Dosa|Ragi Idiyappam And More[Breakfast Menu]

      Every body is lazy on a weekend.I usually do simple breakfast for our weekend .This week being a long weekend , i wanted to do something special for my dearies .So got a idea of trying this Breakfast Menu.
     I already posted a special lunch before which is a rice combo,This time its a South Indian breakfast.This breakfast menu has Dosa,Kavuni arisi,ragi Idiyappam and chutney .You can include sambhar in this menu which makes the platter more yummier.

Dal Palak|Keerai Kootu

    This is a south Indian style Dal palak (because i do it ,i say it south Indian).Dal palak is a very mild curry that goes very well with kulambu and sambhar.If added little more spice(chili or sambhar powder) you can have it for roti as well(Indian style flat bread).
     This curry can be made with any greens available,I made it with Spinach the Palak .We south Indians call it as pasalai keerai.This Spinach is mostly available in cities.So people who are trying this curry who don't have spinach/palak available go with other greens like arai keerai,mula keerai,Methi or vendhaya keerai(fenugreek leaves) etc.
     This Keerai masiyal is one of the tastiest mild curries of South.You can add toor dal instead of moong dal and temper the curry with mustard and urad dal after the curry is done.
      I pressure cooked the spinach with moong dal like my mom do,If you don't want the greens to be cooked in pressure cooker.Pressure cook the dal and mash it .Saute spinach and combine both of them together.

Sakkarai Pongal|Sweet Pongal

      Sakkarai pongal|sweet pongal is a rice made with jaggery.Its special in south india ,every household has tradition of making sakkarai pongal for special occasions.Specially sakkarai pongal takes the major place in pongal festival(a harvest festival) which occurs in tamil month thai, falls around January15 th every year.
    Brahmins do this sweet pongal with more ghee and milk its called akkara vadisal.I am hardcore fan of it,really makes any one mouth waters.hmmmmm
     Like any other recipe this sakkarai pongal also has many variations.My mom makes this style of pongal ,my mother -in law add some moong dal to the sweet pongal.If you are adding moong dal to the sakkarai pongal it has to pressure cooked along with rice.For 1 cup rice you can add 1/2 cup moong dal.

Variations to the sakkarai pongal:

1. Add moong dal/pasipayaru to add some protein.
2. You can add coconut flakes instead of grated coconut .
3. Increase the jaggery to make sakkarai pongal more sweeter.
4. Add more ghee and to make it more rich.
5. Add milk to make it more creamier.
6. Obviously you can substitute rice with any millets.

Golden Milk|Turmeric Milk

     Turmeric milk is also called golden milk because of its color.According to me it taste bit similar to masala milk(but very low in calories than that)
     This golden milk i usually do when we have cold or cough.Add little pepper makes it little spicy and good during cold days. Adding of turmeric gives a nice color to the milk,it has more medicinal benefits too(explained at the end of post).When my daughter catches cold i do follow all of the below mentioned points to give a quick relief(It takes at least 2 days).

These are some of the remedy my grand ma and my mom did for us .Now i am doing it for my daughter.
    When she has stuffy nose or when her eyes get wet during cold.I do "othadam" which can be done with kitchen towel wrapped.

• How to do Othadam:

                Heat a tava ,try to touch the tava with the base of wrapped towel.It should be hot.You can check the temperature when you are doing for kids .then try to put it in forehead ,neck ,below the eyes (can be done whenever it is paining)

• Try to take more vitamin c.
• Making a hot shower reduces nasal congestion.
• People apply some medicinal leaves that take the water out the head(cold air inside head is the cause for head aches)
• Add more veggies,pepper to your diet.
• Try to drink more warm water(heat in microwave for 20-30 seconds).
• Reduce the milk intake(try to dilute the milk and give the kids)
• Add this golden milk day,night.You can substitute honey with sugar too.(sometimes i do that)

Appam Recipe|Appam

   Appam a south Indian style pancakes or dosa made with fermented rice and urad dal mixture .Usually served with coconut milk or stew or kuruma.
   Appam is very famous breakfast item in kerela and chettinad.There are many variations of appam recipe like adding baking soda, eno or add sago pearls/Sabudana (later one i recommend you can do it ).But my mom never add anything to the appam batter ,but still the appam taste so good and be spongy.In case if you are trying to add sago/sabudana/javarisi to appam batter soak it with other ingredients and grind it or soak is and add it after its fermented.
     Best time to prepare appam is ,on a weekend .Why i say is, after having this delicious appam you don't really feel like having lunch and you feel drowsy too.so better have it as a brunch and go for light meal in the evening .
    Ladies first few appam will give a little tough time.You can use the coconut flakes(after taking the milk out) tied in a cotton cloth to wipe the bottom of the pan to give an extra oil layer .Its better to apply more oil for first few if you are not using non-stick pan like me .
    I have done a video on how to make appam in regular pan .Hope you guys will like it.In case of any doubts just comment or email me .