Sakkarai Pongal/Sweet Pongal Re-posted

Pongal one the major harvest festival of south India. Especially in tamilnadu farmers celebrate it with great joy as its their earning which comes out of an year hard work. They make dishes out of new harvested rice.
One such dish is SAKKARA PONGAL or Sweet Pongal.
As a tradition at villages they make in MANN PANNAI (mud pot) tieng  yellow banana, turmeric leaves, flowers, sugarcane around pot. At my home we have tradition to tie the same thread with all the materials above around a VENGALLAI PANNAI (Bronze Pot).

Well there is no occasion needed to make this Pongal!!!

Ingredients:
Raw White Rice - 1 cup
Split yellow moong dhal/ Paytham parupu/ Moong dhal - 1/2 cup
Channa dhal/ Split gram dhal/Kadalai Parupu - 100gms
Gudd/Jaggery/Vellam - 1cup
Ghee/Clarified butter/Nei - 1/4cup
Kaju/Cashewnuts/Mundhiri parupu - 20gms
Kanja drakshai/Kismis - 10gms
Elaichi powder/Elakai powder - 1tsp
Milk - 1cup
Water - 3cup (for boiling)

Mehtod/Vidhiee:
1. Soak dhals & rice for 1/2hr in water.
2. Take a heavy bottom vessel/pressure cooker.
3. Add water and then milk. Bring them to boil.
4. During Pongal days when the milk boils and the froth falls out of the pot people say PONGAL O PONGAL (PONGAL name generally is derived from this froth which falls out of pot).
5. Once the froth falls add the rice and the dhals.
6. Keep stirring till the rice and lentils cook.
7. Keep adding water as and when required sot that the rice & lentils cook.
8. Once they are cooked (means you get to smash them well) time to add powdered jaggery.
9. Stir them well. Let the jaggery melt.
10. Add ghee to the rice mixture and keep stirring without taking out the hand.
11. Meanwhile in another small pan fry the cashewnut,coconut pcs and kismis in ghee.
12. Once the rice, lentils and jaggery becomes like a poridge add the cashew and kismis.
13. Keep a note the Pongal has to be semi solid as when they cool it would become thick and hard.
14. So its ok if the pongal is bit watery.
15. Add elaichi powder and stir well.
Serve hot or cold. Enjoy it!!

Note: You can make the same in pressure cooker. Add 1 portion of water and 3 portions of water to 1 cup rice and 1 cup lentils. Bring them to pressure cook (4 Whistles). Once the pressure is released add jaggery mash and mix well. Add ghee, nuts, kismis, coconut pcs, elaichi powder.

Thengai Paruppu Poli/Boli - Re-posted

This sweet dish is made on BHOGI festival the day before PONGAL in south of India.
Bhogi is celebrated by burning the old things which are no more in use and the next day is the harvest festival Pongal when new things are bought for the home. But, considering the current global warming it is clever not to burn but to bow and give to the needy people around.
POLI is also called as BOLI in some areas. It is made up of only Parupu Poli (Channa dal poli), Thengai Poli (Coconut poli), Masala Poli (carrots, beans, potato salty Poli).
Today i have made a combination of Thengai and Parupu Poli.

Ingredients:
Maida - 2cups
Salt -1/2tps
Water - 1 1/2cup
Refined Oil - 2cup
Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1cup
Elaichi/Elakai/Cardamom - 3-4
Thengai/Coconut - 1/4cup scrapped freshly
Kadalai paruppu/Channa Dal - 1/4cup
Vellam/Jaggery/Gudd - 1/4 cup
Plastic thin sheets - 2
Yellow food colour - a pinch

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Knead the maida by adding salt to it with water. Add Yellow food colour.
2. Make into a dough and add refined oil 1/2cup and knead well.
3. Cover it with a plastic sheet tightly.
4. In a mixer jar add coconut,jaggery,cardamom (pods broken and the flavour inside need to be added)
5. Meanwhile boil the channa dal to 3/4 consistency where you can mash them by a spoon.
6. Once the channa dal is done strain them and add to the mixie jar.
7. Grind them so that all the particles get broken down but, donot make them into paste.
8. Grind them corasely but not any pc that would hamper the process.
9. Now remove the sheet from the kneaded dough and mix the jaggery coconut mixture with it well.
10. Traditionaly the jaggery mixer is stuffed inside the dough by flattening them into a chappati, rolling them and again flattening them.
11. Here, i have used the method of mixing both the jaggery mixture and dough.
12. Now heat a tawa in a low flame.
13. Take one of the plastic sheet and grease them with oil.
14. Take a medium size ball of the mixed dough and flatten them with your hands or fingers on the sheet.
15. Starting from thinning the ends and then again flattening the centre to the end.
16. Be sure that the edges are thin as when you cook them they tend to turn thick.
17. Now gently take the flatten dough and put on to the pan.
18. Cook on both sides till light brown spots are seen.
19. Now add 1tps of ghee and cook on one side and another 1tps on other side.
20. Traditionaly the POLI floats in ghee when on tawa which is now immposible as the ghee prices are high and so to our health :)))
21. Hence, add ghee as per your wish.

Serve hot with adding 1/2tps of ghee or white butter on top.

Left Over Rice Veggie Cakes

It's been a while that i have blogged in.. I had so much of rice left over i decided to make this snack.

• 2 cups - Left over rice
• 2 - Medium sized potatoes grated
• 1 - Medium carrot grated
• 20 gms - Cabbage
• 1 - Green chilly
• 1tbs - Ginger Garlic paste
• 20 gms - Boiled green peas
• Strands of Green coriander as per your taste
• 1/2 tbs - Dark soya sauce
• 1/2 tbs - Lime juice
• 1/2 tbs - Turmeric powder
• 1/2 tbs - Coriander powder
• 1/2 tbs - Chat masala powder
• 1/2 tbs - Garam masala powder
• 1 tbs - Salt
• 1 tbs - Kasoori Methi/Dry fenugreek leaves/Dry venthaya elaigal
• 1/2 tbs - Sugar
• 200 gms - Cornflour powder
• 100gms - Besan/Kadala mav/Channa dal powder
• 50 gms - Dry rice powder/Chawal ka atta/Arici mav
• 100 ml - Water
• Oil to shallow fry

Method/Vidhiee:
1.Wash and grate potatoes,carrots and cabbage in a big bowl.
2. To it add chopped green chillies and green coriander.
3. Add in the ginger garlic paste, lime juice, soya sauce and mix well.
4. Now add in all dry masalas and mix well.
5. Crumble the white rice over the vegetable mixture and mix well.
6. Add salt and mix tightly the rice mixture.
7. To it add besan and rice powder.
8. If required sprinkle some water to it.
9. Mix and knead tightly.
10. In a shallow fry pan add oil  and heat them well.
11. Meanwhile, in a small cup add cornflour and make a batter of it.
12. Make medium sized balls of the rice mixture and flatten them.
13. Dip the flattened cakes on to the cornflour and slowly drop it on to the oil.
14. Fry them in medium heat.

15. When one side turns golden Brown turn other side to do the same.
16. Once they are done transfer on to the tissue paper.
Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney

TIP:You can use even semolina/bread crumbs/cornflakes after coating on the cornflour. This would make them more crisp.