COCONUT PAAYASAM

Ingredients:

Shredded coconut- 1 cup
Cashew nuts- 10
Raisins- 2 tbsp
Cardamom powder- 1 Spoon
Ghee- 2 tbsp
Saffron- a pinch
Raw rice- 1 cup
Jaggery- 2 cups


Procedure:

Soak the raw rice in water for 1 hour. Then grind it with half cup of coconut to a fine paste. Boil 5 cups of water. When the water starts simmering add the paste and cook on medium fire. When the rice is cooked, add the jaggery and cook for a few minutes. Fry the cashew nuts, raisins and the remaining coconut in the ghee to golden brown and then add them along with the saffron and cardamom powder to the paayasam. Cook the payasam for a few minutes.

SEMOLINA RICE FLAKES PAAYASAM

Ingredients:

Semolina- 1 cup
Rice flakes[aval]- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tbsp
Cooked green gram-1/2 cup
Jaggery- 1 1/2 cup
Milk- half cup
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Shredded coconut- 1/4 cup


Procedure:

Fry the semolina in the ghee on slow fire till golden brown. Let it cool down. Wash the rice flakes few times and keep it on a bowl without any trace of water. Boil 3 cups of water. When the water starts simmering, add the semolina and cook it on medium fire for some minutes. When the semolina is cooked, add the green gram, rice flakes and the milk and cook for a few minutes. Then add the jaggery, cardamom powder and the coconut. Cook for a few minutes on slow fire.

ALMOND MACROONS

Soak 50gms of almonds in boiled water for 30 minutes and then remove their outer skins. Then powder them coarsely. Or chop them finely. Apply a little butter in a baking tray and brush it with yr fingers so that it coats the whole tray. Then sprinkle some plain flour on it. Add 2 egg whites and 150gms of icing sugar to a bowl and place the bowl on flat vessel which is filled with boiling water to its half level. Beat well the contents of the bowl until the mixture thickens. Then add the almond mixture, mix well and pour it in the baking tray. Or you can spread the mixture to the desired shapes with the help of an icing nozzle. Then bake at 160 deg C in an oven for 10 minutes.

PINEAPPLE KESARI

Ingredients:

Fine semolina- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 ½ cup
Tinned Pineapple chunks- 1 cup
The syrup in which the chunks are kept- 1 cup
Full cream milk- half cup
Cardamom powdwer- half tsp
Saffron- a pinch
Pineapple essence- 1 tsp
Yellow food colour- a few drops
Ghee- quarter cup
Water- half cup

Procedure:

Soak the saffron in the hot milk.
Combine the syrup and the water and heat it in a pan. When it starts boiling, reduce the fire and sprinkle the semolina gradually. Cook on slow fire. Add the milk and mix well. Then add the sugar and cook mixing continuously. Add the pineapple chunks and mix well. When the kesari becomes thick, add the ghee little by little. Add the cardamom powder and the essence and mix well. Garnish with fried almonds and cashew nuts.

RASSGULLA

Some people add fine semolina as a binder to the prepared paneer to make Rassgullas. But semolina tends to make the rassgullas a little harder. Also adding either citric acid or sour curd to curdle the milk will also make the rassgullas slightly harder. Kneading the paneer to a smooth texture is a must and if it is not kneaded properly, the rasgullas will be harder. The whey water and plain flour are the best ingredients to make soft rassgullas. The drained water while making paneer can be stored in the fridge for 10 days. This is called the whey water and it is the best to curdle the boiling milk while preparing paneer.

RASSGULLA:

Ingredients:

Milk- 2 litres
Sugar- 1 ½ kilos
Water- 8 cups
Ice cold water- 2 cups
Rose essence- 1 tsp
Plain flour- 1 ½ tbsp
Enough whey water [3 days old] or 2 to 3 tbsp lime juice

PROCEDURE:

Bring the milk to boil. When it starts simmering reduce the fire to medium. Add the whey water little by little and stir slowly until the milk curdles and the whey water and the paneer separate. Put off the fire and leave it for 10 minutes to let the curdling process finish.

Pour it on a fine white cloth and drain all the water. Hang it for an hour to drain thoroughly. Place a wooden piece on the drained paneer to drain completely. Mash paneer with palm of hand till it becomes smooth. If you feel your fingers greasy, then it is the correct point to stop the mashing. Add the plain flour and mix thoroughly. Make small balls and cover them with a damp cloth.
Combine the sugar with 8 cups of water in a broad pan and place it on fire. When the sugar is dissolved and the syrup starts boiling, allow it to simmer for 2 minutes. Put off the fire. Take half of the syrup in to a broad pan and heat it. Pour 2 cups of ice cold water in to the other half of the syrup and mix well. When the thick syrup starts boiling immerse all the paneer balls. Stir slowly. After 5 minutes, add quarter cup of thin syrup to the boiling rasgullas. Again after 2 minutes, add 3 tbsp of whey water to it. Repeat this process again. Rassgullas will sink when they are ready. Put off the fire and transfer them to the remaining thin syrup. Add the essence.

Note:
The quantity of sugar varies according to the taste.
A pinch of baking powder can be added along with the plain flour. It will make the rasgullas spongier. It must be sieved with the plain flour before adding into the paneer.

MICROWAVE COFFEE CAKE

Ingredients:

Plain flour- 250gm
Sugar- 250 gm
Eggs-4
Butter- 250 gm
Baking powder- 2 tsp
Milk- 4 tbsp
Coffee essence- 2 tsp
Instant coffee-3 tbsp
Hot water- 5 tbsp

Procedure:

Sift the flour with the baking powder thrice. Powder the sugar. Mix the instant coffee powder with the hot water thoroughly and allow it to cool. Beat the sugar with the butter till soft. Add the eggs one by one whisking well. Add the flour little by little along with coffee, essence and the milk. Pour in a microwave baking bowl and bake in the microwave oven on mark 750[one step behind HIGH] for 8 minutes.

TOMATO RICE-2

Ingredients:

Cooked rice[salted]- 4 cups
Tomato[chopped]- 2 cups
Sambar powder-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1 tspblack gram- 1 tsp
Small onions-10
Chopped coriander-half cup
Turmeric powder- half sp
Salt
Oil- 3 tbsp

Procedure:

Heat a pan and pour the oil. Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the black gram and the asafoetida powder. Fry for a few seconds. Add the chopped onion and fry to a golden brown colour. Add the tomato with the turmeric powder and the sambar powder. Cook until the tomato is mashed and the oil floats on the surface. Add the chopped coriander and cook for a few seconds. Put off the fire. Add rice gradually and mix well till you get desired taste.

WHEAT HALWA

Ingredients needed:

Whole wheat-100gms
Sugar-300gms
Ghee-200gms
Orange or red food Colour

Procedure:

Soak the wheat in enough water for 12 hours. Then grind it well and extract thick milk from it. Keep it covered for 12 hours. Drain out the excessive water that stored on top of the thick milk. Heat a broad pan and add the sugar with a small quantity of water to make a single thread consistency. Then add the wheat milk and cook on medium fire. When the mixtures turns glossy, add the ghee gradually. Add the food colour also. Cardamom powder can be added slightly. When the mixture leaves the sides of the pan, put off the fire. Pour it on a greased plate.

ADHIRASAM

Soak 1/2 kilo raw rice in the water for 1/2 hour and then drain the rice in a colander. You can grind the rice even when the water is not fully drained up.
Then grind it to a nice flour.
Sieve the flour only once.
Then immediately make syrup from 300gms of jaggery to a pearl-like consistency.
When the syrup is simmering, reduce the flame to low heat. Drop a little syrup in a cup of water. If we could form the syrup into a smooth ball, [not a stiff ball] then put off the fire.
Sprinkle the rice flour little by little in the syrup and mix well.
Sprinkle 1/2 sp of cardamom powder and mix well.
The batter must not be very thick. If we make a small ball from it, then it must be a very smooth ball.
It must not break.
That is the correct consistency for adhirasam.
Keep the batter in a greased bowl[greased with ghee]and pour and spread 11/2 tbsps of ghee on top of the batter and cover it.
The next day you can prepare the adhirasams.
When you prepare the adhirasams, heat the oil on a medium fire and make adhirasams

KADALAIPARUPPU PAYASAM

Ingredients:

Kadalaipparuppu- 1 cup
Jaggery- 2 cups
Cardamom powder- half sp
Saffron-a pinch
Thick milk- 2 cups
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Cashew nuts fried in ghee- 2 tbsp
Raisins fried in ghee- 2 tbsp
Coconut chunks[thengkai pallu]fried in ghee- 2 tbsp
Salt- a pinch

Procedure:

Soak the saffron in hot milk for half an hour. Cook the Bengal gram to a soft texture in enough water and then drain the unwanted water completely. Prepare jaggery syrup with one thread consistency [kambi paagu]. Pour this to the cooked-coarsely mashed Bengal gram with the milk, a cup of warm water and the salt. Cook for some time until every thing is well combined. Add the raisins, cashew nuts and the coconuts. Lastly add the coconut milk and the cardamom powder. Mix well and cook for a few minutes on slow fire.

WHEAT APPAM

Ingredients:

Wheat flour- 1 cup
Rice flour- 2 tbsp
Powdered jaggery- 1/4 cup
Small ripe banana-1
Shredded coconut- 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Soda bi carbonate- 1/4 tsp
Salt- a pinch
Ghee to fry

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients with enough water to make a smooth thick batter. Pour 1 cup of ghee in a pan. When it becomes hot, pour a big spoon of batter. When it is fried on one side, turn it on the other side and fry it to golden brown colour. The fire should not be high. Thus make all the appams.

SEMOLINA HALWA

Ingredients:

1 cup semolina
1 cup milk powder
1 cup sugar
Ghee- 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Mix the above three ingredients in a nonstick deep-bottomed pan.
Add the ghee to the semolina and mix well. Keep the pan on a medium flame and start roasting the mixture slowly, constantly stirring and making sure that it does not burn. Continue stirring and roasting till the mixture appears golden brown. Turn down to low flame. In another frying pan take some more oil/ghee/butter and roast nuts of your choice and add it to the golden brown mixture. Then add 1 full tin of sweetened condensed milk and stir well. Keep stirring on a low flame and add little water or milk (with saffron optional) and stir till the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan. Grease a serving dish with oil/ghee and pour the mixture into it, allow the halwa to cool and cut into pieces.

VIVIKA

Ingredients:

Raw rice- 300gms
Coconut-1
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Soda bi carbonate- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup
Salt- a pinch

Procedure:

Soak the rice in plenty of water for 1 hour and then drain it in a colander. Then pound the rice into fine flour. Sieve it twice. Take the left over coarse rice rawa in a bowl and add 1 or 2 cups of water. Mix well. Heat it in a pan. Let it cook until it changes like a kanji. Add this to the flour when it is still hot. Mix well. Keep it covered over night. In the morning add the sugar, shredded coconut, salt, sugar and c.powder and make a batter like idli batter. Pour the batter in idli moulds and steam them for 15 minutes.

PAAL PAAYASAM

Frying the rice in ghee makes the payasam into a delicious one
Ingredients:

Raw rice- a handful
Milk- 2 liters
Saffron- a pinch
Cardamom powder- 1/4 tsp
Sugar to taste
Cashew nuts
Raisins
Ghee- 1 tbsp

Procedure:

Fry the raw rice in 1 tbsp of ghee on slow fire to a light golden colour. When cooled add it to the milk with the saffron and cardamom powder and pressure cook it for 3 whistles and then continue to pressure cook it on slow fire for 15 minutes. Then open it and pour the cooked rice in a kadai. Add sugar according to taste and allow it to cook to the desired consistency. Lastly add the fried cashew nuts and raisins.

Regarding Carrot Halwa

You can test with condensed milk or thickened milk. I have tried with milk earlier and I don’t think that it was tastier than this version with milk powder. So I have forgotten about that recipe and cannot pinpoint the correct quantity of milk.
About the lemon rasam- each and every lime or lemon is different from one another. Some has more juice and some has little juice. The sour taste also will be different according to the type of lemon. So you have to add the juice correctly to get the exact taste.

FRUIT RICE

Ingredients:

Briyani rice- 1 cup
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Pomegranate juice- 1 1/2 cup
Orange juice- 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts- 1 tbsp
Raisins- 1 tbsp
Saffron- a pinch
Cardamom- 4
Salt to taste
Shredded carrot- 1 tbsp
Chopped pineapple- 1 tbsp
Chopped dates- 3 tbsp
Diced apple- 1
Ghee- 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Heat a small vessel and pour the ghee. Add the cardamoms, and cashew nuts. Fry them to a golden colour. Add the raisins along with the apple, dates, pineapple and the carrot and fry for a few seconds. Add the remaining ingredients with the rice and a little salt. Cook on medium fire until the rice is 3/4th cooked and all the water is evaporated. Keep the rice in ‘Dhum’ either in the gas oven or by manual method for 20minutes.

SIKAPPU ARISI PAAYASAM

Ingredients:
Sikapparisi[ puttarisi]- 1 cup
Milk- 1 cup
Coconut-1
Powdered jaggery- 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder- half sp
Saffron - a pinch [optional]
Cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee.

Procedure:

Soak the rice in water for 2 hours.
Squeeze thick milk and thin milk from the coconut.
Then Pressure cook the rice with the milk and enough water.
When cooled, take it away.
In a big pan, prepare kambi paagu[ syrup with one thread consistency].
Then add the cooked rice and also the thin coconut milk.
Cook them for a few minutes.
Add the cardamom powder, saffron, cashew nuts, raisins and the thick coconut milk.
Cook the payasam for a few seconds.
Now the delicious sikapparisi payasam is ready!

SOJJI APPAM

This is the famous prasadham in the temple of Mannargudi periya kovil. Normally it is prepared with jaggery only. For a change of taste, sugar also can be added instead of jaggery. It can be either fried as suzhiyan in oil or it can be cooked as pooran boli on dosaikkal pouring ghee on the sides. In the following picture, one is fried sojji appam and another is roasted sojji appam like Boli.

சொஜ்ஜி அப்பம்:

Ingredients:

Semolina- 1 cup
Water- 2 ½ cups
Jaggery[mashed]-2 cups
Cardamom powder-1 tsp
Shredded coconut-half cup
Plain flour-2 cups
Wheat flour- half cup
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Oil- enough to fry
Salt- 2 pinches.
Ghee-2 tsp

Procedure:

Make a soft dough with the flours, B.Powder, salt and a tsp of oil using enough water.
Heat a kadai and pour the water.
When it starts to boil, add the semolina and cook it until it is thickened.
Now add the jagerry and cook for a few minutes.
Add the shredded coconut, cardamom powder and the ghee.
Cook for a few seconds until it is thickened again and mix well.
When cooled, make small balls.
Make small thin chappathies out of the dough.
Place a pooranam ball on a chappathi and flatten it thinly.
Cover with another chappathi and press the corners.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the sojji appam to golden brown on both sides under moderate fire.
Thus complete all the dough.
Hot sojji appams are ready!

Tips:

Instead of adding the jaggery directly , it can be made 'kampi paagu[one thread syrup] and added to the cooked semolina. Also, the coconut can be fried in ghee along with the cashew nuts and added to the pooranam.

AVAL PAYASAM [RICE FLAKES PAYASAM]

This is a very old recipe. You can add jaggery instead of sugar. That will give a different taste. You can add a pinch of saffron soaked in half cup of warm milk in the end. 1 ½ cups of sugar is ok. But I think a little more sugar will enhance the taste of the payasam.



Ingredients:

Aval – half cup
Sago [javvarisi]- 1 tbsp
Raw rice- 1 tbsp
Ghee- 3 tbsp
Cardamom powder- half sp
Sugar- 1 ½ to 2 cups
Warm Milk-1 liter
Cashew nuts-8
Poppy seeds [optional] - 1 tsp
Raisins- 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts for frying-2 tbsp

Procedure:

Heat a pan and pour 1 tbsp of ghee.
Add the aval, sago and the rice and fry them on slow fire until they become slightly golden brown.
When cooled, powder them coarsely.
Soak this powder in the slightly warm milk mixing thoroughly without any lumps.
Let it stand for 15 minutes.
By this time the powder will be absorbed in the milk.
Mix well and pour it in a vessel.
The mixture must be watery.
If the mixture is too thickened, some more milk must be added.
Boil it on slow fire.
It will be cooked immediately.
Grind the cashew nuts and poppy seeds with some milk to a fine paste.
Add this to the boiling milk and mix well.
Finally add the sugar and the cardamom powder.
Boil for some minutes.
Finally add the fried cashew nuts and the raisins with the ghee.

BANANA APPAM-2

Ingredients:

Medium sized ripe banana-4
Wheat flour- 1 cup
Fine semolina- half cup
Soda bi carbonate- ¼ tsp
Shredded coconut- half cup
Chopped cashew nuts-6
Sugar- 1 cup

Procedure:

Mash the bananas in the mixi to a smooth paste. Mix in all the ingredients to make a batter like idli batter. Let it stand for 30 minutes. Heat a pan and pour enough oil.
Pour a spoonful of appam mixture. When the bottom side is cooked to golden brown, flip the other side to cook well. Thus finish all the batter.

The delicious banana appam is ready now!!

BANANA APPAM-1

Ingredients:

Ripe medium sized bananas-4
Wheat flour- 2 ½ cups
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Mashed Jiggery- 1 cup
Egg-1
Soda bi carbonate- ¼ sp

PROCEDURE:

Sieve the flour.
mash the bananas in a mixi to a smooth mixture. Add all the ingredients and make a smooth mixture like idli batter. Let it stand for 15 minutes. Heat a pan and pour enough oil. Pour a spoonful of appam mixture. When the bottom side is cooked to golden brown, flip the other side to cook well. Thus finish all the batter.

NB: this mixture can be made as a thick dough like ‘athirasam mixture’ and fried like athirasam. This is called as ‘Banana adhirasam’!