Upma Kozhakkattai

This one's from mom's kitchen - Tirunelveli style. Makes a great evening snack or light dinner. Breakfast isn't a bad option either, but the slight labour demanded may not make it your best choice for a busy morning. It goes really well with Tomato thokku / chutney. Coconut chutney makes a good combo with it as well. The kozhakkattais by themselves are quite self-sufficient with all spices. So, they can be consumed without any dish to go on the side too.

Ingredients (for about 12 pieces):

Rice, Channa dal (Kadalai paruppu) and Water required in the following ratio:

Rice : Channa dal : Water = 1 cup: 1/4th of a cup : 1 and a 1/2 cups.
(Increase / decrease these ingredients in the same ratio for more/ less no. of pieces)
Coconut (shredded) - 1/2 cup
Red chillies - 2 no.s (you can add more according to preferred spice levels)
Green chillies - 1 no.
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - to taste

For tempering:
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp.
Asafoetida (Perungayam) - 2 to 3 pinches
Oil - 1 to 2 tsp.

Procedure (takes 30-40 mins approx.):

1. Soak the channa dal in water for about an hour.
2. Grind the plain rice into a coarse powder (around rava consistency).
3. Grind the soaked dal with the red chillies, green chillies and half the quantity of coconut taken into a coarse paste (Use as little water as possible).
4. Heat the oil on a wide vessel and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the curry leaves.
5. Add the water, salt, asafoetida and the ground dal paste and stir on medium heat for about 2 mins.
6. Add the rice powder while constantly stirring.
7. Add the remaining half of the shredded coconut.
8. Mix well on medium heat until the mixture hardens well (around Upma consistency). This step takes 5-7 mins.
9. Remove from flame and allow to cool until the heat is bearable to touch (about 5 mins).
10. Make egg-shaped balls (kozhakkattais :-)) using a few drops of water on the hand to help if the mix is sticky. The kozhakkattais are do-able with a single hand. Make sure they are firm and without cracks.
11. Steam them on high for about 10 mins on Idli racks.
12. Once cooled a little, they are ready to serve!

Pal Payasam

Time for really simple Pal Payasam, courtesy : mom-in-law. It is one of those recipes that you can make with the default ingredients found in a refrigerator / kitchen :-) You can always fall back on this if you're having surprise guests at home. It is amazing how simple everyday ingredients when mixed in a particular fashion can produce such a delightful bout of heaven in those little servings.

Ingredients (for about 4 servings):

• Milk - 500 ml (make sure it is not skimmed or non-fat)
  
• Rice / Semiya - 1 handful (you may doubt the minimality of this quantity, but believe me this is the exact proportion to make semi-solid payasam :) Not even a grain more!)
• Sugar - 80 - 100 gms (80 if you're not so keen on sweet, 100 if you have a sweet tooth)
  
• Ghee - 4 tea spoons
  
• Cashews - a few (optional)
  
• Raisins - a few (optional)
  
• Elaichi powder - 2 to 3 pinches (optional)
  
• Saffron - 1 or 2 pinches (optional)

Method (takes 30-40 minutes approx.):

The entire recipe can be made on simmered or medium flame as milk boils quickly & could cause charring easily.

1. Pour 2 tea spoons of ghee on a thick-bottomed vessel & fry the cashews until golden brown. Add the raisins as well towards the end and keep the mixture aside.
   
2. Pour rest of the ghee and add the rice/ semiya. Let it fry well until golden brown.
   
3. When the rice/ semiya is ready, add the milk.
   
4. Cook for about 10 - 15 mins, until the rice/ semiya is done (rice takes longer - about 25 mins. You may do a bit of closed-pan cooking as well to get the rice cooked). Keep stirring through the process. The mix thickens and the milk quantity reduces. If you're using whole milk or condensed milk, you will see the mix thickening sooner than it would take for the rice/semiya to get cooked. So in that case, add just half the milk quantity with little water initially to allow the rice/ semiya to get sufficiently cooked. You may add the rest of the milk & let boil once the rice/ semiya is done.
   
5. Add the sugar and mix well. The mix loosens a bit now. Cook for another 10 minutes until it thickens.
   
6. The payasam is close to completion now. Remove from stove. Add the elaichi powder and mix.
7. Garnish with saffron and the fried cashews and raisins.

Both the rice & semiya versions are tested & proven hits among guests/ husband alike :-)

Gulab Jamun or is it Vanilla Jamun?

What would be a sweeter post to start the new year with, than the Gulab Jamun recipe?!

I have seen my mom prepare Gulab Jamun using the ready-made mix. Of course, like with any ready-made stuff, you can do without it too.

My cooking is usually simplistic with only a little bit of experimentation to it, as I am someone who follows tested recipes quite firmly. Of course, there are times when all I want is to experiment, no rules apply then:-)

Now to the recipe. It takes about 25 minutes to prepare and makes around 20 Jamuns.

Vanilla(?) Jamun (You'll know soon!)

There are two parts to this recipe:
1. Jeera
2. Jamuns

To make Jamuns:

Ingredients:

1. Milk Powder - 2 Cups
   
2. Maida Flour(general purpose flour) - 2 Tbsp
   
3. Ghee - 1 Tbsp
   
4. Curd - 1/2 Cup
   
5. Baking Soda(Sodium Bicarbonate) - A pinch
   
6. Cooking Oil - To deep fry
   

Method:

1.  Add milk powder, Maida flour and Baking Soda in a conveniently large mixing bowl and make a dry mixture.
   
2. Add ghee and mix more.
   
3. Add curd and make a crumbly dough by kneading with hand. Keep aside for 10 minutes.
   
4. Make small balls of the dough. Since baking soda has been added, it expands while frying, so make the balls small.
   
5. Heat the oil in a deep pan. Maintain the temperature between simmer to medium. DO NOT KEEP THE STOVE ON HIGH FLAME. 
   
6. Deep fry the Jamun balls in batches till they turn golden brown. This may take 2 minutes per batch. If the flame is high, the outer surface may become brown sooner and the insides wouldn't have been cooked.
   
7. Keep the fried Jamuns separately on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
   

To make Jeera:

Ingredients:

1. Sugar - 2 Cups
   
2. Water - 1 Cup
   
3. Cardamom Powder - 1 Tsp
   
4. Vanilla seeds - A pinch
   

1. Heat the water in a wide mouthed vessel.
   
2. Add sugar, cardamom powder and Vanilla seeds
   
3. Bring it to boil. Then turn down the heat to simmer.
   
4. Now, add the fried Jamuns to the jeera.
   
5. Keep the heat low for a couple of minutes before switching off the stove. 
   
6. The Jamuns are ready to be served after soaking in Jeera for half an hour.
   
7. In the actual Gulab Jamun, rose essence is added. For a change, I have added Vanilla seeds, and it was as good. Vanilla essence could be substituted too.
   

Tips: 

Grease your palm with ghee/oil before making the Jamuns so that they form nice ridge-less balls.

So, happy Jamuning:-)