Jire Mire Kadi (Jeera Pepper Kadi)

One of my all time favorite dish is this amazing kadi that my mom makes with Jeera (Jire in Konkani) and Pepper (Mire in Konkani). It makes even one of those boring meals interesting by giving your taste buds a twist. Here is my mom's recipe for this amazing kadi that goes great when mixed with white rice. Recently I had this kadi as a side for Chapathi and that combination also tastes amazing.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

Oil - 2 tsp
Red Chilly -7
Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - small ball
Ghee - 2 tsp
Pepper balls - 9
Cumin Seeds -  4 tsp


Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add red chillies and let it fry for a bit.
2. Next add grated coconut and mix well.
3. Add tamarind and switch off the flame.
4. Grind the above mixture to a coarse paste.
5. Next in a pan, heat ghee, add pepper and cumin seeds to it and fry it.
6. Put this mixture in the coarse paste that was ground above and grind it finely.
7. Now for tempering this kadi, heat ghee in a pan and add crushed garlic. 
8. Once the garlic fries a bit,  add the finely ground paste and let it boil well for a few minutes till bubble forms.
9. Finally add salt as per your taste.

Jire Mire Kadi is ready to serve with rice or chapathi.

Nik's Amazing Dal Fry

Dal fry is one of my hubby's specialty dishes. It takes the simple toor dal and adds a rich tempering which when served with rice feels like heaven. A must try dish if you are yearning for a recipe to take your taste buds on a gastronomical ride.

Preparation:

Ingredients:

Toor Dal - 0.5 cup (soaked in water for 20 mins)
Onion - 0.5 (chopped)
Tomato - 2 (chopped)
Garlic - 1 (chopped)
Coriander leaves - handful (chopped fine)
Ghee - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds (jira) - 1 tsp
Hing - small pinch
Red Chillies - 2
Turmeric Powder - 0.5 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 0.5 tsp (or to taste)
Coriander leaves - 0.5 cup


Recipe:
1. Soak toor dal in water for 20 mins. Chop all the vegetables and keep it ready for making dal fry.
2. Take ghee in a pressure cooker.
3. Add jira, hing, red chillies, chopped garlic and onions. Mix well and let it cook till the onions turn brownish in color.
4. Next add chopped tomato and mix well.
5. Add turmeric powder, soaked dal, salt and sugar to taste.
6. Next add coriander leaves and water. Close the pressure cooker and let it pressure cook for 1 whistle. Remove from gas.

Dal fry is ready to be served with rice.

Vegetable Kurma

Vegetable Kurma is a tangy & spicy coconut based curry with mixed vegetables. My mom used to serve this curry with dosas sometimes and I must say that it was a heavenly combination. Here is my mom's recipe and I hope you enjoy it.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Oil - 4 tsp
Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp
Jira - 1 tsp
Pepper - 4
Cloves - 1
Cinnamon Stick - a small piece
Red Chilly - 4
Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - small ball size
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Ginger (grated) - 1 tsp
Garlic (grated) - 1 tsp
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Peas - 1/4 cup
Potato - 1
Cauliflower (or any other vegetables) - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 cup (for garnishing)

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan. 
2. Add cinnamon stick, pepper balls, cloves, coriander seeds, Jira and red chillies and fry for a few minutes.
3. Add grated ginger and garlic to the above mix along with turmeric powder, tamarind ball and grated coconut and fry for a few seconds.
4. Next grind the above mix into a fine paste once it cools down a bit and keep it aside.
5. Take some oil and fry onions.
6. Next add tomatoes, peas, potato and other vegetables you may like. Sprinkle some salt and continue frying until they are cooked.
7. Add the masala that was ground earlier and let it cook well until the bubbles form.
8. Once done, sprinkle some garam masala, mix well and garnish with coriander leaves.

Vegetable Kurma is now ready to be served with Dosa.

Rava Laddoo

Rava Laddoo is a popular Indian dessert made during festivals in India especially during Diwali. These sweet  balls is made from Rava (Sooji/Semolina) and is mixed with nuts which gives it a crunchy goodness. Thanks to my mom-in-law for this sweet and delicious dish.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

Rava (a.k.a Semolina/Sooji) - 2 cup
Sugar - 1.5 cup
Ghee - 8 tsp
Coconut - 1 cup
Cardamom - 6
Cashew - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 25 (1 per laddoo as a topping)
Milk - 1/2 cup

This gives 25 laddoos.


Preparation:

1. Dry roast the coconut to remove the moisture.
2. Heat Ghee in a pan and add rava and cashews. Let it fry well. Keep stirring continuously so that it doesn't burn.
3. Add the dry roasted coconut and mix well.
4. Meanwhile, peel the cardamom and make a powder of sugar and the cardamom. Add the powder to the coconut, rava mixture above.
5. This powder is dry upto this stage and you cannot make balls. So we add the milk after which we should be able to easily make those balls. So add milk and mix well.
6. Make balls and while making the balls add a raising to each ball.

Rava Laddoos are ready!

Dahi Arbi

Taro Root cooked in yogurt and infused with spices - that is Dahi Arbi for you. I don't remember ever eating this vegetable in my childhood, but I have heard a lot about it. So when I stumbled upon Arbi (Taro Root) in the Grocery Store, I really wanted to give it a try and was looking up recipes on how to cook this veggie. Luckily, I stumbled upon a recipe for this on Vege Cravings blog and I've loved it so much that everytime we get Arbi, I end up making Dahi Arbi. This curry goes amazingly well with Chapati, but you can also eat it as a side to Pulao. Here is the version of recipe that I tried and wanted to put it on this blog as a collection of my favorite food recipes.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Arbi/Taro Roots - 8 (peeled and boiled)
Tomato - 1
Yogurt - 3 tbsp
Green Chilly - 3
Ginger - 1/2 tsp (Grated)
Oil - 4 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 0.5 tsp
Guralla Seeds - 3 tsp
Ajwain (Carom Seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds (Methi Seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Fennel Seeds (Saunf) - 1 tsp
Amchur Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Peel Arbi and boil it in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle.
2. After it is pressure cooked, let it cool and cut it into small cubes.
3. Now, take 3 tsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the Arbi till it is crispy and has a golden brown color. Keep it aside.
4. In another pan, take the remaining oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds, ajwain, methi seeds, fennel seeds and hing. Let it crackle.
5. Add tomato and let it fry for a few mins until it mashes.
6. Then add the spices - turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, amchur powder and salt.
7. Now, add the yogurt and stir it. Switch off the flame and add the fried Arbi.

Dahi Arbi is ready to be served with Chapati or Peas Pulao

Note:  Guralla seeds look like Shahi Jeera and are only found in Karnataka.

Pita Laddu (Pus Pus Laddu)/ Gava pita Laddu/ Wheat flour Laddu/ Atta Laddu

Among the culinary delights that I relished during my childhood days, the pus-pus laddu or atta laddu holds a special place in my heart. My visit to my native town would be incomplete without having this sweet. The reason for the name pus-pus laddu is because these laddus are so soft that you need to hold a hand near your mouth to catch the crumbled pieces while taking a bite - yes, they are that soft and yet they beautifully retain their shape until you take a bite! I happened to learn this recipe recently from my mom-in-law and here is the recipe to this mouth watering dessert that will surely melt your hearts.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

Wheat Flour (Atta) - 4 cups
Sugar - 3 cups
Ghee - 1.5 cups
Cardamom - 10

This gives about 30 laddus.

Preparation:

1. Fry wheat flour in a pan. Stir continuously on medium flame. The wheat flour should fry well. Once it turns brownish color, switch off the flame and keep it aside.
2. Grind sugar and cardamom (remove skin) in a mixer (Split and grind so it doesn't get stuck in the mixer).
3. Once the wheat flour cools down, mix the sugar cardamom powder to it. 
4. Then put ghee and mix well. Finally make balls with the mix.

Wheat flour Laddu is ready to be served.

*Small red vatis were used as measuring cups.

Odiyo Roase

Fry odi in oil

Make the masala like u do for valli bhaji randayi- it should be coarse

Fry onion in oil, add the masala - if you have tamarind use that, else use raw mango...let it koth koth.. Then add odi and koth koth for 2 mins and switch off

Instead of onion, you can also use mustard seeds and curry leaves for tadka