Rava Upma

This hot-favorite breakfast food originally from the south can be eaten for breakfast, brunch/snack.


Ingredients | Serves 4

200 Gms | Rava
1 | Onion
1 | Tomato (optional)
4 | Green Chillies
3 Tsp | Ghee
2 Tsp | Oil
1 | Carrot finely chopped (optional)
6 | Beans finely chopped (optional)
Curry Leaves, Salt

Roast the rava in a pan till it turns light brown and keep aside. Place 1 liter of water to boil. In the mean time, heat oil & ghee in a kadai - add the finely chopped onions, curry leaves, beans, carrot and cut green chillies. Add 1/4 tsp of salt. Fry till the onions turn golden brown and then add the finely chopped tomato. When the tomato is cooked, add about 750 ml of boiling water. Add salt to taste. Add the rava little at a time constantly stirring to prevent the formation of lumps. If the quantity of water in the mixture during stirring is insufficient, then add some more boiling (not cold/normal) water and stir. Simmer and cook with lid for 5 to 7 minutes.Add fried cashew nuts if desired. Rava upma is ready!

Consistency of upma depends on the amount of water added. If preferred thick and sticky, then you will have to add more water. If you like it soft and powdery, then it can be achieved by increasing the quantity of ghee/oil and avoiding more water initially. 

Always keep hot water handy to add in incase the water is insufficient.

Pepper Mutton

"Spicy, Juicy, Delectable"........that's pepper mutton! And to top it, its the most easiest, fastest non-vegetarian dish to prepare. Unlike chicken, mutton has a strong rich taste. So my effort always is to only enhance this taste than to mask it.


Ingredients | Servers 5/6
1kg | Mutton
6 Tsp | Pepper coarsely ground
1/4 Tsp | Turmeric powder
4 | Onions
Salt & Oil

Heat 4 Tsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add the chopped and cleaned mutton along with some salt and turmeric. Mix it well. Now add pepper powder and leave the mutton to cook on medium flame for 10 minutes placing the lid (not firmly). As mutton tends to leave considerable amount of water, adding water is not needed. If water from the meat is not enough for pressure cooking, then add 50ml of water. Pressure cook the meat for 3 whistles. Once done, add the sliced onions to the cooked meat. Keep stirring frequently till the water evaporates.
Pepper mutton is ready to be savored.

Crab Sukka

Crab - A delicious sea food option. If crab is on the menu, there is always a sense of excitment surrounding the table. When you lay your hands on this tantalizing, mouth watering dish, you tend to talk less and work more :-)

Ingredients | Serves 3/4


1 Kg | Crab
4 | Medium sized onions
1/2 | Coconut
2-1/2 Tsp | Coriander seeds fried
10-12 | Red Chillies fried
1/2 Tsp | Jeera
1/2 Tsp |Pepper fried
1/4 Tsp | Methi Seeds fried
1/4 Tsp | Turmeric
10-15 | Garlic Cloves
Tamarind about the size of half a lemon
Salt to taste

Make a fine paste of 2 onions, red chillies, coriander, jeera, methi, pepper, garlic, turmeric and tamarind and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan/kadai. Fry 2 finely chopped onions until they turn brown. Now put in the crab, add some salt and mix. Add about 1/2 quantity of the paste into this and Pour about 1/2 a glass of water. Mix well and place a lid. Let the crab cook on medium flame. To the remaining paste in the mixie, add grated coconut and grind it to a coarse paste.
Once the crab is cooked, add the coconut paste and mix well. Leave this to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes on slow flame.
Crab sukka is ready to be devoured :-)! This can be teamed with dosa, idly or bread. It tastes excellent with Neer Dosa.

Channa Dal Chutney

If it's dosa or idly for breakfast, the only question that runs in most of our minds is - what chutney to prepare? "Variety"......is the demand!! 

If you already know about this tangy chutney...then probably I was introduced late! 

Some call it channa dal, some roasted gram dal /fried gram dal. Its referred to as 'hurikadale' in kannada.

 

roasted gram dal /fried gram dal

Ingredients | Servers 4/5

6 Tsp | Hurikadale
1/3 | Coconut
10-15 | Mint Leaves
3-4 | Green Chillies
1/2" | Tamarind
Salt

Make a fine paste of coconut, green chillies, mint leaves and tamarind. Then, add in the dal and grind it into a coarse paste. Add salt to taste and mix water as desired. Chutney is ready!

Brinjal Masala

"Brinjal" -  loved and relished by many (not me though!!). But this one certainly impressed me. Succulent baby brinjals dressed in simple Indian flavors were a treat not just to my eyes but to my taste buds as well !!

Ingredients | Serves 5/6


1 Kg | Brinjal
1/2 | Coconut
1 Tsp | Cumin
150 Gms | Onion
10 | Garlic Cloves
1 Tsp | Chilly Powder
1 Tsp | Coriander(Dhaniya) Powder
Turmeric, Salt

Wash the brinjals thoroughly. Remove the leafy part that holds the brinjal but make sure you retain the stem.
 For the filling (masala) - Finely grind the grated coconut, onion, cumin (jeera) and garlic. Transfer the paste to a bowl, add 1 tsp of chilly powder and coriander powder, pinch of turmeric and salt. Mix this well.
Cut each brinjal vertically into four so that you can fill the masala in between them. Once done heat oil (sufficient to immerse the brinjals) in a wok. Hold the brinjals by their stem and place them carefully one next to another (as shown). If there is left over of the masala then spread it over the brinjals in the wok. Allow this to cook on a medium flame for about 15 minutes. Stir once making sure you don't smash the brinjals while doing so. Wait for the brinjals to cook until they soften. Once done, its ready to serve.
Brinjal Masala goes well with chapati and rice.

Root Mocktail

A drink to beat the heat this summer!

Ingredients | Servers 4/5

1 | Cucumber

1 | Beetroot

2 | Carrots

1/4" | Ginger

1/2 |  Lemon

Mint leaves (optional)

Chop cucumber, beat root, carrots and ginger. Transfer them into the juicer. Add mint, salt and sugar as per your convenience. Drain the juice off the pulp and squeeze in the lemon. Root Mocktail is ready to serve.

The leftover pulp can be used as sauce or topping.