Nei Appam

Nei appam had always been in my to do list because it is a traditional recipe that is kept for padayal or prasadam during Karthigai deepam. Nei appam and Pori urundai are the specialities of the day. I made the appams for Karthigai deepam last year but the huss grabbed the bowl before it could be photographed and it was gone in a jiffy.

When I was talking to my mom over the phone about how simple but delicious the appams were, she wanted me to make them the next time she came here.
So this time when she was here for Vishu, in-spite of the day not calling for the traditional appams she was so reluctant in making some. She got her appams and I got photos for the post ;)

~*What U Need*~
Raw rice - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Elachi powder - a generous pinch
Banana - 1
Ghee / Coconut Oil - for deep frying

How I Made it:
Soak rice in water for 2 hours. Drain water and grind rice with little water to a fine paste. Soak jaggery in water, add water so that the jaggery is just immersed. Heat this till the jaggery melts and strain to remove the impurities. Add this to the ground paste and mix well.
Put this mixture in a mixing bowl, add mashed banana, elachi powder and mix well. Be sure that the consistency is similar to that of a dosa batter. Set aside for 2 hours.
Heat paniyaram pan, add little ghee in each hole, pour a spoon full of the batter in each hole. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Add ghee or coconut oil if required.

Serve warm. You will love these appams for the wafting ghee aroma that fills the house when making these delicious beauties.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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Sago/Tapioca Pearls or Javvarisi Payasam for Vishu!!!

Belated Vishu / Tamil New Year Wishes to all my readers
Hope everyone had a blast celebrating the day

I enjoyed the day as all my dearies are near me expecting the arrival of our sweet angel and we celebrated the day with lots of anxiety and loads of happiness. Amma asked me to make nei appam for her as she likes them a lot. So I took up the task of making all the sweets for the day while amma made her traditional sambar aviyal combination.

It was Rava laddoo filled with ghee for the huss, javvarisi payasam for appa and nei appam for amma and a bite from each for me. All the items were favorites of each one of them. The huss loved the rava laddoos as I had added loads of ghee to it (he loves ghee sweets) and kept the entire lot for himself. Appa loved all the sweets as he is a sweet-tooth by nature and amma loved her lil' one bustling around the kitchen. We shared the kitchen and we had a blast cooking.

Today I am sharing the recipe for Javvarisi paayasam and the following days will showcase rava laddoo and nei appam recipes.

~*What U Need*~
Javvarisi / Sago pearls - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Thick Coconut milk – 1/2 cup
Thin Coconut milk – 1 ½ cups
Water – 1/2 cup
Broken Cashews – few
Raisins – few
Ghee – 3 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cooking camphor - a small pinch
Elaichi powder - a generous pinch

How I Made it:
Add sago to water and heat it till the sago pearls cooks well or till each pearl turns glassy. This will take around 10 – 15 mins. After 5 mins, stir the mixture occasionally as it will tend to stick to the pan. Once sago has cooked, add milk and thin coconut milk and combine well.
When it starts to boil, add sugar and mix well. Check for sweetness and if required add some more sugar. Allow to boil.
Add the thick coconut milk and heat for 2-3 minutes and then switch off the flame. Donot overheat or the mixture will start curdling.
Heat ghee in a kadai. Add the broken cashews and raisins and sauté till golden brown and raisins have puffed up. Add this to the Payasam, add elaichi powder and give a stir.

Serve warm or chilled.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Interested!!! Click to read more...

Aviyal - A traditional South Indian Cuisine

Aviyal - This is a traditional and authentic south Indian recipe and is my favorite (when prepared by mom). Ever since I got married, I have not tried it but I have been craving for this.. Whenever I land up in my hometown, I ask mom to make 'Sambar and aviyal'. Love this combination.

So one day, hubby dear encouraged me to do this and so got the recipe from mom and tried it.
Came out really really well. It came out nearly perfect... Happy with the outcome, I tried it again on Tamil New Year and it was so very yum. Would love to have this dish anytime.

~*What U Need*~

Snake gourd, Yam, Potato, Carrot, Beans, Brinjal, Raw Banana, Cucumber
2 cups of these vegetable cut into long pieces
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dhal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic cloves - 2
Turmeric powder
Green chili - 1
Small onions / shallots - 6-7
Thick curd - 4 tbsps
Coconut oil - 2 tbsps

How I Made it
Heat coconut oil in a non stick tawa. Add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Then add urad dhal and curry leaves.
Now add the cut vegetables and give it shake and close with a lid. Do not use your spoon on the vegetables. Cook the vegetables in medium heat

Now blend coconut, cumin seeds, garlic, Turmeric powder, curry leaves, green chilli and shallots to a coarse mixture.
Add curd and give it a pulse.

Check the vegetables and once cooked add the ground mixture. Add salt and some water. Allow it to boil for 2 mins and then off the flame...

Serve with rice.

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Paruppu/Moong Dhal Payasam | Tamil New Year Special

You would have got a yummy glimpse of this delicious authentic kheer here. While I love Paal Payasam, huss dear likes Paruppu Payasam. This was my first go at Paruppu payasam and to my surprise, it turned out to be so tasty and Mr A drained down nearly 3 cups in one sitting. I have never seen him having so much Payasam in one go.

~*What U Need*~
Moong dhal – 1 cup / 150 gms
Javvarisi / Sago pearls - ¼ cup
Thick Coconut milk – 1 glass
Thin Coconut milk – 1 ½ glass
Broken Cashews – ¼ cup
Raisins – ¼ cup
Ghee – 3 tbsp
Jaggery – 250 gms
Water – 1 glass + ½ glass

How I Made

Crush the jaggery into pieces and heat it with ½ glass of water. Once dissolved, strain it to remove impurities.
Dry roast the moong dhal till it starts turning light brown. (say 2 mins). Pressure cook this for 2 whistles. When done, mix it so that it should be lump free. You can add some water if you feel that dhal is so dry.
Add sago to water and heat it till the sago pearls cooks well or till each pearl turns glassy. This will take around 10 – 15 mins. After 5 mins, stir the mixture occasionally as it will tend to stick to the pan
Once sago has cooked, add thin coconut milk and combine well.
When it starts to boil, add the moong dhal and heat for another 5 mins.
Then add the jaggery syrup and mix well. Check for sweetness and if required add some more jaggery syrup. Remember that we still have to add the thick coconut milk and hence make sure that the sweetness is slightly more than required.
Allow to boil.
Add the thick coconut milk and heat for 2-3 minutes and then switch off the flame.
Heat ghee in a kadai. Add the broken cashews and raisins and sauté till golden brown and raisins have puffed up.
Add this to the Payasam and give a stir.

Serve hot !!!

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Coconut Rava / Semolina Laddoo | Step by Step Recipe | Tamil New Year Special

I love rava laddoos more than the bhoondhi ones. When I went to my MILs house few days back, she served us some rava laddoos and a yummy chord struck in me. Why not make them at home for Tamil new year. As soon as I came back, I searched for the recipes and landed up in Vahrehvah Chef’s site. I followed his steps exactly and the laddoos turned out to be moist and delish. Mr.A loved them a lot and has kept the entire batch to himself.

~* What U Need *~

Semolina (Suji/Rava) - 1 cup
Powdered Sugar - 3/4 cup
Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 10
Cashew nuts - 10
Cardamom - a pinch

How I Made it:
Heat ghee in a pan, add all dry fruits and fry till it changes color (say light brown)

Now add fresh grated coconut and fry till it starts changing color.

Then add semolina and sauté in low flame till it changes into brown colour.

Add Sugar and keep mixing in very low flame for 3 min

Switch off the flame and add milk to it and keep mixing.

Add Cardamom powder and combine well. Transfer it to a plate.

Take small amount of laddoo mixture and make small dumplings. Allow it to dry for 2hrs

Yummy Rava laddoos ready!!!

Recipe Courtesy: Click here. You will find a video instruction also in this link.

Note:
# Since we have added milk, the shell life of the laddoos will be only 4-5 days. If you want it to last longer, replace milk with water but the texture and taste is definitely gonna differ.
# I used granulated sugar by mistake and we got itsy-bitsy sugar granules in between. I suggest use powdered sugar.

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சித்திரை விசு வாழ்த்துக்கள் & Tamil New Year Pachadi

Happy அனைவருக்கும் இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்... I have to atleast wish you guys in tamil na. Thats why... I thought of writing the entire post in Tamil but there are lots of blog readers here who are not that fluent in Tamil (I guess so). So switched on to English...

This is the first Tamil New year that I made this pachadi. I have heard many of my college Telugu dudes who used to talk about this pachadi. How this dish symbolizes the flavors that happens in a person's life. This dish combines the six tastes as in sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, spicy/hot and Astringent...

# Neem Flowers for Bitterness
# Jaggery for Sweetness
# Raw Mango for Astringent
# Tamarind Juice for sour
# Salt for Salt
# Chillies for Hotness

It means that life is a combination of pleasure and sorrow. That is why they have this dish first and foremost on ugadhi. Tamilians have now started following this ritual on Tamil New Year/ Chithra Vishu and So have I. :))))

~*Ingredients*~

Crushed jaggery - 1/4 cup
Raw Mango sliced - 1/4 cup
Tamarind - marble sized
Dry red chilly - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Neem flowers - 4-5 sprigs
Salt - a pinch
Ghee - 1 tbsp

The Making:

Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract pulp.
Cut the mango into small cubes.
Now boil the mango slices in little water with a pinch of salt.
Add the tamarind extract and boil for few mins till the raw smell goes.
Add the crushed jaggery and boil it till the raw smell of the jaggery goes.
In a kadai, heat a tbsp of ghee, add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter.
Add red chilli and fry the neem flowers till golden brown.
Add to the mango mixture and mix well.

Serve to God!!!

My mom usually makes Kathambam Sambar, Aviyal and Paruppu Payasam for Tamil New Year and so her little chef followed the same... In addition I made rava laddoos which is Mr.A's favorite. I will be posting the recipes of all the above dishes soon... But as of now some clicks...

Interested!!! Click to read more...