HOLIGE (OBBATTU)

Here comes the Holige, ajji's speciality and her master piece! This is prepared mostly during big festivals, but for ajji the arrival of any guest or demand  by grand children or friends itself is a festival ! And so, in spite of it being a time consuming and  an  elaborate process, how many lakhs of Holiges ajji has rolled so far, I cant guess!

I am not sure whether you really try your hand at this. But assuming  that you  prepare this one fine day (since you also like it a lot), I am posting this recipe.  If you dont have time, you can prepare this in installments too, i.e., prepare the stuffing the previous day and roll the holiges the next day.  You can even  store different quantities of stuffing in different containers in the freezer, and use it many times- whenever you feel like.  If the stuffing is ready, it is just like rolling stuffed parathas.  But this is a bit more delicate since it is extremely thin unlike parathas, and should be handled carefully.  But practice makes you roll them perfectly.  It is quite healthy also since the main ingredient is the togari bele/tur dal.

As you know, ajji makes one of the finest holiges of the world.  She has treated hundreds of friends and relatives with these.   And this Vijayadashami, we were with ajji and thatha in Mysore and there were holiges getting ready for the festival ! I caught the process on my camera.  And we all hogged them too with... yes, with pure home made ghee! The picture above shows it! Some of us had them with just ghee, and others with ghee, hot milk and also Elakki baLe haNNu (the special variety of banana, available in Mysore).  As you know eating holiges with banana is a speciality of thatha's family. Previously they used Rasa baLe,  a very special variety of bananas, but unfortunately it has become very very rare to find them nowadays.

To make holiges you have to have the kaNika (the flour) and the hoorNa(the stuffing).

 And ajji used:

For hoorNa:

Togari beLe/toovar dal                                                     1 cup
Jaggery syrrup                                                                  1 cup (1 string consistency)
Water                                                                                1 cup
Cardomom powder                                                          1/2 teaspoon
Clove powder                                                                   1/4 teaspoon
Jaikai Nut/meg powder                                                     2 pinches
 Jaipatre/Mace powder                                                     1 pinch
Coconut grated                                                                 1/4 cup




Procedure:

Pressure cook dal with water till done.  Cool to room temperature.

Then first run grated coconut in the mixer to a fine powder. (The coconut taken out from the freezer and thawed just till it becomes powdery, gets ground to a fine powder easily). Now add cooked dal, jaggery syrrup and run the mixer.  Transfer the contents into a microwavable bowl and microwave for for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring  in between.  The consistency of the product  should be that of the chappathi flour you knead for making chapathis and so, you have to remove this from the microwave when it is still a little softer than the chapati flour.  On cooling you will get the proper consistency.  Now add all the remaining spices and mix thoroughly with hand. 

For kaNika:

Wheat flour                                                   1 1/4 cup finely sieved
Maida                                                            1/4 cup
Turmeric powder                                          1 pinch
Refined oil                                                    1 tablespoon
Water                                                             about 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Take all the ingredients except water in a bowl.  Adding water little by little, knead to get a consistency like that of chapati flour.  Smear with 1 teaspoon of oil and leave for some time.  This process of adding 1 teaspoon of oil and kneading again and again should be done 5 or 6 times in a gap of at least 4 or 5 hours.  The flour becomes very very soft and rubbery.

It is important that the consistencies of both kaNika and hoorNa should be almost the same so that after stuffing and while rolling, it doesn't get torn. If you take a lemon sized ball of hoorNa,  it is enough if you take half the size of kaNika.  KaNika is a thin covering on the hoorNa, that is all. 

Now, see the magic of 84 year young hands in action.....stuffing and then rolling !

After rolling, spread about half a teaspoon of oil on the top of it and transfer it on the tava so that the oiled surface touches the tava. Spread half a tea spoon oil on the other side too.

This is how it looks immediately after transferring on to the tava.

Roast on a medium heat till you get light brown colour as you find in the picture.  The stuffing is already cooked, and the covering is very thin and so there is no need to cook it for a longer time or till fully brown.  If you take it out soon, the holige remains very soft.

You can see the holige bloated in this picture.  If it bloats, the holiges are extra soft.  It is okay even if it doesnt bloat.  You can take it out from the tava, once you get such dark marks on them.

Stuffing and rolling should be such that on rolling the stuffing is uniformly spread till along the circumference or else the edges become hard and it is not a nice feeling while eating.  Again, this can be attained with a little bit of practice or if you take interest in the procedure.  

PESARATTU (HESARUKALU DOSAE)

Pesarattu, made of  hesaru kaLu/whole green gram/moong, is a typical Andhra dish.  It is a very nutritious and tasty dish,  and easy to make too. It is quite filling and so is good as a breakfast, evening snack or  dinner. This does not require any other planning except that you need a few hours for the moong to get soaked.

To prepare this, you need:

Hesaru kaLu/whole moong                        1 cup
Rice flour                                                    1 table spoon
Green chilies                                               2
Ginger                                                         1" piece
Coconut grated                                           1/2 cup
Curry leaves                                                5-6
Salt                                                             1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds                                               1 teaspoon
Onion                                                          2 medium (one of them finely chopped)
Coriander leaves                                         2 tablespoons, finely chopped
Oil                                                               1/4 cup


Procedure:

Soak hesarukaLu for three to four hours.  Drain water. Grind it together with ginger, one onion, green chilies, coconut and salt to a coarse paste.   The consistency of the batter is a little thicker than the usual dosae batter. Now mix in chopped onions coriander leaves, rice flour and cumin.  Spread one scoopful on the tawa just as you spread for other dosaes. Make a few holes in the middle. Add a bit of oil into the holes and also around. Fry, reverse and add one more teaspoon of oil and roast the other side also. Adding oil into the holes makes the center part also get cooked well and makes the dish crispy too.

Take it out from the tawa. Serve with any chatni, pickle or chatnipuDi.  If it is hot and spicy, you don't need any other side dish with this.

With this amount of hesarukaLu, you can make 5 or 6 dosaes. 

SAAGU (MIXED VEGETABLE)

Actually this is not only the favourite of mine, but everybody's. As a young girl I used to consume three chapatis in place of usual two, if there was saagu as a dish. Ajji makes wonderful saagu and you know that.


 Nutrition-wise also this is very good since it contains different varieties of  vegetables.


The vegetables that are suitable to prepare saagu are;

Cabbage
String beans
Chow Chow (seeme badane kai)
Peas
Corn
Beetroot
Carrot
Potato
Cauliflower

Cut the vegetable to about 1cm square pieces. There is no rule for the quantity of each vegetable to be taken, but suppose you have cut vegetables to fill a 1 litre container, let there be just one small potato and about 2" square piece of beetroot. This small piece will just give a good colour to the saagu.

Other Ingredients for masala (to be ground into a paste) :

Grated coconut 1 cup
Onion 1 midium, sliced
Roasted gram dal 2 level table spoons
Cinnamon 1" piece
Cumin 1 teaspoon
Ginger 1 inch
Green chilly 1

For seasoning:

Oil 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves 5-6
Haldi 1 pinch
Garlic 2-3 pods finely cut (if you like garlic)
Onion 1 big (finely cut)

You also need salt, one or two cups of water and a teaspoon of sugar

Method:

Cook all the vegetables in a microwave or in a pressure cooker. Take take care that it is not over cooked. In fact except potato, you can just half cook the vegetables such that one should be able to recognise each vegetable in the ready dish. Moreover, I feel it gives a better taste and the vitamins are also well retained thus.

Now keep a kadai on the flame and add oil. When hot, add mustard. When it sputters add curry leaves, cut garlic and onions and fry for one or two minutes. Add haldi, mix well and add the cooked vegetables. Add salt to taste. Mix well and add the ground masala. Add about a cup of water and mix well and bring it to boil. Let it boil for two minutes. It becomes very thick, add half or one cup of water more and bring to boil. Finally add a teaspoon of sugar.

This is a sabji which is a bit liquidy, but there will be no gravy separately. You can make out in the picture. It is a wonderful accompaniment for plain parathas and pooris.

GOJJINA PUDI

Usually when people make special gojju, for example, gojjus of kittale sippe, bende kai, pineapple etc., they prepare the masala pudi separately. Otherwise they use just saarina pudi. I don't like to use sarina pudi and many times I am lazy to prepare fresh masala, especially when I have no time or when I am in a hurry. But everyone at home likes gojju. So I thought, why not prepare gojjina pudi also just like we prepare huli pudi, saarina pudi, etc.

Yes, from past few years, there is always a gojjina pudi jar along with all other pudis in my kitchen shelf. This is really very convenient. I don' like to spend much time in the kitchen, but I want tasty things. This attitude has given rise to many innovations.

You take:

coriander seeds 1 cup
Byadagi chillies 3 cups
Oil 1 teaspoon
Gram dal 2 tablespoons
Menthya seeds 1 teaspoon
Cumin 1 tablespoon
Ellu (til) 2 tablespoons
Dry coconut grated 1 cup

Procedure:

Dry roast coriander seeds, gram dal and cumin to a golden brown colour. Roast menthya and Ellu till they start sputtering and take out immediately or else they get burnt very soon.

Dry roast coconut on a slow fire till crisp. You can even just leave it in a hot kadai after turning off the flame. Keep stirring so that it doesnt get burnt in case the kadai is too hot.

Cool it to room temperature and grind the ingredients (except cry coconut) to a coarse powder. Add coconut and grind again.

Store in air tight jar. It is a good idea to store this in a fridge to prevent it from becoming stale since unlike huli pudi, sarina pudi this is rarely used and so may last longer.

HAGALKAI PALYA (BITTERGOURD)

This is a variation of the usual North Indian dish, the stuffed bitter gourd. In case  stuffed  bitter gourd  deep fry this after stuffing it with spices. To avoid deep frying, I tried this method. Turned out quite well

Ingredients:

Hagalkai/bitter gourd                          1/4 kg (cut as shown)
Onion                                                   1  big , slit as shown
Amchur powder                                   2 teaspoons
Salt                                                      1 level teaspoon
Red chilli powder                               1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder                                1 pinch

oil                                                           1 tablespoon

Method:

To quicken the process, take cut bitter gourd in a bowl, add salt, mix well and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, tossing once or twice in between.

Now take oil in a thick pan and heat. Add soumph. When it turns golden brown add cut onions and turmeric. Fry for a minute. Add chily powder, mix and add cut bitter gourd and cook without adding water. Fry till cooked . Add amchur powder and mix well. After about a minute, remove from fire.

This tastes better when eaten the next day! The reason is that the hagalkai pieces will have absorbed salt and amchur and the palya will not be very bitter. If you like it bitter, you can eat the same day.

This is a side dish and tastes very well with plain roti and dal.

HUNISE GOJJU (FOR HUGGI)

So this is the `gojju', a South Indian accompaniment for the Huggi. Shortly I will give you the recipe of the Khichdi and gojju , the North Indian style, which I have adapted to my own style.

You should have sarina pudi ready for this gojju and I am for sure that any South Indian family does have a stock of it ALWAYS. Am I right?




What you need:

Tamarind paste 1/2 cup thick
Jaggery powder 1/2 cup
salt 1 teaspoon
saarina pudi 1 teaspoon (more if you want it spicy)
Oil 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Urd and gram dal 1/2 teaspoon each
Ingu 1 pinch
Turmeric powder 1 pinch
curry leaves 5-6

Method:

Mix tarmarind paste, jaggery together and heat till jaggery dissolves. Decant it because there might be sand granules in the jaggery. After decanting add salt and saarina pudi.

Heat oil in a small kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it sputters add gram dal and urd dal. When they turn golden brown, add ingu, turmeric and curry leaves and immediately pour in the other ingredients and boil for one minute. If it is very liquidy, you can stir in a table spoon of rice flour or wheat flour and boil for a minute so that it becomes thick and easy to serve.

This can stay in the fridge for about 15 days. So, now that recipes of Huggi and Gojju are both ready, common have it for dinner ! Let me know how it was!

Note: In this recipe, only the ingredients are more important. The amount of tamarind, jaggery and saaina pudi can be varied according to your taste. That is, you can prepare it according to how much sour, sweetness or spicy you like. This is a dish for which you can dip in your finger, lick and taste :), and change the quantity of the ingredients to get the taste you like.

HUGGI ( KHICHDI KARNATAKA STYLE)

Whenever Ajji makes Huggi, she says it is made usually in Dhanurmasa ! This is the winter season and according to Hindu calender, from December 16th to January 15th is Dhanurmasa. And for those who believe, this is supposed to be an auspicious month and they perform special poojes during this period. The story goes that Indra's wife Shachi made this and offered to God :)

As you know Makara Sankranti time is Harvest season also. Taking this into consideration, and also the body requirements during the winter season, the important ingredients used to make Huggi are rice, moong dal, ghee, black pepper, cumin, etc.

Anyway this is a wonderful, simple and healthy food and having this as a breakfast in an early winter morning, with suitable accompaniments, you just can't stop consuming it.

Ingredients:

Rice 3/4 cup (washed)
Moong dal 1/4 cup (roasted to a golden yellow colour)
(you can 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup dal also)
Water 4 cups
Salt 1 level teaspoon
Ghee/oil 2 teaspoons
Jeerige 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves a few
Ginger 1/2 inch grated or finely chopped
Black pepper 6-8
Clove 4-5
Dry coconut cut into size of peas-1 table spoon; you can take grated also.
(cut pieces give a special effect while eating)
Cashew nuts 10-12 cut into halves
Masala (if you want it spicy take just half a chilli, finely cut,
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper powder, 1/4 teaspoon of clove
powder)


Method:

Put ghee in a small pressure cooker. When it is just hot, add jeerige and fry till brown. Now add pepper and clove and fry for half a minute. Add curry leaves and immediately add cashew nuts and fry till golden brown and then add dry coconut pieces and fry till golden brown. Add masalas and immediately add only 3 cups of water. Add rice, dal and salt and pressure cook till done. When the pressure is released, take out the lid and add one more cup of water and boil again. Huggi should have a bit liquidy consistency and if you like you can half a cup more of water. Serve/eat hot. Not just that ! But with a heaped table spoon of butter (!!!!!!) if you want to enjoy life, and sugar powder and/or hunise gojju !!!! I will give you the recipe of hunise gojju in my next post.

Now a days they serve this in hotels with coconut chutney/raita, which I don't relish. Anyway, prepare this, enjoy and let me know how it was!