With the advent of the rainy season, we find green vegetation all around. Since ancient times we were using many of these plants as ingredients in our cuisine. One such green leafy vegetable is Colocasia . These leaves if not boiled properly, produce itching inside mouth and down to the throat. If soaked in water, it produces itching of our hands too. So while using the leaves – Chop cleaned and dried leaves without touching water. If there is itching, wash the hands with tamarind and water. The itching factor is common and not to be afraid of, because boiled leaves would get rid of the itch and turn out delicious.
Other rainy season specials used in this dish are – – dried seeds of jackfruit ( in jackfruit season, we take out the seeds and dry them under sun to be used later in different dishes), – tender bamboo shoots – hog plums (ambade/amtekayi/ Ambazhanga – Thanks to Anjali for translations)
(clockwise from left – bamboo shoots, hog plums, jackfruit seeds)
So commonly we prepare Alvatti in these days. Bamboo shoots( keerlu ) give a crunch to the dish, hog plums give a nice tangy flavor and jackfruit seeds give a great texture. When the colocasia leaves are cooked, they considerably go down in volume(like spinach), so use them in large quantity.
Ingredients: 4 / 5 cups finely chopped calocasia leaves with stem(pathrade panna) 1 / 2 cup Bamboo shoot pieces(Keerlu) 8 – 10 Jackfruit seeds 3 Hog plum(Ambade) 1 cup grated coconut 5 Red chillies 8-10 garlic pods(small ones) OR Seasoning of mustard seeds, curry leaves Oil Salt
Method: Cook chopped calocasia leaves with bamboo shoot pieces and seeds of jackfruit(crush and remove the outer skin before using).
Grind coconut and chillies. Add the masala to cooked leaves. Add crushed / peeled ambades, salt and cook for about three minutes. Heat oil fry garlic pods in it. OR Make a seasoning of mustard and curry leaves. Add them to the boiling dish. Alvatti is ready for use either with rice or chapati.
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time: 30mins
Kababs are V’s favorite way of eating chicken. Â So I make these simple kababs very often. I bake them most of the times, but when there is shortage of time, I like to grill them. I made these for a office outing few days ago. Simple, easy and very tasty.
Ingredients: 1 lb (0.4 kg) chicken 1 tea spn chilli powder 2 tbl spn thick yogurt 1/2 tea spn ginger paste 1/2 tea spn garlic paste Salt Spice powder(make a powder) – 3-4 cloves 1″ cinnamon 1/2 tea spn coriander seeds
Method: Add all the ingredients to chicken and leave it for around 1-2hrs. Grill them till they are done. Serve with some lemon wedges.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 20mins
