Wheat Sweet Pudding (Gova Payasu) November 2, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: sweets
10 comments
At home and at functions, Konkanis prepare variety of puddings/payasam and this wheat pudding (Gova payasu) also is one among them. It is prepared with the broken wheat available in the market. This particular payasam is prepared for some religious functions where we have it with rice vada, another pooja item.
What you need to have:
1. Broken wheat – 1 cup
2. Jaggery – 2 cups (or as per taste)
3. Cashews – 25-30
4. Coconut milk (thick) – 3 cups
Ingredients of wheat pudding
Ingredients for wet grinding:
1. Raw rice – 4 teaspoons
2. Grated fresh coconut – 6 teaspoons
3. Cashews – 10 (out of 30)
4. Cardamom – 15
What you do with what you have:
1. Wash broken wheat and drain water completely. Place a wide skillet with 2-3 teaspoons of pure ghee in it on medium flame. Add broken wheat to it keep stiring and fry it till you get a pleasant aroma. Make sure you do not burn it though.
Broken wheat being fried in pure ghee
2. Grate coconut, chop jaggery fine and peal cardamom and keep it aside. Fried broken wheat and chopped jaggery.
Fried broken wheat & chopped jaggery
3. Cook fried broken wheat in the cooker adding 6 cups of water till it is smooth. Cooked broken wheat is shown in the image below.
Cooked Broken Wheat
4. Soak raw rice and a few cashews in water for about an hour. Add pealed cardamom and coconut from step 2 to it and grind it in the wet grinder to a fine consistency adding water in steps.
Ground raw rice coconut & cashew mix
5. Place a wide bowl on the flame with 3 cups of water in it. On boiling add crushed jaggery from step 2 to it and bring it to boil. Strain it immediately to get rid of any impurities.
Crushed jaggery being cooked
6. Add ground Rice -coconut mix from step-3 to it and bring it to boil stiring continuously to avoid it from getting burnt.
Ground rice & coconut mix being cooked with jaggery
7. When the mixture is cooked adding sufficient water to it, add cooked broken wheat from step 3 to it and keep stiring and bring it to boil.
Cooked Broken wheat being added
8. Finally add coconut milk to it and bring it to boil on low flame stiring continuously till done.
Coconut milk being added to the pudding
9. Place a spatula with 2-3 teaspoons of pure ghee in it . On heating add broken cashews and fry it till it is light brown. Finally when the pudding is done just decorate it with fried cashews.
Serve either hot or chilled.
Ready to serve wheat payasam
How long it takes: 60 minutes
Number of servings: 6-8
Carrot-Capsicum Salad October 29, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: Salads
5 comments
Carrots is very good from the health point of view. In fact so healthy and recommended that we steam, mash and feed it to the kids as baby food when we start off with solid food for the kids. Apart from a few other salads (with Moongdal, with cabbage ) with carrots among the primary ingredients, I have also put up carrot halwa, carrot roti and fried carrot curry. Today I would love to put up a salad that has carrots in combination with capsicum and peanut powder. Tastes great and like most salads easy to prepare.
What you need to have:
1. Chopped Capsicum – 3/4 cup
2. Grated carrots – 1 cup
3. Chopped Onions – 1/2 cup
4. Roasted Peanut powder – 1/2 cup
5. Chopped green chill – 1 teaspoon
6. Fresh grated coconut – 1 tablespoon
7. Chopped coriander leaves – 1 tablespoon
8. Lemon juice – 0 1 teaspoon
9. Cooking oil for frying Capsicum – 4-5 teaspoon
Ingredients of salad
What you do with what you have:
1. Wash and grate carrots, coconut, chop capsicum, green chilly fine, wash, peal and chop onions fine and keep aside.
2. Place a spatula on medium flame and dry roast peanuts till you get a pleasant aroma.
Peanuts being dry roasted
3. On cooling peal the nuts and powder it in the mixer to a medium consistency and keep it aside with the veggies.
Grated veggies with peanut powder
4. Place a spatula with 4-5 teaspoons of cooking oil in it. On heating, fry chopped capsicum with a little salt sprinkled to it till done. (It is fried to avoid the raw smell.)
Chopped Capsicum being fried
5. Fully fried capsicum will look as under.
Fried Capsicum
6. Transfer grated carrots, chopped onions from step 1 to a broad bowl and stir in peanut powder from step-3 to it. Also add fried capsicum from step 5 as well as chopped chilly and salt from step 1.
7. Finally squeeze lemon juice to it. Top it with chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut to the salad which is ready to serve.
Ready to serve Carrot-Capsicum salad
How long it takes: 45 minutes
Number of servings: 4-5
Chapati Upma October 25, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: 30 minutes, tiffin
12 comments
I have already put up a few varieties of upma on this blog, namely : Idli upma of different versions, bread upma and Masala upma. Today I would like to put up chapathi upma which I learnt from my aunt on my visit to California couple of years ago. It was totally new to me but to my surprise it really tasted great and both my husband and I enjoyed it. Since then I normally prepare this dish with the left over chapatis.
What you need to have:
1. Chopped chapathi – 3 cups
2. Onions chopped – 3/4 cup
3. Tomato (small) – 1
4. Ginger garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
5. Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
6. Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
7. Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
8. Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
9. Salt – To taste.
10. Chopped coriander leaves – A handful
Chapathi pieces
Ingredients of Seasoning & topping
What you do with what you have:
1. Chop left over chapatis into small pieces and keep it aside as shown in image above.
2. Wash, peal and chop onions. Also chop tomatoes and coriander leaves fine and keep aside as shown in image 2.
3. Prepare ginger garlic paste and keep aside.
3. Place a pan on medium flame with 4-5 teaspoons of cooking oil in it. On heating, add cumin seeds to it. When it sputters add chopped tomatos from step 2 to it and let it fry till done.
Tomato pieces being fried in seasoning
4. When done add chopped onions from step 2 to it and fry it till it turns transparent adding required quantity of salt to it.
Seasoning in progress
5. When onions turn transparent add ginger-garlic paste to it and fry for a minute or two. Finally add chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder one by one. Saute well and add chopped chapati pieces from step 1 to it and also chopped coriander leaves from step 2 to it and mix well.
Chopped chapati pieces, coriander leaves being added
Ready to serve chapati upma is as shown in the image below. It could be a evening tiffin or even a lunch-box.
Ready to serve chapati upma
How long it takes: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4 people
Ribbon Pakoda (Diwali Special – 4) October 16, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: 30 minutes, festival food, fried snacks
2 comments
Even if you did not know the name of this snack, the picture above says it all. This is a very popular streetfood in almost all cosmopolitan cities and I remember to have tasted it from my college days in Bangalore. It is also readily available in most of the sweetmeet stalls and bakeries. It can be an evening snack and also a party dish. Its barely an evening’s job and takes only 30 minutes. Here it goes.
What you need to have:
1. Rice Ata – 2 cups
2. All purpose flour (Maida) – 1/2 cup
3. Chick peas Atta – 1/2 cup
4. Chilli powder – As per taste
5. Asafoetida (soft) – A pinch
6. Butter or Cooking oil (fresh) – 2 tablespoon
7. Salt – To taste
Ingredients of Ribbon pakoda
What you do with what you have:
1. Sieve maida, chick peas atta and chilli powder together 2-3 times in the siever along with salt so that they are mixed evenly.
Atta, chilli powder and salt mix
2. Add butter and mix well with your hands. Disssolve asafoetida in a little water and add to it. Now add water slowly to make it a medium soft dough so that one is able to press the pakodas comfortably in oil.
Ribbon pakoda dough
3. Place a skillet with 2-3 cups of cooking oil in it on the flame. Place the dough in the pakoda maker and press it directly in heated oil.
Ribbon pakoda being pressed in oil by presser
4. While pressed completely in oil the whole picture is as below. Just reverse it fry it on both the sides till crispy.
Ribbon pakodas being fried in oil
Ready to serve Ribbon pakodas is as shown in the image below. One can break them into pieces and store it in air tight containers.
Ready to serve Ribbon Pakodas
How long it takes: 30 minutes
Diwali 2009 October 16, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: festivals, notice
12 comments
Let me wish all the readers of this blog a very happy Diwali and a prosperous New year to follow.
Here below is one picture all the Diwali recipes I have put up on this blog. Clockwise from top left : Corn Mixture, Shankarpoli, Milk Burfi and Ribbon Pakoda
Diwali sweet & snacks with God’s wishes
Here, just in case you have not seen before, are my Diwali 2008 recipes.
I am very close to completing 2 years of blogging. I am really happy with the response so far to nearly 250 recipes and I hope you all continue to respond favorably with your feedback, not just on the recipe as presented on the blog but also your specific experiences with preparation and taste !
Milk Burfi (Diwali special – 3) October 16, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: festival food, sweets
11 comments
The name itself is an introduction. People prepare it in different ways using either Chickpeas atta, wheat atta maida or Sujee as the base for the same. I have used Bombay sujee as base for the same. This recipe is an old one which I borrowed from my mother-in-law and is the favorite of all of us in the family. It really tastes like the Dood peda. One can even make use of the available dry fruits other than kishmish and Dates.
What you need to have:
1. Bombay sujee – 1 cup
2. Sugar – 4 cups
3. Pure ghee – 1 cup
4. Milk (Thick) – 3 cups (I have used good life (branded) milk)
5. Saffron strands – A few
Ingredients of Milk Burfi
What you do with what you have:
1. Sieve Sujee in the siever, powder sugar in the mixer, soak cashews in a little milk for about an hour so that it turns soft. Just run in the mixer to mix with milk.
2. Place a wide bottomed skillet on medium flame and add ghee to it.
Ghee being place in a skillet to melt
3. When ghee melts add Bombay sujee from step 1 to it and fry on a medium flame till you get a pleasant aroma.
Sujee being fried in pure ghee
4. Boil milk on another flame and add it to the fried sujee to cook it. When cooked fully it will be solidified.(Add the cashews crushed with milk as well at this time. Quantity of milk should be the same . One should soak cashews in that milk itself and not extra in quantity.)
Fried sujee being cooked in milk
5. Add powdered sugar from step 1 to the cooked sujee.
Powdered sugar added to cooked sujee-milk mix
6. Keep stiring continuously on high flame without break and when it is about to be done add saffron strands to it. Lower the flame and keep stiring till the mixture leaves the sides of the skillet. Switch of the flame amnd keep stiring till it solidifies. (The flame depends upon your burner. Always adjust the flame. I have used (good life) milk for this dish. If thin milk is used then it could be a flop and chances of turning out very hard .)
Miilk burfi mix being solidified
7. Pour the burfi mix on a wooden plank and cut it immediately.
Burfi mix being spread & cut into pieces
Decorate it required dry fruits and serve. Store it in airtight containers and will remain afresh for more than 20 days if fresh ghee is used.
Ready to serve Milk Burfi
Number of Burfis: around 150-175 pieces of above size
How long it takes: – 45 minutes
Note: 1. Always use Thick milk (fat milk) for this dish.
2. Always adjust the flame according to the size of the burner.
3. When the burfi is about to be done, one can switch of the flame and keep stirring till done. (This may take 6-8 minutes.)
4. As soon as it is solidified , spread it on a wooden plank and mark it immediately.
Corn mixture (Diwali special-2) October 16, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.add a comment
Mixtures are available in plenty in the super markets nowadays and it is called by different names in different places like the chow-chow, chivda, mixture and so on. Today I would like to put up the corn sweet and spicy mixture – common and popular.
What you need to have:
1. Corn – 3 cups
2. Cashews – 1/3 cup
3. Dalia -Dal – 1/3 cup
Ingredients of corn mixture
What you do with what you have:
1. Clean dalia dal, corn and keep it aside. Wam up Dalia dal in a skillet on medium flame to get rid of the raw smell. Dry roast curry leaves as well in the same skillet but make sure it does not change the colour.
2. Place a skillet with 3-4 teaspoons of ghee in it and fry cashews in it till it turns light brown.
Dry roasted & fried ingredients
3. Place a skillet with 3-4 cups of cooking oil in it on the flame and fry corns in it till it swells in it properly.
Corn being fried in oil
4. Transfer fried corn into a collander so that extra oil drains down.
Fried corns placed in a collander
Ingerdients of Masala:
1. Chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon
2. Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
3. Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
4. Salt – to taste
5. Sugar powder – 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
6. Dhania-jeera powder – 1/2 Teaspoon
Ingredients of Masala powder
5. Mix all the above mentioned masala powders in a plate. Mix fried cashews, corn and dry roasted dalia dal in a bowl and sprinkle the mixed masala to it. Also put in the dry roasted curry leaves to it.
Ready to serve Corn mixture is as shown in the image below. Serve with tea as snacks as well.
Ready to serve Corn mixture
Shankarpoli (Diwali Special – 1) October 16, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: festival food, fried snacks, sweets
2 comments
Shankarpoli is a popular snack among the south indian people. Even to this day shankarpoli is served at wedding breakfasts along with Masala upma which goes very well with it. But that one is the spicy version of shankarpoli. Today I would like to put up the sweet version of Shankarpoli.
What you need to have:
1. Maida (All purpose flour) – 3 cups
2. Powdered sugar – 1 and 1/2 cups
3. Butter – 1/6 th cup
Ingredients of sweet Shankarpoli
What you do with what you have:
1. Sieve maida in the siever. Powder sugar in the mixer and keep aside.
2. Transfer sieved atta to a broad bowl and add butter to it and mix well. Also add powdered sugar from step 1 to it and mix well. Slowly sprinkle water and knead the dough so that it is soft. Pinch out the required quantity of the dough from it.
The dough and the pinched out ball
3. Dust the pinched out ball in maida and roll it to medium thickness on a thick plastic sheet. Cut it with the shankarpoli cutter to the required size.
Rolled roti cut into required shape & size
4. Place a skillet with 2-3 cups of cooking oil in it on medium flame. On heating just put in the cut pieces of the roti from step 3 into it and fry it till the sizzling sound stops and the shankarpoli turns light brown.
Shankarpoli being fried in oil
When done serve hot with tea as snacks. It will remain afresh if stored in air tight containers and fresh oil is used for frying. Yummmm
Ready to serve sweet shankarpoli
How long it takes: Just 45 minutes
While I put up Diwali 2009 recipes… October 13, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: notice
add a comment
Update: Diwali 2009 recipes are here !
Thanks for your requests for Diwali special recipes. While I am in the process of putting them together in a day or two, please take a look (if you haven’t already) at the recipes I posted for Diwali 2008.
And more generally, please refer to an entire list of festival foods and sweets
Aviyal (Kerala style) October 13, 2009
Posted by prathibalrao in Uncategorized.Tags: lunch side dish
4 comments
Aviyal, as prepared in Kerala is a dish of mixed vegetables with wet masala and a little curds to top. A seasoning is a must of course. In Tamilnadu though it is prepared in a different way. I borrowed this recipe from my friend when we stayed in Ernakulam back in 1985. We also prepare this dish in our own way and I will surely put it up later. (I have already put up Majjige huli which is prepared by Kannadigas). So there goes
What you need to have:
1. Mixed Vegetables – 2 cups [ I have used carrot, Beans, Green peas, Carrot, Drumstick, Raw Bananas ]
A bowl of Mixed Veggies
Ingredients of Seasoning & Topping:
1. Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
2. Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
3. Asafoetida powder – 1 teaspoon
4. Red chilli – 1
5. Curry leaves – 2 strands
6. Cooking oil – 2 teaspoons
7. Coriander leaves – A handful
8. Curds – 1/2 cup
Ingredients of seasoning & topping
What you do with what you have:
1. Wash, chop all the veggies as shown in the image 1 and keep it aside.
2. Cook them in the pressure cooker adding a little salt so that it will not get over cooked.
Cooked veggies
Ingredients of Wet Masala:
1. Green chillis – 1-2
2. Fresh grated coconut – 1/2 cup
3. Garlic pods – 4-5
4. Onion – 1 (small & optional)
Ingredients of Wet Masala
3. Grind the ingredients of wet masala in the mixer adding sufficient quantity of water to a fine consistency. Add the masala to the cooked veggies from step 2 and bring it to boil on a low flame. Add curds as well at the end.
4. Place a spatula with 2-3 teaspoons of cooking oil in it on medium flame. On heating, add mustard seeds to it. When it sputters add turmeric powder, Asafoetida powder, broken red chilly pieces and curry leaves one after the other and season it to the dish. Top it with chopped coriander leaves.
Ready to serve Aviyal
5. Mix well and serve with rice as side dish. Since seasoning contains it the dish gets the yellow colour.
Ready to serve yellow coloured Aviyal
How long it takes: 45 minutes
Number of servings: 3-4
