Medu Vada

Ingredients:

2 cups Urid dal/ skinless Black lentils, 1 tbl spn finely chopped green chilies, 1 tbl spn finely diced ginger root, 1 tbl finely diced coconut pieces, 1 tbl spn coriander leaves, 1 few curry leaves, Salt as per taste

Method:

Soak the lentils in water. They have to be soaked for about 5 hours. Grind these without water or with 1 tsp of water. The batter should be thick, very thick. If its watery then you wont be able to make the vadas. Add the remaining ingredients except oil. Mix well.

Heat oil in a kadai. When the oil is hot, shape the vadas as doghnuts and put them in hot oil. Fry till are golden brown on the outside. Serve hot with coconut chutney and Sambhar.

Akki Rotti

Ingredients:
Rice Flour- 2 cups, Water- 1 cup, Salt

Method:
In a bowl, mix rice flour and salt. Boil the water and pour it on to the flour mix. Let set for couple of minutes or until the water gets warm enough to knead the dough.

Make dough just fine enough to be able to spread. Make small size balls of it. Wet a cloth and spread the small ball on the cloth with your fingers until u get a round flat Rotti.

Heat the tava. Put the Rotti from the cloth onto the tava. Wait for a minute. Turn it over. Allow it to cook for another minute. Turn it over again. Rotti is ready. Eat it hot with any curry.

Sigdi Taalu or Sigdi Sukka (Dry prawn curry)

A simple fare. Prawns in very simple coconut gravy. Very popular in Mangalore and Konkan areas. My mom makes it very tasty by adding a potato. But why potato? Well years ago it was joint families. And imagine how many prawns you would need to feed a family of fifteen. And prawns were (are) expensive. So in order to feed the big family, and to save on monies, the mighty potatoes were added. This of course was a welcome addition as the end result was fantastic! This dry prep goes well will rice and daal. Well i made it a lille on the gravy side. That's because i love eating this directly with rice...

Ingredients:

Prawns - 1Lb, Coconut scraping- 1.5 cup, Chilies - 8, Coriander seeds- 2 tbsp, Jeera- 1 tbsp, Garlic flakes - 2, Turmeric powder - A pinch, Ginger- 1 inch, Tomatoes - 2, Onion - 1 (Big), Oil - 1tbsp, Cilantro Leaves for garnish

Method:

Grind chilies, coriander seeds, Jeera, Garlic flakes to a fine paste. Add the coconut scrapings and run the mixer for 1 round. We just want the coconut to mix with the fine paste. It shud not be ground into a fine paste. The mixture is to be thick and not watery.

Now take a Kadai. Heat the oil in it. Chop the onion and add it to the oil. When it turns brown add the ground paste. Saute it. Now add cubed potatoes, chopped ginger and the tomatoes. Add a lille water so that the gravy doesnt stick to the pan. Now add the prawns and cook them till its done. Garnish this with cilantro leaves (optional).

Ghee Rice

Ingredients:
Basmati rice - 2 cups, Ghee - 1/2 cup, Cloves- 3-4, cardomom - 3-4, Cashewnuts- 25gms, Raisins- 25 gms, Cinamon - 1 stick, bay leaf- 2, onion - 1 thinly sliced, Salt to taste

Method:
Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add cloves, Cardomom, bay leaf, cinamon stick, cashwewnuts and rasisins. When the cahew turns slightly brown add the sliced onions. when the onions are slightly brown, add the rice (should be soaked in water for 30 minutes). Now for 2 cups of rice add 3 cups of water. Add salt to the water. Pressure cook for 1 whistle. Let it cool. Ghee rice is ready.

Boondi Raita

Ingredients:

3/4 cup salted Boondi, 1 cup Yoghurt, 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder, ½ tsp Cumin Powder, Corriander for garnishing

Method:

Soak boondi in water for 5 mins. Drain water from boondi and add boondi to yoghurt. Add chilli powder, cumin powder and salt to yoghurt and mix well. Garnish with corriander and refrigerate for some time