Aviksha's Kitchen

This is a very famous Konkani dish high in proteins and thus very healthy. Very simple, tasty and easy recipe.  Kulithu means horse gram in Konkani and thus the name Kultha Kadhi/Soup. Goes well with plain rice. In Villages, the cattle's are fed with cooked horse gram and the water used to cook is used by the people as a soup. They also make a thick syrup of this by boiling for hours and store it. And later use it whenever needed. Some people call it as kultha saar-upkari which means gravy and a dry item of horse gram. They boil the horse gram in a water and then they separate the water and horsegram. The water separated will be seasoned with garlic and chilies and will be called saaru and the separated horse gram will be seasoned with garlic and chilly and this is called upkari. I prefer not to separate and have it together.  NOTE :   Can use yellow or old cucumber along with this. Can separate water and horse gram if need...

Vaali Ambat is a very famous Konkani dish. Vaali means malabar spinach or Indian spinach or ceylon spinach in English. Well, this is a traditional Konkani curry which we call it as ambat. This curry can be prepared with any kind of leafy vegetables, pulses or vegetables. Along with pulses or leafy vegetables one can add raw papaya, yellow / Mangalore cucumber,yam, fresh prawns, dry prawn / shrimps to enhance the taste. This dish is very healthy as it is rich in proteins, fiber and minerals. Malabar Spinach or Vaali grows as a creeper and we have this grown in our house at Mysore. We use it fresh when needed to make this curry and the aroma spreads in the entire house. Tender stem is used in the curry but the harder part is a waste. This curry is made out of coconut, toor dal and fried onions for seasoning. NOTE :  Number of chilies depend on how spicy they are. I am using 8 as mine are not very spicy. Adding Turmeric Powder and little oil will help to cook ...

This is a famous Konkani dish. In many houses it is prepared for breakfast during festivals. It is little different from Upma or Khara Bath, which involves lots of vegetables and hot spices. This dish is simple and easy to cook. It can be prepared for breakfast or as a evening snack. Usually prepared when guests arrive without prior notice as it takes less time. My dad loves this dish if only prepared by my aunt (Maavu) so while coming to Singapore I borrowed the recipe from her and today I am going to share it with you people. NOTE :   Number of green chilies depend on how spicy they are. I am using 5 as mine are not very  spicy. Optional - Can use coconut and cashew nuts for garnishing. Better to use a non-stick pan or heavy bottomed pan. I am using half oil and half ghee. If you want you can use any one. Combination of oil and ghee enhances the taste. Semolina / Rava takes only 5 minutes to cook. HINT : Tear the curry leaves with han...

Upkari means a side dish in Konkani. Cabbage Upkari is very simple and tasty. This recipe can be made with not only cabbage but with any veggies like beans, snake gourd,potato or pumpkin. Cabbage Upkari is a side dish for lunch or dinner. NOTE :   Number of green chilies depend on how spicy they are. I am using 5 as mine are not very  spicy. Don't add water as cabbage leaves little water on cooking or use steaming method by covering the pan with a broad plate/thali instead of lid and adding some water on top of the plate so that the water in the plate doesn't allow veggies to get burnt or stick to the bottom of the pan. People who are diet conscious can skip adding coconut. Optional - Can add 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder and a pinch of asafoetida. Cabbage with grated coconut has a low life span so consume within a day or refrigerate. Cabbage cooks much faster than any other vegetables so be careful. Preparation time : 5 minutes Cooking Time : 7 Minute...

There are variety of pickles. But my  favorite  is mixed vegetable pickle. Mixed vegetable pickle is spicy and tangy with lots of vegetable flavours and no oil. You can choose vegetables you like for this dish. The lifespan of this pickle is more than 2 month. Easy and very easy dish that goes well with rice, paej/rice soup, idli or dosa. In Konkani, Nonche means pickle and this dish has a lot of red gravy which makes it look more attractive.  NOTE :  Can add vegetables like beans, cauliflower, green chilly, lemon, ginger, carrot, ivy gourd/tendle and raw mango. Raw mango or lemon skin(keylime) should be fresh and sour.  Vegetables should be fresh too.  Lemon skin(keylime) should not have it's skin dried.  Use green chilly with no black seeds. Make sure that all the bowls,spoons, mixer jar, blender and vessels used during making pickle should be dry and clean with no water drops.   The pickle tastes best after 3-4 days once th...

This is my favorite dish. Sambar is called as Kolmbo in Konkani. I prepare this dish atleast once in a week. Very simple, tasty and easy recipe. It goes well with plain rice, idli, dosa and ragi balls. I use sambar powder prepared by my  mother-in-law . Before I used to make it from MTR or Ganesh sambar powder. I will post someday the recipe for my mother-in-law's sambar powder. Who ever has tasted my mother-in-law's kolmbo has become a fan of it and I too belong to that group. So my mother-in-law gets me a bottle of sambar powder every time. NOTE : We are adding turmeric powder and oil while boiling toor dal as it helps to boil fast. I am not cooking toor dal and vegetables together because toor dal will take more time to cook by then all the vegetables will get over-cooked. Better to dissolve sambar / kolmbo powder in water or tamarind water. Time Taken : 20-25 Minutes Yield : 3-4 servings Sambar / Kolmbo Ingredients: Seasoning : Red Chillies ...

This is a Konkani dish, which is very easy,tasty and simple. It is my favorite dish. You can have it as a drink, Soup or with rice. Generally,  either garlic or mustard seasoning for this. But I use both so as to get the combined flavor and i bet even you will love it. It tasted extra-ordinary if buttermilk is sour.  It is so good that once you start to drink you can never stop until it gets over. My kadhi is bit different from others. NOTE : Can use either curd or buttermilk. Number of green chilies depend upon how spicy they are. I am using 4 as mine are not that spicy. Good for health. If you are using curd then, add 2 cups / glass of water to 1 cup / glass of curd. This will make buttermilk.                               Buttermilk = 1 cup curd + 2 cup water Time Taken : 10 Minutes Yield : 3-4 servings Takka Kadhi / Buttermilk Gravy / Buttermilk Soup / Dahi Kadhi / Yo...

Upkari means a side dish and Alsando means long green beans in Konkani. Alsande Upkari is very popular, simple and tasty dish. This recipe can be made with not only long green beans but with any veggies like small beans, snake gourd,potato or pumpkin. Alsande Upkari is a side dish for lunch or dinner. Alsando / Long green bean is my favorite vegetable and we used to get it from Mangalore specially for this dish. When I got married and moved to Singapore I had no hopes of having this dish ever again. But luckily people here loves this vegetable and it is found almost every where  and I can have it when I wish. NOTE :   Number of green chilies depend on how spicy they are. I am using 5 as mine are not very  spicy. Don't add water as long beans leaves little water on cooking or use steaming method by covering the pan with a broad plate/thali instead of lid and adding some water on top of the plate so that the water in the plate doesn't allow veggies t...

This is almost all Konkani people's favorite dish. Usually we prepare this for festivals. My husband and my in-laws simply love this dish. It is simple and yet very tasty. Anybody can try this for evening snack or can have it along with lunch. One can use potato, Bitter gourd / Kaaraate, Spine gourd / Phaagila or any other vegetable of your choice. This recipe was shared by my Mother-in-law. NOTE : Number of chilies depend on how spicy they are. I am using 12 as mine are not very spicy Time Taken : 20 Minutes Yield : 2-3 servings Gointa Podi ( Pointed Gourd Fry ) Ingredients: To be grinded  : Red Chillies 12 nos Asafoetida / Hing                            1/2 sp Coriander 2 sp Salt  as needed  Rice Grain 1 Cup  Tamarind 1/2 Inch  Others  : Oil for frying Semolina / Ravo 1 tbsp Rice Flour 1 tbsp Pointed Gourd / Gointa  5-6 ...