GULLA MASHINGASAANGA TALASANI

GULLA MASHINGASAANGA TALASANI

Today's recipe is from our own GSB Konkani cuisine and is called Gulla Mashingasaanga Talasani. The name comes from the two main ingredients: Matti Gulla ( a special kind of brinjal) and Drumsticks ( which we call Mashingasaang, in my mother tongue, Konkani.

Many of us consider Gulla/Brinjal and Drumsticks to be a good combination!  This is an easy to make stir fry which is usually served with our traditional meal of rice and dalithoi. 

For those who may not know, Matti Gulla is a special type of brinjal/eggplant/aubergine available in the Udupi area of my Home State of Karnataka. Tradition has it that the first crop of Matti Gulla ( named after a place called Matti, near Udupi) is offered at the Udupi Sri Krishna Temple.

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with Matti Gulla, such as:- 

• Gulla Mashingasaanga Sagle
• Matti Gulla Podi
• Matti Gulla Huli

We enjoyed this dish recently when I was happy to see some Matti Gulla in the nearby Mangalore Stores. 

Ingredients:-

• Matti Gulla, 2 
• Mashingasaang ( Drumsticks), 2 
• Garlic Cloves, 10-12
• Dry Red Chillies, 3 -broken into halves
• Coconut Oil, 2 tbsp 
• Salt, to taste

Method:-

Wash the gulla. Remove the stalks and cut them into pieces. Immerse these pieces in fresh water till they are used in this recipe- in order to avoid discolouration 

Peel the drumsticks and cut them into 1 and 1/2 " pieces. 

Crush the garlic cloves lightly

Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai. Add the lightly crushed garlic cloves and saute them till they give off a good aroma and turn golden brown in colour. 

Next add the broken red chillies and saute for a few seconds.

To this add the cut gulla pieces and the drumsticks pieces, mix and add salt to taste and saute for a couple of minutes

Now add  1/3 cup of water

Cook covered on medium heat, stirring from time to time, till the gulla and drumsticks are done

Once the gulla and drumsticks are cooked and the excess water has evaporated, switch off the gas and transfer to a serving bowl 

Serve as a side dish with the main meal

MY FOOD BLOG IS 12 YEARS AND GOING STRONG!

 MY FOOD BLOG IS 12 YEARS AND GOING STRONG!

I am in the mood to celebrate today!! My blog, "Cooking With Shobana"  completes 12 years  and moves to teen age. 

 Back in 2013, my husband Prem, who is a blogger himself,  encouraged me to start a blog. When I rather hesitatingly started this blog on March 21, 2013, I had no idea that it would grow as much as it did. I remember we thought it appropriate to start the blog with a sweet. Accordingly, my first post was, "Orange Basundi" 

Both of us have put in so much of hard work behind this initiative but it has been well worth the effort! 

On the third anniversary of CWS, I had written with justifiable pride that the blog had crossed the milestone of 1/2 a million or 500,000 page views.  I am happy to share that today that number has crossed 4.3 million at 4,312,877- and counting! 

I was pleased to see that it ranks 49 in Feedspot's 100 Best Indian Food Blogs & Websites in 2025. 

The picture I have selected for today's celebration is a screenshot of "Images" that appear if you were to do a Google search for "Cooking With Shobana"

From the small slice - pictured above- of the over 1000 posts in this blog, you will note that over the years, I have tried to present a wide variety of recipes that I have tried across different cuisines. Most of the recipes have been vegetarian and from our Indian cuisine. In this endeavour, I have always tried to promote the cooking from our statistically small Konkani speaking Gowda Saraswat Brahmin community and from my Home State of Karnataka. 

Although with the passage of time, I post less frequently than I used to, I must say this blog has given me an opportunity and platform to follow my passion for cooking. 

Thanks to all of you: my family, friends, and over 19,000 followers  on my Facebook Page who have unfailingly supported and encouraged me over the years. 

BROCCOLI KI SUBJI

 BROCCOLI KI SUBJI

Broccoli, which is part of the cauliflower family, ranks as one of the healthiest vegetables as described in this article in Medical News Today. 

I first came across broccoli when visiting the US. We liked it and since it is so good for health, I started using it in our Indian dishes. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for other dishes made with broccoli such as:-

• Broccoli & Almond Soup
• Broccoli Bell Pepper Stir Fry 
• Broccoli Stir Fry

Today's recipe is for Broccoli ki Subji- a side dish made with broccoli - in the North Indian style.

I have adapted this from the YouTube video Broccoli Ki Subji in Hindi by Chef Ashok 

We had this for lunch yesterday and it was quite delicious with hot rotis! 

Ingredients: 

• Broccoli, 500 gms
• Onions, 2
• Tomato, 1
• Fresh Curds, 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Kashmiri Chilli Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Coriander Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves), 1/4 tsp
• Garlic, chopped, 1 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste, 1/2 tsp
• Green Chillies, chopped, 1 tsp
• Whole Spices: 1-2 bay leaves; 1 black cardamom;  1 clove ( laung) ; 1 " stick cinnamon; 1 small cardamom; 1/2 tsp cumin seeds;
• Salt, to taste
• Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
• Oil, 1 and 1/2 tbsp
• Butter, 1 cube

Method:-

Wash the broccoli and break them into small florets

Chop the stalk and retain only the tender parts 

Steam the broccoli florets and the tender stalk for 3-4 minutes

Peel and chop the onion, chop the tomato, garlic and green chillies

In a thick bottomed kadhai, heat oil and add the whole spices listed above, one by one and saute 

To this add the chopped garlic and saute on medium heat till it gives off a good aroma and changes colour

Next add the chopped onion, a little salt and saute till the onions become slightly golden 

To this add the ginger garlic paste and the chopped green chillies and saute till the raw smell goes

Add the turmeric powder and chilli powder and mix well

Now add the chopped tomato and a little salt and a little water

Cook covered on medium heat till the tomatoes become soft and mushy

Add the coriander powder, cumin powder and kasuri methi and mix them well with the cooked tomato

Mix in the fresh curds and cook on high flame

To this add the steamed tender parts of the broccoli stalk, and cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes

Next add the steamed broccoli florets and cook till it gets well blended with the masala

Cover and cook on low flame for about 2 minutes ( add a little water to get a gravy like consistency if you desire)

Finally add the cube of butter and mix well 

Garnish with the finely chopped coriander leaves

Switch off the gas and transfer to a serving bowl

Serve the Broccoli ki Subji with hot rotis, chapatis

JEEV KADGI BHUTHI

 JEEV KADGI BHUTHI

Many of you will be familiar with the breadfruit. This is a cousin of the more common jackfruit and is available and popular in the coastal belts of Karnataka and Kerala.  In my mother tongue, Konkani, breadfruit is called Jeev Kadgi. This is called Gujjekai in Kannada and Kadda Chakka in Malayalam.  

Breadfruit has numerous health benefits so we use this in our diet whenever it is in season. 

Today's recipe is so quintessentially "Mangaluru", that I thought I should share recipes of some other dishes from our Mangaluru region in my blog, such as:- 

• Amatekai (Indian Hog Plum) Gojju
• Maanji Pulimunchi 
• Magge (Mangalore Cucumber) Dosa 

Recently, I had been to the Mangalore Stores near where we live and picked up a good sized breadfruit. This prompted me to make an old favourite dish from our Konkani GSB cuisine called - Jeev Kadgi Bhuthi.

Do try it out and let me know how you liked it! 

Ingredients:-

• Jeev Kadgi ( Breadfruit), 450 gms
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 1 cup
• Roasted Byadgi Red Chillies, 6
• Tamarind, size of a marble
• Coriander Seeds, 2 tsp
• Onions, 2
• Salt, to taste
• Coconut Oil, 1 and 1/2 to 2 tbsp

Method:-

Wash the jeev kadai (breadfruit) , remove the stalk and peel

Cut the breadfruit into small pieces 

Chop the onion

Heat oil in a thick-bottomed kadhai and add the chopped onions and saute till they become translucent

To this add the breadfruit pieces, sprinkle a little water and cook on medium heat, stirring from time to time, till it gets cooked 

Make sure the breadfruit pieces are properly cooked yet remain firm 

In a mixer jar, grind together the coconut gratings, roasted Byadgi red chillies, tamarind and coriander seeds. ( We need not roast the coriander seeds for this dish before grinding) 

Grind these to a paste adding just the required amount of water

Add this ground paste and salt to taste to the cooked breadfruit and mix well 

Cook covered on low flame and stir from time to time till the excess water evaporates and the breadfruit pieces get well blended with the ground paste

Switch off the flame and transfer this to a serving bowl 

Serve the Jeev Kadgi Bhuthi as a side dish with rice and dal

 

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: THE KONKAN, BENGALURU

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: THE KONKAN, BENGALURU

My husband and I love seafood so when we were celebrating our wedding anniversary recently, we decided to go to a seafood specialty restaurant. After viewing various options we decided to drop in for lunch at The Konkan, established 2017. This is located at the junction of Church Street and St Marks Road in Bengaluru. We had been here before and had loved the food- hence the decision to repeat the experience.

Their website is here  and they also have a Facebook Page 

There were many fish options to choose from. For starters, we ordered the old favourite seer fish preferring to have this tawa fried. It looked really attractive but though it was tasty it does not get a rave rating as it fell a little short on the salt.. 

This was followed by the hit of the day: Prawns Butter Garlic. This was incredibly tasty! I would strongly recommend this to all of you, especially if, like us,  you love eating prawns! The prawns were expertly sautéed in butter with the right amount of garlic flavouring giving the dish a taste that you will remember for very long. 

To go with our meal we opted for Somaek. This is made up of Soju, Korea's iconic and most consumed liquor topped up with beer. We didn't have the soju in the regular Korean style by downing it as a shot. We had this as a Somaeak - soju + maekju (as beer is called in Korea). I am not sure if they had Korean beer but we had ours -with the ever popular Heineken!  

For the main course we opted for a chicken dish, considering we had already relished fish and prawns. Being from Mangaluru, our eyes lit up on seeing the Chicken Kori Rotti on the menu. This dish (which is most popular in Tulu/Bunt cuisine in Mangaluru)  has chicken curry eaten with crisp dry wafers or flakes made with boiled rice. We crush the wafers in the chicken gravy , mix and eat it with our fingers. This too was superb! 

After this delicious meal, we chose to have Caramel Custard for dessert. This came with the right amount of sweetness and was presented nicely with a garnish of assorted nuts. It tasted just great and was a perfect end to our meal. 

We went on a Friday afternoon around 1.30 and we got a place quite easily. The timings are 12 noon to 3.15 pm and from 7.00 pm to 10.15 pm. They are closed on Mondays.

They have a fairly large numbers of options to choose from -mainly centred around seafood for which the Konkan area is so highly reputed. The service was efficient . We liked the fact that they didn't hassle us with too many suggestions or bug us to speed up. The ambience is fine- nothing great but the food is indeed excellent! 

LASOONI ALOO PALAK

 LASOONI ALOO PALAK

The great-for-health spinach is called Palak in Hindi. It is probably one the most popular ingredients in North Indian cooking. Of course, spinach is widely used in South India too. 

It is well-known that spinach, like many other greens, is really good for health. This article in Good Food lists various health benefits provided by spinach. I make it a point to use spinach in our meals from time to time.

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with spinach/palak, such as:-

• Spinach & Green Peas Rice
• Methi Palak Paneer Subzi 
• Dal Palak
• Palak Paneer 

Today's recipe is for Lasooni Aloo Palak. As the name suggests this delicious side dish is made with Spinach and Potato ( Palak and Aloo) and has the flavour of Garlic (Lasoon in Hindi) . I have adapted this from the YouTube video in Marathi by Madhura's Recipes. 

You will particularly love this if, like us, you enjoy the flavour of garlic! I tried this out recently and it tasted great! 

INGREDIENTS:-

• Spinach (Palak), 1 big bunch
• Green Chillies, 2
• Oil, 2 tbsp 
• Cumin Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Onions, medium-sized, 2, 
• Garlic, 10 cloves
• Garam Masala, 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Coriander Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Chilli Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Besan, 1 tsp
• Kasuri Methi, crushed, 1 tsp
• Boiled Potato, large-sized, 1
• Butter, 1 tsp 

For the Seasoning:- 

• Cumin Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Garlic, sliced, 2 tsp
• Dried Red Chilli, broken into halves, 1
• Oil, 1 tsp

METHOD:-

Remove the spinach leaves from their stalks, wash thoroughly in several changes of water

Roughly chop the spinach and the tender stems 

Peel the boiled potato, cube this and rub in a little salt 

Peel and finely chop the onions

Peel 10 cloves of garlic and make a paste 

In a thick-bottomed kadhai, boil the spinach in one cup of water for 3-4 minutes

Then immediately transfer the spinach to a bowl of ice cold water. This helps in retaining the colour of the spinach

After 2-3 minutes, remove the spinach from the cold water and transfer to a mixer  jar 

Add green chillies and grind to make a puree. Keep aside

In the same kadhai, heat oil and on medium heat add the cumin seeds, when they sizzle add the finely chopped onion and saute till they become translucent

To this add the garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes

Next add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder. Mix well and saute for 2 minutes

Move this to one side of the kadhai

Add besan to the kadhai and roast this for a couple of minutes then mix well with the onions

The besan helps thicken the gravy 

Now add the palak puree along with the water in which the spinach was boiled 

Add salt to taste, crushed kasuri methi and mix well

Next add the boiled potato cubes and butter and cook for 3-4 minutes

Heat oil in a seasoning pan and on medium heat add the cumin seeds

When they sizzle, add the sliced garlic and saute till it turns golden

Add the broken red chilli and saute

Pour this seasoning onto the Lasooni Aloo Palak

Transfer to a serving bowl

Serve hot with rotis and chapatis

BROCCOLI & GREEN PEAS KURMA

 BROCCOLI & GREEN PEAS KURMA 

Broccoli ( pronounced with the second "o" being silent) is a vegetable which belongs to the same family as cauliflower. It ranks as one of the healthiest vegetables as described in this article in Medical News Today. 

I first came across broccoli when visiting the US. We liked it and since it is so good for health, I started using it in our Indian dishes. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with broccoli such as:-

• Broccoli and Potato Stir Fry 
• Broccoli Garlic Stir Fry 
• Broccoli and Almond Soup 

Today's recipe is for Broccoli & Green Peas Kurma - a yummy dish which goes great with chapatis and rotis. 

Ingredients:-

• Broccoli, medium sized, 1 
• Green Peas, 1/2 cup 
• Mustard Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves, a few
• Large sized Onion, 1
• Tomatoes, 2
• Chilli Powder, 1/2  tsp 
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 1 tbsp
• Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped, 1 tbsp, for garnish

For the Kurma Masala: 

• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 3/4 cup
• Green Chillies, 3
• Ginger, 1/2 " piece
• Garlic Cloves, 3-4 
• Fried Gram, 1 tbsp
• Poppy Seeds, 1 tsp
• Cinnamon, 1 small stick
• Fennel Seeds, 1/2 tsp

Method:-

Wash the broccoli and break them into florets, cut the tender parts of the stalk and discard the rest

Steam cook the broccoli florets for about 5 minutes- this helps in the broccoli retaining its nutrients and colour

Separately, cook the tender stalks of the broccoli

Wash and cook the green peas 

Finely chop the onion, tomatoes and coriander leaves

In a mixer jar, grind together the coconut gratings, green chillies, ginger, garlic cloves, fried gram, poppy seeds, cinnamon and fennel seeds to a smooth paste adding the required amount of water

Remove from the mixer jar and keep the ground paste aside

Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadhai and on medium heat add the mustard seeds, when they splutter add the curry leaves and sauté for a few seconds

Then add the chopped onion and sauté till it becomes translucent

Next add the chopped tomatoes and a little salt

Mix well and cook till the tomatoes becomes soft and mushy

Add the chilli powder and turmeric powder, mix well and cook for 1 minute

To this add the cooked green peas and the cooked stalks of the broccolli

Next add the freshly ground masala 

Add water to get a gravy-like consistency, 

Add salt to taste and and mix well

Bring this to a boil then add the steamed broccoli florets 

Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for 2-3 minutes

Switch off the gas and garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander leaves 

Transfer to serving bowl

Serve the Broccoli & Green Peas Kurma with chapatis, rotis etc