Uthapam/Uthappa

Ingredients:

4 cups idli rice
1 cup urad dal (black gram dal)
1 cup poha (beaten rice)
a few methi (fenugreek seeds)
1 large red onion, chopped
1"ginger, chopped fine
3-4 green chillies, chopped fine
coriander leaves, chopped
salt to taste
oil

How it's made:

Soak rice, urad dal, poha and methi for 6 hrs. Grind and keep it covered overnight (about 8 hrs) to ferment.
Mix onion, ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat "polya kayli", tava or iron skillet and spread a little oil. Add salt to the batter. Pour a ladleful of batter to make a thick pancake. Add a little of the chopped onion mixture and drizzle a few drops of oil.

Cover and let it cook for a few mins. Carefully flip over and let it cook on the other side until onions are light brown. Serve hot with chutney/sambar.

Alternate toppings - Tomatoes, green peppers can be added to the onion.

Kori Roti (Chicken In Coconut Milk) - Mangalorean Bunt Style

Chicken is known as "Kori" in Tulu, a language spoken by Bunt community. "Roti" is made of rice to look like dry crisps. They are soaked in gravy before consuming. This dish is very popular in Mangalore, Udupi and surrounding areas and served at almost every restaurant in Coastal Karnataka. Back home, Amma always made it with grated fresh coconut. Coconut was ground for a few minutes to extract thick and thin coconut milk. Chicken was cooked with spices and thin milk. Thick coconut milk was added just before seasoning. Growing up we used to buy Roti from the local stores. I still go by Amma's recipe but in order to save time I use a can of coconut milk. Although, no one is a big fan of "Roti", I serve it with Shevai/jeera rice/white rice/roti/appam. These days "Kori Roti" masala is readily available at most stores in Coastal Karnataka. I do buy a few packets and save them for last minute dinner parties.

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken, skinless (preferably with bone)
8 red chillies
6 cloves garlic
2" ginger
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
3/4 tsp methi seeds (fenugreek)
8 cloves
2"cinnamon
1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1/2 tsp pepper corns
4 medium sized onions
marble sized tamarind
1 sprig curry leaves
1 can coconut milk

How it's made:

Clean, cut chicken into medium size pieces. In a little oil, roast one ingredient at a time- red chillies, coriander seeds, jeera, methi, cloves, cinnamon, pepper corns. Set aside. Chop one onion & fry it with chopped ginger & garlic. Combine roasted spices with onions/garlic, tamarind & grind to a fine paste.
In the meantime, cook chicken with 2 chopped onion & haldi. When half cooked, add ground masala paste. Cover & cook on medium high heat. Do not add water.
In a shallow pan, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add 1 finely chopped onion & curry leaves. Fry until golden brown.
To the cooked chicken, add a can of coconut milk. Adjust salt. Boil for 5 mins. Season with fried onion & curry leaves.
Curry tastes a lot better the next day.

Serves: 4-6

Bhindi/ Bhenda Upkari (Lady's finger/Okra stir fry)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lady's finger,both ends cut and cut into 1"pieces
2 dried red chillies, cut into 2 pieces
1/2 tsp sasam, (black mustard seeds)
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

How it's made:

Wash lady's finger before cutting them into pieces. In a "Kayli" or non stick pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add red chillies. Then add lady's finger, lemon juice and salt. Cover and cook on medium high flame until tender. Adjust seasoning. Serve with plain white rice and dalitoy for a heart warming Konkani meal.

Serves: 2-3

Trifle

This dessert is simple, easy and doesn't need a lot to time to put together. I have made this several times during gatherings and it has been a hit every single time. Pound cake or yellow cake can be used for this recipe which can be baked at home or purchased from the store. Most of the time, I bake cake for trifles with store bought cake mix. To save time, store bought ready to eat jello as well as vanilla pudding can be substituted for this recipe. I used cherry flavored jello since we have a cherry fanatic in the house- cherry pies, cherry pop tarts, cherry ice cream, cherry flavored candy...and the cherry list goes on!

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix
1- 1.85oz vanilla instant pudding mix
1- 1.4oz boxed jello
1 1/2 cup milk, cold
1 tsp ground cinnamon powder
1- 15oz can mandarin oranges,drained
4-5 strawberries, sliced
2-3 tbsp cool whip,thawed

How it's made:

Follow instruction on box for yellow cake & jello. Cut cake into cubes or strips. Cut jello into cubes. Mix in vanilla instant pudding with milk and cinnamon. Stir well to avoid lumps. Once smooth add in cool whip. Whisk well and set aside.
In a glass bowl, place a layer of cake slices. Cover cake with pudding. I like to spread a thin glue like layer to keep the dessert light. Layer jello cubes, mandarin oranges and strawberry slices. Continue layering to finish the top layer with pudding.

Top with jello cubes and oranges. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Serves: 8