Subbus Kitchen

Paal Kozhukattai is the traditional sweet recipe of Tamilnadu. It can be prepared in many ways. Some prepare this using normal milk and some persons will prepare using coconut milk. It is a easy to do simple but very delicious recipe. It is not so sweet and even the diabetics persons can also try to eat it and enjoy the taste.

Ingredients:

Milk	2 Cups
Sugar	1 Cup
Raw Rice(Pacharisi)	1 Cup
Coconut Milk	1/2 Cup
Saffron thread	few
Cardamom Powder	1 teaspoon

	Soak the rice in water for 30 mins. Grind the rice in mixer to a fine paste. Take the ground flour in a heavy bottomed pan, and keep the flame in low and stir continuously. The ground flour will slowly become thick in consistency and will become like a chapati dough. This is the correct consistency and switch off the flame.
	Make Sundakaai(Turkey Berry) size small balls out of the rice dough as shown here. Around 35-40 balls will come for 1 cup of rice
	Add 2 cups of water in the heavy bottomed pan, and add the rice ball to it and allow it to cook completely. We can milk if the water content goes low. Alternatively you can also cook the balls in the idly cooker for about 5 mins
	Add the remaining milk and coconut milk and add sugar. When the mixture starts to boil, add cardamom powder and remove from flame. We can also add jaggery instead of sugar. Add saffron threads to decorate Paal Kozhikattai. The yummy Paal Kozhukattai (Milk Kozhukattai) is ready to serve.

Pachai Payiru kozhukattai (Green Moongdal Kozhukattai) is a mouth-watering recipe and specially made on the auspicious day of Vinayaka Chaturti(Ganesh Chaturti). In my hometown, this is one of the main neivedhyam in most of the temples. After pooja, I always visit to the nearest Krishna temple and Suchindram Anchaneyar temple on vinayaka chaturti day and always I got this greengram purna kozhukattai as neivedhyam. The kozhukattai which they give in temple as prasadam is usually very big than we do in our homes. Those are good memories from Nagercoil. Here in chennai, Thengai purana kozhukattai is the special and most important neivedhyam. But surely I do this every chaturti as a practice. Lets see how to make this yummy kozhukattai for Lord Ganesha.

Green Gram Kozhukattai(Pachhai Payiru Kozhukattai)

Preparation Time	5 mins
Cooking Time	40 mins
Yield	20-25

Ingredients for Puranam

GreenGram Dal	1 Cup*
Grated Jaggery	1.5 Cups
Chopped / Grated Coconut	2 tablespoon
Ghee	1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts	5
Cardamom Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Oil	2 tablespoon

* 1 Cup Capacity = 250ml
For Ingredients and Method of preparation of Kozhukattai outercover, click here

Green Gram Kozhukattai(Pachhai Payiru Kozhukattai)

Method:

Add the green gram in the pan and fry for sometime till we get good aroma and the green gram turns brown color.

Cook the above fried gram in the pressure cooker and allow it to cook for 3 whistles. Strain the excess water from the cooked green gram

Add the strained green moong dal to mixer. Then grind it lightly in a mixer.to a smooth powder.

Heat a pan, add grated jaggery and water to just soak the jaggery. In few minutes, the jaggery gets completely dissolved in water

When the jaggery dissolves completely in water, strain it to remove dust and sand particles. Add the strained jaggery juice again in the pan, and keep it in flame.

When the the jaggery juice starts to boil and become thick, add green gram mixture, grated coconut, cardamom powder and stir well continuously till it roll like a ball and does not stick the sides of the pan.

This is the correct consistency to remove from flame. Fry few cashews and add it to the puranam. Take the pooranam in a plate and allow it to cool off. Make small balls out of the pooranam and keep it in a plate

Prepare the outer cover of the kozhukattai as mentioned here. Kozhukattai Mavu outcoverpreparation

Take some oil in a bowl and take little oil in hand and then take little rice flour ball and make it like a cup and then in the middle of it add the pooranam ball and then close the flour and keep it aside. Repeat the same for rest of the flour and pooranam.

Place it in the idly plate and pressure cook it for 5 mins. Repeat the same for rest of the pooranam and kozhukattai dough.

The yummy Pachai Payiru poorana kozhukkati is ready for Neivedhyam on the auspicious occassion of Vinayaka Chaturti and then server it hot.

Green Gram Kozhukattai(Pachhai Payiru Kozhukattai)

Ammini(mini) kozhukattai is a easy to do snack that too the ingredients for this is the left over rice flour dough of poorana kozhukkatai and left over urdal pooranam. So whenever we prepare kozhukattai for vinayagar chaturti, if we have left over, we dont need to worry, we can prepare this delicious ammini(mini) kozhukattai and it will be liked by all.

Ammini (mini) Kozhukattai

Preparation Time	10 mins
Cooking Time	10 mins
Yield	20-25

Ammini (mini) Kozhukattai

Ingredients:

Rice flour dough(left over kozhukattai dough)	1 orange size
Oil	1 teaspoon
Mustard Seeds	1 teaspoon
Green Chilli	1/4 teaspoon
Curry Leaves	Few
Hing	a Pinch

Method:

Take the left over Kozhukattai dough and add red chilli powder, hing and mix well. Make tiny balls out of the kozhukattai dough and keep it ready

Grease the idli plate and keep the ammini kozhukattai in a pressure cooker plate. Pressure cook the ammini(mini) kozhukattai for 5 mins. Once cooked, remove from idli plate and keep it aside

Heat oil in pan, when the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add chopped green chillies, broken curry leaves, hing and add the cooked ammini(mini) kozhukattai and urdal pooranam(left over) and mix well and remove from flame.

Delicious Ammini kozhukattai is ready to serve.

Ammini (mini) Kozhukattai

Vinayaka Chaturthi is the great Vinayagar festival and also the birthday of Lord Vinayagar or Pillaiyar. Vinayaka Chaturthi also known as "Ganesh Chaturthi" in Maharashtra and North Indian States. Vinayakar chaturthi festival is observed in the Tamil Month "Avanai-Valarpirai Chathurthi” or (4th day after new moon in Aavani) is special day for Elephant headed Lord Shri Vinayaka. The elephant headed vinayagar son of Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Lord Vinayaka is the Prime God for everything. We always pray to Lord Vinayaka before starting any auspicious events / pooja. We always offer Appam, Aval, Pori, Modhagam and lots of fruits for Lord Ganesha.

Vinayaka Chaturthi Festival celebrate with clay Idol of Lord Vinayagar. Those Vinayagar Idol installed in home and street corners and performed pooja. For pooja we may require a small flower garland made of villva leaves and arugam pullu,we can also use erukampoo garland if available. Some will worship home made ganesh idols, many will buy moulded one from shops. Small decorated umbrella's are kept behind the idol, to make lord more decorative.In some houses,special small towels (pillayar thundu) will be placed around ganesh idol. Vinayagar stotra performed during Vinayaka Chaturthi pooja. On the 11th day, Vinayagar idols throught the streets in a procession with dance and songs to immersed in sea or river or well.

This year Vinayaka Chaturti is on 9th September.

Lord Ganesh’s Prayer

Gajananam Bhoota Ganadi Sevitam,

Kapittha Jambu phalasara bhakshitam

Umasutam Shoka Vinasha karanam

Namami Vighneswara pada pankajam

Vigneswara Poojai

Om sumugaya namaha

Om egathanthaya namaha

Om kabilaya namaha

Om kajakarnnagaya namaha

Om lambodharaya namaha

Om vigadaya namaha

Om vignarajaya namaha

Om Ganaathipaya namaha

Om dhumakedhave namaha

Om Ganadhakshaya namaha

Om balachandraya namaha

Om Gajanaya namaha

Om vakrathundaya namaha

Om Soorpakarnaya namaha

Om heyrambaya namaha

Om skandhapoorvajaya namaha

Om mahaganapadhaye namaha

Nanavidha parimala pathra pushpaani samarpayami

Click the link below for the Vinayagar Chaturthi Neyvedhyam Recipes

Paniyaram are always a wonderful dish and they are always unique and tasty compared to the conventional breakfast dishes. We can make paniyaram using simple idli-dosa batter and with simple variations we can have many different varieties. Here I have given here how to make Instant Paniyaram using Oats and semolina. If we have sudden visitors or guests in our home, this would be a perfect dish to treat them. This dish is instant and simple yet very delicious. Serve this Instant Oats Paniyaram with coconut / Onion chutney and enjoy the taste!

Instant Oats Paniyaram

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	10 mins
Cooking Time	25 mins
Yield	15-20

Ingredients:

Instant cooking oats	1 Cups**
Semolina / Rawa	3/4 Cup
Rice Flour	1/4 Cup
Green Chilli	2
Sour Curd	1 Cup
Mustard Seeds	1 teaspoon
Split Urid Dal	1 teaspoon
Channa Dal	1 tablespoon
Curry Leaves	few
Salt	To Taste
Cooking Soda Salt	1/2 teaspoon
Oil	1/4 Cup

Instant Oats Paniyaram

Method:

Soak the channa dal in water for an hour. Heat a pan and add the cooking oats and dry roast it for couple of minutes or till you get a nice aroma and the color changes slightly. Take the roasted oats and keep it aside

In the same pan, add sooji and dry roast till you get a nice aroma. Take roasted oats and sooji to the mixer

Grind the oats and sooji to a coarse powder. Take the ground oats-sooji powder in a mixing bowl. To that add rice flour and salt

Add sour curd and mix well. We need to add enough water to get a batter consistency. Keep this aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile lets prepare the seasoning. Heat the pan and add a teaspoon of oil and when the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add split urid dal, chopped green chillies and curry leaves and saute all of them for couple of minutes.

Add the seasoned ingredients and soaked channa dal to the prepared batter. Finally add the cooking soda and you can see bubbles coming up in the batter. Gently mix once. You can feel the batter getting softer and thinner in consistency after adding cooking soda. But we need to add the cooking soda just before frying the paniyaram. Keep the paniyaram mould in flame. Add 1/2 teaspoon of oil in each mould. When the paniyaram mould is piping hot, keep the flame low and add the oats paniyaram batter to each hole until it fills 3/4 of the hole. Let it cook on one side.

Gently flip it over and cook it on the other side. When the paniyaram is cooked and becomes golden brown, remove each paniyaram from flame. Repeat the same for rest of the batter.

The yummy and tasty Instant Oats Paniyaram is now ready to serve!

Instant Oats Paniyaram

Pal therattipal(Palkova) is a delicious dessert made in southern part of India. It is famous in srivelliputhur in tamilnadu. A decade before, people used to prepare this dish in home itself. But nowadays we are buying it from sweet stalls. If we do it in our home it will be surely delicious and we can reduce the quantity of sugar if necessary also. It will take at least 45Min's to prepare Pal therattipal(Palgova)and one more advantage is that we do not need to stir the milk continuously. We have stir it at the time when milk initially boils and later for 5 Min's after we add sugar. So lets see how to make homemade palkova .

Pal therattipal(Palgova)

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	-
Cooking Time	45 mins
Yield	250gms

Pal therattipal(Palgova)

Ingredients:

Milk	1 Litre
Sugar	100gms

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the milk. Stir the milk to avoid overflow. Allow the milk to boil till it becomes thicker and reduces to 1 cup of quantity

Now add sugar and continuously stir for 5Min's till the Palgova starts to thicken without sticking on to the sides of pan. You can take a small quantity of palkova in spoon and put it on a plate. Wet your hands and take the palkova in plate and try to roll it. If it rolls like a ball, then the consistency is correct. While testing this, keep the flame very low. If the palkovha doesn't gets rolled up, then keep stirring it in low flame for couple of minutes and then again test it.

Once the palkova rolls like a ball and doesn't stick on the sides of the pan, Remove from flame. Now the delicious Pal therattipal(Palgova) is ready for serving. We can get 1 cup of palgova from 1 litre of milk.

We can pour the palkova in a greased plate or bowl and make desired shapes. Serve the yummy palkova. We can store it in air-tight container and use it for a week also.

Pal therattipal(Palgova)

Milk Halwa (Paal Halwa), is one of the famous sweet in Srivilliputhur, Tamilnadu. Palkhova and pal halwa are the 2 famous sweet there. My MIL's younger sister's native place and whenever she came to visit us she would come up with pal halwa and palkova. I personally like the taste the pal halwa more than palkova. Whenever there is excess milk at home, I make pal halwa or palkova. Pal halwa shelf life is less compared to palkova but very delicious dessert. Lets see how to make this yummy Milk Halwa.

Milk Halwa Recipe (Paal Halwa)

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	-
Cooking Time	45 mins
Yield	250gms

Milk Halwa Recipe (Paal Halwa)

Ingredients:

Unboiled Milk	2 Cups** / 1/2 litre
Sooji / Semolina / Rawa	1/4 Cup
Sugar	1 Cup
Ghee	1/2 Cup
Cashew nuts	few

Milk Halwa Recipe (Paal Halwa)

Method:

Take the milk, sooji, sugar in a pan. Add 1/4 cup of ghee to it and keep it in medium flame and stir it occasionally so that the milk mixture doesn't get burnt or stuck to the bottom of the pan

Keep stirring until sugar, ghee and sooji gets incorporated completely with the milk and the milk mixture starts to thicken. When the mixture starts to thicken up, add the remaining ghee in regular intervals and keep stirring continuously till the ghee gets incorporated and the you can see the whole milk halwa starts thickening and doesn't not stick to the sides of the pan and starts rolling like a ball. You can add roasted cashews to the milk halwa and mix well. You can take a spoon of halwa in a plate and using wet hands if you are able to roll it then you can switch off the flame. The halwa will gets thickened up further after we remove from flame and allow it to cool.

The scrumptious milk halwa is now ready to serve. We can refrigerate and serve chilled too as a dessert.

Milk Halwa Recipe (Paal Halwa)

Onam is the Hindu festival celebrated by the people of Kerala in India. It is the state festival of Kerala. It is considered as the harvest festival too.Onam is celebrated in honour of King MahaBali. Onam falls in the month of Chingam, which is the first month according to the Malayalam Calendar.The ten days of Onam are celebrated with great fanfare, by Malayalees. Of all these days, most important ones are the first day, Atham, and the tenth and final day, Thiru-Onam (Thiruvonam). The rich cultural heritage of Kerala comes out in its best form and spirit during the festival. This year 2014, Onam festival is celebrated on 7th September.

Pookalam is the main part of Onam. The floral carpet, known as ‘Onapookkalam’,[3][8] is made out of the gathered blossoms with several varieties of flowers of differing tints pinched up into little pieces to serve the decorator's purpose.

The Onam sadya (feast) is another very indispensable part of Thiruvonam,[8] and almost every Keralite attempts to either make or attend one. The feast is served on plantain leaves and have more than 13 to 15 curries, along with traditional pickles, papadam and a dessert called 'payasam' (a sweet dish made of milk, sugar, jaggery and other traditional Indian savories). In hotels and temples, the number of curries and dishes may go up to 30.

Image courtesy : Google

The tradition of buying and wearing new clothes for the occasion of Onam is called the Onakkodi.

During the Onam, Keralite Hindus install an image of Thrikkakara Appan or Onatthappan (Vishnu in the form of Vamana) in their home[3] just as Hindus install images or murtis of Lord Ganesh on the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

Traditional dance forms including Thiruvathira, Kummattikali, Pulikali, Thumbi Thullal etc. are performed as part of celebrations all over Kerala at this time. Thiruvathirakali is a women's dance performed in a circle around a lamp.Kathakali dance is also commonly performed during this time, with dancers enacting famous mythological legends.The swing is another integral part of Onam, especially in the rural areas. Young men and women, decked in their best, sing Onappaatt, or Onam songs.

Image courtesy : Google

Some Special Recipes for Onam:

Onam Sadya, is the grand feast prepared on the auspicious occasion of Onam Festival. Sadya is a variety of vegetarian dishes traditionally served in Banana Leaf in Kerala. A normal Sadya can have about 24-28 dishes served as a single course. The main dish is the plain Boiled Rice which is served with Sambar, Rasam, Puliseri along with Eriseri, Olan, Kalan, Aviyal, Thoran, Pachadi, Puliinji and 3-4 different varieties of Payasam / Pradaman.The most common ingredients in all the dishes are rice, coconut and coconut oil as they are abundant in Kerala. Coconut milk is used in some dishes and coconut oil is used for frying and also as an ingredient in others. Conventionally, the meal may be followed by vettila murukkan, chewing of betel leaf with lime and arecanut. This helps digestion of the meal and also cleanses the palate.

I have included most of the traditional and important dishes in Sadya. In my Sadya, I have included Plain Boiled Rice, Sambar, Rasam, Puliseri, Eriseri, Olan, Kalan, Aviyal, Thoran, Ladysfinger Thayir Pachadi, Kadalaparuppu Pradaman, Pal Payasan, Nei Paruppu and Papad. There are atleast 4 different variety of payasam/pradaman done for Sadya. I have given below many different payasam varieties and also individual recipes in Menu. This menu would surely be a richer Sadya for this Onam.

Onam Sadya (Onam Festival Lunch Menu) - Sambar, Rasam, Puliseri, Eriseri, Olan, Kalan, Aviyal, Kadamba thoran, Kadala Paruppu Pradaman, Pal Payasam, Thayir Pachadi, Rice and Pappad

Some Special Recipes for Onam:

Onam Sadya (Onam Festival Lunch Menu) - Sambar, Rasam, Puliseri, Eriseri, Olan, Kalan, Aviyal, Kadamba thoran, Kadala Paruppu Pradaman, Pal Payasam, Thayir Pachadi, Rice and Pappad

Kadalaparuppu Pradaman is one of the traditional pradaman variety made in the state of Kerala and also in southern part of TamilNadu. It is one of the delicious payasam variety rich in flavour of coconut milk. A very simple to make pradaman for Onam Festival.

Kadalaparuppu Pradhaman Recipe (Channadal Pradaman)

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	5 mins
Cooking Time	30 mins
Servings	3

Ingredients:

Channadal	3 tablespoon
Grated Coconut	1 Cup
Cardamom Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Cashews	5-6
Chopped Coconut Pieces	1 tablespoon
Ghee	1 teaspoon
Grated Jaggery	1/2 Cup

Method:

Take 1 piece of coconut and slice it to fine pieces and keep it aside. Grate the coconut and grind it by adding 1 cup of water. Squeeze the ground coconut to extract the milk and keep it aside. This is the thick coconut milk. Again add 1 cup of water and grind it to a paste. Squeeze the ground coconut to extract the milk and keep it aside in another bowl. This is the 2nd coconut milk which is little thinner in consistency. Again add 1 cup of water and grind it to a paste. Squeeze the ground coconut to extract the milk and keep it aside in another bowl. This is the 3rd coconut milk which is much thinner in consistency.

Dry fry the channa dal till it turns golden brown color. Pressure cook the chann dal and take it aside

If the cooked channa dal has water, then drain it. Add the drained channadal to the mixer and grind it to a smooth powder

Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add the mashed dal along with grated jaggery. Boil the mashed dal and jaggery for 10 minutes till the raw smell of jaggery goes off. Now add the 3rd coconut milk and stir it well and allow it to boil for 5 minutes.

Now our pradaman has boiled for 5 minutes, its time to add the 2nd coconut milk. Keep in low flame and boil for couple of minutes

When the pradaman begins to boil, add the 1st coconut milk along with cardamom powder and mix well and switch off the flame.

In a separate pan, add ghee and when the ghee becomes hot, add broken cashews, and slashed coconut pieces and fry them till they are golden brown color. Add the fried cashews and coconut pieces to the pradaman and mix well

The delicious Kadalaparuppu Pradhaman (Channadal Pradaman) is now ready to serve!

Kadalaparuppu Pradhaman Recipe (Channadal Pradaman)

Kalan(Kerala Style Kalan) is the most popular and traditional dish made in Kerala especially for the Onam Festival. This delicious dish is made out of mainly yam, raw banana, coconut and yogurt. This delicious dish is one of the main dish in Onam Sadya. Lets see here how to make this delicious dish.

Kalan Recipe | Kerala Style Kalan Recipe

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	10 mins
Cooking Time	25 mins
Servings	5

Kalan Recipe | Kerala Style Kalan Recipe

Ingredients:

Yam	250gms
Raw Banana	1
Salt	To taste
Pepper Powder	1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Sour Curd	2 Cups
Curry Leaves	few

For Grinding:

Grated Coconut	1/2 Cup
Green Chilli	1
Cumin Seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Curd	1 tablespoon

For Seasoning:

Coconut Oil	1/2 tablespoon
Mustard Seeds	1 teaspoon
Red Chilli	2-3
Curry Leaves	few

Method:

Wash and chop the yam and raw banana into cubes and keep it aside. In a pan add the chopped vegetables along with pepper powder and turmeric powder and allow it to cook till the vegetables are soft but not so mushy.

Meanwhile add the grated coconut, green chilli and cumin seeds and grind it nicely. Add curd and again grind it to a smooth paste

Take the smooth ground paste aside. When the vegetables are fully cooked, add salt and chopped curry leaves. To this add curd and mix well and allow it to boil for 5 minutes.

Then add the ground coconut paste and again stir well and when the kalan starts to boil, switch off the flame.

In a separate pan, add coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add whole red chillies and saute it for few seconds. Finally add curry leaves and saute it for another couple of seconds and then remove the seasoned ingredients and add it to the kalan

The yummy kalan is now ready to serve!

Kalan Recipe | Kerala Style Kalan Recipe

Bread Potato Rolls are a very delicious evening snack. They are crispier outside but softer inside. A perfect snack to be served with tea / coffee. Very simple and easy recipe even for the beginners. Try this easy and tasty Bread Potato Rolls and share your comments! Serve this yummy dish with ketchup or green chutney and enjoy your evening.

Bread Potato Rolls

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	10 mins
Cooking Time	30 mins
Yield	10

Bread Potato Rolls

Ingredients:

Bread Slices*	10 small (5 if the bread slice is big)
Potato	3 medium size
Green Peas	2 tablespoon
Cumin Seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Chaat Masala Powder(Optional)	1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Mango powder	1/4 teaspoon
Chopped Coriander Leaves	1 tablespoon
Salt	To Taste
Oil	For Deep Frying + 1 teaspoon for seasoning

* I have used very small bread slices and hence i have used 10. If your bread slices are pretty big, then you can cut them into halves and use it so we need only 5 slices of bread

Method:

Wash and peel the potatoes and boil them and mash it nicely and keep it aside. Heat a pan and add teaspoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds starts to sputter, add green peas and cook for a minute

Then add mashed potatoes to the pan and add salt, chaat masala powder, mango powder, red chilli powder and mix well and keep in flame for a minute.

Then add chopped coriander leaves to the pan and give a good mix and remove from flame. Now our filling is ready. Now take the bread slices and chop the edges and keep it ready

Wet your hands and make 10 equal size of filling in a oval shape and keep it ready. Take 1 cup of water in a bowl. Just drop each bread slice and take it immediately

Squeeze the damp bread slice in the middle of your palms so that the other side bread also becomes wet. Place a potato dumpling in the middle of the wet bread

Close the dumpling make sure all the dumplings are properly bind within the bread slice. Repeat the same for the rest of the bread slices and dumplings

Heat a pan of oil for deep frying the rolls. When the oil is hot, gently add 2-3 bread potato rolls into the oil. Fry them till they are crispier and turns golden brown in all the sides. Take the fried rolls and place it in paper towel to drain excess oil

Serve the crispy Bread Potato Rolls with ketchup or green chutney and enjoy the taste!

Bread Potato Rolls

Fresh grated coconut in cardamom flavoured sugar syrup taste wonderful. If you are a sweet lover then you will love it for sure. CoconutBurfi as its name suggest is a sweet made of the coconut which can be cooked easily and quickly. Coconut Burfi (ThengaiBurfi) is a tasty south Indian sweet done on most of the festival days. Most of us make this tasty burfi for Diwali. A little care needed otherwise a simple sweet yet so mouth-watering dish.

Thengai Burfi (Cocunut Burfi)

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	-
Cooking Time	30 mins
Yield	10

Thengai Burfi (Cocunut Burfi)

Ingredients:

Grated Cocunut	1 Cup
Sugar	3/4 Cup
Cardamom Powder	1/4 Teaspoon
Water	1/2 Cup

Thengai Burfi (Cocunut Burfi)

Method:

Take a tray and grease the tray with ghee and keep it aside

Grate the coconut and keep it ready. The main trick to get a nice and wonderful white coconut burfi, so grate only half of the coconut. Do not grate till the end as we start getting slightly brown color gratings if we keep on grate. So better take 2 coconuts and grate it till half so that we would get pure white coconut gratings. Heat a pan and add the grated coconut and saute it in low flame till we get a nice aroma. This will take only a minute or two. Do not saute it so much otherwise the coconut would change its colour to light brown

Heat a pan with a teaspoon of ghee and add broken cashews and fry them till they are golden brown color. Take this roasted cashews aside. Again heat the pan and add sugar and water.

Keep the flame in medium to low to allow sugar to completely dissolve in the water and melt completely. Cook it till the sugar syrup reaches the thick single string(Getti Kambi Pagu) consistency. If we take a drop of sugar syrup and touch between the fingers, it should form a thick one string. This is the correct consistency. Now add the grated cocunut and mix it well. To this burfi mixture add cardamom powder. We can also add a tablespoon of milk to the when the sugar dissolved that will bring out the dirt out of the sugar. This is another trick to get a nice and white burfi at the end.

Stir the burfi mixture continuously by keeping the flame low to avoid sticking in the pan. When the burfi mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan without sticking and when we stir at this stage, a foam will be formed and the mixture will roll like a ball. This is the correct stage to remove the burfi mixture out of the flame. Be alert at this stage to switch off the flame otherwise the mixture will be overcooked and gets powdered.

Pour the burfi mixture in the greasy tray. Allow the burfi mixture to cool off a little and then Make diamond shape / cube pieces of coconutburfi using knife. Take the pieces when the mixture cools off completely and take it in a box and cover it with a lid

The yummy cocunutburfi is ready to serve.

Thengai Burfi (Cocunut Burfi)

Note : CocunutBurfi tastes very well only when you prepare it using the fresh cocunut (not the grated cocunut that you get it in the indian shops.). Try to get the fresh cocunut and grate it using the grating plate.

Also by mistake if you overcook the burfi and it gets powdered, nothing to worry. Keep the burfi again the flame and sprinkle some water and again mix the mixture well and pour it in greasy plate and make diamond shape pieces.

Plantain Stem (Vazhathandu) is one of the vegetable with rich nutritional benefits. Adequate amount of dietary-fiber in the food helps normal bowel movements, thereby reducing constipation problems. Plantains are also rich in Vitamin A. A very healthy vegetable we should try and use it atleast once a week. I have seen many kids staying away from this healthy veg. So I thought of sharing Vazhathandu bajji recipe which I had seen in one of the TV shows couple of weeks before. Though making bajjis very frequently are not healthy, atleast once we should try and give this Plantain Bajji (Vazhathandu Bajji) and impress the kids and then we could try other dishes using Plantain like Vazhathandu Poricha Kuzhambu or Vazhathandu Curry.

We can make bajji using many vegetables. Conventionally we use Raw banana, Chilli or potato. But we should try Plantain bajji, carrot bajji, capsicum bajji which gives a unique taste. Lets see how to make this yummy dish.

Vazhathandu Bajji Recipe | Plantain Stem Bajji Recipe

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	10 mins
Cooking Time	20 mins
Yield	10

Vazhathandu Bajji Recipe | Plantain Stem Bajji Recipe

Ingredients:

Plantain Stem	1/2
Coriander Leaves	1/2 Cup
Besan Flour / Gram Flour	1/2 Cup
Rice Flour	1/4 Cup
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Hing	1/4 teaspoon
Oil	For Deep Frying
Salt	To Taste

Vazhathandu Bajji Recipe | Plantain Stem Bajji Recipe

Method:

Remove the outer rings of the stem so that there are no more rings seen in the cross section. Cut the stem into medium sized disks(not too thin or thick). Remove the fibers between the disks by one of your fingers.It is the most frustrating part of preparing banana stem for cooking :-). Wash the coriander leaves and grind it to a fine paste in a mixer by adding little water

Dip each plantain disk in the coriander leaves paste and marinade them. Heat a pan of oil for frying the bajjis. Lets prepare the bajji batter. Take a mixing bowl and add gram flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and hing and mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of hot oil and mix well. Add water little by little and prepare the bajji batter. The batter should be thin like a dosa batter.

Dip the marinated plantain stem disks one by one in the prepared bajji batter and gently drop it in oil. Fry the bajji in medium flame till they are golden brown color and becomes crispy outside. Remove the bajji and place it in a paper towel to drain the excess oil

The delicious Vazhathandu (Plantain Stem) Bajji is now ready to serve!

Vazhathandu Bajji Recipe | Plantain Stem Bajji Recipe

Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) Poritha kuzhambu is a delicious dish prepared in southern part of tamilnadu. Plantain stem has got lots of healthy benefits and we should try and use this healthy vegetable atleast once a week. Instead of making conventional curry using plantain stem, poricha kuzhambu is one another alternate which is so delicious and tasty.

Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) Poritha kuzhambu

Preparation time	10 mins
Cooking Time	25 mins
Servings	4-6

Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) Poritha kuzhambu

Ingredients:

Thur Dal	1/2 Cup
Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem)	1
Salt	To Taste
Turmeric Powder	1/2 Teaspoon
Curd	1 Cup
Pepper Powder	1/4 teaspoon

For Grinding:

Oil	1 Teaspoon
Red Chillies	4
Grated Coconut	1/2 Cup
Jeeragam/Cumin Seeds	1/4 Teaspoon
Raw rice	1 teaspoon

For Seasoning:

Oil	1 Teaspoon
Mustard Seeds	1 Teaspoon
Urdhal	1 Teaspoon
CurryLeaves	Few

Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) Poritha kuzhambu

Preparing Banana stem for cooking

Remove the outer rings of the stem so that there are no more rings seen in the cross section. Cut the stem into thin disks. Remove the fibers between the disks by one of your fingers.It is the most frustrating part of preparing banana stem for cooking :-)Slice the disks into a smaller pieces and immerse the same in the butter milk and water mixture as this will preserve the original color of the stem otherwise this will turn out to be black in color

Method:

Cook the thurdal in the pressure cooker till soft and smash the Dal. Soak the raw rice in water for sometime.

Cook Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) in a heavy bottomed pan by adding water along with a pinch of turmeric and salt. In a separate pan pour the oil and add the red chillies and pepper and fry for a minute

Grind these along with coconut, jeeragam and raw rice soaked in water to a fine paste.

Add these ground paste and mashed dal to the Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) once they are cooked.

Add curd once the kuzhambu starts to boil and then stir it well and switch off the flame.

In a separate pan, pour the oil and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begins to sputter add the urdhal and fry it until it becomes red color and then add curry leaves. Add these ingredients to the kuzhambu

Now the PorithaKuzhambu is ready to serve with plain Rice.

Vazhaithandu(Plantain stem) Poritha kuzhambu

Sabudana (Sago / Jevvarsi) vada is a famous Vrat Dish in Maharashtra and other Northern parts of India especially for Durga Pooja (Navratri). My grandmother used to make sabudana vadai using uriddal and the process is very similar to how we do Medhuvadai. That we can call as SouthIndian Style Sabudana Vada. But Maharashtrian style vada is a famous vrat dish for the Navratri festival. For the Navratri vrat, mostly sago based dishes like vada, Sabudana Kichadi, Sabudana Ladoo and also dishes with Singhara flour are very common. As Navratri is approaching, I have given the Maharashtrian style of Sabudana Vada here. A very simple to make vada with sago, mashed potatoes and crushed peanuts. Lets see how to make this simple and tasty dish.

Sabudana Vada Recipe | Sago Vada Recipe | Jevvarasi Vadai | Maharashtrian Style Sabudana Vada Recipe | Navratri Vrat Recipe

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	2 hours
Cooking Time	30 mins
Yield	12

Sabudana Vada Recipe | Sago Vada Recipe | Jevvarasi Vadai | Maharashtrian Style Sabudana Vada Recipe | Navratri Vrat Recipe

Ingredients:

Sabudana / Sago / Jevvarasi	1 Cup**
Potato	3 medium size
Crushed Peanuts	1/2 Cup
Green Chilli	2
Salt	To taste
Cumin Seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Chopped Coriander Leaves	1 tablespoon
Lemon Juice	1 teaspoon

*1 cup = 250ml

Method:

Wash and rinse the sago atleast twice and soak in water for 2 hours. The quality of sago is the main factor for this recipe. We can get many different qualities of sago in market. Some sago becomes mushy within 10 minutes of soaking. Those varieties just need sprinkling of water and not soaking. But we get certain varieties of sago which needs soaking overnight too. Generally a good quality sago needs 2-3 hours of soaking. I have soaked for about 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain the water from sago using a strainer and allow it to dry for couple of minutes. When I first tried this recipe, its a total disaster because of the bad quality of sago. After soaking overnight also, it is so hard and not mixed with other ingredients and hence the vada split in oil and spoiled the oil. So sago is the main ingredient and its quality makes the dish successful.

While the sago is soaking, Wash and boil the potatoes and peel then and mash it nicely. In a mixing bowl, add the drained sago and crushed peanuts. I have used the store bought roasted peanuts which i have ground it coarsely in the mixer. Do not grind it to smooth powder as the coarseness give a good crispness as well as taste to the dish

To the mixing bowl, then add the mashed potatoes, chopped green chilli, chopped coriander leaves, salt, cumin seeds and lemon juice and mix well to make a dough. If the sago quality is good, we would get a good blended dough. If you feel the sago is not mixing with other ingredients, we can use a teaspoon of rice flour to bind the ingredients.

Heat oil in a pan for deep frying the vada. Make small dumplings out of the vada dough and press it in the middle to make a patti and gently drop it in hot oil. Add 3-4 vada in one batch. Deep fry the vada on both sides in medium flame till they turn crisper and becomes golden brown color. While frying, remember to keep the oil in medium as the vada tends to change color very quickly if you keep it in high flame but the inner part wouldn't have cooked properly. So once the oil is smoky hot, keep it in medium flame and add the vada to oil. Gently remove the fried Sabudana Vada in a plate with tissue to drain the excess oil.

The crispy and yummy Sabudana (Sago) vada is now ready for Vrat or Serving!

Sabudana Vada Recipe | Sago Vada Recipe | Jevvarasi Vadai | Maharashtrian Style Sabudana Vada Recipe | Navratri Vrat Recipe

Aapam is very delicious dish made frequently in southern part of Tamilnadu and also in Kerala. This is a very healthy recipe as it does not involves usage of any oil. Aapam is steam cooked dish and hence good for the children too. Appam is generally served with Kadala Curry(Recipe to be published soon) and Coconut Milk in Kerala. In most of the restaurants in TamilNadu, Appam is served with Kurma or Kadala Curry or Coconut milk. Kadala Curry and Coconut milk are perfect accompaniment for this Appam. I personally like Appam with Coconut milk. The sweetness of coconutmilk gives a dainty flavour to the dish. I have seen many people who prefer kadala curry or other spicy accompaniment. Appam with Kadala curry and coconut milk, perfect and rich breakfast dish.

Aapam | Appam Recipe | Appam with Kadala Curry and Coconut Milk Recipe

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	12 hours
Cooking Time	30 mins
Yield	15-18

Aapam | Appam Recipe | Appam with Kadala Curry and Coconut Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

Raw Rice	3 Cups*
Salt	To taste
Cooking Soda Salt	1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilli	2

*1 cup = 250ml

Aapam | Appam Recipe | Appam with Kadala Curry and Coconut Milk Recipe

Method:

Soak the rice in water for 1-2 hours. Drain the rice and grind it in mixer to a smooth batter by adding water little by little. Take the batter in a vessel

Clean the mixer with some water and along with this add 4 ladle of ground batter and pour this into a pan and keep stirring it till this mixture becomes thick consistency and then switch off the flame

Add this to the ground batter and add salt. Keep this batter aside for atleast 12 hours for fermentation

The next day add the soda salt and the aapam batter is now ready for use. Heat the Appam pan and pour 1 ladle of batter and rotate the pan to spread the batter evenly and close the pan with the lid. Let the aapam cook in low flame for few minutes. Once the appam is cooked, we can see the appam stop sticking to the pan and comes out easily. Gently remove the appam from pan and place it in a plate. Repeat the same for the rest of the batter.

Serve the delicious Aapam with cocunut milk, Kadala curry and chutney

Aapam | Appam Recipe | Appam with Kadala Curry and Coconut Milk Recipe

Kadala Curry is a famous and traditional dish in Southern Part of TamilNadu and especially in Kerala. Kadala curry is generally served with Appam, a healthy breakfast and also with Kuzhal Puttu. A best accompaniment for both Appam and kuzhal puttu. Lets see how to make this yummy dish.

Kadala Curry Recipe | Kerala Style Kadala Curry Recipe | Kadala Curry for Appam

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	12 hours
Cooking Time	45 mins
Servings	5

Add caption

Ingredients:

Black Chole / Black Chickpeas	1 Cup**
Onion	2
Tomato	2
Salt	To taste
Chopped Ginger	1/2 teaspoon
Chopped Garlic	1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Coriander Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Chopped Coriander Leaves	1 tablespoon
Coconut Oil	1 teaspoon

*1 Cup = 250ml

For Grinding:

Coconut Oil	1 teaspoon
Coriander Seeds	2 teaspoon
Red Chilli	2
Cinnamon Stick	1 inch piece
Cloves	2
Fennel Seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Cardamom	2
Grated Coconut	1/4 Cup

Aapam | Appam Recipe | Appam with Kadala Curry and Coconut Milk Recipe

Method:

Wash and soak the chole overnight or atleast for 12 hours. It is advisable to soak the chole overnight then only it would be cooked nicely. After 12 hours, drain the water from chole, add fresh water just to soak the chole and add salt and pressure cook it allowing for 5-6 whistles. While the chole is getting cooked in cooker, lets prepare our curry paste. Heat oil in a pan and add all the grinding ingredients other than grated coconut and roast them in oil till they turn dark brown color

Then add the grated coconut to the fried ingredients and again roast the coconut till it turns nice and dark brown

Take this to the mixer and grind it to a nice paste. Take the powder aside. When the chole is cooked, take out 2 tablespoon of chole and grind it to a nice paste in the mixer. This is for making the gravy thick in consistency. Do not drain excess water from cooked chole. The cooked excess water would give a nice color and flavour to the dish.

Now heat the pan and add oil. When the oil is hot add chopped ginger and garlic and saute them for couple of minutes. Then add finely chopped onions along with a pinch of salt and saute them till they turn translucent

Add chopped tomatoes and mix well. To this now add turmeric powder, coriander and red chilli powder and allow the tomatoes to cook till they are mushy.

When the tomatoes are cooked nicely and becomes mushy, remove this masala from flame and add it to the cooked chole. Again cook the chole with the onion-tomato masala in pressure cooker for 1 whistle. This step is optional, but the onion-tomato masala gets nicely combined with the chole if you again allow for a whistle in pressure cooker

When the pressure is released from the cooker, take out the cooked chole with masala and keep it in flame and bring it to boil. Now add the ground curry paste along with chole paste and mix well. Adjust the salt and allow it to boil for a minute and then remove from flame. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

The mouth-watering Kadala Curry is now ready to serve with hot Appam!

Kadala Curry Recipe | Kerala Style Kadala Curry Recipe | Kadala Curry for Appam

Semiya Payasam is one of the oldest and traditional recipe. I read in one of the website that Semiya payasam has more than 500+ years of history and they quoted that Purandaradasa has mentioned Semiya Payasam in one of his spiritual keerthana "Rama Nama Payasakke". Whatever it is, believe me, its one of the simplest and tastier payasam which can be cooked quickly. For most the festivals and auspicious occasions we prefer jaggery based payasam. But for parties, birthday or other good occasions I prefer to make semiya payasam. My Granddaughter love Semiya Payasam and call that as "Noodles Payasam". She often request me to make this simple and delicious Semiya Payasam.

Vermicili(Semiya) Payasam

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	-
Cooking Time	25 mins
Servings	4

Vermicili(Semiya) Payasam

Ingredients:

Vermicilli / Semiya	1/2 Cup*
Milk	2.5 Cups
Cardamom Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Ghee	1 teaspoom
Cashews	4-5
Sugar	3/4 Cup

*1 Cup = 250ml

Method:

Heat a pan and add 1/4 teaspoon of ghee and roast the semiya till you get a nice aroma and the semiya changes to slightly brown color.

Boil the milk in the pan and When the milk starts to boil, add vermicilli to cook the vermicilli in the milk . Once the vermicilli is cooked, add the sugar and cardamom powder and cook the mixture till the vermicilli is fully cooked and combined well with the sugar. Remove the vermicilli payasam from flame

Heat the ghee in the pan and add cashew nuts and fry it until they become golden color. Add this to the cooked vermicilli.

Serve Vermicilli (Semiya) Payasam warm in bowl.

Vermicili(Semiya) Payasam

Chickoo fresh juice and milk shakes are very common in restaurants and juice shops. Chickoo is a very delicious fruit and Its calorie-rich soft, easily digestible pulp composes of simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly. Indeed, it is a vital source of vitamins, minerals. We can make many dishes with this delicious fruit and one among them is Halwa. Chickoo cooked with milk, sugar and ghee gives a wonderful flavour to the halwa. When I first made this at home, everyone loved it and whenever I get good quality chockoo, I made it a practice now to make this halwa at home. Lets see how to make this scrumptious Chickoo (Cheekoo / Supporta) halwa.

Chickoo Halwa Recipe | CheeKoo Halwa Recipe | Supporta Halwa Recipe

Preparation and Yield:

Preparation time	10 mins
Cooking Time	45 mins
Servings	3

Chickoo Halwa Recipe | CheeKoo Halwa Recipe | Supporta Halwa Recipe

Ingredients:

Chickoo / Supporta	5
Milk	2 cups* or 1/2 Litre
Sugar	1/4 Cup
Cardamom Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Cashews	5-6
Raisins / Dry grapes	1 tablespoon
Almonds	10
Ghee	2 tablespoon

*1 Cup = 250ml

Method:

Wash and peel the chickoos. Finely chop them into pieces. If they are not ripe, then it is better to make a paste out of the chickoos in the mixer. I have used nice and ripe chickoos so chopping them is enough, they will get mushy when we cook them.

Heat a pan and add a teaspoon of ghee and fry the cashews, raisins and almonds. Take the roasted cashews, raisins and almonds in a plate. In the same pan, add the chopped chickoo pieces or chickoo paste and cook them for atleast 5 minutes.

We could see in 5 minutes, the chopped chickoo would have become nicely mushy and cooked. Take this aside in a plate. Wash and keep the pan again in flame. Add milk to the pan and bring it to boil.

Keep stirring the milk till the milk becomes 1/4th of its quantity. Now add the cooked chickoo and mix well and bring it to boil and keep stirring till they become thick

Then add sugar and stir well. Adding sugar makes the halwa little diluted. Keep stirring until the sugar is combined well and the halwa starts to thicken. Add ghee at this stage and keep stirring the halwa

The ghee will nicely combine with the halwa and the whole halwa mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan without sticking the rolls like a ball. This is the right stage to remove from flame. Add the roasted nuts and mix well

The mouth-watering Chickoo Halwa is now ready to serve!

Chickoo Halwa Recipe | CheeKoo Halwa Recipe | Supporta Halwa Recipe