Mysurpa & Ribbon Pakoda - Happy Diwali

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DIWALI !!!!

Sree Krishna Mysurpa is very famous in Tamilnadu. Unlike the traditional mysurepauk which is porous and a bit hard, this one is soft and melts in ur mouth. I searched for the recipe of mysurpa in the net and Jayashree Govindarajan's recipe attracted me. It was really surprising that this recipe turned out great and melted in my mouth almost like SKS mysurpa. I completely followed her recipe. She had written in tamil and so Iam giving her recipe in English. Thanks Jayashree for the wonderful recipe. I hope you guys would love to try it out sometime.

Ingredients

Gramflour- 1 cup

sugar- 2 1/2 cups

ghee- 2 1/2 cups

Method

Sift the gram flour in a fine seive and dry roast in a pan for 2-3 minutes.

Melt the ghee and keep it ready.

Heat the sugar and water(just add enough water to cover the sugar) in a thick bottomed kadai or a non stick pan for a couple of minutes, until the sugar dissolves completely.

Now add the gram flour slowly in small amounts stirring continuosly so that no lumps are formed. (use a wire whisk if lumps are formed)

When the gram flour starts to boil start adding the ghee little by little.(u can add all the ghee in 4-5 batches). Make sure the flame is simmered and it is important to stir continuously.

After you finish adding all the ghee, continue stirring for some time until the mixture thickens and forms one huge lump without sticking to the sides of the pan. The mixture at this stage will start to become slightly porous and will be in light golden colour.

Its the right time and so remove from fire and quickly pour it on a greased plate. press with a flat bottomed bowl or a spatula evenly. Cut into rectangles or any desired stage when hot.

note

Try making this with pure ghee. If u feel 2 1/2 cups is too much of ghee, you can reduce to 2 cups.

Ribbon Pakoda

Ingredients

Rice flour -4 cups
chutney dal(roasted chana dal/daliya)- 1 cup
Asafoetida- 1/4 tsp
salt to taste
butter- 4 to 5 tsp
chillie powder-2 tsp or acc to taste
oil for deep frying

Method

Grind the chutneydal in the mixie and sieve it. Mix riceflour,dal powder, butter, chilli powder, salt, asafoetida and add enough water to make it into a soft dough. Heat oil in a pan and squeeze the dough from the murukku press(place the mould/plate used for ribbon pakoda) into big circles. Deep fry the pakodas , drain it in paper towel and store in airtight containers when cooled.

Happy to send these recipes to

JFI: Festival treats hosted by Srivalli
Sunday Snacks: Fry it hosted by SnackoRama
Yummy Festival Feasts hosted by Pallavi
Festive Food: Diwali hosted by Priti

Back with Carrot Halwa

Ingredients

Carrots- 6 cups grated finely

sugar- 2 1/2 to 3 cups - acc to taste

milk- 3 cups

khoya- 1/2 cup or acc to taste ,crumbled

ghee- 3 tbsp

cashews- a few chopped finely

cardomom powder- 1 tsp

Method

Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan and add the finely grated carrots and carrots. Saute for a couple of minutes and add milk. Partly cover with a lid and let the carrots get cooked in the milk.

Add the sugar and after it dissolves completely add the khoya and cardomom powder. Remove from heat when it becomes thick.

note:

Grate the carrots very finely so that the carrots would cook very quickly . If the grated carrots are not very fine then you may need to add some more milk.

You can adjust khoya, sugar and milk as per your taste.

Rava Kesari

Ingredients

Rava/sooji- 1 cup

Sugar- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups

water- 1 1/2 cups

milk- 1/2 cup

ghee- 4 tbsp

cashews- a few

Raisins- a few

cardomom powder-1/4 tsp

kesari colour/orange food colour-a pinch

Method

Heat 3 tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry the rava for a few minutes till a nice aroma comes out. keep aside.

Boil the water and milk with the food colour and add rava to it slowly by stirring continuously , so that no lumps are formed.

Add sugar and mix well. By this time the rava would have been almost cooked and so reduce the flame and keep stirring in between.

In another pan heat 1 tbsp of ghee and add cashews and raisins. Fry till golden brown and pour over rava mixture. Sprinkle cardamom powder and mix well.

Kesari is ready to serve.

note

I used the fine semolina variety. If u are using the regular sooji, then add 3 cups of milk+water.

Diwali Treats- Cashew kathli

WISH U ALL A VERY HAPPY DIWALI!!!!!

This year for diwali, I made murukkus and cashew kathli. U can find the recipe of murukku here. This cashew kathli recipe is very easy to make and believe it, it is made without ghee. U can just make this within half an hour and u will surely love it. Love to share it with u all. This will go in as my entry for JFS:Diwali event hosted by Vee of Past,Present and Me

Ingredients

cashews- 500 gms

sugar- 250 gms

water-1/2 cup

silver warq(optional)

Method

Dry roast the cashews slightly for one minute in a pan. The cashews should not change in colour. When you touch the cashews after frying ,it should just be warm. Grind it immediately to a fine powder in a blender.(If we grind the cashews without frying slightly, it will not become a fine powder. ) Heat water and sugar in a non stick pan till one string consistency. It may take 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the flame and add the cashew powder to the sugar syrup. Stir it till it becomes thick and almost in a dough consistency. If u take out a pich of dough and roll it with ur fingers , it should not be sticky like the halwa. Remove from fire and allow it to cool for a minute. When it is slightly warm knead it like a chappathi dough.

Roll out into a big square , 1/4" thick in a greased platform. Apply silver warq and cut into diamonds.

Badam Halwa

Hi all, Iam back with badam Halwa. I got this recipe from my friend Abitha. Its a lovely recipe and adding MTR mix gives a very rich taste. Try it folks!!! and Iam sure u will love it. This is my entry for RCI Tamil festivals:Diwali , started by Lakshmik and hosted by Viji of VCuisine

Ingredients

Almond paste- 2 1/2 cups( If u are using fresh almonds soak overnight , peel the skin and grind to a paste. If using readymade sliced almonds , just grind with little water to form a paste.The paste can be very fine or a bit coarse like rava consistency ,according to ur taste.)

Milk- 2 1/2 cups

MTR badam feast- 1 1/4 cup

sugar- 3 to 4 tbsp or according to ur taste.

ghee- 1/4 cup or acc to ur taste.

Method

Heat ghee in a non stick pan and fry the ground almond paste in a medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes.

Mix the MTR powder with milk. Add this and sugar to the almond paste. keep stirring for 20 to 25 minutes till the halwa comes together as a single mass, without sticking to the pan.

This can be refrigerated upto 3 weeks. Have fun making this for diwali.

Thattai and Appam- Krishnajayanthi treats

Today is 'Krishna Jayanthi', the birth day of lord Krishna.Happy Janmashtami/Krishna jayanthi to all of u.Read more abt krishna jayanthi here.

When I saw thattais and appam in shyamala's and Latha narasimhan's blog I decided to try it out for Krishna Jayanthi.Both turned out very well. Thanks shyamala and Latha.

This is my entry to the festival food event - Janmashtami/Srijayanthi hosted by Latha Narasimhan of 'Yum' blog and to the WYF -Snacks event hosted by Hima of snackorama.

Thattai

Ingredients

Rice flour- 4 cups

roasted dal powder or gram flour- 1/2 cup

butter- 4 tbsp

sesame seeds- 2 tsp

cumin seeds - 1 tsp

chilli powder- 2 1/2 tsp or acc to taste

salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste

channa dal- 1/2 cup soaked in water for 30 mins

curry leaves- a few chopped

Asafoetida- less than 1/4 tsp

oil for deep frying

Method

Powder the roasted gram and sieve it finely. Drain the channa dal well and add to the dal powder. Mix all the ingredients except oil together and add water to form a thick dough.

Make small balls out of it , place it in a greased plastic sheet and flatten it with ur fingers .

I I kept the balls in a greased plastic sheet , placed another small sheet on top of it and then placed a flat bottomed steel bowl on top of it and pressed it firmly. Then slightly flattened it out with fingers and it turned out perfect. You can cut open the ziploc bag and sandwich in between those too. However u make it, make thin discs.

Peel the prepared thattais carefully from the plastic sheet, drop it gently in hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Keep the oil in an uniform medium flame and deep fry all the prepared thattais the same way .Store in an airtight container.

Appam

Ingredients

Raw rice- 1 cup

Jaggery- 3/4 cup

dry coconut(copra)- a few pieces

ghee- 2 tbsp

cardomom powder- 1/2 tsp

Method

Soak raw rice in water for 2 to 4 hrs. Drain it well and grind it in a mixie adding very little water.

When it becomes a fine paste add the jaggery to it and grind .

chop the dry coconut into small bits and fry it in ghee till golden brown.

Add the coconut bits and cardomom powder to rice and jaggery batter. The consistency of the batter should be like the dosa batter.

Heat the kuzhi paniyaram pan and add little ghee to all the potions of the pan. Add the batter to each portion of the pan . Turn over and cook till the appams are golden brown on both sides.

Paal poli/puri

I was very excited to get this rocking girl award from SRA of 'When my soup came alive'. Thank you very much Sra.
Felt really happy to receive the award and thought I would post a sweet for this. Happened to see this 'paal poli' recipe form viji's blog and decided to try it out. It turned out very well and even my husband who doesn't like sweets much, loved it.Thanks viji for the wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

whole milk- 6 cups
sugar- 1/2 cup or acc to taste
pistachios- 10 0r nuts of ur choice - crushed coarsely
saffron- a few strands
cardomom powder- 1/4 tsp
maida- 1/2 cup
rava- 1/2 cup
salt - a pinch
ghee- 1 tsp
oil for deep frying

Method

Knead maida and rava into a stiff dough using little water. ( viji suggests to beat the dough with roller pin to make it soft.) Keep aside for half an hour.
Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pan and add saffron and pistachios to it . Simmer the flame for 8 to 10 minutes or till the milk thickensa bit and add sugar to it.
Roll out the dough into very small and thin puris . I made it in the size of paani puris(u can make into bigger size too or in roll out into triangle shapes as, viji did). Deep fry in hot oil .
Add the milk to the deep fried puris . Let it cool for a couple of hours and refrigerate. serve cold.

I would like to pass on this Award to Suganya of 'Tasty palettes', 'Menu today',and Richa of 'As dear as salt'.

Orange trifle

An easy to make dessert if u have all the ingredients in hand. I had wanted to prepare trifle for a long time and when I googled for it I found interesting recipes.I did not have a trifle bowl with me,but it came out well, tasted great and was a big hit with us.This is my entry for this month's AFAM hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam.

Read here for the health benefits of Oranges

Ingredients

Vanilla/orange cake mix or store bought pound/angel cake

Instant vanilla pudding mix- 1 medium pack

Frozen whipped topping-1 tub

oranges-5 peeled and segmented

condensed milk- 1 small can

milk- 1/2 cup

method

Bake the cake and prepare the pudding according to the package instructions.

Cut the cake into small rectangular pieces(2"x1").

Now everything is ready to set the trifle.

In a trifle bowl or any glass bowl arrage the cake pieces. pour some milk to soften the cake.

Arrange the orange pieces on top of it. spoon in some condensed milk on top of the fruit.

Pour in the prepared custard into a thin layer(thin or thick layer depends upon the size of the bowl.If u have a small bowl then it is better to have thin layers). Then add the whipped cream.

Repeat these layers once again.

Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Check out this interesting trifle from which I made mine.

Puran Poli

I love puran polis and wanted to try this out for a long time. I tried once using all purpose flour but it did not turn out well . The poli puffed up and I didn't know the reason. May be it could be because of the all purpose flour..

My native is near Tiruchendur , a place in South Tamilnadu. We go there for our summer vacation every year .When we go in train there comes a station called 'Maniyachi' near Tirunelveli. You can hear food sellers shouting 'boli,boli,boli'(yes they call poli as boli). They have two varieties of polis..coconut and dhal polis. We never forget to buy poli there...It would taste very delicious and as a child I loved those.

When I saw polis in Sailu's blog,I tried it and it came out very well. Click for the recipe here. Watch Pattu maami making Wonderful polis.This had been a great help to me.Those who want to make polis by spreading it with hand should definitely watch this. This is my entry to coffee's MBP for the month of May .

I followed mostly her recipe except I used 1 1/4 of jaggery for 1 cup of Maida and 1 cup of channa dal and added 5 to 6 tsp of oil to make the dough.

Making the dough is very important in making polis. This is how I made the dough. Add a pinch of salt and 4 tsp of oil to 1 cup of Maida and make a soft dough by adding enough water. knead well for a minute and add 1 tsp of oil. knead well again for 2 minutes and then add 1 tsp of oil. knead to a soft and elastic dough and keep aside covered with a wet cloth for 1/2 an hour.

To make the filling I just soaked the channa dal and cooked with lot of water in a pan. when it turned soft drain it(u can cook in pressure cooker too) . Then add the jaggery in a pan and when it melts add the channa dal and cardomom powder(no need to add water) . When it becomes thick remove from fire and cool it.

I did not use rolling pins to make polis .. Just with hand flatten a small ball of dough and keep double the amt of filling in it , fold and flatten in to thin polis using little bit of oil .

When roasting the polis in tawa I applied ghee on both sides.

Poli came out very well and we all enjoyed it.

Adhirasam

Adhirasam is a traditional south Indian sweet which is made in almost every house in tamilnadu during diwali. The most important part in making adhirasam is the the 'paagu'(syrup) part. If u get the correct consistency of the paagu the adhirasam will taste really delicious. This is my 3rd entry to the RCI event hosted by Lakshmi.

Ingredients

Raw rice- 1 kg
Jaggery- 1/2 kg
sugar- 3/4 thcup
My mother uses sugar in making adhirasam. But many people do not use it.It is optional to use sugar. u can use jaggery alone too. if so use 3/4 kg of jaggery.
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
khus khus- 3 tsp
Dry ginger(sukku)- 1/2 tsp powdered
Oil for deep frying

Method

Soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Drain the rice and spread it in a clean cloth in a shady area. when it is 3/4 th dried powder it. In india they machinegrind it in a mill. U can also grind it in a mixie and sieve it to get a fine rice powder.
Add 1/4 cup of water in a thick bottom pan and add the jaggery and sugar to it. When the jaggery melts completely filter it in a strainer to get rid of the dirt. keep stirring the filtered jaggery in low heat. When it is thick, check the consistency by pouring a drop of syrup in a cup of water. The syrup should not melt in water and when touched by finger it should roll into a soft ball. It should not be hard. This is the right consistency.
Remove from fire and add cardomom powder ,dry ginger powder and khus khus. Stir well and add the rice flour to it . Mix well so that no lumps are formed and till u get a chappathi dough like consistency.Leave it outside overnight.

Heat oil in a pan and make small balls of the dough . Place the balls in a pastic sheet and using little oil shape it to form small patties. Deep fry in hot oil only one at a time until golden brown on both sides and press well with a flat ladle.
Note

Making Adhirasams is a tough job and the most IMPORTANT part in making the adirasams is the SOFT BALL CONSISTENCY. If the syrup reaches more than soft ball consistency, the adhirasams will become hard. If the syrup is taken before the soft ball consistency, the adhirasams will break while frying in oil.

You can use readymade rice flour too to make Adhirasam.If so slightly roast it. (I have never tried this ....so Iam not sure if the adhirasams would turn out good using storebought riceflour,but my mom said u can do it)
You can store the dough in the refrigerator for 3 to 6 months. My mom prepared this dough for me, during my trip to India in January. I had stored it since then and whenever I want I make delicious Adhirasams.

Paal Kozhukattai

This is another of my Mother in law's recipe which is a big hit in our family. She made this for 'Sangadahara Chaturthi' which comes once in a month. She used to fast on this day and make kozhukattai and sundal and offer to lord Ganesha. She is here with us now and this time I helped her too in making it. I thought this would be a good choice for 'Winter food swing Event- Family and friends in the kitchen' hosted by Trupti of 'The spice who loved me'.

Icon credits- Trupti

Ingredients

Rice flour- 1 cup
Coconut milk - 1 cup if using from the can or milk taken from 1 medium coconut
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Salt- a pinch
Ghee- 1tsp
Milk- 1/2 cup
Oil- 4 tsp
Cardomom powder- 1/4 tsp

Method

Mix ½ cup of milk , 1 ½ cups of water to the rice flour, ghee and a pinch of salt together. Heat the batter in a pan (preferably non stick) and keep stirring without any lumps, till it forms a dough consistency.When it is cooled add 4 tsp oil to that and knead it into a soft dough.Make small balls (like u do for seedai) out of this.

Take milk from the coconut ....Check out here how to do it.First time when u extract milk from the coconut u will get thick milk.Keep this as your 1st extract. Again add water and extract milk.This time u will get a thinner milk. Repeat it again the third time too where u will get a very thin extract. Do not mix the coconut milks together. keep aside.

If u are using tinned coconut milk add 1/2 cup of water to 1/2 cup of the coconut milk cream to get the first thick extract. Take 1/4 cup of coconut cream and add 1/2 cup of water to make the 2nd extract and repeat this step again for the 3 rd extract with the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut milk cream.

In a non stick pan add the 3rd extract and the rice balls. When it boils and when the balls float on top add the 2nd extract . Add the 1st extract and the sugar after 3 minutes. Let it thicken and then add the cardomom powder. Kozhukattais are ready to serve.

Pedas

Today is our 7th Wedding Aniversary and I thought I would begin the day with sweets. So yesterday I made these lovely pedas. They are very easy and quick to make.My 5 year old little daughter helped me and we had fun making this..

This is my entry for Trupti's ' Little Chefs in the kitchen' Event and Meeta's 'Monthly Mingle- Sweet love'. Though it may be a bit late for the Sweet love event,but I thought will be nice to post this on my Wedding day which would surely be the best day to show the love I have for my Better half. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Ingredients

Sweetened condensed milk(whole milk)- 1 tin

milk powder- 2 cups

butter-4 tbsp(room temp)

crushed pistas and almonds- a few

food colour(optional)- any colour u like

saffron-(optional)- a few

silver warq- optional

cardomom powder- a pinch

Method

In a microwave bowl add the butter and heat it for 2 mins or till it is melted.

Add the milk powder and condensed milk, mix it well and microwave it for 2 minutes.

Add the cardomom powder,saffron and food colour at this stage and microwave for 4 minutes , taking out and stirring after 2 minutes.

Cool it completely and make pedas of ur desired shape.

Add crushed nuts on the top of the pedas and press it. Apply the silver warq.

note

For shaping the pedas take a lid from a small bottle, keep a few nuts inside and place a ball of pedas on it. press well and invert it. U will get lovely round pedas.

Rasmalai

Spongy Rasmalai is one of my favourite desert. There are many ways of making rasmalai and lots of my fellow bloggers have blogged rasmalai. This is my way of doing it. I use readymade rasagullas for making rasmalai as this is an easy way to do it.

Ingredients

Full cream milk- 1.5 ltrs

Sugar-150 gms

Haldirams Rasagullas- 1 tin

pistachios- a few crushed

yellow food colour(optional)

saffron- a few strands

Method

Boil the milk in a thick bottomed pan or kadai. when the milk is hot ,take a tbsp of it and soak the saffron strands in it. Add the crushed pistachios to it.

Reduce the flame and stir in between till the amount of the milk reduces to half.

Squeeze out the juice from all the rasagullas and flatten it with ur hands.

Add the sugar ,food colour, stir it and add the rasagullas and saffron soaked milk. Remove from heat after 2 minutes. Refeigerate and serve chilled

Check out more versions of Rasmalai below

shammi's

Priya's

Manisha's

Mandira's

Aval Payasam

Blogger friends recipe (BFR)#2

Aval payasam


A few months in blogging, I have learnt a lot in cooking from my blogger friends. I have tried a few recipes from them and feel really happy to say that almost all of them were succesful. Here is one such recipe ... .I wanted to make Aval payasam for a long time and when I saw this recipe in My dhaba ,I decided to try it out for Saraswathi Pooja. This is the first time Iam making Aval Payasam , and believe me it tasted divine...Thanks VK Narayan for the lovely recipe.
Click for the recipe Here...
I made this by following the exact recipe of My dhaba's... But as i did not have saffron with me I just added a pinch of yellow food colour.. This is a great recipe and You will surely love it.

Kozhukattai

Today is vinayaka chaturthi and it is celebrated all over India in a grand manner. In my house When I was a kid , we buy a ganesha idol made of clay. I remember the beautiful,colourful umbrella which comes with the idol.
We decorate our house with kolams, we tie mavilai and thoranam to the entrance of the house and the puja room.
Kozhukattai(modak) is the favourite dish of Lord Vinayaka. So my Mom makes different varieties of kozhukattai and sundal which we offer during the puja.
The third day after making a puja we immerse the idol in well. This is an interesting event and me, my sister and brother will be waiting to do this. In those days we had a well in our house and so we immersed the idol there. But nowadays there is only borewell in every house in chennai and so we take the idol to the temple.
Festivals do make us remember of our childhood days.

Kozhukattai(1)

This is yet another recipe I learnt from my MIL.She makes this once in a month for every ‘Sangadahara Chaturthi’.

Ingredients

Riceflour-1 cup
Coconut grated -2cups
Jaggery- slightly less than ½ cup
Milk- ½ cup
Ghee- 1tsp
Cardomom powder- ½ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Oil- 4 tsp

Method

Mix ½ cup of milk , 1 ½ cups of water to the rice flour, ghee and a pinch of salt together. Heat the batter in a pan (preferably non stick) and keep stirring without any lumps, till it forms a dough consistency.
When it is cooled add 4 tsp oil to that and knead it into a soft dough.Make small balls out of this.
Now for the filling mix the jaggery, coconut and cardomom powder in a pan and heat it. After 6 to 8 minutes if u take some in ur hands u will be able to roll out balls. Remove from heat now and when cooled make small balls(smaller than the rice flour balls).

Kozhukattais can be made in two ways.
a) For ball shaped: press the rice flour ball in the middle and make a cup . keep the coconut ball inside this and close it.

b) For flat shaped: Place a plastic sheet on top and bottom of the riceflour ball and press with a small plate or bowl(round and flat). Place the filling and close it. Seal the edges and mark lines with a fork.

Steam the kozhukattais in pressure cooker using idli plates.

Kozhukattai(2)

My Mom makes this type of kozhukattai very well.This is the first time Iam trying this .

Ingredients

Riceflour-1cup
Jaggery- ¾ cup
Coconut grated- 4tsp
Cardamom powder- ¼ tsp

Method

Add ¼ cup of water to the jaggery in a non stick pan and bring to boil. Add the other ingredients to it. When it forms a ball like dough without sticking to the sides, remove from heat.
When cooled make small balls. Place them in ur hands and close ur fists to get the desired shape. steam them in idli plates for 10 mins(like idlis).

Also Check out the other versions of Kozhukattai

1.Akshayapaatram

2. Menutoday

Paniyaram

Paniyaram is a sweet dish made with rawa. This sweet is made in our house on festivals like Tamil New year and Deepavali. U can try this snack anytime … I would like to share with u the recipe of paniyaram , which I made this weekend.



Ingredients

Rava or sooji- 1 cup
Maida-3/4 cup
Sugar-1cup
Elachi powder-1/4 tsp
Oil for deep frying

Method

Mix rawa with water(thick paste so that no water stands on top) for half an hour. Be careful to add very little water so that batter doesn't become too watery.Add sugar , maida and elachi powder to the rawa paste. Mix it well and add little water if necessary. The batter should be thick like vada batter.
Heat oil in kadai and pour the batter with a ladle( smaller than the one u use for dosa) one at a time. When it becomes light brown turn over.

Sakkarai Pongal

Happy Krishna Jayanthi!!!

Sri Krishna Jayanthi - also known as Gokulashtami or Janmashtami, is the birthday of Lord Krishna. In Tamilnadu the houses are decorated with Maavilai and thoranam(leaves from mango and palm trees). Patterns of small feet, drawn with rice flour are made, leading from the house entrance to the puja room, where the idol of Lord Krishna is kept. This symbolises the baby Krishna coming to his devotees' house to bless them and leaving behind his footsteps.Special dishes like murukku, seedai, vella seedai, thengozhal, payasam are all made and offered to the Lord. In the evening, usually a special pooja is done to mark the occasion and people ask one another "krishnar onga veetukku vandacha?" (Has Krishna come to your house?). Kids are also dressed up as Krishna and Radha (young Krishna's lady love at Brindavan).
Source- Chennai online



Ingredients

Raw Rice-1 cup
Moong dal-1tsp
Milk-1 cup
Jaggery grated-2 ½ cups
cashews-10
Raisins-10-15
Ghee-3 tbsp
Elachi powder- 1 tsp

Method

Pressure cook rice and moongdal with milk+water in the ratio of 1:4.
Add ½ cup of water to the jaggery and heat it. When the jagagery melts completely in water , remove from fire, filter it( to remove the dirt from jaggery) and add to the cooked rice. Stir for 3 mins so that the rice and the jaggery blend together.
Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins to it. Fry till it becomes golden brown and add to the pongal. Finally add elachi powder to it.

Kheer

When I saw the ingredient for JFI event in vineela’s cuisine the first thing that came into my mind was ‘sweets’. Yes milk and milk products always remind me of sweets somehow.
Iam posting a simple but very tasty , easy to cook recipe of KHEER.
I learnt this recipe from one of my friend.One reason I like in this recipe is, it is made without ghee, but still tastes rich. Try out this and let me know.



Ingredients

Whole Milk-6 cups
Sugar-3/4th cup
Basmathi rice-1/4th cup
Cashews-15 to 20
Raisins – a few
Coconut grated -2 tsp

Method

Boil the milk in a thick bottomed pan.(It is better not to do this in a non stick pan as milk becomes brown at the bottom of the pan ) if u do not have a thick bottomed pan use a pressure cooker.
Grind the basmathi rice in the mixer( do not grind it finely. Grind it very very coarsely. Just one turn of the mixer and that is enough. Basically the rice should be broken
Into two..)
Add the rice , cashews , raisins and coconut to the boiling milk.
Keep in a medium flame for 15 minutes,partly covered and stirring in between.
After 15 to 20 mins the milk would have become thick and rice would have been cooked. Check for it.
Finally add the sugar . keep in flame 3 to 5 mins till the sugar dissolves completely and remove from fire.
Cool it and refrigerate it.
Serve chilled.

Note:

Serve this chilled. This tastes yummy when it is cold than warm.
U can use condensed milk instead of sugar too..