Ven Pongal / Milagu Pongal and an award

Pongal is a very famous break fast in south India.Its a combination of rice and dal with spices.We used to go to 'saravana bhavan' and order only pongal & vadai.The taste can never be met with any other restaurant according to me.My MIL is very famous for her pongal.I am giving her recipe with some alterations.My dinner was pongal today with sambar.This is the only combination , my hubby likes.But it can be served with chutney also.

Ingredients:
 For pressure cooking:
1.Raw rice                       -                1 cup
2.Moong dal                    -                 1/2 cup
3.Pepper corns                -                  1/4 tsp
4.Cumin seeds                 -                  1/4 tsp
5.Turmeric pwdr             -                  a pinch

For Tempering:
0.Hing                            -                   a pinch
1.Crushed ginger            -                    1/2 inch
2.Crushed Green chillies -                    1
3.Crushed pepper corns   -                     1/2 tsp
4.Crushed cumin seeds   -                      1/2 tsp
5.Curry leaves                -                      1 spring
6.Cilantro

Method:
* dry roast moong dal ,till it turns golden brown .
* Wash and soak it with rice for half an hour.
* Take a pressure cooker,add the soaked rice ,moong dal with pepper corns , cumin seeds and turmeric pwdr.
* Add 4 1/2 cups(for 1 1/2 cups of rice& dal) of water and cook for 3 whistles.
* Take a wide pan and add 2 tbsp of ghee and 1 tbsp of oil.
* When the mixture is hot,add cashews and fry them.
* Now add all the ingredients under 'for tempering' except cilantro.
* When the raw smell of the ginger is gone, dump in the cooked rice and dal mixture.
* Scald well , within 2 to 3 minutes, pongal will start to gather like a halwa.
* Adjust salt to taste.
* Turn off the heat and garnish with cilantro.
* Serve hot with chutney or sambar.
Chk my posting for (pongal and idli)  sambar recipe.

Note:
Roasting of moong dal will give ur pongal a wonderful aroma.By cooking rice&dal with cumin seeds and pepper, pongal will have a unique taste.If u dont want to add much ghee, still u want to have its aroma,just take a small cup ,grease it with little ghee,make it as a mould of pongal  and serve it on a plate.It will be very innovative for kids and less ghee for adults.

An award:
Akila of  Learning to Cook  has awarded me this ,lovely blogger award.She is an awsome cook.
chk her blog for wonderful recipes.

                                              

Left over spl - Tamarind Rice

I had some left over rice sitting in my kitchen.Used my grand ma's method and prepared this tamarind rice.It tastes heavenly than the one which we prepare instatantly.The reason is ,tamarind juice is marinated with the left over rice overnight .This makes the rice to absorb the flavors well.So no worries, if u have so much rice left over .

Ingredients:
1.Tamarind Juice             -            1/4 cup
2.Turmeric Pwdr             -             1 tsp
3.Salt                               -              to taste

For Tempering:
1.Mustard seeds               -              1/2 tsp
2.Urad dal                        -               1/2 tp
3.Chana dal                      -                1 tsp
4.Methi seeds                   -                1/4 tsp
5.Hing                               -                a pinch
6.Curry leaves                   -                1 spring

Method:
* Take thick juice from tamarind.
* Add tamarind juice ,turmeric pwdr to the rice and marinate overnight.
* Take a pan, add oil,splutter with all the ingredients under 'For tempering'.
* Dump in the marinated rice to the tadka ad mix well.
* Adjust salt to taste.
* Serve with any deep fry.
Note:
Dont add too much water to the tamarind juice,it will make the rice watery.Take a thick paste.

Gobi Manchuriyan

Gobi manchuriyan is an Indo-Chinese dish .Its a gravy version of gobi 65 , where gobis are deep fried in oil and added to the gravy.I had this in my mind for a long time back,but now only I got a chance to do it. Its very easy and can be altered according to ur taste buds.

Ingredients:
For frying:
1.Gobi                          -            half head
2.All Purpose flour      -             2 tbsp
3.Corn flour                 -              1 tbsp
4.G&G paste                -              1 tsp
5.Soy sauce                  -               1 tsp
6.Ajinomotto                -               a pinch
7.Pepper pwdr             -               1 tsp
8.Salt                           -                to taste

For Gravy:
1.Onion  ( chopped)            -               1/2
2.Garlic  (Crushed)             -                4 pods
3.ginger  ( Minced )             -                 1/2 inch
4.Green chillies  (Chopped) -                  1
5.Red &yellow bell peppers-            1/2 each ( sliced)
6.corn flour                           -                1 tsp
7.Soy sauce                           -              1 tbsp
8.Red chilli sauce                  -              1 tbsp
9.Tomato Ketchup                  -              1 tbsp
10.Vinegar                              -              1 tsp
11.Ajinomotto                        -               a pinch
12.Cilantro                             -                for garnishing

Method:
For Gravy:
* Wash and separate the florets.Pat it and dry them.
* Make the gravy first,so we can fry the gobis and put it in the gravy.this way the gobis will be crispy.
* Take a pan, add oil, saute onion.
* dont saute it too much,add ginger,garlic and let it loose its pungent smell.
*  Now add green chillies,red & Yellow bell peppers.
* Make sure that the peppers are crisp enough.
* Now slowly add all the sauces and give it a stir.
* Add ajinomotto and also u can add pepper pwdr to make it little spicy.
* Now dissolve corn flour in a cup with 2 tbsp of water and pour it into the gravy.
This helps the gravy to be thick.

Gobi fry:
* Now take a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients under 'for frying' except gobi and form it into a bajji batter by adding little water.
* Dip the gobi florets and deep fry them in oil.
* When all the gobis are fried, immediately add it to the gravy and give it a stir.
* Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with fried rice,noodles or any pulaos.

Note:
The sauces added here are according to my taste, u can alter the proportions according to ur taste.
If u dont want ur manchurian to be too thick, then u can reduce the amt of corn flour.

Ras Malai

Ras Malai is a bengali dish and its a slightly different from rasagullas.Rasa malais are milk soaked  rasagullas.I came to  know this recipe from my friend saras and referred it from "Manjula's Kitchen" .It was a hit and went well for my party.We can use half & half milk,but I prefer to use whole milk ,boiled in low flame.This gives the sweet a strong flavour.

Ingredients:
1.Rasagullas                     -                 8
2.Milk                               -                 4 cups
3.Sugar                              -                 1 cup
4.Pistas                              -                 1 tsp

Method:
* Check my post for preparing rasagullas.
* The only alteration is ,we have to shape it as vadai or cutlet ,instead of balls.
*  Boil milk in a pan in medium flame.
* Milk shud reduce to 2 cups and also we can see 'malay' or paaladai started forming.
* Mix the milk continously as it shud not get burned.
* It will take minimum of half an hour , for the milk to condense.
* This slow boiling ,helps the milk to get its texture and taste.
* Now add sugar and mix well.chk the sweetness as rasgulla has its own sweetness,bcoz of the syrup.
* Take the rasgullas and gently press them to squeeze out excess sugar syrup.
*  Genlty drop them into the thickened milk and let it boil for 4 mins.
* This helps the rasgullas to absorb milk quickly.
* Turn off the heat and garnish them with chopped pistas and cardamom pwdr.
* Serve them after refregerating.

Sending this dish to Aipi and Priya's Bookmarked Recipes

Linking this to torontview's Food Palette series White



For more sweet varieties go here
Note:
When u keep rasamalai in the fridge, it will further absorb moisture.U can also add some milk to bring it to ur preferred consistancy.

Aloo Bonda ( Potato Stuffed Dumplings)

Aloo bonda is a very famous street  food  in south india.I remember the rainy days, where we used to buy it from local teas shop.The taste can never match five star hotels.Me and my siblings will have a tug of war to have a big portion.Hmm I am missing chennai a lot....To compensate that, I started preparing everything at home.Today we had a guest and when I served him with this aloo bonda , he was totally surrendered to the taste.I was delighted .Wat gift can a cook get other than appreciations abt her cooking.....He made my day..

Ingredients:

For Stuffing:
1.Potatoes             -       2
2.Onion                 -       1/2
3.Green chillies    -        3
4.ginger                 -        1/2 inch
5.Curry leaves       -       1 spring
6.Cilantro

For Batter:
1.Besan flour          -       1 cup
2.Cooking soda       -       a pinch
3.Kesari Color        -       a pinch
4.Salt                       -       to taste

Method:
* Boil the potatoes and chop onion,ginger,green chillies finely.
* Take a pan,add oil , splutter with mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
* Saute all the ingredients  under " Stuffing" ,except cilantro.
* Add cilantro at the last and mix it well.Keep the mixture in the fridge for half an hour.
* Divide the mixure into equal parts and roll them into small balls.
* Take a mixing bowl ,add all the ingredients under " for Batter" and form into a batter,by adding little water.
* The consistancy shud be like a bajji batter or it can be slightly thicker.
* Now dip the potato balls in the batter and deep fry them.
* Serve hot with ketch up.

Note:
We can aslo add rice flour to make the bondas crisper.

Paruppu Rasam / Dal Soup

Rasam is a medicinal dish in south india as it helps in digestion.My husband's favourite too.Today my hubby went for a luncheon, so no cooking.I prepared this paruppu rasam , pappadam,and carrot poriyal for my kid.Wow wat goes well with rasam other than pappadam.I am enjoying my lunch.....

Servings   :        4  people
Ingredients:
1. Toor dal            -          a handful
2.Tamarind juice    -          1 cup
3.Pepper                -          1 tsp
4.Cumin seeds       -           1 tsp
5.Garlic                 -           1 pod
6.Tomato               -           1/2
7.Cilantro
8.Turmeric pwdr     -          a pinch
9.Rasam pwdr         -          1 tsp

For Tempering:
1.Mustard seeds       -       1/2 tsp
2.Red chillies            -       2
3.Garlic                   -        1 pod
4.Hing                     -        a pinch
5.Curry leaves         -        1 spring


Method:
* Pressure cook toor dal and mash it.
* Grind pepper,cumin seeds and garlic pod to a fine paste.
* Take a mixing bowl, add dal, tamarind juice ,crushed tomato ,turmeric pwdr,grinded mixture,salt.
* Add Rasam Pwdr to the bowl and mix well.
* Crush garlic pod for tempering.
* Now take a pan and splutter with ingredients under " Tempering".
* Pour the rasam mixture to the pan and bring it to boil.
* Turn off immediately and garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Creamy Bottle Gaurd Curry

Bottle Gaurd is rich in minerals and ofcourse difficult to make our family have it .We have to do so many jimicks to feed them.My friend sho gave me the idea of adding roasted urad dal.Believe me, it gave the same restaurant style bottle gaurd curry.It tasted heavenly with grinded masala mixture.

Ingredients:
1.Bottle gaurd          -       1 cup
2.Onion                    -       1
3.Tomato                  -       1
4.Green chillies       -        2.
5.Moong dal            -         1/2 cup
6.Turmeric pwdr     -         1 tsp
7.Cilantro

For grinding:
1.Coconut               -        2 pieces
2.Fried Urad dal      -         1 tsp2.
3.Green chilly         -         1
4.Cumin seeds        -          1 tsp

For Tempering:
1.Mustard seeds       -        1 tsp
2.Urad dal                -         1 tsp
3.Red chillies           -         1
4.Curry leaves          -         few springs


Method:
* Peel and cut the bottle gaurd.Chop onion,slit green chillies.
* Grind all the ingredients under 'For grinding'.
* Pressure cook moong dal with onion,tomato,green chillies ,turmeric pwdr for 3 whistles.
* When moong dal is fully cooked, add bottle gaurd and cook without putting weight.
* Allow ,bottle gaurd to cook fully, now dump in the grinded mixture to the bottle gaurd .
* Mix well and cover it.
* In a separate pan, add oil and splutter with all ingredients under 'for tempering'.
* Now pour the tadka to the bottle gaurd gravy.
* Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot rice or chapathi.

Note:
We can also add coconut milk to make it richer.