Kachumber Salad

Kachumber salad is a tasty salad prepared with simple ingredients - cucumber, tomato and onions. It can be served as an accompaniment or a healthy snack.

Ingredients :

1 cucumber, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon fine chopped coriander leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon chaat masala
salt to taste

Method :

Mix all the ingredients and serve as an accompaniment with rotis or rice.

Onion Tambli

Tambli is a speciality dish from Karnataka. It is similar to the pachadi made in Tamilnadu. It is actually derived from the words "Tampu Huli" in Kannada,which means cold gravy. Tambli can be made with palak, drumstick leaves,  onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves, ginger, bell peppers/capsicum etc. 

This is a simple Onion Tambli recipe which can be made as an additional recipe with potato curry or papad for a "lazy day" or "no vegetables/hardly any vegetables at home" day.

We used to love having this with rice during hot summer days. I am sure everyone will love this simple and healthy recipe.

Ingredients :

1 medium sized onion, chopped
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 green chilli, chopped
1 cup curd

for the tempering :

1 teaspoon oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
a few curry leaves


Method :

1) Grind together onion, coconut and green chilli to a fine paste.

2) Mix this paste with vegan curds and add water as per your requirement. Add salt as per taste.

3) Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they start spluttering, add curry leaves.

4) Add this to the tambli mixture and serve with steamed rice.

Broccoli Stir Fry

A simple but healthy recipe for those lazy days when you don't feel like doing much but want to eat healthy. This can also be served as a healthy snack.

Ingredients :

2 cups broccoli (refer link for cooking broccoli)
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt to taste

Method :

1) Heat olive oil in a pan.

2) Add chopped garlic. When the garlic turns brownish, add broccoli and cook for 5 minutes.

3) Serve hot as a snack or with steamed rice.

Chithranna

Chitranna is a traditional variety rice recipe popular in Karnataka. This version of Chitranna is made using mustard seeds, coconut and red chillies. This is called " Kayi Sasvi Chitranna". The paste prepared can be stored for a week and mixed with plain cooked rice when required. It can also be mixed with subzis (porial) and rice vermicilli (sevai/shavige).


Ingredients :

1 cup cooked rice
salt to taste

for the tadka (seasoning) :

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
1 teaspoon bengal gram dal
a few curry leaves

for the paste:

3/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 cup coconut
3 to 4 red chillis
tamarind - gooseberry size
jaggery - 2 tsp

Method :

1) Take the ingredients mentioned under "for paste" and grind it to a coarse paste.

2) In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering add urad dal, bengal gram dal, peanuts.

3) Add the paste when the urad dal turns golden brown. Then add turmeric powder and chilli powder saute for few minutes. 

4) Add the rice and mix well. switch off the gas.

Cabbage Pathrode

Pathrode is a Mangalorean delicacy made with colocasia leaves. Colocasia leaves are found in abundance in the Udupi region. This version of pathrode ogarne is made using cabbage. Finely shredded cabbage is mixed with pathrode batter, steamed and seasoned with coconut and jaggery. This is a delicious, healthy snack and easy to make if you have the batter ready. The ingredients used in the batter is very similar to the uppu huli dosa batter. The batter has to be slightly coarse and consistency should be like idli batter.

Ingredients :

to soak :

1 cup raw rice (uncooked)

1 cup (par)boiled rice (uncooked)

1/2 cup moong dal (green gram dal)

1/4 urad dal (black gram dal)

2 tablespoons dhania (coriander seeds)

1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)

1 tsp methi (fenugreek seeds)

4 to 5 red chillies

lemon sized tamarind

other ingredients :

½ coconut (grated)

1 tablespoon jaggery

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt to taste

for seasoning :

1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/ cup grated coconut
2 tablespoons grated jaggery
a few curry leaves

Method :

1. Soak the ingredients mentioned under "to soak" overnight or for a minimum 3 hours.

2. Add this with "other ingredients" and grind to a coarse paste. The consistency should be like idli batter.

3. Mix in the finely chopped cabbage.

4.  Take a steamer, grease it with a teaspoon of oil and pour the batter in this vessel.

5. Steam this for 15 minutes. After steaming, let the pathrode cool down. Crumble the mixture with your hands and keep aside. 

6. Heat oil in  a pan, add mustard seeds and when they start spluttering add curry leaves,pathrode crumble, jaggery, coconut and mix well. Cabbage pathrode ogarne is ready to serve.

Uddina Hittu (Udnittu)

Uddina Hittu (Udnittu) is a simple and tasty Udupi dish made with Urad dal flour. It is very easy to make and always comes in handy when you really have no time and need to make something quick and easy. This is also called "Daangar Pachadi" in Tamilnadu. In Udupi, we use coconut oil for tempering, hence this contributes a unique taste to this dish. 

Ingredients :

2 tablespoons Urad dal powder
1 cup peanut curd or soy yoghurt
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
A pinch of asafoetida

For seasoning :

2 red chillies
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon oil (preferably coconut oil)
A few curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Mix urad dal powder with curds/yoghurt and whisk well.

2. Add chopped green chillies, ginger and salt.

3. Heat oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds start spluttering, pour the tadka in the prepared mixture.

Ragda patties

Ragda patties is an Indian street food mostly popular in Mumbai. The patties are made with potatoes and the ragda is made with white dried peas. You could also try this with green dried peas. I would consider this a healthy chaat as there is no deep frying involved in the making of the patties. This dish makes a complete meal and is quite filling. 

Ingredients :

for the ragda :

1 cup dried white or green peas
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 green chilli slit into two
a small piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon jaggery powder or a small piece of jaggery
a small amla sized tamarind, soaked
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tablespoon oil
a pinch of asafoetida
a few curry leaves
salt to taste

for the patties :

1 kg potatoes
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup bread crumbs
oil for shallow frying

for serving :

1 cup of green chutney (click here for recipe)
1 cup of tamarind chutney' (click here for recipe)
1/2 cup of finely chopped onions
1/2 cup sev (optional)

Method :

1) Soak the dried peas overnight and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles. Keep aside.

2) Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and saute for a few minutes. Then add cooked peas, turmeric powder, chilli powder, tamarind extract, salt and mix well.

3) Mash the mixture lightly. Once it starts boiling, add lemon juice and coriander leaves.

4) For the patties, mash the potatoes thoroughly. Add salt, cornflour, bread crumbs and make patties.

5) Lightly grease a non-stick tava and cook the patties till it is brown on both sides.

6) Serve patties with ragda, green chutney, tamarind chutney, onions , sev and a sprinkle of chaat masala.

Meetha chutney

Meetha chutney is made with dates and tamarind. This chutney is used in most chaat items like Bhel Puri, Dahi Puri, Ragda Patties etc. If you like chaat items, you should learn to make this chutney. You can store this chutney in the freezer for 2 weeks. Kids will love this chutney because of its sweet and tangy taste. It's healthy too as it contains dates which is rich in iron.

Ingredients :

10 dates, deseeded and chopped
gooseberry sized tamarind, soaked in water
1/4 cup of grated jaggery
chilli powder
ginger powder
coriander powder
jeera powder
black salt
salt to taste

Method :

1. Pressure cook dates, jaggery and tamarind with 1/4 cup of water for 3 whistles.

2. Let the mixture cool down completely. Blend this in a mixer to a smooth paste.

3. Take this mixture in a stainless steel vessel and add rest of the ingredients.

4. Bring this to a boil and switch off the gas.

5. Cool and refrigerate.

Green chutney

Green chutney is made with mint and coriander leaves. This chutney is used in most chaat items like Bhel Puri, Dahi Puri, Ragda Patties etc. If you like chaat items, you should learn to make this chutney. You can store this chutney in the freezer for 2 weeks. You could use only mint leaves also, but here I have used more of coriander leaves and lesser mint leaves as it gives a bitter taste at times.

Ingredients :

1 cup coriander leaves

½ cup mint leaves

1 green chilli, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Salt to taste

A pinch of sugar

Method :

Grind everything together in a mixer to a fine paste adding little water.

Sakkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal

Sakkarai Pongal or Sweet Pongal is a very popular dish of Tamil Nadu made on the day of Pongal to mark the beginning of the harvest season. It is a delicious dessert made from rice and jaggery. Ideally it is made on the day of pongal using freshly harvested rice in a brass vessel tied with a piece of fresh turmeric. 

There are different versions of sakkari pongal across Tamilnadu. In this version, we use only rice and jaggery as the main ingredients. There is no moong dal or milk added. But I am sure this is the tastiest pongal you would have ever tasted. The color of the pongal depends on the variety of jaggery used. It has a rich golden hue which makes our pongal look delicious.

Ingredients :

1 cup raw rice (ponni or sona masoori)
2 cups jaggery (grated)
2 tablespoons cashew nuts
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons ghee
3/4 cup water 

Method :

1. Cook rice in pressure cooker with 3 cups of water to a mushy consistency. 

2. Heat 3/4^th cup of water in a pan and add jaggery. 

3. When the jaggery is completely dissolved, filter it once to remove any impurities. 

4. Place it back on the stove and bring it to a boil. The jaggery has to caramelize (paagu). 

5. Put a drop of jaggery in room temperature water to test consistency. If it does not dissolve, jaggery is ready. Switch off stove now.

 6. Mix the rice and jaggery and heat again for a few minutes. 

7. Heat ghee and add cashews. Fry till they turn golden. Keep aside. Add raisins and fry for a few minutes.

 8. Add elaichi powder, cashews, raisins and ghee to the rice mixture and mix thoroughly.

9. Serve hot.