Musk Melon magic

All of you must be familiar with musk melon.
By itself it tastes a little bland, but makes a good product for a nice cool beverage.

In Karnataka, we use musk melon to make Panakam (a kind of juice) during Ramanavami.
I will post the recipe for it some other time.

This time it is musk melon with a twist.

Below is the method..

In a mixie jar, take some musk melon pieces (skin peeled).
To this add some sugar, honey, mint leaves, ice cubes and a little salt.
Grind all these together with some water and your musk melon drink is ready.
Musk melon + mint combination is a nice cool drink that can be enjoyed, especially during hot summers!!

Paneer capsicum fritters

Today I saw this recipe on tv and looked simple and tasty..
Wanted to try it out immediately but could not find time today and so it is in pipeline for preparation as of now..

May be you can try it meanwhile..

Ingredients
-----------
Potatoes - 2 boiled
Capsicum - 1
Grated paneer - 1 cup
Green chillies
Maida - 2 tsp
Corn flour - 2 tsp
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Coriander
Pepper
Salt

Method
--------
Mash the boiled potatoes into a fine paste.
To this paste, add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well to form a dough.

Make rounds or bullet shaped balls with the dough and fry in oil.
It need not turn dark brown, just a light golden brown would do good.

Try and let me know if it turns out good.

Groundnut chutney (Kadlekai chutney)

My younger daughter enjoys having groundnut chutney and so I prepare it quite frequently.
And this chutney does not need coconut and so can be prepared anytime easily since groundnuts will be available at home anyway.

Recipe for it is below..

Ingredients
-----------
Groundnuts
Tamarind
Salt
Jaggery
Chillies
Onion - 1

Method
--------
Dry roast groundnuts and let it cool. Remove the skin of the groundnuts.
Fry red chillies and an onion and keep aside.

Grind together, groundnuts, red chillies, onion, salt, tamarind (small piece), jaggery (very little) with little water.
And the chuney is ready.

Tastes good with Rave Dosae.

Tomato Instant Pickle (Tomato Bisi Uppinakayi)

Tomato is something which is most commonly available and so can be prepared at any time of the year.
This recipe can be prepared and stored for a week or 15 days (refrigerated and used) since the preparation does not involve the usage of water.

Ingredients
------------
Ripe Tomatoes - 1kg
Mustard - 1tsp
Methi seeds - 1 tsp
Dry chillies - 3 or 4
Red Chilli powder
Salt
Jaggery
Tamarind
Oil

Method
--------
Wash and dry the tomatoes so that it is not moist.
Cut the tomatoes (1 tomato into 4 pieces).

On stove, In a pan, take 8-10 tsp oil, add mustard seeds and let is splutter,add turmeric powder, hing (Asphoedia), dry red chillies, curry leaves and add the cut tomatoes and let the tomatoes become soft in low flame.

Add salt, tamarind pieces, jaggery, red chilli powder, masala powder (i.e Fry 1tsp mustard and 1 tsp methi seeds and grind it into a dry powder) to this and let it boil in low  flame till the paste becomes a little thicker in consistency and all ingredients mix well.

Tomato instant pickle is ready and can be served with akki rotti, dosae or with white rice.

Hagalakayi Gojju - Bittergourd gojju

Hagalakayi or bittergourd is good for health especially for kidneys and for diabetes.
But due to its bitter taste many people avoid using it in their cuisine.

But bittergourd can be used to make some tasty recipes as well.

Below is one such you may try..

Ingredients
Hagalayaki/Bittergourd - 2 to 3
Onions
Tamarind pulp
Sambhar powder
Seasonings - mustard, turmeric, channa dal, urad dal, curry leaves

For Grinding
Grated coconut - a little
Fried gram - 2 tsp
Fried sesame seeds/white eLLu - 1 tsp
Fried Urad dal - 1 tsp


Method
1) Cut the bittergourd length wise and remove the seeds inside and cut into small pieces.
2) Add turmeric, salt and a little water to bittergourd and pressure cook it for 1 whistle.
3) Once cooled, remove the water - this will help remove the bitterness a little.
4) In a pan, heat oil and add mustard, channa dal, urad dal, curry leaves, turmeric and hing.
5) To this add chopped onions and fry.
6) Once onions are fried add the bittergourd pieces to this and fry for a while.
7) Add tamarind pulp, salt, sambhar powder, jaggery and water to this and allow it boil for sometime.
8) Add the ground paste to the boiling mixture and allow it boil for sometime till all ingredients come together.

Hagalakayi Gooju - ready to be eaten with rice and ghee.
Try the tasty and healthy gojju.. and have fun.

Majjige-HuLi

This is a dish prepared using curd (preferably slightly sour curd). Yes, there is a nice and tasty way of using up all those leftover curds lying around in the refrigerator :)
Majjige-huLi literally means sour curd in Kannada.

This is a very common dish prepared in Karnataka and has many variations to it.
It is part of most of the festivals and tops the menu list during functions like weddings in South India.

This recipe is prepared with different vegetables, like ash melon, chow-chow or bhindi.
Most popular and tastier one is the one with ash melon.
So I will posting a step to step guide to prepare the Majjige-Huli with Ash Melon (called boodu kumbalakayi in kannada) in this blog.

Below is a pic of Ash Melon

Ingredients for preparing Majjige-HuLi
1) Ash Melon - 1kg
2) Sour curd - around 1/2 litre (beat it lightly till it is smooth)


For Grinding
1) Grated fresh Coconut
2) Green chillies
3) Soaked Gram Dal/Channa Dal - 3-4 tsp (for about 1 hour)
4) Turmeric
5) Mustard - very little (arnd 1/4 tsp) - raw
6) Dhania/Corainder seeds - 1 tsp
7) Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
8) Coriander leaves

Method
1) Grind all the ingredients mentioned along with water and keep aside.
2) Peel the skin of the Ash melon and remove the seeds inside it and cut into medium sized cubes.
3) Pressure cook the Ash melon with little salt and some water (enough to immerse the cubes) for 1 or 2 whistles.
4) Once it is cooled, put the Ash melon in a vessel and add the ground mixture and add salt to taste and boil for a while.
5) Finally add the sour curd to this and mix well and allow it to boil once (once u see bubbles switch off).
6) Season with mustard, hing and curry leaves and add to majjige-huli.

Tastes awesome with rice :)

As mentioned there are many variations to this dish.
Some people who like garlic flavour in their cuisine, can add a bit of garlic to grinding.
Some also add some spices like cinnamon etc.

But this original version tastes the best and is a nice authentic dish which uses no dal and is good for digestion and great to be eaten during summers :)

Menasinakai Gojju (Chilli gojju)

I know what you might be thinking reading the title.
But it is not a dish to be scared of ;) as its not something sooper hot and spicy.
It is a nice, tasty and lightly spicy gojju which can be enjoyed with hot white rice and ghee :D

It is one of my personal favourites and my younger daughter's constant request to be present on the weekend  menu :)

Sharing the recipe for the same below... Try and let me know if you liked it. :)

Ingredients
1) Green Chilli
2) Red Chilli
3) Hing
4) Grated Coconut
5) Menthe seeds (Methi seeds)
6) Oil

Method
1) Grind grated coconut, fried dry red chillies (around 5-6 if using byadige red chillie), and hing along with little water in a mixie
2) Heat oil in a tava (around 5-6 tsp), add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Add hing, turmeric powder and curry leaves. Add some menthe seeds (1/2 tsp). To this add split green chillies (split length wise - around 4-5) and fry for a while.
3) Add the ground paste to this, a little water, salt, jaggery, tamarind pulp (2-3 tsp).
4) Allow it to boil for 5-6 minutes and the tangy spicy chilli gojju is ready to be enjoyed.