Thursday 8 September 2016

GLOSSY RAVA SWEET PONGAL

Rava Vella Pongal is posted today. It is an alternative of Sarkkarai pongal. Its taste is great. No food colour is added. The colour of organic jaggery is enough. 

Ingredients:

Jaggery 150 gm
Rava or semolina/suji 75 gm
Cardamom three
Cashews and  raisins one tablespoon
Milk  (Optional) 200 ml
Boiling water 300 ml
Ghee two tablespoons

Procedure:

Heat a wok with one tablespoon of ghee
Add broken cashews and raisins to fry
Add Rava/sooji/semolina and roast in ghee to a cream colour.
Heat the water in a separate vessel.
Bring to boil.
Add Water to rava .
Stir gently. 
Allow to cook for 5 minutes.
Add jaggery and stir gently to dissolve completely.
Let the flame is in low level.
Add milk and stir well so as to combine together.
Sprinkle the crushed cardamom seeds.
Pour the remaining ghee and stir gently.
Switch off the flame.

Delectable  Rava Sweet Pongal can be served warm .
It will be heavenly tasteful when served in a banana leaf.
This Pongal can be offered in pooja.


















Wednesday 7 September 2016

CRUNCHY CASHEW PAKODA



Cashew pakodas are very tasty and crunchy. Cashews embedded in this pakoda are making the difference of rich taste in this snack. 

How to make?

Ingredients:

Cashews 200gms
Besan flour 100 gms
Raw rice flour 100 gms
Hot oil one tablespoon
water 100 ml
Cooking soda one pinch
Finely chopped Bellary onion one cup
Finely chopped green chillies four
Ginger flakes one tablespoon
Cilantro leaves finely chopped one cup
Curry leaves finely chopped half cup
Mint leaves finely chopped one cup
Salt required
Fennel seeds one tablespoon
Asafoetida half pinch

Procedure:

Mix the salt, cooking soda, besan flour and raw rice flour well in a dry bowl.
Add water little by little to make a rough dough.
Add hot oil.
Incorporate all the ingredients i.e., onion, green chillies,  ginger flakes, fennel seeds, curry leaves, cilantro leaves and mint leaves.
Knead them gently.
Heat the cooking oil and drop rough portions of pakoda-mix dough with your hand as seen in the image.
Allow to deep fry until the pakodas get golden brown and the bubbles subside.
Repeat the process to deep fry in several batches.
Transfer them into a dry serving bowl.
You can place them in a tissue paper to absorb oil.

Serve hot with hot frothy tea.

A perfect snack for the monsoon days.











Monday 5 September 2016

STUFFED SWEET KOZHUKKATTAI..

























Happy Shri Ganesh Chathurthi to everyone ..!


Today is a very special festival 'SHRI GANESH CHATHURTHI'.  Kozhukattai  is the main offering to Lord Ganesh. This is very simple and easy to make. 

Ingredients:

Jaggary 150 gms
Raw rice flour 200 gms
Coconut fresh flakes one cup
Cardamom 8 pods
Hot water two cups 
Sesame oil one spoon
Salt half teaspoon


Procedure:

Bring to boil two cups of water with salt and one teaspoon of sesame oil.
Mix the raw rice flour with boiling water using a spatula.
Keep aside for few minutes to get warm condition.
Knead with hands until the dough gets nonsticky texture.
Set aside.
Bring to boil little water and jaggery.
Allow to boil until the jaggery dissolves completely.
Add Fresh coconut flakes and mix with sugar syrup.
Allow to cook for few more minutes until the mixture gets ball consistency.
Divide the dough into equal portions.
Spread the portion of raw rice in the palm.
Place the jaggery coconut mix in the centre.
Cover by closing all the sides and make a  ball.
Press gently on four sides of the ball so as to get mothak shape.
Make the mothaks with the remaining dough.
Steam it in a wet white cloth using Idli pot for ten minutes.



Stuffed sweet kozhukattais are ready to offer to lord Shri Ganesh First.
Then Serve to all and enjoy..


Sunday 4 September 2016

LONG PEPPER RASAM/ THIPPILI RASAM

Long pepper has been in use from the time immemorial. It is of high medicinal properties. It has certain specific qualities that heal the diseases and keep the body healthy.

It is a perennial climber with dark green leaves. Its latin name is Piper longum. In malayalam, Long pepper is called as Pippali, in Tamil, Arisi Tippili, In Telugu, it is termed as Pipalu, in Hindi, Pipalu, in Kannada, hippali.

It contains alkaloids i.e., piperine and essential oils. It is good for heart health, It cures hiccups, cold, cough, bronchitis, liver related problems, headache, insomnia, constipation and spleen related diseases.

Long pepper is available in all online stores and grocery stores. This medicinal dry long pepper is a must in our kitchen store. 



Long pepper rasam




   
                                                                                                                   
Thippili Rasam is today's posting. The method is the same with the same ingredients but we are going to add one tablespoon of long pepper as the main ingredient. This recipe is the best for our health and keeps the body fit when it is consumed fortnightly twice.

How to make this rasam..?










Ingredients:

Long pepper one tablespoon
Pepper one tablespoon
Cumin seeds one tablespoon
Coriander seeds one tablespoon
Garlic pods peeled off 2 nos
Asafoetida one pinch
Curry leaves 20 nos
Mustard seeds one spoon
Sesame oil one tablespoon
Red chilly one split
Coriander leaves one handful, chopped
Pressure cooked dal (With turmeric and four drops of castor oil and one tomato)
Salt required
Jaggery one marble size
Tamarind one marble size Soaked for half an hour

Procedure:

Get extract from the soaked tamarind and cooked tomato.
Dry roast the long peppers, peppers, cumin seeds and coriander seeds.
Set aside to cool down.
Blend the roasted ingredients with garlic pulses.
Heat a dry wok with sesame oil.
Add mustard seeds to pop up.
Add chilly and curry leaves.
Simmer the flame and add asafoetida.
Followed by the tamarind and tomato extract.
Add salt and jaggery.
Now raise the flame and bring to boil.
Add the ground powder (long peppers, pepper, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and garlic pulses.)
Allow to boil for few minuted till flavour of all of the ingredients to infuse into rasam.
Transfer the dal mixture along with chopped coriander leaves.
Bring to boil.
Switch off the flame.


Thippili Rasam is ready to have with hot steamed rice. This is a perfect meal in cold and rainy seasons. You can have it as a soup.. This rasam has its own unique aroma and delicious taste. Everybody will like to have.. Just introduce this aromatic and tasty Rasam to your kids.. Serve to your elders..They will enjoy it..

Give it a try..

Don't forget the adage " Prevention is better than cure"

:-)















Friday 2 September 2016

PIRANDAI THUVAYAL

Adamant creeper/Devil's back-bone is called as Pirandai in Tamil and Hadjot in Hindi. Its scientific name is  Cissus quadrangularis belonging to the family Vitaceae. It is grown abundantly in the fences of village gardens and it can be grown in pots of the kitchen garden fora  frequent use because it is not available in the city market.

JUST COLLECT THE PIRANDAI NODES FROM ANY NEARBY VILLAGES AND GROW IN A POT. YOU WILL HAVE A FRESH SUPPLY OF THIS HERB, WHENEVER YOU NEED.

It has miraculous medicinal benefits. It is called as the herbal bone setter. It treats indigestion, lack of appetite and gastritis. It helps to treat the fractures and sprains. It is used for treating piles, menstrual cramps and related disorders and is also the best home remedy for ear pain. It is used externally and internally by adding some spices.

 First, you should be aware that  pirandai is of itchy nature. But it can be handled with sesame oil to get rid of itchiness. 

Smear your hands with a bit of sesame oil before handling pirandai. Choose tender pirandai always to use for food. There are multiple ways to consume this pirandai, to attain its medicinal benefits.

Pirandai thuvayal or chutney is popular in our villages. we used to consume pirandai chutney weekly once and it is one of the simplest recipes.

Poultice made of pirandai is used widely for treating sprains in my native place. Our great grand parents were aware that prevention is better than cure. They advised us if we include the medicinal greens and pirandai weekly once or twice in our regular diet, we can lead a healthy life. They practically experienced the method of making the dishes delicious by using the medicinal herbs like pirandai etc and introduced about the wonders of the herbs, so that  their beloved will consume them as food and enjoy the life healthily.

I follow the same method of our elders to the best of my knowledge and dedicate this medicinal and chutney recipe to our respected ancestors.

Hope you will be benefited with this pirandai chutney in your regular diet.

  




Ingredients:

Pirandai one bundle
Coconut grates three tablespoons
Fried Bengal gram two tablespoons ( try the fried Bengal gram to enhance the taste, I always use for thuvayal and chutney)
garlic pod two
peeled shallots one tablespoon
Red chillies three
jaggery a marble size
Tamarind one marble size
Asafoetida half pinch
Salt required

Procedure:

Rinse the pirandai stems and remove the angular ridges and nodes using a peeler.
Cut the stem into small pieces.
Heat the pan with sesame oil.
Saute the pirandai pieces until the colour changes into pale and shrink.
Set aside.
Saute all the ingredients in the same.
Set aside.
Blend all the cooled ingredients with a half cup of water into a coarse paste.

Pirandai chutney or thuvaiyal is ready to taste with hot steamed rice topped with  a spoon of cow ghee.







Eat the meals that heal..! Stay fit...
:-)





















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