Curd Rice / Yogurt Rice / Mosaranna / ಮೊಸರನ್ನ

Rice with curd/yogurt or Mosaranna is a part of every South Indian meal. Every meal has to end with curd rice. As we like both rice and cud, this is one of the comfort foods for most South Indians :) In our everyday meal we just mix rice and curd , but we add few more ingredients to make it even more tastier for festivals and special occasions. Here is one such recipe.



Servings: 1 cup cooked rice(anna) makes around 2 servings of curd rice.

Ingredients:
1 cup - cooked rice / anna / ಅನ್ನ
1/2 to 1 cup - Curd/ yogurt / ಮೊಸರು
1/2 to 1 cup - milk / ಹಾಲು
10 to 15 - green grapes /ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ (whole or cut into 2 halves)
3 to 5 - Green chillies / ಹಸಿರುಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ (slit them)
few sprigs Coriander leaves / ಕೊತ್ತಂಬರಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು
few Curry leaves / ಕರಿಬೇವಿನ ಸೊಪ್ಪು
small piece ginger /ಶುಂಠಿ (finely chopped/grated)
1 fist full - fresh Grated Coconut /ಕಾಯಿ ತುರಿ (optional)
Cashews fried in ghee/ ಗೋಡಂಬಿ - ತುಪ್ಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಕರಿಯಿರಿ (optional)
2 tbsp - cream/ಹಾಲು ಕೆನೆ (optional)
salt / ಉಪ್ಪು to taste

Seasoning / ಒಗ್ಗರಣೆ
2 tbsp Oil / ಎಣ್ಣೆ, 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds /ಸಾಸಿವೆ, Asafoetida/ Hing / ಇಂಗು, 1 tsp Chana Dal / ಕಡಲೆಬೇಳೆ, 1 tsp Urad Dal / ಉದ್ದಿನಬೇಳೆ

To prepare the seasoning, Heat a small pan on medium flame. Add 2 tbsp oil, when its hot add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, hing. Once they start sizzling add slit green chillies and curry leaves. stir for a minute till chillies get cooked , then switch off the stove.

Take 1 cup of cooked rice in a big bowl. Heat 1/2 cup milk and pour it into the bowl. Leave it aside for 15 minutes. The rice will absorb the hot milk and becomes soft. Then add salt and curd/yogurt. Now add rest of the ingredients (chopped ginger, chopped coriander leaves, prepared seasoning, green grapes, grated coconut, fried cashews). Mix it well. If the curd rice looks dry add some more milk/yogurt. Adding cream prevents the curd rice from turning sour quickly and also increases the taste. Now Curd rice is ready to be served. Usually it tastes great by itself. You can enjoy it with some pickle too.

Variations:
-You can use pomegranate seeds instead of grapes. This gives a different taste.
- You can also add grated carrot to curd rice.
-You can add chopped onion which gives a crunchy effect to curd rice. When using onion, I don't add any fruits.
-When curd rice is made as naivedya I usually don't add any onions.

Godhi Tambittu / Thambittu / Wheat and jaggery laddu / ಗೋಧಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟಿನ ತಂಬಿಟ್ಟು

Thambittu is a a sweet made during festivals. I have already posted the recipe using rice. Here I will share Tambittu recipe using wheat flour. Wheat flour tambittu is very easy to make. It doesn't need many ingredients and not much preparation too. As this can be prepared in a jiffy and it does not have too much fat, moms like to give this sweet to their kids :)

Servings : This recipe makes about 12-15 laddus.

Ingredients:
1 cup wheat flour / ಗೋಧಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟು (roasted)
½ cup water / ನೀರು
½ cup Jaggery (grated/powdered) / ಬೆಲ್ಲದ ತುರಿ
4-5 tbsp fresh grated coconut / ಕಾಯಿ ತುರಿ
4 tbsp ghee / ತುಪ್ಪ
a pinch of cardamom powder / ಏಲಕ್ಕಿ ಪುಡಿ
Cashews, Raisins / ವಣದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ , ಗೋಡಂಬಿ

Method:

Take a small kadai, add 1 tbsp ghee , when its hot add raisins and cashews. Fry it till its done. switch off and keep it aside.

Heat a pan on meduim flame. Add a few drops of ghee, pour 1 cup of wheat flour to the pan. Roast is slowly till it changes the colour and you get a nice aroma. It will take about 5-6 minutes. take care not to burn the flour, always keep medium heat. Once the flour is roasted take it off the stove and keep it aside.

In a pan heat ½ cup of water, add grated jaggery to it. Keep stirring till it dissolves completely. Then add grated coconut,cardamom powder,fried raisins and cashews along with the ghee to the water. When the water starts boiling add the roasted wheat flour slowly and stir it continuously till it forms a single uniform mixture without any lumps. If you feel the mixture to too dry , sprinkle a few drops of water. You can also add another spoon of ghee to give a nice shiny texture. Cover the pan and let it cook for 4-6 minutes. Then switch off the stove. (One important tip here is the correct flour to water ratio. It has to be 2:1 If you just use water by approximation, the mixture can become very dry or too watery. either way you cant make them as laddus)

Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes, then grease your hands with ghee and make medium sized balls while still hot. You can also make them as patties. Store it in an air tight container, stays fresh for 1-2 days. You can keep it in the fridge for upto a week.

In Shravana month Mangala Gowri Vrata is celebrated every tuesday. We have to make Tambittu Diyas and do aarti to Goddess Gowri. I usually alternate with Rice and Wheat flour tambittu :)

You can see the Rice Tambittu recipe here

Doddapatre Tambuli / Tambli / ದೊಡ್ಡಪತ್ರೆ ತಂಬುಳಿ

Tambuli is another authentic Karnataka recipe. Tambuli is derived from kannada word tampu. (ತಂಪು ---->ತಂಬುಳಿ). tampu meaning cool/cold. So thambuli is a cooling food. It is made from many greens and vegetables. It is prepared by grinding the vegetable with the spices and then mixing it with yogurt. All ingredients are used raw, (as they are) without any cooking.

Doddapatre Plant in my home

I am sharing a recipe of Thambuli made from leaves of Doddapathre plant (doddipatre). This plant is called by many names Cuban Oregano/ Spanish Thyme/ Indian Borage etc. Its botanical name is Plectranthus amboinicus. The leaves are soft, thick, has a strong pungent flavor. It is a common plant in India. In the US also most nursery have it or you can get it from your local farmer's market. I got this plant from farmer's market as well. If you cant find this plant, don't get disheartened. If your grocery store /supermarket sells fresh oregano leaves, you can use them instead. These leaves are smaller in size than cuban oregano but it has the same flavor:)

Servings: This recipe makes about 1 litre of Tambuli(2 - 4 servings with rice)

Ingredients:
15-20 leaves of - Cuban oregano / Dodda patre / ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪತ್ರೆ ಎಲೆ
1/4 cup - Split roasted gram/ Dalia/ kadale /putani / ಹುರಿಗಡಲೆ
1 tbsp - Cumin seeds / Jeera / ಜೀರಿಗೆ
8-10 black peppercorns or 1 tsp black pepper powder / ಕರಿ ಮೆಣಸು
1/4 cup - fresh grated coconut/ ಕಾಯಿ ತುರಿ
1 tsp - salt / ಉಪ್ಪು
1/2 tsp - turmeric powder / ಅರಿಶಿನ
1 cup Yogurt + 1 cup water / ಮೊಸರು + ನೀರು

Seasoning / ಒಗ್ಗರಣೆ
2 tbsp Oil / ಎಣ್ಣೆ; 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds /ಸಾಸಿವೆ; 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds /ಜೀರಿಗೆ; Asafoetida/ Hing / ಇಂಗು; 2 Dry red Chillies / ವಣ ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ

Wash the leaves and pat them dry with a paper towel or cloth. Heat a pan on medium flame, add these leaves into it. Stir them for 1-2 minutes till they wilt. Take off the flame, keep aside. In the same pan add dalia/kadle, then cumin seeds and pepper corns/pepper powder one after the other. dry roast them till you get a nice aroma. Take off the stove now. let it cool a little bit. Then transfer these ingredients into a blender. Add the wilted leaves, grated coconut, salt, turmeric to it. Add water and grind into a smooth paste. (There is no need to wilt the leaves and dry roast the ingredients. You can use them all raw. But roasting them brings out a nice flavor. My mom always roasts them before grinding, so do I)

Take some yogurt in a bowl,its better if the yogurt is slightly sour. Add this ground paste to yogurt. Mix well. Check the taste. If its too spicy add more yogurt, if its bland add more pepper powder. You can add more water or yogurt to bring to desired consistency. The consistency should like a thick gravy. Heat a small kadai, pour oil, add hing, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies. Pour this seasoning over the yogurt mixture. Tambuli is ready to be served now. It is usually eaten with hot rice. It tastes best when fresh. As it is not a cooked dish, keep it in the refrigerator for later use.