Savoury Modaks for Ganesha | Ammini Kozhukattai

Ganesha Chathurthi was celebrated two days back with pomp all over India and in some parts the celebrations are still going on. Festivities that celebrate the Birthday of Modak-loving, Elephant Faced Indian  God Ganesha or Ganpati end with the immersion of the Ganesh idol and this can take upto 1 week. At homes different types of offerings are made -usually sweet modaks and sometimes savoury as well. This time I preferred savoury modaks or ammini kozhukkattai - riceflour based steamed balls whick are then tempered to the taste. These are speciailities of Tamil Nadu though popular in all Southern states in India  and they turned out perfect as an offering snack. I have adapted the recipe from Sailus Kitchen and its given below.

Ingredients:

Rice Flour: 1/2 cup

Hot water: 1cup +

Salt: 1/4 tsp

Ghee/oil: 1/2 tsp

Grated Coconut: few tbsp

Tempering:

Oil: 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Channa dal: 1.5 tsp

Urad Dal: 1 tsp

Green Chillies: 1-2 slit

Red Chillies: 1-2 chopped into pieces

Hing/Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves: few or 1 sprig

Preparation:

Mix salt rice flour together and add in ghee/oil. Add in hot water and knead the flour to get a smooth dough. You can first boil water with salt and ghee/oil and add in the rice flour and stir in to get a lump free dough. 

Whatever the method you use the dough should be smooth and lump free and let it sit for sometime so that it becomes easy to handle.

With greased hands pinch off small pieces from the dough and place in a greased steamer/ idly plates.

Place these plates in a steamer or pressure cooker and steam for 10-15 minutes (without weight if using cooker) until the balls are cooked and turn little light. Remove from heat and keep aside .

In a pan, Heat oil for tempering and add in the mustard. When it splutters, add in cumin and the  dals. Once the dals brown and the cumin sizzles, add in the red and green chillies, curry leaves and hing. Once the hing toasts and curryleaves sizzles add in the grated coconut followed by steamed rice balls. Mix well and take it off heat.

Serve in bowls as a breakfast or snack etc based on your choice.

Simple easy to make and savoury snack. You can make it along with sweet modaks and offer it during your pooja.

Pineapple & Broken Wheat Payasam | Festivals Galore

Today is celebrated as Onam in Kerala, Varamahalakshmi Pooja in Karnataka and for select communities its also the 'thread changing day' or 'suthaam punnav' or avani avittam. Whatever way you celebrate its the foods that show the festive spirit. And obviously the sweet desserts which come at the end of the meal but linger on till next year. 

I tried a simple fruit payasam or kheer with  healthy broken wheat, split yellow lentils and pineapple. The recipe from a magazine is pretty much traditional except I replaced the rice in the traditional avatar with healthy and easy cooking ingredients.

Ingredients:

Broken Wheat /Dalia : 1 cup

Split Yellow Lentils: 1/4 cup

Pineapple chopped/grated: 1-2 cups or more as per your preference

Jaggery Syrup : 2.5-3 cups 

Thin coconut milk/ Third extract: 6-8 cups

Medium thin coconut milk/ Second extract: 2-3 cups

Thick coconut milk/ First extract: 1 cup

Powdered Ginger /Sonth : 1/2 tsp

Powdered Jeera/ Cumin : 1/4-1/2 tsp

Preparation:

On medium heat bring to boil the thin coconut milk/ third extract and add in hte broken wheat and lentils. Let these cook on low -med heat until almost done.

Add in the chopped/grated pineapple and continue cooking till most of the liquid is absorbed.

Add in the second extract/medium thick coconut milk and jaggery syrup and continue cooking stirring periodically so that this doesn't get burnt.

Once the mixture thickens a bit or reaches your choice  or the right payasam consistency, stir in the thick coconut milk and powdered spices. Stir well and take it off heat. It will thicken upon sitting. 

Serve warm or at room temperature in bowls garnished with more pineapple.

You can use or add other fruits incase you are not a fan of pineapple, but its good for me. You can cook with rice or oats or mix of lentils and grains if you wish to experiment.You can even add cashew nuts or raisins along with pineapple. I kept it simple .. just the pineapple.

I am a pineapple fan and for your kind info , if you happen to visit Kerala in hotter months(!?) make sure you visit the area called ' Muvattupuzha'- its the heart of pineapple cultivation. Though it is available all year round, pineapple flourishes in hot season. By May you can feel the pineapple in the air as they perfume the air when they ripen. Imagine loads of pineapples... Its a feeling I have enjoyed.Hope you do too. You can even see several truck loads of pineapple being transported to markets etc...

Meanwhile enjoy the payasam... healthy delicious and obviously festive..

Vishu Kanji | Happy Vishu for all the God's Own People

They say in olden days people used to guess the moods of nature. Time was known from suns position and same goes for seasons. As for me I used to guess vacations when I used to see flowering  'Konna Tree' or the golden shower tree with yellow flowers near my house in Thiruvananthapuram. The tree turning yellow/golden indicated summer and end of annual exams and two lovely dreamy months ahead. They also indicated Vishu - first day of Malayalam Zodiac / Kerala New Year. These flowers are important during Vishu/ Kerala New Year Celebrations which falls today this year. 

Vishu is celebrated during April second week in Kerala  normally 14th or 15th April based on Sun's transit to Aries  (Medam in Malayalam) and is the first day of the Malayalam Zodiac or Kerala New Year. So the  thing we see first in the morning - called 'Vishu kani'- is considered to have importance throughout the year as a good auspicious kani indicates your wellness and prosperity.There are rituals and customs on how to arrange a good kani.

The kani is followed by 'Vishu Kaineettam' where the elders of the family shower blessings on the younger ones by giving them coins/sovereigns or in general money and new set of clothes. Vishu Sadya (feast) which is a regular part of all other festivals follows and has items based on regional tastes.

I am not big on festival feasts but till now remember the taste of Vishu Sadya I had in Kochi at Bharat Hotel. We were given coupons from the office I working in at that time and Ijoined the gang deciding that I am going to hate it. But it turned out otherwise.. 

Anyways when I came across Vishu kanji - a rice and lentil porridge in coconut milk- in a magazine I wondered how come I missed it in the sadya that day. I am assuming it was because it is not a part of  Vishu menu in Kochi where crackers were more important than 'kaineettam' or maybe they didn't think it met the restaurant standards. But whatever it is I tried it and loved it. 

Ingredients:

Raw Rice : 500g (2.5 cups)

Moong Dal/Split yellow lentils : 300 gm

Thin Coconut milk: 2-3 cups + as needed

Thick Coconut milk/coconut cream: 1 cup +/- as per taste

Salt: as per taste

Preparation:

Roast moong dal  in a deep pan for few minutes till the raw smell goes. Add it to cleaned rice and thin coconut milk and bring it to a slow boil on medium flame stirring occassionally. The coconut milk might curdle if boiled on a high flame. 

Reduce to a simmer and let the rice and lentil cook till done -and even mushy works. The word kanji means porridge and even mushy texture is ok. 

Once done, remove from fire and stir in the thick coconut milk. Keep aside. 

Add salt just before serving. The porridge thickens on sitting and you can gently heat through before serving adding more coconut milk if needed. 

Serve with papad or pickle or your choice of gravy. 

 An easy to prepare yet delicious dish.It is meant to liquidy or pourable consistency. But at the end its your choice. This is a very simple version. I have seen different versions in other sites as well. Each region has its own recipes. This version is something that will be easy to prepare.

The coconut flavour is having upperhand in this dish. You can make your own coconut milk by pulsing water and coconut together in a blkender and then filtering out. The first milk will be thick one whereas the second extraction will give thin. You can also go for readymade coconut powders to be mixed with water or even coocnut milk in carton. If too thick feel free to add water to it to thin it down.

Broken Wheat Kheer | Wishing All A Prosperous & Healthy Onam

Today all Keralites across the world celebrate Onam, the ancient yet modern harvest festival. The festival brings to mind the colourful flowers, clothes and the prosperous or rich lunch or OnaSadya along with the myths associated with the festival. Not to mention the pookkalam or flower carpets.More details you can find with Google Guru.

My first memories of Onam starts with the lights decoration in Thriuvanathapuram. The four days of Onam were (still are) state holidays and my parents used to take me for long walks to see the light decorations near Rajbhavan or is it secretariat. We would start from home in a taxi or auto, go some distance and then walk. It was like a procession or peaceful march where people would walk or strut along watching the decorations. Then after the seventh day of Onam would come the float procession. Each and every district (and sometimes government agencies) in Kerala would make a presentation called float to show what they stand for or what is their USP. There was fierce competition here also and each would try to outdo the others and better themselves. This I used to watch on tv and for me it marks the end of the Onam celebrations of that year and back to the reality of routine school and life.

It was only later that Onam became associated with exam days or the First term exam or 'Ona pareeksha'. Nail biting days usually when I used to go to school in taxi and looking outside the streets dotted with pookkalams or flower carpets.These were done to invite the old just King Mahabali who will visit his people on Onam days.

While I never used to enjoy a sadya /traditional lunch at that time, these days I have started enjoying it. This happens when you are living with a person who loves and demands Kerala dishes for lunch and dinner if possible.Jokes apart, I tried a simple payasam or kheer and thought I would post it here today. Its simple and easy and cooks with 30-40 minutes. So if you can multitask you can get it done and ready along with your other dishes. The quantity is guestimates and feel free to change it as per your taste.

Ingredients: 

Broken wheat / dalia/ Sooji gothumbu : 1.5 cup

Water: 1 -2 cups needed to cook the broken wheat.

Jaggery syrup:1 -1.5 cup +/-

Medium thick Coconut milk  : 1-2 cups

Thick Coconut milk : 1 cup

Ghee: 1 tbsp

Cashewnuts & Raisins: handful each

Cardamom Powder: 1/4-1/2 tsp as per taste.

Preparation:

Cook the broken wheat in enough water and keep it aside. The water should be completely absorbed and if added more drain it away.

In a deep pan, add the jaggery syrup and bring it boil. add in the cooked broken wheat and stir it and let it cook in the jaggery for few minutes till it starts thickening absorbing the jaggery. Make sure you stir it periodically to prevent it sticking from the bottom of the pan. You can also add table spoon of ghee at this stage.

Add in the medium thick coconut milk or second extract of coconut milk and continue cooking on low heat. When this also starts thickening add in the thick or first extract of coconut milk and heat through but donot boil. Remove from heat and add it cashewnuts and raisins sauteed in ghee and cardamom powder.

Serve in bowls as a wonderful healthy dessert. Normally the colour of the payasam or kheer should be dark brown thanks to the jaggery available in Kerala. Mine is light in colour as I used different jaggery.

You can actually enhance the recipe by adding ingredients like nendrapazham or kerala banana sauteed in ghee and jaggery or whatever fruits u like and feel will enhance this. This can be made completely vegan by avoiding the ghee or using vegan substitutes for sauteeing the nuts and raisins. Otherwise also this is a healthy and perfect payasam in itself and hope you enjoy this payasam for Onam.