RAVA LADOO

RAVA LADOO

INGREDIENTS 

rava / semolina flour - 3/4 cup 

sugar - 3/4 cup 

milk - 1/4 cup 

ghee- 3/4 spoons

cashewnuts and raisins ( optional) - for decorating 

METHOD 

heat the ghee in a wide pan and fry the cashew nuts and raisins and keep the apart. 

in the same pan roast the rava in the remaining ghee until its color starts changing. at this point add 

the sugar and stir well at a low heat for about 5 minutes. 

remove the pan from the heat and keep it aside for 10 minutes. after it cools down, add warm milk little by little and mix the rava-sugar mixture. make balls out of the mixture . it may break easily on making the balls but roll them and keep it to set for about half an hour . decorate them with cashew nuts and raisins. 

PONGAL VADA SAMBAR

pongal , vada and sambar brings a lot of images into our minds.. a yummy yummy combination ever !
it was an evening when i was thinking about my post graduation days when we had a workshop in college during which food was provided by the organizers. i never had a habit of eating from the college canteen and hence missed the chances of having this yummy pongal vada sambar combo before this event.
during the workshop days we were served the combo for breakfast. it used to provide a lot of energy throughout the day as well as was very tasty to start a day with !
to get back the taste of those golden days , i tried this recipe and came out decently good.

VEN PONGAL 


INGREDIENTS ( for 2 people) 


rice ( sons masoori ) - 1/ 2 a cup 


moong dal - 1/4 cup 


ghee - 3 table spoons 


ginger - 1 tablespoon minced


cumin - 1/2 a spoon 


pepper powder - 1 tablespoon 


curry leaves - 1/2 a sprig


cashewnuts( optional) 


METHOD 


wash and cook the moong dal and rice together with ginger, pepper powder and salt in a pressure cooker with 2.5 cups of water. it will become very mushy. 
in a pan, heat the ghee, fry cashew nuts and keep separately. to the same ghee, add cumin and curry leaves
and add the cooked rice- dal mixture. mix it well and add more ghee if desired and add the cashew nuts while serving .  


VADA


INGREDIENTS ( for 5-6 vadas ) 

urad dal - 1/2 cup                                      


rice flour - 2-3 tablespoons 


salt - as required 


ginger  - 1 t spoon minced 


curry leaves - 3-4 chopped 


oil for deep frying 


METHOD 


 soak urad dal in water for 1-2 hours . 
grind the soaked dal along with salt without adding water. 
in case the dal is not getting ground, add a teaspoon of water for grinding. 
do not make the batter watery. it should be very thick. 
once the urad dal is almost ground, add the ginger and curry leaves and grind once more. 
add the rice flour to the ground batter and mix well with hands. 
heat the oil in a pan, there should be sufficient oil in order to deep fry the vadas. 
once the oil is heated, take little batter in the palm, make it into a ball shape and using a finger 
make a small hole in the centre of the ball like a doughnut. 
if you are unable to do so, just make it into a round shape and deep fry it in the oil. 
it should be cooked in medium heat until the vada turns golden brown. do not
increase the heat as it will fry the outer part of the vada where as the inner part remains uncooked.


SPECIAL SAMBAR


INGREDIENTS 


moog dal - 3 tablespoons             


shallots -  6-8 peeled


turmeric powder -a pinch 


sambar powder - 3 table spoons 


OR 


chilly powder - 1 table spoon
coriander powder - 1 tablespoon 
methi powder - 1/2 spoon 
asafoetida - a pinch 


oil - 3 table spoons 


mustard - 1 table spoon


curryleaves - 1 sprig


METHOD 


cook the moong dal in pressure cooker with salt and turmeric powder. 
heat oil in a pan, add mustard , curry leaves and shallots . 
once the shallots starts to change its color, add the sambar powder/ the combination of powders . 
now add this shallot masala into the cooked moong dal and add little more water to balance the consistency and boil covered for a while until the masla and the dal blends well. 
add a drop of ghee while serving. 

KAPPA AND ULLI CHAMMANTHI

Kappa and ulli chammanthi are all time favorites of any malayali. It can be had as breakfast or as a tea time tiffin.I made this recently for the evening tea. ulli chammanthi and coconut chutney goes well with kappa. usually i have it with coconut chutney , but this time i tried ulli chammanthi which came out very well and hence thought of sharing the recipe.

KAPPA VEVICHATHU              


INGREDIENTS ( for 2 people)       


kappa/ kolli/tapioca - 2 medium size


shallots - 8-10 


green chilly - 3-4


ginger- 1 " slice minced


turmeric powder - a pinch, 


salt - as required


grated coconut - 3-4 spoons


curry leaves - 1 sprig 


urad dal - 1 spoon


mustard - 1 spoon


red chilly - 1-2 


METHOD 


peel off the tapioca skin and cut them into slices.
wash thoroughly and cook it in the pressure cooker
along with ginger, green chillies , turmeric powder and salt with water an 
inch above the level of the tapioca slices. it should be cooked well until its mushy. 


heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilly, curry leaves and shallots 
and once the shallots color starts changing, add the cooked tapioca into it and mix well by adding grated coconut. 


ULLI CHAMMANTHI 

INGREDIENTS 


shallots - 10- 15 peeled


tamarind pulp - 1/2 a t spoon 


red chilly - 5 


salt - as required 


oil - 1 table spoon 


METHOD 


soak red chillies in water for 15 minutes . 
drain the water and grind together the shallots,
red chillies, tamarind pulp and salt. 
add oil and mix well. 

kappa vevichathu, ulli chammanthi and tea was a yummy combination for the evening tiffin ! 

ramayyan curry

ramayyan curry is a very simple dish . it has a historical association as well.
ramayyan was a very close friend of old travancore maharaja marthanda varma . the maharaja once demanded his kitchen to prepare food that can revive all his tastebuds, but none of his cooks could think about one dish which can bring up all varieties of tastes. ramayyan went forward and made this dish which had sweetness, sourness and at the same time spicy as well. it is believed that their friendship bloomed after the maharaja had this peculiar recipe prepared by ramayyan.

RAMAYYAN CURRY


INGREDIENTS


yam -    4-5 pieces of 1" each


grated coconut -   1/4  cup 


green chilly -  4-5 (depending on spice level)


jaggery - 1 inch block powdered


ginger - 1 " piece


curry leaves - 3-4


yogurt - 1/2 cup 


salt - as required 


METHOD

grind everything together except the yogurt. 
take the yogurt in a bowl, add salt and few spoons of water and beat it. 
now add the ground mixture into the yogurt and mix thoroughly. can be regularized with sugar if required. 
quantity of curd could be brought down by adding tamarind while grinding. 
this is a wonderful recipe that could be served with rice. 

My Kitchen

I am not an expert cook, but i love cooking and experimenting new new recipes.. it always happens that when i try something new and i like it, the next time i make it, the measurements go wrong and the taste differs, so i thought of creating this blog , so that i can have all my recipes saved forever.. and also people who look out for recipes can refer!