Samai(Little Millet) Ven Pongal–Pongal recipes

 

I wanted to post a recipe that could be made as an offering to the deities.So I asked mom and she told me that ven pongal is one among the offerings and I decided to go ahead with it as it is also very easy.I started making this very often as its very tasty, healthy and easy to prepare in minutes when I get up very late in the morning. Everyone should know the benefits of millets  and start practicing to prepare often at home.This Samai /Little millet tastes similar to rice and you cant find any difference that this pongal is made out of millet.

 

Check out other Pongal(Sankaranti)  Recipes

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Prep time	Cook time	Serves
5 mins	20 mins	4 persons

 

Cuisine: South Indian

Recipe Type: Breakfast,Lunch (Main Dish)

 

Ingredients Little millet/Samai -1 cup Split moong dal -1/2 cup Water -3 cups Cashewnuts -10 nos Ginger -2 tsp Green chillies -2 nos Cumin seeds -1 tbsp Peppercorns – ½ ts Hing –pinch Curry leaves -2 stalks Ghee -1 tbsp Salt –to taste

 

Method

 

1. Pressure cooker the millet and dal with 3 cups of water till they are mushy.Add the required amount of salt to the millet dal mixture. Cook for one whistle and let it cook in that steam itself.

2. In a pan add the ghee and oil and heat it.Add the tempering ingredients and roast them till the cashews turn golden brown and the curry leaves are crispy.

 

3. Switch off the flame add these tempered ingredients to the rice dal  mixture.

 

4. Garnish with few curry leaves and serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar.

 

5. Tasty Samai venn pongal is ready to be served with ghee on top.

 

Notes

Adding 2 tsp of broken cashews roasted in ghee enhances the taste.If your kids are too fussy and pick the pepper corns to throw out of the plate, you can use this method.

Do not omit ginger and curry leaves as they add a nice flavour. Add pepper and jeera only during tempering and not along with rice and dal mixture.

Technorati Tags: Millet recipes,Sankaranti recipes,Pongal recipes,Samai recipes,Ven Pongal recipes,Breakfast recipes.,Little millet recipes,Lunch recipes,Indian food recipes,South indian recipes.

Sathu Maavu Urundai (Heath Mix Ladoo)–Navarathri Recipes(Day 9)

Nineth Day of Navarathri -Sathu Maavu Urundai(Health mix Ladoo)

 

This is a very healthy snack that can be prepared within a minute or two. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to make this for me using just the sprouted and roasted Ragi flour. But nowadays you get many health mix (Sathu maavu) readily available in the stores. The Health mix is basically a powder made from sprouted and roasted multi grains and nuts flavoured with cardamom. I generally use the Manna brand of Health mix which is readily available in powder form, from the Indian stores. Alternately you may also make the Health mix at home for which I shall post the recipe soon. These ladoos are very yummy to taste and its healthy too.Here we move onto the recipe

Prep time	Serves
20 mins	5 persons

 

Cuisine: South Indian (Kids Snack and Festive Sweet)

Ingredients Mannas health mix powder -2 cup Ragi Flour – 1 cup Jaggery -1  cup Karupatti -1 ½ cup Ghee –1/4 cup Sliced almonds -handful Broken Cashews -3 tbsp Cardamom powder -1 tsp

 

Method

 

1. Dry roast the Heath mix powder separately in a kadai or pan and keep stirring till the raw smell goes off.

 

2. Dry roast the ragi flour in the same  pan after roasting the health mix.In a small pan,add ghee and roast the nuts.

 

3. Boil jaggery and karupatti with little water,filter it and pour the syrup to the health mix.With your hands crumble the nmisture.

 

4. Take all the flours in the broad vessel and mix it with the ladle and pour the nuts along with the ghee.Crumble once again with your fingers.

 

5. Heat ghee and add them to the powder little by little and make small balls immediately.

 

6. Sathu maavu urundai is ready to taste.

 

Notes

 

Use only ghee for this recipe .For people who don’t like the taste of jaggery and karupatti,mix sugar and the sieved powder in a bowl along with honey.(Optional)

Technorati Tags: Sathu Maavu urundai,Healthy recipes,Health mix powder recipes,Ladoo recipes,Healthy mix powder ladoo,Navarathri recipes,Festive sweet recipes,South Indian food recipes,Indian food recipes.

Sprouted Green gram Sundal–Navarathri Recipes (Day 7)

Sprouted Green gram Sundal –Navarathri Recipes(Day 7)

 

I make this sprouted green gram sundal for this Navarathri season. This can be made with any lentil/legume. Today, I’m posting this healthy sundal recipe using sprouted green gram. Actually sprouting is easy and can be easily done at home. Sprouting green gram requires soaking, draining and usage of a thin wetted towel or a hot case.Everyone knows about sprouts which increases your folic acid.

Here we will move to the recipe.

Prep time	Cook time	Serves
15 mins	5 mins	3 persons

 

Cuisine:  South Indian (Festive Snack)

Ingredients Sprouted Green gram – 1 cup Grated coconut -2 tbsp. Chopped cucumber -1 ½ tbsp. Grated carrot -1 ½ tbsp. Salt – to taste Seasonings Oil -1 tbsp. Mustard seeds -1 tsp Split urad dal -1/4 tsp Dry red chillies -2 no’s Hing –pinch Curry leaves -1 sprig

 

 Method

Sprouting green gram

Soak the green gram overnight, next day morning, drain the excess water, completely.Then take the green gram in a cotton towel, bundle it up and place it in the hot case and close it.After 24 hours when you check it up, the green gram would have sprouted.

 

Preparation.

1. Take a cup of sprouted green gram in a bowl and cook for 10 minutes.Heat in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dal, Hing, red chilies and curry leaves.

 

2. Next add the sprouted green gram to this and mix well. Keeping the flame low, add salt, chopped cucumber and grated carrot.

3. Now mix everything with the wooden ladle so that the sprouted does not break by itself.

 

4. Enjoy this festive season with this yummy and healthy sprouted green gram sundal.

 

Technorati Tags: Green gram recipes,Sprouted gram recipes,Sprouted green gram recipes,South indian recipes,Indian food recipes,Festive food recipes,Navarathri recipes,Sundal recipes,Snack recipes,Kids recipes.

Varagu Arisi Thayir Sadam(Kodo Millet Curd Rice)-Navarathri Recipes(Day 6)

Sixth Day of Navarathri –Varagu Arisi Thayir Sadam(Kodo Millet Curd Rice)

 

We all know that mixing curd, white rice with little bit of salt will make a perfect curd rice.
But for packed lunch little bit care should be taken while preparing as curd will taste sour by the time we actually consume it.Here is one such recipe WHich is very healthy and easy to prepare.

Cuisine:  South Indian (Rice variety)

Ingredients Varagu rice -1 cup Milk -2 ½  cups(Only for Neivedhyams use milk) Water -2 ½ cups(For normal days) Salt –to tatse Mashed ginger -1” Carrot -1 tbsp Cilantro -1 tbsp Hing -pinch To grind Thick Curd  -1 cup Green chillies -2 nos Jeera seeds -2 tbsp Seasonings Oil- 1 tbsp Mustard seeds -1 tbsp Curry leaves -1 sprig Green chillies -1 no(optional)

 

Method
1. Soak Varagu rice for 2 hours.Boil milk and keep aside. Grind all the items and keep it aside.Wash the kodo millets properly and pressure cook the millet with 2.5 cups of milk with 3 whistles.

2. Once it cools take the cooked millet out and mix it with spatula in a large bowl.Pressure cook rice for 3 whistles and then 3 minutes .Add, salt, ginger and asafoetida.

3. Mix well with the ground mixture.

4. To prepare the tempering heat oil in a small pan ,add mustard seeds. When th mustard seeds splutter, add green chilly, curry leaves.Saute for 2 minutes.

5. Transfer over prepared rice. Let it sit for 1-2 hours

Notes

If you are immediately serving use can add curd as processed.

Or else

Add curd while serving, just leave out the grinding method.

Technorati Tags: Curd rice recipes,Thayir sadam Recipes,Varagu arisi sadam recipes,Kodo millet recipes,South indian foods,Indian food,Healthy foods,Millet recipes,Festival foods,lunch box recipes.

Banana Kesari–Navarathri Recipes(Day 5)

Fifth day of Navarathi –Banana Kesari

Kesari is one of the yummiest dessert in South India. My kids will never say “NO” to this particular Dessert. As far as I have come across in many functions, first preference in the banana leaf they keep kesari bhath.It’s very easy to prepare and for festive seasons, it’s a yummy dessert to eat which melts in your mouth.I love sweets because it’s loaded with sugar and ghee, but even for my taste ghee used in the kesari was little too much. You can easily reduce the ghee quantity by half and still have equally tasty kesari.

Prep time	Cook time	Serves
10 mins	15 mins	3 persons

 

Cuisine:  Kerala (Festive Sweet)

Ingredients Semolina(Rava) -1 cup Ripe Banana(long variety) -2 no Sugar -1/4 cup Ghee -1/2 cup Milk -1 cup Yellow food color -pinch Water -1 ¼ cup Raisins –handful Cashews –handful Cardamom powder –pinch

 

Method:

1. Mash the banana and keep t aside in abowl.Boil the milk in a pan. Keep everything ready before you start doing Banana kesari.Heat the ghee in another pan over medium flame. Add raisins and cashew pieces. Fry for a minute or two.

2. Next add the rava and fry till it turns light brown. Add the boiled milk, food color along with the water and mix well. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.Add the sugar, cardamom powder mix together, and cook for few minutes. Now add banana, all the remaining ghee and mix together.Kesari is now ready to be served.

Pictorial

Notes

Grease a plate and pour 'kesari' into it. Let it cool and get set. Cut it into smaller pieces and garnish it with an almond.

Technorati Tags: Kesaribhath recipes,Banana Recipes,South Indian Food recipes,Indian Food recipes,Kerala recipes,Sheera recipes