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Paal Payasam (Milk Payasam)

Ingredients:

  • Milk 1 liter (¼ gallons)
  • Raw rice 50 grams (2 ounces)
  • Cashews 6 finely sliced
  • Cardamoms 3 powdered
  • Sugar (depends on how sweetness you want)
  • Pachai Karpooram (Raw Camphor) size of a whole black pepper
  • Ghee (clarified butter) 2 tsp

Procedure:

  1. Prep:
    1. Fry the rice in 1 tsp ghee on low heat till it becomes golden brown.
    2. Let the rice cool
    3. Grind it coarsely and boil it in water and cook it
  2. Heat the milk in low heat until it reduces to half its volume
  3. Add the cooked rice and cook for 5 minutes and remove from heat
  4. While its still hot add sugar, cashews, cardamoms, pachai karpooram, and the left over ghee and stir till the sugar dissolves
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Sakarai Pongal (Sweet Pongal)

Ingredients:

  • Raw rice 250 grams (½ lb)
  • Paasi paruppu (Moong dal) 50 grams (½ cup)
  • Vellam (Jaggery/Brown sugar) 300 grams (¾ lb)
  • Cashews 10 no
  • Raisin (dry grapes) – 20 no
  • Cardamom 10 split
  • Coconut cut into tiny bits (1/2 cup)
  • Ghee (clarified butter) 100 grams (½ cup)

Procedure:

  1. Fry the moong dal in a pan without oil till it turns light brown
  2. Mix the rice and dal together and and press cook (3 whistles +3 m sim) with water (3 to 4 cups of water for each cup of rice+dal). When cool, open the cooker and lightly smash the rice-dhal mix. Check the consistency, if watery, heat in sim mode further with constant mixing to get desired consistency
  3. Heat ½ cup water in a pan with the brown sugar and boil till the syrup reaches the consistency where if you take a pinch of the syrup between your fingers it should be sticky and form a thread between the fingers
  4. Remove from heat and mix the boiled rice to the syrup
  5. Fry the cashews, raisins and coconut bits, each separately, in 2 tsp ghee till they brown lightly and add to the rice
  6. Add crushed cardamoms and the left over ghee and mix well

Rice Pongal-(White (Ven) Pongal)

Ingredients:

  • Raw rice 250 grams (½ lb)
  • Paasi Paruppu (Moong dal) 50 grams (½ cup)
  • Crushed black pepper 2 tsp
  • Cumin 2 tsp
  • Ginger 1 inch piece diced
  • Cashews 10 diced
  • Ghee (clarified butter) 100 grams (1 cup)
  • Curry leaves
  • Cilantro
  • Salt

Procedure:

  1. Add water (3 cups water to one cup rice+dal)
  2. Cook the rice and dal with salt in a cooker
  3. Heat 4 tsp oil in a pan in slow fire and fry the pepper and cumin till they splutter
  4. Add the cooked rice and mix well
  5. Fry the cashews ginger in ghee and add them to the rice along with the ginger
  6. Add the left over ghee, curry leaves, and cilantro

Plantain Curry (Fry model)

Ingredients:

  • Plantain 1
  • Fennel ½ tsp powdered
  • Red chili powder 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 2 tsp
  • Turmeric powder ½ tsp
  • Curry leaves
  • Salt

Procedure:

  1. Slice the plantain into think chips and soak in water
  2. Drain the water and mix in the fennel powder, chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, curry leaves, and salt
  3. Hear 4 tsp oil in a pan and fry mustard seeds
  4. Add the mix from step 2
  5. Cover the pan with a lid and cook in slow fire till the mix gets dry
  6. Add 2 tsp oil and continue frying by turning  the plantain pieces till they get golden brown

Plantain Curry (Gravy model)

Ingredients:

  • Plantain 1
  • Onion 1
  • Tomato ½
  • Coconut 50 grams (0.1 lb)
  • Fennel 1 tsp powdered
  • Red chili powder 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 3 tsp
  • Turmeric powder ½ tsp
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp
  • Cinnamin stick 1 stick
  • Salt

Procedure:

  1. Slice the plantain into think chips and soak in water
  2. Slice the onion and tomato into small pieces
  3. Grind the coconut and fennel into a fine paste and to this paste add the chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt
  4. Hear 4 tsp oil in a pan and fry mustard seeds and cinnamon sticks
  5. Add the onions and tomatoes and fry till the onions turn light brown
  6. Add the coconut paste mix, plantain pieces, and curry leaves and cook in medium fire till the gravy thickens

Beans Usili

Ingredients:

  • Toor dal 1 cup
  • Channa dal 1 cup
  • Red chilies 8
  • Cumin 1 tsp
  • Green beans 250 grams (½ lb) finely chopped
  • Grated coconut 1 cup
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp
  • Urad dal 2 tsp
  • Curry leaves

Procedure:

  1. Soak both the dal’s in water for 2 hours and drain the water
  2. Grind the red chilies, cumin, salt, and the soaked dal’s into a coarse mix
  3. Shape the mix into thick pancake shapes and steam cook them
  4. When it’s cooled down knead it lightly to make it powdery again
  5. Cook the green beans with a little salt and keep aside
  6. Heat 4 tsp oil in a pan and fry mustard seeds and ural dal. When the splutter add the cooked dal mix and cook for a minutes
  7. Add the cooked beans and curry leaves and cook for a minutes
  8. Add the grated coconut and mix well and remove from heat

Vegetable Avial

Ingredients:

  • Vegetables: Drumstick 1, Plantain 1, Potato 1, Pumpkin 500 grams (1 lb), Poosanikai (White Pumpkin) 500 grams (1 lb), Sakkarai valli kilangu (Sweet potatoes)
  • Coconut 100 grams (¼ lb)
  • Cumin 1 tsp
  • Green chilies 4
  • Coconut oil 2 tsp
  • Yogurt 2 cups
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves

Procedure:

  1. Cut the vegetables and cook with salt, turmeric powder, and some water
  2. Grind the coconut, cumin, and green chilies into fine paste and mix with the cooked vegetables
  3. Add the coconut oil, yogurt, and salt
  4. Head 2 tsp oil in a pan and fry the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering add the curry leaves and the vegetables and cook for a minute

Vegetable Usili

Ingredients:

  • Vegetables: Green Beans, Kothavarakai (Cluster beans), Vazhaipoo (Plaintain flower) – 0.25 Kg (0.5 pound) finely chopped
  • Channa dal 1 cup
  • Toor dal ¾ cup
  • Cumin 2 tsp
  • Red chilies 10
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder 1 pinch
  • Curry leaves

Procedure:

  1. Prep:
    • Add a pinch of turmeric powder to the finely chopped vegetables and cook with enough water and cook the vegetables until the water is gone
  2. Soak the channa dal and toor dal in water for 2 hours and drain the water
  3. Add the red chilies, cumin, and salt and grind coarsely without adding water
  4. Steam cook the mix for 7 minutes and allow it to cool
  5. Grind the mix again for around 30 seconds to make a coarse mix
  6. In a pan head 6 tsp oil and fry the mustard seeds and when they start to splutter add the coarse ground mix and fry for a minutes
  7. Add the cooked vegetables and fry for a minute
  8. Add the curry leaves and turn off the stove

Kolukkattai 1

Ingredients:

  • Raw rice flour 4 cups
  • Salt

Procedure:

  1. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp oil to the rice flour
  2. Add adequate water to the rice flour and mix till it reaches the consistency of idli batter or pancake mix
  3. Pour the batter into a pan and heat in medium fire while consistently stirring till it hardens into a thick paste suitable for making into flat thin sheets
  4. Make the batter into small round balls and press them into flat round sheet the thickness of a roti/tortilla
  5. Take the pooranam (stuffing) and stuff it like a dumpling and steam it

Pooranam (stuffing) recipes:

Kolukkattai Pooranam:

Kolukkattai Channa Dal Pooranam

Kolukkattai Coconut Chutney Pooranam

Kolukkattai Coconut Chutney Pooranam

Ingredients:

  • Coconut 1/2
  • Red chilies 5
  • Asafoetida 1 pinch
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp
  • Urad dal 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves

Procedure:

  1. Grind the coconut, red chilies, salt, and asafoetida with minimum water into thick chutney
  2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and fry mustard seeds, urad dal, and curry leaves till it splutters and then add it to the chutney and mix