Carrot – Coconut Paayasam

I made this yummy paayasam yesterday on my daughter’s birthday. It tasted so delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grated Carrot
• 1 cup grated Coconut, fresh
• ½ cup Vermicelli
• 1 cup Sugar (more or less depending on the sweet levels)
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 tsp Ghee
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• Few strands of Saffron
• Cashews + Raisins + sliced Almonds

Preparation:

Add vermicelli in a pan and dry roast until golden brown in color. Then add carrot + coconut + sugar, mix well and pour some water.

Bring this mixture to a boil. When the carrot and vermicelli are cooked and becomes soft, pour milk + saffron and mix well.

Again bring this to a boil and turn off the flame.

In a small pan heat ghee and add cashews + raisins + almonds + cardamom and sauté well until cashews turn golden brown in color and raisins bubble up.

Pour this on top of the prepared paayasam and mix well. Enjoy this yummy paayasam either at room temperature or chilled.

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Vadapappu and Paanakam for Srirama Navami

Wish you all a very happy SRIRAMA NAVAMI!!

Vadapappu and Paanakam are the main dishes offered to God on Srirama Navami. Vadapappu is said to be Goddess Sitadevi’s favorite and Paanakam is said to be Lord Srirama’s favorite.

Vadapappu

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Pesarapappu (Moong Daal), soaked for an hour
• 2 tbsp grated Coconut
• 1 or 2 finely chopped Green Chili
• 1 or 2 tsp grated Mango (can be substituted with 1 tsp of Lemon Juice)
• A handful of finely chopped Cilantro (Optional)
• Salt

Preparation:

Mix everything together and offer to God. This makes a good snack too!!

Paanakam

Ingredients:

• ½ cup grated Jaggery (Bellam)
• 2 cups Water
• ½ tsp Black Pepper Powder
• ½ tsp Cardamom Powder
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• A pinch of Sonth Powder (Sonti, Dry Ginger Powder)

Preparation:

Add jaggery + water in a bowl and bring to a boil. While boiling, add cardamom powder + pepper powder + sonth powder and mix well. Just before turning off the flame add lemon juice and stir well.

Offer the delicious paanakam to God. When serving, add some ice cubes if desired. This paanakam is said to have cooling effect on our body.

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Sweet and Spicy Apple Pickle

This is a super-easy pickle made without any cooking or grinding. And tasted super-yummy too!! Try it yourself to experience the lovely taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely chopped sweet Apple, with skin
• 1 tsp Sambhar Powder (Store-bought is fine too)
• 4 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp Chili Powder
• A pinch of Turmeric
• Salt as required

Preparation:

Make sure the apple is completely dry before cutting into pieces. Wetness will spoil the pickle soon.

To prepare this pickle: just mix all the ingredients together with a spoon.

Cover and leave it for an hour before eating. The pickle will be ready to be eaten in hour after the apple pieces absorb the spices well.

Enjoy this pickle with steaming hot rice and it will be so yummy!!

Even if the apple pieces are little sweet, the chili powder and the other ingredients dominate the overall taste. So it is a delicious combination of little sweetness and more spiciness.

This pickle is reaching Nithu Bala’s “Think Beyond the Usual – Fruits” event.

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Coconut Halwa

Hope you all had a wonderful Ugadi celebration! As we all know the special for Ugadi festival is the preparation of Ugadi Pachadi which is a fusion of six tastes (Shadruchulu) such as, sour, bitter, sweet, salt, spicy, pungent. I prepared this Ugadi Pachadi and also coconut halwa as a sweet treat.

Coconut Halwa recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated coconut, fresh (frozen also can be used)
• ½ cup Rice, uncooked
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 or 2 tsp Ghee
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder

For Garnish:

• Cashews and Raisins, sautéed in some ghee

Preparation:

Soak rice in enough water for 2 to 3 hours or until rice becomes soft.

Grind the soaked rice and grated coconut into a very fine paste by adding some water. But don’t make it too watery. It should be like a smooth paste. Keep aside.

In a non-stick pan pour sugar and add some water just enough to immerse the sugar (approx. ½ cup). Bring the sugar solution to a boil and wait till one string consistency is acquired.

Then immediately add the cardamom powder + ground coconut – rice paste and keep stirring until it becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Just before turning off the flame, add ghee and mix well.

That’s all! Great tasting coconut halwa is ready!!

Here are some serving ideas for this yummy halwa. But don’t forget to garnish it with fried cashew and raisins.

You can either:

Grease a plate, spread halwa flat and cut into desired shapes when it becomes cool.

Or

Make shapes with a round bowl.

Or

Make into laddu shapes and serve.

Or

Make different shapes using Cookie Cutters.

Or

Just simply serve in a bowl!!

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Happy Ugadi 2010

Dear Friends and Readers,

SRI VIKRUTHI NAAMA SAMVATSARA SUBHAAKAANKSHALU

A Very Happy Ugadi!!

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Bitter Gourd – Almond Stir Fry

This is a delicious stir fry with bitter gourd. The bitterness of the bitter gourd isn’t felt at all!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Bitter Gourd, cut into circles
• ½ cup Almonds
• 1 tsp Chili Powder (Less/More)
• 1 tbsp Tamarind Pulp, diluted with ¼ cup water (or a Lemon sized Tamarind soaked in water and juice extracted)
• 2 tsp Oil
• A pinch of Turmeric
• Salt

Preparation:

Dry roast almonds and grind into a coarse powder along with chili powder. Keep aside.

In a non-stick pan, heat oil and add bitter gourd pieces. To this add tamarind water (either pulp or juice). Stir well and add turmeric. Mix well, cover and allow cooking for some time until the bitter gourd pieces absorb all the tamarind water and becomes dry.

Later remove cover and add almond powder + salt. Mix well and allow cooking for some more time until the curry becomes soft and cooked. Leave it for some time on the low flame and remove.

This curry goes well with rice.

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Fruit ‘N Cracker Shake

Presenting another way to use up excess crackers/cookies!! Again I used Ritz salt crackers for the shake. The milkshake turned out so good and everyone liked it so much. And it’s sugar-free!!

Here are some other crazy but yummy varieties I tried with these crackers:

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Tomato – Onion Chutney (Oil Free)

This is very simple chutney that can be prepared instantly and easily. It goes well with dosas, rotis, rice and also as stuffing in curries (especially with Eggplant).

Ingredients:

• 1 big Onion, diced
• 1 big Tomato, diced
• 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice or Tamarind Pulp (I used Lemon Juice)
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tsp red Chili Powder (or more/less)
• Salt

Preparation:

Add onion + tomato + cumin seeds to a pan and sauté well without adding any oil. Keep aside to cool.

When it becomes cold, grind it into a smooth paste by adding chili powder + lemon juice + salt. No need to add any excess water as tomato already contains water.

That’s all!! Enjoy this yummy and healthy chutney as desired.

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Pakodas with Salt Crackers

This is a yummy way to consume any leftover salt crackers at home. If you’re like me who always buy items in bulk (I have to get rid of this habit) and finding a way to consume them without wasting, then this recipe is for you!! These pakodas tasted super-delicious.

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