Vendakka Coconut Curry / Lady's Finger Coconut Curry.

 Vendakka coconut curry is a delicious gravy dish made with lady's finger adding kudampuli/ malabar tamarind and goes well with steamed rice.

The following ingredients are needed to prepare Vendakka Coconut Curry / Lady's Finger Coconut Curry.

Ingredients:-

Vendakka/ Lady's finger.-10
Onion.                   -1
Green chillies.       -6
Mustard seeds.      -1tsp
Cumin seeds.         -1/4 tsp
Curry leaves.         -1sprig
Turmeric powder.  -1/4 tsp
Kudampuli.            -a small piece
Salt.                        -to taste
Coconut oil.           -4 tsp

For grinding Coconut Cumin Paste:-

Grated coconut. -1 cup
Cumin seeds.     -1/4 tsp

Instructions:-

1). Wash vendakka / lady's finger, cut and remove both the ends of each vendekka and chop them into 1/4 inch lengthy pieces.Wash and half slit green chillies. Peel, wash and slice onion into thin lengthy pieces.Keep aside.

2). Grind grated coconut along with 1/4 tsp cumin seeds to a fine paste. Keep aside the ground coconut cumin paste.

Method:-

1). Heat 4tsp oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and 1/4tsp cumin seeds. Add half slit green chillies and fry in oil. Add thinly sliced onion and saute well till soft.Add curry leaves and saute well. Add turmeric powder and mix well.

2). Add chopped vendakka / lady's finger into the pan and saute well for 2 minutes on low flame.

3). Add a small piece of kudampuli /malabar tamarind and required salt into the pan and mix well.Add ground coconut cumin paste and 1 and 1/2 cup of water into the pan. Mix well and boil the gravy for a minute on low flame and switch off the flame.

Vendakka Coconut Curry / Lady's Finger Coconut Curry is ready to serve with steamed rice.

Ragi Semiya Payasam.

 Ragi semiya payasam is a sweet ragi vermicelli payasam  made with ragi flour, roasted broken vermicelli, sugar and milk.

The following ingredients are needed to prepare Ragi Semiya Payasam/ Ragi Vermicelli Payasam..

Ingredients:-

Roasted vermicelli.-1cup
Ragi flour.              -2 tbsp
Milk.                      -1/2 l + 1/2 l
Sugar.                     -1cup
Cardamom powder.-1tsp
Cashew nuts.          -10
Raisins.                   -10
Water.                      -3 cup
Ghee.                       -1tbsp

Instructions:-

Heat 1tbsp ghee in a pan and fry the cashew nuts and raisins in ghee till the cashew nuts become golden colour and raisins puffed up. Keep aside the ghee fried cashew nuts, ghee fried raisins and ghee.

Method:-

1). Boil 3 cup of water in a wide bottom pan. Add 1 cup roasted vermicelli into the boiling water and mix well.Cook the vermicelli and stir in between.

2). Once the vermicelli half cooked add 1/2 liter milk into the pan. Mix well and cook till the vermicelli milk mixture becomes little thick.

3). Add 1 cup sugar into the pan and stir well till it dissolves in the vermicelli milk mixture. Boil the sugar vermicelli milk mixture and cook for 2 minutes on low flame.

4). In a bowl add 2 tbsp ragi flour. Take little milk from 1/2 liter milk and add it into the ragi flour in the bowl and mix well without lumps and make a ragi milk mixture.Add the remaining milk into the bowl and mix the ragi milk mixture again without lumps.
 
5). Add the ragi milk mixture into the pan and mix with the cooked sugar vermicelli milk mixture in the pan.Stir well till the ragi semiya payasam becomes little thick and changes to choclate colour. Add 1tsp cardamom powder into the payasam. Mix well and switch off the flame.

6). Lastly garnish the ragi semiya payasam with ghee fried cashew nuts, ghee fried raisins and ghee.

Very tasty and sweet Ragi Semiya Payasam /Ragi Vermicelli Payasam is ready to serve hot or cool.

Note:-

Ragi Semiya Payasam will become thick as it cools. You can add little hot milk or hot water into the thick payasam to make it thin.

Ponsa Muliku / Ripe Jackfruit Modakam

Ponsa muliku /ripe jackfruit modakam /chakka modakam is a Konkani style deep fried tea time snack made with ripe jackfruit bulbs. Ponsa Muliku recipe is given below with step by step photos.

The following ingredients are needed to prepare Ponsa Muliku / Ripe Jackfruit Modakam.

Ingredients:-

Ripe jackfruit bulbs. -8
Raw rice.                  -1 cup
Grated jaggery.         -1/4 cup

Coconut chopped.    -1/2 cup
Semolina/ Rava.       - as required
Salt.                          - a pinch
Oil.                           - for deep frying

Instructions:-

Wash and soak raw rice in water for 1 hour.Then drain water completely from soaked rice. Remove the seeds from ripe jackfruit bulbs and chop the jackfruit bulbs into small pieces. Keep aside the soaked raw rice, chopped jackfruit bulbs, chopped coconut and grated jaggery.

Method:-

1). In a mixer grinder add chopped jackfruit bulbs, grated jaggery, chopped coconut, a pinch of salt and grind to a fine paste.Then add soaked raw rice into the mixer grinder and grind again to a thick and little coarse batter without adding water. Transfer the coarsely ground jackfruit rice batter to a bowl and mix well.

2). Add required semolina /rava little by little into the ground batter.Mix well and make it into a thick batter mixture.Keep aside the batter mixture to rest for 5 minutes.

3). Heat oil in a deep frying kadai on high flame. Once the oil is hot keep the flame to medium heat.Take a lemon size portion of the thick jackfruit rice semolina batter mixture in your hand and drop it little by little into hot oil. Deep fry them in small batches till golden colour. Filp and turn it with a slotted spoon to cook evenly on all sides.

4). Once done remove the deep fried Ponsa muliku/ jackfruit modakam from hot oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate.You can keep the deep fried jackfruit modakam on a tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

Ponsa Muliku /Jackfruit Modakam /Chakka Modakam is ready to serve.When cooled to room temperature you can store the deep fried ponsa muliku /jackfruit modakam in an airtight container and it stays good for upto a week.

Potato Green Brinjal Coconut Curry

Potato green brinjal coconut curry is a delicious semi gravy dish made with green long brinjal, potato,  ground coconut masala paste and onion seasoning, goes well with rice.

The following ingredients are needed to prepare Potato Green Brinjal Coconut Curry.

Green long brinjal.-2
Potato.                   -1
Turmeric powder.  -1/4 tsp
Salt.                       - to taste.

For grinding Coconut Masala Paste:-

Grated coconut. -1 cup
Dry red chillies. -6
Tamarind.          - a marble size

For Seasoning:-

Onion.          -1
Coconut oil. -1tsp

Instructions:-

1). Remove the stem and wash green brinjal and cut the brinjal lengthwise. Then chop it into medium thick pieces and keep aside.

2). Peel the outer skin and wash potato and chop into medium thick pieces. 

3). Peel, wash and finely chop one large onion and keep aside.

4). Roast dry red chillies in little oil in a pan.Add grated coconut into the pan and roast till light golden colour.Grind the roasted red chillies and roasted coconut gratings along with a marble size tamarind to a smooth paste. Keep aside the ground coconut masala paste.

Method:-

1). In a cooking vessel add chopped potato pieces, turmeric powder and required water. Boil and cook potatoes till soft.

2). Add chopped green brinjal pieces and cook on low flame till soft.

3). Add ground coconut masala paste, required water and required salt into the curry in the cooking vessel and mix well. Boil and cook the curry for 3 to 4 minutes on low flame and switch off the flame.

4). Heat 1tsp coconut oil in a small pan for seasoning.Add finely chopped onion and saute well till onion becomes soft and slight pinkish.Switch off the flame and pour the onion seasoning into the curry in the cooking vessel.Transfer the potato green brinjal coconut curry to a serving bowl.

A very tasty Potato Green Brinjal Coconut Curry is ready to serve with rice. 

Jackfruit Stir Fry.

Jackfruit stir fry is a very simple and easy to prepare tasty side dish made with raw jackfruit with very tender jackfruit bulbs and seeds.

The following ingredients are needed to prepare raw jackfruit stir fry.

Ingredients:-

Raw Jackfruit.      -a small portion
Mustard seeds.     -1tsp
Red chilli powder.-1tsp
Coconut oil.          -2 tbsp
Salt.                       -to taste

Instructions:-

Cut and remove the outer green thorny skin of raw jackfruit. Then chop the jackfruit along with tender bulbs and seeds into medium thick pieces. Pressure cook the chopped jackfruit pieces adding enough water and cook for 1 whistle.

Method:-

Heat coconut oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds. Add red chilli powder and saute well in oil for a second. Add cooked jackfruit pieces into the kadai. Add required salt and sprinkle little water and mix well. Cover and cook for few minutes and saute in between. Switch of the flame.

A tasty raw and tender Jackfruit Stir Fry is ready to serve hot.