Bamboo Shoot in Coconut Paste/Kirla Sukke

We used to often have bamboo shoot while in Thirthahalli. After I moved to Bangalore it drastically decreased. I don't remember seeing any store which had bamboo shoot. When I saw this in Japanese market I was really very happy and the very thought of eating it was just mouth watering ;). I immediately bought few of them and prepared couple of items. We call it as Kirlu in konkani. Try it out with rice and dalitoy. Simply amazing !

Fresh bamboo shoot are available from late November to May. But canned once are way too handy and is available during anytime of the year and in various sizes and shapes. When I bought fresh ones, I peeled them, cut and store it in a air tight container with salt. But I omit this process when I buy canned. Usually canned vegetables are already pickled, soft and tender. Adjust salt according to which bamboo shoot you use.

Tingal Avre Kolombo/White Bean Sambar

Its been a while since I posted anything on my blog. Time is a constraint. Though I was clicking pictures whenever I prepared something which I want to put on my blog, I could not post it.

Back home this is typically prepared with a white bean called "Tingalavre". I am not sure what is it called here. I have tried to find these beans in Indian stores with no success. I started substituing with "Lima Beans".  These beans cook very easily and does not need soaking for more than 3-4 hours.

Kai Holige

Wish you all a Very Happy Ugadi. Ugadi festival reminds me of childhood days. New clothes, lots of food and not to forget yummy ubatti. I still remember that song of our school days "Uga Ugadi Kaledaru"...what a lovely and meaningful lyrics. My cousin mentioned this festival is also called as "Ubbati Parab". Ubbati is a sweet dish prepared specially during Ugadi and Parab means festival in konkani.

My DH is not a big fan of chana dal. So I decided to replace ubbati with kai holige this time. He loved it ! My grandmother used to make this holige every year without fail right after Gauri festival. Because we celebrated Gauri puja at home, there used to be lots of coconut which is typically called as "vaina". It was her belief to make only sweet dishes out of vaina she used to make kai holige and distribute among her kids and their family.

Kai holige is made with coconut stuffing whereas ubbati with chana dal stuffing. We call this coconut stuffing as huran and the outside layer made with all purpose flour or maida as "kanik".This is my second attempt in preparing kai holige and this time the preparation was a bliss. Rolling after placing coconut dumpling came out perfect. This surely is a time consuming sweet dish and needs patience ! But the end result is something you can relish :)