சக்கரைப்பொங்கல் Fast and Tasty Chakkara Pongal

Dear friends,

Wishing all a happy and prosperous Pongal ,

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 200 gm

Moong dal - 2 Tbsp

Water - 3 cups

Milk - 1 to 1.5 cups

Jaggery - 250 gm

Cardamom - 7

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Cashew , Raisin - handful

Method:

Rinse the rice and dal together.

Pressure cook them together with 3 cups of water.

In Instant pot , touch the pressure cook button and set to 5 mins.

If cooking in stove top pressure cooker, after one whistle comes , lower the heat and cook for 5 mins.

Switch off.

After the pressure is settled down, open the lid and mash the rice + dal using a spatula.

Add milk 1- 1.5 cups.

Mix well.

Start heating the cooker by setting it to 'saute' mode in Instant pot or 'sim' in stove.

Add jaggery pieces to a vessel, add 1 cup water and let it dissolve,

Add the jaggery solution to rice (discard the residue at bottom).

If the jaggery is pure (without sand), we can directly add it to cooker (see video).

Set presure to 1 min in Instant pot or cook in low flame with lid on for 5 mins. Let the jaggery melt.

Open lid after pressure settles down.

In a separate pan, heat 3 tbsp ghee. Fry the cashew, raisin add to rice.

Powder the cardamom and add this to rice.

Mix well.

Saute for 5 mins and switch off.

Sarkarai pongal in Instant pot is ready !

Coconut cookies with White Chocolate chips

Coconut Cookies I made for Christmas 2024. We love this very much. I am sure we will be making this for every year Christmas. My hubby loves it very much as coconut is his favorite flavor and to my surprise Shakthi too said it is delicious .

Click to see my video in youtube. Kindly subscribe and encourage. 

Ingredients:

All Purpose flour - 1 1/4 cup

Baking Soda - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup Pkd

White sugar - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick or 8 Tbsp)

Egg - 1

Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Coconut flake - 1 1/3 cup

White chocolate chips - 1/2 cup (optional)

Method:

Dry roast the coconut flakes to golden.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, salt.  beat until light and fluffy.

Combine flour, baking soda together . Add the flour mixture to sugar mixture, then stir in coconut , chocolate chips until well combined.  Make small lime size balls , flatten a bit on cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 15 mins on the baking sheet. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serving suggestions: Makes 18 - 20 cookies

Amazing moist Carrot cake & Cream cheese frosting

Here is my special thanksgiving recipe, the Best moist carrot cake. This recipes makes 9 x 13 inch rectangle cake. Serves nearly 25 people. Tastes yummy along with ice cream. I love this recipe very much and have made it a LOT of times and it is always a crowd pleaser.  Even though this quantity is said to be enough for 25 people, I have seen it getting finished as soon as the dessert round is started. This is my hubby's most favorite cake (almost all desserts are his favorites. LOL) and he insists me to make this for almost all of our celebrations. This cake needs a lot of ingredients , so it takes a lot of time in bringing everything together, But the final result is always a winner. Hope this cake recipe reaches a lot of people and brings me a million subscribers . Click to see my carrot cake video in youtube too. Thanks for subscribing to my youtube channel.

Happy Thanksgiving dear all !

Ingredients:

Carrot - 4

Apple (small) - 1
All purpose flour - 2 1/4 cup
large egg - 4
sugar - 2 cup
butter - 1 1/4 cup
shredded coconut (dry / fresh) - 3 tbsp
vanilla extract - 2 tsp
orange peel - 1 tbsp
orange juice - 3 tbsp
cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
baking soda - 2 tsp
baking powder - 2 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
walnut - 1 cup (toasted)
raisin - 1/4 cup

Ginger powder - 1 /2 tsp

Method:
Shred the carrot. Core, peel and shred the apple. (Pineapple can also be used instead of apple, but sometimes that makes the cake soggy. So I use apple for controlled moisture) . Preheat oven to 350 deg (175 deg C) for at least 30 minutes before we start baking. Grease and flour the cake tin. Keep aside. Beat the eggs in a mixer or using a fork till fluffy. Then add vanilla essence,orange juice, sugar, butter and beat till its fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt TWICE. Put it in a mixing bowl and add the liquids from mixer. Mix well. Add the shredded carrot,apple, coconut, orange peel, cinnamon, coarsely chopped walnut, raisin and mix slightly. The batter should be approximately of 7 cups. Now the batter is ready! Pour into greased cake tin of size 9x13 inch rectangle. Bake at 350 deg F for 45 minutes or till an inserted skewer comes clean.

Cream cheese frosting:
Ingredients:
Cream cheese - 8 oz (1 pack)
unsalted butter - 8 tbsp (1 stick)
confectioner's sugar - 4 cup
vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Bring cheese and butter to room temperature by leaving them in counter top(not any means ...this is important). Mash together the cheese and butter. Sift the sugar and add it along with vanilla essence. Mix well. Enough to frost 2 to 3 dozen cupcakes (1 tbsp icing per cake) or one 9x13 sheet cake. 

Butter cream frosting:
Ingredients:
Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick)
confectioner's sugar - 4 cups
milk - 1 tbsp
vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
salt - a pinch
food color - if needed

Bring butter to room temperature by leaving it in counter top. First beat the butter to fluffy. Mix other ingredients to get a smooth flowing but stiff icing.
Butter cream icing is ready!

Tips for moist cake finish / Soaking before icing:
Sugar syrup :
brown / white sugar - 1/4 cup
water - 1/4 cup
Microwave sugar and water for 2 minutes or heat in stove top till it gets dissolved. switch off and let cool. After baking the cake, cool it completely in wire rack. Then transfer it to the base.  Then using a skewer randomly pierce all over the cake and brush the sugar syrup on top of cake. This keeps the cake very moist and delicious while refrigeration / storage. Then do the icing. Keep refrigerated. Keep in room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving.

Bakery soft Vanilla cake, Butter cream icing

Bakery soft Vanilla cake, Butter cream icing - 

For a detailed explanation pls click to see my video on making vanilla cake, icing rose techniques in my youtube channel 1Viki'sKitchen, . Kindly Like, Share and Subscribe to my channel. Thanks. 

Vanilla cake, Icing video Link 

Vanilla Cake

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter 5 tbsp, softened

sugar 1/2 cup

large egg 

vanilla extract 1 tbsp

all-purpose flour 3/4 cup +2tbsp

corn starch 2 tbsp

salt 1/8 tsp

baking powder 3/4 tsp

curd (plain yogurt) or milk - 4 tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Sift together flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder. Keep aside.

In a mixing bowl put butter, sugar - beat for 2 min using an electric beater.

Add milk, egg, vanilla, beat together for 2 mins.

Add the flour. Beat for 1 minute.

Prepare a baking pan by applying butter a coating and coat with 1 tsp four.

Bake for 30-35 mins. 

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick)
confectioner's sugar - 4 cup
(for rose and decorations use 3 cups of powders sugar)
milk - 1 or 2 tbsp
vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
salt - a pinch
food color - if needed

Method:
Bring butter to room temperature by leaving it in counter top or microwave 15 secs. First beat the butter to fluffy. (I did manually using a fork, but a mixer is good for this). SIFT the sugar twice and add to butter. Again mix well with other ingredients to fluffy. Butter cream icing is ready!

For Rose icing :  Wilton icing tips is used. I used tip number 105.

Kothu curry Sukka 200 gm கொத்துக்கறி, காய்கறி சேர்த்து சுக்கா பண்ணி பாருங்க

Vazhaikkai Poriyal (Plantain stir fry)

This vazhaikai poriyal was a staple in our house as we had some (lot) of banana trees in our backyard. I have seen amma running there to pick some unripe plantains whenever there were some surprise guests. We love this poriyal very much. Also recipes like this comes handy when we need some extra side dishes. Hope you too love this just as much as I love this vazhaikkai poriyal. 

Ingredients:

Unripe Plantain - 2
onion (finely chopped) - 1
dry red chilly - 2
curry leaf - 1 sprig
Peanut oil - 2 tbsp

mustard - 1 tsp

urid dal - 1 tsp

hing - 2 pinch
shredded coconut - 3 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
turmeric - 1/2 tsp

salt - 2 tsp

Method:

Wash the green plantains / bananas. Steam cook them using an Idly cooker or in a normal cooker without adding the pressure valve for 10 minutes. Check it by piercing a fork and it should pass through without difficulty but firm in shape.

Take out and let them cool. Remove the skin.

Let cool. Cut it into small cubes.

In a wok, heat the oil and add mustard seeds followed by the black gram lentil. As soon as the mustard crackles add the hing, dry red chillies, curry leaves , onion and stir till the onion wilts. Immediately add the diced plantain, salt, turmeric and mix well. Check for salt.  

Fry till it becomes loose. If using nentharankaai (plantain variety) add 1/4 cup water and cook closed for 2 mins if needed. If using shorter banana (Tamilnadu variety), no need to cook in water after steaming.

Then mix the freshly shredded coconut and switch off.

Vazhaikkai Poriyal is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as side dish with rice and sambar or vatral kulambu or kara kulambu or rasam.

Kadaai Paneer masala

There are two varieties of kadai paneer. One is like a gravy and the other one is dry like a sukka. Today we are preparing the gravy type.

In this recipe we are preparing the traditional kadai masala powder from scratch. Kindly see my youtube video for more details. Also pls subscribe, like and share to show your support. Thank you !

Kadai Paneer is a dish prepared using paneer, bellpepper and made like a thick spicy gravy. The special masala used in this recipe distinguishes it from Paneer mattar masala (paneer with peas gravy)  , Shahi paneer (sweetish, creamy gravy) etc.

Kadai masala is made with coriander seeds, red chilies, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon & fennel seeds. Coriander seeds are used in larger proportion than the regular curry masala.

                                   

Ingredients:

Kadai masala:
Coriander seed - 3 tbsp

Dry red chili - 4

Cinnamon - 1 /2 inch

Fennel - 1 tsp

Cardamom - 6

Cloves - 6

Saute and Puree:

Peanut Oil -  2 Tbsp

Onion - 1

Tomato - 2

Ginger -  1 inch

Garlic - 1 

Cashew - 10

Other Ingredients:

Peanut oil / Ghee - 2 tbsp

Paneer - 1 lb

Capsicum -2 

Salt - 2 tsp

Ginger julienne - 2 tbsp

Cilantro - few

Onion - big cubes

Kasuri methi - 1 tbsp

Method:

First prepare the kadaai masala.

Dry roast the items given under kadai masala gently. Powder them using the small mixie jar.

Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic and fry till garlic wilts. Then add onion , cashew and fry till onion turns mild red.  Add chopped tomato and fry till mushy.

Let cool. Puree to a thick paste with 1 cup water.

Heat oil in the pan. Add onion, capsicum, paneer and fry a little bit. The onion and pepper should be crunchy. Don't overcook them. Take them out. Keep aside.

Add the tomato masala, kadai masala to the pan. Cook well till oil separates and raw smell vanishes. 

Then add the fried bellpepper, paneer, onion. 

Add required salt.

Mix well. Garnish with ginger julienne and crushed kasuri methi.

Kadai paneer is ready !