Navaratri Naivedyam

Sarkarai Pongal


Ingredients

Sarkarai Pongal

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Raw rice                                       1 cup
Powdered Jaggery                       2cups
Coconut pieces                             2 tbsp.
Cardamom Powder                     1/4 tsp
Cashew nuts                                2tbsp
Ghee                                           3 tbsp.

Method

Cook the rice in pressure cooker.
Heat a pan add jaggery and little water.
When the jaggery is dissolved add the  cooked rice and stir it.
Cook in low flame. Pour ghee  and stir it.
When it is mixed well, add roasted cashew nuts, coconut pieces and cardamom powder.

Nilakadalai Sundal (Peanuts Sundal)

We make Sundal for Navaratri.

Nilakadalai Sundal

Nilakadalai (Peanuts)

• Nilakadalai................................2 cups
• Grated Coconut........................1/4 cup
• Mustard Seeds..........................1 tsp
• Red Chili....................................2
• Chopped Green Chili...................1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• Pressure cook the nilakadalai with salt and enough water; remove the water
• Heat a pan with oil, add mustard seeds and broken chili; when the mustard crackles, add nilakadalai, coconut and green chili
• Mix well

     

Pani Poori

Pani poori is a famous road side food in Mumbai. Crispy small pooris dipped in spicy water with cooked potato  and moong dhal stuffing yummy We do not know how many pooris eaten.(I prefer to make this pooris at home)

Pooris 

Pani Poori

Ingredients

• Thin Rava (Suji).......................1/2 cup
• Maida (All purpose flour)........1tsp
• Oil...........................................1tsp
• Warm Water............................1/4 cup
• Salt to taste

Method 

• Mix rava, salt and warm water ,make a thick paste.
• Add the maida  and knead the dough well till the rava is absorbed.
• Add some oil and knead for some more time. 
• Cover and keep for 20 minutes.
• Heat a pan with oil.
• Roll the dough into big thin chapathi. 
• Take  a small steel cup/bottle cap and make small circles. 
• Drop the pooris into oil and press little.All the pooris puffed up.
• Take them when they become golden.

Filling

Cooked and peeled potato added with salt and chili., cooked  and salted moong dhal

Pani

Pani

• Tamarind Juice........................1 tsp
• Mint.....................................1 bunch
• Coriander leaves....................few
• Jaggery..................................2 tbsp
• Cumin Powder.........................1tsp
• Black salt.................................1tsp
• Green chili................................3
• Lemon Juice.............................1tsp
• Chat Masala............................1/2tsp
• Salt To Taste

Grind all together in a blender and add 3 cups of water Strain using a sieve. Keep  this water in the fridge.

If you need   spicy ,add more. 

Green Chutney

• Green chili...........................4
• Coriander leaves..................few
• Ginger........................... .....small piece
• Salt to taste
• Grind all together into a paste

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Sweet Chutney

Sweet Chutney

• Soak 1/2 cup dates and  1tsp tamarind pulp, 1/2 cup powdered jaggery, roasted cumin seeds, 1tsp chili powder, salt 1/2 tsp and grind into paste

How to Serve

• Make a small hole at the center of the poori press with your finger.
• Place little potato and moong dhal with sweet chutney and green chtuney. 

• Dip the poori in the spicy water fully and gulp down.

Preparation Time  : 30 minutes

Servings ................5-6

Sevai

Coconut Sevai

Coconut sevai
It is a south Indian meal which is very time consuming to make. But it is very tasty )

Ingredients:

• Boiled Rice.............  .......4 cups
• Grated Coconut…...........1 cup
• Mustard seeds……. .......2tsp
• Urad Dhal……………......2 tsp
• Chana Dhal…………........2tsp
• Finely Cut Green Chillies…..5
• Ginger Finely Cut………..3tsp
• Curry Leaves….............. few
• Oil…………………......3tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

Sevai can be made in 2 ways. The difficult way is by first principles and the easy way is by using Chinese thin rice noodles.
The difficult way to make sevai -

Plain Sevai

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  Soak the rice for 4 hours and grind finely adding the salt.. The dough should be like dosa batter.
• Heat a wok and pour this dough.
• Add 2 tsp oil (this makes sevai tasty and non sticky) and stir the dough till it becomes thick and sticky.
• When the dough is not too hot, wet your hands with water and make big balls and keep.

• Boil water in another pan.
• After the water boils, put the rice balls in it and let it cook.
• When the balls float to the top, check to see if they are cooked properly.
• You can do this by cutting into half and seeing if they are not sticky.

• Put each ball on the sevai nazhi(sevai traditional press) and sevai comes out like pasta.
• It should be hot otherwise it gets difficult to press.
• Keep aside to cool (you can put the dough in the idli mould and steam them instead of boiling in water)

• Heat a pan with oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal.
• When mustard seeds crackle, add chillies, ginger and curry leaves.
• Add the sevai and mix nicely.
• You can eat this sevai with pappad, chutney or morukuttan.

The easy way to make sevai -

• You can also prepare sevai using Chinese thin rice noodles.
• Just boil the water with salt and 1 tsp oil.
• Add the noodles when the water boils.
• Close with lid, shut the gas and keep for 5 minutes. Add little cold water and remove the water with a sieve. 

Appalam

Appalam







Lemon Sevai

• Prepare sevai as above. Heat a pan with oil.
• Add mustard seeds 1tsp, chana dhal 2 tsp finely cut green chili ginger 2 tsp each and a few curry leaves.
• When mustard seeds crackle, add half tsp turmeric powder and half tsp hing.
• Add the sevai and the juice of 1 lemon juice. Mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve sevai with moru kozhambu  and fried appalams

  

  Lemon Sevai

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Vegetarian Spring Roll

Ingredients

• Spring roll wrappers
• Carrots cut like match sticks................1/4 cup
• Cooked Rice noodles.........................1/4 cup
• Red pepper cut like match sticks  .......1tbsp
• Lettuce................................                1leaf
• Pepper and salt to taste
• Olive oil to sprinkle

Spring Roll

Method

• Submerge the spring roll in medium hot water until pliable about 10 seconds.
• Place the lettuce leaf . noodles and keep all the other vegetables on it. 
• Add salt and pepper. sprinkle little olive oil.Fold first and then fold the sides and roll. It  sticks at the end. 
• This dish can be taken for lunch. It is very healthy and tasty. I tried with other dry vegetables and it came out well. Try it. Enjoy. 
• This is very simple dish  to do.
• Tips You can use rice noodles, tofu,cabbage, bean sprouts scallion , coriander leaves, avocado mush room and any dry curries.

Ulunthu Kozhakattai

Ulunthu  Kozhakattai

Ulunthu Kozhakattai

Ingredients

• Urad dhal…………….. 1 cup
• Green chilis…………....3
• Grated coconut………. half cup
• Ginger………………. .1 piece
• Curry leaves………….. few
• Mustard seeds……….. 1tsp
• Rice flour………… .....1 cup
• Water………………...1/2 cup
• Oil ………………….. 1 tsp
• Salt ………………….1 tsp
• Asafoetida……………half tsp

Ulundhu Kozhakattai

  Method

• Soak the dhal for an hour and grind coarsely with chili and salt.
• Steam this mixture for 10 minutes. 
• Heat a pan with oil add mustard seeds curry leaves,chopped ginger asafoetida and when mustard crackle add the steamed mixture and stir well..
• Add coconut and make small balls and keep
• Boil the water in a pan and add oil, salt and rice flour,maida.
• Stir well with out forming lumps. When it becomes thick dough,cover and keep. 
• Knead the dough with little oil till it becomes smooth.
• Make cups and place this dhal pournam and cover them.
• Steam all the kozhakattais for 10 minutes.

Onion Pakoda

Onion Pakoda

Onion Pakoda (venkaya pokoda) is famous Indian snack .Eat pakodas and drink coffee/tea.

Ingredients

• Besan(Chickpeas Flour………. 4cups
• Rice Powder…………………..2 tsp
• Chili Powder …………………3tsp
• Asafoetida……………………1/2 tsp
• Onion(cut into strips)………….4
• Ajwain……………………….1/2
• Coriander Leaves.................... few
• Salt to Taste

Method 

• Mix besan, rice flour, chili powder, salt, hing and coriander leaves in a bowl and add cut onions. 
• Make a thick paste by adding very little water
• Heat a pan with oil and drop gently a small lump of mixture with your fingers.,.
• Deep fry till it becomes golden color.Drain on a paper towel. 
• Serve with chutney or tomato ketchup .

Corn Bhajjia

Corn Bhajia

A snack with hot tea/coffee on a rainy day.

Ingredients

• Corn.....................................1/2cup
• Besan...................................1cup
• Rice flour...............................2 tbsp
• Chili powder........................1/2 tsp
• Chopped green chili..............2tbsp
• Ginger paste........................1/2tsp
• Chopped Onion.....................1/2 cup
• Salt to taste

Method

• Grind the corn coarsely and add all the ingredients and make thick dough.
• heat oil in a pan . 
• Drop small dough using a spoon /hand. Deep fry them.
• Serve with mint chutney/ coconut chutney..

Vada Pav

Vada Pav  It is also called Patato Vada. This snack is the famous street food  in Mumbai. It is very filling and very tasty. Pav is unsweetened bread or bun
.

Ingredients

• Boiled, Peeled and Mashed Potatoes...........6
• Garlic and Chili Paste..................................1tsp
• Turmeric Powder........................................1/4tsp
• Mustard Seeds...........................................1tsp
• Curry Leaves..............................................few
• Cumin Seed Powder...................................1tsp
• Lemon Juice................................................1tsp
• Coriander Leaves.........................................few
• Besan.........................................................2cups
• Pav.............................................................6
• Salt to Taste

Tamarind Chutney and Coriander chutney

Method

• Mix the gram flour with water and salt make a thick dough.
• Cook,peel and mash the potatoes and add the ginger chili paste, cumin seeds, lemon juice, Coriander leaves and  salt.
• Heat a pan with oil add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• When the mustard splutters,add turmeric powder and mashed potatoes.
• Mix well and make small sized balls and keep.
• Heat a pan with oil to fry.When the oil is hot dip the potato balls into the besan batter and coat well,drop one by one into the oil.
• Deep fry them into golden brown.
  Take a pav slit in half not completely add both chutneys on it, place one potato ball and fold over by pressing little. Serve hot.

Keerai Vadai

Ingredients

Keerai Vadai

• Chana Dhal..........................1cup
• Urad Dhal.............................1/2 cup
• Red Chilies...........................5 
• Keerai Finely chopped.......1cup
• Asafoetida......................1/4 tsp
• Oil to Fry
• Salt to taste

 

Method

• Soak the dhals for 2 hours and grind coarsely with red chili, asafoetida and salt
• Add the chopped keerai and mix well.
• Take a lemon size ball and keep in your palm and press with your finger. 
• Drop them in hot oil. fry them till they turn golden brown.