Vishu Ashamsakal (Happy Vishu!)

Vishu is an important festival for Malayalis. The most important event in Vishu is the Vishukkani, which literally means " the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up". The Vishukkani consists of a ritual arrangement of auspicious articles like raw rice, golden cucumber, betel leaves, arecanut, metal mirror, yellow flowers (konna poo), a holy text and coins in the puja room of the house. This is arranged the night before. On Vishu, the custom is to wake up at dawn and go to the puja room with eyes closed so that the Vishukkani is the first sight of the new season.
On this day it is also a custom for the elders to give money to the younger ones to wish them prosperity. It is called Vishu Kaineetam!
Then the grand finale is the feast for the day which will have so many dishes that you've got to hit the bed right after the meal. Also be warned not to have any or only a light breakfast if you want to enjoy your Vishu Sadhya.

This is our Vishukkani...

Now for the recipes for Vishu Sadhya. Click on the links to go to the recipe....

Pumpkin Erriserry	Varuthu Araicha Sambar
Rasam	Kootu Curry
Avial	Cabbage Thoran
Unniappam	Pal Payasam
Ada Pradaman	Puli Inji
Cucumber Pachadi	Sambharam

Iniya Tamil Puthaandu Nal Vazhthukal

Tomorrow is the start of a new year as per the tamil panchangam. We celebrate this day with colourful Rangolis, new dresses and tasty dishes.

The previous day, we keep a mirror in the puja room and decorate it along with the God's photos with jewels and flowers. We then keep the new dresses, fruits and flowers as offering for God. The next day, that is the new year day we wake up and first look at the God and the mirror that symbolises prosperity. This is similar to the Vishu kani followed by Malayalis.

Let us now check out the recipes for the dishes made on the New year... Click on the link to go to the recipe.

Mango Pachadi	Varuthu Araicha Sambar
Rasam	Vazhaikaai podimas
Pal Payasam	Ullundu Vadai

Aval Vadai

If you are bored of making the same vada for all the festivals, then try this one next. It remains crisp even after it becomes cold.
 

Ingredients

• 2 cups Poha/ Aval/ Avallakki
• 1/2 cup Channa dal 
• 1 tbsp Toor Dal
• 4 Green chillies  
• 1" piece ginger 
• 1/4 tsp Asaofoetida
• 1 handful Coriander leaves chopped
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Wash and soak the channa dal and toor dal for 30 minutes.
2. Wash & soak the poha/Aval for 15 mins
3. Grind the dals along with green chillies and ginger, coarsely without adding much water. 
4. In a bowl, add the ground mixture, the soaked aval, coriander leaves, salt, asafoetida and mix everything well to form a dough.
5. Heat oil in a wok /kadai for deep frying.
6. Make small balls and flatten them and fry till golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on a tissue paper.

Karadayan Nombu

Karadayan Nonbu or Savithri Vratham is a traditional Tamil Nadu festival of fasting wherein married women pray for the wellness and long life of their husbands. This is similar to the Karva Chauth festival celebrated in the north. The origin of this festival dates back to Mahabharata. You can read the full story here.

The neivedhyam/offerings for this festival are Vella Adai and Kara Adai along with butter. On this day we first tie a nonbu charadu (yellow thread with a flower tied in the middle) around the picture of the Goddess of the house and then all the women in the house tie one around their neck reciting the following mantra.

"Urugaadha Vennayum OrAdayum Naan Notren

OruKaalam yen Kanavar piriyaada Irukka Vendum".

Even the young girls of more than one year old, tie the nonbu charadu to get the blessings of God.

Now for the recipes... These are again my mother's recipes and the measurements are so accurate that I didn't face any issue while making...

Vella Adai/ Sweet Adai

Ingredients

• 1 cup Rice Flour
• 1 tbsp Karamani Beans
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Jaggery
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• 2 tsp Ghee

Method

1. Soak the Karamani in water overnight.
2. Fry the Rice Flour in a Kadai till it begins to turn a golden brown.
3. Dissolve the jaggery in the water and add the ghee and bring it to a boil.
4. Add the cardamom powder and the rice flour and mix well. Switch off the stove.
5. Cool it and then make small balls of the above dough and flatten it and make a hole in the center so that it resembles a small donut.
6. Place all the adais in a idli stand and steam them for 10 min in a idli cooker/ pressure cooker like how we do the idlis.
7. Vellai Adai is ready for Neivedhyam. Serve with Butter!

Kara Adai/ Savoury Adai

Ingredients

• 1 cup Rice Flour
• 1 tbsp Karamani Beans
• 1 cup Water
• 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Urad Dal
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• 1 Green Chilli finely chopped
• 1/4 inch piece of Ginger finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• 1 spring Curry leaves
• 2 tsp Oil
• 1 tbsp grated Coconut

Method

1. Soak the Karamani in water overnight.
2. Fry the Rice Flour in a Kadai till it begins to turn a golden brown.
3. Heat a large saucepan and add oil to it.
4. Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the urad dal, asafoetida, curry leaves, green chilli and ginger.
5. Add the Water and salt and bring to a boil.
6. Add the rice flour and coconut and mix well.
7. Cool it and then make small balls of the above dough and flatten it and make a hole in the center so that it resembles a small donut.
8. Place all the adais in a idli stand and steam them for 10 min in a idli cooker/ pressure cooker like how we do the idlis.
9. Kara Adai is ready for Neivedhyam. Serve with Butter!

Homemade Chocolates

My mom always made these for our birthdays and we all used to love it because we can get to eat more. Now as a mom, I would still prefer giving these chocolates to my daughter than the store bought ones as it is made without artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup or any other preservatives. This is a simple recipe that takes less than 10 min to make and you can use your creativity to make a variety of chocolates.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk powder
• 3 tsp Cocoa powder (Adjust to taste)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped and roasted Cashews, Almonds, Raisins (Optional)
• 4 tbsp Butter

Method

1. Grease a flat tray with a little ghee and keep aside.
2. Mix the milk powder and cocoa powder well so that they are evenly mixed.
3. Heat a pan with 1/4 cup water and sugar. When the sugar syrup reaches a string like consistency, add the butter, milk and cocoa powder mixture and nuts (if you are adding) and mix well for 1 more minute and then pour the batter into the greased tray.
4. When it cools down, cut the chocolate into squares and store it in an airtight container once it is cooled completely.

Suggestions / Variations

1. You can skip the cocoa powder for a milky bar kind of chocolate.
2. You may skip the nuts for the plain chocolate and add them if you want a fruit and nut kind of chocolate.
3. You can use different brands of cocoa powder to get the difference in the taste of the chocolates.
4. If you add a tsp more of cocoa powder you would get the dark chocolate variety.

Mozzarella Sticks

This is a popular appetizer in USA and very easy to make at home. All cheese lovers will love this dish, but be sure to buy rennet free cheese.

Ingredients 

• 8 String cheese (Rennet free)
• 1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
• Salt (As required)
• Chilli Powder (As Required)
• 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour 
• Any other seasoning like Oregano / Ajwain / Sesame seeds (Optional)
• Oil to shallow fry

Method

• Freeze the cheese sticks for 10 min.
• Mix the All purpose flour, salt, chilli powder and seasonings (if using) with water, to make a thick batter.
• Heat oil in a wok.
• Cut the cheese sticks into halves and dip the stick in the batter and roll it over the bread crumbs and shallow fry them in the oil.
• Remove it with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on a tissue.
• Serve hot with ketchup.

Flax Seed Burfi

This is a very tasty and healthy burfi from Manjula's Kitchen. It is super easy to make and will be instantly liked by all. You can indulge into it without feeling guilty!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup golden flax seed powder or meal
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground walnut
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground cashews
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Method

1. Grease a small tray with ghee.
2. Dry roast flex seed powder over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add walnut, almond and cashew powder. Dry roast for about another minute stirring continuously. Do not over roast the nuts or it may start to burn at the bottom..
3. Mix the cardamom powder and remove the mixture from fire and keep aside.
4. In the same sauce pan boil the sugar and water together over medium heat. After syrup comes to boil lower the heat to medium and let it boil for 1-2 minutes till bubbles subside.
5. Turn off the heat. Add the nuts mixture to the syrup. Mix it well and quickly spread over the greased plate by pressing from all sides.
6. Cool for a few minutes and cut them into small squares.
7. Store in an air tight container once cooled completely.

Paruppu Vada

Another easy recipe from my mother's treasure chest with only very little ingredients and the best part is, the vada stays very crisp even when it is not hot. 

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Toor Dal
• 1/2 cup Channa dal
• 2 tsp Urad dal
• 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
• 2 Green Chillies
• 1/4" piece of Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Soak all the dals for 30 min.
2. Coarsely grind the dals along with green chillies, ginger, salt and asafoetida with just enough water. The batter should be thick.
3. Mix the chopped Coriander leaves to the batter.
4. Heat oil in a kadai and when the oil is hot, make small patties in the palm of your hand and drop it in the oil carefully. When the vada turns golden brown flip it and remove it with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on a paper tissue.
5. Serve crisp vadas hot or cold.

Dill Pulao

Dill is my favorite and I wanted to try this dill in pulao and it was a big hit especially with my daughter who is a very fussy eater. The veggies are optional but I feel guilty to make any dish without the veggies, so I have added whatever my family likes. You may add the veggies of your choice and if there is none available you can even skip the veggies and make the pulao with just the dill leaves. This is a very flavorful and healthy one pot meal.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• 1 bunch Dill leaves (cleaned and chopped)
• 3 cups chopped Vegetables (Cauliflower, Potato, Lima beans, Carrots)
• 2 Cardamom
• 4 Cloves
• 1" piece Cinnamon
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp Oil (Olive Oil preferably)
• 3 Green chillies (Adjust to your taste)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped Ginger
• 1/2 tsp All Spice Powder (Optional)
• 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Salt (Adjust to your taste)

Method

1. Heat oil in a cooker and when the oil is hot enough add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, asafoetida, cumin seeds, all spice powder(if adding), green chillies and ginger.
2. Add the Dill leaves and saute for a few minutes. Then add the vegetables and mix well.
3. Wash and add the basmati rice and mix well. Add 1.5 cups of water and salt and close the cooker and cook on low heat for around 15 min or till the rice is cooked.
4. Serve Dill pulao hot with a raita of your choice.

Jawarsi Payasam

Happy New Year to all out there!! Entering into the New Year with this sweet recipe. Jawarsi Payasam or Sabudana Kheer is a favourite among kids especially.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp Ghee
• 1/2 cup Jawarsi (Sabudana)
• 2 cups Sugar
• 5 cups Milk
• 1 tbsp broken Cashews
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• A pinch of Saffron (Optional)

Method

1. Heat a deep bottomed pan and add the ghee and fry the cashews and keep aside.
2. In the same pan, add the Jawarsi and fry it till it starts spluttering and turns white.
3. Now add Milk and place the stove on medium flame. Cook the Jawarsi for around 20 min or till the Jawarsi becomes transparent.
4. Add the Sugar, saffron and cardamom powder and allow the mixture to boil for a few more minutes. Switch off and serve after garnishing the payasam with the fried cashews.