Rodga~ A Sweet

Rodga ~ A Sweet

My little nephew, Ayan celebrates his third birthday on the 1st Nov and this is my way of celebrating with him!!!  

Baking for little Ayan !!Happy Birthday Ayan hope you enjoy your day at the amusement park!

My colleague Prashant loves sweets. One day he told me to make Rodga.

Rodga to my knowledge is wheat flour buns and eaten with brinjals and dal I said as much. Then he told me his mom used to make this recipe and I tried it.

First time I made it with dalia and it was crumbly and not what he remembered. So this time I made it with Bombay rava.

We all loved it. In fact I have to remake it soon!!

It tastes like Goan Bath or Bathk here but unlike in Bath there are no eggs used here.

Rodga ~A sweet

Rodga

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rava 
• 1/4 cup ghee
• 1 ½ cup freshly scrapped coconut
• 1 cup jaggary
• 1 ½ cup buttermilk
• A pinch salt
• ½   tsp soda

Method:

• Roast the rava with a little ghee till you get a nice aroma.  You can also microwave it.I microwave in spurts of 1 minute for 2 minutes then for 30 seconds. Stir in between every spurt.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients.
• Let it rest for 2-4 hours.
• Bake in greased mould at 150°C/302F for 40 minutes.
• When done the wooden skewer comes out clean.

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

 

Ukdiche Modak /Steamed Rice Dumplings

Ukdiche Modak 

Wish you all a very Happy Ganesh Chathurti!!

Today being Ganesh Chathurti I made these delicious Ukdiche Modak, Lord Ganesh’s favourite food!!

Actually I have not made them for ages now. Especially since my family does not eat sweets so you can imagine my surprise when my husband and daughters were gorging on them.

Actually I made some pungent also and with two with the vegetable stuffing, just to be on safe side. So next time …

Ukdiche Modak 

Ingredients:

For The Dough: 

• 2 cups rice flour
• 2 cups water
• Salt to taste
• For the Filling
• 1 cup jaggery, grated
• 2 cups coconut freshly grated
• 2 tsp elichi/cardamom powder
• ¼ cup oil ( you will not need all of it)

Method: 

For the dough: 

• In a pan Add salt and 1 tsp of oil boil 2 cups of water.
• When the water boils lower the heat and add the rice flour.
• Mix and switch off the gas. Cover and let set aside to cool (20 minutes) so that you can handle it easily.

For the filling: 

• Mix the coconut and jaggary in a deep non-stick pan and set aside for some time.  The jaggery melts and your cooking time reduces considerably.
• Heat the pan and cook the jaggery and coconut mixture on a slow flame stirring continuously.
• Cook on a slow flame for 4 to 5 minutes or till all the moisture evaporates and the mixture thickens. Keep aside to cool slightly.
• Divide the filling into equal portions and keep aside.

To make the Modak: 

• By now the dough must be cool enough to handle Knead the dough  using ½ tsp of oil and keep aside. Knead it to get rid of all the lumps and till you get a smooth dough.
• You can make these manually as well as using a mould. I made them both the ways

 Let’s make it manually first:

• Oil you hands then make small smooth ball out of the dough. There should be no cracks on the ball.
• Grease your palm again and dip your thumb in the oil and using the palm and thumb make a cup out of the dough. Make the cup as thin as possible.
• Then using your thumb and forefinger pinch the sides of the cup. This is the part where the dough cracks so be careful.
• Put the filling in with a teaspoon.
• Close the opening gently and set aside.
• Repeat this with the other balls.

To make them in the moulds:

• Grease a Modak mould using very little oil.
• Using the above method make the cup.
• Add the filling and close the opening then transfer it to the mould and close the mould.
• Demould the Modak from the Modak mould.
• Repeat steps to make the remaining 20 Modak. There is no need to grease the Modak mould.
• Place a steamer plate in a steamer and place a banana leaf or line with turmeric leaves on it.
• Apply a little oil to the Modak bottom.
•  Place Modak on the leaf and steam on a medium flame for 10 minutes.
• Serve warm.
• The rope like knot that you see is called Sheet Ladoo (शित लाडू ).  

Notes:

• These Modak stay fresh for a day at room temperature and for 2 days if refrigerated.
• Modak moulds are easily available in local “steel utensils and appliances” shops.

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

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!!

Jal Jeera

Imagine this scene it’s Saturday, about 1.35pm and the Sun is very pleased that that finally he has caught you,  when you  have forgotten your cap and sun coat at home in the morning.

He turns his on his devilish smile and grins just at you!!

 To add to it you are sweating (you cannot escape that in Goa). All the way the down from Office to home, a mere 5 kilometers turns in a nightmare, for I am allergic to the sun’s rays.

Usali the Goan Way

I have been living in Goa for many years but still one article that was printed in the Times of India was an eye-opener.

The author of the article was Melinda Pereira Kamat and she wrote about The Perfect Usali, in case you are interested it is featured in the Times of India, Goa edition on Tuesday, July 13, 2010.  I was supposed to scan and post it here but... hope will do so in near future. 

Till I read this article my view about usal or usali was that it is made in Karnataka and Maharashtra/Gujarat and the method that I followed was about similar to what my mother and MIL made. That is it has garlic and onion for Kaku (my MIL) made it that way and it had coriander and coconut ground for Amma. So I had mixed both and made my usal.

Nachni-che-Satv or Ragi Pudding

Staying in Goa from the time I got married 23 years to be exact has exposed me to quite a few wonderful dishes in this cuisine.

There is a preconceived notion that there are no vegetarian dishes in this cuisine. I remember when I was to be married all my neighbours and friends kept on telling me that I will have nothing but “Samudra chawlikai” that is cluster beans from the sea. Of course fish is the staple food here in Goa, but a Goan does “go veg” at least 2 times in a week and on all kinds of festivals, panchmi, chathurtis etc.

Any celebration and you have “mangane” a kind of kheer and of course “Nachni-che-satv”.

Nachini or ragi is a very nutritious. It is good for infants and old and the in-betweens also. Its calcium and iron is easily assimilated by the body. Try this wonderful grain in sweets and savoury food stuff alike.Read more about it here.

Black and White Wednesday Godi Kutid Payasa~ A Blog Hop

Blog Hop one schedule that I thoroughly enjoy.

 Though I am taking care not to tax my fingers a lot this one piece is typed out in bits and pieces and over a long period. Hopefully by the end of the next month my fingers will be better.  Okay enough of this Old Woman cry baby story let’s get down to today’s post.

I was eager to try out some payasa/payasam/kheer dishes as I had performed the “Vaibhav Laxmi Varat” and the last day I was to invite some friends over and the nevidya was payasa. To add to the pleasure of cooking some sweet, that I love, was the fact that my father had come for his health check up and was given a clean chit. So this was celebration all the way!!J

Raw Banana/Plantain Curry

This month I have two events running both close to my heart.
Back to roots where you can repost your own recipe with new pictures and send it to me and the other is Priya’s Veggie/Fruit of the month-Raw Bananas hosted by me.

Raw Bananas or plantains as they are called are high in starch content. So they can replace potatoes in most cases. Get the hint?

Alsande Usal

I am thrilled my post Corn Dhokla has given me maximum hits of 1072 in one single day! This I thought was the end of the story but yesterday  I read   Umm Mymoonah post and   she has selected mine. My cup of joy is overflowing!!

Thanks dear !

  

 Now coming to today’s post…

Alsande or I believe they are called Cow Chick Peas are cooked regularly in Goa. In the month of May they are purchased in bulk, sunned and stored for consumption during the year.

The most common dish made out of these highly nutritious beans is Alsande che tonak. A beautiful blend of spices, coconut and beans tastes great with pao or une.

 But I am repeating myself. Why? Because I love this quintessential dish which makes its appearance in every Goan marriage or munj.

But today I have made this as a simple Usal. The ingredients are very few and the taste is normal everyday comfort food.

 I am sorry I did not think of clicking a picture of the alsande before boiling them or soaking them I have tried to click them after boiling but they were not easy to handle.

Ingredients:

1 cup alsande

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 green chilli

 A few springs of coriander

½ tsp red chilli powder (adjust as per taste)

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp goda masala

A small ball of tamarind

A small piece of jaggery (optional)

For Tempering:

Oil

 Mustard

Method:

1.      Soak the alsande after washing them in sufficient water overnight.

2.    Soak the tamarind in water and extract thick juice.

3.        In the morning add a little salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Let the pressure come down by itself.

4.         In the meanwhile coarse grind the onion, coconut, garlic and the dry masala & coriander in the mixer.

5.        In a separate kadhai/wok heat oil. Splutter mustard.

6.      Add the ground masala and stir fry till the onion is translucent.

7.    Add the boiled alsande.

8.     Add the tamarind paste and jaggery if using. Adjust the seasonings & bring to a boil.

9.    Serve hot with Jowari roti or chapatti. I love it with plain white rice.

   

 Sending this to my legume love  affair 39   which is Susan's brain child

Archana

MAledi--Chapatti Ladoo

I      love sweets and it was my staple diet till my marriage. Then since my family does not like them much I have started cutting down on them because it is lonely to eat sweets alone. But now I have found a perfect solution. Make them and carry them to work. Satisfying and my colleagues also eat some too!

  

Yesterday I remembered one sweet that Amma used to make and call MAledi. It used to be for our short break but before leaving for school we made it a point to eat some along with milk.

It can be made out of leftover chapatti but here I have made it out of fresh ones.

You will need

 4 Chapattis, broken into fine pieces

1 tsp khus khus or poppy seeds

2 tblspn dry coconut, grated (I used only 1)

1 tblspn puthane

1 tblspn ghee

½ cup jaggery, grated (adjust as per taste)

3 cardamoms, peeled and powdered

Method:

1.   Dry roast the coconut till a bit reddish. Transfer to a plate.

2.   Dry roast the khus khus till bit reddish on low flame. Take care that it does not burn. Transfer to the plate of dry coconut.

3.   Mix the puthane, cardamom powder, roasted khus khus and coconut.

4.   In a kadhai/wok heat the ghee. On low flame add the grated jaggery. Stir gently.

5.   When the jaggery bubbles on the sides of the kadhai/wok switch off the gas and mix all the ingredients.

6.   Stir well till all the chapatti pieces are coated with the mix.

7.    Apply a little water to your hands and make small laddoos of the mixture.

8.   You can roll them in the some more coconut if you feel like it. As I had run out of it I have not.

I got 4  & ½ ladoos out of 4 chapattis well appreciated by my colleagues.

Archana

Drumsticks/ Shevgya che Shenga /Nuggekai/ Shango Curry

Just imagine your friend asks for something and since it is not readily available you decide to give it later and then you forget…!!

Unforgivable!!

This is exactly what I have done but I hope my friend Mythreyi does forgive me!!

She had posted some drumstick recipes and wanted some more of curry recipes with them. Drumsticks/ Shevga che shenga  /Nuggekai/ Shango as they are know in English/ Marathi/ Kannada/ Konkani  are a rich source of calcium and potassium. Read about it here.

I was quite surprised that I had not posted this curry that I make often. In my mom’s place it is used only in sambhar, my mother-in-law used in kadhi, I have not made the kadhi yet but will try it out soon. 

This recipe is what my friends’ mom used to make and since the kids loved it I copied it.  You can as in the original recipe add prawns which taste yummy but I am clueless about cooking them.  You are the expert if you are using prawns but I will guarantee the taste!

The Ingredients are simple:

5 drumsticks, chopped the size about 2 knuckles

½ a coconut, freshly grated

1 tsp rasam powder or sambhar powder (adjust as per taste)

A small ball of tamarind

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp chilli powder

3 cloves garlic (optional)

1 small ball of jaggery

1 tsp oil

Mustard

Hing/asafoetida

Salt

Coriander

Method:

1.       Place the drumsticks in a wide vessel use just enough water to cover all the drumsticks mix salt. Cover and par boil.

2.       Meanwhile grind the coconut, the masala powder, tamarind, turmeric, chilli powder, garlic (if used) and jaggery to a very fine paste using little water. Many times I grind the masala only after I have boiled the drumsticks and I use the water from the drumsticks only.

3.       Pour over the masala over the drumstick and bring to a boil. Adjust the seasonings.

4.       In a small pan heat the oil, splutter mustard, then hing/asafoetida.

5.       Pour over the drumstick curry. Cook till the drumsticks are done.

6.       Serve with steaming hot rice.

  

Drumsticks Curry

Archana