Thinai Sarkarai Pongal | Millet Sweet Pongal | Pongal Recipes | Millet Recipes

At times all you need is something healthy. At times all you need is something comforting and at times all you need is some sarkarai pongal. Sarkarai pongal to me is simply home... Amma's sarkarai pongal is the best. It hits every note right, not overpoweringly sweet, the right amount of ghee, correct consistency and is perfection in every aspect. My son loves sarkarai pongal and I make it a point to make it for him once every two weeks and sometimes I sneak in healthiness like this, by subbing the rice for millet. He never finds a difference and its a win-win for both of us. You can use any kind of millet here - kodo, jowar, barnyard or anything.

~*What U Need*~ Fox millet / Thinai - 1/2 cup Moongdal - 1/4 cup Jaggery - 1/2 - 3/4 cup Saffron - 4 to 5 strands Cardamom - 2 to 3 crushed Cashewnuts - a handful Raisins - 1 tbsp Ghee - 2 to 3 tbsp Water - as needed How I Made it: Wash and soak the millet and set aside. Heat 1/2 tsp ghee in the pressure cooker and fry the moongdhal till it turns light brown. Add the soaked and drained millet to this, add 2 1/2 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Meanwhile, heat the jaggery with 2-3 tbsps of water till the jaggery melts. Strain the syrup and set aside. Once the pressure subsides, remove the lid, add the strained jaggery syrup and heat the mixture in medium heat for 3 - 4 mins. Remove from the flame. Roast the nuts and raisins in ghee. Add the nuts, ghee, saffron and cardamom to the pongal and mix well.

Serve warm.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,
Vimitha
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Tomatillo Dhal | Pachathakkali pappu/paruppu

Sometimes all you need is comfort food. Not something exotic but something simple and home cooked like curd rice with potato roast or dhal with rice and pickle for the side. One mouthful and you will be transported to your childhood days. Days when you waited impatiently for dinner after playing for hours in the grounds and amma served you pappu saadam mixed with her own hands with dollops of ghee. This dhal is something like that. Comfort food but with a twist. It is just a variation of our regular paruppu using tomatillos. The addition of tomatillo gives it a nice tang which will leave you craving for another mouthful.

~*What U Need*~ Moong dhal - 1/4 cup Toor dhal - 1/4 cup Tomatillo - 3 Tomato - 1/2 cubed Garlic - 2 cloves Green chilli - 1 Turmeric powder - a pinch To Temper Oil - 2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Hing - a big pinch Curry leaves - 1 sprig Dry red chilli - 1 Shallots - 5-6, sliced How I Made it: Remove the outer covering from tomatillos, wash and chop; Set aside. Wash dal and take it in a pressure cooker, add chopped tomatillos, tomatoes, garlic, green chilli, turmeric powder and enough water and pressure cook for 3 whistles or till done. Allow the pressure to release and open the lid and mash it slightly. Heat oil in a skillet, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Add cumin seeds and allow to brown. Add curry leaves, dry red chilli, hing and sliced onions and fry well. Add this tempering to the paruppu.

Serve with rice or rotis.

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With Love,

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Pasi Paruppu Payasam | Parippu Payasam

With the dreaded winter setting in, days seem to be moving slowly and I just don't want to move away from the couch. A good book, a cup of hot chocolate and a calm house is what I am craving for every day. It is on days like these that I crave for amma and her food. I am really bored, bored of eating my own food and outside food is just not right. Even a simple curd rice sounds way better.

When amma reminded me of Kathigai deepam, all I could think about was something simple but delicious like this paruppu payasam because as I said I am really lazy to move my *** and this payasam just takes 10 mins which is just right for a lazy me.

HAPPY KARTHIGAI DEEPAM

~*What U Need*~ Pasi paruppu/moong dal - 1/2 cup, heaped Jaggery - 1/4 cup Milk - 1/2 cup, whole milk Water - as needed Ghee - 1 tsp Cardamom - 1, crushed Cashews - 4-6, broken How I Made it: Fry moong dal with ghee until golden brown and roasted. Add water and milk and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Mash the dal but do not make it too mushy. Add the powdered jaggery and boil for 2 mins in low flame. Add milk/water to adjust the consistency. Fry the cashews in little ghee and add to the payasam. Remove from flame.

Serve warm!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Brown rice Adai

I am sorry that I have been MIA for some time. It was nothing big this time. Only that I was lazy, so lazy to phrase and publish a post. Well, I don't blame me, the weather is so depressing. Its gloomy all day and the suns sets as early as 4.00 pm and then it is dark. Finally I am out of the slumber and here I am with a heart healthy adai recipe. I have replaced the regular white rice with brown rice making this more healthy when compared to the regular ones.

~*What U Need*~ Brown Rice - 3/4 cup Idli rice - 1/4 cup Thoor Dal - 1/3 cup Channa dhal - 1/4 cup Urad dhal - 2 tbsp Moong dhal - 1/4 cup Dried red chilli - 1 or 2 Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp Garlic - 1 fat clove Salt - to taste To mix: Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped Cilantro - 1/4 cup, finely chopped Hing - a pinch Oil How I Made it: Wash all the dals and rice well. Soak the dal and rice separately for 3-4 hours. In a blender, grind the rice first for 3-4 mins, then add the rest of the ingredients and blend it to a little coarse batter using enough water. The batter consistency should be thick like idli batter. Transfer the ground batter to the bowl, add the mix-ins. Either use it right away or allow to sit for 1-2 hrs. Heat a tawa, smear it with little oil pour a ladle full of batter. Spread like dosa but thick. Drizzle oil and cook it in medium heat for 2-3 mins. After brown, flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve adai with desired chutney or avial.

So thats it Folks...
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Modakam | Pillayarpatti Mothagam | Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipes

I love kozhukattais. The fact that they are steamed making them a healthy snack makes me want them more. I have been making them a lot lately. It makes a great snack for us and for the kid too. Yes, I have been making these sweet dumplings for his evening snack and he's been eating them happily. I first made this for Vinayagar Chathurthi when Sharmi posted it in her blog. The simplicity of the dumpling made me fall for it and I made it for the elephant lord's birthday.

And then I made it again when I was out of snack ideas for our evening tea. And then again and then it was repeated atleast once every week. It was easy to put together cos I made the powder and stored it an air tight container, that way whenever I have the feel to eat some sweet dumplings I am all-ready to go.

Preparation Time: 15 mins; Cooking time:20 mins; Makes - 10 medium sized ~*What U Need*~ Raw Rice - 1/2 cup Moong Dal - 2 tbsp, heaped Jaggery - 1/4 cup, heaped Ghee - 2 tsps Coconut - 2 tbsp Water - 1 1/2 cups How I Made it: Dry roast raw rice till it is puffy and slightly brown. Do the same with moong dhal. Cool down and blend to a coarse powder like rava. Melt jaggery in 1 cup of water. Strain to remove impurities. Return to the pan and add the remaining water. Allow to boil. Add the rice powder and keep stirring. Close with lid and cook for 3 mins. By this time, the rice should have absorbed most of the water and would have cooked. Add ghee and keep stirring. It will form a ball. Pinch a small piece and roll it between your fingers. If it forms a ball then it is the correct stage. Add coconut, cardamom powder and switch off. Cool down the mixture, grease your hands with ghee and roll them into lemon sized balls. Form modagams and steam cook for 10 mins.

Serve warm!!!

** My Notes:
** The modagams were less sweet so increase the jaggery if needed.
** The rice powder should be of coarse consistency like rava not a fine powder.
** Do not overcook more than 10 mins.

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Day 9#: Pachaipayaru Inji Sundal | Navarathiri Recipes & Saraswathi Pooja Wishes

Happy Saraswathi pooja and Ayudha pooja wishes to all my dear readers. Hope you had a great day today. Its been a long and hectic day for me with all the cleaning and wiping. And when done with that I had to prep up for the evening pooja... Whew... I actually wanted to postpone this post to tomorrow but then the lil one started his night early and I had some 'me'-time and the huss was away from the PC and so I sat to frame the post.

I made Sarkarai Pongal and Pachaipayaru sundal for neivedhiyam today. Both easy to make recipes and that is what I wanted after all the work done today. Some easy-peesy dishes that will not take too much time in the kitchen. I already have a sarkarai pongal recipe in my space but that uses a pongal pot. So I decided to put up one which can be made in 30 mins and which uses a pressure cooker. Off to the recipes.

~*What U Need*~ Raw rice / Pacharisi - 1 cup Moong dhal - 3 tbsp Thinly sliced and cut Coconut - 2 tbsp Jaggery - 3/4 cup Water - 2 tbsp + 1/4 cup Broken Cashews & Raisins - a handful Ghee - 3 tbsp Cardamom powder - a generous pinch

How I made it:
Soak rice and moong dhal in water for 1 hour. Add 2 tbsp water to jaggery and boil till the jaggery melts. Strain to remove impurities.

Pressure cook rice and moong dhal with 1/4 cup of water for 3 whistles till soft and mushy. Add jaggery syrup and mix well. If required add some more water and bring it to porridge consistency.

Meanwhile, heat ghee, fry the cashews and raisins till golden brown and puffy. Also fry the coconut till light brown.

When the mixture starts to boils again, add the ghee, cashews, raisins, coconut, elaichi powder and give it a stir. Serve hot!

~*What U Need*~ Green gram - 1/2 cup Grated Fresh Coconut - 2 tbsp Grated ginger - 1 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp Dried Red Chillies - 1-2 Curry Leaves - 1 sprig Turmeric powder - a pinch Hing - a small pinch Salt, Oil

How I Made it:
Soak the green gram for 2 to 3 hours. Rinse and drain. Pressure cook for 2 whistles. till soft. Drain and set aside.Heat 1 tsp oil in pan. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal and let them splutter. Add the broken red chillies, curry leaves, ginger and hing and fry for a few seconds.

Now add the cooked green gram and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the grated fresh coconut and salt to it and mix well. Remove from flame. Serve hot!!!

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Day 2#: Moong dhal Sundal / Paasi Paruppu Sundal | Navarathiri Recipes

For day 2 of Navarathiri, I made this moong dhal sundal for neivedhiyam. Moong dhal is rich in Vitamin A, B, C, E and minerals like calcium, iron and potassium. Well known benefits are ~ its aid in loss of weight and lowering cholesterol levels. According to Chinese medicine it is said that these tiny pulses has anti-cancer properties. And according to paati kaivaidhiyam, moong dhal cools the body. After pregnancy, I was advised to replace toor dhal with moong dhal in my diet as toor dhal gives uneasiness to the baby.

I am totally in love with making different sundal varieties as they make a fuss-free and healthy snack for our tea-time. Again this is gluten-free and diabetic friendly and so can be easily served to anoyone of any age.

~*What U Need*~ Moong Dhal - 1/4 cup Grated Fresh Coconut - 2 tbsp Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp Dried Red Chillies - 1-2 Curry Leaves - 1 sprig Turmeric powder - a pinch Hing - a small pinch Salt, Oil

How I Made it:
Soak the moong dhal for 1 or 2 hours. Rinse and drain. Add the moong dhal with some water and turmeric powder and cook for 10-12 minutes till soft but the dhal should retain its shape. Drain and set aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil in pan. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal and let them splutter. Add the broken red chillies, curry leaves and hing and fry for a few seconds.

Now add the cooked moong dal and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the grated fresh coconut and salt to it and mix well. Remove from flame.

Serve as snack!!!

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Pidi Kozhukattai / Steamed Sweet Rice Flour Dumplings | Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipes

Vinayagar Chathurthi is just round the corner and it is raining Modhaks/Modhagams/Kozhukattais in the food blogging world (to be more precise in the Indian food blogosphere) and so it is @ MCTR. I have always loved the pidi kozhukattais that amma makes and now I would say that my MIL makes the second best. I love its chewiness and the light caramel-y taste that the jaggery lends to the dumplings. So when I had some rice flour in my pantry and the festive season setting in, I so wanted to make this.

I knew that the recipe was just a phone call away and it was dished out with amma on the line and so there was no way to go wrong. A good snack for diabetic and elder-ly persons.

~*What U Need*~ Rice flour - 1 cup Jaggery - 1/2 cup Water - 1+1/4 cup Moongdhal - 2 tbsp Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup Salt - to taste

How I Made it:
Dry roast the rice flour in a pan for few minutes and set aside. Dry roast the split moongdal till golden brown. Mix the rice flour, moongdhal, grated coconut, cardamom powder and salt. Make a syrup out of the jaggery by adding water. Strain to remove impurities. Heat again till it starts to thicken. Add this to the flour mixture.

Stir till it comes together. Take a small ball from the dough and press in ur fingers to get impressions. Pressure cook them for 10 minutes in Idly Cooker.

Serve hot...

This recipe is off to Festive food Ganesh Chathurthi event held at InidanKhanna


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Chakkarai & Paal Ven Pongal | Pongal Recipes

Hi frnds, hope you had a blast celebrating pongal, maatu pongal and kaanam pongal. The past 2 days have been flying like seconds with all the pongal celebrations, family get-togethers and catching up with the newly released films ;). I went to watch Vettai with a personal review that Vijay would have ruined the Tamil version of 3 Idiots but when I heard reviews that he had done a good job, I was flabbergasted. Added to that Vettai was not-even-you-can-see-once film. God the film part sucked. But the rest of the weekend was awesome. Enjoyed making pongal, chatting, watching tv and spending time with relations.

As everyone does, I made the pongal traditionally too.. - chakkarai pongal and paal ven pongal in pongal pots. You should have heard the suprised tone that my mom gave when I told her. She didnt expect me to put this much effort when I was pregnant. The huss took charge this time owing to my condition and assissted me a lot. Hope this would continue the next year too. So coming on to the recipes. I know tat I am late, but sorry was held up the whole weekend and didnt have time to post.

Chakarai Pongal
~*What U Need*~
Raw Rice / pacharisi - 1 cup
Moong dhal - 3 tbsps
Thinly sliced and cut Coconut - 2 tbsp
Jaggery -3/4 cup
Broken Cashews & Raisins - a handful
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Milk - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a generous pinch

How I Made it:
Dry roast moong dhal and keep aside. Clean the rice. Add 1/2 cup of water to the jaggery and boil till the jaggery melts. Strain to remove impurities.
Add water to 3/4th of the pongal pot, then add 1/2 cup of milk. Allow it to boil in high flame. The water will rise and fall off the pot. This is where u cry "Pongal-o-Pongal" :)
Remove water as you need from the pot (1 1/2 to 2 cups of water would do in the pot). Add the rice and moongdhal. Now add remaining milk and mix well. Allow rice to cook till mushy.
After the rice is cooked well, add jaggery syrup and mix well. Let the rice be semi-runny because this will solidify once cooled down.
Heat ghee, fry the cashews and raisins till golden brown and puffy. Also fry the coconut till light brown. Add the ghee, cashews, raisins, coconut, elaichi powder and give it a stir.
Serve hot! Best when served in banana leaf ;)

Paal Ven Pongal
~*What U Need*~
Raw Rice / Pacharisi - 1 cup
Moong dhal - 1/4 cup
Thinly sliced and cut Coconut - 2 tbsp
Cashews - few broken and fried in ghee
Milk - 3/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp

Optional:
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Ginger(finely cut) - 1 tsp
Green chilli(finely chopped) - 1
Peppercorns – 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder – a pinch

How I Made it:
Dry roast moong dhal and keep aside. Clean the rice. Add water to 3/4th of the pongal pot, then add 1/2 cup of milk. Allow it to boil in high flame. The water will rise and fall off the pot.
Remove water as you need from the pot (1 1/2 to 2 cups of water would do in the pot). Add the rice and moongdhal. Now add remaining milk and mix well. Allow rice to cook till mushy. After the rice is cooked well, add coconut, ghee and ghee fried cashews. Mix well. Serve hot.

Tempering this rice is purely optional. If needed, heat ghee, add mustard seeds and when spluttered, add curry leaves. Once fried, add peppercorns, ginger and chilli and fry well. Add
Asafoetida powder and add this mixture to the rice. Mix well.

Any veg gravy will go along with this very well, we had it with Paruppu kulambu and taro root roast.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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