Tousule for Magic Mingle #13

Tousule is a Goan delicacy made in the rainy season.

Why rains?  Well cucumbers the main ingredient of Tousule is grown in plenty in the hilly areas and is sold not only on the roads but also in the markets. Its common sight for the farmers themselves selling the freshly plucked cucumbers. Also one more ingredient the turmeric leaf that is used to give a delicious aroma to the Tousule.

Traditionally the Tousule is made out of rice suji or rava or wheat rava fine or thick kind, cashew nuts, coconut and jaggary are used to create this beautiful steamed delicacy called Tousule.

When Kalyani announced the Magic Mingle of cucumber and walnuts I was sure I will never make it. Then I saw Gayatri post of zucchini bread and something went click in my head and I thought Tousule.

Well if you are a regular visitor here you will know sweets, let me clarify some sweets, are unmentionables in my place this happens to be one of them. I made minimum quantity of 1 katori. But please let me not put you guys off the Tousule it is amazing. Do try it out.

Chocolate & Strawberries

I had made this Chocolate honey frosting for a cake (recipe follows).

The amount of icing as usual was more than I needed, for my kids love chocolate in any form. But before I offered the leftover icing to them I dipped some strawberries in them. Then dried them over a butter paper in the fridge.

And you can see even I could not resist the strawberries. Too bad that we had only one container of strawberries but them the season for the luscious berries has just started.

This is my entry for Magic Mingle

All rights reserved on photographs and written content are copy-written @The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen!! unless mentioned. Please Ask First
 

Udmethi

Amade che Udmethi

When I read the Magic Mingle ingredients this month there was a smile on my face. Finally I was to post one of Goa’s most delicious curries. The one that I have made many times and started to write so many times and deleted so many times.

The beauty of this curry is that it can be made vegetarian and non vegetarian both.

The magic is made with urid dal and fenugreek and “Ammado”!

These sour beauties called Ammado  are available almost all the year around. In rains they are tender and taste like raw mango. The pickle made from this is Sluuuurp! As the rains get over at about Ganesh Chathurthi time they have a slight flesh ad there is a hard fibrous nut kind of centre. These delicious fruits are a must for Ganesh and Diwali celebrations, when they are made in delicious chutney.

Ammado

I will post the more about the chutney later, right now it’s Magic Mingle and its magic ingredients of coconut and fenugreek.

Like I said Ammado are used to make vegetarian and non-vegetarian curry. The non vegetarian curry is made with prawns!!

Most Goan curries use coconut as a base with coriander seeds and red chilies. There are some curries where there are additions of pepper, cinnamon etc but the most important curry ingredient is coconut.  Goans use very little curry in their rice. The rice is almost dry the reason I think being that coconut is high in cholesterol and the protein content is taken care of by the fish. So it not eaten like daal.

  

To make the vegetarian curry called

  Udmethi

 Ingredients: 

             ·      10 Ammado

·      ½ Coconut, freshly scrapped

·      1 tblspn urid dal

·      ½ tsp fenugreek

·      4 Red chilies (I used the Goan chilies)

·      ½ tsp turmeric

·      1 small piece of hing/ asafetida or about ½ tsp powder

·      2-3 tsp oil

           ·      Salt  

Method:

1.    Wash and peel the Ammado using the vegetable peeler.

2.    Now with a heavy stone/hammer pound the Ammado till they are a bit broken. (This step I do not follow many times but it’s desirable. All the curry juices seep in and a slight sour taste seeps easily in the curry). Set aside.

The ingredients sans the turmeric

3.  In a kadhai/wok heat the oil fry the hing piece drain well and set aside. Next add the red chilies and fry till they give out an aroma. Drain and set aside.

4.    In the same oil fry the urid dal till reddish add the fenugreek and switch off the gas. Drain the dal and methi.

5.    Grind the coconut, methi, urid dal, red chilies, turmeric and hing to a fine paste using little water. This is your masala.

6.     Heat another tsp of oil and toss the Ammado in. Stir for about 2-3 minutes then add the ground masala.

7.    Add salt and some water. Say about 3 cups. Bring to a boil.

8.    Adjust the seasonings, the thickness of the curry to your liking by adding water. Mine here is quite thick.

Serve udmethi with  steamed rice, pickle,rava fried cauliflower!!

Sending this to Kalyani's Magic Mingle # 10 hosted at Vaishali's space this month...

Kid's Delight Pot luck Party hosted by Srivalli

Nithu's  Healthy food for Healthy Kids  hosted at Sowmya's

Favourite Recipes Event by Swathi Iyer

All rights reserved on photographs and written content are copy-written @The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen!! unless mentioned. Please Ask First
 

Garam Golpapdi

Ek tha Bachpan when Amma used to make Gul Papdi.

In case you do not know what it is then it's a sweet powder make out of wheat flour and jaggery. We used to put a big spoonful in the mouth and say “Fufi” and the powder came out in puffs! Silly I know but fun, just imagine girls in STD VIII, IX &X doing this!!

  

Then I forgot all about it. When I saw this recipe that I had copied from Tarla Dalal it revived all those carefree days. How I miss them now!!

Herbed Garlic Pull Apart

Baking is something I enjoy but baking bread is something that I do not dare try at all.

For I have failed repeatedly!!

 But when I saw this herbed Spicy Garlic Pull Apart baked by Champa I fell in love with it. And baked it!! Four times now and not once have I had a problem.

Do try it out and bask in the praises heaped on you by all who come in its ambit.

Thanks Champa you are great.

There is no change in what I have done and what Champa has done except the garlic powder is replaced with crushed garlic and I have added onion to the paste as my jar cannot handle smaller quantities.