Raw Papaya Manchurian

A spicy Indo chinese dish that I had to give a try when raw papayas were in plenty at home - got around 3 to 4 big papayas from my mom's place.

Ingredients:

For the Koftas:

Raw Papaya (medium sized) - 1/2
Onion - 1/2
Ginger Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
Powdered Salt - 1 tsp
Maida - 1/2 cup
Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
Oil - To deep fry

For the Manchurian Sauce:

Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Corn Flour - 1½ tbsp
Soya Sauce - 1½ tbsp
Worcestershire Sauce - 1½ tsp
Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomatoes (medium sized) - 3 (make paste)
Coriander Leaves (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp
Oil - For frying

Grind Together:

Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 4 flakes
Red Chillies - 7
Onion - 1 

Method:

1.  Soak red chillies for 10 minutes in warm water and grind with roughly chopped onion, ginger, and garlic to a smooth paste.  Set aside.

2.   Wash, cut, peel, and grate the papaya using a large-eyed grater.

3.  Mix finely chopped onions, ginger chilli paste, salt, rice flour, and maida to the grated papaya.

4.  Make small lemon sized balls and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.  Drain excess oil and keep aside.

5.  To make the manchurian sauce, heat oil in a kadai or a shallow frying pan.

6.  Add 2 tsp of sugar in the oil and allow to caramelize.

7.  When it turns golden, add the chopped onions and fry in high flame for few minutes.

8.  Add the ground red chilli paste and stir well.

9.  Pour the tomato paste and allow to cook for few minutes.

10.  Add salt, pepper powder, the sauces, and corn flour diluted in 1½ to 2 cups of water.

11.  Stir well till it becomes like a thick sauce.

12.  Add the deep fried papaya balls and cook for a minute.  Then, transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rotis or fried rice.

Notes:

Vegetable Marrow (Suraikai or Lauki) can be used in this recipe instead of raw papaya.

Aji-no-moto can be added both in the kofta balls and also the manchurian sauce.  I did not use.

Replace chopped spring onion tops to garnish instead of chopped coriander leaves.

(Recipe adapted from Mrs. Mallika Badrinath's Delicious Vegetarian Curries Marrow Manchurian.)

Adjust salt and spices according to your family's taste.  We like the hot and spicy way.

Other raw papaya recipes that you can give a try 

Homemade Tutti Fruiti

Raw Papaya Caramel Muffins

Happy Cooking!!

Tomato Rasam with Drumsticks

Recipe Credits:

My mom-in-law 😊


Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 2

Garlic - 2 cloves

Small Onions - 4

Drumstick - 4 to 5 pieces (1.5 to 2 inch pieces)

Tamarind Extract - 1 tsp (optional)

Rock Salt - 1/2 tbsp or as needed

Asafoetida - 1 big pinch

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - 3 to 4

Cumin Seeds - Few

Oil/Ghee - 1 tsp (to temper)

Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1 tsp

Rasam Powder - 1 tsp

Water - 1½ to 2 cups



Procedure:

Wash and cut tomatoes into two halves.  Peel skin of garlic cloves and small onions.

Cook cut tomatoes, garlic cloves, small onions, and drumstick pieces.  I normally place them in a separator and pressure cook along with rice.

Remove the skin of the cooked tomatoes.  Grind them along with cooked garlic cloves and small onions to a smooth paste.

In a cooking bowl or kadai, add the ground tomato paste, water, cooked drumstick pieces, salt, rasam powder, tamarind extract, and a pinch of sugar or jaggery if desired.  Bring to a boil.

In a tadka pan/ladle, heat oil or ghee and temper mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, and cumin seeds.  Add this to the hot rasam and let it sizzle.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with cooked rice.

This rasam is very flavorful with the tanginess of tomatoes and the aroma and flavor of drumsticks.  Can you look at those drumstick pieces peeping out??

Colocaesia Crispy Fry/Chembu Roast

Ingredients:

Colocaesia (Seppankilangu/Chembu/Arbi) - 1/2 kg
Oil - To deep fry
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp





Method:

Wash thoroughly the colocaesia.

Pressure cook them in a cooker separator plate while cooking rice.  If cooking separately, pressure cook for 2 whistles with just enough water.

When the pressure of the cooker is completely released, remove the cooked colocaesia and pour cold water over.  Leave for 5 to 10 minutes.

Peel the skin of the colocaesia and cut them into pieces.

Refrigerate the cooked colocaesia pieces for 10 minutes.  This step is optional.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the colocaesia pieces until golden brown and crisp.

Remove from oil and drain the excess oil.

Sprinkle salt and chilli powder over the fried colocaesia and mix.

Serve hot.



This crispy fry is crunchy on the outside and soft inside.  Serve with sambar rice or with rasam or can be had as such as crunchy bites.

Carrot Dosa

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 1-1/2 cups
Carrots - 4 (chopped)
Red Chillies - 5
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1 (medium sized, optional)
Rock Salt - 1-1/2 tsp


To Temper:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves - Few


Method:

Wash and soak raw rice in 3 cups of water for a minimum of 1 hour.

Grind the soaked rice along with chopped carrots, red chillies, cumin seeds, chopped onion (optional), and salt using the soaked water fully.  Grind to a smooth paste.  The dosa batter will be dilute.  Add more water if necessary.

Then, temper mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil and add to the dosa batter.

Take a ladle full of dosa batter and pour on a hot tawa smeared with little oil in a circular motion starting from the outer edge moving towards the center as done for Rava dosas.
  
Close with lid and allow to cook.  After a minute or so, when the dosa starts leaving the edges, turn over, and drizzle oil all around.  Allow to cook for a minute.  It should not be roasted too much unless you like them to be very crispy.  These dosas taste good if soft and not too crisp.

Remove from the tawa and serve hot immediately with an accompaniment of your choice.  I served with Red Onion Chutney which is always very handy for me.

Soft and thin dosas with the goodness of carrots is a quick and easy breakfast idea.

Notes:

Tamarind, little more than gooseberry size, can be added while grinding the dosa batter if you relish the tangy taste of the tamarind.  I did not add.

Carrots can be replaced with beetroots to get red colored dosas.

This dosa should be poured immediately after grinding and should not be allowed to ferment.

Raw rice can be substituted with millets - thinai, samai, varagu etc. either half and half (half of raw rice and half of millets) or in full.

When doing on a "no onion" day, avoid the onion while grinding the ingredients.  

Mooligai Kozhukkattai (Mixed Herbs Dumplings)

Ingredients

Par Boiled Rice/Idli Rice - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Scraped Coconut - 1/4 cup
Chopped (assorted) Greens/Herbs - 1/2 cup or more
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp
Channa Dal - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Water - 3 cups


Procedure

Wash and soak rice in 3 cups of water for a minimum of 1 hour.

Then, drain the rice and save the soaked water.

In a mixer jar, add green chillies, salt, and rice and grind coarsely adding the soaked water as needed.  Add the rest of the soaked water and keep aside.

In a kadai, heat 1 tsp of oil and saute the assorted chopped greens slightly and keep aside.  I used the various types of greens grown in my home garden, viz., curry leaves, mint leaves, coriander leaves, karpooravalli or omavalli leaves(ajwain leaves), tulsi, lime leaf, betel leaves, etc.  You can add any other greens of your choice viz., spinach, drumstick leaves, etc.

In the same kadai, add 1 tsp of oil.  Temper mustard seeds, urad dal, and channa dal.

Add the sauteed greens, scraped coconut, and the coarsely ground rice mixture and stir continuously until it becomes thick like upma.  Switch off the flame and allow to cool slightly.

Grease your hand with oil.

When the mixture is warm and bearably hot, take small portions and press between your fingers and palm to form cylindrical shape kozhukkatais.  Repeat the same process for the entire mixture.

Place these kozhukkatais in a greased plate/cooker vessel and steam them in a cooker or broad vessel with lid closed (with water at the base) for 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve hot with desired chutney or pickle.  I served them with Red Onion Chutney.

These mooligai kozhukkatais are a rich source of nutrients as they contain all  the goodness of herbs and greens, carbohydrates from the rice, and is steamed food that is good for health.

The specks of greens in these kozhukkattais looks like jewels sparkling here and there.  Yes, they indeed are nutritious and health boosting jewels much needed for us.

The aroma of these kozhukkattais enhanced from the herbs fills the air around.

Try this recipe and experience the goodness of it. 


Notes:

Plain rice kozhukkattais can also be made by avoiding the herbs and greens and using all other ingredients with the same measurements.

Whole wheat rava (brown rava) can also be used to do these kozhukkattais.  Skip the soaking and grinding steps.  When using wheat rava, temper mustard and dals, add water and allow to boil, add the wheat rava, salt, scraped coconut, and ground chillies along with sauteed greens.  Continue the rest of the process in the same manner.

Scraped coconut can be added while grinding also.  It can also be avoided if not desired.

Par boiled rice can be replaced in part or as a whole with millets like samai, thinai, varagu, etc. to make these dumplings more healthier.

Gulab Jamun with Coconut Milk Powder and Whole Wheat Flour

Ingredients

For the Jamun

Milk Powder - 1/2 cup
Coconut Milk Powder - 1/2 cup
Whole Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup
Baking Soda - 1 pinch
Ghee - 1 to 2 tsp
Curd - 2 to 3 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1 pinch
Oil or Ghee - To deep fry

For the Sugar Syrup

Sugar - 1-1/2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Elaichi Powder - 1 tsp
Lime Juice - 1 tsp (optional)
Salt - 1 tiny pinch


Procedure

To make Sugar Syrup

Add sugar and water in a medium sized bowl and allow to boil for 5 to 10 minutes on a medium flame.

When it reaches a sticky consistency, add elaichi powder, lime juice, and salt.  Switch off and keep aside closed.

To make the jamuns

In a bowl, mix together milk powder, coconut milk powder, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cardamom powder and ghee until well combined.

Add curd little by little and knead to a soft, little sticky, and smooth dough.

Make even sized balls out of this dough.  Apply ghee in your palms to roll out the balls.  The balls should be smooth and crack free, else they break while deep frying.

Heat oil or ghee in a kadai on medium low flame.

When it is moderately hot, deep fry the jamun balls to golden brown stirring in between.

Add the hot fried jamuns to the hot sugar syrup and set aside for 2 hours.  Keep closed.

The jamuns would have become double sized and ready to be served chilled or as such.

The coconut milk powder added in the jamuns gives an extra flavor for coconut lovers.

Notes:

I used whole wheat flour without sieving.  This gave a slightly coarse texture to the jamuns though it was good taste and soft too.  If you want it really smooth, sieve the whole wheat flour and use.  The original recipe calls for use of maida instead of whole wheat flour.

Elaichi powder can be replaced with nutmeg powder or rose essence.

I used KLF coconut milk powder 25 gm sachet (1/3 cup) and adjusted measurements of other ingredients accordingly.  For this quantity, I got around 12-14 gulab jamuns.

Khus-Khus Halwa/Poppy Seeds Halwa

Ingredients

Poppy Seeds (Khus-khus) - 1 cup
Milk - 3 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Nutmeg Powder - 1 pinch
Elaichi Powder - 1 pinch
Salt - 1 small pinch


Procedure

Powder the khus-khus in a mixer jar in little quantities.  Grind further more to form a paste like consistency.  Do not add water or milk.  It automatically oozes out its own oil and forms a coarse paste.  Do the same for the entire quantity of poppy seeds.

In a heavy bottom kadai, add the coarsely ground khus-khus, milk, sugar, and a little pinch of salt (or just one small crystal of rock salt).   Mix well together so no lumps are formed.  Keep stirring.

Stir continuously until it becomes thick.  When it starts spluttering, close with lid and stir now and then keeping in low medium flame.

Add ghee little by little and stir continuously until it oozes out and the halwa is not sticky to wet fingers.

Add a pinch of nutmeg powder and cardamom (elaichi) powder.  Mix well and switch off the flame.

Khus-khus halwa is ready to serve.

It stays good in an airtight container for up to 5-6 days.  Use dry spoons (not wet spoons) to scoop and serve.

This is a very traditional sweet in our homes and not to be missed on special and festive occasions.  A mother's gift to her married daughter when she visits her place.

Notes:

Khus-khus is a body coolant and helps maintain the body heat.  This halwa is a rich and delicious dessert and can be had a spoonful in empty stomach if you feel your body is too heated up.

Alternative method to do this halwa is to soak khus-khus in water for 2 hours, drain it, and grind it along with milk to form a coarse paste and continue with the same process as above.

You can also do the pressure cooker method for making this halwa.  Soak khus-khus in water for 2 hours.  Drain and grind to a coarse paste with enough milk.  Add the coarse khus-khus paste, rest of the milk, and sugar in a vessel and pressure cook for 10 minutes.  Cool and then transfer to a kadai and continue cooking, stirring continuously, until the halwa is done.  Add the rest of the ingredients in the process as mentioned.

Milk can be substituted completely with water or half and half (that is half quantity of milk and half quantity of water).  Using entirely milk gives an extra special richness to the dessert.

Adjust sugar according to your taste.  You can vary it up to 1/4 cup more or less.

Powdered jaggery can be substituted for sugar.