Indian Desserts : Cantaloupe sweetdish | Konkani Chibbada Hashale | Chibda Phovu

Chibbad is a kind of sweet melon. It is known as Karbooj in Hindi and Cantaloupe in English. This fruit is a seasonal fruit  and a good variety chibbad just dissolves in mouth and the flesh of it becomes like rava, This sweet dish is very famous in Konkani people.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size Chibbad(Cantaloupe) cut into small cubes
• 1 ½ cup grated Coconut(preferably tender one)
• 1 cup Jaggery

• 4-5 Cardamom peeled and powdered
• ½ cup Phovu(Avalakki in Kannada, thin, optional)

 Method:

• Wash poha in water and soak it for some time.
• Grind grated coconut and jaggery to smooth paste.

• Now mix cubes of chibbad, the above prepared paste, cardmon and phovu.
• Serve chilled.

 PS:  The coconut to be used in this should be as tender as possible. The tender coconut makes this dish more tasty.

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Kerala Style Karimeen Pollichathu Recipe

Preparation Time: 60 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

For the marinate

• Karimeen 2 in number
• 2 table spoon Chilli powder
• 1/2 table spoon Turmeric powder
• 1/2 table spoon Pepper powder
• Salt as per taste
• Oil to fry
• Banana leaf for wrapping

For the Masala gravy  

• 1 big Tomato finely chopped
• 1 big Onion finely chopped
• 2 table spoon Ginger garlic paste
• 2 Green chillies finely chopped
• 1/2 table spoon Pepper powder
• 1/2 table spoon Coriander powder
• 1 tea spoon Garam masala powder
• 3 table spoon Thick coconut milk (optional)
• 1 strand Curry leaves
• A small bunch of Coriander leaves finely chopped
• Salt as per taste
• Oil to fry

Method:

• Cut and clean the fish.
• Peal the skin of the fish completely or make diagonal slits on them. This helps in marinating the fish.

• Make a paste of chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt.
• Apply this paste to the fish all around, and keep aside for an hour, to get the fish marinated.

 For the Masala

• Put oil in a kadai, add green chillies, ginger garlic paste and curry leaves.

• Fry till the raw smell disappears.
• Now add chopped onion till it turns to light brown.

• Now add tomatoes and rest of the powders given above.
• Finely sprinkle coriander leaves.

• Fry the marinated fish on a hot tawa, in oil till it is half done. Cover the fish with lid and fry both the sides of the fish.

• Now Clean a medium size(the size should be enough to cover the fish completely) banana leaf.
• Place a layer of the above masala on banana leaf.
• Now place the fried fish.

• Apply another layer of the masala above the fish as shown in picture.
• Carefully wrap the leaf and tie it.
• Heat a tawa, put little oil.
• Keep the above wraped fish on it, and fry both the sides.
• Cover it with a lid for a nice aroma.

PS: One can add lemon juice while preparing Masala if you like. or one can add lemon juice at the end, while eating.

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Konkani Randap : Pathradya Phodi | Pathrode | Colocassia Leaf Rolls

Pathrado is one among Konkani traditional dishes. This dish is prepared using colocasia leaves. Some times eating some of these leaves end up itchy tongue and itchy throat.  So one should be very careful while using these leaves. Back in my hometown,  we grow these leaves in our backyard is very handy to use in case we are short of veges.  These leaves are called as taro in Konkani. There are a lot of varieties of pathrado one can prepare. The instructions given below are  the recipe which is popular in Konkani people of north canara of Karnataka state. 

Preparation Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

 

• 6 colocasia/collard greens
• 1 cup grated coconut
• ½ cup toor dal 
• 1 table spoon urad dal 
• ½ table spoon coriander seeds
• 2 table spoon jaggery
• 5-6 red chillies
• 1 medium piece tamarind
• Turmeric powder
• 3 table spoon Flattened rice (Phovu)
• ½ cup rava/sooji
• Oil
• Salt

Method:

• Soak toor dal in water for an hour.
• Fry flattened rice, urad dal and coriander seeds in pan.
• Grind together flattened rice, urad dal, coriander seeds, grated coconut, tamarind, jaggary , red chillies by adding very little water. This masala should not be very soft.

• Now wash the colocasia leaves and pat them dry. Slightly crush all the veins of these leaves using knife which makes cooking easier and makes these leaves less itchy.
• Apply a layer of the above ground masala on one leaf.

• Keep another leaf on the first leafe and repeat the procedure till you have 6 leaves stacked on one antoher.
• Now roll them neatly as shown in picture.  Don’t forget to apply masala on top as well, While rolling.

• Once nicely rolled, put them in the steamer and steam it for at least 15 minutes
• Pock a knife and see if the knife catches the batter if it doesn't then its done. If batter sticks to the knife, then boil it for some more time. 

• Leave cooker/steamer for another 10min before taking out the pathrado.
• Cut with a sharp knife to thin rounds 

• Heat a non stick pan. Roll the pathrado in rava on both sides. And keep on the hot tava.

• Fry both sides of the pathrado using oil.

• Hot spicy and tasty pathrado ready to eat.

PS:  One should have a right proportion of  tamarind, red chillies and salt. Because these are the ones which make or spoil the taste of pathrado. In rainy season, when we visit our native, pathrode, rice and  ankre tambli is the tastiest and very healthy combination, we have. 

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