ಮಸಾಲ ಉಪಿಟ್ಟು/ Masala Upma

I wanted to make something very fast & which is easy and also healthy. So thought about this & tried with coarsely broken wheat. . Ingredients: ಗೋಧಿ ರವೆ / Broken wheat - 2 cups ಈರುಳ್ಳಿ / Onions - 1/2 small ಟೊಮೇಟೊ / Tomato - 1 medium ಶುಂಠಿ ಪೇಸ್ಟ್ /Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp ಬೆಲ್ಲುಲಿ ಪೇಸ್ಟ್ /Garlic Paste- 1/2 tsp ಉಳ್ಲಿಕಾಯಿ / Beans -1/4 cup ಕ್ಯಾರೆಟ್ /Carrot - 1/4 cup

ದೊನ್ನ್ಮೆನಸಿನಕಾಯಿ / Green Bell pepper -1/4 cup ಬಟಾಣಿ / Peas -1/4 cup ಉದ್ದಿನ ಬೇಳೆ /Urad dhal - 1 tsp ಕಡಲೆ ಬೇಳೆ / Channa dhal - 1 tsp ಕಾರದ ಪುಡಿ / Chili powder - 1tsp ಸಾಸಿವೆ /Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp ಧನಿಯ ಪುಡಿ / Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp ಅರಿಶಿನ / Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp ಕೊತ್ತಂಬರಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು /Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup ಕರಿಬೇವು / Curry leaves ಗೋಡಂಬಿ /Cashews - 1 Tb spoon (optional) ತುಪ್ಪ / Ghee - 1 Tb spoon (optional) ಉಪ್ಪು/ Salt ಎಣ್ಣೆ / Oil - 2 Tb spoon ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣು ರಸ / Lemon Juice - 1 tsp Method:

  • Fry the coarse wheat till golden brown by adding a little oil to it.
  • Then put the remaining oil in the pan and put mustard seeds, channa dhal & urad dhal and curry leaves.
  • When they turn to light brown, add the onions and fry them till golden brown.
  • Add tomato, ginger & garlic paste and fry for a minute.
  • Then add all the powders and fry till oil leaves on top.
  • Then add the all the veggies, add little salt & allow them to soften a bit by closing the lid.
  • After the veggies are boiled, add 4-5 cups of water.
  • When the water starts boiling add the rava and cover it for few minutes till the wheat is cooked.
  • Then add coriander leaves & lemon juice.
  • Fry the cashew in ghee & add it to the upma.
  • Serve hot.

ಕಡಬು / Kadabu

Though I am not a sweet person, this sweet is my favourite. I made this sweet on the Ganesha Chathurthi day. This is entirely different from modak which usually many people make. This usually takes little time to make but is really worth every second. This can be eaten either by itself or along with plain payasam & ghee.
As both me & my husband likes to eat it like that , I did not prepare payasam.
The inside filling is called Gun powder. I have no idea why they call that, may be it looks like that:-). It taste yummy though..
First to make Gun Powder:
Ingredients:
ಕಲ್ಲೇ ಪಪ್ಪು / Kalle Pappu /- 1 cup
ಬೆಲ್ಲ / Jaggery - 1 cup
ಅಕ್ಕಿ ಅಕ್ಕಿ ಅಕ್ಕಿ /Till - 1Tb spoon
gasagase /ಉಪ್ಪು ಉಪ್ಪು ಸಾಲ್ಟ್

Method:

  • Grind dhaliya along with elaichi to a fine powder.
  • Fry Till & poppy seeds seperately till golden brown & then grind to fine powder.
  • Mix the grind ingredients along with dry coconut & jaggery.
  • Mix until there is no lumps of jaggery.

For the outer covering:

Ingredients:

ಅಕ್ಕಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟು /Rice flour - 1 cup

ಉಪ್ಪು /Salt - 1/2 tsp

ನೀರು /Water - 1 cup

ತುಪ್ಪ / Ghee - 1/2 cup

Kadabu mould

Method:

  • In a pan allow water to boil, then add little salt & rice flour.
  • Cover the lid and let it boil for 5-10 minutes on low flame.
  • Mix nicely with a wooden spatula until they all come together.
  • Again cover for few minutes until the rice flour is fully cooked.
  • Sprinkle the wooden cutting board with little water.
  • Remove the rice flour ball & put it on the wooden board.
  • Then by dipping your hands in water nicely kneed the ball by removing any lumps available.
  • Make a smooth ball after kneeding the rice ball.

Now the filling part:

  • Take a hand full of the rice ball.
  • Apply little ghee on a board/counter. Place the rice ball & make rounds of poori shape.
  • Apply ghee on the Kadabu mould too & place the small rice poori & fill it with a spoon full of Gun Powder.
  • Close the mould & press it little bit & remove the extra rice dough that comes out of the mould.
  • Open the mould & remove the kadabu.
  • Keep applying ghee to the mould, roller & the board so that the rice dough does not stick.
  • Yummy Kadabu is ready.

PS: You can steam all the kadabu's in a pressure cooker. But if you have cooked the rice flour properly then there is no need of steaming.

After few hours of making the Kadabu, the gun powder inside becomes like paste. It tastes very nice.Sorry, forgot to take pictures of the Gun Powder. You can preserve the Gun powder and can prepare when ever you want or you can just eat it by itself :-). It is very tempting to eat it like that.

Happy Gowri & Ganesh Chathurthi

Vakratunda Mahaakaaya,
Suuryakoti Samaprabha..
Nirvighnam Kurume Deva,
Shubha Kaaryeshhu Sarvadaa.

Wish You all a very happy Gowri & Ganesha Chathurthi.

As you celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi, may Lord Ganesha shower his choicest blessings on you & your family.
Ganesha Chaturthi or Ganesha Festival is a day on which Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, resurrected to life on earth with the head of elephant. It is celebrated as it is the birthday of Lord Ganesha.. It is also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi in Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, Chavath in Konkani. Typically, the day falls sometime between August and September . The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Ananta Chaturdashi.
This festival are widely popular, with local communities (mandalas) vying with each other to put up the biggest statue & the best pandal. The festival is also the time for cultural activities like songs, dramas and orchestra.
We just celebrate the festival for two days. The first day is Gowri pooja & the next day is the Ganesha Chathurthi. We dont have the custom of keeping the idol, we just make sweets on both days & do pooja.
The sweet below is called Sajjige. Mom makes this very often as everyone likes it a lot. It is similar to Kesari bath. I thought of making this sweet on the Gowri festival day as it is very easy & fast to make.
Ingredients:
ಸಣ್ಣ ರವೆ / Fine Rava-1 cup
ಬೆಲ್ಲ / Jaggery - 1 cup
ತುಪ್ಪ/Ghee- 1/4 cup
ಏಲಕ್ಕಿ / Cardamom - 2
ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ / Raisins - 1Tb spoon
ಗೋಡಂಬಿ / Cashews - 1 Tb spoon
ಹಾಲು / Milk- 1 cup
ನೀರು / Water - 1 cup

Method:

  • Fry rava with little ghee until golden brown.
  • In a non stick pan add milk & water & allow it to boil.
  • Then add jaggery & cardamom powder.
  • After the jaggery has melted, add the rava & add the ghee & give it a stir.
  • Close the lid & allow it boil on low heat.
  • Fry raisins & cashews in ghee & add to the above.
  • More ghee you add, the more it tastes good.

Thondekayi Palya / Thindoora Sabzi

This is one of my favourite side dish. It is healthy as it has got chick peas and is also easy to prepare. This is how it is done:

Ingredients: ಕಡಲೆ ಕಾಳು / Kabul Channa - 1/4 cup

ತೊಂಡೆಕಾಯಿ / Thindora - 1 cup

ಸಾಂಬಾರ್ ಪುಡಿ /Sambar Powder - 1 tsp

ಉದ್ದಿನ ಬೆಳೆ / Urad dhal - 1tsp(optional)

Coriander leaves - 1 Tb spoon

ಉಪ್ಪು / Salt

Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

  • Soak kabul Channa for overnight.
  • Pressure cook them for one whistle with little salt.
  • In a heavy pan, add oil, then add urad dhal.
  • When the urad dhal is golden brown add the thindoora & fry little.
  • Then add the channa, sambar powder & salt together.
  • Mix all together, close the lid of the pan & allow it to boil on low heat.
  • Give occasional stirs to it until cooked.
  • At last sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves on top. Serve with hot chapathi or with rice & sambar.

ಒಳಿಗೆ / Olige / Puran Poli

Olige, also known as Obattu, is the sweet we make for Varamahalaksmi festival. This is the main item for this festival. It is a very long & time consuming procedure but it is worth the effort. My husband loves all the sweets but this is one sweet he likes a lot. All of his relatives remember him whenever they make this sweet. Our daughter too is following his footsteps :-). So I try to prepare once in a while.
Ingredients:
ತೊಗರಿ ಬೆಳೆ /Thoor Dhal - 2 cups
ಕಡಲೆ ಬೆಳೆ /Channa Dhal -1/4 cup
ಬೆಲ್ಲ / Jaggery - 2 cups
ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ತುರಿ/ Fresh grated coconut - 1/4 cup
ಏಲಕ್ಕಿ / Elichi / Cardamom - 2
ಮೈದಾ /Maida /All purpose flour - 2 cups
ಚಿರೋಟಿ ರವೆ / Fine sooji - 1/2 cup
ಅರಿಶಿನ / Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
ಎಣ್ಣೆ / Oil - 1/2 cup
Method:
First for the outer covering:
It is called Kanaka in Kannada.
  • Mix the all purpose flour & fine sooji together.
  • Add little salt & turmeric powder & mix with water till you form a dough.
  • Then add oil & start kneading nicely. As you knead it will soak up all the oil. You can add more oil accordingly.
  • Cover it with a cloth or plate & keep it aside for minimum of 2 hours.

For the inner filling:

This is called Hoorana in Kannada

  • Keep both thoor dhal and channa dhal together for boiling.
  • After it has fully boiled drain the water to another container & keep aside.
  • In a heavy pan, add jaggery & allow it to melt.
  • When the jaggery has melted, add the dhals & boil altogether.
  • Then add the grated coconut & elaichi powder to it.
  • After the consistency has become thick you can off the stove.
  • Then grind all to smooth mixture.
  • Take a ball of dough and spread with hand with little oil to your hands.
  • Keep a ball of the above mixture and cover with the dough and seal the ends.
  • Apply oil to a plastic paper, keep the ready ball on it and roll it like chapati (The plastic and oil prevents it from sticking).
  • Fry on hot tava till it gets golden brown color.
  • Serve hot/cold with ghee.
  • You can also mix this in warm milk & eat. It tastes delicious.
  • PS : This can be preserved for ten days outside or in fridge.

Varamahalakshmi Festival

I wanted to start my blog on an auspicious day, so I decided to do so on the Varamahalakshmi Festival day.
In Bangalore this is one of the biggest festivals and is the beginning of festival season. This festival brings back lots of memories. The festive atmosphere starts almost a week in advance. You can see the markets filled with different varieties of flowers, fruits, pooja items etc. We took our daughter to one of the markets in Bangalore during this festival time. She was very exited seeing everything on the road & she wanted to touch everything.
The atmosphere starts a week before in our house too. Cleaning the whole house, buying a kanchivaram saree for the God :-), polishing all the siver items etc.. We used to be so exited when this festival comes. I used to do all the arrangements in the pooja room & my mom & sister used to do all the cooking in the kitchen. After the pooja we used to have lunch & then again get ready for the evening as all neighbours used to come for kumkum. It used to be really fun.
Myself & my daughter were in India but were returning 3 days before this festival. As this festival can be done on any fridays of that month, my mother-in-law wanted to do it on first friday. My daughter was very excited and had lots of fun. On returning to US, we celebrated this festival again.
As always cleaned & decorated the house, decided the menu previous day & we had few friends on the evening of the festival day. These are the few items which I prepared on that day.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog of cooking.
I am Ashwini, living in US for the past 6 years with my husband & our sweet daughter. I am originally from the Garden city, Bangalore.
I am a stay at home mom. I got the inspiration to start this blog by seeing all of your blogs and an interest to cook and try out new delicacies.
In my regional language Kannada, "Nanna Adige" means "My Dish". In this blog, most of the dishes posted will be authentic food from Bangalore which I have learnt from my mom. The other posts will be the dishes which I prepare from experimenting or learnt from other sources.
Please have a look at my blog & wish me luck to keep going.