Cooker Pongal

Sarkarai Pongal, the sweetest part of the Pongal festival is an example of team effort in cooking. Though women are the sole responsibility for cooking in Tamilnadu, Pongal day cooking is for all at home. Sarkarai pongal is a dish that should be cooked in the front yard of a Tamil house on the Pongal day. On that day people used to get up as early as possible, and prepare this sweet rice before the Sun rises. I remember those days , how we all in our town used to decorate our houses with beautiful kolams (rangoli) on the night before Pongal. Those were the fun filled days and we would tie turmeric plants, sugarcane near the front door. Though we cook in a regular kitchen on all the days of the year, the Pongal day is a special one and we would put tastefully decorated clay stoves in the front yard of the house. Then using dried palm leaves, this Sarkarai pongal, Venn pongal, side dishes (see below) all would be prepared by the family members of the house and enjoyed throughout the day. So one can understand that Pongal is a family festival of Tamilians and celebrated to honor the farmers.

Then this festival spread from villages to cities and people started celebrating it with watching new movies, interesting TV programmes and by everything they like. The cooking part is also there, but with some modification.....the cooker pongal. I won't say all the cities are celebrating a quick pongal. I have seen elaborate traditional Pongal celebrations in villages surrounding Chennai. I think it is the responsibility of every parent to show their kids their tradition and should encourage them to celebrate the festivals. Traditional or not, Pongal is Pongal ! So go for it and enjoy !


Here I am narrating a very easy way to prepare this Sarkkarai pongal in cooker. Hope we all enjoy Pongal with all the abundance and prosperity, Happy Pongal !

Sarkarai Pongal

 Steps:

Boil the milk in cooker. It is a tradition to see the boiling milk on that day.

Cooked rice and dal

Add jaggery solution or crushed jaggery

Fry the cashews, raisins and keep aside.

Sarkarai pongal is ready!

Ingredients: (for 4 servings)
Raw rice (pacharisi)  or Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cup
green gram lentil (paasi paruppu)- 1/2 cup
whole milk - 1/2 liter
jaggery (Indian brown sugar ) - 1 1/2 cup
ghee -  1 tbsp
cashew - 10
raisins - 10
cardamom powder - 1 tsp
edible camphor (pachai karpooram) - a tiny pinch

Method:
1.In a wok , dry roast the green gram till it turns mild red and gives nice flavor. Take out.
Dry roast the rice to get it little puffy and bright white.
Put them both together and rinse well.
2. Boil the milk in cooker.
3. Put the rice+dhal in to the milk. Bring to one whistle and reduce flame. Cook for 5 minutes.
Switch off. Open after the pressure is released. Mash using a spatula.
4. Dissolve the jaggery and bring to a boil with 1/2 cup water. Strain and remove impurities. Add the jaggery solution to the boiling mixture. (If the jaggery is of very good quality without any sand in it, then we can add as shown in my photo). Add enough water to cover the rice. Cook with weight valve, in lowest heat for 5 minutes (no need for whistle).
5. In the mean time, heat the wok. Fry the cashews, raisins in ghee.
To the cooked pongal add the fried nuts and raisins, cardamom powder, edible camphor and mix well.
Sarkarai pongal is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as breakfast on Pongal day.
Makes a dessert along with idli during a grand breakfast.

Other Pongal recipes :
Rich Sarkarai pongal
Sarkarai pongal
Pongal avial
Pongal puLi curry
Venn pongal 
Ketti paruppu

Wishing all a very happy and prosperous Pongal,




GoodLightscraps.com

May this Pongal festival brings peace, good health, success, cheer, prosperity and every happiness we wish for.
Happy Pongal! Love, Viki Xavier

Gobi manchurian

Meaning : Cauliflower florets dipped in flour mixture, deep fried and soaked in tangy sweet sauce.

'Indian Chinese' fusion food is popular in fast food restaurants in Chennai.  This is a recipe my younger brother has been asking me for a long time. I used to make this in our parent's house before marriage (using whatever ingredient we have in hand, as in our small town, finding all ingredients was not possible at that time). But my brother likes it very much. (Earlier , I had substituted tamarind extract for soy sauce...OMG...my only aim was to bring out the closest taste then) .
After marriage, Indo Chinese foods became easily available for me via restaurants  :)
Hubby and myself love this Manchurian very much while eating out. The buffets in Indian restaurants like Mirchi , carry this as appetizer. Nowadays, we host many parties around November and December. So I look for making something that I have not posted in my blog as well as requested by our friends. So this time I made this Gobi manchurian and we were so glad to see our friends liking this.

Try my 'user friendly' version of Gobi manchurian and tell me how you like it.

Gobi manchurian

Steps involved:

Cut the cauliflower into small florets.

Add in salted boiling water for 1 minute.

Drain water.

Prepare the masala.

Add the masala and mix well. (we can keep refrigerated up to 24 hours for convenience).

Cauliflower coated with masala.

Deep fry till crispy

take them out of oil and keep on paper towels.

Chop ginger and garlic to tiny pieces.

Saute ginger garlic, then capsicum.

After adding soy sauce, tomato sauce . See my method below for this step.

Add deep fried cauliflower almost before serving.

saute well

Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Vegetable biriyani, gobi manchurian, vegetable kuruma, ice cream , onion raitha, cranberry jelly, peach cobbler.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 (small)
water - to cook the cauliflower
salt - 1/2 tsp
Frying masala:
All purpose flour - 4 tbsp
rice flour - 2 tbsp
corn starch - 2 tbsp
salt - 1 tsp
black pepper powder - 1 tsp
dark soy sauce - 1 tbsp
red food color - 1/10 tsp (optional)
Oil for deep frying
For the sauce:
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 5 cloves
green bellpepper - 1
scallion / spring onion - 1 small bunch
cilantro - few
dark soy sauce - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste
finely chopped green chili - 1
tomato sauce - 2 tbsp
corn starch  / AP flour - 2 tbsp
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Method:
Step 1:
Cut the cauliflower into small bite size pieces.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt.
Put the cauliflower florets to the boiling water and cook for 1 minutes in high(cooked but firm).
Using a colander drain the water. Keep the florets aside.
Step 2:
Mix all the items given for deep frying in a bowl.
Food color is optional.  I won't suggest adding any food colors regularly.
Take a ziplick bag. Put together the cooked cauliflower, frying masala and shake well.
Keep it ready for deep frying.
(I keep this refrigerated up to 24 hours, as it is convenient for me during festivals).
Step 3:
Heat enough oil. Deep fry the cauliflower pieces in small batches till crispy.
Take out and keep on paper towels to drain oil.
Step 4:
In a separate wok, heat 2 tbsp sesame oil. Add minced ginger garlic.
Saute well. Then add bell pepper. Saute well.Take these out.
In the same wok, add 1 tbsp oil.
Put the AP flour or corn starch and fry in low heat till raw smell goes off.
Add 1/4 cup water, soy sauce, tomato sauce, salt. Bring to a boil.
Then add the sauteed items. Mix well.
Keep aside.
Step 5:
Almost before serving (up to 1 hour earlier or lesser), add the fried cauliflower.
Mix well with the sauce.
Garnish with finely chopped green chilies, spring onion, cilantro.

Gobi manchurian is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with fried rice, briyani, roti.

Shahi tukda (double ka meetha)

Shahi tukda or Shahi tukra , otherwise known as double ka meetha is a popular Hyderabad recipe. Frankly speaking, I have never tasted it in India. But after moving to US, I could taste this yummy dessert in almost all the buffets in Indian restaurants (if they don't have gulabjamun) . The secret behind its omnipresence is due to the simplicity of this recipe. I am sure anyone can make this dessert and can definitely become the favorite guest in a potluck :) It doesn't need much basic preparation, but we have to buy and keep the ingredients ready. Most important requirements are white bread (no substitution), ghee (definitely not oil please) and for my recipe I used condensed milk to quicken the process. So I am giving out my short and sweet recipe for this shahi tukra using little ghee and condensed milk.

But the traditional recipe calls for deep frying the bread in ghee. The traditional rabdi is made by boiling whole milk for long time (to get a condensed milk consistency), but I have used readymade condensed milk.

This is my version of shahi tukra and I am sure it will be helpful when we need a 'quicker version of shahi tukda'.

Shahi Tukda (double kaa meetha) with lot of rabri

Steps involved:

Making milk sauce (rabri)

Cut the bread slices to 1.5" squares

Pan fry or deep fry the bread slices in ghee

Bring the sugar solution to one thread consistency

Dip the bread slices in sugar syrup

Arrange the sugar coated bread slices in a tray

Sugar coated fried bread slices

Shahi tukra with milk sauce (rabri)

Shahi Tukda (double kaa meetha) with lot of rabri

Ingredients:
White sandwich bread - 4 slices
ghee - 4 or 5 tbsp (to shallow fry)
Sugar - 1 cup
water - 1/4 cup
For rabdi (milk sauce):
Condensed milk - 1/2 cup
whole milk - 2 cups
almond , cashew , pistachio - handful
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
saffron - few (optional)
sugar - 1/4 cup (to taste)
Rabdi:
Put the nuts in boiling water and let it cook for 2 minutes (till almond wrinkles). Peel the almond. Crush the nuts in a hand mortar to small pieces. keep aside.
Bring milk to boil. Let it reduce to 1 cup. Add sugar and keep cooking. Add condensed milk and stir well. Put the nuts, saffron, cardamom powder. Switch off. Keep aside. (Yellow food color is added mildly by restaurants instead of saffron).
We can prepare this rabdi a day ahead and keep refrigerated for better taste (and for our convenience too).

Method:
In a vessel, add sugar and water and bring to a boil. Continue heating till the syrup gets 1 string consistency. Take off heat.  keep this ready.
Cut and remove the crust of bread slices. Slice the bread into small squares of 1.5 inch size.
Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a tawa (frying pan). Reduce the heat to minimum and fry few pieces of bread till they get crispy.  Put the fried bread slices in sugar syrup. Dip it well and place on serving tray.
Likewise fry all the bread pieces and dip in sugar syrup.
Arrange the sugary bread slices in serving tray.
Now pour the prepared rabdi over the bread pieces. Let it soak for atleast 1 hour before serving.
Keep refrigerated.
Shahi tukda is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve chilled as dessert.

Happy New Year,

Wishing all a
beautiful, Prosperous , peaceful and Blessed Happy New year,
May God protect us and Bless us with a happy life,
Happy New Year
Love,
Viki Xavier

Sweet potato roast (varuval)

Just like the popular potato fry (urulai kilangu varuval) of Tamilnadu, we can make a roast with sweet potato too. I make this varuval whenever I get some surplus sweet potato.  I am sure you all will love this too.

More sweet potato recipes:
Sweet potato laddu
sweet potato boli
Sweet potato fries (baked)

Sweet potatoes hold a special place during Thanksgiving day and comes in sale during that time.($0.49- $0.79 / lb)

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato - 1 (200 gm)
coconut / sesame oil - 2 tbspfennel - 1 tsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste

Method:

Peel and cut the sweet potato into small cubes. (I use a vegetable chopper to do this).
Heat oil in a thick bottom wok and add fennel.
After it starts becoming mild red, add the sweet potato and fry for 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat, add salt and cook covered.
After it is cooked and starts turning little crispy , add the chilly powder and masala powder. Again stir till raw smell vanishes (1 minute).
Switch off.
Sweet potato fry is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve hot with sambar rice, curd rice, lemon rice

Cooker sambar (quick version)

Brinjal, drumstick, tomato is one of the best mix of vegetables to make a typical Tamilnadu sambar.  I have seen this combo as my mom's extremely regular version. But I never get bored of this sambar ever.  Raw mango also can be added upon availability. In USA, I buy mango for sambar only when I see a smaller green mango at a reasonable price (it costs anywhere around $1.49 - 2.99 per lb) always ☺ .
 Coming back to the quick sambar, this is a recipe I heard from a friend.   I usually cook dal separately, then cook the vegetables and then the tadka. My version would take more time to get the masalas blend well and to let off the raw smell. I thought this would be useful for anyone who is new to cooking or to whomever needs homemade foods with lesser effort. The best part is this sambar would taste like a restaurant sambar ☺ and it will take less than 30 minutes totally.

Try this recipe and I am sure you will be in love with this forever.

Pressure cooker sambar

Brinjal, tomato, drumstick is best vegetable combo for sambar.

This is the only way I was taught to cut the vegetables for sambar....bigger pieces.

Mixed vegetable sambar

1. To pressure cook first:

Toor dal (Thuvaram paruppu) - 3/4 cup

sesame oil - 1 tsp

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

hing - 1/8 tsp

small garlic - peeled handful (optional)

2. To pressure cook next:

drumstick - 1 

Thai eggplant (round white or green with seeds) - 3

tomato - 2

Tamarind - small gooseberry size
raw mango - 1/2 cup sliced

salt - to taste

sambar powder - sakthi or achi brand or homemade (dissolved in 1/2 cup water or tamarind juice)

To temper:

Shallot -2 

curry leaf - few

ghee - 1 tbsp

mustard - 1 tsp

cumin - 1 tsp

fenugreek (methi seeds) - 1/2 tsp

dry red chilly -2

To garnish:

Jaggery / brown sugar - 1 tsp

cilantro - few

Method:

First pressure cook the items given under part 1 to 5 whistles. Oil is added for uniform cooking of dal. I suggest adding garlic in every food we cook, but it is optional only.

In the meantime, prepare the vegetables and cut them.

Extract juice from tamarind.

Soak the cut vegetables in tamarind juice and keep aside.

After the dal is cooked and the pressure subsides, open the cooker lid.

Using a spatula, mash the dal.
Mix the sambar powder with 1/4 cup water and add to dal in cooker.

Add the items mentioned under part 2 (vegetables and tamarind).

If needed clean the cooker lid .
Close the cooker.

Bring to one whistle and switch off. By this way the raw smell of tamarind goes off easily.

In the meantime prepare the tadka (tempering). Heat ghee in a small wok.

Add mustard, cumin, methi seeds and wait till mustard crackles.

Then add the slit shallots, curry leaf, torn dry red chilies. Saute till shallot gets mild red.

After the pressure is released, open the cooker.

Pour the tempering. Bring to a boil.

Add the items given for garnishing.

Switch off.

Quick cooker sambar is ready

Serving suggestions:

Serve with rice, idli , dosai, pongal.

Note:
If we are using tomatoes only (not adding mango or tamarind ) along with other vegetables, then we can pressure cook everything together in one step itself. After pressure is released, add tadka and garnish with cilantro.
This tamarind-less sambar can be prepared in just 15 minutes. 
But if we add tamarind, then follow my 2 stage method (to ensure soft cooked dal).

How to make roti dough using KITCHENAID pro 600 mixer

Here is my video for making roti dough in Kitchenaid mixer.