What you need

Fresh carrots – 2 medium sized; peeled, grated or shredded

Lime or lemon Juice – about a table spoon

For the seasoning –

2 teaspoons of oil

¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon of uddina bele/urad daal or split black lentils

1 or ½ green chilly chopped fine

Salt to taste

Fresh coriander and curry leaves cleaned, use it as you would like to have it – coarsely chopped, whole or fine chopped.

Heat oil in a seasoning ladle and make the seasoning, take care not to burn the ingredients, ensure the mustard has crackled and the lentils are done not burnt. Transfer this seasoning in a mixing bowl. Add the grated carrots, salt to taste and the lemon juice. Mix thoroughly but gently.

Kosambri is ready.

For variety and spice

One can add freshly grated coconut to the kosambri. About 3 table spoons of grated coconuts will do for 2 medium sized carrots.

Bits of cucumber and tomato too go great but only it will not remain carrot kosambri!

Add a pinch of asofoetida to the seasoning if you like it.

Raita can be made by mixing Kosambri with curds. Make sure you beat the curds well and add roasted jeera powder for this.

A couple of tablespoons of hesarbele / dhuli moong daal or split yellow lentils can be used. Soak the lentils in water after washing them. This can be combined with the kosambri after the lentils have been soaked for at least 45 minutes. Ensure to drain the water thoroughly before combining with the carrot.

See to it that this is done fresh and consumed fresh. If consumed late the carrots will go limp and there will be plenty of leached juices.

To save time, assemble the kosambri without the salt and lemon juice. Mix in the salt and lemon juice about 10 minutes before serving.

What you’ll need –

A good handful of red chillies preferably Byadgi chillies

Garlic 5-6 cloves, can increase garlic cloves if you like it strong.

Salt to taste

Lemon juice to taste

A cup of hot water

Method –

Soak red chillies in hot water overnight. Or soak them for 4-5 hours at least.

Drain the water and blend it to a smooth paste along with the garlic and salt.

It is ideal to work with a mortar and pestle, a mixer grinder will work just fine, and the texture too will be fine!!!

It should be well ground but not to fine.

Mix in the lemon juice and stir well.

Store it in a porcelain bowl or glass bowl. Refrigerate this.

This has a shelf life of a couple of weeks, provided it is stored in dry and damp free conditions.

For variety and spice

Make seasoning – a vaggarne or tempering combining oil, mustard, jeera and if you like it really fiery add slit green chillies too.

Mix in coarsely chopped onion cucumber and tomato to make a salad by itself

Lemon can be replaced by tamarind, only see that the tamarind pulp is boiledand cooled before combining it in.

Add jaggery to taste to make this chutney a tangy accompaniment.

Indeed this is the kind of meal that gives satisfaction, contentment to thousands of people.

It does take skill to prepare “Ragi Mudde” in the true traditional fashion. However there is a procedure to do it otherwise and yes there is no compromise and it just tastes as good. It is very satisfying, that is the process of preparation, the process of relishing it.

What you need:

Ragi flour – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Oil or Ghee – 2 tea spoons

Salt – to taste

Method :

In about one cup of water mix 1 teaspoon of the ragi flour. In a heavy bottomed utensil put the remaining water, to it add the ragi flour and water stir well. Put this mixture to boil. Add salt and oil/ghee. In the remaining water mix the remaining ragi powder ensuring no lumps are there.

Once the water comes to a boil, pour the remaining water and flour mixture. from this point constantly keep stirring this mixture. This will continue to form one uniform mass. Turn the flame low and continue to stir. Once all the flour has become one mass and it starts to leave the sides of the utensil sprinkle some water, just about a table spoon. Close the lid of the utensil and leave it for about 3 – 4 minutes.

Turn off the stove and stir the mixture. Make portions of this mixture one at a time. Wet your palms and shape these portions into shape of your choice, traditionally it is shaped round like a ball. This has to be done when the mixture is still hot.

This can be relished hot with a strong tasting accompaniment with a generous dollop of ghee. Traditionally accompaniments are of gravy consistency, can be thick of thin.

If one chooses to have it cold it can be had with butternilk and pickle of choice.

Remember the “mudde” is bland by itself.

Morsels of the mudde are not chewed actually, the accompaniment is  a tasty coat to the morsel and acts as a lubricant too to enable to swallow it.

I had few lemons remaining with me and when I got no one to take them I made this stock pickle and it was with ginger and it was a super-duper hit on campus. This pickle created a homely atmosphere away from home to many of us.

Lemon pickle – simply classic

(For lime or lemons)

For pickling 500 grams of lemon you’ll require 750 grams of lemons

For the stock pickle you’ll need:

Lemons 750 grams

Salt – about 10 Tbsps

Red Chilly powder – 6 Tbsps heaped

Turmeric powder – 4 Tbsps heaped

One clean wide-mouthed bottle with a well-fitting cap.

A wide glass bowl will be ideal to make this, next in order of preference can be given to a plastic bowl (food grade) and only next option is a stainless steel bowl.

A lemon press, one other container to press the lemon juice into.

Do not store pickles in plastic. Glass bottles or ceramic jars are always the best.

Method:

Clean the lemons thoroughly and wipe them, or else lay them on an absorbent cloth. Caution must be taken not to soak lemons in water for long; this will cause the loss of aromatic oils.

Cut the lemons, for the pickle 500 grams. If lemons are small then make only quarters. If lemons are large make 8 pieces from every lemon. Make halves, then quarters and halves of the quarters. This is an ideal size for serving.

Make halves of the remaining 250 grams of lemons.

Collect the juice of halved lemons in a container with a teaspoon of salt.

In  a wide bowl combine the lemon pieces with turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt.

After thorough mixing transfer the contents into the jar. Pour the pressed lemon juice on top of it. Close the jar and leave it in a cool dark place.

After a day use a dry ladle and stir the pickle in the jar. This day one can check the sharpness and the chilly of the pickle and adjust it according one’s taste. It can be corrected accordingly.

To make the pickle more sour or tangy add more lemon juice, and salt must be added along with it.

In case of chilly powder in it then add to it lemons and lemon juice and salt to even it out.

Store in a dark well ventilated clean spot.

This can be refrigerated too.

It is ready to be used in a week’s time.

If one finds it too sour or sharp then add about a table-spoon of fenugreek seeds, stir well with a dry ladle and let it sit for a week.

This like I‘ve said before is a classic pickle that can be had like this plain by itself and can also be used as a stock.

For more variety and spice

Fine strips or pieces of ginger, bitter gourd, carrots green chilies can be added to the stock few days before consumption. This pickle must be refrigerated.

A tempering made of mustard, asafoetida and curry leaves in oil of your choice can be mixed with it.

Do this in small batches, like for one round of the service bowl, else the oil in tempering and the lemon aroma splits and the pickle does not smell well after few days.

Good rice, preferably polished less – 1 cup

Jaggery/brown sugar – ¾ cup or according to taste. Jaggery must be crushed/powdered

Water – 2½ cups that of the rice.

Ghee or clarified butter – 3 Tbsp. If you enjoy clarified butter make it 5 Tbsp

For flavouring – ½ Tsp. of either cardamom or clove ground coarsely not crushed or cinnamon ground fine.

The method:

Clean and wash rice.

Bring to boil 2 ½ cups of water in a thick bottomed utensil.

Add rice to the boiling water.

Bring the contents to a boil.

Turn heat to a simmer and put a lid on.

Once the rice grains are almost done add the jaggery and a tbsp of ghee stir well.

Continue to stir occasionally until the jaggery and rice blend well into each other.

In a little tempering ladle heat the remaining ghee, add the ½ tsp of the chosen aromatic.

Swirl the ladle gentle and turn off the heat.

Once the milled aromatic particles bloom in the hot ghee, pour it to the cooking rice and blend.

Add a little more ghee at this point if you please. Ready when rice is cooked well.

Enjoy it hot, can be relished cold too.

For variety and spice –

*        Add milk to get desired taste.

*        Season with nuts of choice and raisins.

Nuts fried in clarified butter or toasted dry. Raisins deep fried in clarified butter