Kara baath and Mangalore bajjis :)

Every week, on a certain day, the hostel mess used to serve something sumptuous for breakfast: the Kara baath (or upittu), and i would always ensure that i had breakfast in the mess on that day. On the days that the mess didn't serve kara-baath, i would get my fill from the coffee-board. It used to be particularly exciting when the mess would serve kara baath or shavige or chow-chow (in the mess it meant a mix of shavige and rave upppitu; not to be confused with THE chow-chow baath, which is an equally delish platter of kesari and kara baath served together, or chow-chow, the chayote squash) for evening tiffin! Those would be the days, when i could have kara baath for both breakfast and thindi (tiffin)! I still feast on kara baath every single weekend :-D.

There are bajjis, and then there are Mangalore bajjis! Piping hot, best enjoyed with hot coffee, this yummy snack can totally uplift your mood :-D. What with all the green chillies and ginger! Mangalore bajji is the name Bangaloreans use to refer the much beloved Goli Baje :). When it comes to fried food, they are definitely a must have!

Together, Kara baath and Mangalore bajjis represents two different wheat preparations: one with rava, the coarse one, and the other one with maida, the really fine wheat flour. There's something about Bangalore style Kara baath! Those who have ever enjoyed it in small, but great corner eateries like my ever favorite Veena Stores would easily vouch for that! Kara baath, whether with or without that dash of turmeric, comes with certain must adds! Like chillies (dried or green; how else is it gonna' be kara), an occassional ginger, and often with the heavenly aroma of curry leaves or sometimes even coriander leaves, besides vegetables like carrots, beans, tomatoes and bell pepper etc. The things make it different from the usual upma. There's a pleasant tangy taste to it, courtesy tomatoes and lemon juice. All this makes this wonderful snack what it is! And if you use roasted rave (or Bansi rave, like its popularly known as), it just is pure bliss! Goli baje too is made out of wheat (maida), with a lil' besan and sometimes, a lil' rice flour too, with ginger and green chillies and ofcourse, buttermilk. So here goes:

Kara baath:

Kara baath with turmeric

We need:

• 1 cup rava/sooji
• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 1 cup mixed vegetables (chopped: i used bell peppers, beans, carrots and tomatoes)
• 8-9 curry leaves
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. each urad and chana daals
• A pinch of turmeric (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 green chillies (chopped)
• 1 tsp. lime/lemon juice
• 1 tsp. oil

In a pan, roast the rava to very light brown (to a point when it starts emitting a warm aroma) and set aside. If using Bansi roasted rave, omit this step. Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds and add the daals. Toast them till light brown and add the onions. Saute' the onions and add the chopped vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes. Add turmeric (if using) and salt, and stir. Add 3 cups water and bring to boil. Now slowly start adding the rava, while stirring (to avoid lumps). Add some lime juice, chopped green chillies and may be some chopped cilantro. Enjoy hot with your favorite chutney.


Sometimes, when i am in a hurry, i mix the roasted rava with vegetables and then add boiling water slowly (its quicker because you keep some water for boiling on another burner as you cook the vegetables). The end result is the same in both cases. Occassionally i add some chopped ginger to the seasoning. It gives a distinct flavor.

Goli baje/Mangalore bajji:

We need:

• 1 cup maida
• 1 tbsp. besan
• 1/2 sour curds
• 1" piece ginger (grated)
• 2 green chillies (chopped)
• 4-5 curry leaves (chopped)
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• Oil for deep frying

Mix the maida and besan with curds, with a drizzle of water and beat into a smooth batter. Add the ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, salt and sugar. Allow the batter to rest for 30'. Heat oil and deep fry small portions of the batter. The end result should be crispy from outside, soft and fluffy from inside bajjis. Enjoy with your favorite chutney :).



If you are in a mood to do some deep frying, then try this! Its a must try for anyone who craves more hot and spicy stuff. Shilpa has a great recipe at her corner for yummy Goli Baje. Do check it out.

Sending two of my favorite foods to my dear Ashakka, who's hosting a Karnataka Oota get-together for us this month :). This concept of regional flavors is a proud brainchild of dear Lakshmi.


Enjoy this marvellous feast :).

Majjige huli and beans palya: a simple, homestyle meal :).

It happens to me a lot! You know how, sometimes we meet other people of Indian origin and the question comes up, "Which city are you from?" :). I usually answer after a lil' pause, for i can not single out just one city! I feel i belong equally to Amritsar, New Delhi and Bangalore (and all the other cities here i have lived in) :-D. But many a time, i just end up saying "Bangalore", because thats the city where i had my first taste of independent (well, almost) living :-D. I simply love the city!

When Ashakka announced RCI-Karnataka, i was really thrilled! For, here was my chance to write about some of my ever favorite comfort foods :). That brought back fond memories of my time in Bangalore.....Back in New Delhi, i had a few Kannadiga friends in the college and like it usually happens, we sampled each others lunch boxes quite often ;). I got even closer to the delicious Karnataka cuisine when i moved to Bangalore for my graduate school. It was here that i learnt about the myriad sub-regional varieties of Karnataka cuisine. The A-mess in IISc provided decent food most of the times and included a lot of preparations from our theme cuisine. I learnt more from my friends and colleagues, about the preparations, the Kannada names for spices and vegetables etc etc. :). Most of my "recipe learning" was from tasting good food and asking "so how do we make this" :-D. This usually left me with a decent idea, though not the exact proportions. I stored all this information in my mind and once i moved to the US and began cooking myself, i tried out many of these recipe ideas.....surprisingly, they turned out decent enough :-D. A senior colleague in my lab in Bangalore, Mrs. R, would often treat us, the graduate students, with yummy home cooked meals. Courtesy her, we sampled great food, and i had many of my "how to" queries answered. Her face would have this really nice glow as she watched us eat.....and ofcourse the lil' tid-bits from many friends.....

So in a way, this lovely cuisine is my own.....the yummy goodness that nurtured me through those years :). Ooh, the thoughts of good food.....the fiesta is on!


For RCI, i decided that first and foremost, i should share one of my most favorite comfort meals with you.....its my everyday kind of food.....a combination of majjige huli, beans palya and rice.....So, here is to yummy food :-D.


Majjige huli:

Majjige huli takes its name from majjige (buttermilk) and is one of the best ways to enjoy the flavor of a single vegetable! With the warm aroma and smooth texture from coconut and the tangy taste from buttermilk, this one is surely a comfort food! Traditionally, the vegetables chosen are: Ash-gourd (kumbalakayi), chayote squash (seemebadnekayi), bottle gourd (sorekayi), bell-pepper (dodda-mensinakayi; the big pepper) and long eggplants (badnekayi).....but hey, nothing should stop you from trying this out with other vegetables. I especially recommend the squashes and gourds! This is surely one the best ways to enjoy them! For RCI, i have prepared majjige huli with dodda-mensinakayi and another one with the pretty looking patty pan squashes.



So pick your vegetable of choice and lets start :-D.

We need:

• 1 big bell-pepper or 4-5 pieces patty pan squash (chopped into bite-size pieces)
  
• 3/4 cup grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
• 1 tbsp. soaked bengal gram/chana daal
  
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 small green chillies
• Turmeric (just a pinch)
• 1 cup sour buttermilk (or sour curds, diluted to 1 cup)
• Salt to taste
• A pinch or two of sugar (~ 1/4 tsp., almost mandatory)
  
• For seasoning: 1 tsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds, a lil' asfoetida, 5-6 curry leaves and 1-2 dried red chillies (broken)

Lets first cook the chopped vegetables by boiling in water, till tender. While this goes on, we grind the coconut, daal, cumin seeds, green chillies and turmeric into a smooth paste (add a lil' water if needed). Once the vegetable pieces are done, we add the coconut paste, salt and simmer for another 5-10 minutes for the flavors to blend in. Now, remove it from the flame and slowly add the buttermilk/curds (which should be at room temperature, to prevent curdling). Prepare the seasoning by heating the oil and spluttering the mustard seeds, followed by adding the asfoetida, curry leaves and red chillies. Add the seasoning to the prepared huli, stir in and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy this delicious goodness with rice :). Or just drink it up (like i do) :-D.



After i prepared this for RCI, i just wanted to cross check if i had gotten my stuff right (given that i had no written down recipe). So, i set about searching on Google. There were a lot of recipes, most of them with a long list of ingredients that i wasn't sure i had ever tasted in the homemade authentic majjige huli. I finally found a recipe, that i bet is authentic and is really simple and it eased my worries as my recipe was quite like this recipe, and that recipe is from our very own Supriya :-D. Thank you, sweetie for letting me know that i was on the right path all along.....it means a lot to me.....I usually have this with regular Sona Masuri rice, but i listened to Sia and tried it with Basmati! It was just delicious!
Over to beans palya :-D.

Beans palya:

This is another must eat! A simple dish with a vegetable and coconut, a total delight! I love this preparation the most with french beans, cluster beans, carrots, beets and cabbage! Squashes are good to, i especially enjoy this preparation with zucchini. Kohlrabi also makes yummy palya. Here's the recipe with cluster beans:

We need:

• 2 cups chopped vegetable (i used cluster beans)
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. urad daal (uddina bele)
• 1-2 broken dried red chillies
• 5-6 curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• A pinch of both turmeric and sugar
• 2-3 tbsp. grated coconut
• 1 tsp. oil

Heat oil and splutter the mustard seeds, add the urad daal and allow it to lightly brown, followed by turmeric, curry leaves and red chillies. Stir for a cpl. of minutes and add the chopped vegetables. Drizzle with lil' water, add the salt and cook on low heat after covering the pan till the vegetable is done. Top it with grated coconut and sugar. Stir and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Enjoy the palya with rice and huli or as a fabulous sandwich stuffing!


This recipe at Payaswini's cookbook adds kadlabele too, but i didn't. Also i normally use more coconut than the recipe in the link. This site seems to have a decent recipe collection and sounds authentic (from the recipes i checked out).

This is my contribution for RCI-Karnataka, an being hosted by our dearAshakka :). RCI is an event celebrating the yummy regional Indian cuisines,coneptualized by dear Lakshmi at Veggie Cuisine. Thanks Ashakka, for hosting this, despite your Lasik plans.....and for the Benne Biscattu post :-D.