One Day At A Time

We love our vegetables, a little charred and slightly browned.  Roasting veggies in an oven is the best way to do that.  Plus, far lesser calories as compared to the deep fried  Gobhi Pakode .  If you prefer roasted appetizers too, you must try this recipe - cauliflower or phulgobhi seasoned with a dry herb, Kasoori Methi.  Fenugreek is a leafy green vegetable commonly used as a dry herb in Indian food.

Sambar Rice, Rasam Rice are very popular and most loved South Indian Recipes.  This is a Konkani Rasam recipe with tomatoes, drumsticks, coconut. Ingredients: Tomatoes - 3 medium Drumsticks/Shevga Shenga - 1 (optional) Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Jaggery/Gud/Gul - 1/2 tsp Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Salt Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp Tamarind/Chinch/Chincham - small piece Turmeric/Haldi - 1/8 tsp Coriander Seeds/Dhane - 1 1/2 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 1/2 tsp Fenugreek/Methi Seeds - 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata/Karbeo - about 8 leaves Dry Red Chillies - 4 (Byadagi Variety) Method: 1. Dice the drumstick into 3 or 4 big pieces.  Finely chop cilantro.  Wash the curry leaves and pat them dry.  Dice 2 tomatoes into big cubes. 2. Heat about 1 tsp oil in a pan.  Add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, split black gram, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and red chillies....

A Konkani recipe of mixed vegetables with coconut and lentils (tur dal).  A varied mix of fresh veggies like pumpkin, green beans, drumsticks along with corn cob make this coconut curry a relish. Based on the veggies available, you can also add ridge gourd, snake gourd, potatoes, sweet potatoes, arum root, etc. This no onion garlic delicacy is more common among North Canara households during festivities like Ganesh Chaturthi. I personally don't like certain vegetables for this curry - cauliflower, radish, cabbage which have a peculiar aroma. Pumpkin and corn are my favorites.

Boiled Potatoes in yogurt or curd sauce.  Less spicy, easy recipe for potato lovers. Ingredients: Potatoes - 2 big (Russet) Yogurt/Curd - about 1 cup Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Green Chillies - 4 Chat Masala - 1/8 tsp (optional) Salt Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Dry Red Chillies - 1 Oil Method: 1. Boil and peel the potatoes.  Dice them into bite size pieces.  Medium chop green chillies. 2. Blend curds, chat masala, salt and cilantro leaves in a blender/mixer for few seconds.  3. Chat Masala adds sourness, so skip if you dont want the curds gravy to be too tangy.  You can add little sugar or jaggery as well.  And if you like it hot, blend the green chillies with yogurt.  Substitute yogurt with buttermilk for lesser calories. 3. In a mixing bowl, add yogurt, chopped green chillies and diced potatoes.  Mix well. 4. For tempering/tadka, heat 1 - 2...

Tandoori Chicken is an extremely popular Indian appetizer made with a spicy yogurt (curd) marinade.  Traditionally, chicken is cooked in a clay oven known as Tandoor.  The modern conventional oven works perfectly fine for a tasty homemade Tandoori Chicken. Here is my oven baked low calorie Tandoori Chicken recipe minus yogurt and minus food colour. Ingredients: Chicken Drumsticks - 6 Lime or Lemon - 1 small Ginger Garlic Paste - 3 tsp Tandoori Masala - 1 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper - 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder/Paprika/Kashmiri Lal Mirch - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Salt - about 1/2 tsp Oil Method: 1. In a mixing bowl, add juice of one lime (3 - 4 tbsp), ginger garlic paste, tandoori masala, cayenne pepper, red chilli powder, garam masala, chat masala, turmeric and salt.  Mix all ingredients well. 2. I have used two chilli powders here - cayenne pepper for heat and homemade mild Byadagi chi...

My last blog post was Ambe Sasam . Today I am back with another Konkani savory sweet recipe with mangoes. Upkari in Konkani is a less spicy veggie stir fry with coconut. This is a Mango Upkari recipe where mangoes are cooked in a similar way. I have used Mexican Champagne Mangoes which are easily available here in US. Ingredients: Mangoes - 4 medium Grated Coconut - about 3 tbsp Green Chilies - 1 or 2 Dry Red Chilies - 1 Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 1/4 tsp Fenugreek/Methi Seeds - 1/8 tsp Curry Leaves - a sprig Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/8 tsp Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 1 tsp Oil preferably Coconut Oil Salt How to cook Konkani Ambe Upkari: Wash curry leaves and pat them dry. Wash and peel the mango skin. Heat about 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, red chillies (break it into 2 - 3 parts) and asafetida. When mustard seeds pop, add the peeled whole mang...

Sasam is an iconic Konkani delicacy. A friend of mine ate this Sasam at a Konkani wedding and asked for its recipe. So here it is. A sweet and savory fruit salad with coconut and mustard seeds. Generally, this fruit salad is made with mango (Ambe), pineapple (Avanas) with a few grapes. This treat gets its name from mustard, which in Konkani is called as Sasam. Ingredients: Mango (chopped) - about 2 cups Pineapple (chopped) - about 11/2 cups Red Grapes (halved) - 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1 1/2 cups Mustard Seeds/Saasam - 1/2 tsp Dry Red Chilies  (Byadagi variety)  - 2 or 3 Turmeric/Haldi - 1/8 tsp Jaggery/God/Gool (grated) - 3 tsp Salt - 1/8 tsp How to make Konkani Ambe Sasam: Peel the mango skin and dice the flesh into bite size pieces. Repeat the same for pineapple as well. Cut the grapes into halves. You can make this Sasam with just mango as well. I like adding grapes for a little more color. You can skip grapes. Grin...