CCCCC kumbalakayi hase kuuutuuuuu

This time when I went to buy vegetables and fruits, I got my hands on the fresh little sweet pumpkin and it's also know as ccc kumbalakayi in kannada.

I really did not know what to cook with this veggie, but decided whatever strikes my mind the next morning will definitely cook it.

Hasi kuutu is usually prepared with beans (huralikayi) or with chayote squash (seeme badanekayi), but as I always do, experimented with this pumpkin.

So started by first pressure cooking 1 small cup of toordal (togaribale) and 1 md tomato. Smash the tomato and the dal.

Meanwhile, clean the seeds and cut the pumpkin into small pieces. Half cook the pumpkin with water with little salt.

Grind the below mixture:

1/2 cup dhaniya
1 md cup dried red chillies (guntur and byadige in equal quantities)
1 tspn roasted til (yellu)
1 tspn jeera
1/2 cup grated coconut

Now add this grinded mixture to the pumpkin along with the toordal and tomato and bring it to boil. Add salt if required.

Give mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing vaggarne and mix it with the pumpkin hasee kuutu and enjoy eating with hot rice this winter.

Paper Avalakki ka chuda...

Paper avalakki is something that is light and low calorie food that can be enjoyed eating at any part of the day. Since i'm on diet through out the year :), I had to prepare and stock it at home.

There are different ways to prepare it, but this is how I prepared it:

1/2kg paper avalakki
1 md cup groundnut
1 md cup poppey seeds (hurukadale)
1 md cup curry leaves
1 tspn mustard seeds
1 tbspn jeera
1 tspn turmuric pwdr
1 tspn salt
1 tspn chilly pwdr
1/2 tspn hing
1/2 cup grated dry coconut
1/4 cup oil
1 tbspn sugar

Take a big kadai, once it's hot, saute the paper avalakki and pour it into a plate and keep it aside. This process is done so that it stays crisp for a long time.

For vaggarne, keep the kadai back on stove, once it warm, add oil, add mustard seeds. After these seeds finish crackling, add groundnuts and keep sauteing them so that they don't get brunt. These groundnuts would change their color. This is the sign of them done. Now we should add poppey seeds, jeera, curry leaves and grated dry coconut and keep sauteing them. Now add hing, turmeric & chilly pwdr, saute for a minute, turn of the gas and keep the kadai aside.

Allow the above vaggarne mixture to cool. Sprinkle salt and sugar and with little quantities of paper avalakki, start mixing it thoroughly.

Enjoy eating paper avalakki followed by hot tea or coffee.

Upma bonda...

I had made upma, one fine morning, but from chirotti rave. It really tasted well but it was no less than a paste. With great difficulty I managed to eat it, what was on my plate but not the one that was in the kitchen.

I did not want to waste the upma, because it tasted well.... So I was thinking very hard, how to finish the upma.

The same evening, when I returned home from work, it started raining very heavily and I wanted to eat something hot and spicy.. Bonda.. bajji was the 1st thing that strikes my mind when it starts raining.

I prepared the dough this way:

2 md cup kadale hittu
1 pinch of turmuric,
1 tspn salt,
pinch of hing & baking soda
2 tspn chilly pdr,

First mix the above mixture before you add water and the consistency should be little thicker than the dosa dough.

I sprinkled little water on the upma and made small balls of it. Mixed it with the bonda dough and fried it. Ate it with tomato sauce.. watching it rain outside.

Green Dosa...

I ended up soaking a lot hesar kallu thinking I will prepare usali or anything that strikes my head at that time.

I was sharing the same thing with my aunt in Mysore and she gave me an idea to prepare dosa with hesar kallu. I was surprised by the recipe she shared, but I did not hesitate to experiment it.

The hesar kallu would easily grind easily because I had soaked it in the morning @ around 9am.

Grind the below ingredients to a fine paste. Ensure that you dont add a lot of water while grinding.  

4 chillies,
1 tspn ginger paste
2 tspn salt
5 strands of coriander leaves
3 md cups of hesar kallu

Once the grinding is done, pour the mixture into a new vessel. For extra taste, I added 1 tspn of jeera and 1 md chopped onion.

Prepared dosas like any other batter and enjoyed eating it with chutney pudi which my mom had given.

Corn and Peas Curry...

I'm always excited to experiment and try something new. I knew what I'll be adding and at the correct quantity. But the result always comes out well. God's grace isin't it.

3md ripe tomatoes
1 md chopped onion
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 md green chillies
1 tspn of khus khus
2-3 pepper

Grind the above mixture.

Take a kadai, add 2 tbspn of oil. 1 tspn of jeera and once it crackles, add the grinded mixture and 1 tspn ginger garlic paste and mix well, also add green peas and corn. 1 tspn of coriander pwdr, 1 tspn red chilly pwdr, 1 tspn salt, pinch of turmeric, mix well. Bring the mixture to boil in low flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. This can be enjoyed eating with chapatis or poori.

Chapathi Wrap.....

I was very much influenced by Katti zone ka rolls and wanted to try making it at home as well. I had all the necessary ingredients at home and was geared up to start preparing it.

It all started by first preparing the chapathi dough and this is how I made it.

2 large cups of wheat dough.
1 md cup of warm water.
1/2 tbspn of salt.
1 tbspn of ajwain.
2 tbspn of oil


Mix the dough with salt and ajwain. Sprinkle water little by little and start kneading the dough. Now add the oil and mix the dough completely.

For softer chapathis, knead the dough for full 5mins and leave it aside.

Now for the roll stuffing.

1 small cup of frozen green peas and american corn.
1 md onion sliced.
1 tspn of ginger garlic paste

3-4 strands of coriander finely chopped for garnishing

4-5 paneer cubes, fried in oil.
1 tspn of corriander pwdr
1 tspn of chilly pwdr
pinch of salt & sugar
1 tspn jeera
1 tbspn oil


Take a kadai and add oil. Once the oil is warm, add jeera. Once jeera crackles, add all the above ingredients, except copped coriander leaves and mix them well. Cook for 5 mins and garnish with coriander leaves.

Prepare chapatis and add the above mixture in the center and roll them. They are ready to eat.