Ulunthu Payasam

Whole urad dal / ulunthu payaru kheer (payasam) is one more delicacy from Tamilnadu. This payasam is not a modern day food but the ingredients will tell the heritage of Indian cooking. Hope it is liked by all!

Ingredients:
Whole urad dal - 1/2 cup
raw rice - 2 tbsp
garlic - 4 cloves
dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
jaggery (Indian brown sugar) - 1/2 cup
To grind:
coconut - 3 tbsp
cardamom - 3

Method:
Soak urad dal overnight. Pressure cook the soaked dal with rice and peeled garlic (wait for 1 whistle, reduce flame and cook in low heat for 10 minutes). Mash it gently without breaking too much.
Dissolve jaggery in boiling water, remove any sediments.
Bring to boil the mashed urid dal with jaggery solution.
Coarsely grind coconut with cardamom and add it to the boiling kheer.
Put the dry ginger powder and switch off.
Uluntham payasam is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve warm as dessert or breakfast.

Happy Independence day !

image courtesy: click here

Fruits for July 4 th, Happy Independence day !

We have planned to celebrate our July 4 th weekend in and around our city as hubby has some work, calls and schedules to meet. But he wants to make the holidays happy for us by taking me to my favorite places around.I have made some beetroot halwa for him as a surprise dessert, though I wanted to stick with healthy choices more:) To begin with, on July 3 rd (yesterday night) hubby took me to Apple-bee's restaurant (our favorite place) . The serving portions are very generous there and so we ordered one platter of appetizer, main course and dessert, so that we could share. We had onion rings,diet Pepsi, 4 cheese grille sandwich,Tomato basil soup, Apple Chimicheesecake with ice cream. The people there were partying for July 4 th and we could see the happy faces awaiting to celebrate the Independence day. we enjoyed the atmosphere very much:) Hoping to tell you all more :) Happy Independence day!