Kai Kriye

"Kai Kriye" is the new blog I have been working on for a few days now. I came up with this idea to showcase my art work.This blog will include creativity of different kinds starting from a very simple painting to intricate and complex fine art. More about this blog and the contents will be updated soon. How do u like the color combinations on the blog ?

Kai Kriye ( "Kai" in kannada means "hand" and "Kriye" means "work")

All your inputs and comments are appreciated.

Note: Thanks Vasu (my elder sister) for suggesting the lovely name for this blog.

AKKI ROTTI WITH GRATED KOHLRABI, CARROT AND ONION (RICE FLOUR ROTTI)

By popular demand, I am today posting the recipe of Akki rotti. Akki rotti is one of the most delicious breakfasts. Many of whom I know, say its very tedious to make when you have a lot of people at home. Thats very true. Although I still love making it. But this is one breakfast item thats very very fast and can be made with just about any vegetable at home. Today i used Kohlrabi (Navilkosu in kannada, ganth gobi in hindi) , carrot and onion.

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 3 cups
Jeera-2tspns
Green chilles (chopped)- 3
Grated carrot- 1 or 2
Grated kohlrabi-2

Onion - 1 chopped finely

Curry leaves chopped-2tspn
Coriander leaves-½ Cup
Coconut- 2tblspns
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Use a broad vessel to make the dough. Add the flour, vegetables, rest of the ingredients.

2. Take 2 cups of water but dont add it completely. Like how we use water for making chapathi dough, in the same way keep adding little water and mix the dough.
3. The dough should be of such consistency as in it should be easy to pat on the pan. Dont make it watery nor too hard.
4. Next take a non-stick pan, add 2 - 3 drops of oil , spread the oil with your hand throughout the pan.

5. Now take the dough about the size of a small orange and pat it on the pan, nice and uniform. If incase the dough sticks to your hand use little water or oil to pat it.
6. Once you are done , make a small hole in the middle of the rotti using your finger tip. This is done to pour oil in the middle, so it spreads to the middle portion of the rotti.
7. If you want to make small rottis like the one in the picture, then take a lemon sized dough to pat in the pan. These small ones are good to attract children and a good one to go with coffee too.

8. Once you are done, switch on the gas and place the pan. Drizzle oil on the sides and in the middle and close it with a lid to cook.
9. Cook one side of the rotti and then reverse to the other side and close the lid.
10. Once its done, serve with ghee and raw coconut chutney, or chutney pudi(powder) or with sambhar. Always have it hot!!!!
11. To make the next rotti simply immerse the hot tava in running tap water. It does surely make some frightening noise but nevertheless the fastest way to make another rotti because the pan has to be completely cooled down to use it again. If you have two non- stick pans, it becomes even more easier.

You can make 2 rottis simultaneously. Nothing happens to the pan when you run it under tap water because i have been doing this for 5½ yrs now and I am still using the same non-stick pan! So go ahead and try it out!

You can make this rotti with onion, carrot, capsicum, cucumber, raddish and many more vegetables. I will surely include more varieties of akki rottis in the future. Meanwhile try this and enjoyyyyy!

Another entry to SRIVALLI'S ROTI MELA!!!!!!!!!!

MINT LAYERED ( LACHHA ) PARATHAS

OK. Let me honest here. I have been having so many of these recipes prepared , clicked and nicely tucked away in many folders on my computer. I thought it was high time I sent in all these recipes when I read about Srivalli's Roti mela. Parathas have always been my fav breakfast ever since my very good punjabi friend Vaishali introduced me to them. Not that I never ate one all my life:-) but just that I was used to different kinds like the ones made in south india. This is the way she makes them every day at home and I am so thankful to her for showing me how to prepare these plain lachha parathas (layered parathas). I use the same method for all parathas except for the stuffed ones. Vaishali, this is to you my dear friend!

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups

To fry and grind:

Mint (Pudina) leaves - 1 bunch

Green chillies - 3 to 4

Garlic - 2 cloves

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tspn

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tspns

Preparation:

1. Fry all the ingredients mentioned above with oil starting from cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, green chillies and finally mint leaves. Fry till the leaves shrink and then add salt and allow it cool. Grind this fried mixture.

2. Prepare the dough by mixing wheat flour, salt, 1 tspn Oil and the ground mixture. Mix the dough first without any water and then keep adding little as and when required. Take care not to make it too soft.

3. Once the dough is ready. Divide the dough in to equal portions of round balls. Take the first one and flatten it to a small circle using a rolling pin. Add ½ tspn oil in the middle of the dough and spread it.

4. Using a knife, make a small cut from the centre as shown in the picture.

5. Fold the dough in the form of a cone from the cut end.

6. Once you fold, you will end up with a cone. Flatten as shown in the picture and stick the cut ends.

7. Now roll it again. This will give you the desired layers.

8. Heat a flat non- stick pan, fry on both the sides with ghee till they turn slightly brown on both the sides. Serve hot with chutney, yoghurt, dhal or pickles.

The smell of mint leaves oozing out of the parathas is just heavenly!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is one of my 3 entries to SRIVALL'S ROTI MELA!!!!!

BEET ROOT PARATHA

This one's my daughter parnika's favourite paratha. It's one of the easiest breakfast, lunch or dinner recipe one can think of. Serve it along with pickle, yoghurt (curd), dhal just about anything, it really is awesome.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups

Beetroot - 2-3 (grated)

Fresh ginger - garlic paste - 1 tspn of each

Green chillies - 3-4 (finely chopped)

Red chilli powder - 1 tspn

Dhania powder- 1 tspn

Jeera powder - 1 tspn

Jeera- 1 tspn

Turmeric powder- 1 tspn

Garam masala powder- 1 tspn

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves - 1 tbl spn (finely chopped)

Oil - 2 tspns

Preparation:

1. Take Oil in a non - stick pan, add jeera , allow it to splutter.

2. Add ginger - garlic paste, green chillies, turmeric powder, fry well.

3. Now add the grates beet roots and fry well. Add jeera powder, dhania and red chilli powders. fry well.

4. Add just about ½ cup of water, add salt and cook well by covering with a lid for 8-10 mins.

5. When all the water is absorbed, add garam masala powder, coriander leaves and mix well.

6. Turn off the stove and allow it cool down.

7. Prepare the dough by mixing wheat flour, Oil (1 tbl spn)with the cooled beet root mixture, add little more salt because when you mix flour to the beet root mixture, it might just not be enough.

8. Roll the dough using a rolling pin (method: refer pudina paratha). Heat a flat non - stick pan on medium flame, fry the paratha on one side first.

9. Flip to the other side after 2 mins. Flip one or two times more on either sides. Serve hot by spreading ghee (clarified butter) on both the sides.

This is again an entry to SRIVALLI'S ROTI MELA!!!!!

KOLKATTAI

My Paati was always acknowledged for her remarkable cooking and stringent disciplinary guidelines. Her Guests, relatives, friends and even her neighbours never went home hungry or even empty handed. Such was her generosity. She hated wasting food and always ensured untold ways to cook vegetables and ended up making delicacies. While most of us discard the peel of a veggie even now not knowing its nutrition facts, there was my paati who was so resourceful and innovative in utilizing the same and making the food healthier and tastier. She was very enterprising and cooked a meal of variety for around 30 people in a jiffy. One of her trademark dish is the “yummy and healthy Kolakattai”. This can be made spicy as well as sweet too. Today I am bringing to you the “Spicy kolakattai".

Ingredients:

Black gram (uddin bele/urad dhal) – 1 cup (soak for 4 hrs)
Rice – 3/4th cup (soak for 4-5 hrs)
Crushed pepper - 2 tspns
Coriander leaves - 1 tblspn (chopped)
Ginger - grated ½ inch piece
Bengal gram – 1 tbl spn (soaked for 1 hr)
One big plantain leaf

Preparation:

1. Grind black gram and rice separately and mix them with salt. Add rest of the ingredients only when you are ready to make the kolkattai.

2. Take a rectangle plantain leaf. Spread a few drops of oil and pour 1 laddle of the batter.

Plaintain Tree Photo courtesy: Arjun, My brother-in-law clicked this when we went to Fruit garden in Malaysia.

3. Make many more such rectangle strips of the leaf and arrange them all in the cooker vessel smeared with little oil.

4. Place them in cooker and steam it for 15 mins.

5. Check if it’s done by inserting a knife. Serve hot with Roasted coconut chutney (Hurdhidha kayi chutney)

NOTE: Dont be disappointed if you feel that you might not get these leaves outside India. For people in europe, most of the chinese stores have these leaves. You have to search them in the greens section. They use it to steam fish in them. For people in USA, my sister who lives told me its available in most indian stores. So go ahead try this recipe!

ROASTED COCONUT CHUTNEY (Hurdhidha Kayi Chutney)

Ingredients:

Coconut - ½ cup
Green chillies - 3
Ginger - ½ inch piece
Tamarind – small piece
Mustard – 1 tspn
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Take oil in a small pan and add mustard. Allow it to splutter. Then add chillies, coconut, ginger, and tamarind. Fry for 2-3 mins. Cool it and grind them all and add salt to it. You can temper this with oil and black gram.