Tomato Saaru / Devatsana Saaru/ Spicy Tomato Soup

I grew up in the small town of Puttur which was a quite town back then. Most of the socializing was during a temple festival or events/utsav's which is usually followed by a delicious finger licking meal for everyone who visited the festivities. These meals are often called boori samaradhane in Konkani which means meals for everyone. Back then I did not find these meals exciting, simply because there were too many of them and often. Waiting long hours for the meals to be served, on a hungry stomach wasn't very exciting. But when the meals are served on a banana leaves and the aroma of the saaru, dalitoy, gashi, pickles noNche filled the lunch rooms ..ah it was worth the the wait. It is a memory to be cherished.

Patrode made easy / Sanna Kotto

Happy Gowri Tritiya & Ganesh Chaturti to all my readers.

Here is one humorous version of the story from the Hindu Mythology. Lord Ganesh was returning from a scrumptious dinner on his Birthday riding on his mouse. The mouse saw a snake on its path, frightened, it ran away tripping down Ganeshji. Ganeshji fell and burst open his stomach. The moon saw this disaster and made fun of them. Out of humiliation, Ganeshji wore the snake around his stomach like a belt. He chased the moon and later cursed him that none of the Ganeshji's devotees would look at the moon on Ganesh's Birthday.

Red Spinach / Red Swiss Chard / Beet Greens Stir Fry (Bajji Upkari)

Red Spinach is a very different from Spinach. Also known as bajji in Konkani, harive soppu in kannada. Unlike spinach the leaves are tough and hold its texture very well. Does not wilt or get mushy like spinach. Here in Los Angeles, these are always available in Chinese or Indian grocery stores.

This Konkani recipe for the stir fry is usually made with Red Spinach. This recipe also goes great with Red Swiss Chard, Beet greens and also Kale! The end product of Red Swiss chard and beet greens is almost same as that of red spinach. But Kale takes a while to cook and is a little chewy.

Chicken Curry - Chettinad Style

This is my favorite chicken curry. I have been making this curry for a few years now and it never occurred to me that I have not posted the recipe yet. There are many different versions of chicken chettinad floating in the web. This is my version..it may not be the authentic one but surely is one of the awesome recipe.

Molavees

"moLavees" Yes, it is a Konkani dish. Probably one of the recipes, in the verge of extinction. When my mother-in-law mentioned it, I wasn't sure she was talking about a Konkani dish. We were talking about the dishes from our childhood, and she happened to recollect this dish. My MIL's mother was from Kerala and this must have been a dish with Keralite influence.

Kori Rotti - Chicken Curry with Rice crisps

This is a authentic recipe from Mangalore. Kori in tulu is Chicken and Rotti is the dried rice crepe.



My version of the recipe is a fusion of various recipes over the internet. Though I found many recipes for this, the ingredients were almost the same with the variation of techniques. I merged the recipes to arrive at a technique that I am comfortable with and I advise the readers to do the same.