Sarkkarai Pongal (Rich)

I am always curious to know how they make that 'ghee dripping sweet pongal' in Hindu Temples, that are so glossy. This is the major dish prepared for Indian Pongal festival (farmer's harvest festival) and for thanking cows (mattu pongal).Then I learned from my friends that they do it with LOADS of milk + ghee and its different from the usual sarkkarai pongal I do for Pongal. Mom used to do a closer version with lots of milk. But after marriage, my friend Sundari's mom sent me a big pack of this pongal wrapped in banana leaf .....dripping in ghee on a Pongal day. Those days were golden....It was almost like a halwa and I can always remember  that taste. I took it as a baseline and tried to create that 'creamy rich ghee dripping sweet pongal' in our house with the tips from her mom. This will give a closer taste to 'Kovil chakkara pongal'.  I remember Sundari's mom's pongal  and those festivals whenever I make this dish and thank her silently for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:

Raw rice / Basmati rice - 3/4 cup
(Raw rice - Pacharisi in tamil)
green gram lentil (paasi paruppu)- 1/4 cup
condensed milk - 6 tbsp
whole milk - 3/4 liter
jaggery (Indian brown sugar ) - 1/2 cup
sugar crystals (kalkandu) - 1/2 cup
ghee - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
cashew - 15
raisins - 15
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
edible camphor (pachai karpooram) - a tiny pinch

Method:
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 wash thoroughly thrice.

Put the rice+dhal in a thick bottom vessel(vengala paanai) . (I used my thick bottom deep kadai). Add enough milk to immerse the contents and start cooking. Go on adding milk till the rice and dhal get mushy.
(We can cook it in pressure cooker also. But I am not sure of that)

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.
Put required sugar crystals and start stirring, so that the bottom won't darken. Keep it in medium flame.
(We can do the entire pongal with jaggery alone. But sometimes the old jaggeries, that we get normally will impart a salty taste and dark color. If we can get a light color new jaggery, then we can add it without sugar crystals/ sugar).

Then add the condensed milk, cardamom powder, ghee and stir till the pudding/ pongal starts slightly thicker and it will resemble halwa. The pudding will start leaving the edges.
(If condensed milk is not available then use 1.5 liters of milk or few tbsp of milk powder and cook everything till the pongal gets thick....the idea is to include loads of milk:)  ).

In a separate wok, heat a tbsp of ghee. Fry and add the cashews and raisins.  Before switching off add the pachai karpooram and give it a good stir. Switch off.
Place a plantain leaf in a container and pour the pongal over it to get that authentic flavor. Sakkarai pongal is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as dessert in small cups.
Serve this 'creamy rich sakkarai pongal' piping hot on small plantain leaves.

Bhel poori

Bhel poori / puri is a famous chaat item served in Indian cities. I think Chaat foods and India are inseparable. Its a kind of Indian salad with loads of flavor. North Indians make a wide variety of chaat foods. One can easily learn a chaat recipe if they happen to buy chaat snack in India, as the vendor would make it right in front of the customer. Though it may need a lot of ingredients, there won't be any actual physical work if we manage to get a pack of bhel mix and some chutnies from store. I have narrated the way to make our own bhel mix also. We can make the chutnies ahead and keep them refrigerated for a week.

Ingredients: (for 6 large serving)

Boiled potato - 2 (big)
cooked chickpeas (white channa) - 1 cup
bhel mix - 1/2 pack
green chutney - 1/4 cup
red chutney - 1/4 cup
cucumber - 1 (big)
tomato - 1 (big)
raw mango - 1/2 cup
onion - 1/2 cup
tamarind water - 1 cup
sev (fine omapodi mix) - 6 tbsp (to garnish)
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
chaat masala - 1 tsp

Home made bhel mix:

paani puri / chaapt puri - 15 (or) home made crispy poori- 5
fine sev (store bought omapodi mix) - 1 cup (to garnish)
puffed channa dhal - 1/4 cup
salt - to need
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
puffed rice / pori - 2 cup
oil - 2 tbsp
chaat masala - 2 tsp

Microwave the pori / puffed rice for 1 minute. Mix the red chilly powder, chaat masal, salt with oil. Mix them with crispy pori, sev. Crush the poori to get big pieces and mix every thing. (We can use left over pooris after microwaving them to get more crispy). Keep aside.We can make this ahead and it will be fresh for a week, if stored in zip lock cover / air tight container.
This is how I make my bhel mix sometimes.

green chutney:

cilantro - 10 stems
mint leaf - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2
salt - to taste
lemon - 1/8
wash and clean the leaves. Grind them finely together along with green chilly, salt and some water to get a cup of chutney. Squeeze the lemon to get a balanced chutney taste. Keep it in a serving bowl with a spoon.

red chutney:

tomato sauce - 4 tbsp
jaggery solution - 1/2 cup
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
salt - to need
Mix everything and use as hot and sweet chutney.

Tamarind water:

tamarind - a small lemon size
Water - 2 cup
jaggery - 3 tbsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
chaat masala - 1/4 tsp
cilantro - a few leaves
dates / raisin - 1/2 cup
Soak the tamarind and extract the juice. Soak dates / raisin and puree .Mix all the above to get a sweetish tangy water.

others:

Cook the potato and remove the skin. Mash it gently along with some salt, cumin powder (1/4 tsp). keep aside.
chop the onions finely , cucumber, tomato finely and keep them aside.
Soak the channa overnight. cook the dhal with enough water for 5 whistles, take out and add some saly. (or) Directly use a can of chickpeas / garbanzo beans after draining the water.

Serving the bhel poori chaat:

Always start mixing when we are about to serve.
Put the chopped vegetables,mashed potato, chickpeas, chutnies, bhel mix , pooris in a big mixing bowl.
Mix well with a spatula.
Divide them in serving bowls.
Garnish with a dash of red chilly powder, chaat masala, chopped cilantro and sev.

Bhel poori chaat is ready!

Vadai more kulambu (lentil balls in buttermilk gravy)

vadai - lentil dumplings; More / moru / mor - buttermilk; kulambu / curry - gravy.

Usually I make this kulambu with fried vadas, but here I have baked them before adding to the gravy.. It is also known by the name , 'Paruppu urundai mor kulambu'. Vadai can be either fried / steam cooked / baked, according to our convenience.
Also click to see my Paruppu urundai kuruma kulambu, with garam masala. 
and urundai kulambu in puli kulambuTry this for a dinner along with piping hot rice and lemme know  how you liked it:)

To make the paruppu urundai /Dal balls /lentil dumplings:

Ingredients:

Channa dhal (kadalai paruppu)/ Bengal gram lentil - 1 cup.
salt - to taste (1 tsp)

onion - 1/2 cup
curry leaves- 1 sprig
coriander leaves (chopped)- 2 tbsp
Red chillies - 3
* cooking oil-250 ml. for frying (If we are making the balls by frying. We can steam cook or bake to get a healthy version) *

Method:

Wash and soak the dhal for 1 hour in water.
Drain the water.
Grind it in to a coarse mixture with red chillies, salt. Put it in a mixing bowl.
Wash the mixer / grinder with 1/2 cup of water and keep aside. This water can be used to thicken the curry. Keep 2 tbsp of batter aside. Mix this batter with the water we reserved from washing the mixer / blender.
Chop the onion,cilantro and curry leaves and mix them with the dhal mixture.
Make small balls out of the mixture (in the size of a lemon).
Place them over cookie sheet lined with greased aluminum sheet and bake in oven at 375 c for 8 minutes. Flip and bake for 2 minutes. Don't worry about cooking completely, just let it get a firm shape. Vadai will get completely cooked afterwards in the curry.

Vadai is ready now!

To make more kulambu:

Ingredients:

Thick curd (Plain Desi Yogurt) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 2 inch
green chilli - 2
salt - to taste
oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilli - 2
curry leaves - 1 sprig
water - 2 cups

Method:

Remember we got some left over vadai batter in the mixer. Grind ginger , green chillies along with that batter to a fine paste and keep aside.
Pour it along with the liquids to a wok. Add turmeric powder, salt and boil with frequent stirring for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Put the baked vadai and cook covered in low heat for 5 more minutes. Cook till the vada gets completely cooked. Switch off.
Beat the curd with and add it to the boiling masala.
Heat oil in a pan.
Crackle some mustard seeds and add chopped dry red chillies with curry leaves.Add this tempering to the above.Garnish with chopped cilantro.

'Paruppu urundai more kulambu' is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Makes 12 vadai / lentil balls.
Serve hot over cooked rice. There is no need to make any extra dish, as we can have these yummy urundais soaking in the yogurt sauce as side dish.

Vazhai poo puli kulambu (Banana flower in tamarind gravy).

Vaazhai poo / valai poo - plantain flower /banana blossom.

I have heard that this kulambu / gravy is a native dish of Sivakasi of Tamilnadu, India. Mom used to say that, they serve this kulambu by the name, 'Vegetarian ayira meen kulambu' (Ayira meen - very tiny fresh water fish) because of the appearance. They have to keep a tablespoon of this gravy along with other side-dishes in their weddings. But it is not so popular in other regions of Tamilnadu. The base is similar to a puli kulambu, and the banana blossom makes it much flavorful.

Banana flower in tamarind gravy.

Ingredients:

Banana blossom - 1 (small)
Tamarind - 1 lemon size
Red chilli powder - 1.5 tbsp
coriander powder - 3 tbsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
water - 2 cups
salt - 2 tsp (to taste)

To grind:

shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
shallot onion - 10
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

To temper:

mustard - 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
oil - 2 tbsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch


Method:
Clean the banana flower. See the link 'How to clean banana flower?'.
Wash once and drain water. Cut the large flowers into half. keep the tiny flowers without chopping. So that every flower is in 3 inch length (approx). Preserve them in thin buttermilk solution to prevent darkening.
Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract the juice thrice with 2 cups of water.
Add the chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt to the tamarind extract and keep aside.
Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds with little water. keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan.
Crackle mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida.
Then add the banana flowers and discard the buttermilk.
Fry well in high flame for 2 minutes till the banana flowers wilt and smells good.
Pour the tamarind extract mixture and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for 10 minutes. Then add the ground masala , reduce flame to medium and close tightly with a lid. Let it boil for 5 minutes and switch off. The valai poo kulambu should be like thick gravy.

Serving suggestions:
Serves 5 people as main gravy.
Serve hot with rice and any vegetable side dish or with chapathi.

Sweet Oats porridge

While our weekend breakfast menu always overwhelm with Indian delicacies,  I can make simple breakfasts only for weekdays.  Oats porridge is my favorite and I like it better than any cereal. Starting the day with a healthy and sweet breakfast makes one's day productive. Apple and bananas go well with oats. we can use either one or both to get that fruity flavor.  Oats is similar to the poha (Indian rice flakes / aval), so it gets cooked in stove top or MW. Just boiling or  microwaving is enough.

Sweet oats porridge with fruits.

Ingredients: (for 2 serving)

Old fashioned oats - 1/2 cup
milk - 1 cup
water - 1/2 cup
cinnamon powder - 2 pinches
brown sugar - 4 tsp
apple - 1
banana - 1
raisins - 10
almond - 2

Method:

Peel, core and finely chop the apple . Likewise chop the banana too.
Microwave the oats with water for 2 minutes. Take out and keep aside for 2 minutes.
Again microwave for 3 minutes along with milk, finely chopped banana and apple.
Divide it in 2 bowls.
Top each with some raisins, a dash of cinnamon, slivered almond.
It would be a nice idea to keep some apple sauce in refrigerator, to avoid chopping the apples. But fresh apples taste better.

Serve warm with an omelet as side.

Mohanthal

Hope you all are doing well. Recently I started to learn sewing. Though I can do embroidery and some basic stitching, I have never attempted any realistic dresses. And that's what I am doing now:) Its very enthusiastic to see our own curtains and nighties :)

Here is a sweet dish to start this month. Mohandhal is a Gujarathi sweet/ gram flour fudge. My mom used to make this very often and we call this as her signature dish. I don't know who taught her this recipe, but she had left this hand written recipe in her note book. I remember her spending lot of hours and energy in making this sweet before Deepavali. I like that taste very much .But her method was very elaborate and difficult. She would do it from scratch, starting from home made milk kova (paal kova), which I can never imagine. She has a lot of patience and perseverance to do stuff like this. I can never stand that much long before a hot wok. All my favorite recipes will require just 15 minutes. So I searched the net and got Manjula madam's Mohandhal video. It was so easy and more like a reverse calculation in arithmetic....once you know the result , you will definitely arrive at the ingredients / question...isn't it :).  . I am noting down mom's method as well. Mom's mohanthal recipe is a treasure to me, but still feeling lazy to try that:) May be some one with patience like her will try that or may be one day I will try that myself:)

Mohanthal.

Mom's recipe: (makes 15 big slices)
Besan flour (kadalai mavu) - 1 cup
cashew nut - 1 cup + 15 (garnish)
whole Milk - 4 cup
Sugar - twice of flour
ghee - 1/2 the quantity of flour + 2 tbsp
Pachai karpuram (edible camphor) - a tiny pinch for a cup of flour
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Soak the cashew nut in milk (1 cup) for 2 hours or more and grind it to a very fine paste. Keep aside.
Heat 1.5 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts to golden brown. Keep aside.
Grease a plate with 1/2 tbsp ghee and let it wait.
Add the gram flour to the same wok and fry till it becomes mild brown and flavorful. Don't take it out till it turns fluffy and smells good. Keep aside.
In the same wok add the remaining milk and boil till it evaporates and get thick like gova / goya.
Then add the sugar + cashews and heat them in low heat. The sugar will melt in the moisture from cashew and milk. Put the fried gram flour and stir without rest in low heat.
Add the ghee slowly, whenever required and do this till bubbles start appearing in the whole mass.Now add the edible campbor and cardamom, mix well. Care should be taken not to brown the bottom.
Pour this bubbling (almost semi solid) mixture on the well greased plate. Let it stand for 15 minutes. When it is almost set and warm, draw slanting lines to get rhombus shape (diamond shape). Fix one cashew for each slice. Cool completely and store in air tight container.

-----------------------------------------

Easy method:
Click to see Manjula madam's video.

(The following one is from Manjula madam only , except for few of my variations. She recommended to add heavy cream . But I have used condensed milk instead).

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 2 cups
Unsalted butter - 6 tbsp
warm milk - 1 tbsp
sweetened condensed milk - 200 gm (1/2 tin or 3/4 cup)
milk powder - 1 cup
cardamom powder- 1 tsp
sugar - 3/4 cup
water - 1/2 cup
almond - 5

Method:

Mix the butter with besan flour by rubbing between both palms to get a sandy texture. Keep aside for 15 minutes.
Microwave the milk and let it be warm. Add the milk and rub the mixture again between your palms.

Add the condensed milk and milk powder in a wok and cook it till it rolls to form a soft dough. Switch off and keep aside.

Then add the dough we got with the besan flour and stir fry in low heat till it turns mild brown and aromatic. Fry till it becomes powder / sandy.
Let it cool and add cardamom powder.

In another wok, add the sugar and water and heat till we get double thread consistency (225 deg F in a candy thermometer).

Then switch off and add the flour mixture and mix well. Pour on a greased plate before it starts setting (still hot). Strew finely sliced almond.

Make small slices when it is still warm and let it cool completely.

Mohanthal is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as snack or dessert.

White pumpkin raitha

Raitha - Indian salad with yogurt as base.

I like white pumpkin (ash gourd) very much. Basically it has no significant taste and resembles a cucumber or bottle gourd. But will definitely enhance the taste of sambar or mor kulambu. Thadiyangai (Tamil) is the other name of white pumpkin. Nowadays we both are more towards vegetarian foods (lent days, as well as my personal wish. But I will continue preparing NV for my friends and family...) and I enjoy playing with different vegetables:)  I love to make different raithas along with sambar, rice and other side dishes during weekends and here is a raitha recipe using this white pumpkin.

Recipe source: I figured out how they made, while tasting it in a marriage.

A bowl of white pumpkin raitha. We can make cucumber raitha also like this.

A large slice of winter melon / white pumpkin (kalyana poosanikai).

Ingredients:

White pumpkin - 1 small slice (150 gm)
Indian dahi /plain yogurt /curd (thick) - 1 cup
white / red onion - 1 (small)
oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
salt - to taste.
cilantro - few leaves.

To grind:

green chilli - 2
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Wash the ash gourd and remove the skin , seeds.
Cut it into small cubes (1/2 inch).
Heat oil in a wok and add urad dal,mustard splutter. As soon as the mustard seeds stop crackling, add the curry leaves and fry for a second. Immediately add the chopped white pumpkin. Stir well and cook covered (just add salt and cook without water - 3 minutes only). Let it cool completely.
Coarsely grind the items given to grind without water.
Add the ground paste, yogurt, freshly chopped onion and mix well.
Garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves.
White pumpkin raitha is ready!

Note:

1.We can cook the white pumpkin separately in water, drain excess water and then temper it. But that will lead to loss of important minerals and vitamins. So I follow the above method, which is not common.
2.Use whole milk curd for this recipe to get a delicious raitha.
3.we can make this raitha without adding the ground masala also, but add finely chopped green chillies. (see picture below)

Raitha without adding the ground-masala.

Serving suggestions:

Serve as side dish with any rice or with chapathi.
Consume these kind of raithas during summer (any season is good) for a healthy life style.