Sol kadhi (kokam drink)

Sol kadhi is a popular healthy drink made out of aamsul/kokam, found on the western ghats of India.
Apart from its heavenly taste, it is also recommended as an antacid!
This is a very simple and quick recipe

Preparation:
Soak one cup of aamsul/kokam in 2 cups of water for 20-30 min. Squeeze the aamsul and discard. Keep aside the aamsul water.

Ingredients:
2 cups of aamsul/kokam water (see preparation)
200 ml of coconut milk. It is readily available in the Asian aisles in the grocery stores

1 green chili
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp of ginger paste
1/2 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Method:
1. Crush or grind garlic and chili into a fine paste
2. Add this paste to a mixing bowl along with aamsul water, coconut milk, ginger and 6 cups of cold water
3. Aamsul is usually sold with lots of salt covering, so add salt if only necessary
4. Whisk all the above ingredients into a nice runny juice. You may some more water is it turns out to be too thick
5. Garnish with cilantro and serve chilled or as it is

Hard boiled eggs

When I crave for proteins and don't have enough time to make a full meal, hard boiled egg is my best option.
I love them with a topping of chopped onion, salt, pepper and red chili powder!
Ingredients:
2 eggs
Water
Method:
1. Place the eggs in a pot and add water just enough to cover them

2. Cook on high flame for 8 min, or until the water starts boiling thoroughly
3. Turn off the heat and leave the pot covered for 5 min
4. Drain the boiled water and keep aside the eggs for cooling or you may add cold water in order to fasten the cooling
5. Now gently tap the egg with a spoon in order to crack the shell

6. Peel off and discard the hard shell
Cut the egg into halves and serve with a topping of finely chopped onion, red chili powder, salt and a dash of pepper. Or just eat it as it is!

Uppitu (upma)

Uppitu is one of the common breakfast items in some parts of India. It is packed with fibers and keeps you full.

Preparation:
Roast coarse rava with little oil on a griddle until it turns golden brown

Ingredients:
1 cup of roasted rava
1 and half cup of water
1 small onion, finely chopped
3-4 green chili, finely chopped
3-4 curry leaves
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp urad dal
5-6 tbsp of oil
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1/4 cup of green peas
Salt to taste
2 tsp of ghee
Finley chopped cilantro for garnishing

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan
2. Splutter mustard seeds
3. Add cumin seeds and fry for few seconds until they turn light brown
4. Add curry leaves, onion, chili and cook for 2 min
5. Add urad dal and cook until they turn light brown
6. Mix turmeric powder, salt, peas and water. Let it come to a boil

7. Slowly add rava with one hand while stirring with the other, in order to avoid lumps
8. Cover and cook on low flame until rava is tender and loses its raw taste. Stir occasionally as it tends to stick to the bottom of the pan
9. Release ghee from the sides of the pan and mix
10. Garnish with cilantro and serve with pickles and yogurt

Jolada rotti (bhakri)

Jolada rotti as we call it in Kannada, is a staple menu item in North Karnataka and few parts of Maharashtra. It is known as jawarichi bhakri in Marathi.

Having grown up eating this rotti, I bring kilos of jowar flour with me from India. The flour that we get here in the USA is not sticky enough to make good rottis.

I love to eat these rottis especially with sabasgi pallya (dill curry), tumb badanikayi (stuffed brinjals), menthya pallya (fenugreek) shengad hindi (peanut chutney), agasi hindi (flax seeds chutney) more than anything.

In North Karnataka, they make very thin rottis and dry them on the kitchen countertops to get a crispier version that can be saved for days together. They are called khati rotti!

Soft or crispy, rotti is my favorite bread!

Ingredients:

1 cup jowar flour and some for dusting

Hot water

Some cold water in a shallow bowl

Paper towel or small clean cotton cloth

Method:

1. Boil some water to 100 degree Celsius. The water should be thoroughly boiling

2. Using boiling water as required, knead the flour firm dough.

3. Preheat a griddle on high flame

4. Make a tennis ball sized (or any size you are comfortable with) ball from the dough and dust it with flour on one side

5. Also dust the rolling platform with flour and place the dough ball with the non-dusted surface facing the sky 

6. Gently pat the dough with your palm into a disc of 4 to 5 inch diameter. Do not flip the sides of the rotti while patting. You may gently dust the rolling surface with some flour occasionally. Also take care that the non-floured surface has very minimum flour on it if at all needed. This helps to keep the rotti from charring while baking.

7. Place the rotti on the griddle with the flour dusted surface facing the sky. Make sure that the stove is on high flame

8. Dip the paper towel or cloth in some cold water and gently wipe out the dry flour from the top surface of the rotti

9. Flip the rotti to the other surface and cook on high flames

Gently press the corners of the rotti with a cloth or flat spoon, this helps it to puff.

10. Keep the rottis wrapped in a cotton cloth in an air tight container

11. Repeat steps 4 to 10 for the rest of the dough

Note: The dough cannot be saved for later use; it has to be used immediately.

Green paratha

This is my own experimental paratha, so try it at your own risk :p I have used bottle gourd which is also known as dudhi bhopla in Marathi, lauki in Hindi and sorekai in Kannada along with spinach.

Ingredients:

1 cup of finely grated bottle gourd

2 cups of boiled spinach

2 cups of whole wheat flour (atta) and some more for dusting

1 tsp of ajwain (carom seeds)

1 tbsp of crushed garlic

red chili powder to taste

salt to taste

1/2 tsp of turmeric powder

Oil for cooking

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients with 1/2 tbsp of oil in a mixing bowl

2. Using water as required, knead the above mixture into a silky dough. Smear some oil and keep aside for at least 10 min

3. Meanwhile place a griddle (tawa) on stove with low flame

4. Make a lemon sized ball from the dough and dust it with flour

5. Now gently roll the dough ball into a disc of 4 to 5 inch diameter. Do not make it too thin as it tends to harden on cooking.

Actually it is supposed to be a perfect circle :p

6. Grease the griddle with oil and place the paratha on it and cook each side on a high flame. Release oil from the sides occasionally. The cooked side turns light brown. Keep the paratha wrapped in a cotton cloth to secure its softness

7. Repeat the steps from 4 to 6 for the remaining dough

The above recipe yields 7-8 parathas. Serve them hot with your favorite pickle, curds or chutney!

Onion tomato chutney

Onion tomato chutney can be relished with idli, dosa, vada or even as a spread on your favorite bread.

Ingredients:
2 medium sized tomatoes
1 medium sized onion
3 dried red chili
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of urad dal (skinned and split black lentils)
1/2 tsp of hing or asafoetida
3-4 curry leaves
2 1/2 tbsp of oil for cooking
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Chop coarsely onion and tomatoes
2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add onion, cumin seeds, fry until light brown
3. Add tomato and red chili and cook until tender. Turn off the heat and keep aside for cooling

4. Add salt and grind the above into a smooth paste
5. For seasoning, heat the remaining oil  in a small pan and add mustard
6. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, add curry leaves, urad dal and hing
7. Turn off the heat when urad dal turn light brown
8. Add the above seasoning to the paste and mix

Serve with idlis, dosa, vadas or even spread it on a slice of bread!

Pav bhaji

Pav bhaji is an Indian street food mostly found in the western part of the country. Street food and healthy usually don't go together, but this recipe is an exception! It has five different vegetables along with onion, garlic and ginger.
I agree, this recipe does have a little lengthier cooking time, but I usually prepare it in big quantities and refrigerate it and I am done cooking for the next few days!

Servings: 6

Ingredients:
2 big potatoes, I usually use russet potatoes, but even white potatoes are good
2 medium sized green bell peppers
2 medium sized tomatoes
1 small head of cauliflower, separated into florets (around 12-15 florets)
1 cup of green peas
1 large onion finely chopped
4-5 big cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp of crushed ginger
1 cup of cooking oil
Red chili powder or paprika to taste
2 tbsp of pav bhaji masala, you can find it in the Indian aisles or Indian stores

Cilantro for garnishing
Salt to taste
Salted butter or Amul butter for toasting pav
You can find the typical pav in the Indian stores. I usually substitute with Francisco dinner rolls found in most of the grocery stores

Preparation:
Boil potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower and green peas until tender. I prefer to pressure cook the potatoes for one whistle, since it is faster. Also, I boil the cauliflower separately and discard the water in order to get rid of the pungent smell.

Boiled, peeled potatoes

Boiled cauliflower

Boiled peas, tomatoes, green bell peppers

 Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok
2. Add onion to the wok and fry for 2 min on medium flame
3. Add garlic and ginger and fry until onion is translucent

4. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and gently mash all the boiled vegetables and keep them aside. Take care that they are not mushy
5. Once the onion is translucent, add red chili powder or paprika, salt and pav bhaji masala and mix

6. Now add the mashed vegetables and 2 cups of water and mix thoroughly. Make sure the mixture is not too runny
7. Cover and cook for around 10 min on a low flame, stirring occasionally as it tends to stick to the bottom of the wok
You can adjust the salt, paprika as per your need
8. Turn off the heat and squeeze half a lemon and garnish with chopped cilantro

Your bhaji is ready.

Pav:
For pav (dinner rolls), heat a tawa or griddle. Meanwhile, make horizontal slits in the roll without completely separating the two halves.
Add some salted butter to the griddle and toast the pav one side at a time until golden brown.

   

You can also eat this bhaji with roti or rice.

Tamarind paste

I use tamarind paste in many of the recipes. Here is how to prepare tamarind paste.
Soak lime sized tamarind in half cup of water for around 15 minutes.

Or, if you are in a hurry, microwave the soaked tamarind for 15 seconds.
Then, squeeze the tamarind firmly and discard the leaves.