Pongal O Pongal!!

Pongal / Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over India in varied forms and festivities. This is an indicator of the Sun moving to the Makara, marking the end of Dakshinaayana and the start of Uttaraayana. The Sun moves from the Southernmost point to the Northernmost point. It also marks the beginning of the Harvest Season.People perform puja of the Sun God and offer many sweets and savouries, like Pongal, Vada, Kheer and many others.

In many parts of India, people celebrate this festival by flying kites.In the south, people offer Sweet Pongal during puja to Lord Surya. Here is a traditional Sweet Pongal Recipe for everyone to relish during Sankranti.

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice

1/4 cup Chana Dal

1-1/2 cup jaggery

2 cups Milk

2 cups Water

For Seasoning:

2 tbsps Ghee

Raisins

Cashews

Almonds

Cardamom

Preparation:

Roast the rice and chana dal separately just till they are hot, not brown. Now boil the milk and water. Once the milk starts bubbling, add the roasted rice and dal and let them cook. In a separate pan, melt the jaggery in half a cup of water till it reaches one string consistency. When the rice and dal are cooked to a porridge like consistency, add this jaggery mixture and switch off the stove. Do not light the stove and cook once you add the jaggery mixture, as the pongal will curdle. (Jaggery and milk when cooked, curdle). Mix all the contents in your vessel, till they blend. In a seasoning spoon, add ghee. Once it melts, add the cashews,almonds, raisins and elaichi. Add this seasoning to the prepared Pongal and serve.

We usually prepare the Pongal in a traditional pot called Vengala Paanai (Bronze Pot). And the fun part is, when the milk bubbles and overflows, everyone starts screaming “Pongal O Pongal”. Try shouting it out and enjoy your delicious Pongal on Sankranti!

The Simple and Humble Moong Dal

Moong Dal is one of the most cherished Asian Dal, and got its name from the Sanskrit word “Mudga”. A super source of protein, especially for vegetarians, this dal is used widely as an ingredient in sweet and savoury dishes.It is used very generously in Indian Ayurvedic Diets.

History

It is commonly believed that Moong was discovered in South East Asia. Early discovery of Moong was in the eastern zone of the Harappan Civilisation in Punjab and Haryana, which dates back to around 4500 years, while, in South India, it was discovered in the state of Karnataka 4000 years back. Archaeobotanical Research in Thailand leads us to believe that Moong had been cultivated 2200 years back. The Chinese have been cultivating Moong for over 2000 years and it is widely used in Chinese cuisine.

Nutrition Facts

This highly nutritious Dal is the best protein substitute for vegetarians. It is very useful for people suffering from Diabetes, Heart Diseases, Anaemia, Osteoporosis, Obesity and age related diseases. It is

High in protein
High in dietary fiber
Low in fat
Low in calories

It is a filling food rich in Manganese, Magnesium, Potassium, Folate, Copper, Zinc and other B Vitamins. It also helps in lowering the cholesterol levels.

How is it grown

Moong beans are grown during two seasons – the Rabi Season(starting November) and the Kharif Season(starting June). They are tropical crops and require warm temperatures.It requires a well drained loamy to sandy loam soil. The temperatures should be between 25 degrees to 30 degrees celcius. Its growing period is usually 100 days with 80 to 100cm rainfall.

Moong Dal Dishes:

Savoury Pongal

Moong Dal Halwa

Sitaphal Kheer

Sitaphal (Custard Apple) Kheer

Dussera got over last week after a glorious Navaratri celebration all over the country. Navaratri in Tamil households involves lots of preparation from arranging and decorating the Golu to making prasadams (bhog) every single day – twice daily.

We make lots of Sundals (which is a dry salted salad-type preparation with different lentils) as prasadam. People also make different sweets to induce some variety to the prasadams. This time I tried Sitaphal (Custard Apple) Kheer as part of my prasadam. This is the season for custard apples and I got quite tempted to try out this recipe. It turned out to be pretty good and I am sure people who relish kheer would love this one.

Ingredients:

1.5 lts whole milk

18 tsps sugar

pulp of 5 custard apples

Almonds, Pistachios, Cashews, Raisins for garnishing

Method:

Boil milk in a large pan/bowl. After the first boil, add sugar and stir it occasionally till the milk starts reducing. Extract the pulp from all the custard apples by removing the seeds-its quite a task..:). Grind the pulp to a smooth paste and keep it aside.

Once the milk reduces to half its quantity, it will turn light pink in colour. Turn off the gas, add the fruit pulp and stir well. Finally you can garnish it with almonds, pistachios, cashews and raisins, roasted in ghee. This kheer tastes great when served chilled.

Now that fresh custard apples are available in abundance during this season, this recipe is definitely worth a try!!

Cheers!!!

-Bhuvana

Veg Dal Roll

Vegetable Dal Roll

It is school reopening time and most mothers are busy wondering which new nutritious snack would be a good choice to add to their lunch box menu. To get children to eat all veggies and healthy food is a huge challenge. One way is to get all the nutrition into a roll with some yummy sauce/chutney. Let us try this one which has 3 types of dals and loads of veggies.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Toor Dal
1/2 cup Moong Dal
2 tsps Chana Dal
1/2 cup Cauliflower florets
1/2 cup capsicum finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots finely chopped
1/4 cup tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 cup onions finely chopped
few pitted olives
1 tbsp Sunflower oil
Italian Seasoning (Basil,Oregano,Chilli flakes)
Grated cheese
Salt to taste
Wheat Flour for the rotis

Method

Boil the dals together with enough water to cook them. Once cooked, drain the extra water and keep it aside. Make a dough out of the wheat flour, knead it well and let it sit for 15 mins. Meanwhile we can prepare the filling. Boil carrots and cauliflower separately. Saute all the other vegetables in sunflower oil. Once they are cooked, add the cooked dal, carrots and cauliflower and mix. Add the seasoning along with required salt and let the vegetables cook till the filling is thick. Now our filling is ready.

Roll the dough into lemon sized balls and make rotis out of them. Take each roti, place the filling along the centre, add grated cheese on top and roll the sides onto each other to close the roll. You can use a little water to close the roll so that it does not open. You can cut the roll into three pieces, so it is easier to eat.

You can pack this as lunch for your kids along with their favourite sauce!

Cheers!!

-Bhuvana

Mango Kheer

Our favourite fruit, Mango, will fast dwindle away in the next 2 weeks with the summer passing and the arrival of Monsoon. Many sweets, salads and dals are made out of different varieties of Mangoes. The Mango Kheer is a unique dish which tastes excellent, especially when served chilled. Let’s take a look at this easy recipe.

Ingredients

Pulp of 2 ripe Mangoes (preferably Alphonso)

1 ltr whole milk

11 teaspoons of sugar

1 tbsp rice

Cashews

Almonds

Raisins

1 tsp ghee

Method

Boil the milk on medium flame. Add sugar. After adding sugar when the milk starts boiling, add the raw rice. Let the rice cook in the milk. Keep stirring till the milk starts reducing. It will turn to a very light pink colour. Turn off the gas and cool it to room temperature. Blend the mango pulp into a smooth puree. Add this to the cooled milk and mix well. This recipe turns out to be mildly sweet. You can adjust sugar according to your taste even at the end. Garnish with a few almonds, cashews and raisins roasted in ghee. Serve this kheer chilled.

Enjoy the Mango Kheer before the season of Mangoes end!

Cheers!!!

-Bhuvana

Aam Panna

Summer is here in full swing and you can see people gathering at Lemon Juice stalls, Coconut water and Cucumber stalls to quench their thirst and also cool their bodies. It is very important to keep ourselves hydrated in order to avoid heat strokes. Aam Panna is one such cooler which helps in hydrating and also cooling our body.

Here is a recipe worth trying…

Ingredients:

3 Raw Mangoes

Rock salt

4 tbsps Jaggery

3 cups Water

1/2 tsp Roasted Cumin seeds powder

Few Mint leaves

Method:

Peel the raw mangoes and slice them into small pieces. Cook the slices in 3 cups of water. When the mango slices become soft, add the jaggery and switch off the flame after 2 minutes. The jaggery will dissolve in the hot mango solution. Now add rock salt, roasted cumin seeds powder and the mint leaves. Cool it by refrigeration. Add water and ice before serving. You can also add cardamom for flavour.

Enjoy this delicious drink and cool off the summer..:)

Cheers!!!

– Bhuvana

Mix Dal Vada

What do you make when you invite people for tea at your place? Thinking of making a snack for tea time always gets you into a chagrin – should it be a lavish tiffin or just namkeen ? Well, stop thinking and try this Mix Dal Vada which is a crispy protein rich snack, a big hit with the kids and am sure the guests too 🙂

Ingredients

Note: Please use a small cup, or you can even measure with a big serving spoon

1 cup Boiled Rice

1 cup Toor Dal

1 cup Moong Dal

1 cup Urad Dal

1 cup Chana Dal

1 tbsp chopped coconut

2 tsp whole pepper

4 -5 Red chillies

Curry leaves

Asafoetida

Salt acc to taste

Oil for frying

Method

Soak the boiled rice and all the dals together for an hour along with the red chillies. Drain the water and grind them into a coarse batter while adding salt. Now that the batter is ready, add freshly chopped coconut pieces, curry leaves,whole pepper and asafoetida to this. Mix well. Fry the vadas in oil and serve with any chutney or sauce of your choice.

The crunchy vadas with whole pieces of coconut and pepper make a good evening snack. I tried coriander chutney with this and it tasted great. You can add a twist to this recipe by giving a tadka (seasoning) of mustard seeds and hing(asafoetida) to the batter before frying.

Use Organic Dals and Cold Pressed Groundnut/Sunflower Oil for the best taste. You can find these ingredients on Amazon here

Cheers!!!

-Bhuvana

Ramanavami Special

Lord Rama’s birthday is celebrated all over India on the 9th day, Navami of the Chaitra month. It also signifies the end of Vasant Navaratri. Lord Rama, the seventh Avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born to King Dasaratha and Queen Kaushalya, in order to slay the dangerous demon king Ravana. To celebrate his birth, devotees all over the country perform pujas, sing bhajans and offer a variety of prasad as holy offerings to the Lord. Here are a few of them.

1.Panakam – Jaggery Water

A very easy drink to make, this dish is a coolant in these hot summer times.

You need –

1 cup Water

1/4 cup Jaggery

1/2 tsp crushed cardamom

1/4tsp dry ginger powder

Method:

Soak the jaggery in water for about 15 mins. Once it melts mix it well to make sure there are no lumps left. Strain it to remove impurities. Now add the cardamom and dry ginger and stir. It can be served as it is or chilled.

2. Neer Mor – Buttermilk

Add water to curd and churn it to get diluted buttermilk. Add salt, hing, chopped green chillies, grated ginger,curry leaves and coriander leaves. Serve chilled.

3. Kosambari – Moong Salad

Soak the Moong Dal for an hour. Drain the water. Heat a little oil and add mustard seeds to it. When it crackles add it to the Moong Salad. Add salt, chopped green chillies, grated coconut and coriander leaves. This is served as it is to the God.

Hope you all enjoy preparing these simple prasadams.

Cheers!!!

-Bhuvana

Mango (Mamidikaya) Pulihora

Mamidikaya Pulihora

Ugadi, celebrated all over Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, is festively observed as the first day of the Lunar Calendar.Among the few legends associated with Ugadi, there is one pertaining to Brahma that is widely popular. It is believed that Lord Brahma began creating the world on this day and Ugadi refers specifically to the Yuga in which the current generation lives i.e. the Kalyug. Ugadi also coincides with the onset of spring and the harvest season.

A variety of sweets and savories are prepared as part of a sumptuous feast across all states. In Telangana and Andhra, people love to add the Green Mango or Mamidikaya Pulihora to their delectable menu. This is a dish which requires no preparation and is pretty easy to make.

Here is a simple recipe for the same…

Ingredients:

2 cups Rice

1 cup grated green Mango

2 tsps Sesame Oil

1 tsp Chana dal

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp split Urad dal

1 pinch asafoetida

1 tsp Jeera

2 red chiiles

2 green chillies

curry leaves

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Salt acc to taste

Roasted Cashews

Roasted peanuts

Preparation:

1.Heat the oil. Add Mustard seeds, Jeera, chana dal, Urad dal, green chillies, red chillies, hing and curry leaves. Roast them for one minute and then add the grated mango.Add a little salt to this.

2. Cook the rice separately in a pressure cooker

3. Once the mango is roasted, add the cooked rice. Mix well, add salt and turmeric to the mixture.

4. When the rice is well mixed with the mango, add the roasted peanuts and cashew.

5. Finally sprinkle fresh coriander leaves before serving

This pulihora takes very little preparation time and is a tangy favourite of many. It can be served with vadiyalu (fryums or papads) and a pachadi or any raita of your choice.

Cheers!!!

-Bhuvana

Capsicum Rice

Rice, being such a staple Indian diet has so many variations one can think of. Just add a few veggies to it and it becomes a pulao, a biryani, khichdi, etc..the list can go on. A quick preparation is always welcome when we don’t have too many options.

Two capsicums were literally suffering to be let out of my refrigerator for almost a week. I was tired of making capsicum sambar or using capsicum in my North Indian dishes; the idea of making a simple recipe with capsicum took over.

Here is the recipe…

Ingredients:

2 Capsicums, finely chopped

1 cup Basmati Rice, soaked in water for half an hour

1-1/2 cups water

1 tsp Jeera

1 tsp grated ginger

1 split green chilli (you can add 2 if you want your rice to be spicy)

6-7 curry leaves

1-1/2 tbsp oil

1 tsp ghee

salt according to taste

Optional Seasoning:

2 tsps ghee

Cashews

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a kadai, add jeera and let it crackle, now add grated ginger,green chilli and curry leaves.

2. Once these turn a little brown, add the capsicum and saute till the capsicum turns soft. Add little salt so the capsicum does not taste unsalted when the rice is added.

3. Strain water from the rice, and add it to the fried capsicum, add ghee and saute for about 2 minutes.

4. Now add water and required salt, cover the kadai completely and let the rice cook for atleast 10 minutes.

5. Check to see if the rice is cooked and there is no water left in the kadai. If you find the rice still a little uncooked, you can add some more water accordingly and cook.

6. Heat ghee in a seasoning spoon and add cashews. When the cashews turn a little brown, add it to the cooked rice.

The rice is done when you get a very nice aroma of capsicum mixed with ghee! You can serve this rice with a bowl of Raita and some papads.

This is a very quick recipe and can be made when you are bored and have nothing more interesting to cook at home.

Cheers!!!

– Bhuvana