Halasinahannina Genasale and Halasinahannina Kottige

It was a satisfying meal for dinner on Saturday last weekend. Made authentic havyaka brahmin delicacy which involved halasinahannina genasale and halasinahannina kottige with a dollop of homemade ghee and red coconut onion chutney. This definitely satisfied our cravings and it was soulfilling.
Steam cooked, banana leaf wrapped, rice cake filled with ripe jackfruit, fresh coconut and jaggery mixture being called halasinahanninagenasale in kannada language by Kannadigas, chakkaeleada in malayalam by Keralites.

Raw jackfruit dosa/Halasinakayi dose/raw jackfruit crepes

Using almost all parts of jackfruit is a tradition in Dakshinakannada(southern most part of Karnataka, India) place I belong to. Especially our havyaka kannadiga community never ceases to amaze me with the varieties that are made out of  tender or fully grown raw jackfruit as well as ripe jackfruit. It is an emotion to the people born and brought up there. Kids enjoy this with honey or rave(cooked liquid form of jaggery)

Oats Banana Pancakes

Corona made our weekends longer. Remember the days when we used to wish how good it would be to have weekends longer, meaning instead of having 2 days off for the weekend, a day extra over the week would always make us happy, I guess similar prayers from people around the world had brought these days (on a lighter note 😉), now no one has a clue as whether it is a weekend or a weekday. All look similar at least in terms of seeing each other's faces 24/7.
The lock down since two weeks now didn't change much as we are used to buying groceries for the entire week. But yes, a sense of worry always exist when we go out to buy our groceries on weekends. Well, the fruits we bring either turn out to be less or more for the week. With bananas often I end up having extremely ripe ones by the end of the week and now had to use them in something that is healthy at the same time delicious. Thought to make some pancakes out of these ripe bananas. Neither do I use eggs nor all purpose flour which usually tends to make pancakes fluffy. So I tried out some formulas to make them fluffy even when using oats. Sounds interesting?

Neeru dose/Thellavu

Everyday brekkie in Dakshina Kannada(South Karnataka) families is this soft neeru dose/thellavu made out of ground raw rice, bit of grated coconut , just 2 main ingredients and soft delicious neeru dose is ready to be made.
This is a gluten free recipe and also no fermentation is required!

Oats Vegetable Idlies/ Oats Vegetable Steamed Savory Cake

Idlis are common as a part of South Indian breakfast. Many variations are available. One must keep trying something or the other that brings out a new taste to please the family's taste buds. I tried at first similar to the way I used to prepare my rava idli mixture except that this included oats and vegetables too. Often soda or fruit salt is used to make it fluffy, I avoided using baking soda here.

Bread Upma

I can say after coming to Germany, bread has become a staple food for us. Early morning with tea it so happens that even if I have a dosa/crepes batter ready Mr. S will be like 'give me bread'. He says 'I'll eat dosas when I come in the evening from office'. I feel it is only in my case. Are there anyone like me? May not all follow same. He says early morning he doesn't feel like eating a plate full of hot dosas or similar heavy breakfast. Rather he prefers either a toast or two or even milk bread or sandwich bread with jam. A land where the bread dominates, it is no surprise seeing varieties of bread available in the market here. Some have exotic fillings, Some are plain yet tasty. I had recently brought big packs of sandwich bread and they had to be cleared up soon. Thought for a while as what to do and hit Google. Vahchef whom I simply adore gave me a brilliant idea through his bread upma video. Hence the post. It was a hit in my family. I bet that instead of preparing this bread upma to clear the pile of bread in the rack you would start to get sandwich bread exclusively to prepare this stuff. Here goes the simple recipe.

Akki Unde Kadubu/Steamed Rice Dumplings

An authentic breakfast item in Dakshina Kannada is unde kadubu. Simple basic kadubu which in our community is known popularly as unde/akki unde is prepared as breakfast along with red onion coconut chutney or some good sambar or even with honey kids enjoy this very much. I loved seeing my kid sitting in her high chair and eating these unde with honey.
I had a small cup of cooked parboiled rice. Was thinking as how to use them. Yesterday was over chat in the late evening with one of my close to heart sister,(Shri Kripa akka as I call) and I was like what to do with that one cup of cooked parboiled red rice, she suggested me to add while making dosa, idli. But I had not soaked rice and dal ahead and also didn't have enough dal with me . So asked if I could use them in making of unde/steamed rice dumplings. I already had the recipe from my amma/mom, I checked with akka and she also told me the same recipe as my mom's and outcome was superb. I didn't have enough time to prepare red onion coconut chutney, but you could very well check my red onion coconut chutney recipe. So I had to rely on a chutney powder that I had with me and made instant hot chutney for accompanying these dumplings. But my kiddo enjoyed them with honey very much.My better half enjoys them with sambar made out of basale/Malabar spinach, but I don't get Malabar spinach here, hence I make spinach sambar for him, but yesterday we wanted to try with chutney.  Here I share the recipe of akki unde kadubu.

Masala Dosa Preparation from start to finish

South India is definitely famous for dosas, idlis. No one needs explanation. I many a times try masala dosa at home and it so happens that I let slip from memory to capture pics to depict them step by step in my space. Hence this time I really jogged my memory by keeping a reminder when I was about to soak the rice and dal in water. So this time, I tried my best to get you all pictorial representation of my masala dosa preparation. Here goes the recipe.

 

Mangalore Buns/Kele ki Poori

Mangalore Buns, not sure why it is named so, a common breakfast or an evening snack of coastal area of Mangalore in Karnataka is Mangalore Buns. It is served along with chutney or sambar and tastes super delicious. It looks like a puffed poori. It is dark coloured due to use of sugar and banana. Sugar content tends to caramelize offering a bright brownish colour to the Mangalore Buns.In north India people even call them as kele ki poori. Golibaje/Mangalore bajji is yet another delight of Mangalore. Both are close to the heart of people belonging to that place. When I happened to go through my blog I didn't find Mangalore Buns though I often prepare them at home.Being from that place basically, I wanted that up on my blog.So today evening I tried my hands yet again on them. Usually made from all purpose flour/maida. Nowadays people who are health conscious tend to prepare Mangalore Buns from wheat flour too. The real taste may not be there but the other purpose of preparing them at home could be achieved. Here I share the authentic way of preparing Mangalore Buns.

Instant Onion Rava Dosa

A crispy less oil snack for an evening tea today was instant crispy onion rava dosa. Very simple to make instant batter which is prepared with no soaking, no grinding of lentils or rice for dosa. Interesting. isn't it? Go ahead and prepare this yummy dosa. You won't be disappointed for sure. It is damn crispy and the smell of onions in the dosa make them marvelous.
Here I share with you all guys the recipe of the same.

Gujarathi Methi Thepla

A food that brings comfort for people of Gujarat is Methi Thepla. I somehow used to wonder when I was in Gujarat the way they prepare many varieties of snacks and their menu for a meal at any time of the day is worth an applause. Gujarathi food is very famous, it is little on the sweeter and spicier side. Thepla is little different from dhebra. Usually people get confused the same way as khaman and dhokla. People tend to call khaman dhokla when actually both are different items. Similarly dhebra is actually a deep fried thicker patties made using equal amount of wheat and bajra(millet)flour with few spices added. But nowadays when people started becoming highly health conscious, even dhebras are now baked rather than deep fried, but the real taste will definitely differ when it is baked. And theplas are made out of wheat flour completely with added spices and vegetable of your choice, such as if methi is added it becomes methi thepla, when spinach is added spinach/palak thepla etc. Here I share with you all Methi Thepla recipe. I enjoyed eating many times when in Gujarat and learnt this recipe from mom who in turn learnt from our gujarathi neighbour that time.

Vermicelli Lemonbhath

A quick lunch pack today morning was Vermicelli Lemonbhath. Was wondering early morning as what to prepare and pack for Mr. S. Usually my quick vegetable pulav works out but having eaten it just yesterday he wasn't willing to have the same today. So thought for a while and came up with the solution i.e. Vermicelli Lemonbhath which served both breakfast as well as his lunch. Here I share the simple recipe, it could be served as breakfast or lunch or any time of the day to fill your stomach.

Thuppa Dosa/Ghee Dosa

Our visit to India as told by my partner was for eating south Indian sumptuous meal, dosas and desserts. I agree we did enjoy many delicacies atleast once. Reason behind my thuppa dosa today is solely for my hubby. I have observed many times before coming to Germany as well as during our recent visit to India, he ordering thuppa dosa in south Indian restaurents. This was my motivation behind preparing thuppa dosa in my pantry.
Very simple recipe with proper measurements is as below.

Semige Rasayana/Ottu Shavige with Rasayana/Home made Rice Noodles

Having stayed for a short vacation in India, I couldn't get enough time to satisfy my cravings for authentic homemade dishes. Had got chance to eat almost all items once though. Last one year I could never try this particular dish as I didn't have a chakli maker.
But this time I'm back from India with a chakli maker to satisfy mine as well as my better half's cravings. Authentic ottu shavige calls for soaking rice and then grinding it to a thin batter of buttermilk consistency and then cooking on a small flame till it turns to a dough like mass.
But lazy me always try out the easy ways yet I like to have the same authentic taste in it.
I tried it out from rice flour this time and WOW was the feeling.
No need to feel bad for being outside India. I could reach the taste of authentic shavige almost. Here I share with you all the recipe to prepare ottu shavige.

Rava Idli

An authentic yet another south Indian dish is Rava Idlis. I was used to MTR Rava Idli mix in the beginning when we landed here in Germany. But soon the mixes which I got was over and we started developing crave for rava idlis.
I thus started checking in interner for the recipe of rava idlis. And I got the basic recipe for rava idlis. Then I twisted and tweaked accordingly to get good rava idlis.

Soft Idlis

A traditional breakfast at Indian households, especially south Indian. It is made by steaming the batter made out of deskinned udad dal. Usually Idlis are eaten with accompaniments like chutney or sambhar. It is even served as snack in the evenings. In ancient South India, it is believed to be made from purely deskinned udad dal by soaking it buttermilk and grinding it to fine paste and steaming. As days went on it was discovered that adding rice speedens the process of fermentation and thus came the soft idlis made out of udad dal and rice.

Poori Sagu

Checked my kitchen cupboard early morning and found only few potatoes and carrots, my brain started working quick and decided my breakfast menu to be poori sagu. Wanted to come up with a quick fix for sagu, so tried my own way out to make sagu. I was happy that both my hubby and cute kiddo had enough patience to wait till I'm done. My daughter too loved it alot, both of them enjoyed their breakfast so much today.Who doesn't love poori sagu?

Poha/Avalakki Upma/Beaten Rice Upma

Poha is a very light nutritious recipe for a breakfast to be prepared in a jiffy. Usually poha could be prepared in many ways with added vegetables like adding potatoes makes it a north Indian special called batata poha, also some add carrots, potatoes, beans, peas and make it further nutritious called avalakki mixed veg bhath and so on.

Aloo Paratha

Aloo Paratha is an Indian dish which is a vey famous breakfast item in western,central and northern parts of India. It is basically stuffed flat bread, with mashed spicy mixture of potatoes within the dough ball, rolled and cooked on hot griddle.

Gobi Paratha/Cauliflower Stuffed Flat Bread

Stuffed parathas are loved by all. Aloo/ Potatoes are popular as stuffing for aloo parathas.
Many varieties are available and parathas are named solely based on the stuffing.Today I share with you all Gobi paratha or flat bread with cauliflower stuffing.