Gashi - A Konkani delicacy

       

Apart from Kannada, South Kanara and Udupi districts of Karnataka have two other local languages - Konkani & Tulu. Both the local communities have a very distinct culture and tradition. And when it comes to food... Oh, they both have a very rich and authentic cuisine... Both relying heavily on coconut !!

Gashi is one such authentic Konkani dish, that is a coconut based gravy and is eaten with hot steamed rice. White or Black chickpeas are cooked with other veggies like potato and yam/Jackfruit etc. This dish is also served for lunch and dinner at the Venkataramana Temple in Mangalore during  the famous "Car Festival". Here is what the Internet has to say about the famous Venkataramana Temple and Car Festival- OurKarnataka.com

Off this goes to Deepa from Recipes n More for this month's RCI event RCI-Konkan Cuisine. I am just on time, phew!!!!! Thank God I made it... I was so worried that I would be late!!! :D

Thanx to my other friend Deepa for getting me this authentic recipe from her mom.....And, thanks aunty for giving me the recipe in such detail, that I could barely go wrong!!!! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup White/Brown Chickpeas, soaked in water over-night

1/2 cup Potatoes, cooked and chopped into cubes

1/2 cup Yam, cooked and chopped into cubes

3/4 - 1 cup Grated coconut, fresh/frozen

3-4 Dry red chilies, low-medium spiced

1/4 tsp Tamarind paste

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

3-4 Curry leaves

1-2 tbsp Oil (Coconut oil, preferably)

Method:

1. Pressure cook chana with some salt & water for about 3 whistles or until done; Keep aside.
2. Dry roast red chilies for a minute or two; Grind to a paste with coconut and tamarind; Add water as required.
3. Combine the cooked chana, potatoes and yam in a vessel; Add the masala paste and boil for a couple of minutes;
4. Add salt as required and mix well; You could even add some water to get the desired consistency.
5. Temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves; Serve hot with steamed rice, idlis or even dosas! Note: You could use any oil for tempering, but sticking to the authentic way of using coconut oil takes this dish to an entirely different level. The flavor the coconut oil adds to the dish is unmatched!!!

Prep Time: About 30-40 mins;

Serves: About 2-3 people;

Idli/Idly

      

This recipe has been long overdue.... I have been receiving a lot of e-mails from Mane Adige readers, asking me why I still haven't posted the recipe for idli and dosa.

"Mane Adige is such an authentic South Indian blog, but you haven't posted the recipe for idli and dosa.... Looking forward to your way of making them!!"..... One of the readers said. Well, there are two reasons why I kept postponing it. Firstly, I always felt that idli and dosa are such common dishes that almost everyone would have the recipe for it... I don't have to really put it up, I thought!! Secondly, it took me quite a while to get myself to make soft and fluffy idlis!!! :D While crisp, golden brown dosas happened easily, idlis were a little difficult for me. I tried making idlis with a zillion variations... I tried adding poha, cooked rice, methi seeds, yeast.... but nothing worked :(. Both, my mom and MIL make the softest of idlis, but their tips dint work either. And finally one day, I decided to try out the most basic version again, with just dal, rice and some water. And, Ta-da.... It worked!!! We have been having soft and fluffy idlis ever since!!! :) And now I know what had gone wrong in all the previous times.... Everyone insisted so much on adding very little water while grinding, that I used to add too little water :D. So little water, that my blender used to get heated up and I could see fumes coming out when I opened the lid!!! :D Less is more, no doubt, but not so less that the dal does not even grind well...... My stupidity, I know!! :P Anyway, will head straight to the recipe now, enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 cup Urad Dal, soaked in water for about 4-5 hours or overnight

2 cups White Rice (I use sona masoori), soaked in water for about 4-5 hours or overnight

Salt as per taste

1-2 tsp Oil

Method:

1. Grind the Urad dal to a smooth paste using a blender; Add enough water to make a fine paste, but also keep in mind not to make it too watery. Blend well, for at least 5-7 minutes.... Fluffier the batter, the better!
2. Add rice to the blender and grind further with some water.
3. Pour into a separate container and ferment overnight or, for about 8-9 hours; Make sure the container has enough room for the batter to rise.
4. Add salt to the fermented batter and mix well; Smear a couple of drops of oil on each depression of the idli stand and pour 2-3 spoons of the batter into each one of them.
5. Steam cook the idlis in a pressure cooker for about 14-15 minutes; Make sure you remove the weight.
6. Remove stand from cooker and let cool for a minute or two; Use the back of a spoon or a knife to remove the idlis; Relish hot with coconut chutney or sambhar or any other gravy of your choice.

Prep Time: About 20-25 mins for grinding; and 15 mins for cooking;

Serves: Makes about 20 - 25 idlis;

Tip:

1. If your feel the batter isn't fermenting well, you could try placing it in a warm place, like, the MW or inside the conventional oven.
2. You could even use idli rava instead of sona masoori rice, to give a different texture to your idlis.

Maavinakai Appe Huli (Raw Mango Gravy)

Appe Huli is a side dish to be eaten with hot steamed rice and is a speciality of Sirsi-Sagar/Malnad regions of Karnataka. Thanks to a couple of my friends from Sirsi-Sagar, I get to try out a lot of Malnad dishes! And I must say that the Malnad recipes are as unique and flavorful as their culture and tradition!! Appe Huli is a fast and simple dish that takes very few ingredients. It is just perfect for the times when you are looking for a change from the usual rasam/sambhar menu. Here is the recipe.. Enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 Raw pickling Mango

1/2 tsp Jaggery (optional)

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice (optional)

2 tsp Oil

1/2 tsp Urad Dal

1/2 tsp Chana Dal

2-3 Dry Red Chilies

4-5 Curry leaves

A generous pinch of Hing

Method:

1. Peel and chop the raw mango into cubes; Add some water,salt and boil well until cooked.
2. Remove the Mango pieces into a separate bowl and mash well. Add the water that was used to cook the mangoes and mix well; Add just enough water to bring it to rasam consistency.
3. Add salt and mix; If the mango is not sweet enough, you could add some jaggery or sugar; Boil on stovetop for a minute.
4. Temper with the chana/urad dal, red chilies, curry leaves and hing; Remove from stove and add lemon juice if the mango is not sour enough;Serve hot with rice.

Note:

• You could also use garlic for tempering instead of hing; This would give a completely different flavor to the dish
• Raw Mango Appe Huli tastes so good by itself that you could even have it as a soup!

Prep Time: About 15-20 mins;
Serves: About 2-3 people;

Karigadubu/ Karjikayi for Ganesha Chaturthi!

Here's wishing all Mane Adige readers A Very Happy Gowri-Ganesha Festival!!!! This festival brings back to me, very sweet memories of childhood. Gowri-Ganesha is one of the biggest and most important festivals in Karnataka. This is a two day festival - Gowri puja is performed on the first day and Ganpati puja, on the second day. Back home in Bangalore, the festive atmosphere sets in almost a week in advance. Markets are flooded with different varieties of Gowri- Ganesha idols, flowers and fruits, garlands, decorative items etc. The festivities started quite early at our home as well! Mom would make different varieties of sweets 'n savories couple of days in advance... A day before the puja, Dad would start making the mantap. My job was to assist him in that. Him being a perfectionist, we would un-tie and re-tie the mantap a zillion number of times before he was actually satisfied :D. Oh, how I miss all that now.... :(

Check out my last year's post on Gowri-Ganesha here- Kayi Kadubu!

The recipe I have for you today is a sweet dish made specially for the Ganesha puja. This dish is called Karigadubu (kargadbu) in Bangalore/Mysore regions and Karjikayi or Karjikai in Mangalore-Udupi regions of Karnataka. Karigadubu is very similar to "Modak" that is a Maharashtra speciality.

Off this goes to Mythreyee of Paajaka for the Sweet Series-Deep fried or steam cooked sweets event! Thanx Mythreyee for hosting the wonderful series..... You are doing a splendid job! :)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 cup Fine Rava (Note: Please use ONLY FINE RAVA. Upma rava is not suited for this)

1/4 cup Maida

1-2 tbsp Ghee/Butter

Water, for preparing the dough

Oil for Deep Frying

Filling:

1/2 cup Desiccated coconut/ Copra/ Kobbari

1/2 cup Confectioner's / powdered Sugar

1 tsp Powdered Elaichi/Cardamom

1-2 tbsp Raisins (optional)

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough; Add enough water to make a stiff dough; The dough should be slightly harder than the chapati dough; Knead well and keep aside.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a mixing bowl; Adjust sweetness according to taste;Keep aside.
3. Pull out small balls from the rava-maida dough and roll them into small circular pooris. Make sure the pooris are not too thick.
4. Spoon in the filling on one half of the circle and fold along the center; Seal the ends with some water or milk. Note: If you have the plastic/metal press, you could use that as well. Place the poori with the filling in the press; Fold and press to seal; Remove excess dough.
5. Heat oil in a wok on low-medium heat; Drop the Karigadubu into oil one by one and fry until they turn golden brown in color; Fry on both sides.
6. Remove from oil an strain into paper towels; Let cool completely and store in air tight containers.

Prep Time: About 30-40 mins;

Makes: About 15-20;