Kumbalakai Gojju/ Sweet Pumpkin Curry

Pumpkins are called Kumbalakai in Kannada. I learnt a kind of Kumbalakai curry from my mom that I relish a lot.This curry(called gojju in kannada) can also be made with okra, raw bananas or eggplant. But the sweet tinge of the pumpkin gives an amazing taste that you would not get with any other veggie....Heres the recipe for it.

Ingredients:

2 cups Yellow/Sweet Pumpkin chopped into 1" cubes
1 cup Fresh/frozen grated coconut
2 tsp Ellu/Til/Sesame seeds
3-4 Dry Red chillis, low to medium spiced
2 tsp Hurigadale/Putaani/Channa Dhalia
1 tsp Mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1/4 tsp tamarind paste

2-3 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp jaggery
A pinch of hing
salt as per tatse

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Temper with mustard seeds, curry leaves and haldi.


2. Add chopped sweet/yellow pumpkins and cook covered until they become soft. Add very little (as little as 2-3 tsp) water while cooking.


3. Meanwhile, dry roast Ellu/Til and dry red chillies until you smell the fresh aroma of the masala.


4. Grind the roasted masala with chana dahlia,hing, coconut and mustard seeds to a smooth paste.


5. Add the masala paste to the pumpkins after they are cooked completely. Add water and allow it to boil.


6. To this add tamarind paste, jaggery, salt and boil well.


7. Serve hot with rice and enjoi!!

Indonesian Potatoes

I happened to come across this dish on the Sanjeev Kapoor show on TV few days back and it looked very delicious and colourful. I made a few modifications to the recipe to suit my taste and tried it out yesterday. It came out really good!!! Naveen and I gulped up the whole thing in just a couple of minutes!! :). Heres the recipe for it....

Ingredients:

1 Medium sized Potato
1 Small Red Bell Pepper
1 bunch Green Onions
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp Lime juice
Salt as per taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Wash, peel and chop potatoes into wedges.


2. Heat oil in kadai and deep fry the potatoes until they turn golden brown in color.


3. Remove potatoes from oil and drain them into paper napkins so that the excess oil is absorbed;Keep aside.


4. Meanwhile, chop green onions and the red bell pepper into thin strips.


5. In another kadai, heat 2-3 tsp oil. Add chopped green onions and bell peppers and fry until they are tender.


6. To this, add fried potatoes and saute. Add soy sauce, salt,sugar, crushed red peppers and mix well.


7. Remove from stove, add lemon juice and serve hot. This dish can be eaten with rice or even separately.....

Myrtle Beach

Hey folks, am back from Myrtle Beach!!! The weather was good and the place was beautiful... Everything went as planned and it was a perfect, short n sweet vacation!! Lot of things to see and do out there.... The Beach itself, Watersports, Barefoot Landing Mall, Broadway at the Beach, Ripley's shows (about 4 of them), Miniature Golfing........ Since ours was a short trip we did not have enough time to try out the watersports. Among all that we tried, the one that I enjoyed the most was "Ripley's Haunted Adventure". I recommend this to all of you who haven't seen it yet. Here's the link to the webpage http://www.ripleys.com/sites/haunted_adventure/myrtle/

All of you who live closeby..... you now know where to go when you wanna have a short yet enjoyable vacation!!! :)