Sakkarai pongal / Sweet Rice pongal without Moong Dhal

                    
                      A divine rice recipe which becomes even more heavenly with the taste and aroma of the ghee and jaggery added to it. The flavor of this pongal will smoothen off your resistivity (even if you are calorie conscious). My amma makes it so perfect that even kiddos running away from food even loves it.

                    We have a practice of celebrating the first birthday of any kid (in our family) in Perumal Kovil (temple) only. The sakkarai pongal served there will be of such a great and unique taste. So I will always be waiting to celebrate the first birthday of any kid in my family. 

                     Usually sakkarai pongal is made during the harvesting festivals (celebrated in month of January) in Tamil nadu, from the just harvested new rice. For any offering or any festival this sakkarai pongal is always present.

Now, even i do make a perfect sakkarai pongal so sharing with u all....

Prep time 10 mins

Cooking time 20-30 mins

Ingredients 

1 cup  Rice (Raw or Boiled rice)

2 1/2 cups  of water for raw rice,  3 cups  of water for boiled rice

1 cup Jaggery

1/4 cup Coconut cut into small slices

8-10 tbsp Ghee  

2tsp Cardamom powder

1pinch edible camphor ( optional)

Procedure

    The procedure for making this recipe is very simple as we are using pressure cooker method here.

• First take a cup of rice , wash thoroughly.
• If you are using raw rice take 2 1/2 cups of water. I used raw rice. this rice is more tastier than the boiled rice. Then pressure cook the rice.

  
Cooking the rice: 

                In cooker put the measured volume of rice and water. Then close the lid and put it in the stove with high flame. Wait for the steam to come, when the steam comes out put the cooker weight and reduce the flame to sim position. Wait for 10 minutes. After that your rice is done.

• In a thick bottomed vessel put the jaggery and add little water. After the syrup is done ( no need of any consistencies) strain the syrup and pour it along with the rice and stir well.
• Keep on stirring with ghee added in the intermediates., Stirring should be done till the semi solid consistency is reached.
•  Finally roast cashews, raisins and chopped coconut pieces in ghee and add it along with the cooked rice. 

                   Having this pongal in mid of your palm and tasting gives an immense pleasure to me. You all too try it.

Sweet Crunchy Poha Recipe

               If you are running out of time, but have to do something special and tasty, then your partner would be poha in your hands... Recipes made with aval will not consume much of your time, but ends up with a tasty result as well.

               

             This Sweet poha is usually made during Janmashtami and Tamizh New year in down south of Tamilnadu. Storage time for this is 4-5 days even without refrigeration.

Serves  3-4

Prep time   5 mins

Cooking time 15 mins

Ingredients 

1cup  Aval/ Poha

3/4 -1 cup Jaggery

1/4 cup Fried gram

5-6 tbsp Till seeds black

5-6 tbsp Moong dhal

1/4 cup Coconut cut into small slices

2tsp  Ghee  

2tsp  cardamom powder

            Note: if the poha is thick you need to soak for 2-3 minutes and not more than that because the poha will turn soggy. Either poha is thin then need not soak. I used the thin one.


Procedure
      
       First slightly dry roast moong dhal and fried gram and keep aside. Then again dry roast till seeds black until it splutters. Now add 1 tsp of ghee and roast the sliced coconut.
       Make the jaggery syrup by adding 1/4 cup of water. Boil till it turns thick, the happiest part is no need of any string consistencies. Strain and keep aside.

Now transfer all the ingredients except the jaggery syrup into a wide opened vessel.

Then add the jaggery syrup, cardamom powder and mix well.

Now the yummy poha sweet is ready. 

Usually we make this for tamizh new year. Can be made for neivedyam too.

Try out this simple recipe, everybody will love this.....

Spinach Spring onion paratha

As per me Spring Onions take part only in Chinese cuisines.  But then it came into the idea of making parathas when the onion rates were exceedingly high.

And finally I added these spring onions instead of onions in my process of making palak parathas. And to my wonder it tasted more than the normal ones we make.

Now this recipe has taken a place in my cook book.

Serves  6-8 parathas

Prep time   10 mins

Cooking time 20 mins

Ingredients

For making Dough

6- 8  Spring Onions (cleaned and chopped finely)

6 cups whole wheat Atta

1 ½ tsp cumin seeds

3-4 pcs of green chillies

¼ cup chopped coriander leaves

as per taste salt

To boil and grind

3 cups Cleaned n chopped spinach (palak) 

3-4 pcs of sambar onion

5-6 pcs of garlic

¼ tsp jeera

Methods

First clean the spinach until the sand in it goes off. Then boil and blend the spinach along with sambar onion, garlic and jeera. If u wish to add chilly u can add 1-2 chillies.

Then added the above blended mixture with the ingredients mentioned above. Knead the dough with required amount of water until they become soft.

Keep it aside for some minutes. Now make uniform sized balls from the dough and make your spinach spring onion paratha.

Usually these palak parathas goes well even with curd. 

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji

          Is the yummiest chat i ve ever had. Pav Bhaji is spicy blend of vegatable gravy served along with pav i.e bread. This is more than a snack and will be enough for even dinner too. And finally tried making pav bhaji with the assistance of one of my aunt from Mumbai, yes finally i was done with the tastiest chat. This is a healthy snack also as i tried adding more veges into it.

                                                                                                                                                                    Ingredients:

For the bhaji

Onion- 1 no

Tomato- 1 no                                                          

Capsicum- 1 no

Potato -1 no

Carrot -1 no

Cauliflower - 10-12 small florets

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp

Chilly Powder- if needed (as we are adding chilly paste)

Butter- 1 tbsp

Oil- 1/2 tbsp

Pav Bhaji masala- 1/2 tbsp

Salt as per taste

For making paste

Red Kashmiri chilies- 4-5 nos ( soaked for half an hour)

Garlic - 4-5 cloves

For the Pav

Pav bun- 4 nos (available in super markets)

Butter -4 tbsp

Preparation.

1.First cut the veges potato, peas and carrot and pressure cook the vegetables by adding little water. 

2. In another vessel boil the cauliflower florets in hot water along with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Add this cauliflower along with the cooked veges and mash it. 

3.Make a paste with soaked chilies and garlic.

4. Heat the kadai put the butter and oil, then jeera, chopped onion and chilly garlic paste. Then add the chopped capsicum, and tomato. After it gets cooked add  all the veges along with the cauliflower. Allow it to cook for few minutes.

5. Now add the Pav bhaji masala and salt as per taste.

6. Finally garnish it with coriander leaves. Your yummy Bhaji is ready now

For making the pav.

1. Make a slit in the pavs vertically. Place the vertically slit pavs (with the pavs open) in the heated kadai along with the butter.Cook in medium flame.

2.After they turn golden brown, they are ready.

Serve it along with chopped onion and sliced lemon wedge.

           

    

   

Sprouts Cucumber paratha

Sprouts Cucumber Paratha

           This is my very first post, so i would like make it as a healthy one.  In a weekend i made bhel puri and i had some cucumber left out, so i tried making paratha with it.
To make the recipe more healthy i tried adding sprouts and it came out very well. This one will be surely liked by kids also n healthy too.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour / Atta -2 cups
Sprouts(green gram) - 8-10 tbsp
Onion (big) -1
Cucumber-1
Carrot-1
Green Chilly-2
Cumin seeds-2 tsp
Coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Preparation Steps:

First grate the cucumber and carrot. Then chop the onion, green chillies and coriander leaves.
Now add sprouts, cumin seeds and salt to taste.

Mix all the above with the atta and make the dough.

   Note:
While kneading the dough no need to add water, because cucumber has adequate amount of water in it.
If still the dough is hard add very little water and knead the dough. Adding water should be little by little only.
Make balls out of the dough and make parathas.

 Cook with medium flame on both the sides.

Healthy and tasty is Sprouts Cucumber paratha is ready.
Goes well with onion chutney.

The Great Indian Kitchen

                             
                         The single word Indian cuisine includes a wide variety of regional cuisines.

The Indian Subcontinent with different types of climates, different kinds of soil all over the country produces a wide variety of spices. All these spices blend food to get the nutrients and bind them to an appetizing form......

                      





Turmeric         

Manjal

Pasupu

Arishina

Manjal

Haldi

   Found in every Indian kitchen and is used to add flavor to curries and stir fries. But its skin benefits are more notable as turmeric is renowned for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.

• Blocking cancer

• Powerful anti oxidant

• Potent anti inflammatory         

• Natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns

  Nutrients in Turmeric for 2.0 tsp

  

Nutrient	%daily  value
Manganese	17%
Iron	10.15%
Vitamin B6	4%
Fiber	3.7%
Potassium	3.1%
Calories	0%

Pepper

Milagu

Miriyalu

Kari Menasu

Kurumulaku

Kali mirch

Salt and Black Pepper seem to go hand-in-hand when it comes to seasoning our foods.

• Aids digestion.

• Prevents intestinal gas and reduces stomach upset.

• Helps in cold congestion.

Cumin seeds

Jeeragam

Jilakara

Jeerigae

Jirakam

Jeera

• Rich source of iron, so beneficial for anaemics, lactating mothers and pregnant women

• Great aid in digestion 

• Helps in stimulating the secretion of enzymes in the pancreas which in turn help in the absorption of nutrients.

• Boost the power of the liver to flush out toxins from the body.

• A handful of cumin seeds along with water. Drinking this water wards off common colds and keeps the digestive system on track.

Fenugreek

Vendhayam

Menthalu

Menthae

Uluva

Methi seeds

Fenugreek is a powerful herb which has been clinically proven to lower high glucose levels in diabetic patients. Fenugreek also promotes heart health and hormone levels.

• Helps in reducing blood sugar levels

• In improving Healthy cholesterol

• Helps in soothing efffect of digestive organs.

• Eases child birth and improves lactation.

• May help in preventing cancer also.

Fennel Seeds

Perumjeeragam/ Sombu

Pedha   Jilakara/Sopu

Badesopu

Perumjeeragam

Moti      Saun

           

• Used after meals to facilitate digestion and expelling gases from your stomach.

Coriander

Kothamalli

Kotimer/Kotimir/Kustumburu

Kottmbari

Kottamalli

Dhania

 It is part of most Indian kitchens and very often used to garnish curries, salads and soups. One can make a mouth-watering paste of coriander leaves, peanuts, onions, green chilies and add a dash of lemon juice. This chutney is excellent as a sandwich spread. You can also grind coriander leaves with mint leaves and it is excellent for making a green chicken rice.

• Excellent source of minerals like potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium.

• Rich in many vital vitamins including folic-acid, vitamin-A, beta carotene and vitamin-C that are essential for optimum health.

• Increases HDL cholesterol (the good kind), and reduces LDL cholesterol (the bad kind). 

• It has got strong antioxidant properties and it helps promote healthy liver function.

Mint leaves

Pudhina

Miriyala  dravakam/Oka   chettu

Merugu/ Pudina

Putiyina

Pudina

•  Soothing the digestive tract and if you are having stomach ache then it can be of great help

• Drinking herbal mint tea reduces irritated bowel syndromes, cleanses the stomach and also clear up skin disorders such as acne.

• Acts as a cooling sensation to the skin and helps in dealing with skin irritations.

• Helps in eliminating toxins from the body.

• Crushed mint leaves helps in whitening teeth and combat bad breath.

• Very good cleanser for the blood.

Curry leafs

Karuveppilai

Karepeku/ Karivepaku

Karibevu

Kareapela

Kari patta

• A good remedy for nausea and indigestion. Extract juice of curry leaves, squeeze a lime and add a pinch of sugar.

•  Chew a few leaves every day to lose weight 

•  Improves eyesight, so make sure you do not throw away the leaves while eating. It is also believed to prevent cataract. 

• Good for hair growth and colour. Prevents  pre mature greying of hair.