Hasi Southekayi Gojju (Cucumber sabji)

Cucumber Sabji (Southekai Hasi Gojju)

This is a traditional Kannada dish. Somehow it has been ages since I made this. Quite simple to make. I remembered this recipe today as I had some really fresh cucumber and wanted to make this sidedish with Saaru. The picture below shows the recipe from my diary. In the days before my marriage, I probably scribbled the recipe as my mom was making this with the hopes of someday making this in my home. I made this gojju today and my American-born daughter refuses to eat it just by looking at it. I am writing this recipe with the hope that when she grows older she will come back to these type of traditional recipes and make it in her own home.



Tender Cucumber peeled and ready to be chopped.

Ingredients for the Gojju: Coconut, cilantro, Hurgadle (dhalia), Green Chillies, Ginger, Tamarind, Mustard&Cumin seeds.


The Final Product.


Recipe: Cucumber Gojju
Ingredients:
Cucumber -- 2.5 cups chopped
Coconut -- 1 cup
Cilantro - Handful of roughly chopped cilantro
Hurgadle (dhalia) -- 1/4 th cup
Green Chillies -- 4
Ginger -- 1/2 inch piece
Tamarind -- 1 tsp of tamarind paste
Mustard seeds -- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar (optional)

Method:
1. Peel and chop cucumber and set aside.
2. Fry green chillies in a little oil (a tsp of oil). Set aside.
3. Fry dhalia, cilantro, coconut in the same oil.
4. After everything is cool, grind it with the remaining ingredients.
5. Pour the ground paste over the chopped cucumber and mix well. Add salt if needed.
5. Make vagarne (tadka). Take a tsp of ghee and add 1/2 tsp of mustard. When mustard splutters, add hing and pour over the cucumber.

Mavinkai upinkai -- Mango pickle

My favorite memories are from my summers in India when my mom used to be busy making pickles and sandige. A post about sandige is for another day. This time I found some baby mangoes and decided to make instant mango pickles that only lasts for a week or so. I went to Global Foods the other day and was pleasantly surprised to see small mangoes in a bin. I picked a few and ate some up with salt and chilli powder. With the rest, I made this pickle.

Recipe: Mavinkai upinkai

Ingredients:
12 tender small mangoes -- Chopped into small pieces, about 1/2 inch size
Oil -- 2.5 tbsp
Salt -- 1.5 tbsp (or more)
Red Chilli powder -- 1.5 tbsp
Mustard seeds -- 3 tsp
Fenugreek (Methi) seeds -- 2 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing) -- 1/2 tsp

Method:
1. Make sure you wash and wipe the mangoes well. It should be completely dry. Using a clean knife, chop the mangoes and place it in a glass container.
2. Mix the salt and red chilli powder with the mangoes.
3. Dry fry one teaspoon of mustard seeds and methi seeds. Make a powder and add that to the mango mixture as well.
4. Heat oil and add the remaining mustard seeds, methi, and when the mustard starts spluttering add hing. Pour this oil over the mango mixture. Stir gently with a clean dry spoon.
5. Cover and let it rest for a few hours before you eat it.

Dhudhi koftha made healthy

My mum always made delicious dhudhi kofthas. I loved them as a kid. That was the only way to make me eat dhudhi. As I grew older, I would make this rarely as it involved frying. I recently came across a lowfat version of dhudhi koftha here. I immediately wanted to try this out. It turned out good, does not taste as good as the original fried version but is satisfying to the tastebuds. I think I will be making this on a regular basis and reserve the fried version for parties.

Steamed Dhudhi Koftha

Ingredients:

Lauki (bottlegourd) -- 1 big, grated
Tomato puree -- 1.5 Cups
Onion -- 1 grated
Ginger -- 1 inch piece grated
Garlic -- 2 big cloves chopped
Green chilli -- 1, chopped (optional)
Turmeric powder -- 1/2 tsp
Cashews -- 14, soaked and ground into a paste
Garam masala -- 1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder -- 1 tsp
Besan (Gram Flour) -- 1.5 cups (approx)
Sooji (semolina) -- 1/2 cup
Jeera -- 1 tsp
Oil -- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
1. The lauki pieces can be steamed and frozen until needed. To make the lauki pieces, grate the lauki, add besan, sooji, salt, red chilli powder, half of the ginger and garlic. Mix well and steam it for 20-30 minutes. Detailed instructions can be found here.

2. Now take oil in a pan. Once oil is hot, add jeera, ginger-garlic-green chilli, grated onion and fry. Add turmeric. Once onion is cooked, add the tomato paste and the red chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. I also add a pinch of sugar. Let this mixture cook until oil separates from the tomato mixture. At this point, reduce heat to low and add the cashew paste and some water if the gravy is too thick. Add the steamed lauki pieces and turn the heat off.

3. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with roti.



Steamed kofthas



Brinjal curry (Bhadnekai Gojju)

Gojju is a Karnataka dish that is quite easy to make. Tastes good with Chapathi or roti. It can be made with a variety of different vegetables. It can be made with brinjal, okra, green onions, or just onions.

This time I have made it with brinjal, though my favorite is the okra one. I did not have sesame seeds on hand, so I ended up using some cashews this time.

Ingredients:

1. Japanese brinjal -- 3 (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
2. Onion -- 1 (chopped, this is optional)
3. Dry red chilli -- 5
4. Coconut -- 1/2 cup
5. Dalia (Hurgadle) -- 1/4 cup
6. Tamarind paste -- 1 1/2 tbsp
7. Sesame seeds -- 1 tbsp
8. Salt -- to taste
9. Oil -- 2 tbsp
10. Mustard seeds -- 1 tsp
11. Urad dal -- 1 tsp
12. Jaggery --  1 inch piece (can substitute brown sugar)

Method:

1. Grind red chillies, coconut, dalia, tamarind paste, sesame seeds, and jaggery together into a paste.
2. Heat oil, add mustard seeds and urad dal. When mustard seeds start to splutter, add the onions (if using) and cook for a minute or two until onion is translucent. Then add the brinjal pieces and salt and cover and let cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or until brinjal is done cooking.
3. Now add the red chilli paste and allow it to cook another 5 minutes. 
4. Adjust  sweet, salt, or heat by adding more of jaggery, salt, or red chilli powder if needed.

Pumpernickel sandwich

I had never seen pumpernickel bread back in India. After coming to the US, I first heard of the  pumpernickel song on Barney :-) and then looked for it at the store. I like the texture of the bread for sandwich as it is a hearty bread that looks and tastes good.

Ingredients:

4 slices of Pumpernickel bread

Sliced cucumber – 6 slices

Tomato slices – 4

Onion sliced into rings – 4 rings

Crumbled feta cheese – 2 tbsp

Hummus – 4 tbsp

Romaine or green leaf lettuce

Method:

1.       Take two slices of bread and slather hummus on one side. Place a leaf of lettuce. Then place a tbsp of feta cheese, 3 cucumber slices, two tomato slices, 2 onion rings. Place another leaf of lettuce on top.

2.       Take the remaining two bread slices and slather hummus on one side and place over the sandwich. Cut into two and put a toothpick to hold the sandwich if eating later.

Hariyali Dhingri (Green Mushrooms)

I have always loved mushrooms. My kids not so much. I saw this recipe on SunshineMom's website and wanted to try it out. Even though it is not appealing to the eyes, it turned out delicious. It is quite healthy as well. I am still working on taking good pictures so please bear with me until then. :-)

Recipe: Green Mushrooms (Hariyali Dhingri)

Ingredients:

2 boxes of white button mushrooms

1 cup of cilantro

2 tbsp mint leaves

1 green chilli (2 if you like it spicy)

1 tsp ginger - chopped finely

1 tsp garlic - chopped finely

1.5 tbsp oil (I use canola oil)

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp jeera seeds (cumin seeds)

1 tsp red chilli powder (if needed, optional)

Salt

Method:

1. With a damp paper towel, clean the mushrooms and chop into quarters. Set aside.

2. Grind cilantro and mint leaves with one teaspoon of water. Set aside.

3. Chop green chilli, garlic,and ginger.

4. Take a pan and heat the oil on medium flame. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When the start to splutter, add the ginger, garlic, and green chilli. After 10 seconds, add the green cilantro-mint paste. Once the water evaporates a little, add the mushrooms.

5. Cook on medium flame. Add salt to taste. If the mushrooms cook quickly and the gravy is still watery, remove the mushrooms from the pan and allow the gravy to cook a little more until excess water evaporates.

6. Serve with roti.  

Welcome to my blog.

I welcome you to Sara's kitchen. Here you will find recipes that have been handed down to me by family and friends. I will also be trying out recipes seen on TV shows, other food blogs, and whatever catches my eye.

The reason for this blog is that my recipe journal is getting old and the ink is fading. I figured I need to keep up with the times and start a food blog so that my kids can some day turn to it for recipes made by mom.

Hope you like the recipes posted. I am still in the process of figuring out how to take good quality pictures.