Unni Appam-Sweet rice dumplings

I can bet that almost all the south Indians would swear by the sweet unniappams or kuzhipaniyarams. It is flavorful dish made from rice and jaggery. Its made in almost all the important functions and a sadya is never complete without it. On Krishnashtami or Gokulashtami unniappam along with other sweets are made to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna. My DH and son love it very much and sometimes crave for it. Interestingly, once when we were shopping at the cooperative store, they were selling mini banana cup cakes! I bought them as a eat-in-the-car snack while going back home... within minutes the box of 12 cupcakes was empty, all the while my son telling me "Amma that tastes like the brown round thing you make"... well who would have thought banana cupcakes could substitute for unniappams!!!!!

Yummy all the way!

The traditional method calls for soaking raw rice in water, drying it and then powdering it to make these sweet dumplings. My mom taught me an easy way to make these unniappams. You will also need a Kuzhipaniyaram pan to make these and that is easily available in the Indian shops.

Ingredients

Raw rice flour - 1 cup

Wheat Flour  - 2 tbsp

Banana (very ripe medium size) - 3 nos mashed

Jaggery (molasses) - 1.5 cup

Cardamom - 5-7 pods (remove skin and powder the pod)

Water - Just enough to make a paste not too thick or not too thin.

Oil/ ghee for deep frying

Method

1. Place the jaggery in a pan and add 2-3 tbsp water. Let the jaggery melt. Once melted, switch off the stove and let it cool. Strain the jaggery liquid for any impurities. Set aside. 

2. Take a deep bowl and add rice flour, wheat flour, mashed banana, jaggery water, cardamom powder and mix well for consistency. Add water as required to get to the right consistency. Alternatively you can put all the ingredients into a mixer and add little by little water and bring it up to that consistency.

3. Place the kuzhipaniyaram bowl on the stove top and add oil up to 3/4ths to cover the cups. You can also use half and half of oil and ghee. Ghee will give an unique flavour to the dish.

4. Once the oil heats up fill the cups with the batter. Let it cook on medium heat until the appams cook through and get a brown colour.

5. Pick the cooked appams using a spoon or a long sharp needle (similar to a knitting needle, you can get this too in any Indian shop) and strain the oil. 

Savor these appams hot or cold. They will stay good for upto 2-3 days if you can resist the temptation!! 

Back again!

Its been 2 years since I posted any recipe, and in the mean time many things have happened. The most important of which has been the move from Canada to India. It was a tough decision to leave the place that had been home for over 7 years. A place that was comfortable and most of all the huge circle of friends we miss everyday. The decision was made mainly for our parents who were at an age where they needed help in regular activities and with my kiddo ready for grade school we had to make the decision soon so as to make the transition easier for him too.

The past 1.5 years has been tough, negotiating the difference in attitude and approach to solving issues and having to travel frequently, overcrowding, making new friends and just being surrounded by people all the time.

Now that I have sort of settled, I decided it was time to revive my blog. My love for cooking has not waned but being in India i now crave for the variety of cheeses, and foods i would get in Canada. Not just that, to have local, regional and Indian restaurants at every nook and corner of the city makes it easier to order in or eat from outside at the drop of a hat. I hope to try various regional cuisines from different parts of India. I have also started to bake a lot as there is not much variety in bakery food.

So you will see all these in my future blog posts! 

Tomato Rice

In tambram households kalanda sadam or pre-mixed rice is a regular affair. Of the various kalanda sadams such as puliogara, ven pongal, lemon rice, curd rice, tomato rice is a very tasty way to start off lunch. At my home its usually a lunch box recipe which my husband enjoys very much.

Ingredients
Rice - cooked and fluffed - 2 cups
Tomato  - 2 large
Green chillis - 2 nos diced
Turmeric - 0.25 tsp
Sugar - 0.5 tsp
Salt to taste

Tempering
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp

Garnish
Curry Leaves - 6-7 shredded
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)

Method

1. Place the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Cool. Peel the skin and puree.
2. In a pan add oil and the tempering ingredients and when the chana dal turns golden brown, add the pureed tomato.
3. Add chopped chillis, coriander leaves. Cook the tomato puree until oil floats on top.
4. Add sugar, salt and turmeric mix well.
5. Remove from flame. Add the cooked rice. Mix until well coated.

Garnish and serve warm.

Arachu kalakki

Arachu Kalakki is a type of kadi that can be made in a jiffy. The name itself means arachu - grind kalakki -mix. So its just grind and mix to make this dish which gets done within 10 minutes.  My mom in law used to make this quickie whenever we had very little time to make dinner. In Tambram households one can always find baby mango (whole) pickles (vadu-mangai), usually home made when in season. My mom used to make mango pickle during summer when women carrying big baskets of baby mangoes used to sell them door to door. These will be washed, measured and salt added proportionately, and placed in big "Bharanis" and left to marinade. It will be a week or more before you can taste the pickle. Chillis and other spices are added to make chilli mango pickle.

The glory of mango pickle is exalted in this saying which i have heard my amma say "matha ootatha sadam mangai ootum" meaning even if your mother does not feed with her own hands, if you have mango pickle you will eat the rice.

So why did I say so much about the mango pickle in a blog post for arachu kalakki? Well pickle is the important ingredient in this dish. If you do not have baby mango pickle, you can use amla(gooseberry) pickle too. On our recent trip to India I picked up a couple of bottles of vadu mangai pickles. But they were so very spicy that we could not even take a bite without downing a couple of glasses of water, so I set them aside for the arachu kalakki.

Ingredients
Vadu Mangai -- 3-4 baby mangoes with some gravy
Coconut flakes - 5 tbsp
Asafeteida(hing) - 1/4 tsp
Cumin (Jeeragam) - 1/2 tsp
Red chillis - 1-2 (optional- depends on the spicyness of the pickle)
Salt (optional again depends on the pickle)
Yogurt (preferably sour) - 4 tbsp
Water as needed

Tempering
Cooking oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 0.5 tsp

Garnish
Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves shredded

Method

1. Grind together all the items under ingredients to a smooth paste by adding required quantity of water. Taste test and add salt or chillis as needed and grind again.
2. In a saucepan pour the grind and add water to bring it up to desired consistency. Put on medium flame.
3. Once the liquid starts to froth, remove from heat. Do not boil as the yogurt and water will separate. Add the garnish.
4. Prepare the tempering and pour over the grind.

Arachu kalakki is ready and is best eaten with rice and idiyappams.

Hara- Bhara Kebab

The first time I ate this kebab was at a restaurant in the middle east. My husband ordered this and said its very tasty, lets try it. We wait for 15 min and the appetisers are in front of us. I take a look and say, its looks like a normal cutlet and take a bite. "Ummm..." thats all i was saying for the next 10 minutes between bites. The next thing my husband knew was i was polishing off the shared platter..:))
Well now a days I make it quite frequently as my kiddo too loves to snack on something in the late afternoons after school. To its credit this kebab is very healthy needing very little oil and having as much green veggies as you can find.

I am submitting this to Priya's December roundup of Cooking With Seeds - Peas. This is the first time I am participating in a cooking event and I am very excited about it.

Ingredients
Potatoes - 2 nos cubed and boiled until tender
Green peas (fresh/ frozen) - 1 cup (boiled in salted water)
Spinach (chopped) - 1 cup packed
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 tsp (grated)
Green chilly paste - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)
Chaat masala- 2 tsp
Cooking oil - for shallow frying
Cornflour - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. In a kadai add 1 tbsp oil. Add the chopped spinach leaves. Saute for a few minutes until wilted.
2. In a mixer, add the spinach, 2 tbsp boiled green peas, coriander leaves, chilly paste and ginger and grind to a thick paste.
3. In a bowl, add the potatoes and partly mash them. Add the grind green mixture and mix well.
4. Add the rest of the peas, salt and chaat masala, mix well cover and set aside in the refrigerator for an hour.
5. In a pan add some oil for shallow frying. In a separate bowl mix the cornflour in some water to from a thin paste.
6. Make patties out of the peas- potato mixture, dip in cornflour and shallow fry until golden brown.
7. Serve hot with tomato chutney for a that yummy taste.

Couscous Upma

Couscous is a Moroccan pasta made from semolina, watered and rolled into small pellets, dried and seived to an acceptable size. The boxed couscous that we get here cooks very quickly and has high nutrition value with high vitamin and low fat content.

I made a quickie upma out of it and it turned out to be delicious and light, a perfect way to start the day.

Ingredients
Couscous - 2 cups
Water - as per the instructions in the box (usually 1.5 times that of couscous)
Mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, potatoes) - 1 cup (chopped finely)
Salt to taste
Hing (asofeteida/peringayam) - a pinch

Tempering
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Red chillis (dry) - 1-2 nos crushed

Garnish
Green onions - 2 nos sliced
Curry leaves - 6-7 leaves shredded

The Method

1. In a pan add oil and prepare the tempering. Once the mustard crackles, add the vegetables, and saute for a few minutes in medium heat until partly cooked. 
2. Add water and let it come to a boil. Add salt and asofeteida.  
3. Add the couscous and cook as per the instructions in the couscous box.
4. Fluff with fork and garnish with green onions and curry leaves. 

Mix and serve warm either as such or with lime pickle or tomato chutney for kiddies.

Barley and Green Lintel Salad

I am trying out different grains and today its the turn of the barley. umm... know what my earliest memories of barley are associated with? you guessed right, sick days....

Amma would make soup from barley add a bit of sugar and it will be given to us, to keep up the strength, over the few days when no food would taste good. It's been a long time since I had any barley, so this week I wanted to try this super grain used in a salad, which I saw featured in a magazine. I tweaked and adjusted the recipe to suit my pantry.

Ingredients

Pearl Barley -0.5 cup

Green lintels (whole moong dal) - 0.5 cup
Water - 2 cups
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cucumber - 1 no diced
Cherry tomatoes - a handful halved
Green onions - 2 nos chopped

Dressing
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Pre-soak green lintels(whole moong dal) for 1 hour.
2. Barley and green lintels cook at the same rate. Boil water and add salt to taste. Add barley and lintels and cook at low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes. Drain any remaining water. Let it cool.
3. Add the diced vegetables cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Prepare the dressing add to the salad and toss just before serving.

Maladu - Dalia laddoos

This is one of the first sweets that come to mind which amma used to make in a jiffy. Appa and I had the sweet tooth in the house and usually it started off with "onnume illai chapadarathukku" (there is nothing to eat)
amma: "murukku, mixture irukke, poyi eduthukko". (there is murukku and mixture, go take it)
me: "sweet onnum illai" (but there are no sweets)
amma: "maladu pannatuma." (shall i make maladu? )
me: ok (very very happy that amma consented to make something sweet)

In the present day my son loves this quickie and it is one of very few sweets he likes. He is more of a savoury person and I make it quite often. In tamil brahmin weddings, maladu is one of the primary sweets given to the invitees as cheeru. It is usually made to order and is big in size(almost the size of an apple) than the ones made at home.

Ingredients

Dhalia(pottu kadalai, porikadalai) - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method

1. Powder the dhalia and sugar together in a mixie to a fine powder. Set aside.
2. Add cardamom powder and mix well.
3. Heat ghee. Add it little by little and roll the mixture into small lemon sized balls. You will need to re heat the ghee often to make the laddoos as warmer the ghee the less it is needed for making laddoos.

Store in an air-tight jar for upto 2 weeks (if it will last that long!). The powdered dhalia- sugar mix can be prepared and stored ahead until needed and will be even quicker to prepare.

Sweet Potato Butternut Squash Stir Fry

Halloween is a good time for harvest vegetables. The local farmers market had luscious looking squashes, corns and a variety of apples. My little one was out picking different apples such as Honey crisp, Spartan, Macintosh while his mom (a.k.a me!!) was picking out the squashes. We love sweet potato and butternut squash, so here is a recipe bringing out the best of both in one dish. 

Ingredients
1 no -- Butternut Squash cut in half and microwaved for 10 minutes, peeled and julienned
1 no -- Sweet Potato peeled and julienned
1 no -- Small Red Onion chopped
1 tsp -- Ginger grated
2 no -- Dry red chilli broken
Asofeteida a pinch
1 tsp -- Sambar powder

For Tempering
2 tbsp -- oil
1 tsp -- Mustard seeds
0.5 tsp -- urad dal

Garnish
5-8 -- Curry leaves shredded

Method

1. In a kadai at medium heat add oil, mustard seeds, dry red chillis and urad dal and let the mustard splutter.
2. Add chopped red onion and saute until translucent.
3. Add julienned sweet potato, saute for a minute. Add salt and turmeric, saute.
4. Cover and let the sweet potato cook until just done.
5. Add julienned squash to cooked sweet potato, saute.
6. Add ginger, curry leaves mix well and then add sambar powder, saute. Mix well and remove from heat.

Serve warm with rice and rotis. The red onions give a beautiful flavour to the dish. I found it difficult to cut and peel the uncooked butternut squash, so I microwaved it for 10 minutes, to soften the skin and partially cook the flesh. It turned out to be a very easy dish to make and had an amazing taste.

Medhu vada - Savoury lintel doughnut

Vegetarianism comes with the need to include proteins in the daily diet as a much needed requirement. Lintels satisfy this need and the variety keeps the taste buds tingling and asking for more. Vada is a recipe that uses white lintels or urad dal and is a deep fried snack that is also a comfort food on cold and clammy days.
Amma used to make vada or vadai as it is called in tamil quite frequently. It is also an important festival food such as Saraswati Pooja, Vishu and the like. Also when we go out of town, the morning breakfasts ordered in the restaurants which were usually idly or dosas were always accompanied by crispy vadas. When I was younger, I used to love the spicy vadai paired up with some refrigerated tomato ketchup!!! Now I make it here whenever the craving strikes and my little one loves its crunchy outer texture and the yummy soft inner part of this vadai.

Ingredients
Urad dal (white lintels) - 1 cup soaked for 2 hours
Green chillies - 2 or 3 as per taste chopped med size
Salt to taste
Hing asofeteida - a big pinch
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves- 8 to 10 shredded
Peppercorns 10 to 12 leave as whole if feeding little kids else crush with mortar and pestle.
Water 1/4cup
Oil - For deep frying

 Method

1. Grind the urad dal to a med fine paste* with very little water such that it has a dropping consistency.
2. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.
4. Take some water in a small bowl and set aside. Take a zip lock bag and place in your left hand. Dip your right hand in the bowl of water and take a small amount of the dough and place it on the plastic cover. Make a hole in the center of the dough and flip it onto your right hand and drop the dough into hot oil.
5. Make as many as your wok will hold and fry until golden brown.
6. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain.
7. Serve warm with coconut chutney or with tomato sauce for the little ones.

*Note: If your dough gets a little watery after grinding add some roasted rava or sooji which will absorb the water and make the vada more crunchy. Do not add rice powder to the urad dal dough as it will absorb more oil while deep frying.

Red Coconut Chutney

As the name suggests the chutney is made from red chillies, coconut and tamarind. The flavours are much stronger and are more suited for the adult palatte. The green coconut chutney using green chillies is milder and are liked by kids as it contains yoghurt. As with chutneys the preparation method is the same.

Ingredients
Shredded coconut -- 3 tbsp
Red chillis  -- 2 nos ( more if you like it spicer)
Tamarind -- 0.25 tsp if you are using the concentrate or a small green peas sized if you are using the pods.
Dalia (pottu kadalai) -- 1 tsp
Hing (Asofeteida/Perunkayam) -- a pinch
Salt to taste
Curry leaves -- 5-8 leaves

For Tempering
Cooking Oil -- 1 tsp
Mustard -- 0.5 tsp

The Method

1. Add the first 6 ingredients in a mixer/ food processor along with some water and grind to a smooth paste. Then add the curry leaves and give it a whirl. The fresh curry leaves give the chutney an appetising aroma and beautiful colour.
2. Prepare the tadka and pour over the chutney.

Serve as an accompaniment to idly, vada, bajji, dosa and the like.

Upma Kozhukottai (Broken rice dumplings)

Rice is eaten in different forms in south India. One of the very tasty forms is the Upma Kozhukottai or the broken rice dumplings. Its a flavourful way to snack this rice dish in late afternoons or even as a main in dinner.

Ingredients
Broken Rice - 1 cup
(dry grind rice and seive it so that any rice powder is removed) or use Rice Sooji
Water - 3 cups
Shredded Coconut - 2 tbsp
Hing - 0.25 tsp
Salt to taste

Tempering
2 tsp - Oil
1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 nos - Red chillis (adjust according to taste)
2tsp - Chana dal
Curry leaves a handful

Method

1. In a kadai add oil, mustard seeds, keeping the heat at medium to low setting.
2. Once it splutters add the chana dal and roast it a little until it turns light brown.
3. Add broken red chillis and curry leaves. Toast for a few seconds.
4. Remove kadai from heat wait a few seconds and add the water. Return to stovetop.
5. Increase heat and bring the water to a rolling boil. Add salt and hing.
6. Once the water boils add the rice sooji and turn the heat to medium. Let the rice sooji cook well (add water if necessary).
7. Once the rice sooji cooks well add the shredded coconut, mix well, cook for a couple of more minutes and turn off heat, set aside to cool.
8. When the upma is cool enough to handle, take a handful and roll it into small balls also called kozhukattai.
9. Place the upma balls or kozhukattai, in a steamer and steam for 5-7 minutes, remove from heat and let it cool.

Serve warm with coconut chutney and sambar.

Pazham Nurukku - Banana Caramel

This is a traditional Kerala recipe, made from ethan pazham (ripe banana's of kerala variety). Its easy to make and is a great snack item.

Ingredients
Ethan Pazham -- 3 Nos chopped into bite sized chunks along with the skin
Jaggery/Gud --- 1 cup
Powdered cardamom -- 1 tsp
water -- 2 tbsp
Ghee -- 1 tbsp

Method
1. Steam the chopped ethan pazham pieces so that the banana chunks get partly cooked. The skin will peel off leaving a cooked banana.
2. In a thick bottomed vessel, place the jaggery and add 2 tbsp water. The jaggery will melt, turn down the stove, and add cardomom powder, 1/2 tbsp ghee and the peeled banana pieces.
3. Toss well, so that the banana chunks get a nice coating of the melted jaggery.
4. Add the remaining ghee and let the mixture simmer for a couple of minutes. All the the while make sure that the stove is turned down to minimum and the jaggery mixture does not become stringy.
Remove from stove and let it cool down a little. Serve warm.

Potato Onion Fry

Got up late today and with just 45 min left for my husband to leave for office, I decided to make roti with a side dish.
This is a quickie recipe for those early morning rush hour days and a great comfort food.

 

Ingredients
4 Potatoes med sized cubed
1 Red Onion med sized chopped
1 tbsp -- Ginger grated
Asofeteida a pinch
1 tsp -- Chilly powder
1 tsp -- Sambar Powder
1/4 tsp -- Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For tempering
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp

For Garnish

Curry leaves - 1 sprig or
Coriander leaves-- 1 tbsp finely chopped

The Method

1. Cut the potatoes into medium sized cubes. In a saucepan add water and bring to a boil, add the potatoes and cook until just done. Add salt.
2. Once its 3/4th done add turmeric and mix well. Drain excess water and set aside.
3. In a kadai add the oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add the onions and fry until translucent. Add grated ginger and give a toss.
4. Keeping the heat at medium, add the potatoes and mix well until it is well coated with oil. Keep mixing so that it does not stick to the bottom.
5. Add the chilly powder, asofeteida and sambar powder and mix well again for a couple of minutes until the potatoes just begin to brown.
6. Remove from flame and garnish with curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves. This pairs up well with all rotis.  

Ven Pongal

Ven Pongal is a traditional breakfast or tiffin dish served mainly in Tamil Nadu. It is a delicious mix of Cheru paruppu (split moong dal) and rice. I have tasted many a different variety of Ven Pongal ranging from gooey kind, to the not so watery kind, but the best of which I liked is my mom's style of preparing Ven Pongal which is different from the traditional method. I am posting the same here.

Ingredients
Rice --- 1 cup
Moong Dal split -- 1/4 cup
Ghee -- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Black Pepper -- 1 tsp
Jeeragam (Cumin) 1/2 tsp

For Garnish
Ghee -- 1 tsp
Cashew Nuts (split) -- 5-8 pieces
Raisins --5-6

Method

1. In a pressure cooker cook the rice and moong dal separately. For cooking rice add 3.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice and for cooking moong dal for 1/4 cup add 1 cup of water.
2. While the rice and daal are cooking in a kadai take a tsp of ghee and roast the black pepper and cumin until the cumin turns brown. After it cools, crush it using a pestle.
3. Once the rice and daal is cooked remove from cooker after the steam has gone. Take the cooked rice in a bowl and let it cool for a 10 minutes. While the rice is still warm add the cooked daal, ghee, the crushed mixture and salt and mix well taking care not to break the rice too much.
4. Roast the cashews and raisins in ghee until the cashews turn golden brown. Pour this over the rice mixture and Ven Pongal is ready.

Serve warm with coconut chutney or sambaar.

Green Coconut Chutney

Coconut chutney is a mouth watering accompaniment to many dishes like idlis, dosas, aapams, ven pongal etc. It is an ubiquitous accompaniment for all almost all of south Indian dishes.

Ingredients
Grated coconut (fresh or dried) -- 4 tbsp (fresh coconut gives a better flavour)
Green chilis -- 2 or more as per taste
Asofeteida -- Big pinch
Dahlia (pottu Kadalai) - 1 tsp
Sour curd -- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

For Tempering
Oil -- 2 tsp
Mustard -- 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli -- 1 no
Curry leaves

Method
Grind the all the above ingredients until a medium smooth paste is made, using little water. Prepare tadka and pour over the chutney.

Sharkarai Pongal

Sharkarai Pongal made in my antique venkala panai.

On festival days or on special occasions such as Devi puja, sharkarai pongal is the sweet dish offered as neivedyam. Sharkarai means jaggery in tamil and malayalam, and when mixed with rice it is called sharkarai pongal.

Ingredients
Rice -- Short grained raw rice 1 cup
Water - 2.5 cups
Jaggery (powdered) - 2 cups
Ghee -- 3 tbsp

For Garnish
Cardomom pods -- 5 pods
Cashewnuts -- 6-7nos broken

Method

1. In a heavy bottomed vessel cook the rice with the water.
2. Once the rice is cooked add the powdered jaggery. Mix well. The jaggery will make the mix watery.
3. Add 2 tbsp if ghee to the rice and let the mixture simmer for a few more minutes. All this while keep the heat at medium and keep mixing the rice so that the bottom does not burn.
4. Powder the cardomom in a mortar and add to the rice. By now you will see a layer of ghee at the top, and the mix will be more solid consistency.
5. In a separate vessel fry the cashews in the remaining ghee and add to the mixture. Mix well. Let it cool a bit. Serve warm.

Note: Add jaggery only after the rice is cooked. Rice will not cook once the jaggery is added and will be hard to bite into.  

Happy Pongal

Wish you all a Happy Pongal and Makara Sankranti.

Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated mainly in Tamilnadu. It is like the thanksgiving festival, thanking the Sun God for a bountiful harvest. The festival is celebrated in 3 days. The first day is called the Bhogi. On this day houses are cleaned and old unwanted items are thrown out. In the evening after dinner, the ladies come out and decorate the front yard  of the houses with Kolams or rangolis.

The next day is called Pongal. On this day the people get up early take a bath. Set up the hearth where the pongal will be made. In an earthen pot rice is cooked and jaggery is added to form sweet rice or sharkarai pongal. The earthen pot is decorated and tied with freshly plucked turmeric plants with roots intact. The sharkarai pongal is then offered to the sun god as neivedyam along with sugarcane.

The third day is called Kanu Pongal. On this day young ladies seek the blessings of elderly ladies with a piece of turmeric root in hand. The turmeric is then touched on the forehead by the elder and the young lady gets blessed for a happy life ahead. After this small rice balls mixed with turmeric, coconut, jaggery (each 7 in number) are placed on the turmeric leaves and offered to the birds with these words "Kakka podi vecchen, Kanu podi vechen, kakkai kootam kalanjalum en kootam kalaiyamal irukkatum" meaning i have kept kakka podi and kanu podi, even if the crow family splits up, let my family never split. It is a prayer for keeping the family united through both good and bad times. This day is also celebrated as Maatu Pongal (Maadu means cow) where cattle are bathed and prayer for their well being is said so that they are healthy for the next planting season.

I have many sweet memories of celebrating Pongal at my parents home. On the day before Pongal my father would buy sugarcane, flowers, turmeric plant and fruits for neivedyam. On the day of Pongal my mother will make sharkarai pongal at the designated time and after puja will offer it as neivedyam. The rest of the day is spent visiting friends and relatives with packets of pongal as gift. I will post the recipe for sharkarai pongal in the next post.

Thayir Sadam (Curd Rice/ Yoghurt Rice)

At my home we all love thayir/curd/yoghurt. Every meal is rounded off only after eating at least a handful of thayir sadam. I prepare curd/yoghurt at home every alternate day. Usually couple of ladles of rice is mixed with thayir and eaten along with the side dishes and pickles.

Every once in a while I prepare thayir sadam in advance by adding a few different ingredients that make it very tasty. This recipe is also good for any leftover plain rice to be used the next day.

Ingredients
Rice - 1 cup
Water - 3 cups
Plain yoghurt - 3/4 cup
Green Chillis - 3 nos finely sliced
Pomegranate seeds - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

For Tempering
Oil - 1 tbsp any cooking oil
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

For Garnish
Curry leaves - 6 leaves (shredded)

Method

1. Wash rice in running water until the water runs clear. Cook the rice in 3 cups of water. Fluff with fork and let it cool to room temperature.
2. Transfer the rice to a bowl. Add yoghurt little by little and mix until it is well blended. Add little water if you feel its too thick.
3. Add salt, green chillis, pomegranate seeds and mix again.
4. Add the tempering and garnish with curry leaves.

Serve with spicy lemon or mango pickle. Pomegranate seeds can be substituted with quartered grapes for this delicious entree.