Jackfruit Muffin - Ponsa Mulik Cake

Like the popular phrase goes "When life gives you lemons make lemonade", I say, "When life gives you jackfruit make mulik". 

Not just mulik, but a healthier version of it, mulik cake or jackfruit muffin!

Yes. Like many other innovations based on traditional dishes/ingredients such as Dumrote Cake, Kashi Halwa Cake, Neyappa Cake, Cucumber Cake and Raw Papaya Cake with semolina, I have also come out with this wonderful baked dish. 

I am fond of jackfruit and its preparations, especially mulik or fried fritters/dumplings. Brahmins have perfected the art of making mulik or as they call it, Mulka. I thought, why not make something more healthy and better looking based on the mulik recipe. So, I formulated this recipe based on my Dumrote Cake recipe and each attempt in making this was a thumping success. Then I thought, why not make muffins that look even better, stay more firm and also can be kept unspoilt more more time at room temperature. Thus born Jackfruit Muffins in my kitchen.

Every ingredient that goes into this healthy tasty cake is natural, except the baking soda and baking powder. I have tried making this at least 10 times before presenting this ultimate version. In earlier versions I have tried making it with regular jaggery, palm jaggery and sometimes with added caramel. This time I used organic honey jaggery(Jenu Bella) from my relative Dr Arun Isloor's farm Sahyadri Greens and achieved the best results. You can add normal jaggery, demerara sugar or even white sugar, but if you add white sugar, you need to add some caramel/orange yellow food colouring for that golden hue. A good Jackfruit Muffin has crisp upper crust, well browned side and bottom and not spongy but soft firm inner. 

These will be liked by modern day kids for sure, as kids love muffins. Seniors maybe remain speechless, and they may just nod their heads in approval!

Ingredients:
Bombay Rava(Semolina) - 2 Cups
Salt - 1/2 Tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 Tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 Tsp
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 Tsp
Ghee - 30 Ml
Plain Yogurt - 1/2 Cup
Oil - 2 Tbsp(I used coconut oil)
Powdered Jaggery/Demerara Sugar - 250 Gms
Jack Fruit - 1 Cup coarsely ground/mashed
Tender Coconut Malai - 1/2 cup minced
Honey(Optional) - 1 Tbsp
Raisins(Optional) - 25 Gms chopped/coarsely ground
Cashewnut Bits - 25 Gms preferably roasted with little ghee
White Sesame Seeds - 2 Tsp

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 C.
Grease 12 muffin moulds or line with muffin paper and keep ready.
Mix semolina with salt, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder, ghee and cashewnut bits.
In a mixing bowl, take yogurt and powdered jaggery/demerara sugar.
Beat well until jaggery/sugar melts.
If you have jaggery syrup, skip this step and directly mix all the wet ingredients.
Add mashed jack fruit, optional honey, oil, optional raisins, mix well.
Now gently fold in semolina ghee mixture, 1/3 portion at a time.
Fill the cake batter into muffin moulds to the brim.
Sprinkle sesame seeds generously over the top.
Bake at 200 C for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170 C, continue to bake for another 20-25 mins, or until a bamboo skewer or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool on the rack at least for 1 hour.
Loosen the  muffins and remove from the moulds.
Once completely cool, store them in a cake box.
These muffins remain good at room temperature for 3 days.
After 3 days transfer into a fridge.

Green Papaya Pachodi Salad

Green Papaya or raw papaya(Popashphal in Konkani) is considered as a vegetable rather than a fruit, and is widely used in cooking. It is full of medicinal properties. Having high concentration of Papain, an enzyme that tenderises even the toughest meat, raw papaya paste is used as one of the ingredients for marinating mutton, mostly for making kebabs. We GSBs either prepare a stir fried curry adding garlic called talaasani or we add that along with Malabar spinach to make 'Vaali Popashphala Aambat.

However, when papaya plant becomes heavily loaded with raw papayas and suddenly starts leaning, we have to think about other alternatives. We got 4 medium size raw papayas from our friend Uma Shenoi's garden last week. I made some halwa, some cake and also some salad with them. I had seen recipes online to make 'Som Tam', a Thai salad, but one of the ingredients being fish sauce is a big no for me. So I decided to make salad with raw papaya somewhat like the Aambuli Pachodi or raw mango spicy salad found mostly during summer in Car Street Mangaluru.

This pachodi is a very simple salad made by mixing red chilli powder, salt, asafotoeda and coconut oil with chopped raw mango bits. It is relished as it is, with plain rice and curd, or with congi. The pachodi salad I made has a twist, adding capsicum, tomato and roasted peanuts, if not lemon squeeze. The masala powder I used to make this has many spices like red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, mustard seeds, asafotoeda and turmeric powder. It is the same masala powder made for the exotic Aambuli Chutney)Spicy Raw Mango Chutney exclusively made in our family.

My idea was to blend our traditional masala with the similar ingredients that go into making the Thai salad while adding coconut oil for the authentic coastal Mangalorean touch. Added roasted peanuts appear occasionally and add to the crunchiness as you take bites. Raw papaya is tougher than cucumber or raw mango, and it needs either parboiling or should be lightly pounded in a mortar before mixing into the salad. Make this salad and instantly serve as a side dish with rice and daal, roti and curry or just savour with choice of fried fish or kebabs. It is tasty and full of flavours. Uma Shenoi gave a high five, and she ate it straight. She said, nothing can beat Mangalorean GSB style Som Tam from my kitchen!

Ingredients:
Raw Papaya - 300 Gms peeled and cut into julienne
Tomato - 1 medium cut into julienne
Capsicum - 1/2 medium cut into julienne
Roasted Peanuts - 2 Tbsp peeled and halved
Aambuli Chutney Masala - 2 Tsp
Salt - 1/3 Tsp(or to taste)
Sugar - 1/2 Tsp(Optional)
Coconut Oil - 2 Tsp
Lemon Squeeze - 1/2 lemon
Coriander Leaves - 1 Tbsp chopped

Method:
Soak the papaye julienne in ice cold water for 1 hour.
Drain and pound lightly in a mortar and keep aside.
Alternatively, blanch them for 10 mins in hot water, drain and keep aside.
Mix the papaya with other ingredients, check for salt and serve immediately.

Aambuli Chutney Masala Powder:

Aambuli Chutney Masala Powder is a versatile masala powder that can be used to make spicy chutney with raw mango, star fruit or bilimbi. It can also be used to make seafood preparations like fish tawa fried, chicken pulimunchi and Prawn Achari.

Ingredients: 
1. Red long chillies - 12
2. Red short chillies - 16
3. Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
4. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
5. Cumin seeds  - 2 tsp
6. Black peppercorns - 1 tsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. Asafotoeda - 5 gms
9. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
10. Oil - 1 Tsp

Method:
Roast the ingredients 1 through 8 with little oil separately and keep aside to cool.
Powder in a blender along with turmeric powder.
Store in an airtight jar.

Note:
1. Do not chill this salad in a fridge because coconut oil tends to solidify and loses its flavour.
2. You can also make this salad by just adding red chilli powder if you can't make Aambuli Chutney Masala Powder.
3. You can also add 1 Tsp tamarind extract instead of lemon squeeze.

Baked Nippat

Nippat is a traditional, crunchy fried tea time snack that is made in different ways by Mangaloreans, and those living in the old Mysore province. We add roasted urad daal flour for better taste and flavour. I had made traditional Nippat some months ago, and it came out pretty good. 

After tasting Maiya's Baked Nippat and Baked Maddur Vada, I had tried making Baked Maddur Vada, but not tried making baked nippat. Today, I was planning to bake some crispy snack and suddenly I thought, why not try my luck with baked nippat. I adapted my fried nippat formula and made some changes to suit the baking process. Then the end result was overwhelmingly fantastic, and the nippats were baked to perfection! They just crumble and melt in the mouth, releasing vivid taste and aroma as you carry the crumbled nippat on your tongue and soak it in your drooling mouth!

Make these for the cold winter days and pamper your kids as well as seniors at home. Very elderly seniors may conveniently forget to wear their dentures and happily gorge on these. The recipe given here yields about 55-60 2 mm thick nippats when stamped with standard 2" cookie cutter. I weighed each nippat and that was around 8 grams each, totalling approximately 450 grams.

Ingredients:
Refined Flour(Maida) - 1 Cup
Rice Flour - 1/2 Cup
Hoorna(Roasted Urad Daal Flour) - 1/4 Cup
Salt - 3/4 Tsp(or to taste)
Castor Sugar - 2 Tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 Tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 Tsp
Roasted Peanuts - 2 Tbsp
Roasted Gram Daal(Hurikadle/Putaani) - 2 Tbsp
Black Sesame Seeds - 2 Tsp
Green Chillies - 3-4 finely Chopped
Curry Leaves - 2 Sprigs finely chopped
Melted Ghee/Butter - 4 Tbsp (60 Ml)
Asafotoeda - A pinch dissolved in 1 Tbsp water or 1/2 Tsp powder
Plain Yogurt or water - About 1/4 Cup

Method:
Lightly pound roasted peanuts in a mortar and blow away the peel.
Lightly pound roasted gram daal.
Mix all the flours, salt, castor sugar, baking soda, chilli powder.
Add the chopped and pounded ingredients.
Mix well and then add melted ghee/butter.
Rub with your fingers to form crumbs, then add asafotoeda, moisten with water or yogurt one tablespoon at a time, knead into a stiff but malleable dough.
Shape into a ball, cover and keep for 15 minutes(in a fridge, if the room temperature is too warm).
Preheat oven at 180° C for 10 minutes.
Take 1/2 portion of the dough, grease the kitchen work area with little ghee, place the dough and roll with the rolling pin into a 2 mm thick sheet.
stamp with a cookie cutter into 20 cookies.
Place the cookies on the baking tray lined with butter paper and prick with a fork to make tiny holes on each one of them.
Bake at 180° C for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack.
Repeat the process with remaining dough. Last remaining little dough can be rolled into small lemon size balls, flattened with the palm and then placed on the baking tray.
Store in an air tight jar and enjoy them with a cup of hot coffee or tea.

Roasted Urad Daal Flour:
Dry Roast 1/4 cup urad daal on medium heat until the daal turns off white and nice roasted aroma emanates.
Allow to cool and then powder in a mill as finely as possible.

Mango Puran Poli/Obbattu/Ubbati/Holige

Puran Poli, Obbattu, Holige or Ubbati is one of my most favourite sweet snacks. My mother used to make ubbatis with a chana daal jaggery stuffing and we used to relish them with fresh ghee or butter mixed with some powdered sugar. There was lady Kumuda Prabhu near Vishal Hospital in Bhagavatinagar here, who used to make the best ubbati in the Nineties. We were staying nearby and have purchased it many times from her. Later she closed down the business and moved to Bangalore. Now some of her workers have joined some sweet shop or private sweet makers and they make ubbatis with same standard. They are available at Prabhu Bakery and Setharam Prabhu's Shop in Mannagudda. However, Havika, Kota and Udupiu Brahmins of undivided South Kanara district are pioneers in making these.

I was always thinking about making ubbatis at home, but never had the courage to make them, since it is a tricky affair. However, of late I have gathered some courage to venture into new things, and some days ago I decided to make ubbatis myself but with a twist, adding mango pulp to the chana daal stuffing!

"Why Mango Puran Poli? Are you sure it will taste good?" asked my  wife Meena. I smiled and told her, "Puran Poli is relished with aamras or Mango Seekarane/Rasaayana in some parts of Karnataka. Why not combine mango with Puran Poli stuffing and come out with Mango Puran Poli?"

She didn't say anything but I am sure, she was cynical about the end results, and must have thought, it's going to be a failure! 

I started preparing the stuffing as well as the outer dough for puran poli. We had a couple of Neelam mangoes from our friend's garden and they were just ripe. I did come out with the puran poli, it tasted good with pure ghee but the outer dough was not perfect! I was making puran poli for the first time memorising how my mother used to make them, with inputs from the recipe by Nisha Baliga Shenoy in my blogspot. I missed out something and the outer skin became thick and hard. Even while rolling out puran polis, the dough was not spreading smoothly. Meena told me that the outer dough should be well softened and drenched in oil before keeping it for fermenting for 6-8 hours. So I stopped my attempt in making further puran polis and converted the stuffing into Mango Chana Daal Halwa!

Yesterday, I thought of venturing into making them again. This time I meticulously watched a video showing how to make perfect puran polis. I also understood the importance of keeping the outer dough drenched in oil for 6-8 hours. This time Meena came to my rescue and rolled out perfect puran polis, though she had never made chana daal puran polis, but once she had prepared 'Kaayi Holige' or coconut stuffed puran poli which has a different method in making. Meena suggests rice flour for dusting the puran polis while rolling, since rice flour makes the outer cover firm and easy to roast them.

Make them and eat them drizzled with fresh melted ghee or dip them in ghee/milk to relish them. You will certainly keep making them in the months to come, for you need to pamper your family from time to time with these rare goodies. Besides, mango pulp is easily available round the year in major stores.

Ingredients:
Ripe Mango Pulp - 1/2 cup(or from 150 gm whole mango)
Chana Daal(Chickpea lentil) - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup(Increase according to your liking)
Ghee - 1 Tsp
Green Cardamom - 2 pods
Refined Flour(Maida) - 1 cup
Salt - 1/8 Tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/8 Tsp
Water - 1/2 cup
Sesame/Coconut Oil - 30 Ml
Rice Flour - 1/2 cup for dusting and rolling

Method:
Mix maida, salt and turmeric powder.
Add water little by little and knead the dough lightly until all the water has been consumed by the dough to form a gummy mass.
Add oil and mix well.
Allow oil to cover the dough.
Cover a cloth or a plate and keep the dough for fermentation for 6-8 hours at room temperature.
Peel cardamoms and crush the seeds coarsely.
Wash and soak chana daal in water for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Drain and pressure cook without adding water for 10-15 minutes.
Mash well by pounding, or running in a mixer without adding water.
Heat a thick bottomed pan and add mango pulp along with sugar.
Keep mixing on medium flame with wooden ladle, until the pulp becomes thick and dry, taking care not to burn the contents.
Add cooked chana daal paste and mix in cardamom powder.
Keep mixing further for another minute or so, or until the mass becomes dry but not hard.
Allow to cool down and then make 16-18 lemon size balls.
Heat a chapati pan and keep the flame on medium.
Drain excess oil from the maida dough, grease your hands, take small lemon size portion of the dough, make a pocket in it, keep the stuffing ball in it and bring the dough together to cover, pinch and seal the stuffing.
Roll between your palms to make perfect round, dust well with rice flour and roll out thin puran polis of 6-8 inches diameter.
Dry roast the puran polis on both sides until lightly roasted and well puffed.
Serve hot with fresh melting ghee, butter or with thick milk/coconut milk.

Video showing how to make Puran Polis. Thanks to http://swayampaaka.com/

Mango Chana Daal Halwa

This is one sweet dish I came out with, when the preparation for proposed Mango Puran Poli went haywire and the outer cover dough was not perfect! I had to make something out of the stuffing and this is the outcome!

Mango is a versatile fruit that adds a good flavour to anything sweet. We have seen mango burfi, ice creams, some other sweets and relished them too. However, mango halwa is not a usual sweet we get to see in sweet shops. North Indian sweet makers might have come out with something similar to this, but I have not tasted it before, nor have I found any link online, as yet. Mango and chana daal blend well and the flavour is so good, even the raw paste without adding ghee is finger licking good!

This halwa was a superhit, making it is very easy, and all those who tasted this approved it and made me happy, that my concept, effort and sweat didn't go wasted!

Ingredients:
Chickpea Lentil(Chana Daal) - 1 Cup
Mango Pulp - 1/2 Cup(or pulp of 150 Gm mango)
Sugar - 3/4 Cup
Cardamom - 4 Pods peeled and seeds crushed
Ghee(Clarified Butter) - 2 Tbsp
Tiny Cashewnut bits - A handful

Method:
Heat a thick bottomed pan, lightly roast cashewnut bits and keep aside.
You may skip that step, if the cashewnut bits are crisp and dry.
Soak chana daal in water for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Drain and pressure cook for 10-15 mins without adding water to daal.
Allow to cool and then mash into a smooth paste by pounding or grinding.
Heat the pan again, and melt 1 tsp ghee.
Add mango pulp and sugar, keep stirring on medium flame until the puree becomes thick and dry.
Add the cooked mashed daal and remaining ghee.
Mix well and keep stirring constantly until ghee leaves the sides and the mass is stiff and dry.
Add 3/4 of the cashewnut bits, crushed cardamom and mix.
Switch off the flame and spread the halwa mixture on a greased shallow plate.
Sprinkle remaining cashew bits, flatten with a ladle and allow to cool down.
Cut into desired shape and store in air tight container, when the halwa pieces completely cool down.