Sago soup - Javarisi payasam

Ingredients:
Sago - Javarisi - 1 cupSugar - Sarkarai/Cheeni - 1 cup
Cardamom - Elakkai - 1 no.
Cashew nuts - Munthiri paruppu - handful
Raisins - Dratchai - half of cashew nuts
Ghee - Nei for frying
Saffron - Kunguma poo - 1 tea spoon
Milk - Pal - 1 cup
Water - Thaneer - 2 cups

Method:

1. Cook sago in a vessel/pressure cooker till it becomes transparent. No need to boil water first. Some soak for 1 hour. It depends on the quality. Once it is cooked in water, add sugar and keep stirring till it resolves.
2. Then add cardamom powder. In the mean while fry cashew nuts and raisins in ghee and add this to payasam. Soak saffron in milk and add this to the payasam. Add milk and keep stirring.

Sago payasam is delicious and ready to be served. It requires some 20 minutes to cook. It can be served for 4 persons. It can be served hot or cold. It is especially prepared during special occasions like Navarathiri, Pongal, Deepavali, etc., It is also served in functions like engagement and wedding and even for party.

Note: Sago must be transparent, it indicates it is cooked. It can be soaked in water for some time or it must be allowed to cook till it is boiled. Milk and saffron must be added in the end.

Optional: Ingredients can be added/removed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sago

What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?
Lin Yutung

Rava/Semolina Kesari - Ravai Kesari

Ingredients:

Rava/Semolina - Ravai - 1/2 cup
Ghee - Nei - 1/2 cup
Sugar - Sarkarai - 1 cup
Water - Thaneer - 2 cups
Cashew nuts - small quantity
Raisins - Dratchai - small quantity
Elaichi - Cardamom - 2 nos.
Orange colour - A pinch
Essence - a drop

Method:

1. Heat 1 tea spoon of ghee in a kadai/pan, fry rava for some 5 minutes. Keep it aside. Add one more tea spoon of ghee and fry cashew nuts and raisins. Powder elaichi with little sugar either manually or in a mixie and keep it aside.
2. Now add 2 cups of water in the pan and let it boil till bubbles come, then add rava slowly and keep stirring so that lumps should not be formed. Then add ghee so that it will leave the sides of kadai, now add sugar, colour and essence.
3. Finally add cashew nuts, raisins and elaichi powder. Serve hot.

Rava/Semolina kesari is delicious and ready to be served. It can be served for 3 people. It takes 20 minutes to prepare. Usually this is prepared during festivals and special occasions.

Note: Powdered rava will be good for this kesari. Add only a pinch of colour and a drop of essence else it will spoil the whole sweet.

Optional: Ingredients can be added/removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semolina

This is every cook's opinion -
no savory dish without an onion,
but lest your kissing should be spoiled
your onions must be fully boiled
- Jonathan Swift

Dal Payasam - Pachai paruppu payasam

Ingredients:

Green gram dal - Pachai paruppu payasam - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - Vellam - 1 cup
Grated/Shredded coconut - Thuriviya thengai - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts - Munthiri paruppu - 2 table spoons
Raisins - Dratchai - 1 table spoon
Cardamom - Elakkai - 2 nos.
Milk - Pal - 1 cup
Ghee - Nei - 2 table spoons

Method:

1. Wash and boil green gram dal in pressure cooker adding 1 cup of water. Mean time grate jaggery and keep it aside. Fry cashew nuts, raisins in ghee and keep it aside. Make cardamom powder adding little sugar.
2. Once the dal is boiled add grated jaggery and grated coconut to it. Finally ad ghee and fried cashew nuts and raisins and add cardamom powder. Add milk to this and allow to boil for some 5 minutes.

Dal payasam is ready to be served. It can be served for 6 people. It requires some 30 minutes to prepare.

Note: Green gram dal will be more in quantity after boiled, hence 1/2 cup is more than enough. Always boil this dal in medium or low flame as it will come out easily when kept in pressure cooker.

Optional: Ingredients can be added/removed.

Great eaters and great sleepers are incapable of anything else that is great

Henry IV of France

Rice flour sweet - Pidi Kozhukattai

Ingredients:

Rice flour - Arisi mavu - 1 cup
Grated jaggery - Vellam thuriviyadu - 1 cup
Grated/Shredded coconut - Thuriviya thengai - 1/2 cup
Green gram dal - Pachai paruppu - 2 table spoons
Ghee - Nei - 2 table spoons
Salt - Uppu - a pinch

Method:

1. Fry rice flour in a kadai till nice aroma comes out. Fry for some 15 minutes in a low flame. Meanwhile grate the jaggery and keep ready. Add 1/4 cup of water in a kadai and add jaggery. Boil it till nice bubbles come.
2. Now remove the rice flour from the stove, add grated coconut, green gram dal powder - this has to be fried and made to a powder. Now add ghee and the jaggery. Mix them well. It should not be too thin or thick.
3. Now make small balls like how we make for chappathis. Then keep inside the palm and just press as shown in the picture. Apply little oil in idly plates/idly cooker and arrange these in that. Keep for some 10-15 minutes.

Tasty kozhukattais are ready to be served. It can be served for 3 people. It requires 30 minutes to cook.

Note: Add only 1/4 cup of water while heating jaggery beacuse jaggery will melt and become watery. So no need to add more water.

Optional: Ingredients can be added/removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_flour

Edible, adj.: Good to eat, and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad. a toad to snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a worm

Ambrose Bierce

All purpose flour Halwa - Maida Alwa

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - Maida - 2 cups
Sugar - Sarkarai/Cheeni - 1 1/2 cups (One and a half)
Ghee - Nei - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts - Munthiri paruppu - small quantity
Orange colour - A pinch/few drops

Method:

1. Mix the flour with water (Usually 55% of flour). Make like chappathi dough. It should not be too thick or too thin. Keep it covered with wet cloth for one hour.
2. Add 2 cups of water in a vessel/bowl (Measurement equal to flour). Keep the dough inside the water and knead the dough well so that flour milk is extracted. The remaining part of the dough which remains after extracting the milk should be removed and thrown away. This requires some 10 minutes to extract. Then allow the extracted milk to stay for 1 hour. Now thin portion of the milk will be floating on the top of the milk and thick portion will settle down. Remove the thin portion and throw it away.
3. Now pour this thick milk to a heavy bottomed vessel or a non-stick pan and add sugar and orange colour. Let it boil for some 15 minutes. When it becomes thick like halwa add ghee and cashew nuts. It will start leaving the sides of the kadai. Now mix them well and once it is thick transfer to a greased plate (Ghee coated). Once it is cool cut into desired shape.

Sweet and yummy halwa is ready. Serve it as evening snacks. It can be served for 4 to 5 people. It requires 30 minutes to prepare apart from leaving the dough and milk to remain.

Note: Cashew nuts need not be fried. It can be added directly.

Optional: Ingredients can be added/removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maida_flour

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?

Pineapple Kesari - Annasipazham kesari

Ingredients:

Pineapple - Annasipazham - 1 cup
Semolina/Rava - Ravai - 1/2 cup
Sugar - Cheeni/Sarkarai - 1 cup
Ghee - Nei - 5 table spoons
Green colour - Pachai nira podi - 1 pinch
Rose/Vennila essence - Rojapoo essence - 1 drop
Cashew nuts - Munthiri paruppu - fistful
Raisins - Dratchai - 1 table spoon

Method:

1. Boil pineapple for 3 minutes and blend it to a paste. Heat 1 tea spoon of oil in a pan/kadai and fry rava for some 5 minutes. In the same kadai add 1 more tea spoon of ghee and fry cashew nuts and raisins. Keep it aside.
2. Now boil 2 cups of water in the kadai, when it boils and bubbles come add rava and mix slowly and gently so that it mixes well. No lumps should be there. Let it boil till it becomes soft. Now add ghee, now rava will start leaving the sides of the kadai.
3. Now add sugar and pineapple paste and mix them well. Let it boil for some 10 minutes. Add colour, essence and finally roasted cashew nuts and raisins.

Hot, tasty pineapple kesari is delicious and ready to be served. It can be served for 3 people. It requires 20 minutes to cook.

Note: Allow rava to become soft and then add sugar and fruits. Mix ghee so that it will be soft and tasty.

Optional: Yellow colour can be added because pineapple is also yellow in colour. Any colour can be added according to ones choice. Ingredients can be added/removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely

W.Somerset Maugham

Semolina laddu - Rava laddu

Ingredients:

Semolina - Ravai - 1 cup
Sugar - Sarkarai/Cheeni - 1 cup
Ghee - Nei - 200 ml
Cashew nuts - Munthiri paruppu - 40 nos.
Raisins - Dratchai - 40 nos.
Cardamom - Elakkai - 3 nos.

Method:

1. Fry rava in a pan after adding 1 tea spoon of ghee. Grind rava, sugar and cardamom in a mixie. It should not be too fine.
2. Heat ghee in a pan, fry cashew nuts and raisins and keep it aside.
3. Heat the remaining ghee. Now take the rava sugar mix, mix ghee little by little (do one by one). We can add one cashew nut and raisin for 1 laddu. Mix ghee for making one laddu.
   Make balls out of it and leave it for half an hour. It will be ready to eat.

Tasty rava ladoo's are ready to eat. It requires 30 minutes to cook. It can be kept for 2 to 3 days.

Note: Rava should not be grinded too soft. Add only ghee and not oil or water. If required milk can be sprinkled for making balls.

Optional: Grated/Shredded coconut can be added to the rava sugar mix. Milk is optional, anyway it will make the ladoo harder to some extent, so better to avoid it and use only ghee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semolina

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly

M.F.K. Fisher