Ivy gourd cashew stir fry

 

Hello everyone,

Ivy gourd cashew stir fry is prepared with tender Ivy gourd and tender cashews. Ivy gourd is referred as Kovakkai in tamil and Thondekai in Kannada. This is a very special dish in dakshina kannada region. 

I was introduced to this by my friend from Dakshina Kannada(Puttur). I tasted this at her sister's wedding. It was so rich and tasty. Never tasted Ivy gourd stir fry with cashews till then. Then one day she gave me the recipe and the story behind it. Dakshina Kannada region is rich in cashew cultivation. Cashew nut trading season is from March to May. The fully grown cashews are sold to the market. The leftover cashews that are not of high quality are used by the people in that region to make this Ivy gourd palya at home. Ideally we should use tender cashews to prepare this, as we don't get tender cashews here I soaked the raw cashews in water and cooked along with ivy gourd. This is a mandatory dish in marriages or any functions if it is during April-June. Here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Tindora - 3 cups cut lengthwise

Cashew - 1/4 cup

water - 1/2 cup 

Salt as per taste

To Grind:

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Green chili - 1 or 2

To Temper:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/4 tsp

Chana dal - 1/4 tsp

Byadige chili - 1 

Curry leaves

Hing a pinch

Method:

1. Soak cashew in warm water for half an hour. Drain the water and keep it aside.

2. Grind coconut and green chili coarsely without water. Keep it ready.

3. Heat oil in a kadai or large pan, add ingredients under 'To temper' section. Fry until dal turns golden brown. 

4. Add tindora, soaked cashews and saute until it is combined well.

5. Now add water, salt as required. Cover and cook for about 12-15mins. Tindora will be cooked and water gets dried up. 

6. Finally, add coconut green chili and mix well. Turn off the heat.

Note: 

1. Avoid green chili if you want it to be less spicy.

Thavala Adai

Hello everyone,

Thavala adai is a traditional recipe from Tanjore. It is prepared with arisi kurunai(broken rice) and lentils. 

I never tasted this until I got married. My MIL makes it and I learnt this recipe from her. Thavala means big pot in Tamil. Adai is roasted in thavala instead of dosa tawa. My MIL used to make this in vengala thavalai later she started doing using dosa tawa as she used to get burns in hand while flipping the adai.  

Thavala adai can be made as a tiffin instead of regular dosa, idli,upma etc. This is rich is in protein. It is crispy outside and soft inside. This is little time consuming but it tastes great. 

This can be given to kids for lunch box and they would love it. Give it a try and here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Hing - a generous pinch

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp for preparing mix + 2 tbsp for roasting

Salt as needed

To Soak and Grind:

Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Chana dal - 1/4 cup

Mung dal - 1/4 cup

Urad dal - 1.5 tbsp

Red chili - 1

Green chili - 1

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Pepper corns - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - 7-8 nos

Method:

1. Grind rice coarsely like sooji and keep it aside.
2. In a bowl soak toor dal, chana dal, moong dal & urad dal in enough water for 2 hrs. 
3. Transfer the soaked dals into a blender and add red chili, green chili, ginger, cumin seeds, pepper,curry leaves to it. Grind it coarsely without adding water. Keep this aside.
4. Heat 1tbsp coconut oil in a large pan, add mustard seeds. Once it sizzles, add 2 cups of water, salt, coconut and hing. Allow the water to boil.
5. When the water starts to boil, add coarsely ground rice. Mix well with a laddle without any lumps. Once it is cooked, add the dal mix. Combine well to make it like upma. Allow it to cool down.  
6. Apply oil in dosa tawa and heat it. Take lemon size ball and make it like thin cutlet and roast in dosa tawa. Apply oil and gently flip to cook the other side. Add 3-4 adai in one batch. 
7. Adai will be crispy when both the sides turn golden brown. Remove them from the tawa and repeat the same with rest of the rice dal mix. 
8. Thavala adai is ready to serve with any kind of chutney. 

Chana Masala/Chole

Hello everyone,

Chana masala/Chole is a popular indian dish which is made by cooking chickpeas in onion, tomato gravy along with spices. 

I make chana masala more often as it is rich is protein. I usually make it with basic spices but off late I am using homemade masala powder to prepare this. It goes well with poori, jeera rice, bhatura.

 

Ingredients:

Chickpeas or Garbanzo bean - 1 cup

Water - 2 1/2 cup to boil

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Onion - 1 cup finely chopped

Green chili - 1 slit

Tomatoes - 2 large

Chole masala powder - 1 tbsp

Ghee/oil - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Bay leaf - 1

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch

Cilantro -  few chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Pressure cook with little salt and 21/2 cup water for about 5-6 whistles on a medium heat.

2. Chop tomatoes and blend it to puree without adding water. Keep it aside.

3. Melt ghee in a large pan, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon and then add onion,green chili, ginger garlic paste. Saute until onion turns golden brown.

4. Add chana masala powder and sprinkle some salt for the onion. Cook for couple of minutes. 

5. Now add tomato puree and saute until oil separates from masala.

6. Add boiled chickpeas and adjust the consistency.

7. Cover and cook for about 10mins in low flame.

8. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy chana masala with roti, poori or jeera rice.

Note:

1. Mash few chickpeas if the gravy is watery. Mashing or grinding the chickpeas makes the gravy thick.

2. Adjust the chana masala powder quantity depending on the spice level.

Poha Ladoo

Hello everyone,

Poha ladoo or Aval ladoo is an easy to make traditional sweet which is made by grinding poha/aval with jaggery, some cardamom, dry coconut and rolled into balls. 

This is usually made for gokulastami/krishnar jayanthi as Aval is Krishna's favorite. I do not want to prepare deep fried bakshanams with my one year old kiddo. So, I made aval ladoo for this year krishnar jayanthi. Aval ladoo is a healthy snack for kids. My older one likes it a lot. Here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Poha/Aval/Beaten Rice - 1 Cup

Jaggery - 3/4 Cup

Cardamom - 5-6

Desiccated dry coconut - 1/4 Cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cashews - few broken

Method:

1. Dry roast Aval/Poha until it is crunchy. Allow it to cool down. 

2. Grate the jaggery. 

3. Transfer roasted poha and jaggery to a mixer. Add cardamom, desiccated dry coconut and grind it to a fine powder.

4.Heat ghee in a pan, add cashews and fry until it turns golden brown. Turn off the stove. 

5. Add the ghee and cashews to the grinded Aval/Poha powder. Knead well and make gooseberry sized balls with palm. 

6. Store ladoo in a air tight container. 

Notes:

1. Adding coconut is optional. 

2. If using fresh grated coconut, dry roast it without burning before grinding. 

3. Poha is a dry ingredient so use required quantity ghee to combine it. Add extra ghee if it breaks while making balls.