One Day At A Time!

Easy and quick pancakes made of Semolina and Cucumber. A Konkani recipe which is like thaalipith and also known as Sajjige Roti in Kannada. Ingredients: Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1 1/4 cups Grated Coconut - about 1 cup Grated Cucumber - about 1/2 cup Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tsp Chopped Green Chilies - 4 Water - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 tsp Salt - about 1/2 tsp Oil How to cook Konkani Rave Bhakri: Mix all the above ingredients except oil in a mixing bowl. Let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Soaking semolina for a longer time will make the pancakes too soft and not crisp. Add coconut water if available, enhances its taste. Heat a pan/tawa, add few drops of oil. Spread a handful of the above mixture evenly as thin as possible with hands. While spreading lowering the heat helps.  Flip it after a minute or when the edges dry. Drizzle few drops of oil all over the pancake and roast it till golden brown on both sides. Rave Bhakri is ready to binge. If the pancake ...

In our everyday meals, I make sure we eat a balanced diet with more proteins, veggies and less carbohydrates.  Eating a protein rich diet is the key to losing weight.  Any Beans are a good protein source for vegans and vegetarians.  Also, a rainbow colored diet is healthy.  I use a variety of beans - red kidney beans/rajma, chickpeas/chana, black eyed peas/chawli, green mung beans and many more. Today I made a desi style black beans curry, oven Roasted Cauliflower and steamed rice.  Black Beans is one of the beans easily available here in US.

Dahi Wada has many versions just like Chaat.  In South Indian cuisine, a tempering/tadka of mustard seeds and curry leaves is added for Dahi Wadas.  Either only urad dal is used or both mung and urad are used.  Here is my version of Dahi Wada. Ingredients: Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 3/4 cup Mung Dal/Split Green Gram - 1/4 cup Curd/Yogurt - 2 cups Green Chillies - 8 Ginger - an inch piece Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tsp Cilantro/Coriander leaves Chat Masala Sugar Salt Oil Method: 1. Soak 3:1 urad dal and mung dal in water overnight or for 4 - 5 hours.  Wash the soaked dals well.  Grind green chillies, cumin, ginger, soaked dals to a fine paste.  Use very little water.  Add salt to the paste and mix well. 2. Mix 2 cups yogurt with about 1 cup water.  Add little salt, about 1/2 tsp sugar, finely chopped cilantro leaves and beat/whisk the yogurt well.  If you like thick yogurt, do not add water.  Refrigerate the yogurt for about ...

We all are told greens are good for you. I try to include it in our everyday diet. More than spinach, I like Dill leaves, Fenugreek leaves. If you are looking for greens other than Palak, try this Konkani style Shepuchi Bhaji.  Dill is known as Shepu in Marathi and Sabasgi Soppu in Kannada . Dill has a peculiar aroma. This is the way my Mom makes and I love it with Bhakri. Ingredients: Dill/Shepu/Sabasgi - a bunch Chana Dal/Split Chickpeas - 1/4 cup (optional) Onions - 2 medium Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/4 tsp Green chillies - 6 Garlic - 5 cloves Salt Oil How to cook Shepu or Dill leaves Bhaji: Soak chana dal in water for 20 - 30 minutes. If you soak it longer, it will take lesser time to cook. You can also use Mung Dal instead of Chana Dal. If you are not a fan of lentils, use diced potatoes. Potatoes blend well with any other vegetable. Crush the garlic cloves and medium chop the onions. Pick the dill leaflets and tender stems. Wash them well. Roughly chop ...

Pan fried banana or plantain fritters can be served as a side dish with meals or enjoyed as a tasty tea time snack. Ingredients: Raw Banana/Plantain - 1 big Red Chilli Powder/Cayenne Pepper/Paprika - 1 tbsp Chat Masala or Aamchur - 1 tsp Salt Oil Method: 1. Boil about 4 cups water in a vessel.  Dice the raw banana in 2 or 3 pieces and make cuts on the skin with a knife.  Add diced banana to the boiling water and cook for 2 - 3 minutes or till half cooked.  After cooling the banana skin will come off easily. 2. Dice the banana into slightly thick slices.  Sprinkle little salt, chat masala and cayenne pepper over the slices, mix and keep it aside for about 30 minutes. 3. Heat 1 - 2 tbsp oil in a pan.  Spread the slices on the pan and fry till both sides are roasted well.  You can coat these marinated banana slices in semolina or rava or sooji to make it more crisp. 4. Serve Crispy tasty Banana Fritters with ...

AluWadi or Patra or Patrado is a roll made of Arum/Colocasia/Taro root leaves .  Since Arum leaves are not available here, I had experimented making rolls with mustard leaves, lettuce leaves and collard greens.  I found Collard Greens taste the best. Aluchi Wadi in Marathi, Patra in Gujarati and Patrado in Konkani.

Most of us like to have crunchy munchy snacks while sipping our evening tea.  What could be faster than fried chips?  Within 15 minutes raw banana chips are ready. Ingredients: Raw Banana - 1 Black Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/8 tsp Salt - about 1/4 tsp Peanut Oil Method: Peel the raw banana skin and cut it into thin round slices.  I used a potato slicer.  In a mixing bowl, add the raw banana slices, salt, black pepper powder, cayenne pepper and mix/toss well.  Add turmeric as well if you like. Heat oil in a kadhai/wok and deep fry these slices in hot oil.  Remove the slices when colour changes and the buzz sound while frying stops.  Binge on crisp Banana Chips anytime you like.