Takka Saaru (Buttermilk Soup)

Takka Saaru is a very simple and healthy soup. It is a very old Konkani dish. In Konkani taaka means buttermilk. I tried this for the first time. You might not believe it tasted out of the world! Never thought it would turn out this good. Each ingredient added to this saaru has contributed its own flavor and the result is a yummy saaru/soup. This is a very good accompaniment to rice. Try this healthy yet tasty saaru. I am sure this is a treat for the yogurt lovers! 

Ingredients:

• Onion, small- 1
• Garlic pods- 3
• Cilantro/Coriander leaves-1/4 th of a bunch
• Green Chilli- 2-3
• Cumin seeds/Jeera- 3/4 tsp
• Whole Peppercorns- 1/4 tsp
• Yogurt/Curd- 1/2 cup
• Ghee/Clarified butter- 1 tsp
• Salt- To taste
• Water- 1 1/2 cups

You can as well use Buttermilk for this saaru. Then you might have to decrease the amount of water added.

Procedure:

Chop the onion and garlic. Then wash cilantro and give a rough chop to it. 

Now heat ghee and then add cumin seeds. After few seconds add chopped onion and garlic. Fry them until they turn translucent. Then add chopped green chillies and whole peppercorns. Continue frying for 1-2 minutes. Then add Chopped cilantro and salt. Fry for a minute or two. Turn off the heat. Allow it to cool. Then grind it to get a paste (don't worry if its not a fine paste).

Now take a bigger dish and then add curd, water and the prepared paste. Mix it well and start heating it on a low flame (yes it has to be heated on a low flame otherwise you end up spoiling the texture of the curd). Stir it continuously. Once the mixture is hot enough, turn off the heat. Takka Saaru is ready!!

Serve it hot with rice. Above measurement serves 2-3 people.

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Shyavo or Sev (Crispy Gram flour Noodles)

Shyavo or Sev is a very simple snack. It is very easy to make and requires very few ingredients. It doesnot require any special preparation. Try making this and enjoy the goodness of fresh home made Sev!

Ingredients:

• Chickpea flour/Besan- 3/4 cup
• Red chilli powder- To taste
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida- 2-3 pinches
• Salt- To taste
• Oil- For deep frying

Procedure:

Take all the ingredients except oil, in a bowl. Mix it well to remove the lumps (At this point you can add a tea spoon of hot oil to the flour mixture). Then with greased hands, adding little water at a time, make a stiff dough. 

Now the next step would be to grease the mould in which we are going to make the sev. I used this-

At the bottom of the mould we need to add the plate, which has many small holes throughout (I used the plate with slight bigger holes because I didn't have the one with smaller holes). 
Now put the dough into the mould and then start rotating it in clockwise direction in the hot oil directly, until there is enough room for the noodles to get fried evenly. To stop the noodles from coming, rotate in the opposite direction. 
Fry the noodles on a medium flame on either sides, until the sev turns slight brown. Take out the sev from the oil and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Shyavo is ready!!

Allow it to cool and then store in an air tight container. You can as well break the long noodles into tiny bits and then use it for chaats or to serve it along with upma etc.

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Maddi Podi (Taro Root Fritters)

Maddi Podi is a very delicious fritter. Maddi is nothing but the taro root. You can know about it here. The size and shape of the taros differs from region to region. The taros which were available in my native were huge. I got a small variety from a Chinese Store. The taste was equally good.
Try making these crispy fritters and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Taro Root/Maddi, small sized- Half of the whole
• Rice- 1/2 cup
• Dry red chilli- 3-4
• Coriander seeds- 3/4 tsp
• Salt- To taste
• Asafoetida- 1-2 pinches (optional, I didn't add)
• Oil- For deep frying

Procedure:

Wash and soak the rice for an hour. Meanwhile, wash the taro root. 

Remove the outer dark skin with a peeler or a knife. Then cut it into circle or semi- circle shaped slices (or any other shape), of 1/4 cm thick.

Now, drain the water of the rice and grind it along with dry red chilli, coriander seeds, salt, asafoetida (if using). Make a fine paste using minimum amount of water. Transfer this paste into a bowl.

Now add little water to the rice paste, to make it dropping consistency and not watery (add water very carefully). Then start dipping each of the taro root pieces in this paste to get a light even coating throughout.

Deep fry the coated taro root slices in hot oil on a medium-high flame, until it turns crispy on either sides.

Remove from oil and drain it on a paper towel, to remove excess oil. Maddi Phodi is ready!

Serve it hot. Above measurement serves two people.

Note: If taro root is not available then you can as well substitute it with cauliflower, onion, raw jack fruit, sweet potato, potato etc.

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Cabbage Upkari (Cabbage Stir Fry)

Cabbage Upkari is a very simple konkani dish. I can say it is a basic dish and very easy to prepare. Cabbage is an excellent source of Vitamin C and also a low calorie vegetable and hence very helpful for those who are dieting. 
Enjoy this healthy, low calorie dish!

Ingredients:

• Cabbage, big sized- 1/2 of a whole 
• Onion, small sized- 1
• Oil- 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Green chilli- 2-3
• Split black gram/Urad dal- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- Few
• Salt- To taste
• Grated coconut, fresh/frozen- 1-2 Tbsp (Optional)

Procedure:

Wash and chop the cabbage and Onion.

Heat oil. Add mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add chopped onions. Fry for a minute and then add urad dal, slit green chilli and curry leaves. Fry until the onion turns translucent and urad dal turns light brown. 

Now add chopped cabbage, salt and mix well.

Close it with a lid and let it cook on a medium flame. Add water, if required (cabbage will give out some moisture after adding salt). Once the cabbage looks cooked, add grated coconut and then turn off the heat (don't over cook the cabbage). Cabbage Upkari is ready!

Serve it hot as a side dish to rice, roti. Above measurement serves two people.

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Sabutandla Polo (Tapioca Dosa)

Sabutandla Polo is a simple dosa. In Konkani, sabutandulu means tapioca/sabudana. I was very much interested to try this dosa, when I saw it in a Facebook group. She has also posted it here. I just made very slight variations.
This dosa has a very different texture. Give it a try!

Ingredients:

• Rice- 1 cup
• Tapioca/Sabudana/Sago- 1/4 cup
• Puffed rice or flattened rice*- 1/4 cup
• Curd/Yogurt- 1/4 cup
• Fenugreek seeds/ Methi seeds- 1 tsp
• Salt- To taste

*I added puffed rice.

Procedure:

Soak rice and fenugreek seeds in one bowl. In another bowl take tapioca, flattened rice and curd. Add half a cup of water (to dilute the curd). Soak them separately for 4-5 hours. 

Then grind all the soaked ingredients to get a fine paste. Add required amount of water while grinding. The consistency of the batter should be thick. Keep this batter 8-9 hours in a warm place, for fermentation. After fermentation, add salt to taste. If the batter is very thick (not falling consistency), then add little water (Consistency of the batter should be thick, when compared to other dosa batter)

Pour a ladel full of batter on the heated pan or tawa. Don't spread the batter, unlike other dosa.

Close the lid. Let it cook on a medium flame. Once it fully cooks, tiny holes can be seen throughout the dosa (If the holes doesn't form then, the dosa will be very flat and the desired texture is not got. Hence in such a case, add 1/2 tsp of baking soda to the batter).

After 1-1.5 minute (it might vary for you), the dosa gets cooked completely and its base turns light brown. Remove the dosa from the tawa. Sabutandla Polo is ready!!

Serve it hot with Coconut chutney or any curry of your choice. Above measurement serves two people.

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Donnemirsange Sukke (Capsicum Dry Curry)

Donnemirsange Sukke is a simple Konkani dish. Donnemirsanga in Konkani means Capsicum. I got this recipe from my amma. I remember amma making this often as it was my brother's favorite.

This dish has a very unique taste because potato and capsicum are cooked in a coconut based masala. Try making this and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Green Bell pepper/Capsicum,big sized- 1 (use 2,if small)
• Potato, small sized- 1
• Grated coconut, fresh/frozen- 3/4 cup
• Roasted red chillies- 4-5
• Tamarind- A small ball (gooseberry sized)
• Coriander seeds- 1 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal/Split blackgram- 2 tsp
• Oil- 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1tsp
• Curry leaves- few
• Salt- To taste

Procedure:

Wash and cut the capsicum into square pieces. Then cube the washed and peeled potato.

To Prepare Masala: Fry coriander seeds and urad dal in 1/2 tsp of oil, until it turns light brown. Allow it to cool on a plate. 

Now grind grated coconut, roasted red chillies, tamarind, salt, roasted coriander seeds and urad dal, to get a coarse mixture. Add little water so that all the things come together. Don't make the masala very fine. 

Now take a kadai and heat oil. Add mustard seeds. Once it starts to splutter, add curry leaves. Then add the chopped potato and fry for a minute or two. Then add chopped capsicum and mix well. Let it fry for 1-2 minutes on a medium flame.

Now add the ground masala and mix well. Add water as required and check for the salt. Close the lid. Continue cooking until the potato becomes soft. The consistency of the dish is little dry (I always make it little watery).

Donnemirsange sukke is ready! Serve it hot as a side dish to rice, dosa. Above measurement serves 2-3 people.

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Vastad Rotti (Banana Flat Bread)

Vastad Rotti  is a very simple Mangalore dish. It is a very soft roti/bread with a mild flavor of banana. The dough of this rotti is very similar to Mangalore buns. I got this recipe from a facebook group and also got to know that this is a Mangalore special. I tried it for the first time and really liked it. The texture of the rotti was very soft. Try this and I hope you all will love it:-)

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour- 2 1/2 cups 
• Banana (Big,over ripe)- 1 (if small then add 2 of them)
• Yogurt- 2 Tbsp
• Sugar- 4 Tbsp (adjust accordingly)
• Baking soda- 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds/jeera- 1/2 tsp
• Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- A pinch
• Oil/Ghee- For frying

You can as well add finely chopped green chillies while making the dough.

Procedure:

Take a ripe banana in a mixing bowl. Mash it well . To this add yogurt, sugar, baking soda, cumin seeds, salt and mix well until the sugar dissolves completely (don't add water).Now to this mixture add 2 cups of flour and start mixing. Remaining 1/2 cup of flour has to be added in small quantities. Final resulting dough has to be very soft. If the dough is sticky then add little amount of flour. Knead the dough for few minutes.(Finally I added a tsp of oil on the top of the dough). Keep the dough covered for 5-6 hrs. 

Now divide the dough into 5 equal parts.

In a small plate take few Tbsp of flour for dusting. Take one ball and roll it in the flour and make a roti (Thicker ones). Then place it on a hot tawa. After few seconds, the bubbles start appearing and then flip the roti.

Fry until brown spots are got on either sides of the roti. Apply oil/ghee, if using. Look how the roti is puffing!

Vastaad Rotti is ready! Serve it hot with any curry or dal of your choice. Above measurement makes five big sized rottis.

Note: #You can as well try adding a Tbsp of besan/chickpea flour and butter while making the dough. This will give you more soft and rich rottis.

#You can substitute half the quantity of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This will make the rottis little denser but still tastes equally good. 

#I rolled these rottis the normal chapathi size (thicker ones). You can as well roll them like thick poories and then shallow fry them.

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