One Day At A Time!

Many of us are familiar with the Gujarati Kadhi and North Indian Kadhi Pakora . These Indian Kadhi recipes with yogurt and chickpea flour as key ingredients, are globally popular. Today I am sharing a Konkani style Vegan Kadhi/Kadi made of coconut. Coconut is quite integral in Konkani Cuisine. As the name suggests, this kadi is spiced with cumin (jeere in Konkani) and whole black peppercorns (meeri in Konkani). Pretty simple, yet flavorful accompaniment with rice. Ingredients: Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1 1/2 cups Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Whole Black Peppercorns/Kali Miri - 6 Green Chili - 1 Oil - 1 tsp Salt Tempering/Tadka/Phanna: Mustard Seeds/Sasam - 1/2 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata/Karbeo - 5 leaves Oil - 1 tsp How to make Konkani Jeere Meere Kadi: Pat the green chili dry and chop it into 2 pieces. Also, pat the curry leaves dry. Heat about 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, whole peppercorns and green chilies. S...

Dal Rice , Kadhi Chawal/Rice are some of the lazy day meals at our place.  Hot Kadhi, which we call as Phanna Tak or Taaka Kadhi in Konkani, with rice and some Aloo Pakoras is quite comforting in this cold weather. Nowadays, I cook this yogurt based sauce with a healthier addition, palak. These greens make me feel less guilty of eating fried goodies. Ingredients: Spinach/Palak Leaves - 3 cups Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - 1 1/2 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour - 2 tbsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Dry Red Chilies - 2 Green Chilies - 1 or 2 Ginger/Adrak - an inch piece Garlic/Lahsun - 2 big cloves Kasuri Methi/Dry Fenugreek Leaves - 2 tsp Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Salt Oil How to cook Indian Palak Kadhi: Wash the spinach leaves and place them in a colander to drain excess water. Or use a salad spinner to dry the leaves. Medium chop the leaves. I used Organic Baby Spinach lea...

Kadhi Pakora is a North Indian recipe of fritters/pakoras in a spicy yogurt sauce/kadhi.  This entree tastes best with plain rice. Ingredients: Yogurt/Curds - 1 cup Gram Flour/Chickpea Flour/Besan - 1 cup + 2 tbsp Coriander/Dhania Powder - 1/2 tsp Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Kasuri Methi/Dry Fenugreek Leaves - 2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig (optioanl) Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Fenugreek/Methi Seeds - 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Green Chillies (slit lengthwise) - 4 Green Chillies (finely chopped) - 2 tsp Ginger/Adrak (grated) - 1 1/2 tsp Onion - 1 big Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - 1/2 cup Jaggery or Sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional) Salt Oil How to prepare Punjabi Kadhi Pakora: Preparing Kadhi or Yogurt Sauce: In a mixing bowl, add yogurt, 2 tbsp gram flour, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, garam masala, grated ginger, little salt and jaggery. Mix well with a spoon and ma...

Tempered buttermilk/chaas/taak gets ready within minutes and tastes great with steamed rice.  In Konkani, this is also called as Phanna Taak. Ingredients: Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadhipata - a sprig Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Ginger - 1/2 inch piece Salt Oil Method: 1. Wash curry leaves and green chillies.  Pat them dry.  Crush the ginger piece. 2. Beat/Blend the curd with about 2 cups water, salt and turmeric.  Add more water if required. 3. Heat 1 - 2 tsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and asafoetida. When mustard seeds pop, turn off the heat.  Alternatively, a garlic tadka can also be added. 4. Pour this tempering/tadka/phann over the curd.  Add crushed ginger, chopped cilantro and mix. 5. Serve Taaka Kadi with steamed rice or as a drink.

Kokam ( Garcinia indica ) is a round dark coloured sour fruit which looks similar to a plum.  Its dry skin is used for making Sol Kadhi .  Dry Kokum skin, called as Aamsol or Sol or Birindasol is also used as a substitute for tamarind in coconut curries.  I am not sure about its English name Purple Mangosteen.