Pundi palle(Gongura Leaves bhaji)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Today I am with one more North Karnataka's favorite dish. Easily available almost in all the months of the whole year, even it's safe to eat during monsoon where other green leafy vegetables take break. I am talking about Gongura leaves, Pundi palle in Kannada.

According to a source, these leaves are an excellent source of folate, riboflavin, iron, zinc, anti-oxidants and vitamins A, B6 and C.

These leaves are little bitter, sour and strong flavor in taste. Gongura chutney(coming soon in my blog), pachadi, rice recipes are common. 

Gongura leaves are of two types, one is the long leaves and another one is round thick leaves. Round one tastes less bitter and less sour than the long leaves. Long leaves gongura is good for chutney where as this round one is best for the bhaji or rice. 

There is a way to remove the sourness.(Check the recipe)

Here I am sharing the recipe which is commonly prepared in my town(especially Dharwad, Hubli, Bijapur, Belgaum)

Let's start.

Ingredients:

Gongura Leaves -2 bunches, small.

Peanuts - 1 tbsp or little more if you like boiled peanuts 

Thick rava or Dalia  or coarse powder of Jowar(jolada nucchu) - 2 tbsp

Chana dal - 1 tbsp

Green chilli - 3-4(depending on how spicy the chillies are), we need spicier ones

Garlic - 8-10 cloves

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Rock salt to taste(common salt also can be used)

Turmeric powder - a pinch+a pinch

Jaggery - 1 tsp(optional)

Oil - 2 tsp

Water to boil the leaves.

Method: 

• Clean the leaves with lot of clean water and drain the water. 
• Chop the leaves.
• Take peanuts, rava, chana dal in a cooker vessel(if using cooker) or in a thick bottomed vessel if you are preparing directly. Wash it once. Add the chopped leaves, a pinch of turmeric powder and water to cover the leaves. Mix well and cook it in a cooker for two whistles or boil it till the leaves become tender. 
• Allow it to cool and drain the water fully. This removes the sourness of the leaves. Taste it, if you still feel the sour taste, wash with clean water again. 
• Mix well and mash it. 
• Till it becomes cold, Make the paste of green chilli, garlic, cumin seeds and salt. (It tastes good when we use hand pastel to paste it) 
• Heat oil in a kadai. 
• When hot, add the paste and saute it for a minute. 
• Add turmeric powder and boiled gongura. Mix very well.
• Add little water. Adjust the seasoning. 
• Close the lid and boil for few minutes. 

This pundi palle is served with Jowar roti, Flax seed chutney powder, red-chilly-chutney and oil with raw onion. 

Enjoy Gongura leaves chutney by Jayashree of  evergreendishes


Keep Smiling, 

GO NUTS!!! A WAR WITH RAW for ENFF event ~ GROUNDNUT JUICE

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Confused with the title of the post? Yes, I am right when I have written WAR with RAW.  My blog has always had a war with raw food. This is a war of love for your body, your health and your life. Today I am going to share my thoughts, my experience with the raw food and few excerpts from GURUJI SHRI RISHI PRABHAKARJI's talks which are published in the book 'NUTRITION PACKED AMRUT AAHAR', "a cook book of uncooked food" by SHEHNAZ A THANAWALA.

Again confused?

Let me start it again. I came in contact with SSY(SIDDHA SAMADHI YOGA) course around 15 years back. And that changed my life. The way of thinking towards everything on this Earth changed, I started thinking positive. My stage fear disappeared. I became more friendly with everyone. It was a new life for me. I don't want to talk more about myself as we are here to talk about food.

The main thing changed was the food habit. I realised the importance of RAW food.

As the years went,though it was not possible for me to follow it 100%, but I always preferred having raw food everyday and whenever possible. Once a year, I stay on raw food for continuous 13 days which helps me to reduce my weight and cleanse the body.

{Now, whatever I am writing below are the answers from Pujya Guruji:

1.What is RAW food?

• Any natural food item which is not cooked or processed by heat can be called raw(or uncooked) food.

2.Is it difficult to digest RAW food?

• Not at all, actually it is easier to digest raw food (takes only 13 hours to digest) than cooked food which takes 24 hours to digest and Non Veg which takes about 72 hours.

3.Are all the raw foods are good to eat?

• NO, not necessarily so, It is the amount again how much we take and how we take it.

4.How much quantity of raw food one should eat?

• Normally  healthy people should have about 50% to 70% of their total daily food as raw food. But, for someone who wants to start newly, has to increase the quantity slowly from 20%.

One can do a 'raw food fasting; once a month where you can have 100% raw food or juices on that day.

5.Will the RAW food make me weak?

• No, in fact you can be strong and healthy. Initially people may have a diarrhoea or constipation as the body needs time to get adjusted.

6.Can one cure the ailments and diseased by having this Amrut Ahar or RAW food?

• Yes, many have succeeded. Chronic diseases can be effectively controlled by proper diet.

But, take care to consult proper teachers before you start it as a regular intake, considering your food allergies, the diseases you have.}

*****While I am typing this, I got the sad news that  Pujya Guruji Rishi Prabhakar has left for his heavenly abode leaving us to spread his worldly message.******

I don't know what inspired me to write about him in today's post or how it came in my mind that I should write about the raw food and him. May his soul rest in peace. I am sure that he is always there for us in our heart.

This post is dedicated to him.

Coming back to today's post,

Yes, I am following this diet with the Pranayam and the meditation I learnt during the course and It has helped me to overcome many diseases, mentally and physically.

I agree that it was not possible for me to follow it 100% as I take non vegetarian food and normal cooked food on daily basis, but YES, the RAW FOOD has always helped me to keep my health under control.

I have already posted many raw food recipes in my blog. You can click salad parade  to get the recipes and few more in my archived posts.

           Today's recipe is a unique one which I have taken from the same book. I always enjoy this juice which is very healthy and can have at breakfast.

Its groundnut juice. Surprised? Groundnut and juice?

I will come to the nutrition facts about peanuts.

It is full of proteins. Actually contains more protein than meat, about tow and a half times more than eggs and far more than any other vegetable food except Soya bean and yeast. BUT, its best to eat ground nut after it has been SOAKED OVERNIGHT.

Peanuts or groundnuts are rich in proteins and packed with essential nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, iron, and dietary fibres. Peanuts provide optimum health benefits and are excellent energy boosters. 
click the LINK for more details.

And Jaggery  is loaded with nutrients such as calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, magnesium and phosphorous. Jaggery is often known as a cleansing agent because it helps to get rid of unwanted particles from the respiratory tract, lungs, food pipe, stomach and intestines. Extremely rich in iron, jaggery is advised to all those who have a low level of haemoglobin in their blood and are anaemic.

click the LINK  for more details.

Try to have it once or twice a week. As for every thing, even this has little side effect which is negligible.It is allergic to many.

If you are having first time, then may be you will get acidity, but don't worry if its not severe. 

To make one glass of juice:

Ingredients:

Groundnuts -20 soaked overnight

Banana or Chikoo or apple or dates or any two or one(choice is your)-1/2 cup

Jaggery to taste or 1 tbsp

Powdered cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Blend all in a mixer till smooth paste.

Add the water to bring it to the consistency of a milk.

Serve immediately.

Linking it to Eat Nutritious, Feel fabulous 

Keep Smiling,

PEA NUT POLI(ಶೇಂಗಾ ಹೋಳಿಗೆ)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

North Karnataka is famous for Poli or stuffed sweet rolls or ಹೋಳಿಗೆ (Holige). We stuff any possible edible and make it into poli. But the special thing is each festival has its must stuffing.. For Diwali we make with chana or toor daal, for Sankrathi we stuff the poli with semolina and jaggery, for special full moon days like Sheegi hunnive we make this Pea nut poli.

This can be kept for 15 days without getting spoiled. Its very tasty, good while travelling.

Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Pea nut - 250 gm

Jaggery - same qty as of pea nut powder

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Milk - few drops if the mix becomes too dry

Salt a pinch

Wheat flour or Maida - 1 cup

Salt a pinch

Oil - 1 tbsp

Water to make soft dough

Oil -1 tsp for each poli

Procedure:

Take the wheat flour or Maida. Add salt and oil. Keep on adding water to make a soft dough. Keep it aside for one hour at least.

Roast the peanut well. Remove the skin and the seed(???) in the middle.. Yes, there is a seed like thing at the end. Mom says its not good for stomach.

Grind into almost soft powder(neither coarse nor smooth) 

Measure the pea nut powder and take the same qty of grated or powdered jaggery. 

Mix the jaggery, salt and cardamom powder well. 

Add the peanut powder and mix well. Check the consistency. You should be able to make a ball out of it. If not add few drops of milk and mix it well.

Divide it into equal portion to make small ball(shown below)

Divide the ready dough in to small balls. 

Take one ball, roll into small thick disc. Stuff the pea nut ball carefully.

Press it slowly in the palm. Roll into medium size poli.

Heat the tawa. 

Roast it on both the sides with little oil. 

Repeat with the remaining dough and the balls.

I got 20 poli.

Keep in open for an hour.

Store it in air tight box.

It tastes good with ghee.

Sending this to Reshmi's event which is started by  Kiran.

Announcing Cooking with Whole Foods - Peanut

I really enjoyed writing this post after long time. I feel I am back home.. 

Keep Smiling,

Sarva Pindi/Ginnappa for ICC FEBRUARY

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

I am back in ICC after 5 months. Sorry Valli. No excuses :-(. I am ready for any punishment :-)

Hope I am still in your team. Here is the Indian Cooking Challenge for  February month. Srivalli, this is tastiest food, which I would have never tried without you. She has taken the recipe from Usha.  Ranjani and Lavanya's blogs are also given for the reference.

 

In North Karnataka we also prepare the food similar to this with only difference in using the flour. Here we use Jowar flour as the main ingredient. We call it ThaaliPeeth and the link is here.

 

 

When I was making this one, the aroma filled the whole house and my daughter could not control to have it. She had it directly from the tawa :-)

Enjoy this crunchiest, hottest(???), I added more chilly snack with tea or morning breakfast or for picnic or just like that. Do we need any reason or time to have good food???

Please visit Valli's RECIPE for the detailed post.

Keep Smiling,

Pea Nut Ladoo

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi All,
Continuing the series of making Ladoos. This time it is Pea nut Ladoo. It is every one's favorite and kids love it the most.

Ingredients :

Peanut - 1/2 kilo

Roast the penut and remove the skin. Break the peanut into big pieces with mortar and pestle.

Keep it aside.

To make jaggery syrup, we need

Jaggery - same as Peanut(Measure  in a cup, and take the same amount of jaggery)

Salt  - a pinch

Water -1/4 cup or less

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Click Here to make the Jaggery syrup. But boil the syrup for few more minutes to make the syrup more thick.

Other ingredients:

Dalia powder - 1/4 cup

Dry coconut - 1/4 cup, grated

Nutmeg powder - 1 tsp

Take pea nuts  in a big and wide plate. 

Add  dry coconut, Nut Meg  powder and dalia powder to it. Mix it well and keep it ready.

(You may not succeed the first time! I am making it since childhood and closing my eyes I can tell the correct consistency of syrup(hehe, boasting!!)

Practice makes you not perfect but brings you near perfection. 

So, don't worry as you will also get after trying 2-3 times, but if you know the trick before only, then I am happy.)

Now you should be quick:

Put this syrup to the pea nut plate. Spread it slowly so that the the peanut gets the syrup evenly. 

Now take a small quantity and make balls by mildly pressing with both the palms to give proper ball shape and bind the peanut properly.

This will make around 20 ladoos.

Keep it to cool for sometime. Store it in a jar or box.

Sending this to 

Nithu's event Event Announcement :Celebrate Sweets - Ladoo 

which is started by Me.

Keep Smiling,

Pea Nut Gojju

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

This is the curry I learnt from my cousin who has already shared her few recipes with me in my blog. She is settled down in Sagar after marriage and learnt all the traditional food from that region. Whenever I get chance to talk with her, I speak only about the food and her daughter.

This gojju or curry is very easy to make but tastes good with hot rice and coconut oil.

Ingredients :


For paste:
Peanut - 1 cup
Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilly - 2
Fresh coriander - handful
Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp(optional)


Water  - 1 cup or more(as per your requirement and consistency)

For tempering
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few(not in the photo, as I did not had in the night when I made this)
Green chilly or dry red chilly - 1 


Method: 

Take all the ingredients under "for paste"  in a mixi or blender and grind into a fine paste. 

Add water as per your requirement. The gojju should be medium thick.

Transfer into a serving bowl.

Take oil in a small kadai.

When hot, add mustard seeds. When splutter, add cumin seeds, green or red chilly and curry leaves. Fry for a minute. Add this to the ready gojju.

Serve as it is or just warm it for HALF A MINUTE. 

Serve with hot rice and 1 tsp coconut oil(if you like the flavor) on it!

Its heaven!!

This is my last minute entry to (sorry, I missed to visit her blog since last month!)

 Divya's Show Me Your Curry!

AND

Priya's Guest hosting "Only" event with "Low Oil/Low Calor...

(linking it to Pari's event announcement page)

Keep Smiling,

Peanut Gujiya (ಶೇಂಗಾ ಕರ್ಚಿಕಾಯಿ)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Sweets!!! Deserts!!! I love sweets!!! I love to eat in any form!! I have written before also, if I do not get anything, I will have 1 tbsp Boost! 

Here is a sweet, which is usually prepared during Diwali. Gujiya or Karchikai is very common sweet in India. And the stuffing differs in each state and each region.

Mom always prepares the stuffing with, dry coconut, jaggery, dalia powder and cardamom powder. The one I have prepared was shown in a Kannada TV Show, which mom liked it so much and prepared it on Ugadi.

Giving you the recipe,

All purpose flour - 250 gm

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Milk - 2 tbsp

Oil - 1tbsp

Mix all with little water to make into soft dough, cover it with moist cloth. Keep it aside for an hour.

For stuffing,

Peanut - 1 cup, roasted. Remove the skin and clean it

Jaggery - 1 cup or less, depending on the sweetness of the jaggery

Dry Coconut, grated - 2 tbsp, roasted

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Oil to fry

                                 

First, dry grind the peanuts for one round to make it coarse powder. Then add the jaggery, cardamom powder and coconut. Grind it again to make smooth powder. Transfer it into a bowl and add salt, mix it nicely.

Divide all purpose flour in to equal small lemon size balls. Roll into oval shape of palm size. Take one tbsp of ready peanut powder mix and put it slowly in the middle of  rolled puri.  Close it to neatly and bind it with water to give gujia shape. Repeat with other balls. 

Heat the oil in a kadai. When its hot, keep it on medium flame and fry all the gujiyas in batches.

You can store it for a week or 10 days.

Keep smiling,

Peanut chutney powder(Shenga Chutney)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
Hi all



I am from North Karnataka, and there different types of chutneys are always at home, and served everyday with meals. These powders really make the food more tasty. I will try to post other types of chutney powder in future.
Here is the recipe:
Peanut - 1cup
Dalia ("Puthani" in Kannada) - 1/2 cup
Chilly powder - 1 to 2 tbsp as per your taste

Curry leaves - 2 lines
Tamarind - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 4 to 6 big one(we get in UAE) or full one bulb if it is Indian.
sugar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric a pinch
Roast peanuts and remove skin. Mix all the ingredients and put in a mixer and make it coarse powder.
Chutney(ಶೇಂಗ ಪುಡಿ)is ready. Eat with chapatis and curds or hot rice and ghee.
But I always liked it with crispy jowar rotti(katak Jolada rotti) and curds.

This chutney powder is going to participate in

Pavani's Announcing JFI - August ’09: Peanuts,

and the (JFI) WAS STARTED BY Indira (@ Mahanandi)

Keep smiling,

Simple, tasty Chapati Rolls with guessing game

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi all,

(The chapati I have decorated here is only for photo purpose as I wanted to show the spreads altogether)
A very simple, tasty and easy rolls for kids. I like too. These rolls were, our (my brother Avinash and mine) favourites during school time. It was easy for my mother also.

Now I give to my daughter, but with little guessing game, and she loves to play it.



Chapatis - 6

sugar - 3 tbsp

Jaggery powdered - 3 tbsp

Peanut and dalia chutney powder -3 tbsp(Recipe in my chutney label)(If you don't have, no problem. You can use MTR READY CHUTNEY POWDER).

Ghee to apply for above.

Any jam - 3 tbsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Chocolate spread - 3 tbsp(I use Nutella)

Cheese spread - 3 tbsp(I use Knorr cheese spread)

Take 3 chapatis on the plate.

Apply 2 tbsp ghee on each chapati.

Spread sugar on one chapati, jaggery powdered on another and chutney powder on the third.

Roll and keep ready.

These 3 rolls we used to have in childhood.

Next rolls I have added according to today's kids world.

Take 3 more chapatis on plate.

Apply butter on one chapati, and then spread jam. Spread Chocolate spread on other and cheese spread on the third one.

Roll and keep ready.

Now keep all the rolls on a big plate.

Here the guessing game starts. If you have more than one kid, its more interesting. Even your kid's friends can join.

Call the children and ask them to guess in which roll what is there. Whoever guesses correct, they will get reward.

What I do with my daughter is,
I take any three rolls, keeping in mind to make one chocolate roll in that.

I tell her to take two rolls, and if the chocolate roll is not there in that, as she loves to eat chocolate roll, all the three chapatis will disapear in to her stomach in no time. My purpose to give her chapatis without fuss is served.

I AM SENDING THIS RECIPE TO PJ'S Tasty Bites For Toddlers.

Keep smiling,