Cabbage Upkari - Simplicity at its best

He : Honey..I am so hungry! Whats special for dinner tonight?
She: mm..Usual Rasam but I made Cabbage Upkari..(looking at him with happy bright eyes!)
He : Oh cool! Sounds new! Lemme take a taste.....
(comes into kitchen, scoops a spoonful of the upkari ...chews..chews some more and now there is a small frown in his forehead!)
He : Ok Ok..I am tired but not that tired to not even notice that you are trying to cheat me with the same old cabbage that you make by giving it a different name! Its the boring cabbage after all!
She (grinning) : yeah - This same old boring cabbage (for you that is!) that I made is actually called Upkari and its not boring! I love it..



....And thus goes the conversation/ Has it ever happened to you that what you thought was "your creation" actually exists with a name to top it off? It has happened quite so often. I have posted the other famous egg-in-a-hole which was supposedly my creation until I saw the same being made on TV!!!! I have been cooking cabbage this way ever since..mm..I started cooking and only last year, thanks to bloggers I got to know that it is actually called Upkari - a Konkani dish meaning "side dish" in that language. It is called so when any vegetables are cooked with coconut and in water. So much for my originality! (smirking!) Anyways here is my version(!Duh!)

Ingredients


• 1 medium sized cabbage, shredded
  
  
• 1 large onion
  
  
• 1 tbsp black gram (urad dal)
  
  
• 1 tbsp Bengal gram (channa dal)
  
  
• 2-3 dry chilli (as per taste)
  
  
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
  
  
• pinch of turmeric powder
  
  
• 2-3 tbsp grated coconut (fresh/frozen preferable but dry coconut works too)
  
  
• pinch of asafoetida
  
  
• salt to taste and curry leaves to garnish
  

Method

In 1/2 tsp of oil, saute the lentils , chillies until lightly golden, add the mustard seeds



and once they start popping add the onions



Add the cabbage along with little salt, asafoetida and turmeric.



Saute for 2 minutes, sprinkle slightly with water (I dont like my cabbage too mushy!), close the lid and cook until the cabbage is slightly soft.



Add the coconut and curry leaves.



Cook for another 2 minutes in open flame and serve warm.

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Am sending this over to Recipes for Rest of Us event hosted by my gal pal Siri

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Pongal - Simplest and heartiest soul food ever!

After Idli, the next common dish oft seen at a South Indian breakfast table is Pongal - a savoury pudding made with beautiful combination of lentils and rice tempered with spices and nuts sauted in Ghee. The taste is mind blowing to say the least and filling. It is also one of the simplest dishes to make which does not need constant attention and gets done in matter of minutes - say approx 15min! with nada preparation. This is also called as Ven Pongal (meaning white pongal)/ Khara Pongal (meaning spicy/hot Pongal). This also has a major role to play in the celebration of Indian festival also called as "Pongal"



I make this not just for breakfast but also when I am short on time or when I am not so much in the mood to make anything fancy! Better this than eating out, or use any instant mixes laden with preservatives and god knows what else.



This is also a soul food for me, since it reminds me so much of home :) This is also one of those rare recipes for which not many variations are available. It has few standard ingredients without which one couldnt possibly relate this to Pongal otherwise.:)

Ingredients


• 1 cup short grained rice
  
  
• 1/4 + 2tbsp split green gram/moong dal ( I like it with more lentils)
  
  
• salt to taste
  

To Temper


• 1 tsp whole peppercorns
  
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
  
  
• 1" inch ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
  
  
• pinch of asafoetida
  
  
• few sprigs of curry leaves
  
  
• few unbroken cashews
  

Method

1.Wash and clean rice and lentil well until the water runs clear.



Mix them both and add 5 cups of water. Place them in a pressure cooker and cook for 10-15min - or until 3-4 whistles (Indian cookers)



2.Meanwhile in a little ghee, temper first the ginger slices, then add peppercorns and cumin. Saute till aromatic and reddish. In the very end, add curry leaves and asafoetida, stir it for 2-3 seconds and remove with a slotted spoon



3.In the same pan, add the cashews and roast them till reddish color.



4. Now along with salt, add the tempered spice/nut mixture and mix well. Serve hot.



Alternate Method : Cooking using Stove top

I have also witnessed few families using the stove top method to make Pongal. In this method, saute the rice and lentil in little ghee in a pan and when lightly toasted, add salt and water and close the lid. Meanwhile temper the ingredients like above and add it to the rice-lentil mixture just before removing from heat.

This is my entry to FIC : Yellow hosted by Sunshinemon

Suggested Accompaniments

1. Eggplant Gotsu

2. Sambar

3. Coconut Chutney

4. Onion Chutney