25 December 2009

WIPGYOR series: White is for Ghaavne

Both N and I come from the coastal part of West India -'Konkan’ as it is fondly called….anywhere you go in this region, you will find scenic beaches, rows of coconut palms, verdant farms and the signature red soil!....add to this list historic temples, freshest-possible fish and nicest-possible people, and you know that you are in heaven!

Here are some pics from our trip last year:









The food in Konkan is based primarily on three staples: rice, fish and coconuts….superb staples, I say! Go to any Konkani house for a meal and you are sure to find atleast one of these ingredients in the meal- be it breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner or dessert. Today I am going to kick-off my 7-day recipe marathon with a breakfast recipe that combines two of these staples- rice and coconut.

For anyone who might not know, ghaavne are healthy, light, rice flour crepes. Traditional ghaavne-making involved buying good quality rice (or else the crepes won’t come out nice), washing it thoroughly, drying it in the beautiful courtyard outside the house in the sun, powdering the sun-dried rice and then making a batter out of it. Whew!!! In today’s short-cut zamaana, ready-made rice flour available in the market works quite well. Of course its no competition to grandma’s crepes, but for the amount of effort it saves, it does quite well.

The crepes are pretty versatile and can go with a wide variety of accompaniments. Depending on the meal, you could pair it with plain coriander-coconut chutney (breakfast) or a spicy Goan fish curry *slurp*for lunch/dinner.

Here’s my recipe for morning-fresh ghaavne-chutney:
Ghaavne
1/2 cup good quality rice flour (I used the Gagan brand available here in Vancouver)
about 3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt (more or less to your taste)
oil

-Sift the rice flour so that its nice and light
-In a bowl, add water to the sifted rice flour little at a time until you get a milk-like batter.
-Add salt to this batter and if you have time, let it rest for 5-10 mins
-heat a non-stck tava/girdle and ladle out 1/4 cup batter at a time such that you get a thin crepe.
You know you have got your ghaavna right when you see the jaali (holes) in the crepe like this:



-add some oil on the sides and let the crepe cook
-you know its done when the crepe looks crispy and the sides of the crepe leave the girdle.
-Serve hot

Coriander-coconut chutney:
1/2 cup fresh coconut
1/2 bunch fresh coriander leaves
1-2 green chillies (depending on how hot you like it)
1 small clove of garlic
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

Simply combine all ingredients in a blender and grind until everything is well blended.





Now isn't that a lovely, easy recipe? N and I both love these crepes and enjoy having them for breakfast. At first I was wondering how easy this Grandma's recipe is but then I remembered that they didnt really use my store-bought rice flour shortcut :)

Come back tomorrow for my Indigo coloured recipe...see you tomorrow!

Enjoy,
V

13 comments:

Nupur said...

I love the lacy snow white pancakes!

Linda said...

Hi Vinaya, my first time here (I am a fellow 'marathoner' with you) and I love your color theme -- very clever! I have used store-bought flour to make palappams -- maybe similar? Your ghaavne is beautiful, especially with the green chutney. All the photos are just gorgeous! :)

Aditya Khatkhate said...

NICE............ great start to the marathon...! :) and even a nice way to put forth the recipe in the blog..! keep it up..

Deepa G Joshi said...

Ghavane..first thing that comes to mind is comfort food and yet tasty with the chutney...nice and hot ghavane..

www.foodlyrics.com

Ms.Chitchat said...

Lovely write up. Nice breakfast dish. Pics are awesome. Following you.

Chitchat
http://chitchatcrossroads.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I love your lacy creation.We call it Ota(holes) dosa,but it is never white like yours.

Manasi said...

Oh! these are so lacy and perfect! on m list! I do not get Gagan brand rice flour, but I will tr with the one we get here ( Deer brand).

Siri said...

wow, I love the lacy pancakes..:)

Siri

Unknown said...

all i can say is...

MASSSTAAAA... :)

Sheetal Kiran said...

Lacy and so pretty ... you brought back the taste of home in an instant! I was in Asrondi earlier in April, and had loaddds of these!! Absolutely perfect for the marathon!

Vinaya said...

Nupur,
Thanks so much :)

Linda,
I am so glad you like my colour theme and the ghaavne..i hope you come back for more

Aadu,
Thank you..thank you :D

Deepa,
You are so right..nothing like simple, rural comfort food

Ms.Chitchat,
Thanks- both for your kind words and for following my blog!

Susvaad,
Do try these ones..they turn out lacy and white very easily!

Manasi,
Do try them and let me know how you like them!

Siri, Aarti, Sheetal,
All I can is...THANK YOU~!!! :D

Ashwini said...

Hi Vinaya,
First time around on your blog. I liked the dish "Ghavane". We make a similar Dosa amongst Manglorean Konkanis and its called "Paan Polo". This brought me back memories of Konkan, sigh!!
Happy Marathon Running!!
Cheerz
Ashwini.

Sarita Khadye said...

humm..yummy..chal sakalcha break fast suchavalas:)...