Lace Appams - Fluffy Rice Pancakes (no yeast)

This post is exactly a year old, so say Happy Birthday to my post that's finally seeing the light of day. I can't remember why I didn't post it for this long when it was sitting all ready in my drafts. This big lunch happened last year at my aunt's place before I left for Ahmedabad.

The weekend before I left, the entire family was invited to my aunt's place. She is an amazing cook and a perfectionist at everything. There was a huge spread including appams, vegetable stew, jumping potatoes, bhindi sasam, moog saar and bhapa dahi for desert. I was trying to bend over her shoulder to click these pictures, and I managed to get step-by-step pictures of the soft, fluffy lace appams.
Thank you K'maami for a fabulous lunch and all the recipes !



Appams go perfectly with the vegetable stew and as usual, my son with his sweet tooth, relished it with the narlya doodh or sweetened coconut milk
My aunt used a cast iron pan for this. There are non-stick pans available, that work well enough

Allow the pan to heat up and then drop in a spoon of oil, twirl it so it coats the pan well
Pour in a ladleful of batter in the centre of the pan...



Twirl the pan around, so that the batter moves evenly across and then settles down in the centre. If you pan does not have heat-proof handles, make sure you have something to protect your hands from the heat



Cover and allow it to cook for a minute and then take the lid off the pan



You should see the sides of the appam begin to turn slightly brown



Once the centre is cooked, gently ease the sides of the appam away from the pan using the appropriate ladle. Here its a cast iron pan, so you can use steel. For a non-stick pan, it usually comes with a thin wooden spoon





Serve this with some vegetable stew and sweetened coconut milk and you have a very satisfying Sunday brunch.

What you need -

3 cups raw rice
1 cup boiled rice / 1 cup cooked rice
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 coconut milk (third extract) / 1/2 can thick coconut milk thinned down with 1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt

What you do with it -

Soak the raw rice and boiled rice (if using) for 3-4 hours
Drain the water from the rice. If using cooked rice, add it to the drained rice and then grind it well, to a smooth consistency, adding little water, as required
Transfer the batter to a large container and ferment overnight
The batter should have risen by morning. Add coconut milk, salt and soda bicarbonate and mix well
The consistency of the batter should be like the dosa batter, not too thick, but thin enough to pour
Heat the appachatti / pan for the appams and when it is hot enough, lower the heat
Add a tsp of oil and twirl the pan so that the oil coats it completely
Pour a ladle of batter into the pan and twirl the pan again. Ensure that you use a cloth or oven mitts while holding the pan
The remaining batter will settle in the centre
Cover the pan for a minute or two and then take off the lid
Once the edges start to turn slightly brown, use an appropriate ladle to ease the appam out of the pan
Serve hot with stew / sweetened coconut milk

Sprouted Moong Saar / Mooga Saar

TH has had his wisdom tooth extracted and is in quite a bit of pain, and can't really chew on anything or have anything hot or spicy for a couple of days. He had ice-creams and shakes for a day, but doesn't feel like he's had a meal, unless he has his quota of rice.
I made this mooga saar with rice for him, which is a nice comforting meal !



This is one of my favourites, apart from this tomato saar, from Ma's different varieties of saar. Its made from sprouted green moong. A simple, quick saar that goes really well with rice and any simple sabji. This saar doesn't let any of the sprouted goodness go waste and is really nutritious.

If you have the patience, you can sprout the green moong. I'm lucky since I get sprouted moong from my vegetable vendor.

What you need -

1 cup sprouted green moong
6-8 sprigs of coriander
2 tbsp grated coconut
1 tbsp grated jaggery
1 tbsp jeera / cumin seeds
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp oil
a few curry leaves

What you do with it -

Take the leaves off the sprigs, clean, chop and set aside
Cook the sprouted moong in enough water. Drain and save the water
The skin of the sprouts rises up when you cook it. Take this skin along with some of the cooked moong and set aside
Store the remaining cooked moong to make an usal or any other sabji
Add the coconut, coriander leaves, jeera, tamarind, green chillies and jaggery to the skin and moong that is kept aside and grind to a smooth paste
Add the water (check the consistency and add appropriately) from the cooked moong and salt and bring to a boil
Temper the mustard seeds and curry leaves in a tsp of oil and add to the saar once its done
Serve with rice for a simple satisfying meal

Raw Mango Rice / Mangai Ogaray - Southern Flavours by Chandra Padmanabhan

I had got 'Southern Flavours', a book by Chandra Padmanabhan as part of the book review program by blogadda in the last week of January.
I would have loved to cook from the book and then write the review, but since the review had to come up in a week's time, and I was going to have a lot of my relatives coming over in two days time, I decided to write the review just based on what I read



I was honestly not very happy with writing a review of a cookbook, without cooking anything from it, so I got down to making quite a few things from the book - Pandigai Mor Kolambu, Kancheepuram idli, Thenga thuvyal and Masala vade, which turned out really good. As it usually happens, either the pictures didn't come out alright in the evening light, or the family was too hungry to make them wait before I took pictures, so it didn't make its way here

I made this mangai ogaray or raw mango rice, which according to the author, is from the Hebbar Iyengar community of Karnataka, a recipe she learnt from her sister-in-law.
The mustard seeds ground with the coconut and raw mango gave it a sharp, tangy flavour, which worked really well, a different taste from I've had so far\

I will post more of what I make from the book, but in the meanwhile, do give this a try...



Mangai Ogaray
Recipe Source - Southern Flavours by Chandra Padmanabhan

What you need -

1 cup long grained rice (I used basmati)
1.5 cups grated raw mango - I used 2 medium sized ones and grated with the skin on
4 tbsp raw peanuts
salt to taste
1 sprig curry leaves

Spice paste -
1.5 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder / hing
4-6 red chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 tbsp grated fresh coconut

Tempering -
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp split Bengal gram / chana dal
1 red chilli, halved

What you do with it -

Cook the rice and spread on a platter to cool (I added 1/2 tsp salt while cooking the rice)
Combine all the ingredients for the spice paste. Add half the grated mango and grind to a fine paste. Set aside
Heat oil for tempering in a pan. Add the ingredients for tempering in the order given
Fry over moderate heat. Add peanuts and fry for 2-3 mins
Add the remaining grated raw mango and cook till its tender
Stir in the spice paste and cook for 3-4 mins, till its fragrant
Remove from heat
Add salt and curry leaves to the rice and stir in the spiced mango masala, gently, till it blends well
Serve at room temperature
I served it with a raita and masala vadas

No fry Kofta Curry

This is a slight Mangalorean twist to a regular curry. In addition to the onions and tomatoes, this one also has coconut in it
It adds a lot of texture and body to the gravy and personally, I think it uses lesser oil too
The recipe for this curry is from the cook we had at Ma's place when I was there with my new-born baby. In Ma's daily cooking, there is at least one coconut used per day, so using coconut in a kofta curry was not surprising !



The koftas are made using bottle gourd, which is alkaline and very good for our stomach - it helps neutralize all the acid.
Deep frying these koftas then, didn't make sense - we would lose out on the 'good for health' tag that the bottle gourd brought. Inspired by Nags' kadhi pakodi, I decided to 'cook' these koftas in a paniyaram chatti / appe kadai / aebleskiver pan

Worked out great and you don't really miss out on the deep frying at all

So here's some healthy kofta curry, if you, like me, believe that coconut cannot be bad for health !!

No fry Kofta Curry

What you need -

For the kofta
1 medium sized bottle gourd / dudhi
1/2 cup chickpea flour / besan
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp carom seeds / ajwain
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 salt

For the gravy
2 onions
4 tomatoes
1 tbsp poppy seeds / khus khus (soaked it water for a couple of hours)
1 tsp cumin seed / jeera powder
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander seed / dhania powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 salt

What you do with it -

For the curry
Blanch, peel and grind the tomatoes to a puree
Grind the grated coconut, onions and khus khus to a smooth paste, adding upto 1/2 cup water
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a deep pan and add the onion-coconut paste and fry for 2-3 mins
Then add the tomato puree and fry for another minute or so
Add the dhania powder, jeera powder, salt and chilli powder
Stir well
Add upto 1/2 cup water, as required
Sprinkle with garam masala and bring to a slow boil

For the koftas
Peel and grate the bottle gourd
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, carom seeds and salt
The gourd release a lot of water, so just add enough besan, a spoon at a time, to make the batter thick enough
I got about a cup of grated bottle gourd and added little less that 5 tbsp of besan
Some people add cooking soda to make it fluff up more, but I prefer to avoid it
You could add a tsp of cooking soda if you really want to
Mix well
Heat the paniyaram chatti on a medium flame
Put in a drop of oil in each depression and swirl the pan around so the oil coats the entire area
Drop into the batter with a tbsp into each depression
Cover with a lid and keep on a low-medium flame
It should be done in about 2-3 mins, turn it over carefully
Keep on heat uncovered for another minute
Remove and keep aside. I cover it in aluminium foil and keep it a closed container

Add the koftas to the curry just before serving
Garnish with coriander leaves

Thai Green Curry with Pineapple Basil Rice

Thai is one of my favourite cuisines, mainly because of the beautiful balance of flavours, spice, sweet, sour and coconut milk...
Back in Bangalore, we had quite a few restaurants serving really awesome Thai food, but here, I have had it at two places where they had added besan / chickpea flour for thickening the dish - it was a disaster. I prefer my home cooked Thai food now !
This may not be considered authentic enough, because it doesn't have galangal or kaffir lime leaves, but if you crave Thai curry and you don't have access to these ingredients, this is as good as the real deal...



A nice, flavourful Thai green curry can easily be made with these ingredients which are quite common in any Indian kitchen.

Thai Green Curry with Pineapple basil rice

Recipe Source
For the curry - Adapted from Neeta Mehta's Thai Vegetarian Cooking
For the rice - A good friend in Bangalore

What you need -

3-4 small eggplants
1 large red pepper / capsicum
(You can also use mushrooms, green peppers and yellow peppers)
1.5 cups thick coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
3-4 stalks of lemon grass

For the curry paste:
1/2 onion chopped
5-6 green chillies
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 piece ginger / galangal (if you find it)
1 tbsp lemon juice
rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup fresh basil leaves / 1/2 cup coriander leaves
(I used 1/2 cup coriander leaves and 1/2 cup basil leaves)

Pineapple Basil Rice -

1.5 cups basmati rice
2-3 slices of pineapple (canned or fresh)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 leaves fresh basil

What you do with it -

For the curry paste :
Roast the cumin and coriander seeds till fragrant
Add all the ingredients listed under 'curry paste' and grind to a fine paste using a little water

For the rice :
Clean the rice and soak in water for 10 mins
Cut the pineapple slices into bite size pieces
Tear the basil leaves
Chop the garlic into thin slices
In a large pot, add 3 cups of water and bring to boil, add the rice, garlic, basil, pineapple and salt and cook till done
Add a drop or two of sesame oil, so the rice doesn't get too sticky
You could also put all the ingredients with the water into a rice cooker and cook till done

For the curry :
Clean and chop the eggplants and the peppers and the mushrooms, if using
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large deep bottomed pan and add the curry paste and fry for 2-3 mins. Keep it on a low flame, or the paste might splatter
Add the vegetables and fry for another 3-4 mins
Break the lemon grass stalks into 2-3 pieces and add to the pan
Add the salt, sugar and soy sauce
Dilute the thick coconut milk with water and add to the pan
Allow to simmer till the vegetables are just cooked. Don't let the vegetables get too soft or mushy
Take out the lemon grass stalks from the curry before you serve

Serve hot with pineapple basil rice

Want some other Thai dishes ? Check here, here and here

Mangalorean Egg Curry

I just realised a couple of days back that I haven't made an egg curry in over a year, which is very strange because I really like it. Eggs have only got into some cake or muffins, and maybe some breakfast omelettes over the last one year !

I decided I just had to have egg curry for dinner and called up Ma for her recipe. She gave me this one. Its typically Mangalorean - its got coconut, red chillies, tamarind and coriander seeds, which is a standard base for so many Konkani dishes...

Had it with steamed rice and a salad and it felt like such a perfect meal...



What you need -

4 eggs
1/2 cup grated coconut
4-6 red chillies
1 stick cinnamon
3 cloves
1/2 inch piece ginger / 1/2 tsp ginger paste
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
5-8 curry leaves
1 medium onion
1 tomato
1 tsp mustard seeds

What you do with it -

Boil the eggs, allow it to cool
Peel and cut into half lengthwise
Heat oil in a small pan
Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies and fry taking care not to burn the chillies
Add the cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger and coconut and fry for two more minutes
Keep aside and allow it to cool
Then grind all the ingredients along with tamarind, using about 1/2 cup water into a smooth paste
Chop the onion and tomato into small pieces
In a pan, add a tsp of oil and the mustard seeds - allow it to splutter and then add the curry leaves, onions and tomatoes
Sauté till the onions are brownish and the tomatoes are squishy
Add the ground paste and salt and bring it to a boil, adding more water if required
Lower the flame and add the eggs
Boil for 2 more mins and take it off the heat
Serve hot with rice, parathas or bread

Ripe Jackfruit Idlis / Phansa Patoli

My mom made these when we were in Bangalore and my son relished them. He now calls my mom the 'best jackfruit idli maker'..
I cant remember when I had this last, I get a taste of all the dishes I had during my childhood, now, thanks to my son !



Jackfruits are easily available in Bangalore and you have roadside vendors cleaning and cutting them - its a huge effort to cut the jackfruit - its sticky and messy

Havent seen them in Gujarat though, there are many people who have never had it..It does have a distinct smell and taste, but I love it !

This is generally steamed in turmeric / banana leaves, but Ma made them like idlis in the idli steamer

What you need -

2 cups ripe jackfruit sections deseeded
1/2 cup grated coconut
3 tbsp grated jaggery
1 cup sooji / rava
a pinch of salt

What you do with it -

Cut the jackfruit sections into pieces
Grind it along with the coconut to a smooth paste
Add the jaggery and salt
Mix well and then add the sooji
The consistency should be like that of idli batter
Grease the idli moulds and place in the steamer
Fill up the idli moulds and steam for 10-15 mins
If you are using turmeric or banana leaves, spread a portion of the batter on the leaf and then close it. Place the folded side down and steam for 10-15 mins
Add a little ghee on the ready idlis / patolis and enjoy !

Mango in Coconut milk / Ambe Rasayan

The good thing about being here in Ahmedabad is that we get mangoes for almost 4 months in a year...The last of the season is the 'kesar' which comes from Junagadh in Gujarat and is almost as good as the famous Alphonso mango...They are really sweet and its still available in the market !!

If mangoes are not in season, you can make this with bananas, honeydew melon, or a combination of grapes and bananas



This is a classic Konkani recipe that uses mangoes, coconut milk and jaggery. Can be eaten as a dessert or as the main meal with puris.
Ma has made this when we were in Bangalore and my son relished the combination of the mangoes and coconut milk...

What you need -

2 ripe mangoes
1 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp jaggery (add more if you want it sweeter)
1 cardamom powdered

What you do with it -

Cut the mangoes into bite size pieces
Add the jaggery to the coconut milk and mix till it dissolves well
Add the mango pieces and cardamom powder
Mix well and refrigerate
Serve with hot puris

Jeer Meerya Kadi / Cumin-Pepper Coconut curry

Kadis and Tamblis are popular in Konkani cooking...Undoubtedly, coconuts are the base for this...Both use almost a similar set of ingredients, with some variations here and there...
The basic difference is that tamblis are served cold, they are not heated at all, just grind the ingredients and serve, Kadis on the other hand involve some roasting, grinding and boiling...



Jeera (cumin) and meerya (pepper) are considered very good at helping with gastric problems, Ma used to always make this when we had a stomach upset, or anyway make it about twice a month, to help with any gastric problems...She even uses the skin of a pomegranate in this, which added a bitterish but nice flavour...

This kadi/curry with rice is one of my total comfort foods...

What you need -

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp pepper corns
3/4 cup grated fresh coconut
6-8 cloves garlic
skin of 1/2 pomegranate (optional)
4-5 red chillies
small ball of tamarind / 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp ghee
salt to taste

What you do with it -

Dry out the skin of the pomegranate and then cut into pieces
Heat ghee in a small pan and add the cumin, pepper, 3-4 cloves of garlic and the pomegranate skin and roast for 2-3 mins
Grind together the coconut gratings, chillies, tamarind and salt
Add the roasted ingredients and grind to a smooth paste
Add 2-3 cups of water to this and bring to a boil
to season, heat some ghee/oil and fry the remaining garlic till it turns brown
add to the kadi and serve with hot rice and papads

Khatkhaten - Vegetables in a coconut base (Konkani style)

Making this is easier than trying to say the name of it !
You pronounce this as 'khat-khat-ein', where the 'ein' needs to be said with a real nasal twang, which we Konkanis are famous for !!
My dad's very close friend's family lives in Goa - they are like an extended family to us. On one of my visits, I happened to go to their place for a self-invited lunch on Monday. The lady of the house was so upset because Mondays are 'Shivraak', its the vegetarian day of the week and she could not make her famous prawn pulav or fish ambotik for me. My son was about a year old and I told her I wanted just simple home-cooked food.



There was Solkadi, dal, rice, chapatis and this khatkhaten - it was a lovely meal, though I was invited the next day again for the fishy spead !!
My son loved the khatkhaten, and its so packed with veggies, that I have started making it very often after that...

Khatkhaten (Mixed Vegetables in a coconut masala)

What you need -

2 cups cubed red pumpkin
1 cups cubed potatoes
1/2 cup beans
1 cup cut carrot
6 triphals / sichuan pepper
10 garlic cloves
1/2 cup grated coconut
3 red chillies
1 tsp coriander seeds
small ball of tamarind
2 tbsp grated jaggery
salt to taste

What you do with it -

Steam the pumpkin, potaotes, beans and carrots
You could do this in a cooker, but keep it for just 1 whistle, or it could get overcooked
Add salt and jaggery to the steamed vegetables
Grind together the coconut, red chillies, 3-4 pods of garlic, coriander seeds and tamarind to make a smooth paste
Add the ground masala to the vegetables
Crush the teppals lightly in a spoon of water and add (Dont grind the teppals - they are too strong in taste)
Simmer on a low flame till it comes to a boil
Heat oil and add the remaining garlic pods and fry till they turn reddish-brown
Add the seasoning to the dish
The teppals can be discarded before you serve. Its used just for the aroma and taste it adds to the dish

This can be had with a simple dal and rice.
Teppal has a very sharp and strong flavour. It tastes great with the fish curries, but I love it in this dish too.

New Year, new beginning...

Happy New Year people...

One of my resolutions for this year was to start on a food blog...I have been completely fascinated by this whole community of food blogging and thanks to Miri, a dear friend, who was my peephole into this community, I have finally managed to start on one.

We've moved from Bangalore to Ahmedabad about 6 months back...Was holed up in a company guest house where the cook wouldn't let me step into the kichen (there couldn't be a bigger punishment than that)...to make things worse, he had this 'one-size-fits-all' kind of masala which was stashed in the freezer and this would be used for every vegetable (deep fried beyond recognition) from a simple tendli to paneer...

On our lucky days, we would get egg burjee and veg biryani...the food was tasty but two days of the same stuff made me sick in the stomach...and we stayed there for 5 months, so you get the picture, right...I craved to cook and now finally,we've moved out to our apt and i have my kitchen to myself...yipeee...


Beans Popti






I guess this is called Popti because its so GREEN in colour. (Popat means parrot in Konkani / Marathi)
Five months of almost no coconut intake and a Mangalorean like me was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, so my first post had to be something that had coconut in it !


What you need -

1/2 kg french beans (tender ones are perfect)
2 onions chopped lengthwise
1/2 coconut dessicated
6-8 garlic pods
1/2" piece ginger
2 green chillies
1 cup coriander leaves chopped

What you do with it -

String the beans and chop into inch sized pieces.
In a kadai, heat a tsp of oil and add the chopped onions
Fry till translucent
Add beans, salt, 1/2 cup water and cover the kadai till the beans are cooked well.
Blend together the coconut, coriander, green chillies, ginger and garlic till its smooth.
Add this to the beans and cook for a bit. Add more salt if required.