Neerphanaschi Bhaaji / Breadfruit Side Dish.

Neerphanas is a vegetable loved by my whole family. Most households in Goa will have this tree in their backyard. The size of the fruit/vegetable ranges between a grapefruit to a huge honeydew melon. The fruit is plucked when raw and vibrant green on the outside. The outer skin is peeled,the inside core is discarded and just the tender ivory colored inside flesh is used just like for a pineapple.

Neerphanas or breadfruit is used to make bhaaji/side dish or semolina coated shallow fry or bhaji's/pakodas or added to korma/gravy.

I get very fresh vibrant green breadfruits here so shallow fried one half and made side dish of the other half with the 'goan trinity' (onion/green chilly/coconut) combination.

When cooked with a sprinkle of water to make this side dish, the neerphanas gets cooked to a silky buttery texture.

Ingredients

2 cups neerphanas/breadfruit, peeled, cored and chopped into pieces,

1 tsp oil,

1 tsp mustard seeds,

1/2 medium onion, chopped,

1 green chilly, chopped into 2 pieces,

2 tbsp grated coconut,

1 tsp salt,

3/4 cup water.

Method.

• Heat oil in a pan on medium heat.
• Add mustard seeds and when they splutter add the onion and green chilly.
• Fry for a few minutes then add the chopped neerphanas, salt and coconut and stir again.
• Add the water, mix and cover with lid and cook on low flame till the vegetable is fork tender and cooked through.

Grandmother's Birthday and KaLyacho Halwo / Sweetened Bananas.

Today is my Dear Aayi's 87th Birthday(my maternal grandmother whom we lovingly call Aayi).

Wish I could give her a big hug on this special day and wish her a Very Happy Birthday but I had to make do by speaking with her over the phone and wishing her.

She is getting frail and weak as the days are going by but without any doubt she is strong at heart, still managing to go for her morning walks. She is a soft spoken lady, very broad minded and modern in her thoughts, always open to new ideas, not the typical old fashioned grandmother at all. I really respect and admire her. After my Ma passed away she has been my pillar of strength and source of inspiration in life. Aayi is an excellent cook and whipped up authentic goan food for us when we were young. Due to her frail health she no longer cooks so often now but no doubt about it that she makes the best mouth watering fish curry ever, all my uncles and aunts n cousins agree with me on this note. Time and again I call her up to refer to some of the authentic goan recipes that were long lost and forgotten.

I see my Ma in Aayi(she is my mom's mother) and I cherish the few moments that I get to talk to her over the phone from across the world.


Happy Birthday Aayi !!

Today's halwa is for my Dear Aayi.

One gets many varieties of bananas in India. In Goa we get a special variety of bananas called mandoli kaLyi, the taste is very sweet and aromatic. They are mostly eaten ripe or cooked into a halwa.
Now, this is not a typical mushed up dry halwa loaded with sugar as the name suggests but rather delicate banana slices floating in lots of mildly sweetened cardamom flavored sugar syrup and ready in a jiffy.
Ma made this very often as we liked to have it for breakfast along with bread or chappati.
Here I have used plantains as they are almost similar in taste.

Ingredients
3 plantains, almost ripe and yellow, firm to touch,
1 cup sugar,
3 cups water,
2 tsp ghee/clarified butter,
1 tsp elaichi/cardamom powder.

Method.

• Peel and slice the plantains into 1/2 cm thick slices.
• Heat a pan on medium heat and add the ghee.
• Add the sliced plantains to the pan and stir very gently a couple of times(1-2 minutes) taking care not to break the banana slices.
• Add water and sugar and cardamom powder and let it come to a boil.
• Once the bananas change color, switch the heat off and take the pan off the heat to stop the bananas from cooking further and turning to a mush.
• Serve warm or cold with bread, chappati or puri.

Note.
This is best eaten freshly prepared or at the most on the same day as reheating the halwa will make the bananas mushy.
Best eaten with a bread/pav to soak up the banana flavoured juices.
Adjust the quantity of sugar as to your liking but the halwa should not be extra sweet but just lightly sweet with the dominant banana flavour.

Bhenyachi Bhaaji / Okra cooked in Goan style.

Okra/bhindi is called as bhenyae in Goan konkani. I love okra a lot in any form so it always makes an appearance in my kitchen at least once every 15 days. And fortunately my husband and both kids love it too. They specially like it cooked in this simple manner.
Bhenyachi bhaaji is a very simple dish prepared with the Goan trinity of "onion, coconut and green chilly" and of course the okra itself. The flavouring imparted to the vegetable comes from the humble onion and coconut with a touch of spice from the green chilly and a tangy punch from the kokum.
Again, this is a fat free recipe as there is no use of any oil. My Mom used oil sparingly in her cooking.
This is one of the many ways my Mom prepared okra.
Also this is the way bhenyaae /okra is prepared in most households in Goa.


Ingredients.
3 cups chopped okra/bhindi/bhenyae,
1 medium onion, chopped,
2 green chillies, slit,
2 tbsp grated coconut,
8 pieces of kokum/sola,
salt to taste,
pinch of sugar.


Method.

• Put all the ingredients in a pan along with a few tsps of water and cook on medium to medium low heat with lid half covered till the okra is cooked.(covering the pan completely makes the okra slimly)
• Stir the ingredients in the pan not with a spoon but just shake the pan and toss the ingredients inside the pan, that way the cooked okras will not break.

Note
Adding kokum stops the okra from getting slimy when cooked.
Also the kokum adds a unique tangy flavour to the okra.
You can add tomato if you do not have kokum but the flavour will be slightly different.

Baked Cheese Crackers

Cheese crackers are an all time favorite not only with kids but grown ups too.

I make these very often for my kids as these crackers are very cheesy and crispy with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. You cannot stop with popping just one in your mouth.......they are very addictive.

Ingredients

1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour,

1/2 cup butter, room temperature,

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese,

1/2 tsp salt,

1 tsp sugar,

1 tsp paprika,

1 tsp baking powder,

few sprinkles of water to make dough.

Method.

• Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and make a soft dough. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough to 1/2 cm thickness and then score to get shapes or can use spritz cookie press to get the rippled effect crackers or can use the star plate of the chakli maker to get star shaped crackers.
• Put on the tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, do not allow to burn.
• The crackers will just turn mildly golden brown.
• Cool and store in an air-tight container.

Note.

Add any chopped herbs or any other spices like cumin seeds or black pepper to make fancy grown up version.

These crackers do not expand when baked so when arranging them on the tray no need of spacing them.

Doodhi Bhaaji / Pumkin Stir Fry.

Pumpkin takes the top spot on my list of favorite vegetables, I like it in any form, any day. This is one of the ways Ma prepared doodhi bhaaji, in its most simplest form with the 'Goan Trinity' of onion, green chilly and coconut. Goan tirphal also called sichuan pepper is used for this dish and this pepper gives the humble pumpkin a unique flavor, kicks it up a notch and takes it to a totally different level.

Ingredients.

4 cups chopped pumpkin(yellow or butternut),

1/2 onion, chopped,

1-2 green chillies chopped,

3 tbsp grated coconut,

10 tirphal pieces/sichuan pepper (optional),

salt to taste,

few tsp of water.

Method.

• Wash and rinse the tirphal, discard the black seed inside it, it is not edible.
• Crush the the pepper slightly but do not powder it.
• Mix all ingredients in a pan, cover and cook on low flame till the pumpkin is tender.
  

Note.

Discard the tirphal when serving the vegetable, the pepper is not edible.

As with most of the other vegetable dishes, Ma never used oil to cook this dish too.

The tirphal imparts a distinct flavor to the humble pumpkin.