Kodbale (Kodubale)

Gokulashtmi is round the corner and I decided to celebrate it the Iyengar way this year since I am celebrating it for the first time on my own. And that can only mean one thing - lots of things to eat. However I have to limit my Thindis to those that dont need "Varalu" plus the fast consumed ones.

Kodbale is an all time favourite since its spicy and

savoury.

What you need to make Kodbale

• Rice flour (Akki hittu, Arsi maav) - 1 measure (small cup, tall cup whatever)
• All purpose flour (Maida) - 1/4 measure
• Puffed Chickpeas (Dahlia/Hurigadle) - 1/4 measure
• Butter - 1/4 bar or 3 heaped scoops in a regular spoon you use to eat (optional, you could also use ghee)
• Coconut- 1 heaped tablespoon
• Red Chillies - 4 long ones (assuming 2 inches in length)
• Asafoetida -a speck
• Jeera - 1/4 tsp
• Salt
  
• Oil for deep frying

Preparation to make Kodbale (Time : 20 mins)

• Dry roast the maida in a heavy bottomed kadai or pan till its warm
• Dry grind the Hurigadle in a mixie to a fine powder
• Fine Grind Coconut, Red chillies, As
• afoetida and Jeera together in a mixie (Do not add water)
• Mix Rice flour, warm Maida, Hurigadle powder, the other ground mixture and salt
• Now is the time to taste if the salt is ok, fix it and proceed to next step
• Add the butter which should be at room temperature so that it can be mixed easily
• 
  Make a dough akin to a chapati dough
• Keep aside for a few minutes (5 maybe)

Method to make Kodbale (Time : 40 mins, rolling takes practice!)

• Take a small portion of the mixture the size of a small lemon
• Knead it again after dipping your fingers in water
• Keeping the dough ball on a non-sticky surface (like the chapati board) and roll lightly using your fingers
• Make sure you dont press hard while you roll.
• Make a long thin roll, bend the roll to make a circle and seal the overlapping ends together by pressing on it
• (Refer to the Pictures)
• 
• 

• By the time the first batch is ready to be fried, heat the oil in a heavy bottomed kadai
• Put the dough circles into the hot oil, fry till brown and your kodbale is ready

My fundas

• Rolling is the toughest part of making kodbales. Keep water handy where you can dip your fingers and roll.

A change of hearth

I have come a long way from the hectic life in Bangalore (I still refuse to call it Bengaluru for some silly adamant reason). A life full of work and kiddo balance to kitchen and kiddo balance. Gone are the days when the occasional chance to cook was pounced upon like an oasis in the desert. Now it is time to think about the next meal menu all the time. So far I have repeated a lot of my "been there done that" recipes which I had carefully blogged here (thank God!) and the family has been loving it. I am still miles away from knowing what my husband and daughter love to eat. Raw baby carrots work very well for my daughter right now and one glass of coffee for my husband keeps him in a saintly mood.
I will be posting new try-outs and recipes. Sit back, enjoy and then go cook :)

Get the Indian curry basics right

Having been through many recipe books as a cooking newbie I realised that there is enough in there to confuse the novice. That has been the motivation to post powder recipes in my cookery blog. Today I tackle the curry, in a generic way. Essentially most curries have the same base to which a multitude of vegetables and after-thought ingredients are added to pamper different palettes.
There are two forms of curry that is made in India - dry and gravy.

Dry Curry

What you need to make Dry curry

Seasoning

• Mustard seeds (rai) - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
• Turmeric for its antiseptic properties as much as the colour - 1/4 tsp
• Kadlebele (Split Yellow Chick peas/Channa dal) - 2 tsp
• Uddinbele(Urad dal) - 2 tsp
• Red chilly powder - 1 tsp / 2 red chillies broken into pieces / 2 green chillies cut into small rings

Optional Ingredients for Seasoning

• Coriander leaves - 2 strands, finely chopped
• Curry leaves - 10, finely chopped or as is

Preparation to make Dry Curry

• Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture in it
• Wash coriander leaves thoroughly.

Method to make Dry Curry

• Heat oil in a pan or kadai (heavy bottomed vessel).
• To the oil add all the seasoning ingredients.
• Wait for the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to splutter, kadlebele and
  uddinbele to turn golden brown and chillies to be fried well.
• Add any vegetable of your choice. The vegetable could either have been steamed earlier or be raw(which means it will have to cook in the pan).
• Add salt to taste.
• Optional for Dry Curry - Yennegai Powder could be added at this juncture to get a different taste.

Gravy Curry
What you need to make Gravy Curry
Same as Dry Curry plus

• Onions - 1, blended or cut into small pieces according to convenience
• Tomatoes -2, blended into a puree

Optional ingredients

• Garlic - 4 pods, mashed or cut into tiny pieces
• Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, mashed or grated

Preparation to make Gravy Curry

• Same as for Dry curry

Method to make Gravy Curry

• Same as for Dry Curry