopped onion can be added to the bhaji. Also at the end freshly grated coconut can be added.
  • More water can be added if you like bhaji to be watery consistency
  • The same bhaji can be used as a filling for Batatambade. So you can prepare a large batch and save some.
  • By adding curd to little bhaji, we can also prepare gojju to have along with rice.