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.

Kalan

Another day of the flour-less saga continues. I had to make something rice based as chapathi was out of question. I didn't have any suitable vegetables to make sambar and I did not feel like making rasam. That is when I remembered the bible of Tam Bram cooking (or should I say south Indian cooking?) - "Samaithu Paar" by Meenakshi Ammal! Something thats passed on by Iyer/Iyengar moms to their sons when they "go abroad" for higher studies or work and to their daughters when they get married! I have my copy too, infact one edition given by my m-i-l to DH (he hadn't bothered to open it ever!) .

While browsing through it, I came across a section that said "Keralite Recipes" and this is where I found my recipe for tonight's post. I made Kalan. Traditionally you can make it with yam and or plantains. I did not have any yam, but I did have plantains, so vazhakai kalan it was for dinner tonight!

While grinding coconut and green chillies for the recipe, I accidentally added a teaspoon of cumin seeds as well, which was not mentioned in the book. This happened because most kootu recipes that I make call for a paste of cumin seeds, green chillies and coconut. I could not do anything about it as it was too late to remove the cumin seeds from the paste, but you know what, I loved the taste nevertheless.

Another thing I changed was I added sour cream to the paste along with yogurt. The reason for this was that the recipe called for sour curds, which I did not have. Combining sour cream with yogurt seemed like the best substitute, and that's exactly what I did.

Instead of adding the paste separately then churning the yogurt and adding, I put everything into the blender together and gave it a good spin. Certainly made things easier that way...

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes                    Serves: 2-3
Ingredients:

Plantains/Vazhakai - 2 big ones or 4 small ones
Yogurt - 2 cups
Sour Cream - 2 tablespoons
Haldi/Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
To be ground to a paste:
Green chillies - 3-4
Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Coconut - 2 heaped tablespoons, grated
For the Tempering:
Coconut Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek Seeds - ¼ teaspoon
Red Chillies - 2-3
Curry Leaves - a few

Method:

• Peel and cube the plantains.

• In a vessel add the cubed plantains, turmeric powder, salt and some water and bring it to a boil.

• Reduce the flame and let it boil the the plantains turn soft and  are loved thoroughly.

• In the meantime, grind the green chillies, cumin seeds and coconut together.

• Make it into a smooth paste using some of the water from the boiling plantains if necessary.

• Now add in the yogurt and sour cream as well and blend thoroughly.

• Once the plantains are cooked, add this yogurt mixture and mix well.

• Lower the flame and stir constantly, otherwise the yogurt will curdle.

• While it is cooking, heat oil in  a separate vessel and add the tempering ingredients. When the seeds splutter, take them off the heat add add this tempering to the cooked plantains.

Yummy Delicious Kalan is ready! Serve hot with rice and a vegetable side dish.

Dahi Urad Dal

Every night for dinner, Monday through Thursday, I try to put some kind of protein in the form of dal, chole, rajma etc and one veggie side dish as an accompaniment to rotis and rice. There are a wide variety of dals and beans available, even then, I feel like I exhaust the list very soon and then end up repeating recipes. So I try my best to try out the same pulses (lentils) and beans with variations in spice and cooking method.

Tonight's recipe is one such creation. Dahi Urad dal is my take on the sukhi urad dal that is a typical preparation for black gram dal, albeit in a liquified form!

When I made this dal for the first time, my husband's reaction was are you sure you can cook this dal  in this way, isn't urad dal just meant for tempering curries? Infact, a couple of my friends had similar reactions when I mentioned making this, urad dal, really? Isn't that for idli batter and dahi vadas?

Well, its a dal that softens pretty quicky on cooking (specially if you soak it for an hour prior to cooking). Also, it tastes good. So, why not? It has its own unique taste and serves as a nice change from the usual toor, moong & masoor dals. So, go ahead and make it for dinner next...

Preparation & Cooking: 1hour for soaking dal + 20 minutes                   Serves: 2-3
Ingredients:
Urad/Black Gram Dal - 1 cup (use the split dal without skin)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric/Haldi Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
Ghee - 2 teaspoons
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Onion - 1 small, sliced thin
Green Chillies - 2, slit
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon

Method:

• Soak the urad dal in water for about an hour.

• Pressure cook this dal with ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, salt & water till the dal is cooked well and can be mashed easily with the back of the laddle.
• Once the  pressure is completely out, open the cooker, add more water if desired and the yogurt, stirring continuously on a low flame, so that the yogurt does not curdle. When the yogurt is well mixed switch off the flame.

• In the meantime, heat the ghee and oil in a saucepan and add the cumin seeds and asafoetida.
• Once the cumin seeds crackle, add the onions and green chillies and saute them till the onions begin to brown.

• Just before taking the onions off the flame, add the Kashmiri red chilli powder and add these onions to the dal.

Mix well and serve.

Tomato Raita

Ok, so by now you know I'll make raita out of almost any kind of vegetable/fruit. I cannot help it, I just cannot eat/drink plain yogurt. I need it camouflaged, and what better way to do it than make raita. Be it with rice dishes or with parathas, raitas are wonderful accompaniments and easy to make.

I had some cherry tomatoes in the refrigerator and decided to go ahead and use those for making raita this weekend to go with my lunch of vegetable fried rice. I used Greek yogurt but you could make it with regular yogurt. Also, feel free to substitute cherry tomatoes with Roma or any other tomatoes.

Preparation & Cooking:10 minutes             Serves:2

Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes - 1 cup
Greek Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Clove/Laung Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
For Tempering:
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Black Gram/Urad Dal - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch

Method:

• Quarter the tomatoes and set them aside.

• Whisk the yogurt along with a little water and add the salt, sugar, clove powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder and mix well.

• Heat the oil and add the ingredients for tempering. When the seeds splutter, add the tomatoes and give it a good stir. 

• Take it off the flame and add it to the prepared yogurt and mix well.

Quick and delicious tomato raita is ready to serve.

Aloo Raita

When we think raita, the vegetables that come to mind are tomato, onion and cucumber. Also, this chilled condiment  does not usually require cooking. But the raita that I am writing about today has none of the above mentioned vegetables (I know tomato is technically a fruit, but lets just call it a vegetable anyway - OK?). And it does require cooking.

I am talking about aloo raita. I love this raita though I don't make it very often. This dish is reserved for those moments when we have guests over and occasionally when we are  not counting calories, but are just in the mood for some refreshingly different raita!

Preparation & Cooking - 20 minutes               Serves : 3-4 

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2
Cumin/Jeera Seeds - ½ teaspoon
Roasted Cumin/Jeera Seeds Powder - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Hing/Asafoetida Powder- a pinch
Chaas Masala -  ½ teaspoon
Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt - to taste

Method:

Peel and dice the potatoes. Microwave them with a little water for 5 minutes or boil them until soft but not mashed.

Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds to it along with the asafoetida.

When the cumin seeds begin to crackle, add the boiled potatoes and fry them till they turn golden brown.

Add in the cumin powder, red chilli powder and salt and mix well. Drain out the potatoes on an absorbent paper.

Dilute the yogurt with some water so that it reaches the desired consistency. Add chaas masala and salt and mix well.

Add the fried potatoes. Sprinkle some red chilli powder and roasted cumin powder for garnish.

Delicious raita is ready to accompany your paratha.

Dahi Vada

I love dahi vada and so does my hubby. Growing up, my mother used to make dahi vadas quite often. My little one also likes it. Most restaurants and buffets will it as an appetizer but we like to eat it like a dessert! Its a very simple recipe. I have used tamarind-dates chutney here, the recipe for which I will post very soon. You could use the ready made "meetha" chutney also instead.

Preparation: 20 minutes (excludes soaking time)            Serves:4
Ingredients:

Urad Dal - ½ cupGreen chillies - 2-3
Ginger - a small bit
Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
Salt - to taste 
Sugar - a pinch
Yogurt - 1 cup (whisked smooth)
Mint-Coriander Chutney - 2 tablespoons
Tamarind-Dates Chutney - 4-5 tablespoons
Roasted Cumin (Jeera) Powder - 2-3 teaspoons
Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
Oil - for deep frying
Warm Water - to soak the vadas

Method:

• Soak the urad dal in water for at least 3-4 hours.

• Rinse and grind it with green chillies and ginger into a smooth batter, adding very little water.

• Add a pinch of asafoetida and the required amount of salt and whisk it with a fork till it becomes soft and fluffy.

•  Deep fry small spoon fulls of this batter until they become golden brown.

• Drain them out on absorbent paper to remove the excess oil.

•  Soak these vadas in warm water for at least 45 minutes to an hour. 

• In the mean time, whisk the yogurt into a smooth consistency, adding water if required. 
• To this, add the mint coriander chutney, a pinch of asafoetida, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste

•  After about an hour of soaking the vadas, squeeze out all the water, taking care not to break the vadas, and immerse them in the yogurt.

• When you are ready to serve, place a couple of vadas with enough yogurt to cover them up in the serving dish. Sprinkle them with a little cumin powder and a little red chilli powder and drizzle some tamarind dates chutney over it.

Lip smacking dahi vadas are ready to be served!

Creamy Cucumber Avocado Raita

I am an exception among Tamilians! I don't like curd rice! I just about tolerate it. In fact the only thing that can induce me to have "thair sadam" is a pickle. But I do appreciate the importance of yogurt consumption as a part of my dietary requirement, so I dress it up as much as possible! As a result, I make raita's very often. Today my refrigerator yielded a cucumber and an avocado - my favorite combination for raita. So, cucumber avocado raita for dinner it was!

I normally use plain non-fat yogurt, but yogurt was a little on the short side today, and having returned from a mini-break of sorts, I was in no mood to run down to the grocery store for some yogurt. A little digging around in the refrigerator turned up a small 6 oz carton of plain Greek yogurt. Worked out perfectly fine! 

I used a food processor, so just needed 5 minutes to prepare. Using a grater to grate the cucumber and mashing the avocado and whisking the yogurt by hand would add on to the preparation time.

Preparation: 5 minutes                   Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1

Avocado - 1 (scoop out the pulp with a spoon)

Plain Yogurt - ½ cup (I used non-fat yogurt)

Plain Greek Yogurt - a 6 oz carton (once again the non-fat kind)

Mint Coriander Chutney - 2 teaspoons

Roasted Cumin (Jeera) Powder - ½ teaspoon

Red Chilli Powder - a pinch

Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Method:

• Using the shredding attachment in the food processor, grate the cucumber.
• Now fix the regular chopping blade and add in the rest of the ingredients.

• Pulse it a few times till the mixture attains a semi-smooth consistency. The avocado should be nicely mashed and the yogurt should not be lumpy.

Serve it chilled.

Sending this across to

hosted by Surbhi of  My Cook Book

Paalak Kadhi

There are some days when you just don’t want to go the daily roti - sabzi - dal route. I love rice (that’s kind of obvious I guess, what with being a Tam-Bram & all)! And some days I have a hankering to eat a simple rice based meal. On one such day, I decided to make kadhi chawal.

Kadhi is a yogurt and chickpea flour based gravy dish. There are different kinds of Kadhi’s – you have the Punjabi kadhi (ooh for some kadhi pakoris), the Gujarati kadhi (served with the quintessential khichdi) and the Sindhi kadhi (this one is a more elaborate mixed vegetable based one). You can think of it as a cousin of the South Indian Mor Khuzambu!

The simplest of kadhi’s I have ever eaten was one my mom used to make when in hurry – but that one is for another day and another post. Today I am going to write about my Paalak/Spinach Kadhi.

Preparation & Cooking: 15 minutes                        Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Onion – 1 small (finely chopped)

Spinach – 1 small bunch (approximately 2 cups chopped)

Cilantro – a handful (finely chopped)

Green chillies – 4 small (can reduce the number if you prefer mild food) (ground into a paste)

Ginger – 1 small piece

Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon

Carom seeds (Ajwain/Omam) – ½ teaspoon

Red chillies – 2-3

Curry leaves – a few

Asafoetida (Hing) – a pinch

Chickpea flour (Besan/Kadalai Maavu) – 2 tablespoons

Turmeric – ½ teaspoon

Yogurt – 1 cup

Water – 1 cup

Sour cream – 2 teaspoons

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Salt- to taste

Method:

1.       In a pan, heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds, carom seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and asafetida.

2.       Once the seeds splutter, add the chopped onions and sauté them till the turn translucent.

3.       Now add the green chilli paste along with the chopped spinach and cilantro.

4.       Make a smooth mix of yogurt, water, sour cream, chickpea flour, and turmeric. Pour this into the pan.

5.       Keep the flame low and let this simmer until it begins to boil and thicken, stirring off and on. Now take it off the flame. Kadhi is ready to be served. It is best served hot with rice.

Handy Tip: Keeping the gas on a low flame and stirring prevents the yogurt from curdling. I added sour cream because I did not have any sour yogurt on hand. You may replace the yogurt & sour cream with just plain yogurt that has turned sour or even with butter milk.

Sending this to Lisa's A Celebration of Indian Food and a Giveaway - Part Two
and  Kiran’s  ”Cooking with Whole Foods – Spinach” event guest hosted by Vardhini at