Tukdi (Shankarpule - Namakpare) from leftover maida dough

Ever had tukdi or namakpare... awesome melt-in-the-mouth experience !! I love this snack and I buy and eat it every time I go to Mangalore. BTW, ever had some leftover maida dough when you finished making obbattu / holige / puran polis ? Wondering whats the link... There is but only one connection :) I just prepared some tukdi from the leftover poli maida dough and they turned out amazing !! I just loved them and the kids just couldn't have enough.

Beans Upkari

Beans Upkari is a very simple dish, which gets ready in like 15 mins or so and is a very delicious dish (for people who love beans that is). It is prepared by tempering the green beans and cooking them just tender enough to leave them crunchy and then topping them off with grated coconut.

We konkani people are always accused of using a lot of coconut, but what can we do... our tongues have gotten used to that flavor and we just cannot get enff of it :) We LOVE coconut !! and use it in almost every dish that we make, either grind it for the masala gravy or top it off like garnish !! Beans upkari is my sister's favorite dish and she likes it with potatoes added.

Badnekayi Palya

Just love this karnataka style dish, for its simplicity and mouth-watering flavors. I hate capsicum (green peppers) in almost everything else, except for this dish. I just love the twist it gives to this dish and how it enhances the flavors.

Whenever I prepare this dish, I feel like eating Akki rotti along with it - the kind they make by pre-cooking the rice flour and rolling it out into chapathis. I absolutely love the combination - you should try it sometime :D

Cabbage Upkari

Serves 2
Preparation Time (10 min)
Cooking Time - 15 mins approx

Ingredients
 

1/2 Cabbage (medium sized - chopped)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 - slit lengthwise
Salt - as per taste

Peanut Garlic Chutney

This was my most favorite chutney (after coriander chutney that is) when I was a kid. My mom used to make it for us all the time. Peanuts and Garlic both tend to have overwhelming flavors, but when they come together in this awesome chutney, they tend to form a mouth-watering dish / dip. Here's the recipe.

As per a request from my friend, here is the recipe for peanut, garlic chutney. I made it a few days back and since she had asked for instructions. I took some photos too.

I regret to say that I don't use accurate measurements in my recipes, because for me its a matter of taste and preferences. So all the measurements are just approximate.

Ingredients

Serves 5
Preparation Time - 15 mins

Peanuts - 2 cups
Garlic - 1 whole garlic pod medium sized(8-10 cloves)
Red Chillies - 10 (more if you want it spicy -- remember, spiciness varies with different kinds of chillies)
Shredded Coconut - 2 tbsps
Oil to roast ingredients
Salt to taste
Water to grind

Method

1. Cut the garlic into small pieces or crush them with a back of a ladle, knife or spoon. This is optional, because it is just to facilitate nice roasting of the garlic and to give out the flavor without giving out a raw taste. Keep aside.

2. Heat some oil in a pan, about 3 tsps. Add peanuts and roast them for 3-4 mins on medium flame until they are golden roasted, as in picture. Keep stirring often to avoid over-roasting on one side only. After the peanuts are roasted, keep them aside.

3. If there is no oil left in the pan, add about one more tsp of oil and add the garlic pieces. Stir and roast until golden roasted. They should look crisped and brown. Keep aside.

4. Add red chillies to the same pan (not much oil is required for this stage -- no oil will also work -- red chillies will roast even with little heat). Roast the red chillies until they turn a darker red. Keep aside. The picture doesn't do justice to the chillies :P

5. Add all the roasted ingredients along with the coconut into a blender or a mixer along with around a cup of water and grind to a "not so smooth", "not so coarse" paste, with the consistency of a dip / chutney. It should neither be too thick or too thin.

6. Pour the paste into a serving bowl, and add the required amount of salt as per your taste. Mix well.

Peanut Garlic Chutney is ready to be served.

The dosa in the picture is panpolo (neer dosa) -- recipe will be put up soon.