Kalingana Pole (Watermelon Dosa)

Kalingana Paule, a.k.a watermelon dosa is one of the Konkani specialities. After the red portion of the watermelon is eaten, the white layer that remains is used in the preparation of this dosa. This is one of the best examples of how innovative our Indian cuisine gets when it comes to making use of everything from a fruit/vegetable.

 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Watermelon - 1 (white leftover portion)

Uncooked Rice - 1 cup (soaked overnight)

Fresh Grated Coconut - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

Preparation;

1. Wash rice thoroughly and Soak it for 5 hrs or overnight.
2. We use the white portion of the watermelon (which is usually not eaten) to make this dosa. Peel the outer skin and just retain the white portion of the watermelon. Cut them into cubes.

3. Grind watermelon pieces, soaked rice and grated coconut to make a smooth paste.

4. Make dosa by heating the griddle, smearing it with oil and then pouring the dosa batter.

Serve the dosa hot with white coconut chutney.

Biryani (Vegetarian/Eggitarian Variations)

Biryani, a spiced rice dish is a very popular dish in the Indian cuisine. Made in a number of styles and variations, this dish has seen an acceptance worldwide. In India, based on the region you are in, you could be eating the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, Awadhi Biryani, Lucknowi Biryani, Sindhi Biryani, Kolkatta Biryani, Ambur Biryani, Bombay Biryani - you get the idea! We have so many varieties! Plus it has the meat variants and the vegetarian or the eggitarian versions. This is usually served with raita (yogurt salad). In Hyderabad, they also give you the mirchi ka salan (green chilly curry) to go with it.

I've tried making this dish multiple times at home, but it was never perfect. My fourth attempt at this dish was a huge success and from then on, its been a cakewalk! Here is the recipe from my successful attempt and I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did!

Recipe:
Ingredient:
To make the Biryani Masala:
Oil - 6 tsp
Salt - to taste
Biryani Powder (Badshah) - 2 tsp
Pepper corns - 6
Ginger - 1 in (grated)
Garlic - 3 cloves (grated)
Green chillies -3 (chopped)
Kasuri methi - 1/2 cup (optional)
Yogurt - 2 cups
Mint leaves - 2
Vegetarian Version:
Potato - 2 (chopped into cubes)
Carrot - 3 (chopped medium size)
Green Beans - 10 (chopped medium size)
Cauliflower - 7 florets (medium)
Green Peas - 0.5 cup
Onion - 1/2 (chopped)
Soy Beans (Meal Maker)- 1/2 cup (optional)
Eggitarian Variation:
Egg - 4 (boiled)

To make the rice:
Rice - 1 cup
Bay leaves - 1
Salt - to taste
Water for boiling

For layering:
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Onion - 1/2 (cut into long slices and fried in oil)
Ghee - 2 tsp
Mint leaves - 4 (chopped)
Saffron - 6 strands
Milk - 2 tsp

Preparation:
Making the Biryani Masala:
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add pepper corns and the vegetables - potato, green beans, cauliflower, green peas and onion. The green beans soak the spices really well. That's why I love adding a lot of green beans. Optionally, if you want to fake meat, you can add the soy beans to it. If making the egg version, fry the boiled eggs separately in oil so that the outer white is crispy and we will add it to the mixture in the end.
3. We will add the carrots after the vegetables above are sauteed a bit. Carrots give a bit of sweet crunch to the dish and tastes great.
4. Add grated ginger, grated garlic and green chillies to the mix. Sauteed for a few mins.
5. Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, garam masala powder, salt, kasuri methi and Biryani powder and mix well.
6. Once the spices are fried a bit, add yogurt and mix well. Let it cook for 5 mins so that the vegetables are able to absorb the juices. Optionally add some mint leaves.

Making the rice:
7. Heat water in a vessel, add bay leaf, salt and soaked rice and let it cook for 10 mins. Keep checking regularly to make sure that its not cooked completely. We need the rice to be 3/4th cooked.

Layering:
8. Once the rice and the biryani masala is done, its time to layer them and cook them together so that the flavors mix well.
9. We need fried onions as one of the ingredients for this. If you have the store brought one, you can use it. If not, then deep fry the onion and keep it aside.
10. Also add the saffron strands to warm milk, This is to give a good color to the biryani.
11. In a cooker, add a portion of the biryani masala as the first layer. This is important because if you add the rice first, it might burn off while cooking and stick to the vessel. Next, add a portion of rice. Maker sure you spread it evenly. Then add the coriander leaves, mint leaves, fried onion, ghee, saffron milk. If you are making egg biryani, then add the fried egg now. Next add another layer of rice, then portion of biryani masala and then the garnishing items and repeat it.
12. Cook this on stove for 10 mins. Let it cool for 1/2 hr before serving it.

Biryani is now ready to be served. You can eat it just by itself or with a side of raita.

Kande Chutney

Kande Chutney is the konkani version of onion chutney. Kande in konkani refers to onion. This chutney is most frequently served with Urda appe, but it can also be an accompaniment to idli, dosa, uthapam and the like. Here's my mom's authentic recipe for make this delicious side dish.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Coconut - 0.5 cup (grated)

Red Chilly - 3

Tamarind - small piece

Salt - to taste

Onion - 0.5 

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan. 

2. Once the oil heats up, add red chilly and tamarind.

3. Turn off the flame and add grated coconut and salt. Mix well.

4. Grind the above into a smooth paste.

5. Add onion and just pulse grind coarsely.

Serve it as a side to appe or the like.

Urda Appe

Urda Appe is a popular Konkani breakfast item. In Konkan cuisine, two versions of appe are prepared - one is this which is prepared with urad dal and rice and the other is a sweet appe. Both taste great. We eat this urda appe with kande chutney (onion chutney). Here is my mom's recipe to make this amazing appe.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Urad Dal - 1 cup

Rice - 1.5 cup

Onion - 1

Preparation:

1. Soak Urad Dal for 6 hrs. In another container, soak rice for the same duration.

2. Grind the urad dal and rice separately and then mix them.

3. Let it ferment for about 6 hrs.

4. Take small portions of the batter and add chopped onions as required into the batter.

5. Next grease the appe pan with some oil. The appe pan looks like below.

6. Add a spoon of batter in each hole. Cover the lis and let it fry.

7. Once they are done on one side, flip them over and fry the other side till they are done.

Once they are crisp, serve them hot with kande chutney.

Nik's Baingan Bahar

Baingan Bahaar is one of my hubby's speciality dishes which I love a lot. This curry is made with small brinjals and has a tinge of sweetness, tanginess and spice, which makes it a great accompaniment with rotis. Whenever this curry is made at our home, we lose track of how many rotis we've eaten - it's that addictive of a dish. Special thanks to my hubby for sharing this recipe.

Preparation:

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 2 handful

Poppy Seeds - 2 tsp

Gurala (optional) - 2 tsp (This spice is only available and used in Karnataka state in India)

Dry coconut powder - 1/2 cup

Red Chilly - 2

Tamarind - medium round ball

Garlic - 3 pods

Joshi Bagara Baingan Powder (optional) -  3 tsp (You get this at Joshi Brothers in Hyderabad)

Salt - to taste

Oil - 10 tsp

Brinjal (small eggplants) - 6 (slit into 4 parts)

Mustard Seeds - 1tsp

Hing - a pinch

Ginger - 1in (grated)

Onion - 1

Turmeric Powder - 0.5 tsp

Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Jaggery - 1 cube

Curry Leaves - 6

Aayis Gurala Masala (optional) - 2 tsp

Recipe:

1. Roast peanut, poppy seeds, gurala, red chilly, tamarind and garlic. Once they are slightly brown, add dry coconut powder, joshi powder and salt. 

2. Once the above ingredients are roasted, grind it into a powder.

3. Next, heat 5 tsp of oil in a pan.

4. Add the brinjal and fry it. Add salt and cover it with a lid to help it cook faster. Once cooked, keep it aside.

5. In another pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then, add hing, grated ginger, Onion. Salt, Turmeric powder, Red chilly powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. 

7. Add the dry peanut powder made in step 2. 

8. Put water and add jaggery. Grind it into a paste.

9. In another pan, heat oil, add curry leaves, add the paste made above. Let it cook.

10. Once the paste cooks, add fried brinjal and Salt. Then add Aayi's gurala masala. Cover with a lid and cook.

Serve it hot with chapathis.

Puran Poli

Puran Poli, a sweet roti is generally prepared during festivals in many Indian households. The preparation process involves stuffing a sweet filling in the dough and then rolling it like a roti . It is served hot with lots of ghee or milk. When I was a kid, my mom used to engage me in the preparation process of this dessert and the whole exercise has made me grow very fond of this great dish. Recently, we tried this for the first time on our own and I must say, the results were quite amazing. Here's my mom's recipe for this lovely dish.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

For Dough:

Maida (All purpose flour) - 1 cup

Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup

Salt - to taste

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Water - as needed to knead

Oil - 1 cup

For Puran (sweet filling):

Chana Dal - 1 cup

Toor Dal - 1/8 cup

Water - as required for boiling

Jaggery - 6 cubes

Cardamom  - 4 (Powdered)

Preparation:

1. Knead maida, wheat flour, turmeric powder, oil, salt and water into a dough.

2. Put the dough in a bowl containing 1 cup of oil and keep it aside. This extra oil will be used later when we are making the dough balls stuffed with sweet filling. It also helps in making the puran polis soft.

3. Pressure cook the chana dal and toor dal for 3 whistles. The boiled mix should be mashy.

4. Remove the excess water and you can use it to make saar or discard it.

5. Add jaggery and powdered cardamom to the boiled dal mix and stir it till it becomes thick. Once it cools down, gring this so that it becomes a smooth paste.

6. Make small round balls and keep aside. This is the filling that we stuff in the dough, also known as puran.

7. Now comes the part where we stuff this in the dough. Apply oil from the bowl to your palm, spread a small piece of dough on your palm so that it completely covers the center of your palm. Then take the chana dal ball (sweet filling) and place it in the center. Next wrap the dough around this ball completely so that we don't see a trace of the filling. 

7. Coat some maida to this stuffed dough and roll it into a round roti shape. Its best to cover the rolling board with plastic to prevent sticking while rolling and its also helps with the cleaning process for the board.

8. Apply a bit of oil to a pan and to both sides of the rolled polis and fry these on both sides.

Serve it hot with ghee. 

Its always best to make less of the dough and more of the filling because we can make another sweet dish called Sukrondo with the leftover filling.

Surnoli

Surnoli is a sweet dosa that is made with cucumber or Mugge (Mangalore cucumber - if available) and is a speciality in Konkani cuisine. Traditionally, these dosas are to be prepared fluffy and not crispy like the Masala Dosas. They are served with white coconut chutney or with ghee mixed with chutney powder (also known as gun powder). Below is my Mom's recipe for preparing these green dosas.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Cucumber/Mugge - 1

Uncooked Rice - 2 cup

Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds) - 2 tsp

Fresh Grated Coconut - 1 cup

Poha - 1/2 cup (1 mushti)

Jaggery - 1 cup

Tuermeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Preparation;

1. Wash rice thoroughly and Soak it in water along with fenugreek seeds for 5 hrs.

2. Grind cucumber, soaked rice and fenugreek seeds and grated coconut to make a smooth paste.

3. In the final stage of grinding, add poha and jaggery and grind it. Don't dilute the batter while grinding it. Make sure the batter is thick so we are able to make dosa with it.

4. Add turmeric powder to the batter along with salt and keep it for fermenting for 7-8 hrs (overnight).

5. Next day make dosas. If the batter was kept in fridge, make sure you keep it at room temperature for atleast an hour so you can make dosas out of it.

Apply ghee to the dosa and serve it hot with white coconut chutney and chutney powder + ghee.