Spicy Coconut powder / Kobari podi / Kobari Karam (Low Carb, Keto friendly)

Hello all,

Been a long time I posted here. I was checking when I posted last and it was back in 2013. Wow! 5 years have gone by so fast. Anyways, a lot a happened in these 5 years majorly this year. I have changed my "way of eating" to low carb and keto. I mainly follow keto with intermittent fasting most of the days of the week. I have seen a lot of change in myself, but that would be a story for some other day! 

Since I am Indian and cannot stay away from Indian foods, what better than making it Indian keto! Yes I eat Indian most of the days and like to experiment with other cuisines as well.

So here we go! Starting my "back to blogging" with an easy low carb, keto friendly recipe called Coconut powder or kobari podi, without the addition of any dal, lentils or pappulu. But this is the way I always make it, my mom made it and this is the way I like it! So this recipe is not new to me but the realization that it's keto friendly has dawned on after I started the diet!

Coconut oil or dried coconut in some quantities can and should be added to our daily diet. Coconut has many nutritional benefits like Manganese, dietary fiber, copper( for production of blood cells, and selenium in major quantities.

Below are the nuritional facts for dried coconut. It has 6.3g Net carbs for 10g but remember we don't eat the whole 10g or and it has other ingredients added, which makes the Net carbs even lower. Remember when on a diet or trying to eat healthy, it's about what you eat and how much you eat.

So back to the recipe.

Ingredients -

1 1/2 cup dry dessicated coconut (unsweetened)

6-8 garlic pods (the more you add, the more garlicky it's going to be)

1 tbsp jeera or cumin seeds

20-25 dry red chili (the more you add, the more spicy it is, I like it spicy! If you want to tone it down or kick it up a notch, add how much you want)

Salt to taste

Method of preparation -

Dry roast jeera and red chili till they are aromatic.

Once it is cool, grind garlic, jeera and red chili. Then add the dry coconut and grind till everything is well ground and incorporated. 

Enjoy with any food with a dollop of ghee. It can also be enjoyed with hot rice. It also can be topped on any stir fries to give a spicy coconutty flavor. 

So this recipe is an all-rounder, keto or low carb or regular food, enjoy as you wish!

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Homemade Rasam powder

Rasam is a tangy and sour soup which is mainly South Indian. though South Indian, there are many types and versions of how its made.

I love having hot hot fresh rasam in a glass before my meal. It just feels very refreshing and comforting.
Rasam is usually eaten with rice, by mixing it with rice. Since it is thin, it can also be consumed as soup, when you are sick or not! :)

Rasam as it itself doesn't have much nutritional value, but its heartwarming and comfort food at it best.
All the value to rasam comes from what goes into the rasam powder and all the extras that can be added to it.

There are many many versions of making homemade rasam powder. This recipe here is the type we make at home. Very simple and easy to make.
Freshly made rasam powder tastes so much better than the store bought ones. But surely the store bought ones are a good substitute, but still not as good.

Again rasam powder is made differently in different parts of India, mainly South India as it is more popular with the South Indians.


Extra black pepper powder or added ginger makes it good for coughs and colds.
Extra jeera or cumin seeds and pepper powder is good for digestion.
Adding carom seeds or vamu also makes it good for colds and digestion.


Rasam makes a good pairing with masala curries, so that it makes it easy for digesting all the masala that it eaten.
That's why I make it usually when I make it with any masala curries or mainly with any non-veg dishes.



Ingredients:

1/4 cup Toor dal, khandi pappu, heaped
1/4 cup coriander seeds, dhaniya
1 tbsp jeera, cumin seeds
1 tsp Black Peppercorns, Miriyalu
1 tsp Methi seeds, menthulu

Method:

Grind all the ingredients together into a powder, It doesn't have to be totally fine, it can be coarse too.
Extra ingredients like garlic, dry red chilies or dry curry leaves can also be added.
You don't need to roast this. Just directly powder it.
Use it in flavoring your favorite rasams.
Enjoy!!!

Check out my previous posts where I used Rasam Powder-

Lemon Tomato Rasam
Vamu Rasam

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Dhaniyalu Pappulu podi / Coriander and Lentil Powder

When ever my Mom or my MIL is here they used to make all the podis, garam masalas and pachadis for me. But these days I try to make them myself and learned that they are not very difficult to make.
This is a recipe I got from my MIL. Its called Dhaniyalu podi...My kids call it brown powder :)

Its a simple podi which is like a life saviour to me. My kids like to eat it with anything like idli, dosa or rice. If I give them this chapathi too...they will gladly eat it!
Since it has all the good ingredients like a masala, I even use it in flavoring rice. My younger one will eat it without making a fuss.
Whenever there is nothing much in the house...stir fry some veggies or even an egg to rice and flavor it with this powder and here you have an easy breezy dish ready in a jiffy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Chanaga pappu / Channa Dal
1/4 cup Minapa pappu / Urad dal
1/4 cup Dhaniyalu / Coriander seeds
20 dry red chilies (more or less)
2 sprigs of curry leaves

1 tbsp Jeera / Cumin seeds
6-7 cloves of garlic
1 golf ball sized tamarind / Chintapandu
Salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast Channa Dal, urad dal til they are slightly brown in color.
Add the coriander and roast them too for a minute or two.
Add the red chilies and curry leaves, roast them all together for another couple of minutes.
Let this cool before adding the cumin seeds.
Grind this along with garlic, tamarind and salt.
This can be stored for a few months in an air tight container.
Serve with idli, dosa, or upma too or with hot rice and ghee.
Enjoy!!!

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A quick twist on the regular breakfast or snack - Podi Idli - Steamed Rice cakes tossed up with delicious lentil powder

Fun time is almost here...its almost Christmas and New Year's is around the corner! More importantly school vacation is almost here and Kids will be home 24/7 for 2 weeks.
Well one more week for that to happen, but I need to get prepared before vacation starts...sound proof my ears, increase voice pitch, increase in high energy and decrease on sleep!!! Isn't that the way to go?...How much we like our kids spending a few days at home hoping that we will have a well spent vacation together with quality time, things such as above have to be taken care of ;)) We do enjoy all the things and have lots of fun in the end (by breaking up fights between brothers)....how fast do these kids grow up really...cant they slow down a bit??

So as long as they are at home, I love to cook for them, make a variety of eatables, some which they enjoy, some which I want to cook :). Keep them filled and happy.

Here is a quick and easy twist on the regular idlis, steamed rice cakes. I am sure all of us at one point of time must of ordered this in the South Indian Vegetarian restaurants, so we are familiar with it.
The recipe which is a sharing with you is surely much tastier and different from the ones you get in the restaurants, I should say much more spicier and yummier too..:)

This can be quick breakfast or a mid-day snack!!

I use the mix of Kandi podi and Dhaniyalu podi (coriander spice mix powder), but you are welcome to use which ever powder you have stocked at home.
If using only single powder, don't hesitate to add a little jeera powder and coriander powder to give it a lift in taste.
Leftover idlis are best for this prep, but if using fresh ones, use ones which are cooled down completely, to avoid them breaking apart or falling apart when tossing.

Ingredients: (for single serving)

3-4 leftover or well cooled down idlis, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 tbsp kandi podi and dhaniyalu podi mixed

1/4 red onion, sliced
2 green chillies, sliced
1/4 tsp chana dal
1/4 tsp urad dal
pinch of mustard seeds
pinch of cumin seeds
2 dry red chilies, broken
few curry leaves
chopped coriander leaves for garnish
1 tsp olive oil or if you prefer neyyi or ghee


Method:

Heat the oil in a kadai or a pan.
Start tempering with urad dal, chana dal. When they are about to turn brown, add in the mustard seeds and cumin. When they splutter add the curry leaves.
Add the onions, red chillies, green chillies and saute till they are almost translucent, but not completely!
Add the pieces of idlis along with the lentil spice mix powders or kandi podi and dhaniyalu podi. Toss the idlis so that they get completely coated with the podi.
Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and Serve!!
Enjoy with some delicious chutney or plain! Yum!!!

Linking this to Srivalli's Snacks Mela.

Linking this to Sweet Heat Challenge -Let's rock Indian on Michelle's bog!

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Simple Cluster Beans/ Guvar/ GoruChikudu fry with podi

So as days fly by and me doing nothing but reading and more reading....ya I got back into my mode of reading and when I get into that mode, I don't do anything much!....just the day to day stuff and nothing else...I don't even find time to come online or even FB!!......

And then I fall sick! A bad attack of summer cold..sniff sniff....and achchooo! looks like everyone in the house is sick with a mild form of it.....and what better time to lie on the bed and do nothing!....

Well I cant just do nothing...I have so much stuff to do....last week I couldn't perform my Varalakshmi puja...so this week Friday, I will be doing it...so have to get shopping and cleaning for the coming Friday!

Here is a simple and easy recipe for such days (the only difficult part in this is the chopping or what do you say....plucking the cluster beans into pieces by hand....you can surely use the knife, if that suits better for you! )....a simple Cluster beans fry with podi.

Here I used Kandi Podi, which I always have handy and just recently made a fresh new batch when my Mom was here....but you are welcome to use any pappula podi or even gun powder or idli podi for this dish. What the podi does is, as a new and flavorful spice taste to the curry. You can use it for any fry you make, like even bendi or eggplant or any other kind of beans too.

Don't use too much, so that it doesn't overpower the dish, just use it mildly.

Ingredients:

1 pound of cluster beans, guvar, goru Chikudu, washed and broken into 1/2 inch pieces.

1 small onion chopped

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp jeera or cumin seeds

1/4 tsp urad dal

2 dry red chilies. broken

few curry leaves

1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

pinch of turmeric

1/2 tsp - 1 tsp chili powder (suit your taste)

1 tbsp kandi podi (more or less)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp of oil

Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients. When the urad dal browns, add the red chili and curry leaves.

Add chopped onions and when they turn translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and saute a little.

Add the goru chikudu pieces along with some salt, cover and let cook until the beans are tender.

Add the red chili powder, turmeric along with kandi podi and mix well.

Saute for couple of minutes more till the beans are fully cooked. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve along with rice or chapatis.

Enjoy!!!

Tip: If you notice the beans are burning or sticking to the bottom or the pan, add a few drops of water and mix well. This will not let them burn and also cook faster.

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Belam Taalikalu / Rice Noodles in jaggery

Taalikalu are made in 2 different ways - with Belam (jaggery) and with Paalu (milk) called Paalu taalikalu.
We make this especially for Lord Vinayaka on Ganesh Chathurthi!
I learnt how to make both as Belam Taalikalu are made at my Mom's and Paalu Taalikalu are made at my MIL's. Belam Taalikalu have always been my favorite as I have been eating them from my childhood. Paalu Taalikalu do also taste good, They taste more like Payasam only with a longer process!!
Both have to be made with home made rice flour for sure. I have noticed that if you make it with the store bought rice flours, the noodles tend to break up in small pieces and the whole dish getting mushy. With freshly made rice flour, the noodles do break, , but atleast they hold their shape. Its better to use a wide bottomed pan and take care as not to mix them too much so that they don't break.
It tastes yummy when eaten topped with fresh grated coconut and drops of ghee. Therefore extra ghee and coconut are optional.
It does take a long time to make this cos, you have to roll out enough snaky noodles.
You can always grind the rice flour the previous day. When we were young, me and my siblings used to sit and make these noodles while my Mom and Granny cook the pindi vantalu for the puja Naivedhyam.
Use your judgement as to how sweet it should be and increase or decrease the amount of jaggery used. You can always add jaggery in the end if you think it's not sweet enough!

Ingredients:

2 cups Home made rice flour + extra for rolling
3 1/2 cups water + more if needed
1 1/2 cup jaggery, crumbled
Big pinch of elaichi or cardamom powder
2 tbsp ghee

Toppings:

Fresh grated coconut
few drops of ghee

Method:

Bring little more than a cup of water to boil in a wide pot. Add in the rice flour slowly, taking care that no lumps are formed. Mix well so that the rice flour gets cooked. If you think that it is too hard to stir, add in more water. It should come together nicely like chapatti dough, not too hard or too soft. This process shouldn't take much time. Let it cool down, so that now you can roll them into long snakes and keep aside.
If you have kids who love playing with play dough, get them to help you with it!:))
Now melt the jaggery in a wide bottomed pot with atleast 2 cups of water. When it starts bubbling, drop in the rolled snakes into the jaggery and mix very gently, so that they don't break. Even if the break make sure that they don't break into tiny pieces. It will thicken soon enough and then you can remove from flame, maybe in about 5 min. The consistency should be like that of payasam but more thicker since it's rice flour.
It's yummy when eaten hot or warm topped with fresh grated coconut and drops of ghee.
Serve God and Enjoy!!!

Sending this to Preeti @ Khaugiri for the 'ONLY' Festive event, started by Pari @ Foodelicious

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Manoharam - ICC August

This is the first time I ever heard about manoharam and first time tasting it too.
As I have not been in India for a long time during my childhood years, I am not privy to traditional sweets like this. So I am happy to learn new items and that too traditional dishes are soo enjoyable.
As I started making this, my Mom started telling me how this resembles Bandar Ladoo. Though Bandar Ladoo has a longer process as the murukus are again ground into powder before mixing with the jaggery and made in ladoos. They are also said to be very delectable!  Tho I don't remember eating one!!...too bad right....
These did come out really delectable and yummy!!
So here is the recipe for Manoharam for ICC, hosted by Srivalli and recipe by Lataji from Flavours and Tastes.
I followed the recipe just like it was given to us, only added fresh grated coconut in the end which was given as optional, as I had some grated coconut left in the refrigerator.
It is a little time consuming recipe, if you are going to make the rice flour the same day. Instead, make it a day ahead and it works just fine.
Other tweek I made was roasting the moong daal before making it into fine powder, it was not required in the recipe given. This also can be done a day ahead.

Making of rice flour

Making of Moong daal flour:

Dry roast Moong daal on low flame till they start turning brown. Remove and let them cool down. Grind into powder, then sieve to get the real fine powder.

Ingredients:

2 cups Rice flour
1 cup Moong Daal flour
salt to taste
some water
2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter + extra ghee to form the ladoos
1/2 cup grated fresh coconut

Jaggery - Measurement should be taken after making the muruku in pieces. I had about 6 cups of broken muruku, I used 1 1/2 cup jaggery.
Measurement: 4 cups of murukus to 1 heaped cup of crumbled jaggery

Oil for frying

Equipment: Murukku press with three holes disc

Method:

Mix the rice flour, daal flour and salt. Combine with ghee to incorporate it into the flour.

Add water to knead it into dough. The dough should be soft enough to pass through the muruku press.

Heat oil enough so that you can make your murukus. Now make the murukus and cook till brown. Remove on a napkin to drain the excess oil.

Make the murukus into small pieces when cooled.
Measure the amount of broken muruku you have and then take a measure of jaggery according to the rule given above.
Add some water to the jaggery in a big wide pan and melt it. Here in US, you usually don't have to sieve it for scum.
Put on medium heat and let it boil away to get to the consistency required.

Required Consistency: When it thickens, we can form a ball from the jaggery on the back of the spoon. OR Drop a few drops into a cup of water. Lift it to make a ball, pick it up and hit it back into the water and you should hear a sound.

When the jaggery gets to that consistency, immediately add the coconut and broken pieces and mix well.
When this has cooled down a bit, it should be still warm or you cannot shape the balls, put a drop of ghee on your hand and shape into balls of required size.
Serve cold and Enjoy!!!! They do taste yummy when they are warm too :))

Tips: If you have already added the muruku and it still wont form balls, put it back on low heat and mix till it hardens some more.

If you think its hot and cannot handle, use a plastic sheet, rub a drop of ghee, put required amount in center and shape into a ball.

If it still wont form balls, put into flat dish and flatten it out. Cut out into pieces after cooled.

Store in an air tight container.

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Modakamlu / Modak / Steamed Coconut jaggery Rice dumplings

Another favorite of Lord Ganesha and mine - Modakamlu or Modaks.
Filled with coconut and jaggery, spiced with cardamom powder, this is another easy prasadam to make for Lord Ganesha.
The only difficult part is the making of the rice flour, but you can surely go ahead and try it with store bought rice flour. I only feel that it comes out little dry. The filling is the easiest part since its only grated fresh coconut with crumbled jaggery or powdered jaggery with some cardamom powder. I love jaggery, so I prefer leaving it crumbled, so that I can get some pieces in my mouth!
The other easy thing is if you have the Modak mould, but they are easy to shape by hand too. They also can be made in the shape of Kajjikaya if you have the kajjikaya mould or empanada mould!!
This recipe is only for about 5-7 modaks. Increase the measurements if you want more.

Ingredients:

1 cup home made rice flour (store bought can be used)
1 cup grated fresh coconut
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp of powdered or crumbled jaggery ( use enough to suit your taste)
few drops of ghee or clarified butter (optional)
a big pinch of cardamom powder
1/2 - 3/4 cup water ( add more if needed... This is to cook the rice flour)

Method:

Boil water in a pan. Add the rice flour as to no lumps are formed. Mix well to form a dough. Add 1 tbsp of jaggery to the dough and mix well. This is to flavor the dough.
Mix together coconut, jaggery, ghee and cardamom powder in a separate bowl.
When the dough is cool to touch, Knead to a perfect dough. Make small balls of it and roll them out to about 4 inch wide.
Put the filling the center. Touch the edge to the rolled dough with water, just to make it stick. Now bring together the edges to form the modak shape, making sure they don't break open or tear.
Steam in a cooker with out any pressure for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve God and Enjoy!!!

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Uppu Undrallu / Savory Rice balls with channa daal

Undrallu or rice balls can be sweet or savory kind. I have already posted the sweet version, here is the savory version.
This is also made with rice flour but the coarser rice flour is used. You can either grind the rice coarsely or if you are making the softer, thin rice flour from my type of recipe, then you can use the leftover coarse rice flour.
Ingredients are simple and a simple dish to make for Lord Ganesha.
I haven't added any cumin or jeera to my balls, but you can surely add them.

Ingredients:

1 cup Coarse ground rice flour / Biyyam ravva
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut / Kobbari
1/4 cup Channa daal / chanaga pappu
salt to taste
pinch of pepper powder
water for cooking the rice flour, about 1 1/2 cup to 2 cups
1/4 tsp cumin / jeera (optional)
2-4 tsp of ghee

Method:

Soak channa daal for 1 to 2 hours.
Bring the water to a boil, add the channa daal and let them cook. Add the salt to the water too. If you are adding jeera, add it in now.
After the channa daal gets cooks, add in the rice ravva and stir so as to not to form and lumps. As the channa daal is already cooked, the ravva also gets cooked very soon. Add in the coconut powder and pepper powder. Mix well. Add in the ghee too.

Let it cool before making the balls. Serve God and Enjoy!!!
 

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Making of home made rice flour

Store brought rice flour is conveniently available to us in the Indian grocery stores. But for our Indian style dishes which require major portion of rice flour, this store bought rice isn't very useful. The dishes usually turn out harder and don't stay in shape too. For this reason, I tend to make home made rice flour when its required to make Indian sweets or pindi vantalu. Its not a very difficult process but surely its a time taking process. Preferrably make it the day before using it or just before making your dish. Its basically because of the moisture in the rice flour.

Ingredients:

Rice....use any rice available

Equipment: Sieve....preferably one with tiny holes like the Indian one

Method: Soak rice over night or for at least 6 hours. Put it out to dry on a cotton cloth for about 1/2 to an hour. Grind it into powder using a dry grinder. Sieve it thru using the sieve until only coarse rice particles remain. You can grind this again until soft or use the coarse rice ravva to make other dishes. Most of the sweets require the soft ground rice flour. Spread the rice flour out on a big plate or tray to dry. This can be used immediately or with in the next day. After couple of days of drying, it is too dry for the Indian sweets, but can be used as the regular rice flour.
Store in an air tight container.

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Kandi Podi / Lentil powder 1

There are many variations of powders or podis made to eat with idli or dosa and this is one of them.
My Mom has always made it this way from our childhood and we love it. This even tastes yummy with hot rice with oil or ghee. If eaten with oil its called 'powder-oil'.
My Mother-in-law makes it a little different from this. My kids call this podi white powder and eat it with idli or dosa. This is the only powder they eat with, they require no chutney. I try to give them mixed with little ghee because of the spice, but they rather eat it without the ghee. :)
When ever my Mom or Mother-in-law is here they have always made it for me and I never made it by my self. But I know how easy it is to make it, I can make it any time.
Just remember to dry roast the ingredients in the order it is given, separately.

Ingredients:

1 cup kandi pappu / toor daal
1/3 cup channaga pappu / channa daal

1 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
8 dry red chillies

1 tbsp dhaniya seeds / coriander seeds (not powder, 1-2 pulse of grinder / mixie)

salt to taste

6 cloves of garlic, crushed (last)

Method:

Dry roast kandi pappu / toor daal and channaga pappu / channa daal together in a kadai till light brown and keep aside.
Dry roast jeera / cumin seeds and dry red chillies together till fragrant and keep aside.
Dry roast dhaniya seeds / coriander seeds till fragrant and keep aside.
When everything is cool, grind the kandi pappu, channaga pappu, cumin and dry red chillies to a powder.
Only pulse the dhaniya seeds so that they are halved, not powdered.
Mix everything together well with enough salt.
Crush the garlic to small pieces and mix into the powder well.
Store in an air tight container. It will keep good for a very long time.
It's ready to eat!! Enjoy!!!

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Madras Curry powder

Madras Curry powder

This curry powder is a little different from our regular curry powder or garam masala powder but just as useful. It can be used to flavor our regular saute dishes to anything else. It can be made in matter or minutes and can be stored.
I came in touch with this powder when I lived in a small island country called Trinidad in the West Indies. This was very long back, like about 20 years ago, when my father worked in that country for couple of years. It was a popular spice powder used by the Trinidad Indians (Indians who have settled there more than 200 years ago).
There are a few dishes which my Mom learnt and we fell in love with and make it at home even now. I make them sometimes, thats why I have this masala powder in my pantry. I have used this to flavor my regular dishes and they do taste good.
When I wanted to make this powder, I googled it and found this recipe which I used. The recipe asks to powder the curry leaves and add turmeric powder, which I didn't. I like the smell and flavor of fresh curry leaves, so I rather add them directly to the dish, same goes with the turmeric.

Ingredients:

1 cup coriander seeds or dhaniya seeds
1/2 cup cumin seeds or jeera
1/4 cup fennel seeds or sounf seeds
1/4 cup dried red chillies
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp fenugreek seeds or methi seeds

Method:

Dry roast all the ingredients in a pan till they turn fragrant on medium heat, stirring constantly. Take note that they do not burn. When cool grind into a powder.
Store in an air tight container.

Tip: Red chillies may burn quickly, so u can add them towards the end or roast them separately.

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