Mangalore Cucumber Palya/Curry

          Mangalore Cucumber, the yellow color one ( shown in the picture ), we don't use it that much in Tamil cuisine, or at least as far as I know. After moving to Bangalore, I saw this a lot in the market and I wanted to try it out. The first dish that I made with it was this Curry and now this Palya is my second dish and I have adapted the recipe from here. This curry goes well with rice and dal or even as a side to rotis, if you don't find this variety of cucumber, I think you can do it with regular one too..

Need To Have

• Mangalore Cucumber - 1 medium
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jaggery Powder - 1 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Grated Coconut - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chilly - 1

Original recipe here

Method

          Wash the cucumber, then cut it into half, scoop out the seeds and dice the cucumber, came to about 3 cups. Save the scooped out seeds for another dish.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, when it starts sputtering, add the curry leaves followed by the cucumber pieces. Add the salt, turmeric powder and jaggery, mix, cover and cook on low heat till done.

           Grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind ' without adding any water.

           Add the ground coconut to the cooked vegetable , mix and cook it for 3 to 4 minutes and remove.

Note
Don't overcook the vegetable, it should hold it's shape and shouldn't become soggy and mushy.

Watermelon Idlis, Vegan Rava Idlis

          After making dosas with watermelon, using the white rind part of the fruit, the next thing that came to my mind was Watermelon Idlis. As usual, when I am trying something new, I am always prepared for anything, the dish can turn out good or bad. I decided to make it in the same way as Rava Idlis ( Sooji/Semolina Idlis ), using the watermelon rind pulp in the place of yogurt/curd. The idlis came out really good, the texture was like that of rava idlis, and I also realized that I had made Vegan Rava Idlis, do try these idlis, the next time you buy watermelon..

Need To Have

• Rava/Semolina/Sooji - 1+1/2 cups
• Watermelon Rind,White Part - enough to make 1+1/2 cup pulp
• Broken Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1" piece, grated
• Green Chilly - 1 chopped
• Curry Leaves - 15, roughly chopped
• Eno/Fruit Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Oil - 5 teaspoons

Method

          Grind the white part of the watermelon rind and measure out 1 and 1/2 cups of the pulpy juice and keep.

          Heat the oil, add the cashews, chana dal, urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering and the cashews turn golden, add the ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and saute for a minute. Then add the rava/semolina.

          Roast the rava for about 5 minutes and remove it in a bowl. Add the watermelon pulp, salt, coriander and 1 + 1/2 cup of water and mix.

          Heat the water in the idli steamer, grease the idli moulds, now add the eno/fruit salt to the rava batter, mix it well, immediately spoon it into the idli moulds and steam it for about 15 to 17 minutes till the idlis are done. Remove, the idli moulds from the steamer, give it 3 to 5 minutes to cool down, then running a wet spoon around the edges, remove the idlis from the moulds.

Note
The batter should be thick and not very watery.
These idlis go very well with coconut or peanut chutney.

Cabbage Akki Roti, Cabbage Rice Roti

          Akki Rotis are simple and delicious rotis made using rice flour ( akki meaning rice in Kannada ), very popular dish in Karnataka and they make many varieties, plain ones and then so many versions using different vegetables. The first few times that I made them, I usually make a dough just like we make it for rotis, later I learnt that it should be slightly wet dough, this gives you much softer and delicious rotis. I adapted the recipe from here, and I have added finely chopped cabbage to the dough. The rotis came out too good and we loved it with peanut chutney..

Need To Have

• Rice Flour - 2 cups
• Chopped Cabbage - 2 cups
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Green chilly - 1 chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - 1 teaspoon

Original recipe here

Method

          Take the rice flour, salt, turmeric powder and cumin seeds and mix them well. Take the chopped onion, cabbage, coconut, green chilly, ginger and coriander leaves and mix them well.

          Add the cabbage mixture to the rice flour and adding about a cup of water make a dough ( it should be slightly wet ). Take a parchment paper, grease it lightly with oil, then take a ball of the dough and pat it on it and make a hole in the center.

          Heat a pan, grease it, now take the roti with the parchment paper, place it on the pan ( as shown in the picture ), leave it for a few seconds, then peel the paper carefully. Drizzle some oil around and in the hole, cover and cook it on medium heat till the bottom is cooked and you see small brown spots, then flip and cook on the other side ( need not cover ), remove and serve.

Note
I have used store bought rice flour.
We can use grated carrot, chopped spinach, dill leaves or avarekalu, in fact one of my friends said that she makes them even with eggplants.
I saw a youtube video, where the batter was more watery, she scoops the batter with her hands on the pan, spreads it with her hands and cooks it, I have tried that way too, the roti comes out more softer.
I prefer using the parchment paper for making these rotis, but you can directly pat it on the tava, we use two pans, pat the roti on the first one, cook it, then use the second pan to cook the roti. In the meantime, we cool the first time by showing the bottom side of the pan under running water, then pat the roti on it and cook while cooling the second pan.

Jackfruit Seeds Cutlet, Kathal Bij-Er Chop, Palakottai Cutlets

          The next dish that I had tried this Jackfruit season are these Cutlets With Jackfruit Seeds, Palakottai Cutlets. It's actually a Bengali dish, called as Kathal Bij-Er Chop, we use mashed jackfruit seeds and potatoes along with other spices and crushed peanuts, shape them into cutlets and deep fry them, but I have shallow fried them to keep it a little healthy. These cutlets can be served as a snack along with some tomato sauce, but I am telling you, they tasted so good that we didn't need anything to go with it. You can also serve them as a side to go with any meal, do try this before the jackfruit season ends..

Need To Have

• Jackfruit Seeds - 20 to 25
• Potato - 2 medium, boiled and mashed
• Peanuts - 2 tablespoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 tablespoon
• Bread Crumbs to roll the cutlets in
• Salt to taste
• Oil for shallow frying

To Grind

• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Green Cardamom - 2
• Dried Red Chillies - 3
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 3 m3dium cloves
• Ginger - 1" piece

Original recipe here

Method

          I have shown the jackfruit seeds with the outer dry white skin, peel it, then pressure cook the jackfruit seeds for 3 whistles, cool and grind them to a coarse mixture and keep.

          Next  let's grind everything given under ' to grind ', first powder coarsely the fennel seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom and red chillies, then add the onion, garlic and ginger and grind everything coarsely.

          Take the mashed potatoes ( about 3/4 of a cup), add the coarsely ground onion mixture, then add the ground jackfruit seeds ( about 1 cup ), turmeric powder, salt and sugar.

          Mix everything together, then heat some oil, add the mixture and keep mixing on medium-low heat till the mixture becomes a little dry and comes together like a ball.

          Remove and cool it, in the meantime, roast the peanuts and coarsely crush them and add to the jackfruit seed mixture and mix it. Mix the flour/maida with 3 tablespoons of water and keep and take the bread crumbs and keep.

          Now shape the cutlets, dip it in the flour mix, roll it in the bread crumbs and keep.

          Heat some oil for shallow frying, slide the cutlets and fry them on both sides to golden brown color. Remove, drain the excess oil and serve.

Note
The original recipe uses equal quantities of potato and jackfruit seeds, but I had a little more jackfruit seeds mixture when mashed and I used it.
The cutlets are very soft, so flip them gently when shallow frying.

Olive Focaccia Bread

          Focaccia Bread has been on my to-bake list for a long time, finally I made it when a can of black olives that I had was getting close to the expiry date. It's actually a very simple recipe, even beginners can do it, if you have good quality yeast and follow the steps carefully, the bread will turn out really good. There are different varieties of Focaccia, depending upon the added ingredients, I have added some black olives to make Olive Focaccia Bread, we can add sun dried tomatoes, different herbs or even without of any of these, just simple plain Focaccia Bread. The bread has a crispy crust and a soft interior and is very flavorful from the olive oil and other herbs added to it..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 11/4 cup
• Whole Wheat Flour/Atta - 11/4 cup
• Instant Yeast - 1 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Roughly Chopped Olives - 3/4 cup
• Fresh Rosemary - 2 teaspoons, chopped
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons

Original Recipe here

Method

          Add the yeast and sugar to 2 tablespoons of 1/2 cup of hottish water and leave it to bubble up. Now take both the flours, add salt, 1 tablespoon olive oil, yeast, olives and rosemary.

          Add the remaining of the 1/2 cup water and another 3 tablespoons of water and bring everything together to make a soft dough and knead it for 5 to 7 minutes. Cover and leave it for an hour till it doubles up. Punch it down and put it in an 8x8 greased baking pan and leave it to rise for another 25 minutes.

Then dimple the dough all over and drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil into all the dimples and leave for another 20 minutes. In the meantime preheat the oven to 215 C and bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes till the top turns golden. Remove, cool it a little, then remove from the pan, cool it completely, slice and serve.

Note
Rosemary and olive oil gives a unique flavor to the bread, if you can't find fresh rosemary, use a teaspoon of the dried one.
Since I used canned olives, there's some salt in it, so if you are using fresh olives, then add a little more salt to the bread or sprinkle some coarse sea salt on the top of the bread and then bake.
I have used equal proportions of plain flour and whole wheat flour, you can use just plain flour too.

Palakottai Mangai Curry, Jackfruit Seeds And Mango Curry

          The next dish that I tried this time with the bag of Palakottai/Jackfruit Seeds that I bought was this  Palakottai Mangai Curry/ Jackfruit Seeds And Raw Mango Curry. Both mangoes and jackfruits are in season around the same time and this is a very tasty dish to try out with it. The coconut paste and the coconut oil used in the curry gives a wonderful flavor to the curry and it goes very well with rice along with some spicy vegetable curry..

Need To Have

• Palakottai/Jackfruit Seeds - 20 - 22
• Raw Mango Pieces - 1 cup
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Green Chilly - 1
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Shallots/Small Onions - 5, chopped
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste
• Coconut Oil - 1 to 2 teaspoons

To Grind

• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Dried Red Chillies - 3
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Garlic - 3 cloves

Original Recipe here.

Method

          I have shown the jackfruit seeds in the picture, you can either peel them whole, or cut into two, peel the outer tough white skin, then you can either use it with the brown skin or peel that also, boil the seeds in water for 5 to 7 minutes, then you can scrap the brown skin easily. For this dish, I have scrapped the outer brown skin too.

          Cook the jackfruit seeds, mango pieces along with green chilly, turmeric powder, salt and some water.

          Grind together all the ingredients given under 'to grind ' into a fine paste. Once the seeds are cooked, add the ground paste and some more water and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes and when the curry has come to a medium-thick pouring consistency.

          Heat the coconut oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering, add the chopped shallots and saute till they turn translucent, then add the curry leaves, mix and add this to the cooked curry. Serve it with some plain rice along with some spicy curry and pappads.

Other dishes with Jackfruit Seeds..
Murungakkai Palakottai Sambar, Drumstick Jackfruit Seeds Sambar
Palakottai Varuval, Jackfruit Seeds Curry
Palakottai Vadai, Jackfruit Seeds Vada/Fritters

Note
Cut the mango into big pieces.
Make the curry as thick or thin as you want.

Palakottai Vadai, Jackfruit Seeds Vada ( Fritters )

          Every year, during the jackfruit season, more than the fruit, I always make it point to buy the seeds, mainly because my daughter loves the seeds but she doesn't like the fruit and I usually add it to sambar and curries. This year, I got a whole bag of seeds and after using it in sambar, I was looking for some other recipes to make with it and then I came upon this Jackfruit Vadai ( Fritters ). It's basically the masala vadai/ chana dal vada with the addition of some mashed jackfruit seeds. These vadas can be served as a part of a South Indian lunch along with rice, sambar and curries or eaten as snack. We had it both ways and my family loved it..

Need To Have

• Chana Dal/Kadalai Paruppu/Bengal Gram - 3/4 cup
• Palakottai/Jackfruit Seeds - 15
• Dried Red Chillies - 3
• Fennel Seeds - 2 teaspoon
• Garlic - 2 big cloves
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Onion - 1 big, chopped
• Curry Leaves - 15, roughly chopped
• Chopped Coriander LEaves - 3 tablespoons
• Salt - 1 teaspoon + a pinch

Original Recipe here.

Method

          When the jackfruit seeds are removed from the fruit and dried a little, they'll look like as shown in the picture. We have to remove the outer hard white skin, the easy way to do is, slice the seeds into two and peel it. Now you can use them with the brown skin as such, or if you want to remove that, then boil them in water for 5 to 7 minutes, then it'll be easier to scrap out the brown skin. For this vada, I have used it with the brown skin.

          Pressure cook the palakottai with some water, for 3 whistles, remove, drian and let it cool. Wash and soak the chana dal for about 2 hours.

          Now grind the jackfruit seeds into a coarse mixture, remove and keep. Take the drained dal, add the red chillies, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds and the dried red chillies and grind it to a coarse mixture. Remove and add it to the ground jackfruit seeds.

          Add the chopped onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves and salt and mix everything together.

          Heat some oil for deep frying. Take small lemon size balls, flatten it in your palm, as shown in the picture, slide it into the oil, 4 or 5 at a time, depending on how much oil you have heated. Cook it, till it turns golden brown, remove, drain the excess oil and serve.

Other recipes with Jackfruit Seeds..
Jackfruit Seeds Curry, Palakottai Varuval
Murungakkai Palakottai Sambar, Drumsticks And Jackfruit Seeds Sambar

Note
The oil should not be too hot, the vadas/fritters should cook in the center, and not brown immediately when you add them to the oil.
If you like, you can add 3 or 4 cloves while grinding, if you like the smell, usually I don't add.
Grind the seeds and the dal separately.
If you want it more spicy, you can add some chopped green chillies along with the onions.