Bell Pepper (Capsicum) gojju

Gojju is a combination of sour, spicy and sweet . Tomato is most widely used for making gojju. One can also use brinjal/eggplant, onion, capsicum, bittergourd for making this kind of gojju.



So here is what we need
For Tadka:
Oil 1-2 tsp, Mustard seeds ½ tsp, Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp, Channa dal 1tsp, Curry leaves few and Turmeric ½ tsp.
Veggies:
Bell Pepper - Green and Red one each, Tomato - one small, Onion- one small.
Also need:
Jaggery about 2 tsp, Curry/sambar powder (or chilli powder) about 1tsp, Tamarind about 1 tsp, Gram flour/chickpea flour(I use this instead of coconut to thicken the gravy) and Salt to taste. Few cilantro leaves for garnish.
(All these above ingredients can be added more or less according to one’s taste).

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Method:

1. Take oil in a pan, when its hot enough add mustard, cumin, turmeric, channa dal and curry leaves.
2. When channa dal starts to change color, add veggies and salt cover and cook for about 5 mins.
3. Then add curry powder, tamarind, jaggery. Mix gram flour with water and add this to the veggies. Lastly add salt.
4. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 mins or until the rawness from the curry powder is gone.

Garnish it with few cilantro leaves. Gojju can be served with chapathi, dosa, idly, rotti or even rice. Enjoy!

Olive chutney

I brought a can of olives and sun-dried tomatoes long ago to use them as a topping, that is when I make pizza at home. But that day never came, so I wanted to try something new using olives. The first thing came to my mind was 'how about chutney? ' so I decided to give it a try. I used Olives, sun-dried tomato and chili(can't make any chutney without chili). Never tasted this combination before so I was curious as well as anxious to know how it will turn out. To my surprise it was a fabulous combination of little sweet,tangy and spicy.

It goes well as a spread on toast or can use as a base for sanwich with little cheese on top or can also use this as a spread on pizza dough(which i'll be trying very soon).

So here is how I made it.

Ingredients (recipe similar to Tapanade)

Olives I used one hand full (Pitted olives)
Sun-dried Tomatoes 3 (which was in oilve oil)
Green Chilli 1 small
Salt According to taste.

Method.

Put everthing in a blender and grind into course paste.

Moisture from canned olives and sun-dried tomatoes in oilve oil, helps to grind into paste. Adjust salt according to taste.


I used this chutney as a spread on a bread toast. It tasted very well. Enjoy!

Moongdal Thove

When we are tired of having curries,sambar and all the spices and masalas. We like to have something plain and satisfying for our meal. Thove is definitely one thing I make. This is simple and satisfying.

(Thove with rice and curd chillies on side is considered as comfort food at my home.)

So here is what we need.

• Moongdal(hesarubele) - 1cup
• Bottle gourd- about 1cup chopped
• Onion -1 small
• Tomato -1
• Green chilles - 1
• Turmeric - a pinch

For Tempering

• Oil 1tsp
• Mustard and cumin seeds.

For Garnish

• Fresh lime/lemon juice 2tsp.
• Corriander leaves.

1. Add pinch of turmeric to moongdal and pressure cook it untill its soft.
2. Now add veggies, onion , tomato and chilles. Add water to desired consistancy. Let it cook for about 10min or until veggies are soft.
3. When veggies are soft enough add salt and switch off the heat.
4. In a different pan do the tempering adding mustard and cumin to hot oil .
5. Lastly add fresh lime/lemon juice and garnish with cilantro leaves.

* Commonly used veggie for thove is ridge gourd. Bottle gourd ,chayote squash can also be used. Or it can be made without adding any veggies at all.
* If making as a side dish for chapathis. Add less water.

Serve hot with rice or chapathis.

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Curd chilles(called as Balka in kannada) are made by making slit and soaking fresh green chillies in sour curd for a day and they sun dried untill color changes to half white. Once completely dried it can be stored in air tight container. For longer shelf life store in Refrigarator.It is available in Indian grocery stores.

Curd chilles are deep fried in oil and used instead of green or red chilles. It is used for making raitha, seasoning rice or as a sides.

Dried Curd Chillies and Curd Chilles deep fried.

Enjoy!

Simple Bread Toast

When I was in college, after classes me and my friends used to go to the near by bakery to have this kind of toast. During those days this was one thing we all could afford and it tasted very good. I like all kind of bread dishes. I have tried to recreat the toast I used to eat. This toast is very easy to make in very less amount of time.


So here is what we need

• Bread slices - 4 (I use wheat bread)
• For Topping : One each-Onion, tomato, green chilli (chopped finely)and carrot(grated).
• We also need 1 tbsp of oil, pinch of turmeric and salt to taste.

1. Toast the bread slices on tava or a toaster, with or without oil.
2. Heat skillet, add oil when it is hot enough add a pinch of turmeric, onion, tomato, chillis and carrot. Fry for few minutes, then add salt according to your taste.
3. Now top veggies on toasted bread slice. Let it stand for a few mins to allow bread to abosrb juice from the veggies.

Enjoy! with a cup of coffee.

Akki Rotti (rice flour Rotti)

Akki rotti is a karnataka speciality. Akki means rice in kannada. Rice flour is used to make rottis. One can make so many different kinds of akki rottis. Most common one is rice flour mixed with coconut, cumin seeds and salt (called plain rotti). Other one is masala rotti made using carrot, onion, corriander leaves, chillies, cumin seeds. One can also add methi leaves, dill leaves.

I follow my Mom's method to make masala akki rotti.


Ingredients :

• Rice flour 2 cups (makes 4 rotis)
• Onions 1 small finely chopped
• Carrot 1 grated
• Cilantro leaves handful chopped
• Green chilli 1 (can substitute with chilli powder)
• Cumin seeds 1 tsp
• Oil 2Tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Water 1 cup or according to required consistancy

1. At first take water in a vessel and bring it to boiling stage.(using boiling water makes dough smooth to pat on and also makes rottis soft to eat).
2. Meanwhile mix rice flour with chopped and grated veggies add salt.
3. Add boiling water, mix well using a spoon until dough comes together. Keep covered for 10 mins.(When covered steam from the hot water will make the dough moist).
4. When dough is cool enough to handle with bare hands add 1-2 tbsp of oil and knead well. Now the dough is ready to make rottis.(Dough should be of medium softness not too hard or too soft).

Here is how I usually make, using wax paper.

• Take a sheet of wax paper put little oil and smear arround, take handful dough, make a ball and pat evenly.
• Now transfer onto hot tava and remove the paper.
• Leave it for a minute, turn other side and leave for 30 sec or so. Now its ready to eat.

This is how we make using bandlee(round shaped pan) or can do this directly on tava/griddle.

• Take 1tsp of oil, smear around. Now take dough and spread around it.
• Keep this on medium heat, cover and after minute or so it will be ready to be taken out(no need to turn and cook on other side). If u want more crispy leave it of little longer. Once done rotti comes out easily from pan.
• To make another rotti, hold the pan upside down and run cold water all arround it, pan will be cool to make another rotti by this time(be careful while running water onto hot vessel, water will start sizziling as soon as it hits the pan).

Akki rottis are served with coconut chutney, gojju or eggplant ennegai. I like to eat with tomato-onion gojju. This time I tried it with Indira's Red Bellpepper chutney and it goes very well with this kind of rotti.