Masala Shavige uppittu/ Masala Semiya Bath

Masala shavige bath is a nice alternative for regular shavige uppittu. No rice, reduced oil, mild masala taste, healthy crunch of the vegetables will make it a healthy indulgence. Increase the fat content and you got yourself an extraordinary potluck recipe. 
Try it, you’ll fall in love with it. 

My cousin Archana gave me this recipe. 

Mangalore Buns

Until now, every New Year, I felt like it was only yesterday that I was wishing everybody for the previous New Year, and another year is here already. But this year, it didn’t feel so. It felt like a looooong year. It made me wonder why. Then I had an aha-moment. 

This year I was relatively free! Not physically. I was going on trips, socializing, meeting up with friends quite often and everything. But mentally, I wasn’t occupied(or preoccupied) with anything. I was free!

The thing is, my daughter started full time school in the beginning of the year. Since then, I was planning on doing so much for myself during the year... but nothing happened. Absolutely nothing!! Not that I didn’t try. But there were absolutely no results for whatever little effort I put! After getting frustrated, disappointed, irritated for the whole year, I’m finally beginning to accept that may be the timing is just not right! But God, why give me the illusion that everything is under my control when really, it’s not! 

So anyways, what I am trying to say here with all this is - whenever your wishes are fulfilled, or you are busy doing things that you want ->you are happy ->your years seem shorter. Whenever your wishes are not fulfilled-> or you are busy with the things that you don't want to do -> you feel sad and years seem longer!! 

This was my ‘aha’ moment :)

I know it’s rather late to be wishing for New Year, but still a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to everybody!!! Happy Makara Sankranthi!! May your years seem shorter!!! :D

Coming to the recipe - 

Mangalore Buns is a like a sweet poori made with maida flour. A savory version of this batter would be used for Goli Baje/ Mangalore bajji. It is mostly popular in coastal Karnataka region. 

It is served with Vegetable Korma in hotels; it tastes great just like that too. 

Seemebadnekayi Kootu/ Chayote Kootu

I really like vegetable and dal combo in a kootu. Especially when the dal is not all the way cooked. And especially-especially when the vegetable is something which I like, like Seemebadnekayi(Chayote). I like the mild sour taste of Chayote.. It goes well in saagu, bisi bele bath - basically any mixed vegetable dish, or in any dish that requires a mild sour taste without the use of any lemon/tamarind - like kootus and majjige hulis.

Turn the spice up a notch and enjoy this kootu with some hot rice and some coconut oil/ghee in this cold weather.

It’s a great side dish for chapathi as well.

Godi Dose/Wheat Dosa - an easy alternative for those who cannot make chapathis

are your chapathi making skills below average?

are you embarrassed to serve them to your guests?

does your chapathi dry up like papad once it comes in contact with air?

fear not! godi dose is here!

My chapathi making skills are questionable. Not getting a round shape is the least of my problems. For some reason, my chapathis come out unbelievably dry... like say, if you threw my chapathi in the air, it would fly without flapping or folding like a frisbee :)

I know, I'm exaggerating! I kid.. It's not so bad(...anymore :) ). Friends, family, all have come to my rescue - there is considerable improvement, but still it's not quite there yet. And when it does, it's going to be an eureka moment for me!

Until then, try this godi dose, or as my daughter calls it - chapathi dose. 

It’s a soft alternative to chapathis. It tastes the same, but has a soft texture, and takes less than half the time you would take to make chapathis.

Benne Biscuit/ Butter Cookies

It was time of the season again for the function at my daughter’s school. Again, I signed up for dessert for the potluck. After gaining confidence from last time, I decided to bake “benne biscuit” this time.. 

More than that, there was another reason why I wanted to try this particular recipe. I soooo wanted to put it up here for such a long time now. I was just looking for an excuse to make it. You see, this was the first thing I ever baked! I was not even into browsing through food blogs then... this was the recipe that got me hooked onto food blogs(and eventually onto cooking, for that matter).. this is a very special recipe to me. If at all I receive any award for food blogging, I would mention "this is how it all started..." in my thank you speech - that kinda special :D 


Benne bisuit has always been my favorite bakery item. This one doesn’t exactly taste like the ones available in India. This recipe uses ghee. Apparently, they use dalda in India to get that soft, powdery texture.

These cookies taste more like butter cookies. They have a crunch in them.

The procedure is fairly easy and it is a great item to take for a potluck.

Aloogadde Sasime / Potato Raita with a twist

“Sasime/Sasive” is basically a variation of raita, popular in coastal Karnataka region. It is raita flavored with some masala-coconut gravy. The addition of coconut takes ordinary raita to a whole new level.. 

I love sasime, especially the one made with potato. I think potato’s blandness gives a nice contrast to the tangy gravy. 

And it’s really, really, really easy to make..

Ragi Dose

After having my daughter, I have suddenly transformed into a health freak. By health freak, I don’t mean I’ve become more health conscious(that’s an uphill task - a steep one at that!), just that I’m more aware of what I’m cooking for my family - healthy/junk food wise. These days whenever someone tells me about a healthy food, I always try to incorporate it in our regular menu, irrespective of our likeliness towards it. Then comes another uphill battle of convincing my daughter to eat it. Well, not “convincing” exactly, it’s more like - I put so much effort in feeding you healthy stuff, you better eat it without any ‘nakhara’. Sometimes I need to extend this “convincing” to my husband as well, that’s a different story.. :)

Anyways, when my friend Roopa told me this ragi dosa recipe, I was really excited to try it out. Even though I myself am not very fond of taste of ragi, I am willing to overlook it considering the power-pack nutrition it offers..  

But this dosa tastes good. It tastes almost like uddina dose(regular urad dal dosa). Whatever the taste, you just cannot ignore the nutrition part of raagi...  

And of course, it’s easy to make :)