Attukal Pongala

The minute Valli said that the second week’s theme for BM 27 is going to traditional, I knew I wanted to write about Attukal Pongala.

This is a yearly festival which falls sometime in late Feb or early March. Ladies from all over the state come and make an offering of pongala to the goddess. You can read about this more here and check out some well captured pictures here.

For me, this is also a time to catch up with two of my old room mates. The three of us try to make it at least every alternative year, if not every year. Our conversation is usually limited to a few standard statements. “My fire is running out, let me light from yours” or “my eyes are burning” or “when will the water boil?” or “do you think it’s burning?”, but it’s still comforting to be with them and do this together whenever we can.

Making the pongala is like going back in time, before the cooking gas or kerosene stove entered the kitchen. You will be cooking in a clay pot (a new one), you will make a stove out of bricks and use dried leaves Of the coconut tree as fuel for the fire.

Even the ingredients are usually not measured using glasses and all. It’s again the old method of ‘boil the water, add the rice’ kind. Now a days, you even get Pongala kit, which consists of half kilo rice, some jaggery and ghee and nuts.

When you put the rice in the pot, you ask for the Godess’s blessing. There is a magnetic pull to participate every year.

It’s a tradition which I would like to keep alive as long as I can.

These are clicks from my neighboring area where a lot of ladies made Pongala.

I usually cook only in one pot, but there are many who make 50 or even one hundred pots of Pongala. They do this in really small pots, with about a handful of rice in each pot.
 

Ingredients:

• Raw rice                                    :       1/2 kg
• Jaggery                                      :      1 big ball, powdered
• Ghee                                           :      200 gm
• Banana                                      :       2 small
• Cardamom                                :      1/2 tsp
• Cashews,raisins                       :      1-2 tbsp each
• Coconut                                     :      1/2 cup, optional

Method:

1. The first task is getting the fire going on. Once that is done, fill the pot with water until its half full.
2. Wash the rice and when the water comes to a boil, add the rice. Let the rice cook. You will have to stir in between. You can add some ghee also.
3. Once the rice is cooked and the water boils and spills over, add the jaggery. Mix and then add all the other ingredients. Stir frequently till its cooked. Stop feeding the fire once the payasam is almost done.

Join me in a thirty-day marathon with twenty plus other members. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for more details.

Carrot Halwa – Gajar ka Halwa using Delhi Carrots

The day i made this halwa, i was traveling to Trivandrum. We had guests coming over and i had made this for them as dessert. In the hurry burry, i forgot to click pictures of the halwa. And i was almost rushing out of the door and then came running back home, clicked a picture of the halwa and then ran out again.

And not only the fact that i made a desert for our guests that made this halwa special for me, I used the carrots I bought from Ahmedabad, where I was for our BM 25 Meet.

Funny I am doing the post too in a hurry, because in another ten minutes, we have to leave to catch our train to Trivandrum. Poor hubby is left to fend for himself in this hot and sweaty Chennai.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page to know all about our monthly culinary adventures :)!

PS: I meant it when I said I am in a hurry. So will be updating the recipe later.  (Done…finally!)

Serves :  8

Ingredients:

• Carrots                 :              1 kg
• Milk                      :              1 ltr
• Sugar                    :              1/2 kg
• Ghee                     :              2-3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder     :   a pinch
• Cashews, raisins          :    1-2 tbsp each

Method:

1. Wash, peel and grate the carrots. I minced them fine in the food processor.
2. Add 3/4 th of the milk and the grated carrots directly in a pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles.
3. Once the pressure drops, check whether the carrot is cooked completely. You may have to add the rest of the milk if the carrots look really dry. Else you needn’t add it.
4. Add the sugar, cardamom powder and cook, stirring now and then to avoid burning. Once it starts getting thick, stir frequently. When almost all the moisture is absorbed, the halwa is done. Take off the heat.
5. In a small pan, add the ghee and roast the cashews, raisins. Add this to the halwa and mix.
6. Serve hot with a scoop of ice cream, it’s a great combination!

Chakka Varatti – Jackfruit Halwa

The sweet smell of jackfruit is something really wonderful. Every time I go home, we get a whole jackfruit gifted by an uncle whom we know. “let the kids have it” , he would tell Amma. And by kids, he means me and my older brother :D.

This is the only gift my mother doesnt like, because there is a lot of work in getting the fruit ready. That’s when appa and I step in. If my sister in law is at home, she too joins us.

I feel that the fun is cleaning it up, because by the time my father and I are done with peeling, half the fruit will be inside our stomach!!

For smaller fruits, we don’t bother making this varatti, but this time we had enough fruit (even after eating a lot).

This is my entry for Blogging Marathon 27 ,a non stop 30 day marathon this month. Check out the page for more details and to peek into what the other participants are serving at their spaces!

Makes : about 1.5 cups

Ingredients:

• Ripe jackfruit (chakka) : 1.5 cups of puree
• Jaggery : 3/4 cup (or more, per taste)
• Ghee : 2 tbsp (can add more, if preferred)

Method:

1. Puree the ripe jackfruit, keep aside. Another method (my mother’s) is to cook the jackfruit in a pressure cooker for a whistle or two and then cook it in the jaggery. You shouldn’t be pureeing it if you are doing this way.
2. Melt jaggery in 1/4 cup water. Filter it using a tea strainer or a muslin cloth. This step is to remove the impurities in jaggery.
3. In a thick bottomed pan, add the filtered jaggery, the pureed jackfruit and let it cook, mixing every now and then. Its a good idea to keep an eye on it, else it might burn and the whole effort will be wasted.
4. It takes around 20-30 minutes for the varatti to come together for this quantity. Add half of the ghee midway the rest towards the end. When almost all the liquid is gone, you can switch off the burner and let the varatti sit in the vessel for sometime for it to come together.

Sharkara Payasam

A courier came to our house yesterday.

A really big square packet, almost 1.5 feet long both sides.

Then I remembered my brother mentioning about sending me something special. I thought it might be some baking books or tools or something in those lines.

We were totally excited and kiddo and I fought over who gets to open it. I won, of course, with the classic :”You are too young to handle sharp things like scissors!”

My curiosity turned to a horror and I ran away from the packet. It was a weighing machine!!!

Since its came, my son has made all of us stand on it and he happily declares that: “Mommy, your number (weight) is the biggest one. You win, yeaaahhh!!”

And the husband is giving me glares. He look says that I should be on a diet of water and dry bread.

And as if all that is not enough, I am posting a recipe that is full of ghee. This is my periamma’s recipe and I kept on pestering her until she made this for me one day. The amount of ghee as well as jaggery can be reduced by almost half, but she said it tastes best this way.

This week’s BM theme is Traditional recipes, and this one fits the bill perfectly. Go on and check out what others are preparing this week @ the Blogging Marathon page.

Recipe Source: My Periamma ( Mother’s sister)

Serves: 8-10 plus

Ingredients:

• Raw rice              :              1 cup
• Ghee                    :               1 cup
• Jaggery               :               3 cups
• Cashews, raisins  :            2 tbsp.
• Cardamom powder :       1/2 tsp
• Coconut pieces :              1/4 cup, thinly sliced (optional)

Method:

1. Pressure cook cleaned rice for 4-5 whistles or until done. It should be slightly over cooked, not too much though.
2. Melt jaggery in about 1/4 cup water in a big thick bottom pan, preferably a uruli. Once its melted, filter to remove impurities. Bring it to a boil and once it reaches the paagu state, add the cooked rice to it.
3. To check whether the paagu state is reached, you can put a drop of the jaggery, that is boiling, to a cup of water. If it forms a ball that doesn’t melt fast, but yet is not too hard, its of the correct consistency.
4. Once the rice is added, the real work starts. You have to keep an eye on it and keep stirring it frequently. You can add 1/4 cup ghee at this stage to ensure that
5. When the water is almost gone, you can add 1/2 cup more of ghee and the cardamom powder.
6. Roast the coconut pieces, cashews and raisins in the remaining 1/4 cup of ghee. Tip this to the payasam and take off the heat.

Note: The amount of ghee and jaggery can be reduced, if you feel like. My mother uses almost half of what is mentioned here.

Buttermilk Cake with Caramel frosting

Birthdays are so much associated with cake cutting and throwing a party now a days. It’s a great time for kids.

It was an unheard of thing, when I was growing up.

At our place, amma and grandma used to make a traditional Sadya, or at least a payasam (kheer). I would rule the day, doing everything my way.

I would demand to win any games played that day, ‘because its my birthday.’ I would even spank my brothers, if I got an opportunity. It’s a different matter that my brothers used to get back at me the next day, but the satisfaction of irritating them and getting away ‘because its my birthday’, was immense. 

In short, you are the king (or the queen) for the day!

Now for my son, we cut a cake every year, but he still hasn’t got around saying ‘I want this, because its my birthday.’

I have no idea when he would start doing it, but until then there is peace at home. And the cake too!

This cake was made for someone’s birthday last month. I was so worried that it will not come out nice that I kept on tasting(to check whether its fine) until I finished a really big slice, which they gave for our family. With 1/4th of the cake inside me, I decided that it was indeed a good cake :-)

Anyway, this cake is going to Valli’s 30 day Summer Marathon. Check out the page to see the other participants.

Recipe Adapted from: The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Makes : Two 9″ cakes or a 13X9″ sheet cake (or 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• Butter                                  :      200 gm
• Sugar                                   :      1 3/4 cup
• Eggs                                     :     4
• Vanilla Essence               :     1 tbsp
• Butter Milk                        :     1 1/2 cup
• All purpose Flour            :     2 1/2 cup
• Corn Flour                         :      1/4 cup
• Baking Powder                 :     2 tsp
• Salt                                         :      1/4 tsp

For the frosting: (Enough to cover one 9″ cake. Recipe source here.)

• Icing Sugar                       :           2 cups
• Butter                                 :           100gm
• Dark Brown Sugar        :           1 cup
• Milk                                     :           1/4 cup
• Vanilla Essence               :          a few drops

Method: 

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease two 9″ pans or one 13″X9″ pan.
2. In a big bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar. Once light and fluffy, add the eggs (one by one) and beat with the hand mixer. Add the vanilla essence.
3. In a separate bowl, add the flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk thoroughly.
4. Add the flour mix and the buttermilk to this alternatively, in two or three batches and keep beating with the mixer. 
5. Mix with a spatula and pour the batter into the pans.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out free of crumbs when inserted in the middle.
7. Take off the pan and let it cool completely in a wiring rack.

To make the icing : 

1. In a pan, add the butter and brown sugar to a boil under medium heat, stirring all the time (about 3-5 minutes). Once the sugar is dissolved completely, add the milk and bring it to a quick boil.
2. Take off the heat, stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla using a wooden spoon. Beat the frosting until its smooth (with the spoon itself). Spread this over the cool cake and let it sit for 30 minutes before serving. 

Note: My caramel turned a bit runny, so it started collecting around the sides. I kept the cake in the fridge to prevent it happening.

 

Linking this recipe to Swathi’s Favorite Recipes hosted this month by Pallavi. The theme is Bookmarked Recipes.

Caramel Pie Shooters

The clicking of the clock is something that cannot be stopped. Minutes, hours, days, months and years pass by -with us enjoying and savoring every bit of time that’s gifted to us in this planet.

We note down the dates important to us in our hearts, and celebrate it with the ones we love.

So, please join me in celebrating my little space’s second birthday. My Kitchen Trials turned two yesterday. I wouldn’t be here if not for all your support (I mean it!).

And a special thanks to Valli and my dear blogging marathoners for all the support and love you have shown to my space. You gals rock!!

Now that I am in a full speech mood, I can as well brag a bit about this space (please I deserve it. Its, after all, my blog birthday!).

This place touch 1 Lakh page views last December. And no, it doesn’t count my views. Then it would have been 10 Lakhs, by now!!

Sometime back, I had entered a give away for 10 people. There were totally 11 comments, including mine. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised when my name wasn’t there in the chosen ten. That’s my luckiness quotient!

So imagine my surprise, when I won a giveaway at Nitya’s space this year beginning. It was a first for me and I was thrilled to bits. Kettle Teahouse sent across a beautiful glass kettle and a pouch of green tea. I stare at it, mesmerized everyday, hardly believing my luck! Thanks Nitya and the staff @ Kettle :-)

So in short, there is a lot to celebrate. I wanted to make something different and more grand, but finally chose something simple yet tasty!

These are pie in a glass. Perfect if you want bite sized portion or if you don’t want to bake in this hot summer. Its easy to put together and would get you a lot of appreciation if served in a party.

Recipe Source : Far too many sources from the net to note down just one

Makes:  3 small servings

Ingredients:

• Marie gold biscuits       :        6 (more if you want one more layer)
• Butter                              :        1 tbsp, softened
• Condensed Milk            :        400 ml can for making Dulce De Leche
• Whipped cream             :        3 -4 tbsp
• Chocolate shavings, to garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Immerse the condensed milk can (remove plastic lid, if any) completely in water in a pressure cooker. I make it lie down. Pressure cook this till the first whistle.
2. Lower the heat and cook for another 20 minutes. Switch off the gas, and once the pressure is released, take the can out of the water. Let it cool. The most wonderful caramel in this world is ready – Dulce De Leche!
3. Powder the biscuits and butter in a mixer till you it comes to ‘wet sand’ texture.
4. Press this down in a glass to form the base. Add a layer of the caramel on top of this. If the caramel is too thick, mix nicely with a spoon till its loosened a bit.
5. Top this with a biscuit layer and crown with a spoon of whipped cream. Decorate with chocolate shavings or the biscuit mix or chocolate squares.

Note: This can be prepared ahead and refrigerated. You can form as many layers as you want depending on the height of the serving glass. Mine was small, so this amount was sufficient.

This recipe is part of the 30 day Blogging Marathon for this month. Check out other participants here in the Blogging Marathon page.

Oats Banana Sheera

I am yet to recover from my bout of laziness, so cooking is minimal at home. Hubby dear is away for a week, so bread and noodles is featuring prominently at the dining table. Breakfast is nutella sandwich and with a cup of tea, you feel like a king. Add this low fat sheera and its a feast!

Starting BM 23 on a sweet note, under zero oil recipes. This is not a low calorie food, as you still have sugar in it. Check out the other participants here in the Blogging Marathon page.

Recipe Source: Tarla Dalal

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

• Oats                                 :           1/2 cup
• Dates                               :           a hanful, about 5-6
• Sugar                               :           1/4 cup
• Milk                                 :           1/2 cup
• Banana                            :           1 small
• Nuts for garnishing

Method:

1. Peel and mash the bananas and keep aside. Chop the dates into small pieces.
2. Roast oats in a kadai for 3-4 minutes until the raw smell goes away. Add milk, dates, sugar and 1/4 cup water.
3. Cook, stirring continuously, till the sugar melts and dates soften. Add the mashed bananas at the end, stir once and take off the heat.
4. Garnish with nuts and serve hot/cold.
5. If you want to add ghee, then roast the oats in the ghee.

Aval Payasam

 

I am biting my nails, looking at the time, looking at the laptop battery.

Will I? Won’t I? Will I? Won’t I?

Well, I don’t know whether I can post this before the battery goes off, but I am trying my best!

You see, my laptop is dead now. It needs to be taken for servicing (god knows when that will happen) and now I am managing with hubby’s laptop which doesn’t have a charger. So I have about 5 more minutes of battery time before it shuts down and shuts me up in the process.

So let me not waste any more time, right into the last recipe for Blogging Marathon 21. Check out the other participants in the Blogging Marathon page.

 

Recipe Source: Kailas Kitchen

Ingredients:

• Aval/Poha            :                  1 cup
• Milk                         :                   2 cups
• Water                     :                   1 cup
• Sugar                      :                   3/4 cup (more if you prefer it sweet)
• Ghee                       :                  1 tbsp
• Cashews                :                   a few
• Raisins                  :                     a few

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed vessel. Add the cashews and raisins and fry until they are browned. Take off the pan and keep aside.
2. In the remaining ghee, add the aval and roast until the flakes are brown, about 3-5 minutes. If you want to wash the flakes, wash them after roasting, I didn’t.
3. Add milk and water and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. You have to cook this, until the payasam reduces to 3/4th of its original volume.
4. Add sugar and cook again until the sugar is dissolved and the consistency is thick, but not too thick state. Stir in the cashews and raisins and take off the heat. Serve hot or cold.

Notes:

Its best to use a thick wide pan and keep the stirrer inside the pan. This way, the milk will not boil over. But I never take chances here and always stick around when cooking anything with milk.

I thought this will take less time than making paal payasam, but I ended up spending the same amount of time in making this as I wanted to cook the milk until you get that pinkish hue.

Rava Kesari

 

When I was in one of the rare contemplating moods, I was searching for answers for the ‘Why’ questions in our life.

Why do we do things this way? Why don’t we do things that way? Why is life so? Why isn’t life easier? So many questions and not many answers. If you think from a higher level, then everything is a maze. No solid answers for anything.

But I did find an answer for one question, ‘Why do I blog?’

And the answer is : to document that I cook, even if it is a once in a while thing. Without the pictures no one,myself included, will believe that I do cook when the mood hits me!

 

For the last week of Blogging Marathon, the theme chosen is ‘Navarathri Special’. Navarathri is a celebration that goes on for nine days and on each of these days, different food is offered to the god during the pooja. A small portion of this food is then given to the families who visit you on that day.

In Southern part of India, there is a tradition of keeping Kolu (an exhibition of dolls, mostly of gods,  in a step kind of arrangement). Not all the houses keep Kolu , but the ones who keep, invite other families to come and see the display. Its a real fun thing to go visit them, get the goodies for the day and enjoy the festival mood as such.

My Sister in Law keeps Kolu (I don’t, as you might have guessed by now!) and I got to eat the goodies while I was visiting them. It was Kesari on the day we visited them. Recipe as follows.

Check out the other participants of this week’s Blogging Marathon here.

 

Makes : 6 lavish servings

Ingredients:

• Rava (Semolina)         :           1 cup
• Water                               :           2.5 cups
• Sugar                                :           1.5 cups
• Ghee                                 :           3-4 tbsp (you can add more if you want to)
• Cashews & Raisins      :          a few – say 10 each, for decoration
• Orange food color      :         a pinch, optional

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a broad and heavy bottom pan. Add the cashews and raisins and stir until the cashews turn brown and the raisins puff up. Don’t let them burn. Drain and keep aside in a napkin.
2. In the same ghee, add the semolina and roast stirring constantly, till it becomes slightly brown in color - about 4 -5 minutes. Add the water and mix so that there are no dry lumps. Cook, stirring in between.
3. When the rava is almost cooked, add the sugar and food color (if using). Stir and let it cook for a further 5 minutes until the kesari starts leaving the sides of the pan. At this point, you can add another spoon or two of ghee if you want to. Add the cashews and raisins. 
4. Take off the heat. You can spoon this into a bowl and serve or spread it in a greased plate and cut into squares. Or you can even scoop them using ice cream scoops and serve.

Badam Sheera

I used to make kiddo sleep by 8 PM when we were in the old apartment. But here in the new place,  its a great feat if I can drag him home by 8 PM. After a light dinner, bath and brushing his teeth later, I would take the protesting kid to the bed.

So, its hardly surprising that he won’t get up in the mornings, raising my BP again. Its tough to get a sleepy kid ready for school. Its all the more difficult, cause the mommy in question (yes, me, myself and Rajani) is also half asleep. The morning feet of brushing, breakfast and getting ready for school is always laced with a lot of coaxing and a lot of threats. He reaches school, just about in time and I always feel that I have aged an year more by then.

But this morning, he got up at 7AM sharp. He was bright eyed and started his day with full energy. Why? Because his 2nd term holidays are starting today. And beleive me, I feel as if I have aged two years this morning!

Like my son reaching the school late, I am also late for the last day of Blogging Marathon 20. I am paired with Preeti of Preeti’s Kitchen Life and this post is inspired from her Badam ka Halwa recipe.

Check out the other bloggers, who have posted their entries on time, here in the Blogging Marathon page.

Makes : 2 small servings  

Ingredients: 

• Almonds                :           1/2 cup, blanched
• Milk                         :           1/4 cup + 3 tbsp
• Ghee                        :           1 tbsp
• Sugar                       :           1/4 cup
• Almond slivers, for garnish

Method: 

1. Blanch the almonds and peel them. I did the blanching in MW.
2. Blend the almonds with 3 tbsp of milk to get a paste. You might have to add a bit more milk, if required, to get a smooth paste.
3. Heat ghee in a pan, add the almond paste and cook till it changes color. You need to stir continuosly, else the almonds might burn.
4. Add 1/4 cup milk, stir and simmer for about  2-3 minutes. Add sugar and cook, stirring continuously, till the sugar dissolves and the water from it evaporates. Cook till the required consistency is reached.
5. Serve hot, garnished with slivered almonds.

Note: The quantity of milk here is approximate. You might have to add a little more, if the halwa turns out to be very thick. The halwa will turn out to be hard, if you cook for a really long time after the sugar is added. You will have to take it out when the ‘halwa’ consistency is reached.

Linked to :

• Kid’s Delight : Potluck Party