BlackRice Recipe/Payasam

    "Black rice" plays a major role in china and Burma cuisine .Our ancestors were traders in Burma and carried this wonderful rice to chettinad .In Chettinad ,Black Rice "Kavuni arisi" present in almost every occasion,normally a pudding will be made with black rice ,sugar and cardamom , such a simple and rich .

   Whatever occasion or festival there should be one kind of this Payasam/Kheer present along with the meal in India .There are so many variation you can make to this  Payasam recipe, change colours by using food colours or adding fruit to make fruit pudding etc.

I keep saying Payasam/Kheer .

What is payasam /kheer/phirni?
   
  "Payasam" is nothing but "kheer" in north India  and "phirni" in south Asia made with boiling sabudana,semiya,poha,broken wheat ,rice in milk and sugar.. flavoured with cardamom ,nuts,dried fruits etc  .
    This black rice payasam is done in the same way for navarathri prasad (offering to god) .Keep on stirring the kheer otherwise it will stick to the bottom .I added cranberries instead of  dried grapes/raisins ,you can add raisins too .You can add cashew nuts instead of badam.You can substitute black rice with regular rice as well to give a twist to the recipe.

Some other payasam

1. Oats payasam
2. Javarisi payasam(sabudana)
3. Parruppu payasam(pasiparupu) 

     

Preparation time:3 hours(soaking)
cooking time:20 min
serves:2-3

Pattani Sundal/Sundal Recipe

        Dried green peas also known as "pattani " in Tamil.So its called Pattani Sundal .This peas like other legumes is rich in fibre and antioxidants ,folate and protein.It has carbohydrates which are complex to digest so while adding this legume add ginger ,fennel along with it for easy digestion.
     While beach sundal is a variety of sundal which has coconut and mango in it , taste is not uncompromisable with other varieties .Sometimes vendors in street also sell these varieties ,even in bus stations of Tamilnadu you can find similar variety of this sundal .This type of sundal got the taste and nutrients so what are waiting for ?try this and get back to me .

Some other sundal recipes

1. Chickpeas Masala sundal 
2. Green gram sprouts sundal

Preparation time:6 -8 hours(soaking time)
Cooking time:20+10 min
Serves:2-3

Aloo Paratha

 Aloo paratha is everybody's favorite ,isn't it ?Mine too.
        There are two instances ,how i started liking this Aloo paratha?
       First one is: When i stayed in hostel, my pals from Punjab make aloo paratha.Even though they are younger to me ,they make these parathas and i eat them hehe..
      Second one is :While we stay at Bangalore we usually go to a Singh dhabha near by every week.They serve perfect aloo paratha and serve it with plain yogurt .When i hear itself  my mind is now where here.
    Even though my hostel friends add onions to their paratha's ,I haven't added in this version .You can very well do so if you love onion flavor in paratha.In that case chop the onions fine and add it .

Some similar parathas

1. Plain Paratha
2. Methi Paratha 
3. GreenChanna Paratha

Preparation time:25min(including pressure cooking potatoes)
Cooking time :20 min
Yields:6 large parathas

Sweet Lassi Recipe/Peach Lassi

      Sweet Lassi is a flavored yogurt kind Indian drink ,which would be served along with a meal  in northern  parts of India.People are fond of  making lassi with mango, which is very popular and will be available in most Indian restaurants .
          We love to eat fruits as is .I don't do cakes ,slushes,milkshakes,lassi very often with fruits.But once in a while i do some of these to my daughter(she loves fruits in any form) .This peach lassi i did for one of our road trips ,because  i am not sure how to consume peaches.Peaches are very good fruit which gives lot of fiber, resembles apple.
        I used home made yogurt (with 2 percent milk)for making this sweet lassi .Do you see , it is little watery ?.If you use store bought yogurt ,lassi will be thick and creamy .If your kids love yogurt this is the best way to add some fruits to their diet .This lassi is sweet and tangy with tutti fruity its just good .

   Tip:
      You can do lassi with fruit like mango,blueberry.This will be a good quick snack or breakfast for kids that will be made in no time .You can  involve kids while you make them.

Preparation time:5 min

Serves:2

Navarathri recipes/Neivedhyam Recipes

Navarathri Festival starts from today and will end on 3 rd October which is vijayadashami .
Navarathri is celebrated different in different regions .
First lets see how its celebrated in Tamilnadu:
        Navarathri means nine nights of celebration/pooja for goddess Durga ,Lakshmi , Saraswathi in manner of 3 days each .In Tamilnadu navarathri means "golu " ,"golu" means dolls .People arrange 9 steps for 9 days of pooja and the steps should decrease in length considering the dolls placed in each step .People place kalasham and worship it as durga .First step which is the bottom step up to 3 steps gods idols are placed.On 4 the step enlightened persons like saints idols have to be placed .on 5 the step philanthropist ,freedom fighters dolls should be placed.On  6 th step human beings dolls can be placed.On  the 7th step animal dolls,on 8th step birds dolls ,on 9th step insects dolls has to be placed considering from the base to lowest .Each day people come visit golu .If we keep golu prasad as to be made and distributed to the people who visit golu .
How Gujarati people celebrate.
       Garba and dhandiya are the main things happening on navarathri at Gujarati place.They start the festival by placing "Garbo"  which is a small coloured pot with holes .In the pot they light candles and worship it for 9 days .Most the people do fasting on first day which they place Garbo at house .9 days they do dhandiya which is a special dance with festive clothes like gaghra choli .

MasalaChickpeas Sundal	Greengram Sundal	Gothumai Halwa
Pasiparuppu payasam	Paal kolukattai	Lime rice
Javarisi Payasam	Coconut rice	Moongdal Ladoo
Carrot-apple Halwa	RockCandy Rice	Pattani sundal
Medu vadai	Tomato rice	oats payasam
rava kesari	BlackRice Kheer	Kadala paruppu sundal

No Microwave Popcorn/Homemade Popcorn

     These days I am in need to make some snack for my little one after she comes from school. While thinking of options I thought about popcorn. Its easy to make popcorn from the packets available at market, but I didn't want to do that. Usually the ready to pop packets are laden with salt and butter and not very healthy. I wanted make it  from scratch. That's when i saw Elise doing a perfect batch of popcorn .
     
What you need ?

     To make a perfect popcorn you only need 2 ingredients , a big pot like pressure cooker or cooking pot along with covering lid (this pot should hold the popcorn while popping). The pot should not be too heavy because you need to shake it while popping . Of course you still need corn kernels and salt.

To make a perfect popcorn in home can be little tricky .

What is a perfect Popcorn ?

     It should not be burnt and also all the kernels has to pop ,that is the perfect batch of popcorn.
Follow the instructions carefully to make a perfect batch. These pop corns are perfect  for a snack on a weekend.

Some other easy snack recipes

1. Poha chivda(aval mixture)
2. Cheerios Bhel
3. Granola Bars

Cooking time:10 min
Serves:1-2

Masala sundal/Kondakadalai Sundal/Easy snack

         Sundals are the best way to get proteins for vegeterians .I too love to make them .I got to try lot of sundal varieties still i love this sundal what my grandma makes for the temple occasion .I wanted to try it too .Got the recipe from her ,I haven't added green mango to it .Instead i added lemon juice .It tasted so good .Masala is not overpowering but it is exact amount to be for this Channa.
          Black Channa is good for eyes (my grandma says that).I found it has more iron and it is very rich in proteins.

Looking for some Channa recipes

• Kala channa Chawal
• Chikpeas Gravy

Some sprout sundal Recipe

• Pasipayaru sundal

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Soaking time:8 hours(If you are sprouting it takes at least 24 hours )
Cooking  time :20+10 min
Serves: 7-8 servings

Moru Curry(Step By Step Pics) | Mor Kulambu

         I have a love towards mor kulambhu/Moru Curry and avial .I tasted Moru Curry when i was in my uncles house Chennai .I  did avial many times after i got married . This moru curry, i never tried .While i was going through a recipe book i mentioned about, i saw this moru curry with ash gourd recipe there and want to try immediately . I did the curry previous week.After i ate  ,my hand smelled like heaven .Just loving this Mor Kulzhambhu .
    Moru Curry and Beans paruppu usili is a very famous combo in Iyengar house.But we do Beetroot Usili(beetroot kola) as a sidedish(Instead of beans we use beetroot).
        I added just 3/4 cup of yogurt and 3 green chilies opposed to 1 1/2 cup yogurt and 4 green chilies mentioned in the book ,Thinking of it will be more for 3 of us .After we ate lunch  so much of  kulambhu was remaining so we had with dosa and it tasted amazing with dosa too  .If  you want  gravy/kulambhu to be tangy, use the day before yogurt .If you are making this curry for more than 4 people increase the yogurt and chilies used. you might want to increase coconut used as well .


Some wonderful kulambhu recipes

1. Curry leaves Kulambhu
2. Kola Urundai Kulambhu
3. Kathirikai Murungaikai Kulambhu

Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:10 +15 min
Serves:3-4

Ingredients:

•  200 grams ash gourd/poosani kai
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 8 red onions/shallots
• 1/2 tomato/Thakkali.
• 3/4 cup yogurt/thayir

To temper:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp jeera/Cumin seeds
• few curry leaves/Karuvepilai

To grind:

• 2 tsp grated coconut
• 1 tsp jeera/Cumin seeds
• 3 green chilies/Pacha milagai
• 1 tsp toor Dal/Thuvaram parupu
• 1 tsp Channa Dal/Kadala parupu
• 1 tsp raw rice/Pacharisi

Method:

• Soak Channa,toor Dal and raw rice for sometime and grind it along with jeera,coconut,chilies.

• Clean the ash gourd and cut it in to small pieces.

• Pressure cook it along with onion and tomato for a whistle .
• In a pan add oil and add the tempering items when tava is hot .

• Add turmeric powder as well .
• Add the pressure cooked ash gourd and ground paste .
• Add the required salt and let it cook until it becomes thick .
• Make the yogurt to butter milk by churning it.If its too thick add little water .

• When the gravy is thick, add the thick butter milk .

• When the gravy boils switch off the flame .
• Serve it with rice and parupu usili .

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Lime Cookies/Easy Cookie Recipe

              I got addicted to lime cookies after we ate them at a Thai restaurant near our place. The lady of the restaurant is so kind, she gave us lime cookies after we had dinner. It was so crisp and had a little kick of lime to it. I wanted to make it for such a long time .

              I got whole bunch of lime the other day and thought of baking using eggs. I was in a hurry to finish the eggs. We follow a custom not to eat meat during "puratasi" which is a tamil month and it  started today. Alas !!!  I couldn't find any recipes with egg .

              Finally I settled on baking some lime cookies , just for baking something. My little girl loves cookies and sweets.

              So while I was looking at the recipe in a hurry, I forgot to notice the powdered sugar mentioned in the recipe and added regular domino sugar (which is little finer compared to Indian sugar) and keep on kneading the dough for sometime .Then I realized that I did something wrong and finally I got to know that the recipe requires powdered sugar. Poor me, anyways I added more ghee to finish the cookies at least to hold their shape.(you can use milk or water ,but it may spoil the shelf life of the cookies ,so I didn't add any).But this is easiest cookie recipe i ever made.     

       You can make this cookie in a stove top or in the oven. To me both cookies have same texture except the oven baked ones are a little puffy compared to stove top ones .You can top it with sugar if you want the cookie to be fancy. Sprinkle the sugar before you start baking. Pistachios didn't stick well to the cookies for me because the dough didn't have enough moisture. May be next time when I use domino sugar I will melt it and add it to the dough .

 easy  kids snack

• Peanut butter cookies
• Granola bars
• Chewy cinnamon Oats Cookie

Preparation time:20 min

Cooking time:12-15 min(oven) 8-10 min (stove top)

Yields:15 cookies

Pasipayaru Sundal/Easy Snack

Very soon navarathri celebrations are starting .So you can see recipes for neivedhyams/prasad in my up coming posts.

 Lets look at "navarathri":

         "Nava" means 9   ,"rathri " means nights .So nine nights pooja and fasting to pray "durga,badrakali,ambal,annapooorna,jagathamba,chandikha,lalitha,bhavani,mookambhika    " to get her blessings .10th day is called "vijayadashami".

There are totally 5  navaratris celebrated year around.  This is what  Wikipedia says

1. "vasantha" celebrated during vasantha kalam "march -April" spring season.
2. "Ashad" celebrated during "June-July"
3. "sharad "celebrated during "September -October" Most important navarathris of all its the starting of winter season.
4. "pusha" celebrated during tarishi "December-January "
5. "magha "  celebrated during "January-February"

       In tamilnadu temples ,idols are decorated in different form of durga for this 9 days .In houses people do "golu " and cook prasad /neivedhyams for god and distribute it to the people who visits their house.Women's share bhindi "manjal .kunkumam " for longavity of their husbands life .
    Sundal which is a easy snack plays a major role in navarathri neivedhyams.There are many varieties of sundal but this pasipayaru sundal is very nutritious ,it can be made as a evening snack for kids.Its very easy and kids and adults would love it for sure.

Cooking time:15  min

Serves:2-3

Channa Masala/SideDishForRoti

              This is such a protein packed side dish .We love it a lot along with our chapathi/roti .Adding of kasuri methi gives a nice hotel/restaurant style finish to this side dish .Cook the Channa perfect to relish this curry much .

Before going to the recipe
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Some other gravies for roti/chapathi

• PaneerButterMasala
• Malai Kofta
• Mushroom Gravy
• BlackChanna in peanut  gravy
• Rajma Gravy

Preparation time:5 min

cooking time:25-30 min

serves:2

Biryani/Vegetable Biryani(Step By Step Pics)

             To cook a perfect biryani is very hard(at least to me). In Tamilnadu muslim Biryani is very famous. Most popular biryani joints have a version of Muslim biryani. Going to India every time to eat good biryani  is out of the question but in this social media world we can accomplish anything right?
            A small story about biryani .. right after our graduation a good friend of mine got married . He was the first person from our batch to get married , many of us attended the marriage. This was a muslim wedding mind you and people were drooling about the biryani lunch. But little did I know that it would only be a Biryani lunch with sides and desserts of course. As you guys know I am a hardcore veggie and I expected a few veg dishes. Any ways to cut the long story short few friends of mine went to a local joint and got me some veggie food. All my friends made fun of me saying that I was the first and only person who ate a veggie lunch in a Muslim wedding!
       Coming to the biryani, I am no expert in biryani cooking. My husband makes a super tasty Vegetable biryani. This time he made it in a pressure cooker and I captured it. Pressure cooker Vegetable Biriyani was so tasty .

Some easy one pot meals

1. Mushroom fried rice
2. Peas pulao/rice(no coconut)
3. Lime rice
4. Coconut rice 
5. Mint pulao/rice(no coconut)
6. Bisibelabath 
7. Mushroom Biriyani  
8. Vegetable Pulov/With coconut

 

Preparation time:10 min+20 min soaking time
Cooking time:30 min
Serves:2- 3

Lemon Sharbath/Lemonade

              My mom makes this kind of sharbath to preserve the lemon on  summers (during that time we don't have refrigerator).You may be thinking of why i am giving the recipe now almost summer is over now right .one reason is i was on vacation that's why i couldn't post  this before.Another reason is ,this fall season  kids gets cold ,cough due to climate change . Lemon helps to improve their immunity by increasing their vitamin c level in their diet .
            Lemonade/Lemon Sharbath recipe i mention here is a kind of easy way, but its very handy when you want a drink on a hot summer day after you come from shopping.Think of it ...
               Sugar measurement mentioned here is good enough for the lemonade according to me .If you want the lemonade to be more sweeter add little more sugar while getting the sugar syrup ready .

            Check other simple cool drink Strawberry Milkshake    
 

Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:12-15 min
Yields:200 ml sharbath

Kollu Rasam/Horsegram Soup/Diet Recipe

                Kollu is one among the grains which is very healthy and good for people with overweight.There is a saying in Tamil "koluthavanuku kollu " that means If you are fat then horse gram is for you.So this rasam helps you in losing weight /cholesterol.
                I recently visited India and got a whole kg of horse gram.So I thought of making our favorite rasam.I thought of adding this healthy horse gram to our favorite rasam.I boiled horse gram and filtered the water then followed the same procedure for making.I used the cooked kollu for making chutney.The rasam tasted awesome.You can make rasam in so many varieties.Mentioned are the methods.

Variations:

• Add boiled Dal(paruppu) to make it Dal rasam
• Add boiled tomato to make it tomato horse gram rasam
• Add Rasam powder to make it instant horse gram rasam
• Even you can powder the horse gram and add it along with black pepper and cumin.

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Preparation Time:20 min(pressure cooking)
Cooking time:15-20 min
Serves:2-3

Roadside Ama Vadai/Channadal fritters/Easy Snackrecipe

               Ama Vadai is a common snack item you can find  on roadside shops in TamilNadu along with Uruddal vadai /Medhu vadai. These vada's combine very well with red chutney/milagai thuvayal or coconut chutney.

           During my recent visit to india I had bajji's and some of these vada's. I was thinking and craving these vada's after I came back here. I did know how to make them but I had never made them even once. I got some tips from my mom and made a batch of these Vadas. My little one loved it very much and she had a few.

          This is healthy and quite easy to prepare snack on a Sunday evening or even on a weekday.

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Interested in similar snack recipes? check

• aloo bonda(using urad dal batter)
• Vada(uluntha vadai)
• Valaipoo vadai(banana flowers vada)
• Kuli paniyaram(not fried)
• Seeyam(uraddal flour fritters)

Soaking time:2 hrs
Preparation time:10 min
Cooking time:30 min