LITTLE MILLET PAYASAM /SAMAI VELLA PAYASAM

Millets are not grains but they are seeds. They have been used since ancient times across the countries. They grow well in dry zones as rain-fed crops. They are also unique crops harvested in sixty five days from the date of sowing. They withstand any season and they can be kept stored for more than one year. 

Little millet is called as Samai in tamil, Kutki in Hindi, Sama in Telugu, Same in Kannada

and chama in Malayalam.

We came to realize the benefits of millets and start cooking and consuming in our regular diet weekly twice.

Nutrional values:

They are highly nutritious, gluten free and alkaline. Samai or little millet is one of the millets can be cooked like rice. Millets can replace the rice and dal in various dishes like idli, dosai, payasam/kheer, pongal and roties. 

They work wonderfully as a prebiotic to feed the living cells of our inner ecosystem. Since it is alkaline it digests easily.

Samai is packed with magnesium, high calories of calcium, manganese , Phosphorous, B vitamins and antioxidants. 

They are available in all grocery stores and departmental stores and online stores in India.
 uzhavu.in, bigbasket, the farm, Deshse, dhanyam, 

This ethnic millet, Samai is used to prepare payasam in this posting.

How to make this nutritional payasam?

Ingredients:

Samai 100 gms

Achu vellam three or four

Cardamom crushed four

Raisins one tablespoon

Milk 200 ml (you can add another extra 200 ml of your choice.

Coconut milk two cups

Water four cups

Ghee one tablespoon.

Procedure:

Rinse the little millet several times and soak for half an hour.

Add  four cups of water with the little millet.

Pressure cook the little millet/Samai with three whistles

Add Achuvellams and milk and bring to boil until the vellams dissolved and mixed with samai

.

Heat the tempering pan, add ghee.

Fry the raisins to plump up and transfer them into the boiling samai mixture

Blend the coconut grates with little water and squeeze the milk.

Add the milk to the boiling mixture.

Sprinkle the crushed cardamom seeds.

You can add fried nuts (optional)

Highly nutritional and delicious samai vella payasam is ready to serve.

Your little ones and beloved adults will crave for it more.

You'll acquire their precious health..

:-)

.

IRUKKEERAI PARUPPU KOOTU/DOUBLE GREENS DAL CURRY

Goodmorning dearest viewers..!

This posting is also the recipe comprising of dal and two types of greens. These two greens are very beneficial to our body. The names of the greens used in this curry are the Ponnanganni and vallarai(Tamil Names respectively).

English name of Ponnanganni is Alternanthera sessilis is an aquatic plant known by several common names, including ponnanganni(in Tamil), Mukunuwenna(in Sinhalese) sessile joyweed and dwarf copperleaf in English. It is used as a vegetable specially in Sri Lanka and other asian countries.

English name of Vallarai is Indian Penniwort. Centella Asiatica is its botanical name. Brahmi in Hindi. It is a brain booster for school going children and adults. It improves memory power. The regular consumption of the green weekly once or twice enhances the mental ablities.

Now we learn how to make irukkerai paruppu kootu..

Ingredients:

Vallarai greens one cup Leaves only)

Sessile joyweed or dwarf copperleaf One cup(leaves only)

Cooked dal one cup

Shallots half cup

Curry leaves 5 nos

Mustard seeds one spoon

Sesame oil one tablespoon

Green chillies two nos

Cumin seeds one spoon

Coconut grates one tablespoon

Garlic pod one peeled off

Tomato half

Turmeric powder one spoon

Procedure:

Clean and wash the leaves.

Chop them using a scissor.

Heat the wok with oil over a medium flame.

Add mustard seeds to splutter.

Add shallots, green chillies and curry leaves.

Saute them for a couple of minutes .

Add turmeric and saute again.

Now add the leaves of the two greens and saute until the leaves are swirled and shrunken

Add the tomato dices.

Allow to cook for few seconds.

Add mashed Mysore dal (cooked with turmeric and castor oil three drops).

Incorporate all the sauteed ingredients with dal by gently stirring.

Add required salt and allow to cook for five minutes.

Transfer the coconut paste into the wok and mix gently.

Over.

The Double greens Dal Curry is ready to serve with bot steamed rice and one spoon of cow ghee.

MUNTHIRI MURUKKU /CASHEW MURUKKU FRITTERS

CASHEW NUTS MURUKKU

This is quite an addictive, crispy snack with a  flavour of butter and cashews, tempting to have more.

INGREDIENTS:

Raw rice flour 250 gms

Whole cashews 30 nos

Red chilly powder one spoon

Sesame seeds White one tablespoon

Cow butter one tablespoon

Sesame oil to fry

Asafoetida a generous pinch

Coarse pepper powder one tablespoon

PROCEDURE:

Soak cashews in water for half an hour.

Blend them with  required water to a fine paste.

In a mixing bowl, gather the raw rice flour and fine paste of cashews together.

Add salt and chilly powder, pepper powder, melted butter and asafoetida.

Knead into a soft and nonsticky dough.

Add sesame white seeds and knead again.

Use the star disc of the murukku mould press.

Grease the murukku press and fill it with the required portion of the dough.

Heat the oil and squeeze the dough into circles through the murukku press in the oil directly.

Allow to fry in the oil till the oil bubbles cease.

Turn the murukku and fry the murukku with golden brown colour evenly.

Remove them and collect in a dry bowl.

Repeat the process until the batches over.

Break the murukku roughly.

Serve the crispy cashew fritters with tea.

Do try it out...

KONGU'S EXCLUSIVE RAZGULLAS

Dearest Viewers..!

I am here again to share the recipe of Kongu's special razgullas with you. 

As you plunged your spoon into the delicate and spongy balls and stuffed your mouth with a piece of this nectareous sweet, I am sure that you will be transported to heaven . The  pleasing of the taste buds will be truly divine. 

Give it a try and give me your feed back.

Ingredients:

for making cow milk cheese:

8 Cups of full fat Country Cow milk

Two tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Cashews ten nos soaked and blend them into a fine paste.

Rock candy one tablespoon

For making Razgullas:

Fresh milk cheese (recipe provided here)

Two tablespoons of cashew paste (soak 10 cashews for half an hour and blend them into fine paste.)

Sugar 750 gms

Seven cups of water to make the syrup

Cardamom crushed two nos   ( optional)

Procedure:

Bring to boil the country cow milk in a large vessel.

When the milk is boiling, add the filtered two tablespoons of lemon juice.

Stir for a couple of minutes over a medium flame.

Notice the milk is turned into while lumps and whey.

Wait for another two minutes.

Transfer the boiling contents into a cotton cloth and wash the cotton cloth closed all the sides in the running water for five minutes. so that the tanginess of lemon is washed out. Hang for a half an hour to strain out the whey completely and leave the cheese in the cloth. ( Refer the image tutorials).

Remove the cheese (hereafter we call it as cheese..) from the cloth and place it in a dry bowl.

Knead for five to six minutes with two tablespoons of cashews paste.

Split the cheese into 30 to 35 portions and roll out in your palm with the two or three rock candies inside each ball.

Set aside.

Bring to boil the sugar with water.

Allow to boil for half an hour until the mixture gets sticky when you check with your fingers.

This is the right time to dropthe balls into the boiling sugar syrup without splashing one by one.

Let the balls be cooked in the syrup for twenty-five minutes.

You will observe the sugar syrup thickens to a certain level.

Switch off the flame and take out the vessel.

Set aside to warm temperature.

Transfer the balls with syrup in a serving bowl.

Leave them in the refrigerator for an hour to chill.

You can serve the rasgullas in warm or chilled. 

Now this is your time to taste the lip-smacking razgullas.!!!!!.

See you again..!

:-)

APPLE KAESARI

Apple kaesari is a simple and easy delicacy that every newbeginner can make this apple fruit rava kaesari. this is a wonderful twist to the Rava kaesari. The procedure is the very same and the only addition is the fresh, shredded apple fruit.

We can substitute any fruit instead of apple and make different fruit kaesari desserts. You will enjoy the exact fruit flavor and taste blended with Rava kaesari.

Let us move to make the apple kaesari..

Ingredients:

Apple one Peeled off and shredded one cup

Rava/semolina one cup

Cow Ghee five tablespoons

Almond flakes one tablespoon

Cardamom three pods crushed 

Sugar one cup

Procedure:

Peel, core and shred the apple.

Roast rava in one tablespoon of ghee into the creamy yellow texture for a couple of minutes in a low flame.

Care should be taken while roasting rava without burning.

In another wok, add three cups of water with one spoon of ghee. (for avoiding lumps when rava added.)

Add yellow food colour just one pinch.

Allow to boil.

Add rava little by little, while keep on stirring.

Once the rava cooked, add the sugar.

Keep stirring continuously in medium flame.

The mixture combines together in a few minutes.

Add shredded apple and mix well in low flame.

Add ghee and stir again.

Add another spoon of ghee.

The mixture will start leaving the sides of the wok non sticky.

Add another tablespoon of ghee, almond flakes (roasted)

Crush the cardamom seeds and sprinkle over the kaesari.

Switch off the flame.

Serve warm.

In every spoon, there is of all the flavours of ghee, cardamom,apple and sweetness and fine grainy texture .

A perfect blend of all the ingredients in the base of cow ghee will take you to the Extraordinary level.:-)