Rama Navami Neivedhyam - Paanagam, Neer Mor & Vada Paruppu

"श्री राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे
सहस्र नाम ततुल्लयं राम नाम वरानने"

During one of our summer trips to India, we happened to be in Bombay (in my head it is still Bombay, not Mumbai!) for Janmashtami. We have a tradition of fasting till evening and offering neivedhyam to baby Krishna after reciting the Vishnu Sahasranamam. That year, my father - in - law explained the meaning of  a few lines from the shloka. Goddess Parvati asked the Lord if there is any easier/shorter way of gaining the benefits of chanting the Sahasranama as it may be difficult to recite the whole thing everyday. To this, the Lord replies with the aforementioned lines. The essence of this shloka is that chanting "Rama" just thrice  is equivalent to reciting the thousand names of Vishnu. Such is the power of Rama.

This has been a week of celebrations and festivities on consecutive days - first was hubby's birthday - so I baked cupcakes, the next day was Tamil New Year followed by Vishu Kani, so pigged out on vadai & paayasam! Yesterday was Rama Navami, but guess what, the neivedhyam for this occassion is pretty tummy friendly!

I made paanagam - which is a cool and refreshing thirst quenching drink - sweet and sour - perfect for the rise in temperature, neer mor - which is seasoned buttermilk, again chilled but a tad spicy and finally vadaparuppu - which I guess can be called a protein rich salad ;)

Usually, neivedhyams are rich in ghee and oil - sweets and fried stuff! This is one of those rare occasions when the neivedhyam has health benefits!

Paanagam is as good as an ORS solution - move over Gatorade and electrolyte, we have our own home made version!! In fact, when consumed along with vada paruppu, it supposedly aids in digestion. For that matter, so does neer moru - it is a South Indian version of the salty lassi and is often prepared on a regular basis and served at the end of dinner. It also helps with acidity. And hey guys - its yogurt (read PROBIOTICS) - need I say more?

So, without further ado, here are the three recipes.

Soaking Time: 30 minutes            Preparation: 15 minutes          Serves:4

Ingredients:

For Paanagam:

Jaggery (Gur/vellam) - 1/4^th cup, grated
Chilled water - 4 cups

Dry Ginger Powder (Saunth/Sukku podi) - 1/4^th teaspoon

Cardamom pods  (Elaichi/Elakai) - 4

Holy Basil Leaves (Thulsi/Tulasi) - 4

Lemon - 1, juiced

For Vada Paruppu:

Moong Dal (Split Green Gram)  - 1 cup

Green Chillie - 1, small, chopped fine

Raw Mango - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Cucumber - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Ginger - 1/4^thinch, chopped fine

Coconut - 1 tablespoon, grated

Cilantro - for garnish, finely chopped

Lemon - ½, juiced

Asafoetida (Heeng/Perunkayam) - a pinch

Salt - to taste

For Neer Mor:

Yogurt  - 1 cup

Chilled Water - 2 cups

Green Chillies - 1, small

Ginger - 1/4^thinch

Roasted Cumin Powder (Jeera Powder) - ½ teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Cilantro - for garnish, finely chopped

For Tempering:

Oil - ½ teaspoon 

Mustard Seeds - ½ teaspoon

Curry Leaves - a few

Asafoetida (Heeng/Perunkayam) - a pinch

Method:

For Paanagam:

1. Take the jaggery in a bowl and add the chilled water to it. Stir till all the jaggery dissolves and then filter out the impurities from the jaggery.
2. Add in the dry ginger powder, cardamom pods and lemon juice, mix well and refrigerate.

For Vada Paruppu:

1. Rinse and soak the moong dal for about 30 minutes.
2. Add in all the other ingredients (raw mango, cucumber, chillies, ginger, coconut, cilantro, asafoetida, salt and lemon juice) and mix well.

For Neer Mor:

1. Take yogurt, green chillies and ginger in a blender and give it a good swirl till the yogurt is well beaten.The chillies and ginger will also be coarsely ground by then.
2. Add in water, roasted cumin powder, salt and cilantro leaves and give a quick whisk once more.
3. Heat a little oil and add in the mustard seeds.
4. Once the muster seeds crackle, add in the curry leaves and asafoetida and pour this tempering into the yogurt mixture.
5. Mix well and refrigerate.

Offer neivedhyam and enjoy the prasadam...

Tips:

You can add a bit of pachai karpooram to the paanagam if you desire.
For the neer mor, you can just blend in the  yogurt and water with a hand whisk, slit a green chillie and skip the roasted cumin powder if you wish.

Rice Crispie Treats

Spring break is over, kids are back at school and moms everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief at finally having their homes back to themselves!! Now, if only the weather Gods show some mercy – looks like they did not get the memo that officially, it is spring!! April showers bring May flowers they say – but what does snow in April bring??

In the meantime, life in routine goes on… 

My son is a part of his school’s newspaper club and today was a publishing party, to celebrate the end of the newspaper club for the current school year, and parents were invited. I went of course – but the word “publishing” brought a thought to my mind – oh yes – I used to write a blog that has been sitting waiting too long. Once the thought came, I just had to act on it, so here I am putting up a post after a really loooooooooooong time!

Well this one here is a recipe for rice crispie treats – nothing too fancy, a recipe right off the back of the cereal box!

You could ask me why? Why bother making these treats when you could just as easily pick it off the shelf of your grocery store? And I could say, I am a big fan of DIYs, no really, I am! But the reason for my preferring to make these is because, the store bought ones have regular marshmallows in them, which contains gelatin. We are vegetarians. So, no gelatin for us.

Kiddo loves rice crispie treats and marshmallows, and I have used store bought one’s in a pinch, how fussy can one be! But I do avoid it if possible. So, I buy multiple packs of vegan marshmallows wherever I find them - was difficult once, just one organic store in Hoboken carries them to my knowledge, but now we have Amazon Prime! Yay!! Don’t you just love the ease of online ordering??

Once you have vegan marshmallows, making these treats is a quick fun project for the little ones :)

BTW, these can be made in the microwave but we used the stove top and by “we” I mean me and the junior – yep, this was one of the things we did during the spring break.

And for those out there raising your eyebrows over letting my kid cook over a stove top – relax!  I was right next to him the whole time and the flame was at the lowest setting. But if you are frowning over this, use the microwave by all means. It would probably be quicker too, but my microwave is fixed on top of the cooking range and I use a stool to reach it! How on earth is my son supposed to reach it? And if I am the one putting it in and out of the microwave all the time, how is he going to boast about making those yummy rice crispie treats ALL BY HIMSELF? Come on, how could I take that away from him?

Psssst… I did pour the contents of the hot pan into a baking tray before letting him smoothen it all out with a spatula – but that’s just between you and me ;)

Preparation, cooking & cooling time: 20 minutes         Makes: 12-15 pieces        

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter – 3 tablespoons

Vegan mini marshmallows – 4 cups

Rice Crispies Cereal – 6 cups

Method:

1.  Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
2.   Add the marshmallows and keep stirring over a low flame till all the marshmallows melt into the butter.
3. Now add in the rice crispies and give your arms a good workout – go ahead and mix all the ingredients together.
4. Remove the gooey mixture from the stove top and pour into a greased pan. Smoothen with a spatula.
5.  Let it set – takes about 10 minutes or so.
6.  Cut into desired size using a butter knife.
7. Dig right in!!

I ...

Consciousness

Oh yes I am aware,

Of my strengths, my capabilities, my abilities

I smile, let it go, choose to turn my other cheek

Don’t mistake my passiveness for weakness

-         My silence for ignorance!

Realization

I am what I am

My thoughts are my own

My actions are my own

And so I choose to be

WHO I AM

WHAT I AM

HOW I AM!

Life, you think you can break me, crush me?

Oh you may chip away at my resilience -

Bit by tiny bit,

You are persistent, I give you that!

But there it ends – your control over me!

My spirit – it’s a fighter!

It refuses to be bound by shackles!

My mind – it soars beyond your grasp!

You think you got me don’t you?

Think again! Look again!

Shower me with pain,

Assail me with doubts,

Play on my fears,

Badger me with all you got,

Bring it on, I say!

For my spirit is my own – it chooses to rise like a phoenix!

My mind is a sword – it chooses to fight back!

Nothing you say can take away that from me

And so I live.

I live to face another day,

I live to face another fight,

I choose to live, I choose to hope…

Uppu Cheedai

"हाथी घोडा पालकी
जय कन्हैया लाल की "

Today being the auspicious occasion of Janmastami/Gokulashtami, I thought what better day to "get back" to my blog than this :)

My earliest memories of this festival are of my sister and me getting dressed as "gopikas" (much against our wishes I might add) and sitting  at the local park which would be decorated and crowded with the local kiddie gang dressed up in whatever the occasion called for and depicting scenes from Lord Krishna's life! I am sure we must have found it fun the first time or so, but I tell you, it got boring (and embarrassing) real fast! That was when we lived in the northern part of India

Another memory is of amma making the "Krishnar kaal" kolam - rice flour foot prints representing baby Krishna walking in from the entrance right upto the place of worship. This is a tradition I follow. When my little one was still in his baby/toddler days, I would use his feet to make the prints, later I used my hands ofcourse!

 The years spent in Mumbai hold memories of "Dahi handi" - it always amazes me to see the human pyramids formed by all these Govindas while they are splashed by water, not just by the monsoon Gods, but also by the human spectators. It sure is a thrill to see them reach out into the skies, so high, oh so high, to break the matki and collect their prize!

And then there is all the stuff we get to eat! Thats one good thing about us Hindus - I mean we have got tons of festivals to celebrate and each comes with its own set of munchies to be prepared. Our deities sure were foodies. Take Lord Krishna - he loved milk products. His affinity for butter earned him the name of "Maakhan Chor" literally translated to "Butter Thief"!

My mom used to make a lot of yummy goodies for neivedyam. Typically butter, poha, milk, sugar, fruits, appam, uppu and vella cheedai, paayasam, ribbon etc are offered. This year, I skipped the ribbon and paayasam.

So, here I am with the recipe of one of the things made on this festival - atleast by us Tam Brams - Uppu Cheedai. Well, I usually write recipes of sweets associated with a festival, this time, for a change, I thought, why not pick a savory item.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes          Makes: 40-45

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dal (Black Gram) Powder - 2 tablespoons
Hing/Asafoetida - ¼ teaspoon
Sesame Seeds (White) - 1 teaspoon
Shredded Coconut - 1 tablespoon
 Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons (melted)
 Water - to make dough
Salt - To taste
Coconut Oil - 1 teaspoon (for kneading)
Oil - For deep frying  


Method:

1. Dry roast the rice flour for a minute or so, don't let it change color.
2. Dry roast the urad dal powder till it turns a reddish tinge.
3. Sieve the flours and knead it into a dough after adding everything except the oil for deep frying.
4. Roll the dough into tiny balls, set them aside for 10 minutes, then fry them to a golden brown.

Drain them out on absorbent paper and eat - no wait, it was for neivedaym right? Offer it to Lord Krishna and then enjoy! Store the cheedais in an air tight container after they have cooled down.

Handy Tip:

Set aside the rolled cheedais for a few minutes before frying. I do this so as to prevent the oil from bursting. Uppu cheedais are notorious for spluttering hot oil everywhere, so I always keep a distance while frying them!

Tofu Bhurji

Its been one of those crazy days following an equally crazy busy spring break! To tell you the truth, when the spring break started, was kind of dreading it and wondering what I am going to do with my little one for 10 whole days. But the days just whizzed past full of activities and fun, get-togethers, picnics, a visit to the Barclay's Center to watch a basket ball match, a day devoted to exploring and learning science at the Liberty Science Center and so on and so forth!

Once the break was over and everything was back to routine, I thought things would begin to calm down, but no! Something or the other has been keeping me on my toes. Add to that a whole lot of pigging out and no exercise for all this time, followed by an attempt at being regular at the gym is leaving me sore and tired every night. Hopefully things will get better by next week...

Today kind of topped it all - a major grocery trip took up most of my morning. Add to that the usual chores and workout as well as kiddo's school and extra curricular activities - all in a day's work. But the cherry on the top - some problem with the water supply left us with no water to cook! The repair was done by evening, but the day was beautiful. I mean, after all these months cooped up due to the cold weather, no way was I giving up the chance to let myself and the little one soak up some much needed Vitamin - D with the unusually warm temperature. Finally, was left with 30 minutes to prepare dinner - 30 minutes when I was already tired, hungry - exhausted!

The pressure cooker took care of rice and a simple dal tadka. Fortunately, I had prepared sufficient chapathi dough for the night when I packed my son's lunch in the morning. For the side dish, I opted for Tofu Bhurji.

Wait - don't react to the name. Just try it once - I assure you, it is as good as egg bhurji and paneer bhurji. Infact, if you don't like the smell of egg, this is perfect. No egg smell, yet the wonderful bhurji taste! The best part? Bare minimal vegetable cutting and a quick fix dish!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes          Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Tofu - 1 14 oz package
Scallions - 4-5, green and white parts sliced seperately

Tomatoes - 2, diced fine


Capsicum - 1 small, diced
Coriander/Dhania Powder - ½ teaspoon
Cumin/Jeera Powder - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Sabzi Masala - 1 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin Seeds -  ½ teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 teaspoon
Turmeric/Haldi Powder - ½ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil -  tablespoon

Method:

1. Heat oil and add the cumin seeds.
2. When the cumin seeds start crackling, add the white part of the scallions along with the ginger garlic paste.
3. When the scallions turn a golden brown, add in the tomatoes, capsicum, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder.
4. Let these cook for about 5 minutes. Now break the tofu and add it.
5. Add the sabzi masala and cook stirring constantly till all the moisture from the tofu evaporates about 4-5 minutes.

Garnish with the green parts of the scallion and serve hot with phulkas.

Rava Laddoo

Hello everybody! Am still in "Holi" mode! While part of me misses all the fun and revelry associated with this festival in India, another part says "come on, you get to celebrate multiple times, so what if its on a smaller scale"!

The thing is, Holi fell on 27th March which was a working day. So hubby & kiddo went to work and school respectively. But then the little one had a half day and then we got to go for the Easter Egg Hunt along with a photo op with the Easter Bunny in our community. This was followed by a "mini" holi celebration of sorts with a few friends. Oh wait, there was also and accident involving a pointed pencil, an Easter egg and a rushed visit to the pediatrician to get a tiny hand bandaged (don't get me started on that!), but that was forgotten in the over all excitement of the day!

And tomorrow is another get together for some more color play followed by a potluck dinner - more masti, more magic!

Now, ghujia is a staple as far as holi is concerned for me. But since I had planned on making some for the weekend celebration, I wanted to make something else on the actual festival. The time constraint led me to think of making rava laddoos. To give it a "holi" feel, I added some food color and made tiny colorful laddoos! My little one got a real kick out of popping these small balls into his mouth :)

Generally I make these bigger, without food color. I also add some coconut and cashew nuts. But I was out of coconut and had no time to run a grocery errand. Also, couldn't add the nuts as my son is allergic to them and I had neither the time nor the patience to make two separate batches, one with and one without nuts, which is what I normally do. By all means, feel free to omit the food color and include the coconut and nuts, though to be honest, I did not really miss the coconut or the cashews!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes (excluding 30 minutes cooling)       Makes: 30 approx.

Ingredients:
Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1 cup
Sugar - ½ cup
Water - ¼ cup
Saffron Essence - ¼ teaspoon
Cardamom/Elaichi Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Maida/All Purpose Flour - 1 tablespoon
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Food Color - As many as you want - a pinch of each

Method:

1. Roast semolina with ghee till it turns slightly golden brown and gives off a nice aroma.

2. Boil sugar, water and saffron essence till the sugar dissolves completely then add in the cardamom powder.

3. Gradually add in the semolina and the maida, stirring constantly till all the sugar syrup is absorbed, making sure there are no lumps. Switch off the flame, close and keep aside for about half an hour till the mixture is cooled and is relatively thicker and easier to shape into balls.

4. Separate the mixture into equal portions for the different colors, add a pinch of food color to each portion, knead and roll into smooth balls.

Voila! Colorful laddoos for a colorful festival!!

My Very First Blogging Recognition - The Liebster Award

My birthday, a hectic week and a general sense of lethargy - all added up to my not visiting my blog for  a whole week. Imagine my surprise then when I came across this comment on on of my posts - "Hii,Happy to pass my Liebster award to you :)".

Now, for someone who just started blogging for a lark, has no idea where she stands on this wide platform, not to forget, someone who hasn't won anything in her blogger avatar, the words "award" and " you" were enough to bring a wide smile to my face! So, Preeti Jaipal of "Kitchen Delicacies", I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for giving me the pleasure of winning my first ever recognition!

OK, once the initial euphoria settled down, I wanted to find out what exactly this award was. Visiting Kitchen Delicacies gave me a rough idea as to what this was all about. Then I googled "Liebster Awards". There were a lot of different versions going on. The rules varied from passing the award to 5 bloggers to 15 bloggers! The number of followers ranged from 200 to 3000! Anyways, after reading the numerous google search results, here is what I concluded (or should I say, here is the gist of what I understood;) )-

 The term "Liebster" is German, meaning "dear" or "beloved". This is an award given to up and coming bloggers to encourage them and show them your love and support. If you choose to accept it, you must:

1. Mention 11 random facts about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions the tagger has set for you.
3. Choose 11 new bloggers, having less than 200 followers, and pass on the award to them, linking them on your post.
4. Leave a comment on their blog, telling them about the award.
5. No back tagging!
6. Frame 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.

Simple!

So, you see, this may not count as a major achievement to many people - I mean there is no website acknowledging you receiving the award, no judge/jury - just fellow bloggers  recognizing and appreciating the work you put in. For me, that is reward enough :)

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I am an avid reader - prefer fiction, but won't hesitate to read pretty much anything and everything I can lay my hands on!
2. I have an enormous sweet tooth - just can't resist anything sweet!
3. I love the fresh smell of wet mud after the first rains.
4. Knitting and crocheting relax me.
5. I love listening to music - language no bar, genre no bar.
6. I have a shoe fetish - seriously! My closet is filled with slippers & shoes, some of which I haven't worn more than once or twice!
7. I love dancing. It is my stress buster, my mood elevator :)
8. I am a cleanliness freak. Infact my tendency to fuss about cleaning and my love for cooking have earned me the moniker "Monica" - you know Monica Geller from Friends!
9. Regardless of whether I have a list or not, when I go shopping, I always go overboard!
10. I am terrified of water - as in I have a fear of drowning.
11. I don't watch TV regularly, but whenever I do, I do marathon shows - 3 hours of Bones or 4 hours of Top Chef or a whole day of Law & Order - you name it I have done it!

11 Questions For Me:

1. What’s the best thing you ever ate?
     I can't seem to pick one thing! Be it my mom's Vengaaya Sambaar with Potato Curry, or the Schezuan Ravioli at Confucius or the the steaming hot Idiappam & Stew eaten on a houseboat in Alleppey on my honeymoon - I love them all!

2. What is your favorite place for holidaying?
     Kerala, India

3. Do you watch TV shows?  If so, which is your favorite?
    Off and on... The current craze is The Big Bang Theory

4. What beauty product you cannot live without?
    I use my fair share of cosmetics, but something that I cannot live without - my moisturizer!

5. What you always aspired to be? Are your aspirations met?
     I always aspired to make a name for myself as a Bharatanatyam dancer. No, kind of left those dreams behind...

6. How do you spend your free time?
     I read, knit/crochet and listen to music when I have leisure time on hand.

7. What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?
    The most exciting this I have done so far is river rafting.

8. Which is your favorite recipe from your blog?
    My favorite recipe on the blog is surprising not a sweet dish! It is the apple thokku!

9. What’s your favorite thing to have for dessert?
    I love rasagullas! Perfect dessert!

10. Your favorite shopping destination?
      No, its not Dubai or Honk Kong or New York - it is my good old Delhi! Specially in the company of my sister!

11. Sports or academics, your pick?
      Definitely academics - Much to the disappointment of my hubby, I do not possess a single athletic bone!

11 Questions From Me:

1. What is the craziest thing you ever did?
2. If not a food blog, what?
3. Where do you get your inspirations for cooking?
4. Which chef influences your cooking the most?
5. Who is your best critic?
6. What would be the first thing on your bucket list?
7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
8. Name your favorite author or book?
9. Which is your favorite place to hang out with friends?
10. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
11. Which cuisine is your culinary strong point?

I am passing on this Liebster award to:

http://amateurscookingdiary.blogspot.in/
http://thehumptydumptykitchen.blogspot.in/
http://foody-buddy.blogspot.in/
http://www.rita-bose-cooking.com
http://easycooknbake.blogspot.com
http://sumeesculinary.blogspot.com/
http://www.sirisfood.com/
http://dishingwithdivya.blogspot.com/
http://great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com
http://manjusfoodbites.blogspot.in/
http://spicyfoood.blogspot.in/

Vegetable Upma

It was one of those days when none of us were in a mood to eat a full fledged meal. All I got when I asked what do you want for dinner was "Make something light".

My standard resort on such occasions is poha or sabudana khichdi or idli/dosa - you get the drif! Along the same lines, this time I made vegetable rava upma - a standard breakfast item at weddings and such along with the usual idli/vada/pongal!

It was only very recently that I came to know that in Tamil Nadu, this dish is actually called "khichdi"! The discovery in  itself was an amusing incident involving two of my friends - one from Madras (I still can't think of it as Chennai!), the other from Orissa and ofcourse me! When the latter fed her kids "khichdi", the former was puzzled that it looked more like dal rice with vegetables and there was no sign of rava in it! After much confusion and some arguing, we realized that while two of us called the rice and lentils cooked with vegetables "khichdi" (I think that's what most of the country calls it!) the other one was looking for vegetable rava upma!

As far as my husband and kid are concerned, when I say upma, it means vegetable rava upma. There is no way they are eating a plain upma! Also, one wants any and every vegetable, while the other is allergic to nuts and can't stand the sight of onions and capsicum in his. So, I end up making "customized" upma!

What I mean is that, I cook my vegetables (I used the frozen mix of peas, carrots, beans and corn and added diced potatoes to it) separately in the microwave but saute the onions and capsicum along with the tempering in another pan! You can prepare the tempering and cook all the vegetables directly in the saucepan that you are using to make the upma. I just find it handy and quick to do all these things separately and since its the dishwasher that cleans the dishes, I don't hesitate to use an additional pot/pan!

So, while the rava is being roasted, I boil water in the kettle, cook the veggies in the microwave and simultaneously prepare the tempering mix! Finally, I just add everything in parts, making sure to separate my son's share before adding the tempering. But by all means prepare the tempering, add in the rest of the vegetables, add water, bring it to a boil and mix in the roasted rava - all in the same vessel.

Whichever way you choose to cook it, whatever you choose to serve it with (I did not go to the trouble of making chutney or sambaar, a Lime Ginger pickle was enough to satisfy us!) - this is a simple, fulfilling yet "light" meal!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes          Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Rava/Sooji/Cream Of Wheat - 1 cup

Green Chillies - 2, chopped fine
Ginger - a small bit, minced
Turmeric/Haldi Powder - ½ teaspoon
Mixed Vegetables - 1 cup (beans, carrots, peas, corn, potatoes)
Potato - 1 small, diced
Capsicum - 1 small, diced
Onion - 1 small, choped fine
Curry Leaves -  a few
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Water - 3 cups
For Tempering: 
Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1 tablespoon
Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon 
Urad Dal/Black Gram Dal - 1 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin Seeds -  ½ teaspoon
Chana Dal/Bengal Gram Dal -  ½ teaspoon
Cashews - 10-12, broken


Method:

1. Microwave the vegetables for 5-7 minutes, till they are cooked.
2. Bring about 3 cups of water to a boil in a kettle or another vessel - this hastens the cooking process as we don't have to wait for the bottle to boil when we add it to the rava.
3. Heat the remaining ghee for tempering, add in mustard, jeera, urad dal and chana dal. When the mustard and cumin seeds splutter and the dals turn a golden brown, add in the curry leaves and cashews. 
4. When the cashews get a reddish tinge, add the onions. When the onions turn transluscent add the green chillies, ginger and capsicum and saute for a couple of minutes, then take off the flame.
5. Roast the rava with 1 tablespoon of ghee till it turns a reddish tinge and gives off a nice aroma.
6. Now, slowly pour in the hot water, stirring constantly so it doesn't form lumps.
7. Continue to stir and cook till the rava reaches a smooth consistent texture and has absorbed most of the water.
8. Now add the turmeric, salt, mixed vegetables and the prepared tempering.
9. Mix everything well and cook for another minute.

Serve hot with chutney/sambaar or plain old pickle - yummy!

Tapioca Pudding

Whenever I order bubble tea, my son makes me filter out the tapioca pearls in there so he can eat them. He just loves them. I don't have easy access to those big tapioca pearls, so I thought why not buy the tiny ones and make some tapioca pudding for him.

Now, all the pudding recipes I looked at had eggs in them, but I wanted to make an eggless version. Whenever I look for eggless cake recipes, people usually use condensed milk to make them. So, I decided to do the same for this pudding as well. I just adjusted the quantity of milk used accordingly and completely did away with sugar as I used sweetened condensed milk.

As far as flavors go,  I did add some cardamom powder as that is a standard spice used when making the similar Indian version of this pudding - Sabudana Kheer! I thought a little  saffron would team up beautifully with the cardamom. But ofcourse I couldn't  just stop myself there. I thought about what else I could add. All the standard pudding recipes had vanilla essence, so I added a bit of that as well. Then I remembered that I had some coconut pineapple ice cream in my freezer. Coconut would definitely blend in with all the other flavors and pineapple would add a nice touch - so thats it, I added a scoop of the ice cream as well!

The end result was this gooey delicious mouthful of flavors that I simply loved! Well, the little one whom I actually made it for decided he did not want to eat it. "Amma, I want the big brown chewy pearls - not this!" was his explanation for not trying it! All I said was, his loss, my gain. Of course I'll be hunting a chinese grocery store close by to buy his "big brown chewy pearls" but I sure am glad I made this and will probably make it again as dessert when I have guests over next.

The best thing about this was, I made it in the crockpot, so it did not require constant monitoring. I got done in about a couple of hours, the first hour of which was spent in getting my son back from school and running a couple of errands! Also, I did not soak the tapioca seeds before cooking, two hours in the crockpot got it perfectly cooked.

Feel free to experiment with other spices and flavors, but if you want a hassle free dessert - this one fits the bill!

Preparation & Cooking: 2 hours          Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Small Pearl Tapioca Seeds - 3 tablespoons
Milk - 2 cups
Condensed Milk - 1 can
Salt - ¼ teaspoon
Cardamom (Elaichi) Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Saffron (Kesar) - a few strands
Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon
Coconut Pineapple Ice Cream - 1 scoop

Method:

1. In the crock pot combine tapioca seeds, milk and salt and cook on high for 1 hour.

2. Add in the condensed milk, cardamom powder, saffron strands and vanilla essence and cook for another 45 minutes.

3. Finally mix in the scoop of ice cream, cook for another 15 minutes and switch off the crockpot.

Serve hot or chilled...

Lemon Rasam

How often, when asked about what we cooked for dinner, have we responded with -"Oh nothing, just some rasam"! Just think about it, even a simple dal gets a better mention when compared with this South Indian staple. What do we turn to when we are down with the sniffles, what do we resort to cooking when we are out of time and ideas, what do we make when we are thinking of home - as far as I am concerned, the answer to all these is Rasam.

Today's recipe is the humble Rasam -  Lemon Rasam. For the uninitiated, there are a zillion different varieties of rasam, not the standard one prepared in the restaurants. Ditto for sambaars. But that is for another day and another post. For now, let us stick to the lemon rasam. Infact, I prepare lemon rasam also in two different ways. One is from the recipe book "Dakshin". The other, the one that I am posting today, is the way my mom prepares it.

Rasam is generally associated with a tamarind base, but for lemon rasam, you don't need any tamarind. The lemon provides the required tanginess. I have used homemade rasam powder - will soon be posting the recipe for the same. Feel free to use the store bought one thought. Serve rasam with rice and a curry on the side or drink it up hot and steaming as I do - yummy!

Preparation & Cooking: 15 minutes          Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Toor Dal/Red Gram Dal - ¼ cup
Tomato - 1
Green Chillies - 2
Ginger - a small bit
Turmeric/Haldi Powder - ½ teaspoon
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Rasam Powder - 1 teaspoon
Water - 4 cups
Lemon - 1
Curry Leaves -  a few
Salt - to taste
Cilantro Leaves - for garnish
For Tempering: 
Ghee/Clarified Butter - 2 teaspoons
Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Whole Red Chillies - 2

Method:

1. Cook the dal in a pressure cooker with a pinch of turmeric and salt, till it is soft and mushy.
2. Grind together the tomato, ginger and green chillies into a smooth puree.
3. Combine the prepared puree, 4 cups of water, asafoetida, turmeric powder, rasam powder, curry leaves and salt in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil.
4. Once the liquid begins to froth over, mash the cooked dal with the back of a ladle and add it to the rasam. Let it cook for another minute.

5. Turn off the flame and add the the juice from one lemon. 
6. Prepare the tempering by heating the ghee and adding the mustard seeds and red chillies to it. When the must seeds splutter, add the tempering to the rasam. Garnish with cilantro leaves

Serve hot with rice and side dish of choice.

Veggie Orzo Pockets

I am always breaking my head over what to pack for lunch for my little one. Doesn't matter that I try not to repeat the same thing very often, I still get the "amma, please give me something different" from him! I am sure most parents with school going kids would relate to this, or should I say most moms? Now I understand why my mom's daily bedtime lament used to be "naalaiku ennadi pack pannaradu lunchuku?" - meaning, what am I going to pack for your lunch tomorrow!

Idlis, dosas, chapathis, pooris, rice based dishes, soups, pasta , sandwiches and even maggi - you name it and I have packed it! His favorite is stuffed paraatha, because he finds it easier to hold the paraatha rolled in a foil and eat while yapping away with his friends. But there are only so many varieties of stuffing that I can prepare at 5 in the morning!

Anyways, I am always looking for ways to combine vegetables and some form of grain in an easy to handle compact form that would appeal to my fussy eater! While thinking along those lines, I hit upon this idea. Am sure its nothing unique and has been tried by someone or the other somewhere. But this is the first time I tried this, and it was a huge hit!

I always keep crescent roll dough tubes stocked up in my refrigerator as they come in very handy - specially during the weekends when we have friends over for "chai-nashta". Now I thought, why not make pizza pockets with the same. But I wanted to add something more filling to it. My son loves pasta in various shapes and sizes - so I settled on orzo as the grain. He loves marinara sauce. While I have made sauces from scratch, it is just too much to ask of me if you are expecting me to make a small amount of the sauce everytime I make pasta for my kid! Though I am not a big fan of ready to use products, there are certain instances where I make an exception - pasta sauce is one of them - to be specific, store bought bottled marinara sauce; I am not too brand specific, though my current favorite is Giada's Vegetable Marinara sauce. I added a bit of this. Now, how could I leave out the veggies - so I went ahead and added some carrots, zucchini and broccoli as well. Feel free to add any vegetable you like - infact I even thought of using radishes but dropped the idea the last minute as I felt it would be too pungent and wouldn't blend in with the rest of the flavors. Forgot to remove them before clicking the final picture though :p!! Finally comes the cheese - come on, its a baked product for my kidddo - obviously am going to add cheese - loads of it!

The end result was a surprisingly quick, delicious and filling meal that was easy to handle and well liked by my sweetie pie! After the way he asked "amma, can I have the same thing tomorrow?" - this one is a keeper!

Preparation & Cooking: 30 minutes          Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Mixed Vegetables (Sliced Carrots, Diced Zucchini and Broccoli Florets) - ¼  cup
Orzo - ¼  cup, cooked tender

Ready Made Marinara Pasta Sauce - 4 tablespoons
Kraft Shredded Natural Italian Five Cheese Blend - ¼  cup
(Mozarella, Provolone, Romano, Asiago and Parmesan)
Parmesan Cheese -  ¼  cup, finely grated
Fresh Cracked Pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
Cooking Spray - to grease the baking sheet
Pillsbury Crescent Roll - 1 tube

Method:

1. Preheat  the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
2. Cook the orzo till tender. Drain and keep aside.
3. Saute the carrots and zucchini in olive oil till they soften. Then add in the broccoli, and marinara sauce. Give it a good stir.

4. Now add in the orzo, salt and pepper. Mix well.



5. Roll out the dough, keeping the rectangles intact. Smudge over the dotted edges of the triangles with your fingers so they smoothen out and don't break into triangles. Cut each rectangle into three smaller rectangles.
6. Place a small amount of the vegetable orzo on each cut piece and top it with the cheeses.

7. Wrap the pockets over and seal the edges. Place them on baking sheets and bake in the oven for about 12 minutes till the top is nicely browned

Serve hot. Or cool down completely, wrap in a foil and pack them up in the lunch box for the little ones to enjoy at school!

Sending this across to

Vardhini's Bake Fest # 16 guest hosted by  Surabhi.