DEVAKOTTAI SAMAYAL ARAI

  Today, I am going to share the recipe for a yummy dessert, which is one of my favorites. It's richness and flavor will want you to have more and more!! The following measurements makes 16 cups of payasam/ pudding Almonds - 20 ; Soak these almonds in water overnight Sona Masoori rice - 1/4 cup; Soak in water overnight Water - 2 cups Milk - 8 cups ( I used whole milk, you can use any milk of your choice) Saffron / Kesar - Soak a few strands in 1 cup of warm milk and keep a few strands aside, to garnish  Sugar - 1 1/2 cups or as per your taste First remove the skin from the almonds and roughly chop into pieces. Then in a blender, add the chopped almonds, soaked rice and the saffron milk and grind to a fine paste. Now in a saucepan, add 2 cups of water and the almond-rice paste and mix well. Then switch on the stove and let it boil for 5 minutes. Keep stirring continuously.  Once the rice and almond paste has cooked, add the 7 cups of milk. Let it boil on low heat, keep sti...

Hey everyone! The reason behind this appetizing recipe..... On an auspicious day of April 13, which is the Tamil New Year,  I was looking for mangoes to make the Mango Pachadi with jaggery on this auspicious day, but could not buy one. So I was trying to find a replacement for mangoes and  voilà  !  I found these cranberries in my freezer. Sans plus tarder, let's get to the recipe! All you need is 1 cup - fresh or frozen (You can buy fresh cranberries during the season and wash and pat dry them and freeze for later use) 1/2 cup - diced red onions (you can also use white onions) 2 to 3 tbsp - crushed jaggery (you can substitute it with brown sugar) 1 tsp - red chilli powder 1/2 tsp - turmeric powder 2 tbsp  - cooking oil ( I used canola oil) salt to taste For Seasoning- 1/2 tsp - mustard seeds 1/4 tsp - asafoetida  1- whole red chilli broken into 2 pieces a few curry leaves In a skillet, pour 2 tbsp oil and when the oil i...

On this auspicious day of Tamil New Year , Sweet Mango Pachadi  must be prepared. It is a sweet and sour dish. You will need Mango - 1 Jaggery - 1/4 cup Onion - 2 tbsp chopped Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Dry Red Chilli - 1 no. Curry Leaves - few Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch 1. Peel the mango, and cut into pieces, leaving out the seed and cook it in water on stovetop     until it is just cooked and not mashed. 2. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, put mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing, let them crackle. 3. Add the chopped onions and a dash of salt and sautee them. 4. Now, add the cooked mango pieces along with the water. 5. Now, add the grated jaggery and let it come to a boil, switch off the stove. Mango Pachadi is ready !

On the Tamil New Year's Day, we have to cook dishes with all the 6 different tastes, i.e. அறுசுவை உணவு . Neem Flowers- dried - 1 tsp crushed Tomato - 1 medium Garlic - 2 pods crushed Tamarind - 1 lime size , soaked in water and pulp taken Salt as per taste Cumin  Pepper Powder - 1tsp Water - 1 1/2 cups to temper - Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp Pepper Corns - 5 Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp Dry Red Chilli - 2, broken into pieces Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves - few 1. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and add all the ingredients for tempering and let them crackle. 2. Then add the garlic , tomato and turmeric powder and sautee well. 3. Now add the tamarind pulp and 1 1/2 cups of water. 4. Once it starts to form bubbles around the pot, add the salt, cumin pepper powder and also sprinkle     the crushed neem flowers and switch off the stove . Note : If you are using fresh Neem Flowers, you can saute it in ghee and add to the recipe. Veppam Poo rasam is read...

எல்லோருக்கும் எங்கள் தமிழ் "மன்மத" புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் !  My grandma says Black eyed beans brings good luck ! But we need not restrict cooking this only on auspicious days. We can make it as a side dish. It is not only lucky... but also... it is high in dietary fibre, potassium, magnesium, Vitmain A...  I will be updating some health benefits of Karamani (black eyed pea) in my other blog. I will post the link here for your convinience. Black Eyed Beans Curry Black eyed beans - 1 cup (soak this in water for 1 to 2 hours) Onion - 1 large Tomato - 1 medium Chilli Powder - 1 tsp Coriander Powder - 2 tsp Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - as per taste Tamarind - small gooseberry size (soak it and take the pulp) Temper with Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad Dal - 1 tsp Curry Leaves - few Asafoetida 1. Pressure cook the beans with 1/2 tsp salt and water. 2.In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, add all the ingredients for tempering and allow them to crackle. 3. Add...

Sakkarai Pongal (Sweet Rice) I am giving a simple recipe for Sweet Pongal You will need: Raw Rice (Sona Masoori)  - 1 cup Yellow Moong Dal (paasi paruppu) - 1/4 cup Water - 5 cups Cardamom - 4 pods Jaggery ( grated / powdered ) - 2 cups Ghee - 1 tbsp Cashewnuts - few Kishmish (Raisins) - few First wash the rice and dal , add water and pressure cook it for 5 minutes. Now, crush the cardamom seeds into fine powder and keep aside. Once the rice is cooked, first mash it with a rounded laddle . Then add the jaggery and cardamom powder and mix well. In a small kadai, heat the ghee and roast the cashew nuts and kishmish. Add this to the Pongal. Thats it. Sweet Pongal is ready to eat ! It is favourite for kids and elders . Caution !!! It is very SWEET!!!