Mango Mania : Mavinkai Gojju - A treat for your taste buds

Are there days in your life when you just don’t have an appetite to eat? You’re just too bored of the daily food, don’t want anything complex or heavy which makes you feel you don’t feel like eating?

Well, summer is one season when this feeling of lack of appetite is the most common. Food generally loses the priority. But wait, summer is also the season of mangoes! And why not make something exciting to hike up your appetite? Something that makes your taste buds crave for more?

Here’s a tangy, spicy raw mango curry to lift up the spirits on such days. My MIL makes it often in the mango season, and stores it in the fridge. And it’s irresistible taste makes anyone with no mood to eat, change their decision and eat some rice with it! And well, it goes great with dosas, rotti, etc too.

Raw Mango Gravy(Raw Mango Gravy)

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : 15 - 20 min Makes : A bowlful of gojju Shelf life : ~ 1 week, if refrigerated Ingredients: Raw Mango - 2- 3 medium sized, sour variety Red chilies - 10 -12, byadagi variety (use Guntur variety for spicier version) Curry leaves - 10 - 15 Fenugreek seeds - ¾ tsp Sesame seeds - 1 tsp Urad dal - 2 tsp Coconut - 1 cup, grated Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Turmeric - a small pinch Jaggery - 2-3 big marble sized lumps Salt - 1 tsp, vary acc to taste For tempering: Cooking oil - 2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Sesame seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 15-20 Method: • Cut the raw mangoes into ½ inch pieces. Peel off the husk if it is too thick or bitter; else it can be retained • In a thick bottomed pan, heat the oil and add chopped mango pieces and turmeric • Sauté it for a while and cook the mango on low to medium flame for 5 to 10 minutes, or till it is cooked soft. Stir occasionally. • Meanwhile, in a separate pan, dry roast urad dal, fenugreek seeds, sesame seeds, red chilies and curry leaves for 1-2 minutes till they become aromatic and golden brown • Allow to cool slightly and grind the roasted spices with grated coconut, salt and jaggery, adding water if required • Add this ground paste to the cooked mangoes, and bring it to a gentle boil • Add water to maintain gravy-like consistency • Put off the flame after a couple of minutes of boiling For tempering • Heat oil in a small skillet • Add mustard seed and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves and stir till they become crisp • Add sesame seeds and switch off the flame after a few seconds; Do not allow the sesame to get overly fried • Transfer this tempering to the gravy prepared • Serve with rice or akki rotti or dosa, etc Tips n Tricks: • Choose sour mangoes for better taste • This gojju / gravy can cooled and refrigerated in a container, so that it stays for about a week Variations: • The same can be tried with green chilies too.

Mangalore bajji : Back after a break with Spongy Goli Baje

No no! I had not forgotten that I have a food blog that I had thought I should update at least once a week. Nor did I have nothing to blog about. But just that I had temporarily lost interest to blog anything! In fact I had lost interest to do anything at all!

Not that I did not cook at all, but all I managed to cook was some mundane rice, rasam, or some palya and chapathi. Neither did I have interest to eat anything exciting, nor to cook, let alone blog it!

Well, blame Dee for this condition on mine. He was away for two weeks, and well, nothing seemed to interest me without him! Hmmmmm..... this may sound a little too crazy, but that’s what it was. I had planned to do a lot of things that I had not found time for, during is absence. Like painting a couple of sketches, blogging all the recipes for which the material is ready, sorting the thousands of photos, going shopping, inviting friends home for a meal, hmmmmm... the list just goes on. And ask me what all I did among the listed ones, and there’s nothing I can claim I did, except to finish reading a book that I had started.
And food was my least priority these two weeks, be it cooking, eating or blogging!

Anyways, he is back in town now, and I am back to cooking and blogging! Check out this wonderful snack - spongy yet crispy Goli baje, or Mangalore bajji as we call it. The crunchy coconut pieces in between the spongy bajjis make it a great snack, which anyone is sure to indulge in! And what’s more? It’s real simple to make!

Goli Baje

Preparation time : 10 min, apart from resting time Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Maida - 1 cup Sour curd - ¾ cup Buttermilk - ¼ cup Green chilies - 3-4, finely chopped Coriander leaves - 2 tsp, finely chopped Curry leaves - 10-12 leaves, finely chopped Ginger - 1” cube, grated Coconut - 2 tsp, cut into small pieces Cooking Soda - 1 pinch Salt - ½ - ¾ tsp, depending on taste Oil for frying Method: • Mix Maida in sour curd, to form a sticky batter, with no lumps • Keep aside for 30 min to 1 hr • Heat oil in a frying pan • While the oil is getting heated, add finely chopped chilies, coriander leave, curry leaves, ginger, a pinch of cooking soda and salt to the maida batter • If the paste is too thick, mix in a little more curd or buttermilk • Make round balls of about 1 inch diameter, and deep fry, 4-5 at a time • Turn around in between, ensuring it is evenly done to a golden brown color • Take out from oil and place on a kitchen towel so that the extra oil is absorbed • Serve hot with chutney / sauce Variations: • A small onion can be chopped and added

Mango Mania : Seekarane - A sweet mango relish

What’s the best thing about Summer? Other than summer holidays for kids, is it not mangoes that make summer a special season?

Summers are made special starting from the tangy, sour, raw mangoes of various varieties, to the ripe, juicy, sweet mangoes. With all the health benefits added to it, it surely deserves to be called the King of Fruits. It sure is a comfort food. Mangoes really can make one feel better! The heat of summer can be forgotten momentarily when having mangoes - be it the raw ones with salt and chili powder, or ripe and juicy ones, or any dish prepared from it!

There are many many regional cuisines prepared using this King of Fruits. Each has its own uniqueness and specialty. And the best part of it is that it makes you crave for more! So why not dedicate a special series for this king of fruits?

Let’s start with Seekarane - a Karnataka specialty using ripe mangoes, which can be had as an accompaniment with chapathi / poori / dosa, or just as a dessert. It’s a simple and easy recipe, with very few ingredients but still makes you feel great after having a bowl of it.

At home, it’s usually my FIL (yes, you read it right!) who makes it. He is very fond of this fruit and usually chops the fruits and makes it ready, and all of us savor it!

Here's how you make it.......

Mango Seekarane

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : Nil Serves : 4-5 Ingredients: Mangoes - 3-4 medium sized, any variety Bananas - 1-2, preferably elakki variety Milk - 1 cup, chilled Sugar - 1-2 Tbsp, depending on whether the mangoes are sweet or sour Honey - 1 Tbsp, optional Cardamom - 3-4 Method: • Peel and cut the mangoes into ½ inch pieces • Scrape out the pulp and juice sticking to the seed • Cut bananas into small pieces and mix with the mango pieces and pulp • Add milk, sugar and/or honey • Crush the cardamoms and add • Mix thoroughly • Pour into small bowls and refrigerate if needed • Serve as dessert, or as accompaniment with chapathis/pooris/dosas Tips n Tricks: • Adjust the quantity of sugar / honey based on how sweet / sour the mangoes are Variations: • Sugar or honey can both be added or one of them can be chosen - both give different tastes • Bananas can be omitted

Mango-facts:
• The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia
• The name mango is ultimately from the Tamil mangai and was loaned into Portuguese in the early 16th century as manga, from where the Portuguese passed into English.
• Mangoes account for approximately fifty percent of all tropical fruits produced worldwide.
• India is the largest producer of Mangoes
• Alphonso, grown exclusively in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, which is considered among the best mangoes in the Southern states of India is named after Afonso De Albuquerque who reputedly brought the fruit on his journeys to Goa
• Mango is rich in a variety of phytochemicals and nutrients that qualify it as a model "superfruit", a term used to highlight potential health value of certain edible fruits.
• Mangoes are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C, as well as a good source of Potassium and contain beta carotene.
• Mangoes are high in fiber, but low in calories (approx. 110 per average sized mango), fat (only 1 gram) and sodium.
Source of facts: http://www.freshmangos.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango