Rava Pongal/ Rava Semia Pongal

Recently I visited my cousin's house and was introduced to this recipe. I was impressed both by the taste and texture and wanted to share with my readers. This dish can be relished either as a tiffin or for dinner. Hope you enjoy it as well!

Ingredients: 

1 cup of rava/ sooji
3/4 cup of semolina
4 cups of water

ghee(optional)
pinch of turmeric
oil as required
salt as required

For seasoning: 

8 cashew nuts
8-10 whole black pepper
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tbsp of finely chopped ginger
10 curry leaves
pinch of  asafoetida powder


Preparation:


1.Add the rava and semolina to the skillet and dry roast them. As they turn golden brown, transfer to a plate.

2.Crush the black pepper for spiciness. Heat the oil in the pan and add the seasoning in medium flame. As the cashew nuts turn golden brown and the cumin seeds sputters, add water.

3.Bring it to boil. Add the rava, semolina, turmeric and salt to the boiling water, stirring continuously.

4.Close the lid for 10 minutes in medium flame. Mix well. Serve with chutney/ sambhar. 

Arisi upma/ Rice upma

 Arsi upma is a traditional dish at my in-laws place. My mom makes this upma usually with broken rice. The rice is slightly roasted and allowed to cool. Later the rice is ground in to coarse powder. This dish is made with raw rice and mong dhal, is a good balance of carbohydrates and protein.

Preparation time: 45 Minutes
Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients: 

1 cup of raw rice
1/4 cup of yellow moong dhal
2 1/2 cups of water
1 tbsp of oil
salt as required

For seasoning: 


1/2 tbsp of whole black pepper
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds 
2-3 dried red chilly
1 tsp of urad dhal
8 curry leaves
pinch of  asafoetida powder


Preparation:


1.Add the rice and moong dhal to the skillet and dry roast them.
2.Heat the oil in the pan and add the seasoning in medium flame. As  the cumin seeds sputters, transfer the water. Bring it to boil.
3.Add the toasted rice and salt. Mix them well and close the lid. Allow the rice to cook for 15 minutes in medium flame.
4.Serve arisi upma with chutney.

kuzhi paniyaram

   My mom made this kuzhi paniyaram in my last India trip. My son was a bit reluctant at first to try this new dish but my daughter really enjoyed the dish. Eventually, my son tried and he also loved them. He  thinks them as fried Idlys. So I started making this as a tiffin / evening snack.  

           

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of Idly rice
1/2 cup of raw rice
3/4 cup of urad dhal
1 small cup of grated carrot(optional)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
finely chopped coriander
2 green chillies(~spice level)
oil as required
salt as required

Seasoning:

1/2 tsp of mustard
1/2 tsp of Bengal gram dhal
pinch of asafoetida
curry leaves

Preparation:

1.Soak the rice and urad dhal separately for 6 hours. Grind them separately. Mix the batter together and add salt to the batter. Ferment for 24 hours.
2.Heat 1 tsp of oil in the pan and add the seasoning. Once the mustard sputters, add onion, green chillies, carrot to the pan. Saute well for 5 minutes in medium flame and add salt. Transfer to the batter.
3.Mix the batter. In the Kuzhi paniyaram skillet, add oil in each hole. Once the skillet is hot, pour 1 small ladle of batter in each hole. Close the lid and steam in medium flame. Once the edges start turning golden brown, turn to the other side.

4.Serve kuzhi paniyaram with chutney.

Tomato dosai

     Dosai is a staple of the south Indian cuisine. So needless to say, after a while, I was planning to improvise this dish. Recently my mom told me that she made this tomato dosai which came out really well. For the last two days, I was looking for an opportunity to experiment this and when my son asked me to make dosai with chutney, I knew exactly what would make him happy. I soaked the ingredients in the morning and prepared it for dinner.

Ingredients:


1 cup of parboiled rice
1 cup of raw rice
1/2 cup of urad dhal
1 tsp of fenugreek
2 big tomatoes3-4 green chillies                       
1 large onion
oil as required
salt as required



Seasoning:


1/2 tsp of mustard
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds


Preparation:


1.Soak both the rice, urad dhal and fenugreek in water for 6 hours. Grind them in to a smooth paste. Towards the end add 2 tomatoes and grind them with 1/2 cup of water.
2.The batter consistency should not be too thin nor too thick. Add salt and mix well. Set aside for 2 hours.
3.Heat oil in the pan and add the seasoning. once the mustard sputters, add to the batter. Mix them. Heat the tawa, add 1 ladle full of batter and pour on the tawa. Use the bottom of the ladle to make a thin layer of dosai. Sprinkle finely 1 tsp of chopped onion and about 1 green chilly on the dosai. As it turns golden brown, using spatula turn to the other side. Wait for 2 minutes. Tomato dosai is ready. Serve with chutney.
 *I tried the batter with seasoning alone for the kids..they loved it!

Kara Adai/ Spicy pancake

     This is my father-in-law's favorite recipe. Usually he does not prefer coconut in his food but when it comes to adai he relishes with all the ingredients without any fuss. This is a mouth watering and delicious adai. For kids, make kara dosai, as it is thin and crispier.

Ingredients:

1/2  cup of parboiled rice
1/2 cup of raw rice
1/2 cup of toor dhal
1/2 cup of channa dhal (Bengal gram dhal)
3 red chillies
1 inch of ginger
3 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tbsp of grated  coconut
oil as required
salt as required


Seasoning:

1 tsp of cumin seeds
2 green chillies finely chopped
2 sprig of curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp of oil


Preparation:

1.Soak the rice and dhals separately for 2 hours and grind them with red chillies and ginger in to a coarse paste. Do not add water and mix well with salt, coconut and garlic.
2.Ferment for 1 hour and heat oil in the pan and add the seasoning to the batter.
3.In the tawa, add 1/2 tsp of oil. Keep in lower flame and press the batter with fingers on the pan. Add 2 tsp of oil around the edges. The consistency is thick. 
4.Allow it to cook and when the adai turns golden brown, turn to other side and add 1 tsp of oil and cook for 3 more minutes.
5.When added some water to dosai batter consistency, kara dosai can be made by pouring one ladle of batter on the heated pan making a  thin circular shape. Serve with coconut chutney/ Idly milagai podi.

Idly and peanut chutney

          Idly is a healthy and very common breakfast of South India. Kids love this food as it is easily digestible and fluffy.

Ingredients:


Idly

2 1/2 cups of Idly rice
1/2 cup of raw rice
3/4 cup of urad dhal
water as required
oil for smearing on idly plates
salt as required


Peanut chutney 

1 cup of peanuts
3-4 red chillies
pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp of yogurt
1/2 tsp of mustard
1/4 tsp of urad dhal
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of sesame oil
salt as required


1.Soak the rice and urad dhal separately for 6 hours. Grind them separately. Mix the batter together and add salt to the batter. Ferment for 24 hours.
2.Pour batter in each Idly plate. Steam for about 12-15 minutes. Remove the Idly from the plates after 5 minutes. (Stick a fork in to the Idly to check whether it is cooked).
3.Dry roast the peanuts and red chillies in the preheated pan till it turns golden brown and allow them to cool. Remove the skin by rubbing the peanuts and grind along with yogurt, salt and asafoetida. Yogurt is the secret ingredient which is used as a substitute for tamarind.
4.Add mustard, cumin seeds and urad dhal to the preheated oil in the pan. Add the seasoning to the chutney.

5.Enjoy delicious and soft Idly with peanut chutney.

Kadalai paruppu vadai/ Masal vadai

  I was making this vadai for pongal. My mom shared a secret ingredient to make the vadai crispier.Try this recipe as evening snack/ appetizer for parties. This goes well with kheer..

Serves up to 4 people
Preparation time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:

1 cup of Bengal gram(channa dhal)
1 tbsp of toor dhal
4 green chilies
1 inch grated ginger
1 piece  garlic(optional) 
1 red onion 
1 teaspoon aniseed
10 curry leaves
2 tbsp of chopped coriander
salt as required

Oil for frying

Preparation:

1.Soak channa dhal and toor dhal for 2 hours. Toor dhal is the secret ingredient. Grind little coarsely green chili, ginger, garlic, dhal and salt together.(if you grind the masala together, the kids will not get the bite of green chilies).
2. The onion, curry leaves and coriander is finely chopped and add it to the ground mixture. Add 1 tsp of aniseed, for digestion (you can alternate with cumin).
3. Make a small patty and put in the preheated oil. Once the patty turns golden  brown, vadai is ready.