My sleeping Dog

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Whenever my two children demanded for a pet dog, I had resisted. With both of us working, taking care of the children and managing the household work made us refuse to give in to the children's demand. But once the children grew up, with the son becoming a software engineer and the daughter also aspiring to get into the software field, our tensions and worries had reduced. And when the daughter assured me that she will take the full responsibility of the dog, I had no reason to refuse. For a few days there were discussions, arguments over the selection of the breed, selection of the name for the new arrival, about his food, bed, sleeping bag, with thrilled sounds of laughter and shrieks of disagreement. Ultimately it was decided that we will have a month year old pug.Thus POGO arrived at our home on 11.11.11. 

Avakaya - Avakai - Mango Pickles

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Points to be taken care of while making Avakai - Mango pickles .....

• Properly sterilise all the utensils in which you are going to mix and store the pickles including the knives and cutters you are going to use.

  

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• Wash them thoroughly and see that they are dried without any hint of water. This is a major issue and preferably to be done on the previous day.

• Avakai is prepared with mangoes retaining the inner part, just removing the innermost seed. In South Bangalore where I stay, the vendors in Gandhi Bazaar and Jayanagar cut them for us neatly according to our choice for a very small price.
• While going to buy the mangoes, it is better to carry a cloth to clean the mangoes. We can buy the mangoes, clean them thoroughly with our cloth and then spread our cloth on the gunny bag on which the vendor would cut the mangoes.
• After bringing them home we can again clean the pieces with a cloth to remove any residual seed part. 
• Take care to never use water to clean the mangoes or pieces.

If you don't have access to the vendors who cut them, its ok to cut the mangoes at home.

Recipe video : 

Ingredients :

1. Cut mangoes                 6 bowls ( any bowl you use, take care to use the same bowl to measure all the ingredients.
2. Red chilli powder - only Byadagi menasinakai powder 1 bowl
3. Mustard (raw) powder  80% of the bowl.
4. Salt                                75% of the bowl
5. Mustard oil                   2 big cups - depends on your liking



6. Methi seeds                  1 tablespoon

Preparation  :

• In a thick bottomed pan heat the oil to a medium heat, add methi seeds, switch off the heat and allow it to cool completely.
• In a big bowl add the mango pieces, red chilli powder, mustard powder and salt and mix thoroughly.
• Then add the fully cooled oil with methi and mix well. Keep it covered for 10 to 12 hours.

Now mix the pickles again thoroughly and store in airtight containers, preferably glass or pickle jars.

Enjoy the pickles all around the year :-) 

Kuttavalakki recipe in Kannada | Kuttavalakki with Sandige | pounded spicy rice flakes - poha - avalakki mixture recipe

Ingredients :

• 4 cups Poha ( Dappa Avalakki )
• Mixed Sandige and happala  - Mainly Aralu sandige plus whatever you have at home
• Menthe Menasinakai - Majjige menasinakai 10 number ( depending on your taste)
• Groundnut seeds - kadalekai beeja 1 cup
• Roasted grams - hurigadale 1/2 cup 
• Curry leaves 1/2 cup
• Tamarind 1 big lemon size
• Jaggery 1 big lemon size
• Oil for frying
• Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric 1/2 teaspoon 
• Salt to taste

Recipe Video :

Preparation :

• In a thick bottomed kadai, dry roast the poha in instalments in small quantities till they splurt.
• At the end, in the heated kadai dry roast the tamarind.
• Heat oil in a frying pan and fry all the Sandige, Happala and Menthe Menasinaki ( chillies ) and set aside.
• Take small quantity of roasted poha, tamarind, jaggery, salt and chillies and grind coarsely in a mixture. Like this grind all the poha. 
• Check the taste of the above mixture to see that it is hot, sweet and tangy. Adjust jaggery, tamarind and chilli to suit to your taste.
• Crush all the Sandige and Happala into small pieces in hand.  
• In a thick bottomed kadai heat 2 tablespoons of oil. 
• Add mustard seeds, when they spurt, add asafetida and turmeric powder.
• Add peanuts and fry till they are slightly golden and crisp.
• Add roasted gram and curry leaves.
• Now in a big bowl add the crushed sandige, avalakki mix and the tadka.
• Mix well and keep in an airtight container..

It can be enjoyed as a yummy snack with Tea/Coffee or you can mix finely chopped onion, cucumber, coriander and grated carrot and relish as a great chat.  

Tengolu | Thengolu | Thengolalu | Thenkuzhal Murukku | Thenkol | Rice Murukku easy recipe

This is the easiest and fastest method of preparing crispy golden Tengolu. Only thing is you have to get the rice and urad dal mix grounded in a mill and keep it ready at home. This flour of raw rice and raw urad dal can be kept for a month or two without any problem. 

Take 3 measures of rice and one measure of urad dal – both raw – and get it grounded nicely in a flour mill.

Prep time                           5 minutes

Cooking time                    15 minutes

Recipe video :

Ingredients : 

Finely ground flour of rice and urad dal as mentioned above    5 cups ( 2 paavu)

Dalda for mixing                          50 gms ( 1 soutu)

Hing / Asafetida                          1 teaspoon

Poppy seeds                               1 tablespoon

Groundnut/Refined Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Procedure

• Heat dalda in a kadai  and mix all the ingredients except groundnut oil  thoroughly and then add water. This needs lot of water and constantly needs additional water as the urad dal makes the dough hard within a few minutes. So mix the dough well and soft .
• Heat the oil in a kadai.
• Take Chakkuli oralu with Tengolu bille.   
• Grease the oralu inside well with oil to smoothen the flow of tengolu into oil.

• Fill the oralu with dough and directly squeeze into the oil.
• The oil should be on full flame always.
• Keep flipping the tengolu on both sides till it turns fine golden brown.
• Remove from the heat and put it on a paper towel.
• Repeat the process for next Tengolu.
• Remember that the dough would have turned a bit hard by now. Wet your hand in a bowl of water, soften the dough, grease the oralu and press the tengolu.
• It needs some energy to press the tengolu as it consists urad atta. So soft dough and a greased oralu is a must. And better to be done by women who are from a stronger sex. Hubby can't press it. You may take his help in frying.
• 
  

I did :-D             

Nature.... My Teacher.

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This universe, the nature, is filled with beautiful messages, only we need to have an open and receptive mind and heart to learn or enjoy. May be because of my very rural background I am extremely attached to nature and very passionate about the five elements. They cheer me up and lift my spirits. As a result the tiniest of rustic and earthly things give me a world of pleasure whereas the big worldly materials hardly entice me.

Rava Dosa

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  Ingredients 

• 1 cup unroasted rava/sooji/semolina)
• 1 cup rice flour.
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour/maida.
• 4 green chilli, finely chopped.
• 3 medium onion, finely chopped.
• 10 to 15 curry leaves, chopped.
• 1 inch ginger, finely chopped (optional)
• Buttermilk as required.
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves. 
• Salt as required.

For tempering

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• Oil or ghee as required for roasting the dosa

• Preparation:

• Take rava, rice flour, all purpose flour, green chilies, ginger, onion, coriander leaves in a mixing bowl.
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a small frying pan add mustard seeds when they stop spluttering, add the cumin seeds. Then add the curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
• Add this tempering mixture along with the oil to the other ingredients in the bowl and add salt.
• Pour buttermilk and make a thin batter without any lumps. The batter should not be thick or of medium consistency. If the batter becomes too thin, then add some rice flour to lightly thicken it. keep aside for 30 minutes.
• Heat the tawa or non-stick pan. Smear a bit oil with a slice of onion or paper napkin.
• With a ladle pour the dosa batter from the edges towards the center. Don't try to spread it.
• Sprinkle ¼ or ½ or 1 tsp of oil from the top.
• Let the base becomes golden and crisp. Flip and cook the other side. When both the sides are cooked, remove the dosa from the pan. 
• Serve the onion rava dosa hot with coconut chutney or vegetable sambar. Onion rava dosa has to be served immediately.

Bisi Bele Bath | Bisibelebath | Bisibele Bhath or Bisibele Rice Recipe

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Prep Time          10 Minutes

Cooking Time  30 Minutes

Serves                  4

Ingredients :

Rice 2 cup

Toor Dal 2 1/2 cup

Tamarind 1 Lemon sized

Jaggery 1 Tablespoon – depending on the sweetness you wish

Bisibele bhath powder / Sambar/Garam masala powder 2 Tablespoon

Red Chilli Powder   1 Tablespoon

Ghee  2 tablespoons

Salt to taste

Recipe Video :

Vegetables :

The following vegetables cut in 1” length
Beans

Onion

Potato

Tomato

Finely chopped methi leaves 1 cup

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves

Fresh peas or  Hyacinth Bean - Avarekalu 1 cup ( If you have neither, then you can use peanuts. But Avarekalu tastes best. In the season if you get Jackfruit seeds, you use them. After Avarekalu, they are the next best :-) )
PS : Here I would like to mention that the choice of vegetables is entirely yours. If there is a plus or minus, it is absolutely no problem.
 

For Tadka :

Oil 1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder ½ teaspoon

Hing

Preparation :

• Soak tamarind in water.
• In a cooker cook daal along with vegetables and rice in separate containers.
• For rice generally we add water at 1:2 proportion. But here, you need to put a little more water so that the rice is cooked soft.
• Once it cools down, in a thick bottomed kadai, heat oil and add mustard seed. Once they splutter, add turmeric powder and hing. 
• Squeeze the tamarind pulp in it and add 2 glasses of water and let it come to a boil.
• While it is boiling, add jaggery, red chilli powder, bisibele bhath powder, salt and curry leaves and let it boil for another 5-6 minutes till it gives some fine aroma.
• Then add the dal cooked with veggies, add water if required and boil for five more minutes.
• Add the cooked rice, mix well and taste to check if you need some more salt, chilli powder Sambar powder or jaggery. 
• Cook on low fire.
• The bisi bele bhath at this point should be quite liquid. If you make it solid at this point, later on it will turn still hard. The best option would be to get a right liquid consistency at this point and still add half a glass of water and cook for just a few seconds and turn off the gas. So even if you eat it after hours, it will remain liquid and light.
• Add ghee and garnish with finely chopped coriander and cover for five minutes.
• Serve hot with Raita, Boondi kaalu or chips.
• 
  
  
  

Dhatri - The Village resort

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I had set my eyes on this destination, a rural, rustic, village resort for more than a year. It was my idea of a holiday. An escapade into the nature. I have written about my craving for nature and village life a million times, may be ad-nauseum. The regular weekend resorts with swimming pool, badminton court and table tennis, the staple North and South Indian dishes is not my cup of tea. I would rather have a village home, with its aangan, plants, flowers and fauna, birds chirping in the background and of course our very own grandma's cuisine. And Dhatri Village Resort fitted the bill to the T. So off we went. Fifteen girls from Basavanagudi Branch. But of course, why that smirk? We are as young as we feel :-D I would take you through the resort and have given the contact details at the end. I bet you would scroll to it before fully reading through the details! Hold on !!!

This is the resort and this is the type of welcome you get on arrival .....

The beauty of this destination is it is not very far off from Bangalore. It is just about 80 kilometers from Bangalore near Kyathsandra, Tumkur. It caters mainly to a full day package, from dawn to dusk. You can arrive here by morning 8 o'clock where a sumptuous treat of breakfast would be waiting for you.They are not your staple bread and butter, but delicious desi delicacies, with abundant dose of fresh desi ghee. The menu varies and on the day we went it was Ottu Shavige with gojju and ghee, Ottu shavige with Kai haalu and ghee, Ottu shavige with capsicum and chillies with ghee, Avalakki khara pongal with ghee, Ragi Hurihittu with ghee ... Yes! that's the breakfast we were offered with piping hot filter coffee!!!

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And personally I feel this is the ideal season to visit the resort because it would be fresh and green everywhere, all the plants washed in rain and flowers blooming everywhere. With Jackfruits and Jamuns inviting you and peacocks flying around, you will feel as if you are in Malnad!


And the host Sri.Ravi will then engage you with innovative village games, witty and full of fun. They were so interesting and funny that we fell off our chairs unable to control our laughter :-)

He conducted one game after another, engaging us in one activity after another giving a small break in between and we were so engrossed and relaxed that we forgot everything else in the world. You will have the choice to play or just sit back and relax soaking in the beauty of the nature. Mats and pillows are arranged inside the hall for those lazy bones!



And even before that healthy sumptuous breakfast could be digested, he invited us for a light snacks and juice. Now again!?! But none could resist the tempting sihi and khara avalakki with panaka :-)

And then again back to games, so innovative were his ideas that we could not help but marvel at his ingenuity and involvement and became children again!

And the lunch at 3 PM was again healthy, tasty home cooked delicacies. Look at these snaps and watch the video because I may not be able to do justice trying to explain the dishes. and rounded off by the bananas and betel leaves grown in their farm. The hosts will then give you the option to buy their innumerable home made products.


Post lunch a tour through the farm amidst the greenery was what we needed to burn all the calories. But because it was all healthy and home grown food and included none of those sweet and fried dishes, we were all feeling rejuvenated and raring to go with the fresh air and rain drops and flying peacocks giving us company.

And along with coffee, the hosts distributed the prizes, conspicuously taking care to see that each and every visitor got a prize! And what were the prizes? All the fresh veggies grown by them!!!
And it was time to bid adieu and like the old kannada adage " Undoo hoda, kondu hoda", they gave us boiled groundnuts to munch on our return journey.


PS :
Sri. Ravi, along with his family is the host and the organiser of this resort comprising of about 5 acres, which was started three years ago. The charge is 600 rupees and it's a day package. However if you wish to stay back for the evening, they will arrange "Kai tuttu oota" for the night and rooms to stay at an additional cost. But beware of the hounding mosquitoes!
It would be usually thrice a week and you have to book in advance. He prefers a minimum group of 20 to 25 persons. If your party contains less number or if you are going just with a family, you have to wait for his date to accommodate with other party.
His contact number is  9945179936
Have a fun filled rural escapade!!!

Heerekai Huli Thovve

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Prep time                        10 mins

Cooking time                   20 mins

Serves                             4

Ingredients : 
Heerekai / Ridge Gourd  :      1 bowl ( 2 medium sized)
Toor Dal                        :      1 Cup 
Coriander seeds             :      1 Tablespoon
Urad dal                         :      1 1/2  Teaspoon
Channa Dal                    :      1 1/2 Teaspoon
Methi / Fenugreek seeds :      1/4 Teaspoon
Jeera                             :      1/2 spoon 
Cinnamon:                     :      1/2 Inch 
Red chilli (Byadagi )        :      5 to 6
Coconut                         :      1/2 Cup
Tamarind                       :      Small marble size (Optional)

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Jaggery                         :       1/2 Teaspoon (Optional)
Curry leaves                   :     6 to 8
Coriander Leaves            :     2 Tablespoons. 
Hing (Asafoetida)            :     a pinch
Turmeric Powder             :     a pinch
Oil : 2 Teaspoons. 
Mustard seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Salt to taste

Corn Pulav

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Ingredients:
Basmathi rice- 1 big cup 
Finely chopped Onions-2
Sweet corn kernels-1/4 cup
Masala grinding:
Cinnamon-1/2″
Cloves-2
Cardamom-1-2

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Poppy seeds 1 tsp
Green chilly – 6
Ginger 1 small piece
Garlic 2 cloves
Mint leaves- 10 leaves
Coriander leaves
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Sugar 1/2 tsp
Cashew Nuts   10-15
Water – 1 1/2 cups
Ghee/Refined oil - 2 tbsp