Kuvale Dhavein Ambat

I am used to making kuvale sasam, kuvale koddel aka puli koddel, kuvalein ambat with turdal... whenever ash gourd is purchased at home. The recipe of Kuvale dhavein ambat from Asha aunty's cookbook "The Konkani Saraswat Cuisine" was something new to me. Had never heard it till now or probably mom must have prepared this dish with some other name. Thus, I felt like tasting the dish and decided to try it when I bring the vegetable home next time. Kuvale is konkani name for ashgourd/ winter melon and dhavein means white in color. So the name suggests that this curry is white in color probably the color attained after adding curd to the dish.

So here I am with my try and would like to share the recipe that I adapted from the book. For the exact recipe you will need to buy the book. I have used tamarind in place of curd, the quantity of grinding ingredients is taken in proportion to the quantity of veggie used and pinch of asafoetida while seasoning.  A mildly spiced curry with the sweetness that oozes out in every bite of ashgourd piece, my family thoroughly enjoyed this curry served with hot rice. 



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Chikki/Gajak and Happy Mahashivratri Wishes

After doing Sesame Groundnut Laddoos, I thought of doing chikki with the remaining reserve of kolhapuri jaggery. While searching for recipes, I came across this name "Gachak". Upon doing a bit of research I found out that it is called as "Gajak" [source wikipedia], a kind of chikki prepared in northern India from sesame seeds, to be consumed mostly in winter months. You can read more about it over here.

During my search for its recipe, I felt it is nothing but a recipe somewhat similar to chikki /nut brittle and the name was different depending on which part of India it came from. I decided to try them and prepared it adapting this recipe from here




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Mushti Polo (Version 1) With Dhanvei Chutney

In amchi cuisine, we have varieties of dosa like panpolo, chanmbure polo, layi polo, pejje polo, mushti polo, etc. I have already posted the recipe of panpolo. Today will post the recipe of mushti polo. 

"Mushti" in konkani means fist and "polo" means dosa, so the name itself gives you an idea that this dosa is traditionally made measuring the ingredients with our fist in certain ratio with the quantity of rice. This is a soft, spongy, porous dosa with loads of holes resembling a honeycomb. The most commonest recipe to prepare them includes use of rice, urad dal, methi seeds, poha and grated coconut. But for the healthier option we can exclude grated coconut and prepare similar soft porous dosas. It is the grinding of the batter to an easy pour consistency and the fermentation process that will make these dosas perfect.




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Eggless Plum Upside Down Cake

Today when we were already in celebration mood at home, this news came in as a surprise. I got to know from few of my friends about the photo of Soya Golmatol that I had messaged to Sanjeev Kapoor was selected and featured on SK FB page which you can check here. I was on cloud nine and fully excited! Thought to share this news with all my friends and readers here on Flavors n' Colors along with this virtual visual treat. :)

Few months back, I had prepared an eggless cake inspired from Anushruti's preparation here and followed her recipe exactly. The outcome was a very delicious cake. This time I decided to go with same recipe but wanted to try upside down cake. My search bought me at myjhola as Sai too had followed Anushruti's recipe so without any delay I picked up the plums sitting in the fruit basket and baked upside down cake. Kids thorougly enjoyed and all got finished the day itself :D




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Instant Masala Oats Appos

Recently, I got a request from one of my friend/ reader to share some diet recipes. I already have few of them shared on this space. With a note to myself to list down these recipes at the earliest [which would help readers to easily access them], I assured my friend to add more healthy recipes to this list whenever I come across it, provided the outcome of these recipe trials is "thumbs up" by family members :) 

Oats have been on hot seat/ in demand these days due to its health benefits and majority of us are trying to incorporate them in daily menu. I am one such person who is always on lookout to consume them through different recipes. The best part is it can be included in many recipes like parathas, idlis, dosas, upma, laddoos, etc. You can check the recipes that I tried successfully with inclusion of oats and has been posted here, here and here. Below is the recipe of Masala Oats Appos which is not just delicious but a healthy powerpacked dish served as breakfast in the morning or tea time snack in the evening. The original recipe was shared by my friend Suphala Shenoy and I did minimal changes to her recipe. So if you are diet conscious this is one of those recipes you should try it.




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Prunes Walnut Rolls

I have an eye for sweet and sugary things especially after my dinner, kuch meetha ho jaye types. Try my best level to keep control on sugar intake but sometimes just give in to my cravings and later deal with the guilt of increased caloric load. 

Prunes walnut rolls/ logs [and similar log recipes which uses no ghee and no/less sugar] falls under the sweets category that I can eat without a guilt. They are delicious,  fiber rich and can be made as healthy as possible by including different types of dryfruits. Below recipe is a perfect one to pamper our tastebuds while keeping a check on the caloric intake. The recipe is inspired from here. You can include different dryfruits such as figs, apricots, dates, cashew nuts, almonds, pistas, etc. 




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Capsicum Panchamrut

Panchamrut and the name to my knowledge until now was only the one which was prepared and offered as neveidya during the puja time. It is a sweet mix/nectar prepared by mixing five ingredients and I just love it. To know what it is and how it is prepared you can read here.

Now when my sis, Suppiakka uttered about "Capsicum Panchamrut" I found the name very catchy, an unique dish there and got more curious to know what exactly the recipe was. Immediately I insisted her to share the dish recipe. Upon asking how did it taste, she said this is spicy, sweet and tangy dish that tastes awesome even without the use of onions and garlic. So friends below is my sis recipe. Believe me it tasted delicious and we relished it as side dish with chappatis.



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Godu Appo/ Sweet Paniyaram With Wheat Flour

Sankashti Chaturthi is an auspicious day dedicated to Lord Ganapati Bappa. This day is celebrated every lunar or Hindu Calendar month on the fourth day of Krishna Paksha [dark lunar phase or waning phase]. Sankashti Chaturthi which falls on Tuesday is considered highly auspicious and called as ANGARIKA/ ANGARAKI CHATURTHI. On this day, devotees observe strict fast for the entire day. Pooja of Lord Ganesh is performed after chandra darshan [seeing the moon] and later they end the fast by eating prasad food.  

My mom follows it religiously, fasts the entire day, performs pooja after sighting the moon and prepares godu appo or modak as neveidya to offer it to Lord Ganesh. I am not able to fast on these days, the only reason being I can't keep track of the dates as per Hindu calendar month. But I prepare godu appo regularly as a snack for kids or just to cater our sweet cravings on some days [with inclusion of jaggery, this appo is a healthy sweet]. 

Co-incidentally it was Angaraki this time, when I decided to prepare them [I was reminded by one of my friend during our phonic conversation]. So here is the recipe for Sweet /Godu appo prepared from wheat flour which does not require any fermentation.




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Duddhali

Duddhali, a jellyish like pudding is a popular sweet in the amchi cuisine. It is prepared from either "Kunve peet/powder", " Ragi powder" or "Arrowroot powder" . During one of our discussion on a food group about kunve peet, some said its called as kachara hittu and available in mangalore stores. The powder is known to be prepared from tubers that mainly grows in forest. Few of them came up saying kunve peet is nothing but arrowroot powder itself as that's also prepared from tubers. Now what's the English name, we all enquired and none of us knew about it. Since getting the powder is very difficult atleast in the place where I live, I prepare this sweet from arrowroot powder itself. These duddhalis are known to have cooling effect on body and aids in digestion. I decided to prepare the regular flavoured duddhali and was eager to prepare some flavoured as well as coloured ones too. So decided to do with dry hibiscus flowers that were in stock with me - my first try with them. 




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Beetroot Rice

Carrots, Peas, Cauliflower, Brocolli are very often used by me to prepare quick variety rice. Recently beetroot got added to the above veggie family. I tried making beetroot rice few days back and it was all gone before we knew, all of us loved it. I liked the way beet imparts natural color to rice. Kids really got attracted to this rice because of its color. The mild sweetness from beets and the flavors from spices, sambhar powder made this colorful rice taste yummy. One of the easiest rice recipe, it can be a satisfactory meal for the family when paired with raita or plain curds. Do try this nutritious, colorful, delicious variety rice and hope it becomes a family favourite in your home too !




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Vegetable Samosa-Guest Post 2

And I am back with 2nd session of our guest post series. If you missed out on the first session click here to read

The guest today on Flavors And Colors is Usha Bhat. I came across her name for the first time when I read her recipe for MW mysore pak. I was astonished to see the fantastic results she had got with those sweets. After few exchange of messages, where she clarifyied my doubts on the above recipe, slowly I got to know her in person. And as I became part of food group where Usha akka is an admin, it was no looking back to our friendship. A sweet person, a loving homemaker and an expert cook she is all enthu to try out different recipes and prepares some mouth watering foods. She [with her supportive hubby] manages FB food group efficiently and this has successfully resulted in a new venture, their own blog "Konkani Khann Anik Jevan" with an action plan to list and file most of the traditional amchi recipes in an easy accessible way. Congrats Usha akka and our best wishes once again for the huge success with the blog!

Today's guest post is on samosa, the most popular Indian appetizer and I am happy, Usha akka agreed to share her preparation and tips on making them.

The below recipe will make 8 samosas of medium size.




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Bread Usli

Bread usli is a simple and easy to prepare Konkani snack item, a quick fix menu especially on lazy days. You can prepare them using left over bread slices.

When I decided to prepare it in traditional GSB way, I was confused. Have you heard of a marathi phrase "Vyakti titkya prakruti" which means as many as peoples that many different natures and perceptions. So when it comes to cooking a particular dish the same phrase gets extension with difference in their perceptions and practices about the use of ingredients or the method of doing it. Even for this bread usli preparation, you will come across many versions such as adding cumin seeds, chopped tomatoes, coriander leaves for garnish, etc. For me, with overlap of Maharashtrian cuisine over Konkani cooking I was not able to zero down the exact ingredients to prepare and call it as GSB snack, that many variations I have experimented on this dish,,,have even added chaat masala and grated cheese. 

Tried calling mom and check with her. The phone kept ringing, probably she was away from her phone busy in her work or gone outside without carrying it. And this is when I remembered Asha mayi's book "The Konkani Saraswat Cookbook". I remembered reading about it in the index page and yes there it was on page 9 of the book. I liked the way Asha mayi has accurately mentioned even the quantity of water to be used in this dish. I have followed her recipe with minimal variation, by using brown bread and coconut oil. It was a perfect breakfast menu for us served along with wheat flour appo, tila undo and banana.



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Sweet Fruit Idlis

I thank my friend NBS from Nisha's Culinary, who shared her recipe for sweet idlis.  Taste wise these idlis are same like surnalis [spongy sweet dosas], if u have tasted surnalis then you would know what I am talking about :). I attempted them 2-3 times and it was a hit recipe at home. 

This time the recipe was adapted [actually this happened due to my confusion with the ratios of ingredients in her recipe] and luckily they turned out to be soft and yummy. I have also included banana pieces in the batter just the way we do it for jackfruit idlis or appos. Hence the name Sweet Fruit Idlis. [Thin slice of bananas seen in the center of steamed idlis in the below pic]



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Methi Matar Malai

Methi Mutter Malai is a rich blend of  cream, green peas, fenugreek leaves flavoured with Indian spices which serves as an yummy accompaniment to rotis, parathas, phulkas. 

The name of this dish brings back many sweet memories of my vacation time I spent at Nashik some 15 years ago where my aunt's house was located. During one of the vacation period, my aunt [who is a fantastic cook] had prepared this dish and it tasted lip-smackingly delicious. I couldn't resist myself from eating it with hot phulkas and simple pulao. Thanks to her for introducing this rich creamy Mughlai dish. I tried to take the recipe from her verbally but failed to register it properly because of my ignorance about certain ingredients especially Indian spices. And so I managed to carry back only the name of the dish along with me. This dish always topped the list while ordering the menu during our visit to any of the north indian restaurants in India. The interest to know its recipe never peeped into my mind till the time I got to taste it once again,,, home made methi matar mala prepared by my ex-colleague "M" who was from North India. She shared her recipe and luckily by this time, I was knowledgeable about Indian spices. Since then have been preparing it at home, with possible variations depending on the availability of ingredientsI use less of cream and more of either cashew or almond paste to give that creamy texture to this dish. I have prepared this dish using fresh methi leaves as well as kasuri methi [in absence of fresh methi leaves] and we like both the versions. 




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Cholar Dal

Cholar Dal is a delicious daal preparation with chana dal [Bengal gram]. This slightly sweet, delicately spiced dal is very popular nutritious dish from Bengali Cuisine. It is easy to prepare and made by adding ghee, coconut and mixture of spices. The consistency is thick and bit different from other dals. Kaushi Bhatia, the author of "Favourite dishes of India",  mentions the dal to be appetising both in appearance and taste if it is not very watery and if the whole grains of dal are visible. I adapted the recipe from the above mentioned book and have been doing this regularly now as we liked the unique taste of coconut slices in the dal besides the mixture of spices that impart extraordinary flavors to this dal.




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