Mangalore Buns- Fried banana pooris

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Mangalore buns, as the name suggests is a delicacy from Mangalore, Karnataka. Although it's called a bun it's not a baked food, but similar to deep fried pooris. It's a great way to use the over ripe bananas. This mildly sweetened bun is soft and fluffy in texture. It's traditionally made with maida or all purpose flour but I have used whole wheat flour. Here is the easy recipe to make these delicious buns.

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour/Plain Flour : 1.5 Cups
Long Ripe Banana : 1
Yogurt: 2-3 Tbsp
Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda:  1/4 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Sugar : 2-3 tsp

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Mash the banana with fork leaving no lumps (It can even be pureed in the blender).

2. Sift the flour with baking soda and salt.

3. Add Sugar and cumin seeds and combine well.

4. Mix in mashed banana, yogurt and knead the flour to make a soft dough. Add a little water if needed.

5. Apply few drops of oil and cover and keep aside for 3-4 hours.

6. Heat oil in a deep pan for frying the buns.

7. While the oil is getting hot, start rolling the buns. Take small lemon size dough and roll into 1/4" thick round sheet.

8. Slowly drop it into hot oil and fry on both sides until the color changes to golden brown.

9. Remove on absorbent paper towel and the delicious mangalore buns are ready to devour. 

10. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato sauce.

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Agasi Chutney | Flax Seeds Chutney Powder

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Flax Seeds or Agasi (Kannada) Chutney is made with Flax seeds which is a very good source of omega 3 fatty acids. So it's known to increase the good cholesterol level. Western countries are just getting to know about the health  benefits of flax seeds and you can find many products that contain flax seeds in super market these days specially brown bread with flax seeds. 

In India, there are many ways of using these super healthy seeds in regular diet. Agasi Chutney is a popular recipe in North Karntaka along with Shenga /Ground Nut Chutney. It takes only abt 15 minutes to prepare it and it can be stored for upto 15-20 days in airtight container.

You can include this spicy chutney in your diet in various ways, it tastes great when mixed with curd and can be eaten with Chapathi or Jawar Rotti.

Ingredients: 
Agasi /Flax Seeds : 1 Cup
Red Chilli Powder : 1 Tbsp
Curry Leaves: 1 sprig
Turmeric : 1/4 tsp
Tamarind : 1 small marble size
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Garlic : 3-4 cloves
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat a deep pan and roast flax seeds on low heat until the seeds turn aromatic. It will splutter a lot, so it's good to use a deep pot for roasting the seeds.

2. Cool down the roasted seeds a bit and grind with all other ingredients to a coarse powder. Store it in an airtight jar. It can be used for 15-20 days at room temperature.

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Spicy Green Tomato Chutney | Tomatokayi Chutney with Garlic

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When I see the green tomatoes I think of this Chutney/Dip. When everyone look for ripe red tomatoes in the packed Tomato bags at the super market, I pick the bags that have one or two raw/green tomatoes so I can make this chutney. This is again my mother's recipe that I follow blindly :-) I love to eat it with hot steaming rice with a dollop of ghee on top. It also tastes great with idli, dose, akki rotti, or Chapati.

Prep Time: 5 mins | Cooking time:5 mins
Recipe Type:  Chutney | Dip
Recipe Source: My mother

Ingredients:
2 Green raw tomatoes
1 Onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of Cumin seeds
3-4 Green chillies
1 tsp grated Jaggery  or Sugar
Salt to taste
Oil: 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Roughly chop tomatoes, onion, garlic and green chillies.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, when it splutters add garlic, green chillies and onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.

3. Mix in chopped tomatoes and fry for 2 more minutes.  Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool down completely.

4. Put the cooled mixture in a mixer jar, add jaggery and salt and grind to a paste. Keep it slighlty coarse.

5. Serve with rice as a side dish with a dollop of ghee.

Notes:
1. You can add a tempering of mustard seeds, dry red chillies and hing on top for added flavors.

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Charred Brinjal and Coconut Chutney | Smoky Eggplant-Coconut Dip

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I spent my childhood in North Karnataka with a mixture of cultures and food around, my parents are from coastal Karnataka so at home lunch was always a combination of South Canara and Dharwad style recipes, which my mother learnt from our neighbors. Back in my ajji's house they always cook matta rice (boiled red rice) and most of the times we had this rice ganji (water wasn't drained from the rice) for dinner.

It is very healthy and can be eaten with pickle, vegetable palya, happala (papad) or any chutney. My mother used to make different types of chutneys to go with it like raw mango chutney, green tomato chutney or ridge guard peel chutney etc. These chutneys are simple to make with very few ingredients and tastes good with even chapathi or white rice.

Continuing with the recipes from my mother's kitchen, today's post is about delicious and smoky Charred brinjal and coconut chutney.

Learn how to make brinjal- coconut chutney:

Prep time: 5 mins | Cooking time: 15 minutes.
Recipe type: Chutney | Dip | Side Dish

Recipe Source: My mother

Ingredients:
1 medium sized purple Brinjal/Eggplant
1 medium sized Onion
4-5 green chillies
4-5 cloves of Garlic
1 cup fresh coconut
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 slice raw mango cut into pieces
Salt to taste

Method: 
1. Wash and wipe dry the brinjal and roast it on direct flame on the burner. Keep rotating it so it's evenly roasted from all sides.  Discard the charred skin and roughly chop the Brinjal once its cooled down.

2. In Mixer Jar add fresh coconut, raw mango pieces, green chillies, cumin seeds, garlic cloves and salt and grind for a minute, do not make a fine paste. 

3. Mix in roughly chopped onion and charred brinjal pieces and pulse it couple of times, add a little water if needed. This is just to combine everything well. Do not grind continuously as it will turn into a fine thick paste.

4. Serve the delicious smoky chutney with Rice or roti/chapathi. 

Notes:
1. You can replace raw mango with tamarind pulp but the mango flavor is highly recommended.
2. Roast the brinjal thoroughly from all sides, it's easier to remove the skin when its well cooked.
3. Do not grind the brinjal to fine paste as the taste will completely change.

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Spicy Kiwi Chutney

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Kiwi fruits are considered super fruits and have been named as immunity boosters! It has more Vitamin C than an Orange. Tiny black seeds of the fruit are rich with Omega -3 fatty acids. All in all a very healthy fruit. I tried to make a dish out of it in Indian style. Here is a simple yet delicious spicy kiwi chutney recipe. This spicy, tangy chutney goes really well with idli, dose or even with roti. Do try it out and let me know how you like it. 

Ingredients: 
Kiwi Fruit : 1
Green chilli: 1
Dry red chilli : 1
Small Onion : 1
Oil: 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For tempering: 
Oil: 1tsp
Mustard: 1/2 tsp
Split Blackgram (uddinabele/urad dal) : 1/2 tsp 

Asafoetida: 1 pinch
Broken dry red chilli: 1
Curry leaves: 1 Sprig

Method:
1. Heat oil in a small pan and add roughly chopped onion, broken dry red chilli, and green chilli  and saute for a min.

2. Add sliced kiwi fruit and mix well. slighly mash it up and saute for 30 seconds and turn off the flame and let it cool down.

3. Put the cooled mixture in a blender, add salt and grind it. 

4. For tempering, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they splutter add split black gram and fry until they turn slightly golden in color. Next add Asafoetida, broken dry red chilli and curry leaves and fry everything and pour it on the chutney. 

Notes: 

1. For a slightly different flavor  you can fry 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and 2 cloves of garlic along with onion and grind. 

2. If the fruit is sour, add a pinch of sugar to beat the sourness. 

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Green chutney

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Green chutney is a very simple dish that enhances the taste and adds zing to any dish. Spread it on bread pieces to make sandwich or serve it with chats, tandoori chicken or chicken tikka, it will taste great with green chutney.

Ingredients:

Coriander leaves : 1 cup

Mint leaves : 1 cup

Green chillies: 2-3

Ginger: 1 inch

Lemon juice: 1 tbsp

Roasted Bengal gram: 2 tbsp

Black Salt or regular salt to taste

Sugar : 1 tsp 

Method: 

Put all the ingredients in a mixer jar and blend to smooth paste by adding very little water.

Store in an airtight jar in the fridge and use when you need it.

You can save it for 2-3 weeks.

Adding roasted Bengal gram gives nutty flavor and good body to the chutney.

To serve with tandoori dishes:
1. Beat 1/2 cup curd in a bowl, add 1/4 tsp rock salt, 1/2 tsp cumin powder and 1/2 tsp dry mango powder and mix well.

2. Add green chutney to the curd mixture and mix well.

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