PARANGI KAI ( RAW PAPAYA) CHUTNEY

Shru and Poo, I remember that you liked this sweet-hot chatni I used to make out of  parangi kai or thothapuri mavinkai (raw mango).  I had learnt this along with guava jelly (which I have already posted) when I attended the course on fruit preservation in Bhopal 35 years ago.

But nowadays  raw papayas have become a rarity since nobody grows the trees in their garden (and garden  itself has become a rarity),  and they are not available in the shops.  Even papaya vendor has failed to get one for me. But last week when we went to Yashoda atthe's house I was thrilled to see a papaya tree with large sized yield ! I was quick  enough to grab one and was equally quick to make this chutney. You can try this if you a can get a papaya or make this with raw mangoes during the season.

This is how a fully raw papaya looks when cut. You have to choose one like this. So shall I go ahead with the ingredients and procedure?

Ingredients:

Raw papaya              1 kg
Sugar                        1 kg
Onion                        50 gms ( 1 medium sized)
Garlic                        5 gms (4-5 pods)
Ginger                        20 gms.
Salt                           20gms.(2 1/2 teaspoons)
Red chilli powder       10 gms. (2-3  teaspoons)
Jeera powder             1 teaspoon
Garam masala             5 gms or 1 teaspoon (made of cloves, cinnamon and cardomom)
Pepper powder          3/4 teaspoon
Citric acid                  1 teaspoon
Dry fruits                    50 gms (optional)
Glacial acetic acid       2 teaspoons
        OR
Vinegar                       1/2 cup
Water                          1 cup

Procedure:

Wash and peel papaya.  Grate it. Add grated onion, ginger or garlic.  Add water and cook till it becomes a bit soft. Or you can even microwave it for about  5 minutes. After it becomes soft, add citric acid, sugar, salt, red chilli powder and dry fruits.  Cook till it thickens. Then add all the other spices and mix well. Remove from fire and add acetic acid.

Now a days I dont get acetic acid, so I use white vinegar.  So, if you add vinegar, there is still water content in this and so you have to boil till the end point.

To know the end point:

1.Best thing is to use a chemical thermometer. When the content reaches a temperature of 222 Degrees Fahrenheit, you can remove it from fire. or

2. This is a plate test. Here add the contents on a plate. If the drops of liquid or syrup do not flow fast, it means that it is done.or

3. If the syrup has reached one string consistency, it means it is ready to be poured into bottles. 

How to fill in bottles:  After reaching the end point, note that the chutney still has liquid content in it.

Place wide mouthed bottles (eg.jam bottles) in a plate filled with water. Keep a long spoon in the bottle. Pour the hot chutney into the bottle immediately after removing fire. It is important that that the bottle is under water and has a spoon in it, or else the bottles may break due to sudden exposure to heat. Fill to the brim. Place the lid over the bottles till the contents cool. Then close them tightly.

This chutney goes well with rotis, chapatis, different types of dosaes, and even bread.  The chutney stays for a few months, even without refrigerating. From one kg of papaya, you can make about three bottles (usual jam bottles) of chutney.

SPICY AKKI - KAI DOSAE (RICE-COCONUT)

This is a recipe Vidya mausi got from her friend Bharati  Bhat and mausi refers to this dosae as BB dosae :)  This is a very simple and very tasty snack. You can say all-in-one, in the sense that it has all the required  tastes... sweet, sour, hot and salt. And hence, can be had without any accompaniments. This is also an instant dosae except that the rice is to be soaked for about two hours,

You need to take:

Rice (ordinary)                       1 cup
Avalakki(poha)                       1/2 cup
Grated coconut                       1/2 cup
Water                                     2-3 cups
Cumin                                     1 teaspoon
Dhania seeds                           1-2 teaspoons
Tamarind paste                         1 teaspoon (thick)
Jaggery powder                       2 teaspoons
Salt                                          1 teaspoon
Red chillies                               2-3 (if byaDagi) and 1-2 (if Guntur)
Raw green Methi or
 palak or Dhania                      1 cup chopped (optional)

Procedure:

Soak rice and avalakki for about 2 hours. Drain water and grind together to a smooth paste all the ingredients except the greens. While grinding add water as per requirement.  Add chopped greens. The batter for this dosae is a bit thinner than the usual dosae batter.

Heat tava. Grease it and pour half cup of the batter and spread it to a round shape. Put half a teaspoon of oil round the dosae. When done, reverse and add half tea spoon more of oil. Remove when done and serve hot and eat hot :)

These dosaes are quite thin and you can make about 8 dosaes from this quauntity of batter.

Photo courtesy : Vidya mausi :)

HAYAGREEVA

This is a protein rich, easy to make, delicious sweet dish of Karnataka.  Needs no pre-planning since the ingredients are mostly readily available in our kitchens.

There is an interesting mythological story behind this dish. The name Hayagriva comes after the God Hayagriva, a horse headed avatar of God Vishnu.  Haya-greeva, (horse-neck) also known as Haya-vadana (horse-face) is worshiped as a God of knowledge and wisdom.  The story goes that the Saint-composer Sri Vadirajaru used to offer this sweet daily to Vishnu by keeping it on his head and Vishnu used to come in the form of a beautiful white horse and consumed the offering !

This is how you can make it:

Ingredients:

Bengal gram dal                   1 cup
Water                                  2-3cups
Jaggery                                3/4 to 1 cup (Powdered)
Ghee                                    1-2 teaspoons
Cashew nut pieces               1 table spoon
Raisins                                 1 table spoon
Almond pieces                     1 table spoon
Dry coconut pieces              1 table spoon
Poppy seeds                        1 teaspoon
Cardamom                           4-5 (powdered)

Procedure:

Take dal and 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook till dal is very soft. It will be good if the dal retains its shape and so take care that the dal is not overcooked. Now add jaggery, and a little more water and bring the mixture to boil.  Boil for about 4-5 minutes and turn off the stove when the mixture is still liquidy. Because on cooling it becomes thick. Add ghee, if you are serious about not compromising with the taste/flavour of the dish :)

Fry cashew, almond and coconut  pieces and raisins in ghee. Dry roast poppy seeds.  Add these and also powdered cardamom. The dish is ready.  This is how it looks on cooling:

You can serve this hot or cold. Tastes better after 4-5 hours. This quantity serves about 4.  Can be served along with the main menu.

BADAM POORI

Dear Poo, you may know that this is akka's favourite and I promised I would prepare this for her birthday and I did prepare. She helped me of course. A very simple dish too.  Would like to try?

Ingredients:

For the flour:

Maida                             1 cup
Chiroti rava                    1 tablespoon
Salt                                    1 pinch
Butter/Refined oil             1 table spoon
Water                              About half a cup
Refined oil                   For frying
Pure ghee                      1 teaspoon (add to oil while frying)

For the syrup:

Sugar  1 cup
Water   About 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder    1/4 treaspoon
 
Method:

For the flour:  Mix well maida, chiroti rava, salt and butter in a bowl.  Add water little by little and knead till you get a consistency which is almost like the flour you knead for Pooris.  What I mean is, it should be a bit hard, and not like that you knead for rotis or parathas. Smear with oil or cover with damp cloth and and keep aside for about half an hour.

For the syrup: Take sugar in a shallow container. Add water just to cover the sugar and  bring it to boil. Boil till you get a two or three string consistency. Add cardamom powder and mix.

Next step:

Now, take small balls of the flour and knead into  thin pooris.  It is a good idea to smear the rolling board and the pin with a little oil before rolling so that the flour doesn't get stuck to the board or the pin.  (You can even roll a big poori and cut it to any shape by pressing on it a sharp edged cup or the lid of small box). Now deep fry these pooris in oil on a medium heat till golden brown.  Take them out into a plate.

Now start frying the next batch of pooris. In the meanwhile, dip all the already fried pooris in the syrup and take them out one by one with a tongs and arrange separately on a plate so they don't stick to one another.  Leave them to dry. 

Repeat the process till flour gets over.  When dry store in air tight boxes. From one cup of flour, you can make about 20-25 badam poories of   about 1-2 inch diameter each.

The badam pooris get a glazed finish and remain crisp for days porvided the syrup  is of proper consistency.
( I still dont know why they are called `badam' pooris! Anyway name has nothing to do with the taste!) :)

CHRISTMAS CAKE

This wonderful cake needs some planning and the ingredients required are also more. So I dont make it very often. Birthdays of S falls three days before Christmas and another S's on the Christmas day itself. So in recent years, I have started using this occasion to bake this cake.

The process of baking this is a bit laborious too, but I feel it is really worth the trouble. You know how happy I get watching people enjoy my cake.  This has made me bake more and more.  Anyway, I suggest you do try this out.

You need to take:

Maida                   1 cup
Baking powder     1/4 teaspoon
Sugar   powder          3/4 cup
Eggs                          2
Butter                       2 tablespoons
Vanilla Essence     5-6 drops
Dry fruits            1 cup (which may include cashew, almond, walnut, dates, raisins,
                                  glazed cherries and/or tutty fruity)
Rum                    About 100mls., to soak the dry fruits
Spices                    (1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder, about 1/8 teaspoon each of         clove and nutmeg powder)
 Candied orange peel        about 3 square cms. piece, very finely cut (If you dont have the peel, peel the  orange skin using a fine grater and take half a tea spoon of this)
Instant coffee powder           About 3 level teaspoons
Sugar caramel *               (made from about 3 tablespoons of sugar)

In this picture you can see the dry fruits I have taken :

Procedure:

Soak dry fruits in rum for at least 2 to 3 days.
Soak spices in warm water just before you start preparing the cake batter.
Sieve maida with baking powder.
Break eggs into a bowl. Add vanilla essence and beat till fluffy using a hand mixer.
Add butter and mix it well. Then add sugar powder and continue mixing. Add soaked spices, caramel* and coffee and beat well.
Mix in maida.  If you feel that the batter is hard, add some milk to get a dropping consistency. When it is very well mixed, add cut orange peel, dry fruits and nuts. Mix them well with a spoon.

Bake in an oven at 180 degrees C, for about one hour.

(* To make sugar caramel: Heat sugar in a kadai. It first melts. When it starts turning brown, immediately add water and turn off the stove. The resulting solution is the sugar caramel)

WHEAT FLOUR DOSAE

This is one of the simplest dosaes, an idea got by Roopa Rani :) and remember, we used to call it Roopa dosae?   This is instant and you can prepare whenever you think of.  If you have no patience to roll chapathis, you can spread the batter and make dosaes.  You can include this in your menu for breakfast/evening snack/dinner !


You take:

wheat flour  1 cup
milk 1 cup
salt    1/2 teaspoon (This is just what Roopa had taken)





I tried it with these extra ingredients, and both are tasty in their own way.

and optional items are:

ginger    1/2 inch piece
green chilli   1 or 2 depending on your taste
onion   1/2 medium
coriander     1 tablespoon chopped or
kasoori methi    1 tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon thick tamarind paste
cumin    1/4 teaspoon

procedure:

 Take wheat flour in a bowl and add milk while stirring with a beater till you get a dosae batter consistency. Add salt. And it is ready to be spread on the tava!  Roast on both sides  with oil just as you do for other dosaes.  Golden brown, thin, crisp dosae is ready ! You can have it hot with honey or chatni pudi or chatni, or without any of these.

And if you use other spices, you grind any or all of onion, ginger, green chilli in a grinder and add it to the batter. Add  tamarind paste, and chopped coriander or kasoori methi (either of the two) Add cumin. The batter is ready.  With this you get  spicy, crisp dosaes and you actually dont need to have any accompaniment with this.

Try this soon and let me know if you liked it.  (You can make 4-5 dosaes with this quantity of wheat flour)

AKKI PAYASA / KHEER

This is akka's all time favourite! Actually she has become an expert in making this and hence this post is specially for you-whether you want it or not :) It is a very easy recipe, but a bit time consuming.But it doesn't require you be around all the time, provided you have a big and thick bottomed kaDai/vessel to cook it. Usually they use Basmati rice for this, but I use Jeerige saNNa (Jeera rice), which is very small in size and has the same flavour of Basmati.

Ingredients:


Jeera rice - 1 fistful
Thick milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 2-3 tablespoons
Saffron -a few strands
Almond -cut and roasted, 2 tablespoons
Pure ghee -1 teaspoon

Procedure:

Soak saffron in about a tablespoon of hot milk.

Wash rice. Take milk in about 2 litre capacity vessel(to prevent milk from overflowing), and one which has thick bottom (to prevent the contents getting burnt at the bottom).  When it starts boiling, add rice.  Cook on a slow flame.

During the process, keep scraping out the cream that gets collected around the vessel, and put it back to the contents.  Cook till the contents reduce to 1/3 the volume, stirring in between. Add sugar. I add very less sugar, i.e about 2 tablespoons. Cook for one more minute. Add ghee. Stir in saffron along with the milk and mix well. Transfer the contents to a bowl. Garnish with almond pieces. If you like you can add cashew nuts and raisins also.

You can make changes as per your convenience. To reduce the cooking time, you pressure cook the rice in milk, and add 1/2 a tin of condensed milk and boil it. Here you need not add sugar.  Or, after pressure cooking you can add milk powder and boil it. Here you need to add sugar.

And if you want the payasa to be rich and thick, you can add powdered almonds.

I find that the payasa tastes better if cooled and as it gets older :)

Serves 4-6 or more, depending upon whether you serve it with a heavy/light  lunch/dinner !


Why don't you try it out today?