DEVAKOTTAI SAMAYAL ARAI

                                             Hello all,  Wishing you all very Happy Deepavali/ Diwali in advance! Let's begin this Diwali season with a sweet recipe. The city of Thirunelveli in Tamil Nadu is well-known for its specialty sweet "Thirunelveli Halwa", not only that, there is a famous dialogue that says "Thirunelvelikke Halwa waaa"!  There was an article written by Kalwyna Rathod in Femina.in , published on July 27, 2021. It was about the different types of wheat and its qualities, very well explained. You can read the article to gain more knowledge about wheat.  The halwa is typically made with sambaa godhumai, a  premium variety of whole wheat grain. The grain is soaked overnight, then ground to a thick paste and then milk is extracted from this pulp, by filtering it.   I have used the quick cooking steel cut oats instead of whea...

Hello readers, I am going share a kids favorite snack recipe, which is NOT loaded with sugar, but definitely LOADED with nutrition and fun!! There was a lonely banana, in my fruit bowl, ripened and blackened... which noone wants to eat 😔 So I thought of making an interesting and healthy snack or breakfast out of it.  Banana Cake Pops Recipe Card (makes about 21) Fully Ripe Banana - 1 large, peeled and mashed Light Brown Sugar - 2 tbsp  Cinnamom powder or Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt -1/2 tsp Baking soda - 1 pinch Whole Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup (You can use the aatta you use for making chapathi) Rice Flour - 1/2 cup Water - 1 cup, as needed In a large bowl, add the mashed banana, brown sugar, cardamom / cinnamon powder, salt and baking soda and mix well with a hand mixer, until the sugar is fully dissolved. Now add the flours and water little by little and mix well without lumps. The batter should be a 'pour batter consistency' and not a running consistency. Let the batter sit ...

Today we will learn how to prepare a healthy soup with drumstick twigs. When we separate the leaves from the stem, I save the stem parts / twigs. I enjoyed this health drink prepared by my grandma and wanted to share the recipe with you too.  In the picture below, you will see that I have separated the leaves and also separated the small twigs from the stem. You have to discard the stem and only use the twigs. You can store the leaves in a dry container for a few days.    Now let's see how to prepare the healthy soup... You will need -  Moringa twigs - 1 handful   3 cups of water Slices of one small onion Julienne cuts of 1/2 inch ginger Slices of 1 medium sized tomato 2 green chillies whole peppercorns - 6 crushed peppercorns - 2 tsp 1/4 inch piece - cinnamon bark cloves -2 fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp salt - to taste 1 tsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp ghee / clarified butter as you wish, or you can also skip it, if you do not want any ...

Moringa Leaves Chutney Powder In my childhood, we used to live in a big single family home with lots of trees and flowering plants. There was almost every tree in our backyard. You name it, we will have it! For example, Coconut trees, Mango tree, Guava Tree, Pomegranate tree, Banana Tree, Moringa Tree, and the list goes on...... Hmm, we come across a lot about the Moringa Trees, and the goodness of their leaves nowadays. The vegetable from this tree is called Drumsticks. We can cook delicious dishes with these drumsticks, with a combination of lentils or just a curry which will be yummy with cooked rice varieties, idli or dosa.  The leaves from this tree are also very healthy. It can be cooked with lentils as well.  The kids may not like the taste of these leaves.  In this case, we can make chutney powders and they can mix this with hot cooked rice and clarified butter (ghee). When I have a lot of moringa leaves, if I do not want to cook all of them into a curry, I clean ...

  This post is going to be a fun for the kids as the name says. It is very easy to make and the kids will never say NO to breakfast.  You will need -  2 eggs beaten and seasoned with a little salt, crushed pepper, cumin powder and turmeric powder. If you like, you can make it a little sweet by adding a tsp of brown sugar, and a dash of ground cinnamon. Buns / Bread Slices - cut them out as in the picture below and also save the cut pieces. I have just cut out a square with knife. You can use a cookie cutter of any shape. Choose the one which is your kid's favorite shape.   Now, heat up a pan / skillet and grease with some cooking oil or cooking spray. Keep the stove in medium heat. Place one piece of the cut bun and using a spoon, pour little beaten egg carefully into the hole in the middle as shown in the picture below.. After it is half cooked, flip it over and pour 1/2 tsp of oil. If you see the picture below, you will see how  the bottom looks like afte...

  Hi friends, Today I am going to share a recipe for my home-style biryani.  This is not as easy and simple as my other biryani recipe Chicken Biryani Simple  . But it is not very difficult too. This recipe calls for a biryani masala powder, for which I have shared the recipe too below. Ingredients you need (makes for a family of 3 people) For the biryani masala powder: Cloves- 2 Cinnamon stick - 1 inch piece Cardamom - 2 Bay leaves - 1 big Star Anise - 1 Shahi Jeera / Black Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds / Sombu - 1 tsp Peppercorns - 5 to 6 Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp Dry Red Chillies - 2 or 3 (as per your taste) Salt - 1/4 tsp Grind all the above to a fine powder. you need not roast them dry or with oil. Main Ingredients for the recipe -  Chicken  - 1.5 lbs Seeraga Samba rice - 2 cups, washed and soaked for about 30 minutes in a cup of water (this aromatic rice is traditionally used in biryanis. they are very tiny and looks like seeragam/ cumin seeds. You...

Hello friends, Today I am going to share yet another exotic dish "Peas Potato Curry". It is a simple recipe but with some secret tips, the result will be a tasty curry for Roti or Naan. You will need the following ingredients Potato - 2 nos ,washed, peeled and cubed pieces  Peas - 1/2 cup, frozen or fresh Secret Ingredient (Green Pepper / Capsicum - few pieces cut lenthgwise) Onion - 2 large and finely chopped Tomato - 2 large and finely chopped Ginger - 1/2  inch piece, crushed Garlic - 5 medium sized cloves, crushed Green Chillies - 2 small, slit lengthwise and deseeded Secret Ingredient (Whole Milk - 1/4 cup) Oil - 2 tbsp Butter - 2 tbsp Chilli Powder - 1 tsp Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp Salt - 2 tsp or as per your taste Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp finely chopped Whole Spices for Seasoning -  Cinnamon bark - 1 inch piece Cloves  - 2 pieces Green Cardamom - 2, whole Black Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp Phew😅!! the list of ingredients is over😃 In a...

Pillayar nombu is a nombu celebrated exclusively by Naattukkottai Nagarathars. This post is intended for young chettiar couples living far from their families, who want to know about this nonbu and celebrate it at home. The significance of performing this nombu, is that we pray to Lord Ganesha, requesting him to remove all the obstacles in our life.  I have heard that there are 3 versions of the story behind this nonbu. I am sharing the one that my mom has told me... A teenage girl was ill-treated by her step-mother. On karthigai deepam day, this step-mother's diamond ring was missing and she accused this girl of stealing her ring. This girl went to a pillayar temple and prayed to Lord Ganesha that she will prove herself as innocent and find the ring. So she started saying her prayers to Lord Ganesha, by removing one thread a day from her cotton saree for 21 days. She promised to the God that, when she proves her innocence, she will make the number of threads she has on that day as...