Gojju Avalakki

Gojju Avalakki

One fine summer evening, my lovely neighbor turned up with a box full of a dish that was a Kannadiga variation of poha. She is from Bengaluru and her Mom was visiting her. Auntie had cooked and sent this for us so thoughtfully. (Don't I love my neighbors!) I couldn't eat it the same day as I had already finished my dinner, so I carried it for lunch the next day. 

I still remember the moment when the deliciousness of flavors burst in my mouth and I shut my eyes to relish each bite better and tried to identify the flavors. It was so yummy and so very different from what I had ever tasted with poha. I have stayed in Bengaluru for around 7-8 years and forget tasting, I had never even heard of this dish. It's not served in Darshinis or restaurants. After a few bites I came to a pleasantly startling realization - it tasted like 'Bhutte ka Kis'- the famous dish with corn that Mom makes so well. But while the Kis takes some effort to cook, Gojju Avalakki is a breeze to make, said Auntie. It also required very few ingredients and did't involve any cutting or chopping. I was dying to have the recipe!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Thick poha 200 gms (Suggested brand - Real)

Tamarind - (Swad brand) - small lemon sized

Sambar powder - a lot

Jaggery - 1.5 tablespoons

Salt - according to taste

For seasoning:

Oil - 2 tablespoons or even more

Asafoetida - a generous pinch 

Bydagi chillies - 2-3

Mustard seeds - A lot :)

Curry leaves - A lot 

Turmeric - 1 teaspoon

Sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon

Dry coconut powder - 2 tablespoons

Way To Go

1. Soak tamarind. 

2. Coarsely grind the poha. Wash it.

3. Strain tamarind. Mix tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt, sambar powder and water to it. Be careful with water. This paste should be on the thick side, not runny. Mix this paste with poha and taste at this stage. If any ingredients need to be adjusted, do so. Leave for a couple of hours or even overnight. The flavor will seep in better. The mix shouldn't be mushy. 

4. Heat oil. When sufficiently hot, add asafoetida, mustard (let it crackle), curry leaves (chop them if your family can't handle whole curry leaves). 

5. Dry roast the coconut powder and sesame seeds separately. 

6. Mix the tadka, coconut powder and sesame seeds with the poha mix prepared in step 3 and its ready to go!

Tips:

1. You can keep large batches of coarsely ground poha ready. Then just add the mix and the seasoning to make a quick meal.  

2. The paste can be kept ready too with dry tamarind (puliyogare style and with seasoning - no water). Just mix everything with warm water to have an instant meal. Auntie used to give it to kids for college days for a quick meal. 

Raw mango temporary pickle

I had this pickle at Vijita's place and it was drop-dead delicious! I was amazed at how a few and simple ingredients, when blended in the right manner, can create a burst of yumminess! This recipe is totally my kind of recipe. Minimalistic, very less prep time and high ROI! So, here we go-

Ingredients:

Raw mangoes - 2 mid-sized 

Dried red chillies (Bedige variety)- 12-13 (This is a variety of red chillies that give a hearty red color but are not that hot.You can easily find them in South India. I didn't have them so I used regular red chilies and then added kashmiri red chilli powder for the color)

Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon 

Salt

Seasoning: Curry leaves, mustard seeds, chana daal, asafoetida (heeng), oil for sautéing and tadka.

Method:

1. Grate raw mangoes without peeling. Then pulse in the grinder for a second.

2. Sauté chillies and methi seeds together in 1 tsp oil for 1 minute. Grind them. 

3. Mix this and salt with grated raw mangoes. Put tadka and mix. 

Make sure that the raw mangoes are firm and not mushy. This pickle is best eaten fresh but can be kept in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Serving suggestions:

It can be served with anything, really. Here are a few ideas to pair it up with:

• Parathas
• Pongal 
• Plain rice 
• Pooran poli

Coriander Stalks Chutney

I love chutneys! They have the magical power to elevate a meal to another level. 

I generally use parts of coriander stalks along with the leaves to garnish veggies. At times, only the stalks are lurking behind. I don't feel like throwing them away. So I just add a few more ingredients and make a chutney, which I find so very yummy!

Ingredients:

1. Coriander stalks from 1 bunch coriander - the one we get at an indian grocery store here. 

2. 1 dry red chilly

3. 1/4 jalapeño or 1 green chilly

4.  2 cloves garlic

5. Salt

Method:

Coarse grind. Eat fresh. 

I didn't even add lemon or anything for sourness. It turned out to be totally lip smacking! 

Kaadha aka Herbal Tea aka Magic Potion

Kaadha or Kasaay is a drink that has its origins in Ayurveda. This kaadha is like a manna from heaven during cold weather and has always given me immense relief during my cough and cold spells. I've also had it during covid as my immunity booster. It's delicious too and can easily replace your regular tea :)

Ingredients:

Water - Oh that eternal life giving nectar - 2 cups

Ginger - 2 inches, pounded

Coriander seeds - 2 teaspoons - pounded
Methi seeds - 1 teaspoon - pounded
Black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon powder  or 4-5 pepper corns 

Cloves - 1-2

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 teaspoon (Sri Lankan cinnamon is considered the best.)
Gud (Jaggery) - Optional - 2 teaspoons or according to taste
Lemon Juice - 2 teaspoons

Method:

1. Put water on boil.

2. Add ginger to get the potion started. 

3. Keep adding the ingredients except cinnamon, jaggery and lemon. 

4. Add cinnamon midway. 

5. When everything else has been added, let it boil till the water reduces to half. Approx 15 mins. If you're low on patience, instead of half, 3/4th would be ok too. Something is better than nothing!

6. Then if you want, you can add jaggery or skip it if you're watching your sugar intake. 
7. Sieve the kaadha. When it reaches a temeperature where you can drink it, add lemon juice. Vitamin C is sensitive to heat and hence it should not be added to the boiling kaadha. 

Tips:

1. You can add or remove ingredients according to your taste and availability. For e.g. kaala namak or black salt is good against cough and can be added. Similarly, Mulethi (licorice) can be added too. 

2. I avoid adding honey instead of jaggery because honey should not be added to hot drinks. 

3. You can make a larger batch and keep in the refrigerator. Just add lemon juice as shared above. 

4. You can drink this occasionally as an immunity booster or as a welcome drink when youre hosting guests. 

 

Saag Reshmi

 

Saag 

My Mom talked about a delicious sarson ka saag that her neigbor cooked for her. I had a 50-50 organic leaf mix sitting with me which I wanted to cook today. I instantly requested to speak to her for the recipe. The recipe is for sarson ka saag but I tweaked it for my lea and it turned out to be very delicious. I'll be posting both the original and the tweak. Thankyou for your recipe, Reshma!

Ingredients for Sarson ka Saag:

Mustard Greens - Sarson - 1 bunch

Spinach - 1 bunch

Bathua - 1 bunch

Garlic - 1 small pod or 10-12 cloves

Onion - 1 big or 2 medium

Tomatoes - 3-5(depending on the size)

Green chillies - 2-3

Ginger - 2 inches.

Ingredients for my Leaf Mix Saag:

Leaf Mix - 1 box - 450 gms (16 oz)

Radish leaves - tender - 6-7, without stalks

Radish - 3 inch piece - chopped

Onion - 1 big 

Tomatoes - 2 big

Green chillies - 2 

Garlic - 10 cloves - chopped in a manual chopper

Ginger - 2 inches - grated

Mustard oil - 3 teaspoons 

Ghee - a bit, for the final tadka

Red chillies

Salt, turmeric, red chilly powder

Method - 

1. Cover and boil the leaves and radish in very little water. Let the mix cool.

2. Chop onions and tomatoes. You can puree 3/4th of tomatoes and leave 1/4th  as roughly chopped. I used a manual chopper for garlic, onions and tomatoes. 

3. Heat mustard oil. You can use any other oil but mustard oil for mustard greens sounds just right!

4. Add garlic. Then onions. After a while,  add grated ginger and chopped green chillies. Add salt and let them turn golden brown. Add tomatoes. After 5 minutes, add turmeric and red chilly powder. 

5. I used the chopper to roughly grind the boiled leaves. Even if you use a mixer, do not make a fine paste. Add the coarsely ground leaves to the mix. Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes. The longer you simmer, the creamier the texture. If it's mustard greens, simmer for 45 minutes. This will help the curry to get a creamy texture. You can add garam masala. (I did not)

6. Prepare the final baghaar. Heat a teaspoon of ghee. Add 2-3 dried red chillies and add this mix to the saag. You can season this in butter or oil too. You can use more ghee or butter. It will definitely add to the taste but I did away with the additional fat.

7. I simmered it exactly for 45 minutes. The taste was perfect! Edit: I've made this by simmering for just 10 minutes and it tasted good. 

Tips:

1. There's no jeera or mustard seeds in the seasoning. Heeng can be added but I did not.

2. I could have added more radish leaves. I have a few kohlrabi. radish and beetroot leaves in my fridge. Wonder if I can try this recipe with that blend:) 

3. Do not add methi leaves to the mix. It will give a bitter taste. 

4. Try to boil the leaves in minimal water. 

5. I was curious about what all was in my leaf mix. Here it is! Very interesting :)