Clam Meat Masala / Marwai Masala

July 16, 2018 No Comments

Clam Meat Masala / Marwai Masala Recipe

Back in Mangalore clams (marwai) is made with its shell. We make sukka, curry, or a breakfast specialty called marwai da pundi. Loosely translated, clams with rice dumplings. There’s this online place I sometimes order my meat and seafood from and has never let me down (freshtohome). Since it’s monsoons I don’t buy fish but I wanted see what else they had. Clams were in. But just the clam meat and no shell. I looked it up online and most Kerala based recipes call for only the meat. That’s how they do it there, I suppose. There were people coming over for lunch the next day so I ordered in a kilo of the meat. Once it arrived I thought it was a lot. But it was just enough.

Appetizers, Healthy, Mangalorean, Quick meals, Vegetarian

Cowpea Beans Stir-fry with Coconut / Alasande Palya

July 12, 2018 No Comments

Cowpea Beans Stir-fry with Coconut / Alasande Palya

Cowpea beans have been a regular fixture at home. French beans were slightly more expensive compared to cowpea ones. That’s why they made the cut. They’re simply stir fried with a tadka of mustard seeds, urad and channa dal, curry leaves and dried chillies. The dals give it a nutty flavour and add a crunch to the dish. There’s no masala or too much salt to kill these beans. Adding freshly grated coconut in the end gives the dish some added texture and freshness.

Appetizers, Fish, Mangalorean, Quick meals

Kane Rava Fry / Lady Fish Fry with Semolina

July 8, 2018 No Comments

Kane Rava Fry / Lady Fish Fry with Semolina

Can you believe my luck when I found Kane fish in Gurgaon? OK I found it online and it was coming from Delhi. And that must have come from somewhere in the west coast. Whatever. But good lord this was some beauty of a fish. I hadn’t had kane in what seems like years. It may have been years. One of the things my grandma and women in the family did to smaller fish was to marinate them in a chilli based masala and then give them a good toss around in semolina. I believe this method came from Bombay. I don’t care. I’m going with granny. To the bigger fish they simply fried them with the marinade still slapped on. Restaurants called it Naked Fry. Yes. Let’s do the not-so-naked fry now, shall we?

Curries, Healthy, Mangalorean, Vegetarian

Southekayi Majjigehuli / Thouthe Pulikajipu

November 7, 2017 No Comments

Southekayi Majjigehuli / Thouthe Pulikajipu

A few months ago a friend got me Mangalore cucumber from Bangalore and I made Thouthe Koddel with it. This time around, my brother-in-law brought me one from Mumbai. And I made thouthe pulikajipu with it. I don’t know where this dish originated but I’ve seen it made across all south Indian states. It is pulikajipu in Tulu, majjigehuli in Kannada, and mor kozhambu in Tamil. All it needs is a vegetable, ground coconut with chilli, ginger and a couple of spices, and sour yoghurt.

Healthy, Mangalorean, Soups and Salads, Vegetarian

Daali Thoy or Daali Thove / Konkani style simple dal recipe

October 27, 2017 No Comments

Daali Thoy or Daali Thove / Konkani style simple dal recipe

You’d think this is another dal recipe on the internet. Well, it is. But it’s simpler, lighter and healthier than your usual dal. That’s what I think, at least. Back home in Mangalore, granny would make this style of dal and a spicy fried mackerel or rava fried sardines to go with it. It makes for a lovely meal on a warm and humid day. In Mangalore, most recipes came from various communities and were known to be popular for the same reason. Like, Shettys and their chicken dishes, Konkanis and their vegetarian fare, and so on.

Curries, Fish, Mangalorean, Quick meals

Jenji Gassi / Crab Curry Mangalorean Style

August 17, 2017 No Comments

Jenji Gassi / Crab Curry Mangalorean Style Recipe

I’ve always complained how I miss eating seafood here in Gurgaon. Supermarkets and online stores do stock some gems from the ocean but I never bothered getting myself any. I thought they’d be way more expensive than what it is back home. As it turns out, some of it costs just the same. Like blue crab for instance. The ones I saw at this supermarket were lovely. Without missing a beat I got myself 3 big ones.

Curries, Mangalorean, Quick meals, Stories, Vegetarian

Batate Saung / Potatoes in a fiery sauce

August 10, 2017 No Comments

Batate Saung / Potatoes in a fiery sauce

..well, as fiery as you want it to be. Batate saung traditionally is a Mangalorean dish. If I have to narrow it down further, it’s a Konkani dish. Konkani style fare is most sought after vegetarian food in Mangalore, as I remember it. That’s why grandma took on to making some of them at home regularly. Most of their dishes are light and relatively healthy. But this batate saung was something else. Fiery, sour and delicious. Using only onions, potato and a spice paste with chillies, coconut, coriander seeds and tamarind, this one takes just about 15-20 mins to make.

Appetizers, Healthy, Mangalorean, Quick meals, Vegetarian

Kadle Manoli Aajadina / Ivy Gourd and Chickpeas with Coconut

August 1, 2017 No Comments

Kadle Manoli Aajadina / Ivy Gourd and Chickpeas with Coconut

This one’s no different from the beans aajadina I had cooked recently. This one too uses the same coconut mixture in the end to be stirred in. Ivy gourd, from what I’ve seen and eaten around here, is almost always cooked to death. Well, that’s true for most vegetables. Homemade or not, these lovely crisp veggies are often overcooked with so many spices that you won’t know what you’re eating. I guess that’s why many twitch their face when they see these vegetables being served at lunch in the office or at home. Thankfully, I’ve grown up eating vegetables cooked lightly so they retain their colour, shape and original taste.

Appetizers, Healthy, Mangalorean, Quick meals, Vegetarian

Beans Aajadina / Beans Sukka / Beans stir fried with coconut

July 20, 2017 No Comments

Beans Aajadina / Beans Sukka / Beans stir fried with coconut

French beans are one of my favourite vegetables. It cooks fast and works in any form and cuisine. Be it a quick stir fry with salt and pepper or garam masala or in sambar, beans are made a number of ways in India. One of my go to recipes is a sukka. We are more familiar with chicken, mutton and seafood sukka dishes at restaurants. But back home, sukka or as it’s called in Tulu “aajadina”, is a common way of making a side dish with vegetables. Beans, ivy gourd, chickpeas and many other legumes and vegetables are made this style.

Healthy, Mangalorean, Vegetarian

Thouthe Koddel / Mangalore Cucumber Curry

July 12, 2017 No Comments

Recipe for thouthe koddel / Mangalore cucumber curry

Thouthe koddel is what I grew up eating. Grandma and mother would make it at least once a week. It’s spicy, sour and is balanced perfectly well with a little jaggery. Like most Mangalorean curries, this one too has a coconut based ground spice mix. Koddel can be made with many vegetables – ash gourd, okra/lady’s finger, Malabar spinach and others. But my koddel was made with Mangalore cucumber, also called Madras cucumber, Thouthe in Tulu and southe kai in Kannada. It is a part of the cucumber family and the texture is close to that of bottle gourd, but tastier. Ideally it shouldn’t be turned into mush. Thouthe pieces should hold their shape and form and have a bit of give when you bite into them.