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Beetroot Dhokla

Dhokla also known khaman dhokla and is an extremely poplar Gujarati delicacy. Dhokla can be prepared in two way, using instant dhokla (which is made with besan)or using fermented channa daal and rice. Both have an awesome taste and are a healthy snack item. In Gujarat, dhokla is often eating as a breakfast or snack item. Earlier, I shared a variety of khaman dhokla like green moong daal dhokla, veg sandwich dhokla, and pomegranate quinoa dhokla. In this recipe, I have used beetroot puree along with besan to give it a beautiful color, and develop a more healthy and tasty dhokla. I have also made yogurt dhokla chaat with this dhokla, which has an amazing taste. You can make dhokla chaat with leftover dhoklas and enjoy it as an evening snack


Ridge Gourd(Uppu Huli) Dosa

Ridge Gourd(Uppu Huli) Dosa is one of the traditional cuisine of Udupi, Mangalore region popularly know as Dakshina Kannada. People here are well known for their unique cooking style with minimum or no wastage. They cook from almost all edible parts of any given vegetables. Ridge gourd is one of the locally grown vegetable. This dosa is usually prepared during rainy or winter season to keep the body warm. There are few variation of this dosa too. Ridge Gourd can be replaced with fine chopped onion, fenugreek leaves or fine chopped cabbage. However Ridge gourd is the most famous authentic and tasty among all variation.

The batter of ridge gourd dosa is made with rice and flavored with methi seeds, coriander seeds, chili, tamarind pulp, jaggery and freshly grated coconut. The  right amount of tanginess, spiciness and fresh aroma of coriander seeds gives a trickle to your taste bud. You can adjust the spiciness as per your taste. This dosa doesn’t require any fermentation before preparation. The texture and taste of ridge gourd dosa makes it very different than other any other regular dosa. It’s not as crispy as other regular dosas however it taste really awesome. Traditional recipe does not include Quinoa in the dosa however I have added it give a slight twist. My kids are very picky eater and they doesn’t like any vegetable which they can see, so I generally grind the vegetable and mix it in batter.  My kids loved ground ridge gaurd dosa. Goes well when served with hot cup of tea as breakfast.

I learnt about this dosa from one my friend Akhila Ramakrishna as she prepared it for dinner when we visited her place. She is really a good cook especially Mangalore special foods. I am very thankful to her for sharing this recipe with me which helped me posting it on my blog site.

Bisi Bele Bath

Bisi bele bath is one of most popular dish in Karnataka. The recipe is very similar to north Indian khichdi. In Kannada, bisi means hot, bele means daal and bath means rice hence the name. Rice and daal cooked along with veggie, spices, and jaggery makes this dish delicious. I am very fond of south Indian food and this is one of my favorite dish. The aroma of bisi bele bath masala, curry leaves, ghee and tamarind creates a craving for the food. You can use home made Bisi bele bath masala which gives an awesome freshness and taste to this dish but if not available, you could use store bought MTR Bisi bele bath masala powder. Bisi bele bath tastes best when served hot, topped with ghee along with papad and kara boondi.

Pomegranate Quinoa Dhokla

Dhokla is a savory steamed tangy, spicy and sweet Gujarati snack which is famous all over India.  Dhokla is all time our favorite Snack. There are many dhokla recipe, like a, Khaman Dhokla, Rava Dhokla, Veg Sandwich Dhokla, Green Moong Daal Dhokla, Spinach Dhokla and so on.This dhokla recipe is little different with a slight twist to traditional one. Pomegranate Quinoa Dhokla prepared using Quinoa, fresh pomegranate juice with some spices which makes it more healthy with unique taste and beautiful color. Pomegranate juice gives a tangy-sweet taste to the dhokla. Delicious Dhokla can be served with meal or as an evening snack.

Baked Bhakarwadi

Bhakarwadi is a tea time snacks item which is traditionally a spicy Maharashtrian snacks prepared using hot spices and deep fried in oil. In this recipe instead of deep frying, I have baked it in oven however both of them tastes similar. The fillings for the Bhakarwadi can be customized to your taste. Generally it has sweet and sour taste and nice aroma of spices. The outer crust is made either from all purpose flour or a mixture of  besan and regular wheat flour. If you don’t like the baked one, you can just deep fry instead of baking. Bhakarwadi can be store in a air-tight container for weeks and goes well with cup of tea.

Indian Blackberry Ukadiche Modak

Ukadiche modak is a delicious traditional Maharashtrian delicacy which is made during Ganesh puja to worship Lord Ganesha. Modaks are made with steamed rice flour shells filled with filling made from freshly grated coconut, jaggery, nuts, flavored with cardamom powder and nutmeg. For this recipe adding Indian blackberry a.k.a. jamun puree to rice flour gave a beautiful color to the traditional modaks. The most important aspect of making modaks is getting the perfect shape which is done by making rice flour petals and requires some practice before you can get perfection. There are modak mould available in market and that makes it easier to get the right shape for modak. For traditional ukadiche modak recipe here.

Kalakhattha Mango Stuffed Khandvi

Khandvi is a Gujarati snacks which is made with gram flour(besan). I have shared another version of Khandvi earlier and you can find it here. Making khandvi is easy however it’s very important to get the right consistency of batter. Kalakhattha khandvi uses ingredients like Indian blackberry (Jamun), beetroot and some spices and stuffed with khatta meetha raw mango chutney or chundo. Jamun and beetroot gives a nice color and different taste then normal khandvi. The khatta meetha and tikha taste of this recipe gives a nice twist to khandvi. All colors are natural color in the recipe.

 

Stuffed Khandvi

Khandvi is a famous Gujarati snacks. Khandvi is prepared using besan (gram flour) and curd and tempered with curry leaves, mustard and sesame seeds. Making it first few times until you get hang of it, requires lot of patience. The very important step is getting the mixture consistency right and time taken to spread. It took me three iterations to get the right consistency of mixture and to make it perfect. Khandvi is garnished with fresh grated coconut and coriander leaves. I also have tried a little variation by stuffing the khandvi with shredded coconut, coriander leaves and beetroot. You can either skip the stuffing or make it as per your choice.