Aayi's Recipes - Page 3 of 113 - Mom's recipes and more...

Mango pickle(HinDi/Kochla nonche)

66 Comments / Pickles and powders / By Varada

Hello everyone,

It was a bit difficult to decide which would be my first post. Shilpa and her husband (who call themselves as ‘board of directors’ of this blog) voted for this recipe. This is a pickle loved by my kids and other relatives. I noted that many of the readers of this blog also wanted to know about this pickle.

When I got married, I didn’t know a lot of cooking. I was just out of college and my grand mother hardly allowed us kids to enter the kitchen. When I got married, I had to take over the kitchen (my mother-in-law had passed away before our marriage). My husband and father-in-law were very supportive. One of my sister-in-laws who lived few kms from our home, used to visit us frequently. I learnt a few recipes from her. This pickle is one of them. Over the years, I experimented with it and we like the version I make now.

Here Koccholu means small pieces. I make this pickle with a special kind of mangoes called ‘vishad/ishad‘. Many people say it should not be done with these mangoes. But I have found that, with these mangoes, the pickle remains good for a very long time. With any other mango, the pieces become soft very soon and the pickle gets spoiled. Ishad mangoes are hard and have lot of pulp in them. They have a very unique taste to them. For this pickle, use unripe mangoes that have a hard seed(gorto). As these mangoes are very delicious and very popular at our place, no one sells the raw mangoes. During the mango season, Ishad mango trees bear hundreds of fruits. Some of the branches can’t bear the weight and they fall down. So I use these for hinDi.

These days I make this pickle mostly for Shilpa and her husband who love all kinds of pickles. When stored in air tight container in refrigerator, this remains good up to a year. I still have some from last year’s batch which I took with me when I visited Shilpa last year.

Important to note here that the mango should not be grated. I use the traditional cutting equipment called as “Addoli“. This helps in keeping the pieces crisp. When grater is used, the pieces become soft. But if you are living outside India and don’t have addoli or Ishad mangoes, use any raw mango (which has hard seed) and any cutting equipment available, but I think the shelf life of pickle would be very less.

– The pickle should be salty when it is made, as time passes, the pieces soak the salt and it also increases shelf life.
– Make sure none of the vessels have any moisture in them.

Ingredients:
1 cup mango pieces
1 tbl spn mustard seeds
3/4 tea spn methi seeds
A small pea sized asafoetida
1/4 cup chili powder
1-2 tea spns sesame oil
1/4 cup salt

Method:
Cut mango into small pieces.

Heat oil and fry asafoetida, mustard seeds, methi seeds. Grind to a powder. Cool temperature.

Add the powder, chili powder, salt to mango pieces and mix well.

Store in air tight container.

Hope this helps all of you who love the ‘HinDi‘ pickle.

Added a video to the post on Aug 2 2020. Originally posted on May 25, 2008

Prawns Curry(Sungta ambat)

37 Comments / NonVeg, Prawns(Shrimp) / By Shilpa

Shrimp/Prawns are some of the very popular seafood available anywhere in the world. While growing up, we got very fresh ones, since we lived on coast. The fresh ones are so tasty. The big shrimp were a delicacy that we only got once in a while. Now we mostly get big ones, which are not comparable to the big shrimp we get here in supermarkets. So when we visit my parents, my parents get these fresh ones for us and one of the dishes we love the most is this Sungta ambat – a spicy coconut based gravy with shrimp. The gravy itself is very simple with just a few ingredients but it gets its taste from the shrimp.

Pictorial:
Fried coriander seeds, red chillies, coconut for grinding.

Grind everything to a smooth paste.

Fry onions and then add shrimp, fry for few minutes.

Add the ground paste, green chillies, kokum, salt and cook till done.

Ingredients:
1 cup prawns/shrimps
1 cup fresh/frozen coconut
1/2 cup onion
5 red chillies
1-2 green chili
1 tea spn coriander seeds
4 pieces dried kokum or 1/4th tea spn tamarind extract
Oil
Salt

Method:
Heat oil and fry coriander seeds. Grind with coconut and red chillies to a very smooth paste.
Heat oil and fry chopped onions till they turn slightly brownish. Add prawns/shrimps and fry for some time(till the prawns become white in color, this enhances the taste of the curry).
Add the ground masala, green chili(slitted) and kokum/tamarind(In the traditional recipe kokum is used, since I was not having that I used tamarind extract). Add salt and sufficient water. Cook till completely done.
Serve hot with rice.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 30min

(Originally posted Mar 9 2006).

Beetroot Leaves Tambli

2 Comments / Gravy (Curry and daals), Konkani Recipes, Simple and Easy / By Shilpa

This year I went a little crazy with my vegetable patch. When the year started, I only wanted to grow tomatoes. I thought I would have a couple of plants, that is all. It was really hard to find time to care for the garden with a busy schedule. But then Covid-19 happened. We weren’t even getting groceries on time. I got worried and I wanted to grow everything possible in my garden. V’s cousin had brought some vegetable seed packets 3 years ago. I did not have too much hope but I put them all in the ground. It took a while but some of them sprouted and grew beautifully. One of them was beetroot. I have made all kinds of things with these fresh beautiful leaves. One of them was this refreshing, cooling beetroot leaves tambli.

Tambli is usually a raw, uncooked gravy. It sometimes has yogurt, sometimes made just with coconut. We make many varieties of tamblis. Each have their unique flavor. Here’s a list you may want to explore,

Gooseberry tambli made with Indian gooseberry/avale,
Palak tambli made with spinach/palak,
Menthe tambli made with fenugreek/methi seeds,
Kande tambli made with onion,
Ankre tambli made with watercress/ankre,
Beetroot tambli made with the beetroot

This beetroot leaves version is new but it worked out so well. It was spicy, had an intense cumin flavor. The ghee seasoning increased the taste many folds. On a hot summer day, this was a perfect dish to go with some rice and side of beetroot upkari.

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped beetroot leaves and stems
2 green chillies
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup thick plain yogurt/curds
1 tea spn cumin seeds
1 tea spn ghee + 1/2 tea spn oil
1 tea spn mustards seeds
4-5 curry leaves
A pinch asafoetida/hing
Salt

Method:
Heat oil and add cumin seeds.
When they are fried, add slit green chillies followed by chopped leaves and stems.
Fry for few mins till the leaves are wilted.
Grind the leaves with salt and coconut to a smooth paste.
Take the ground paste in a bowl, add the beaten yogurt/curds.
Add enough water to make it a gravy consistancy.
Heat ghee and add mustard seeds.
When they start popping, add asafoetida, curry leaves.
Add the seasoning to the tambli.
Serve with rice.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time: 20mins

Chicken Biryani With Coconut Milk

40 Comments / Chicken, My lunchbox, Rice items / By Shilpa

During Christmas holidays we visited our cousins in Boston. My cousin’s place, we had delicious and comfort vegetarian food, something I was craving a lot. At V’s cousin’s place, we had all non vegetarian meals. I was in a foodie’s heaven, amazing food at both places and we had a very relaxing time.

Make a big batch of it, as it is just out of this world and it disappears in no time.

This dish was prepared for us by V’s cousin’s wife Poornima Vaini. She made all-chicken dinner and lunch for us. Since I am a big Biryani lover, I really enjoyed this Biryani with coconut milk in it. She shared her recipe with me. I might have missed one or more steps, but this came out really well when I came back and made this. It is extremely easy one to make (I don’t know why it is called Biryani, because rice is not cooked separately here. Everything is mixed and cooked at once, but I will still stick to the name).

Ingredients:
1/2 kg (17oz approx) chicken
1/2 cup potato(optional)
2 cups basmati rice
2 cups(1 can) light coconut milk
3/4 cup onion slices
1/2 cup tomato
4-5 strands coriander leaves
1 tea spn biryani powder
1-2 tea spns chilli powder
A pinch turmeric
A tbl spn yogurt/curds
1 tea spn ginger paste1 tea spn garlic paste
Ghee/Oil
Salt
Whole Spices :
4-5 cloves
2″ cinnamon
4 green cardamom
2 bay leaves

Method:
Add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, yogurt, biryani masala and salt to chicken pieces. Mix well and keep aside for about 30mins.
Heat ghee/oil (I add both ghee and oil) and add all whole spices. Now add onion, salt and fry till they are brownish.
Add tomatoes and fry for few mins.
Add chicken along with all marinade and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes(optional).
Add rice and fry for few more minutes.
Now pour in the coconut milk and about 1 and 1/2 cups water, salt, mix well. Cover the lid and cook on a medium heat till done. Garnish with coriander leaves. Switch off heat and leave it as it is for about 15-20mins. Serve hot.
Serve with cold raita.

Serves : 4-5
Preparation time : 45mins

Moringa Gravy(Maskasangi Ambat)

2 Comments / Gravy (Curry and daals), Konkani Recipes / By Shilpa

It has been a while since I posted something new here. A lot of things are going on and somehow the blogging took a back seat. But I do update my instagram page regularly(which is much easier and less time consuming!). So please do checkout my page. Link at the top. This moringa gravy or maskasangi ambat was on my list to post for a very long time.

Maskasangi or Moringa has become a huge health food fascination lately. But in our part of the world, it was/is always a hit. Everyone has a moringa/drumstick tree in their backyard. My parents have one tree in their garden too, but it never really yield anything. But our neighbors always shared their bounty with us. My parents reminded us to eat maskasangi – they reminded us it was full of iron. It was added to so many dishes like kolmbo, sukke, sagle and many more. The flowers were made into phodi. The leaves are used in many dishes too like this rotti.

This ambat is a very simple dish that aayi makes very regularly. It is spiced with just teppal(tirphal) and kokum. The main vegetable in this gravy shines through. You can also make this with cauliflower.

Ingredients:
10-12 drumstick pieces
1 cup fresh frozen coconut
4-5 red chillies (add more if you can handle spice)
5-6 teppal
3-4 kokum
Salt

Method:
Cook drumstick pieces in water and salt.
Grind coconut with red chillies to a very smooth paste.
Slightly crush teppal in water to extract the aroma. Add the water to the cooked drumstick, discard the teppal pieces.
Add the ground masala, kokum to drumsticks.
Cook till the gravy starts boiling.
Serve hot with rice.

Serves : 2-3
Preparation time : 20mins

Here is the video of the recipe

Spicy Okra (Bhende Song)

19 Comments / Konkani Recipes, Side dishes / By Varada

Okra/bhende is one of the most loved vegetables at our home. My grandmother used to prepare this dish very often. Song is a very spicy Konkani side dish. The most popular song being the batate song – version with coconut and without coconut.

The okra version is made with lot of onion, sliced okra, lot of chillies, tamarind and a little coconut. The final dish becomes spicy, sweetish from onion, tangy from tamarind.

Ingredients:
2 cups okra chopped into thin strips
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut
10-15 red chillies (use as much as you can handle)
1/2 tea spn thick tamarind extract
1 tea spn coriander seeds
Oil
Salt

Method:
Dry roast coconut. Grind it with red chillies, coriander seeds, tamarind.
Heat oil and fry onion for few minutes. Add okra pieces, salt and fry till okra is done.
Add coconut paste, cook for 3-4mins. Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Serves: 3-4
Preparation time : 20mins

Pictorial:

Okra Bharta (Bhende Bharth)

15 Comments / Konkani Recipes, Side dishes, Simple and Easy / By Shilpa

V’s grandmother mentioned about this dish during our last India trip, somehow it had slipped out of my mind. Cooked okra is mixed with raw onion, coconut and some other ingredients to make this delicious bharth. It makes a great combination with some spicy papad(happal). This is a classic Konkani recipe. It can be made with roasted eggplant(brinjal), cooked okra or some other vegetables.

I personally didn’t care much for it because of the raw onion. So aayi makes any bharth without onion for me and with onion for everyone else. So if you are a raw onion hater like me, go ahead and leave it out.

Ingredients:
2 cups okra(bhinde/bhende) cut into pieces
1/4 cups fresh/frozen coconut
1/4 cup chopped onion
A pinch asafoetida(optional)
4 green chillies
1/4 tea spn tamarind extract
Oil
Salt

Method:
Heat a little oil and fry okra for 5-6mins. Then add very little water and let it cook. (Traditionally it is not fried, just cooked with little water, but since it becomes too slimy that way, I fried it before adding water. Alternatively, okra could be steamed without adding any water).
In a bowl, mix coconut, onion with green chillies, tamarind, asafoetida(optional). Mix very well using your fingers. Now add the cooked okra and mix well, mashing the okra a bit. Serve with papad as a side dish.

Serves : 1-2
Preparation time : 15mins

Pictorial –

Mixed poha (Kalayile phovu)

27 Comments / Breakfast or snacks, Poha/Avalakki / By Shilpa

I have already given the introduction to this here.

This is the simplest of pohas prepared in this way. This was a must in all Konkani wedding breakfasts along with upma. But these days idlis and wadas have replaced this traditional dish.

I could not get the red color to this poha because of the chili powder. The large stock of chili powder that I have here gives very good taste but the color is pathetic.

Ingredients:
Poha/avalakki (thin) 1 cup
Coconut (fresh) Â½ cup
Jaggery 1 tea spn
Phova pitto 1 tea spn
Salt

I tried this dish with medium thick poha, but taste was not at all something like the original thin poha.

Method:
Dissolve jaggery in 1-2 tea spn water (Usually black color jaggery, which is in thick liquid state is available at our native, is used for this dish. But since it is not available here, use normal jaggery).

Add salt, coconut and ‘phova pitto’ and mix well with hand. Now add poha and mix (if required sprinkle some water, just to make the poha soaked. Since thin poha is used, it gets mushy if more water is added).

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 5mins

Snake gourd sidedish (Padwale Randayi)

13 Comments / Konkani Recipes, Side dishes / By Varada

Shilpa had posted this recipe on Sailu’s blog along with an introduction to Konkani cuisine. This must be one of her favorite dishes, so she asked me to post this again here, so that we can have it in this blog’s collection as well.

I was not surprised when she had picked this dish while writing about Konkani cuisine. She has always loved this. My aayi (Shilpa’s grandma) used to search for snake gourd (padwale/paddale) and make this for her. We miss her every time we cook this dish. Though we make few different dishes with snake gourd, this is the one that always gets cooked when she is at home.

Randayi is a side dish prepared by Konkanis, which has a coconut base. Randayis usually have watery coconut base but are served as side dish. Like many other randayis, this too is a mixture of vegetable and dried beans. We usually don’t mix teppal with seasoning, since this randayi has teppal, we don’t add extra seasoning(of mustard, curry leaves) to it.

Ingredients:
1 cup snake gourd pieces
1 cup black eyed peas(alsande)
1 cup fresh/frozen coconut
5 red chillies
4-5 teppal
2 kokum pieces
1 tea spn jaggery(optional)
Salt

Method:
Cook snake gourd and black eyed peas. The peas should not get mushy.
Grind coconut along with red chillies to a smooth paste.
Add the paste to cooked snake gourd and black eyed pieces. Add kokum, salt, jaggery. Slightly crush teppal in 1 tbl spn water (do not make a paste. It is crushed just to bring out the aroma). Add it along (along with the water) to the dish. Cook for 5-6 mins. The dish should not become too dry or too watery.

Preparation time : 25mins
Serves : 4-5

Horsegram curry (Kulitha Saru) with coconut

7 Comments / Gravy (Curry and daals), Konkani Recipes / By Shilpa

There are two versions of this dish. This is the one more popular at home. Since horsegram is very good for health, we prepare this very often. Coconut gives thickness to the gravy. It has a very strong aroma of garlic which gives a great taste.

Ingredients:
1 cup kulith(Horsegram)
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tea spn coriander seeds
2 green chillies
4-5 red chillies
1/2 cup onion
1 tea spn garlic
2 inch piece (or 1/4 tea spn extract) tamarind
Oil
Salt

Method:
Cook horsegram in pressure cooker. Heat oil. Fry coriander seeds. Grind with coconut, red chilies, tamarind. Grind cooked horsegram with masala.
Add water to make it thin. Add chopped onion & bring it to boil. Add green chllies and salt. Cook for about 15-20minutes.
Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic. Add this to saru.

Serves : 4-5
Preparation time : 30min