Mangalore Buns

Ingredients: ( serves 4 to 5)

• all purpose flour/ maida
• 1 overripe banana
• 2 table spoon curds
• 2 table spoon sugar
• 2 table spoon butter
• a pinch of salt
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparation steps:

• Mash the banana into a paste.
• add curds, sugar, butter and salt and mix well.
• add all purpose flour/ maida to make it into a soft dough.
• roll them round into required size. ( similar to puris)
• deep fry them in oil and serve them hot for breakfast with spicy coconut chutney.

Mangalore Buns

These puffed puri like thing are popularly known as Mangalore buns. These amazing buns fall more on sweeter side but go well with spicy coconut chutney. More interestingly, bananas and curds are its main ingredient. These buns are a must try and I rate them 5 stars.

Chow Chow

I'am sure the name of the dish might get some raised eyebrow response, but people from Karnataka and specifically southern part of the state might be very familiar with this name. I had it for the first time when I was in Udupi. The waiter was going on with his list of breakfast specials of that hotel and suddenly this " Chow Chow" caught my attention. Its basically a breakfast combo of khara bhath ( Upma/upittu) and kesari bath ( sheera). As they say, eat breakfast like a king, this dish is indeed the best fit for that saying coz its heavy and rich. So amigos, do try this sometime and I'am sure you will love it.

North Karnataka Special

Happy and excited to share this north Karnataka special platter. Lots of items missing but this combo is close to authentic uttara karnataka everyday lunch. Garlic flavored jowar roti ( jwalada rotti), green chilli chutney( menshikai khara), soya bean curry ( kaalu pallya), groundnut chutney ( shenga hindi/ shenga chutney) and last but not the least spicy daal (khara byali). All these along with a bulb of onion is what every north kannadiga yearns for. I'am not sure if this platter will be able to connect to every one but I would want every other person to try this healthy meal once in lifetime.

Sesame Groundnut Ladoo

Ingredients: ( 4 small ladoos)

• 400 grams roasted peanuts
• 50 grams lightly roasted sesame seeds
• 50-100 grams sugar
• small chunk of Jaggery, soaked and melted in hot water
• Ghee/ clarified butter

Preparation steps:

• Grind the roasted peanuts, sugar and sesame seeds into coarse powder
• Add the molten jaggery into the powder and mix well.
• apply ghee on your palms and prepare ladoos as per required size.
• Coat the surface with sesame seeds for decoration.

Mirchi Ka Salan

Yet another dish which originates from Hyderabad. Mirchi ka salan also known as Mirch ka salan is  basically fried chili peppers cooked in groundnut and sesame gravy (salan). It goes well with chapatis and rice. Its an apt dish to turn any regular meal into a feast.

Sesame Groundnut Ladoo

Sesame groundnut ladoo is one healthy festive treat. Minimal ingredients but there is absolutely no compromise in terms of taste. If anytime you feel you have had enough, then u can stuff them into wheat flour dough and make pancakes( shengada holige/ groundnut sesame obattu).

This delectable delight takes me back to the days when me and my sister (guddu) used to dress up on nag panchami to visit temple, offer milk and these ladoos to nag devata. I can never get those days back but the memories of that time always manages to get a smile on my face.

Happy Nag Panchami everyone.

Sheer Khurma

The end of ramadan marks the beginning of new hopes and festivity for muslims. On the day of Eid, they invite friends and family for a special daawat and have great time. I have fond memories of this festival, the best being the dessert (sheer khurma / surkumba) and the Eidi ( a gift given to guest on Eid). I was a bit of skeptical about their fasting, until I discovered that, its not a mere fast, but a path taken by every muslim individual to develop patience, self control, and thus evolve as a better person.

Sheer Khurma is a dessert made specially on the day of Eid. Its quite a heavy dish in terms of calories. Basically its milk, ghee, sugar, semiya( sevaiyan) and loads of nuts which goes into its preparation, but you are free to add on and improvise it in your own way.

Happy Eid everyone.

Sev Batata Puri

Ingredients:

• Puri
• onion, finely chopped
• tomato, finely chopped
• potato, boiled and mashed
• coriander/ cilantro, finely chopped
• tamarind date chutney
• coriander mind chutney( green chutney)
• sev ( crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour)
• chaat masala
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Place the puri on the plate.
• Add salt and chaat masala as per taste to mashed potato and mix well.
• Fill the puri half way with above mixture.
• Add chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander over the puri
• Add the green chutney over the top.
• Add tamarind date chutney. 
• Garnish this assembly with sev and gulp.

Sev Batata Puri

It would be stupid of me to ask an Indian or in that matter anybody with Indian roots, if they like chaats?. Thats because they LOVE them instead. Its one of the key players of Indian cuisine. More popular as street food, it drive us so crazy that we are ready to skip meals for it. Every chaat tastes heavenly and is unique in its own way. When I think of them, phrases like Bhaiya thoda teekha banayiye ( make it extra spicy, which would be a 20 on a rating of 10 in the USA), bhaiya ek meetha vala dijiye ( give me the one with sweet syrup), bhaiya kachori phod ke ( imposssible for me to describe :P), ek papdi dena bhaiya ( give me a crisp fried flat wafers) cross my mind. Eating it is literally like getting a palate spa done. No better way to rejoice your numb tongue.

Sev batata puri is a simple chaat with batata (potato) and sev (crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour) being the main filling. Puris can be made at home, but at the same time are easily available in grocery stores and are quite decently priced too. In this chaat the assembly of the ingredients requires an effort of just 10-15 minutes, but the result is much more rewarding. So why wait folks, invite some friends and enjoy this chat with some light hearted conversations.

Upma Pesarattu

Ingredients for Upma: 

• 150 grams of semolina / sooji / bombay rava- 1 small cup
• 2 table spoons of vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 1 tea spoon urad dal
• 1/2 medium sized onions, chopped
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 4-5 curry leaves
• finely chopped cilantro/ coriander
• 1 tea spoon lime juice
• 4 cups of water
• salt to taste

Preparation steps ( Upma):

• Slightly roast the semolina and keep aside.
• Add oil in the cooking vessel.
• Add moong dal and roast them until they are golden in color.
• Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow them to crackle.
• Add chopped onions, curry leaves and green chillies and saute.
• Add water and allow it to boil.
• Add salt as per your taste.
• Slowly add in the roasted semolina and mix it well.
• Cover up the vessel with a lid and let it be for 5 minutes.
• Add lime juice on top and garnish it with chopped cilantro.

Ingredients for Pesarattu : ( Serves 2)

• 250 grams of moong dal/ green gram, soaked for minimum of 8 hours
• vegetable oil for roasting pesarattu
• 3 green chillies
• small cube of ginger
• salt to taste

Preparation steps ( Pesarattu) :

• Drain the excess water from the soaked moong dal.
• Grind the moong dal along with the green chillies and ginger into a smooth paste.
• Heat the pan, pour in the batter required for one pesarattu and spread it. 
• Add oil and roast it well on both sides. 
• Put in some upma in the middle, roll it over and you are all set to savor the tasty Upma pesarattu.

Upma Pesarattu

Upma Pesarattu is a delicacy of Andhra Pradesh. Pesarattu is more like a dosa, where moong bean/ green gram is used for the preparation of batter instead of rice and urad dal. The most surprising element of this dish is the upma which is the masala unlike the potato masala in the authentic masala dosa. I'am sure for people who haven't seen or tried this dish before it may sound a bit wacky, but believe you me folks, it indeed is a deadly combo. I too was a bit hesitant to taste it in the beginning, but good that I tried, else i would have missed tasting one of the best breakfast dishes of Andhra. Pesarattu is a much healthier breakfast options as its made of moong dal and since it has upma as the masala it is a heavy breakfast item. So folks cook it and relish it.

Potato Fry

 Ingredients: ( serves 2)

• 2 medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 table spoon vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• pinch of red chili powder
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
• Add cumin seeds and fry.
• Add diced potatoes and fry them by turning them upside down occasionally.
• Use a tooth pick to check if they are soft enough and cooked right
• Add chili powder and salt and toss them.
• You can have it as a snack or with rice and rasam as a side dish.

Potato Fry

At the lunch area of St' Joseph's convent, Gulbarga ( this must probably be a decade ago.) me and two of my friends, Ritu and Meeni used to meet for lunch. I still remember how crazily I used to wait for Ritu to open her lunch box. Each time wanting her box to have this simple aaloo sabzi ( potato fry). Till date I have never had such perfectly cooked aaloo. Her mom undoubtedly was an expert in cooking this dish. I must have had it umpteen times then, but every time it would taste better than the last time. This dish makes me nostalgic for my school days and is one of my favorite dishes.

Chana dal vada / Kadale bele vada

Ingredients : (Serves 2)

• vegetable oil for frying
• 200-250 grams of chana dal, soaked for 2-3 hours and drained
• 2 finely chopped chillies
• 1/4th onion finely chopped
• finely chopped coriander/ cilantro
• pinch of asafoetida
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Heat oil in frying pan.
• Coarsely grind the soaked chana dal.
• Add chopped chillies, coriander and onions to ground chana dal. 
• Add asafoetida.
• Add salt as per your taste and mix the ingredients well.
• Make small patties out of the mixture and fry them golden brown.
• This indian evening snack tastes best with some mint chutney and a cup of chai.

Rajdhani

Rajdhani
18525 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701 · (562) 402-9102


Real treat for vegetarians. The food is at your table served by the people working at the restaurant. I liked the concept of serving for the fact that food wastage is comparatively less. Food served was fresh and tasty. The butter milk (chaanch) was yummy and a real savior in the hot californian weather.

The city of Artesia, also know as little India, is a must visit to experience real India in the United States of America.It seriously is amazing to see innumerable indian restaurants, grocery stores, threading shops, gold jewelry shops, sari shops, sweet shops and every other thing which one would find on Indian streets.


Thaali (puri, roti, papad, onion tomato kachumbar, dhokla, methi pakoda, aalu gobi,rajma, brinjal curry, kadi, rasam)
            

Srikhand (Dessert)

Lemon Rice / chithranna

Ingredients: ( Serves 2 )

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• well cooked rice
• 1/2 medium sized onion, sliced
• 2 chopped green chillies
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
• 4-5 curry leaves
• half lemon
• 8-9 peanuts
• 1 tea spoon urad dal (white lentil)
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan.
2. Add urad dal and fry them until they are golden brown.
3. Fry peanuts.
4. Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
5. Add curry leaves.
6. Add chopped chillies and garlic and fry till they turn golden brown.
7. Add chopped onions and saute.
8. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice.
9. Add salt according to your taste.
10. Add turmeric and asafoetida.
11. Add cooked rice and mix well.
12. Garnish it with chopped cilantro and serve it hot.

Did You Know this?.

Opening Blog

If I go by proper definition, then, food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. But is that all? If you ask me, I would say absolutely not !. Food is such a divine thing for me, its a powerful magnet which attracts people of varied culture.

No restaurant can beat Ghar ka Khana (home food) and no gourmet guru can challenge Mother's cooking. Its not mere spices and the masalas that makes the dish, but the love, care and affection with which one cooks makes it more special. That is why home food is so tasty even with minimal ingredients. I have grown up watching my paternal and maternal grandmothers cook for the family. They every time amazed me with their simplistic and efficient cooking methods. Every dish that was served had its own unique story.

From being just a food enthusiast I have come to respect food a lot more now. To keep that spirit of cooking alive, I have started this blog. Going forward I will try to combine two of my passions, Food and Photography to bring out the creative best in me. Hope I do justice to each and every dish of mine.