Hi-fibre Banana Cake

Banana Cake with Flax Seed (Pics by June Carvalho)

TODAY I made the usual banana cake, but with a slight variation to the original recipe posted on my blog. (See Banana Cake recipe under Labels: Cakes) I substituted a cup of the refined flour with wholewheat flour to increase the fibre content in the cake...

As an afterthought, I sprinkled a tablespoon of flax seeds on the top before baking...it lent a lightly nutty and crunchy bite to the cake. Incorporating a little more of the flax seed into the cake batter itself may be a good idea. Might try it the next time around. Didn't feel very guilty to sink my teeth into a slice. Do try it out!

Nugge Soppu Saaru

Nugge Soppu & Saaru with Ragi Mudde (Pic by June Carvalho)

THESE days I've been taking some impromptu lessons in wholesome, rustic and rural cooking with dishes such as this Nugge Soppu Saaru,  from Ratna, my house-help.

This saaru, or curry if it can be called that, is of a creamy soup-like consistency and is made from the leaves of the drumstick tree. Educating me further, she says they also call this curry a bassaaru, which essentially means that it's a gravy made from the water strained after boiling the drumstick leaves along with a little tur dal. Apparently, the tur can be substituted with any other dal. A freshly ground wet masala is added for flavour, texture and consistency to the saaru which needs to be consumed instantly, because it is never boiled again after the addition of the masala.

The soppu (leaves) and the dal with a little seasoning serve as an accompaniment to the saaru and ragi mudde which is a dumpling made of powdered ragi or finger millet, the staple cereal of the rural folk of southern Karnataka. You eat it by pinching off a portion of the mudde with a little of the soppu, both of which are together dipped into the saaru. Made from powdered ragi, the soft ragi mudde hardly needs any mastication...it is simply swallowed like baby food, a reason why some people I know don't quite enjoy eating it. However, one can add a handful of cooked rice to the mudde (as in pic) to give it a slightly grainy texture. I like it either way. 

A simple, healthy, delicious and complete meal in itself would be the perfect way to describe it. Teamed up with the ragi mudde it's excellent for everyone's health, and especially that of diabetics! Drumstick leaves are a rich and natural source of iron, multivitamins and fibre and contain medicinal properties.

Above all, I felt this was an ideal recipe for sustainable food. Very robust, nutritious, environment-friendly and inexpensive, employing only local ingredients, considering that the drumstick tree is always found growing in the backyards of houses in rural areas and even in the fast disappearing sprawling compounds of urban homes which are now giving way to apartments. You can source it from most sellers of greens too. The bunch I picked up was from my friendly neighbourhood supermarket, where I saw it for the first time.

Not just the leaves, but a porial is made from the flowers too, apart from the drumstick itself which renders a sambar, avial or a meat curry even more flavourful.

I loved this dish not just for all of the above, but also for the very homely, rural and rustic feel that it brought to my dining table. Earthy food for earthy people! 

What you need:
3 packed cups of drumstick leaves removed from the stalks; 50 gm tur dal; 3 cups water; 1/4 tsp salt

For the masala:

3 green chillis; 10-12 peppercorns; 1/4 tsp cumin; 4 flakes of garlic; 1 tbsp grated coconut; 1 tbsp toasted peanuts, skinned; 2 sprigs green coriander; Small ball of tamarind 

For seasoning:

1 tbsp oil; 1 tsp mustard seeds; 1 big onion chopped fine; 2 sprigs curry leaves; 1 green chilli chopped fine; 2 tbsp grated coconut

What  you do:

Boil the leaves and the dal with three cups of water and a quarter teaspoon of salt in a pressure cooker for just two minutes, (because the dal should be just cooked and remain intact). Let the pressure drop naturally before you open the cooker. Drain the leaves and dal completely of the water and reserve the water to make the saaru.

For the masala, lightly broil the green chillis and grind them together with the other ingredients, adding a little water, to a fine paste. Mix this masala into the reserved water to make the saaru. Adjust salt.

For the seasoning, heat a tablespoon of oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves and onion and fry till transparent. Add a spoonful of this seasoning to the saaru. To the rest of the seasoning add the chopped green chilli, fry a little more and then add all of the seasoning to the leaves and dal mixture. Lastly mix in the coconut.

Serve with ragi mudde.

Spinach Soup

Spinach Soup (Pic by June Carvalho)

WE'RE enjoying some real pleasant weather in Bangalore now after unbearably sultry weeks. A shower this evening and a consequent dip in temperature provided welcome respite...and I felt like a hot soup - comfort food for a cold day. And so, with a bunch of fresh spinach (palak) I set out to make this quick and simple spinach soup. The kids love it too...it's a good way to make them ingest some greens and get their dose of Vitamin A and iron. 

What you need for 2 servings:

1 bunch spinach

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

A dash of pepper powder

2 tbsps Amul butter

Salt to taste

2 tbsps of fresh cream (optional)

Wash and boil spinach in a cup of water till it's just limp. Do not over-boil. Cool and puree, along with the water, in a blender. Heat the butter in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic till soft. Add the spinach puree and salt to taste. Bring to a quick boil. Sprinkle pepper. Remove from heat. Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with the cream, one tablespoon for each bowl. Serve hot.

PS: Drop croutons into the soup if you have them handy. I toasted two slices of wholewheat bread, broke them into bits and dunked two to three bits at a time into the soup and slurped it all up!   

   

Mango Milkshake

Mango Milkshake

IT'S been a bountiful harvest of sweet, golden mangoes this year, with our markets being flooded with dozens of varieties of them! And they're not even costing the earth as in the last couple of years. 


Corner House, Bangalore's iconic house of ice-creams, which has since branched to different parts of the city, is making the most of the mango season by serving up this seasonal 'king of fruit' in a myriad ways - diced and topped with vanilla ice-cream scoops, dollops of cream, mango ice-cream as well as whipping up mango milkshakes. 


A milkshake with any seasonal fruit is a lovely drink to serve kids returning hungry and tired from school. Delicious, filling and most satisfying. 

What you do:

Slice the cheeks off a nice, fleshy, ripe mango. Scoop out the flesh and whizz in a blender with two cups of chilled milk and a tablespoon of sugar. Add more sugar if you like it sweeter and a little more milk if the consistency is too thick. Serve in a tall glass and watch it being gulped down without a murmur of protest. Serves 1.

Pork Baffat

Pork Baffat, Mangalore style. (Pics by June Carvalho)

ALL Mangalorean Catholics love their pork. Sounds like a generalisation, but find me one who doesn't (?!) and I'll alter my statement a bit.

No feast or celebration in the community, with the exception of the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady (celebrated on September 8) is complete without a pork dish, be it a baffat, sorpotel, indad or a roast. Pork baffat with soft, spongy sannas is the classic combination. Baffat is a somewhat spicy gravy, with just the right hint of sourness to balance the spice and bring it all together with the strong and pungent aromas of onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies. The smells wafting out of the kitchen while it's cooking away are, well what shall I say, simply glorious.

In Bangalore, baffat powder can be readily found in any Mangalore Store or at the ham shop on Hutchins Road as well as the one on Buddha Vihara Road, opposite Frazer Town Police Station. Also at Lusitania on Mosque Road, Frazer Town. If you happen to visit Mangalore, do step into Raysons, opposite Moti Mahal hotel on Falnir Road renowned for their superior quality baffat powder and a host of other masala powders that make Mangalorean Catholic cooking a breeze.

CLASSIC COMBO: Pork Baffat with Sannas

What you need:

1kg pork
500 gm onion
3-4 tbsps baffat powder
6 green chillies
3 pods garlic
3" piece ginger
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
1-2 tbsp vinegar
3-4 bay leaves
Salt to taste

Cut the pork into small pieces. Halve the green chillies lengthwise. Chop the ginger and dice the onion. Separate and peel the cloves of garlic from the pod and halve each lengthwise. Mix all the ingredients with the pork, add half a cup of water and set aside to marinate for an hour or two. Cover and cook on slow heat until meat is tender and the fat floats on top. Serve hot with sannas.

 PS: Do not add additional water as the onions and meat release moisture in the cooking process. The gravy should be a bit thick. Add water, preferably hot water, a little at a time, only if it's too dry. Adjust spice to suit your taste.

Caipirinha

MY No.1 favourite cocktail is the caipirinha (pronounced kai-pur-een-yah), made from cachaca (pronounced ka-sha-sa), Brazil's national drink. I simply love it. Understatement. How I discovered cachaca and the caipirinha and the lengths to which I went to procure my first bottle with the active involvement of the spouse, is the stuff of another tale. Suffice it to say that when I first read about it in a newspaper column, I was intrigued enough to find out more and instantly knew that I had to have it. 

Though cachaca is popularly referred to as Brazilian rum, there's a subtle difference between the two. At the most you can say they're cousins with a common source of origin - sugarcane. But while cachaca is distilled from fermented sugarcane juice, rum is derived from the molasses left over after the process of sugar production. 

I chilled out with this one after a really tiring day. A fabulous drink to unwind with. 

CAIPIRINHA (Pics by June Carvalho)

For a caipirinha, you need really simple ingredients: ice cubes, lime, sugar and of course, cachaca. Understandably, there are many brands of cachaca, but I use one called Cachaca 51 Pirassununga (because that's the only brand available at my source). Nothing like using Brazilian limes for the drink with their wonderful, refreshing citrus aroma, although some suggest using lemons. But since neither can be found so easily where we live, one can make do with the yellow limes commonly available in our Indian markets, although their skins are not as aromatic as their South American relatives. However, whenever I get a supply of Brazilian limes from an unnamed source, which is fairly often, they're reserved for exclusive use in this cocktail! Psst...there are still a few of them in my fridge... enough for a dozen cocktails...enough to keep me pleasantly drunk and happy until the next lot (of limes) arrives around end of July and to anyone else who'd care to drop in and have a drink with me, it's always happy hour!

What you need for 1 serving:

• 1/2 a Brazilian lime, cut in quarters
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• Ice cubes
• 60 ml cachaca

In an old-fashioned glass, muddle the lime with sugar to release the juice and essential oils from the skins of the lime. Fill glass with ice cubes. Pour cachaca over. Swirl. Now sip! 

If you don't have cachaca, use vodka to make a caipiroska. If you use a light rum, I'm told it's called a caipirissima!

Reduce sugar if you prefer it less sweet. 

Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney

Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney

I had never imagined that a spicy, tangy chutney could result from the peel of a ridge gourd. I tried it out for myself and was delighted by the outcome - an instant pep-up to a simple meal of rice, dal and vegetables and superb also with ragi dosas.


Use the peel of a tender ridge gourd, which is not stringy and fibrous.


A lot of the nutritious elements are contained in the peels of fruits and vegetables, which we mindlessly throw away. So the next time you're about to discard the ridge gourd peel, think again. And just keep 'em guessing...coz it's difficult to tell what this chutney was made of until you disclose the ingredients. 

What you need:

Peel of a tender ridge gourd

1 tbsp urad dal

3 dry red chillies

1/2" piece of ginger

A pinch of cumin seed

1 sprig of curry leaves

A small ball of tamarind

1 tablespoon oil

Salt to taste.

Boil the ridge gourd peel in a cup of water, to which a pinch of salt has been added, for about five minutes. Heat oil in a small pan and fry the urad dal till light brown. Add the red chillies and cumin seed, giving it all a quick stir. Then add the curry leaves. Stir. Remove from heat. Cool completely and grind with the drained peel, tamarind, ginger and salt to taste.