Rice Pal Payadam

Ingredients

1. Raw rice – ¼ cup
2. Sugar – 1 small karandi
3. Condensed milk – 1 small karandi
4. Full cream milk – 2 cups

Procedure

1. Boil raw rice with 4 to 5 whistles with 1 cup of water. Allow the cooker to cool and take the rice from it.
2. Boil milk with sugar. Boil well so that the milk is getting condensed.
3. Add sugar and rice. Let it boil for some more time. Add the condensed milk let it boil for  

         some more time.Check the consistency and remove from the stove.

4. Serve yummy pal payasam hot.

Venthaya Keerai Kuzhambu

Ingredients

1.Fenugreek Spinach – 1 bunch

2.Shallots – 10-12

3.Tamarind – 1 gooseberry size

4.Sambar powder – 2 teaspoons

5.Salt as per taste

6.Toor dhal – 1.5 handfull

To Temper

1.Mustard – 1 teaspoons

2.Curry leaves

3.Red chillies – 2 big pieces

4.Oil for frying – 3 to 4 teaspoons

Procedure

1.Soak tamarind in water and prepare tamarind solution.

2.Cook toor dhal(aleast 4 whistles). Smash it and keep it ready.

3.Clean spinach/keerai and chop them.

4.Heat kadai and temper above given items in oil. Fry shallots in the oil.

5.Add sambar powder and salt to the tamarind solution. Pour the tamarind solution to the Kadai. Add keerai to it when it starts to boil. Let it boil till the raw smell goes.

6.Once it boils for some time, add smashed toor dhal and let it boil for some more time, till

sambar becomes thick.

7.Serve the sambar hot with plain rice and vegetables. Any spinach can be used for this sambar.

You can call this Fenugreek Spinach curry(non tamil name) as well.This is a very healthy and delicious curry for the meal.

Rava Kesari

Ingredients

1.Rava – 1 cup

2.Sugar – 1 ½ cup

3.Kesari color powder – a pinch (Optional)

4.Ghee – 3 to 4 tablespoon

5.Cashew – 5 pieces

6.Kismiss – 5 to 6 pieces

7.Elaichi powder – a pinch

8.Water – 2 ½ cup

Procedure

1.Heat the kadai. Pour 1 tablespoon of ghee. Fry the cashew when is it just start frying, add kismiss fry till golden brown.Keep the cashews and kismiss in separate vessel to add it later.

2. Roast rava in ghee. Roast till nice aroma rises and the colour of rava changes to slight brown.

3.Remove the roasted rava in separate plate and leave it to cool.

4. Add water (1 rava: 2 ½ water) usually. Sometimes I add 3 cups of water also. This depends purely on the rava. Let the water start to boil.Add the food color to it just a pinch should do.

5.Slowly keep on adding roasted rava to the boiling water , simultaneously keep on stirring the rava added to the water so that no lumps are formed. Once adding rava is completed, do not stop stirring.

6.Continue stirring, till the rava is cooked.Slowly and gently start adding the sugar to the cooked rava.

7.Start rigorous stirring, as stirring at this stage is very important as well to prevent formation of lumps.Stir till sugar is absorbed.Consistency should be intermediate neither too flowing nor thick.

8. At this stage start adding ghee to the kesari. Transfer the vessel and season with dry fruits and elaichi.

Since rava has the tendancy to solidify after sometime.Switch off the stove at the correct moment.This is one sweet which you can prepare in jiffy.Wow, a sweet commonly liked by everyone. It tastes best when served hot.

Jeera rice

Ingredients

1.Shahi Jeera – 1 tablespoon

2.Ghee – 2 tablespoon

3.Basmati rice – 1 ½ cup

4.Salt as per taste

Procedure

1.Soak the basmati rice for 40 mins. Wash and drain the water from it.

2.Heat the kadai and pour in some ghee. Wait till it gets heated.

3.Now add the jeera to hot ghee. Let it fry. Becareful that it doesn’t get darker.

4.Add the basmati rice (which is soaked on water and drained) to the ghee and fry it well.

5.Fry it gently so that the rice doesn’t get fragmented/broken.

6.Now add required amount of water. I generally add 1:1 ¼ rice:water may be a half cup

    more.Adding water is purely based on the rice and cooker.

7.Add salt to it.Cook well in the cooker. I prefer cooking up to 3 whistles.

8.Once the cooker cools down, gently mix the rice so that jeera is uniform throughout. It is better

    to use fork while mixing.

Serve this dish with any spicy north Indian gravy. Alternatively, you can add rice without frying in ghee by simply adding water after frying jeera in ghee.

  

Sakkarai Pongal/Sweet pongal

Ingredients
1.Moong dhal – ¼ cup
2.Raw rice – 1 cup
3.Jaggery – 1 ½ cup to 1 ¾ cup (Crushed)
4.Cashew – 4 to 5 pieces
5.Raisins/Kismis – 5 to 6 pieces
6.Elaichi – 2 to 3 pieces (powdered)
7.Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Procedure
1.Dry roast moong dhal in a kadai till the colour changes to slightly to golden brown. Switch off the stove and add rice to the roasted moong dhal, Dry roast the rice slightly to white.
2.Now cook moong dhal and rice together in a pressure cooker upto 5 to 6 whistles.Cook them in ratio 1:3 rice : water.Smash it well after it cools.
3.Now prepare jaggery syrup after filtering jaggery. Use heavy bottomed vessel to prepare the syrup and slowly add the smashed rice to it.
4.Keep on stirring the ingredients so that no lumps are formed.
5.Once the syrup is absorbed. Switch off.
6.Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee till mild brown.
7.Add elaichi and ghee with cashews and raisins over it which enhances flavour of pongal.

Adding additional amount of ghee enhances the taste of the recipe. In temples they add pachha karpooram/edible camphor. I generally don't prefer adding pachha karpooram/edible camphor. Instead i like the flavour of saffron.This is staple food of tamils and made for any important occasion/pooja.

Mangai Kozhambu

Ingredients
1. Mango pieces  -- 5 pieces
2.Shallots/Small onion – 8 to 10 onions
3.Sambar powder – 2 teaspoon
4.Chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
5.Curry leaves – 4 to 5 leaves
6.Methi – ¼ teaspoon
7.Tamarind – 2 or 3 partitions (very little according to the sourness of mango)
8.Grated coconuts -- 1 teaspoons
9.Raw rice – ½ teaspoon
Tempering
1.Oil
2.Mustard
Procedure
1.Pour some water and put the mango pieces into it and let it boil for some time. Add little salt to it.Once the mangoes becomes tender remove them from flame.
2.Prepare tamarind solution and add some sambar powder to it with salt. Add the tender mangoes to it.
3.Heat the kadai with some oil, methi ,curry leaves and temper mustards to it.
4.Add shallots and fry well till it becomes little brown.
5.Add the tamarind solution with mangoes and let it boil for some time. Let it boil very well till the raw smell is gone.
6.Meanwhile grind the coconut and raw rice together.Finally add the coconut mix to the boiling kozhambu.Serve the kozhambu with steamed plain rice and ghee.

Channa kozhambu

Ingredients:

               1.White channa – 2 handfull

                2.Kadalai parupu – 1 teaspoon

                3.Coriander seeds – 1 handfull

                4.Tamarind – small gooseberry

                5. Coconut – ¼ cup

                6.Red chillies – 4 pieces

                7.Sambar powder – 2 teaspoons

Tempering:

                1.Oil – 2 teaspoons

                2.Mustard – ¼ teaspoon

                3.Red chilly – 1 piece

                4.Curry leaves – 4 or 5 leaves

Procedure

               1.Soak the white channa previous nite itself in a vessel full of water.

               2.Cook well the channa in cooker around 6 to 7 whistels. Depends on the
                   cooker and gasket.

                3.Prepare the tamarind solution by soaking the tamarind in water an hour before.

                4.Now temper mustard,curry leaves and red chilly in oil. 
                    Add the tamarind solution with sambar powder.

                5.Add the channa to the boiling tamarind solution. Add little salt to the solution.

                6.Once the solution boils till the raw smell goes.
                    Meanwhile dry roast kadalai parupu,coriander seeds,red chillies and coconut. 
                    Let it cool. Now grind it to powder. Add it to the solution and let it boil for some more time.

                7.Serve channa kozhambu with plain rice and sabjis.