Pacha Maavu Podi Upma aka Heaven on a Plate

Pacha Maavu means raw flour. This is made with raw rice flour.  This is one of mine and my sister's comfort foods. Morkoozh and Pulima are different versions of this. Will post recipes of those also.

Shown with a Roasted Mor Milagai

You Need
Rice Flour - 1 Cup
Buttermilk - 3 cups
Salt - 1 and 1/2 Tea Spoons
Oil - 1/4 cup
Curry Leaves - a few
Mustard - 1/2 Tea Spoon
Red Chili - 3 or 4 broken
Mor Milagai - optional
Hing - 1/2 Tea Spoon

Method
---> Mix the buttermilk and rice flour well so there are no lumps
---> In a heavy bottomed pan, add the oil, and when it gets hot, add the mustard, Red Chilies, Curry Leaves, Hing, Mor Milagai and roast all of them on the medium flame.
--> Add the rice mixture to this and mix well.
---> keep stirring this and it will keep forming lumps, and patiently stir it so that everything gets cooked evenly.
---> it will eventually become powdery and soft.
---> once it is fully cooked, remove from flame and eat.
if it is fully cooked, it should not stick to your fingers and also the raw smell will not be there.

Adai / The Burnt Part

The above picture is the crust which is formed in the pan and it is very tasty..

A great pairing for this is Oma Vathakuzhambu, Narthalai Podi, and Mor Milagai

Rava Kesari / ரவா கேசரி

Rava Kesari / Sojji 

                                               
Rava Kesari is a traditional Tamil Sweet. This is also called Sojji by Tamilians.
Rava is called Sooji in Hindi, it is nothing but coarse wheat.
Traditionally this is made with Bajji, when the groom comes over to the Bride's house to 'officially' see the girl in an arranged marriage.
The measurements I have given will give at least 10 servings. You might think that is a lot of ghee but, it is a sweet after all and you need that much ghee to make it melt in your mouth :)
It doesn't take long to make...

You will need: (for about 10 servings)
Rava- 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup (little more if you have a sweet tooth)
Ghee - 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup (Yes, I am sure about this :) ) the more ghee you add the more it will melt in your mouth...
Cashew Nuts - a few (optional)
Raisins -  a few (optional)
Orange Color - (Optional) but lot of south Indians won't accept it is Kesari, unless it is in Orange Color and Kesari means Orange (Saffron Flower) in Sanskrit
Saffron - a few strands
Cardamom - 1/4 TeaSpoon
Water - 3 times that of Rava , in this case 1 and 1/2 cups

Method
---> This dish should be cooked in a medium flame only.
---> In a pan, add 1 tablespoon of ghee and after it becomes hot add the cashews and roast them.
---> Keep that aside and in the same pan, add 1 Tablespoon of Ghee and Roast the Raisins
---> Keep that aside and add half of the remaining ghee and roast the rava. The rava should be roasted to a soft golden color. Once it is a nice golden color all over, switch the stove off, and then add the water.
---> Mix the rava with the water so no lumps are there. Once that is done, now switch the stove back on, on a medium flame and slowly  keep stirring the pot.
---> In a few minutes, the rava will start absorbing the water and start becoming thick, once it has absorbed all the water, add the remaining ghee, sugar, Cardamom powder, roasted nuts, Roasted Raisins and the orange color and keep stirring the pot.
---> The sugar will melt and the ghee will bind everything together, and it will come together like halwa. At this point you can pour it on to a plate and wait for it to cool..


Scaling this recipe for a party -

50 to 60 Servings -  standard half tray measurement

Rava- 3 cups
Sugar - 4.5 cups  to 5 cups(little more if you have a sweet tooth)
Ghee - 2 cups  to little less than 2.5 cups
Cashew Nuts - 1/2 cup (optional)
Raisins -  1/2 cup (optional)
Orange Color - (Optional) b
Saffron - a few strands
Cardamom - 1.5 Tsps
Water - 9 cups

100 to 120  Servings - Full tray measurements

Rava- 6 cups
Sugar - 9 cups to 9.5 cups(little more if you have a sweet tooth)
Ghee - 4 cups to 4.5 cups to little less than 8 cups
Cashew Nuts - 1 cup (optional)
Raisins -  1  cup (optional)
Orange Color - (Optional) b
Saffron - a few strands
Cardamom - 3 Tsps
Water - 18 cups

A Weeknight Dinner in an hour and 30 mins.

This weeknight dinner can be made in an hour and 30 mins, starting from the bread. Of Course you have to multi task, otherwise, this is going to take atleast 2 to 3 hours :)

Mango / Avocado salad
Basic tomato soup.
Antique Bread.



Start with the Bread,
You will need a regular Loaf Pan.

Antique Bread:
You might think Antique is old, but here it really means there are no fancy ingredients in this bread.
Just plain old sugar, salt, oil, flour and yeast.
 Water 1 and 1/2 Cups
Oil 3 Tablespoons
Salt 1 and 1/2 Teaspoons
Sugar 3 Tablespoons
Bread Flour 3 Cups
Yeast - 2 and 1/2 Teaspoons
Vital Wheat Gluten - 1 Tablespoon
I also add 1 Teaspoon of Soy Lecithin and usually substitue 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour in the Bread flour so it will be 2 cups white and 2 cup Wheat. You can make it 1 and 1/2 cups of each, but the bread will be dense and will not absorb the soup well.

Method
Add the Ingredients in the order given and make a dough. I have a bread machine and make the dough in that. you have to knead for at least 20 mins and shape it in a loaf shape and place in pan let it rest for 30 Mins.
Pre heat the oven for 350 deg F and place in oven and take out after 30 mins or when a thermometer is inserted in to the middle part of the loaf and the temp is 200 degrees.
Let it sit for 20 mins and slice.
The more you let the bread sit, the better it is for the bread and the easier it is to slice. I have made two loaves.


Basic Tomato Soup
While the Bread is kneading and resting, you can start the tomato soup.

I use the Whole food brand Canned Tomato 32 oz
1 quart of Vegetable broth
4 to 5 Medium Size Tomatoes (Chopped)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 large Carrot (Chopped)
5 Cloves of Garlic
Olive oil - about 2 Tablespoons
Spices - 1 bay leaf, and 5 peppercorns and 1/4 tsp cumin


Optional - I have used a Banana Pepper, which I had lying around in the fridge.
Salt to taste
Method:
In an Pan, add the oil and when its hot, add the garlic, cumin and pepper corns, and saute for a minute, then add the onion and saute for few mins until the color turns to a pale pink and then add the carrots and then add the tomatoes.
At this point, I usually pressure cook this. If you want to avoid that, then it should all come to a nice rolling boil and let sit for at least 20 mins. If you do this, then you might want to add water. In a pressure cooker , the items don't get dry.
Once the pressure is cooled, run an immersion hand blender ( I cant make soup without one) and make a puree. If you don't own one, then transfer the contents to a mixer or food processor.
Then add the broth to this and let it come to a slow boil.
Taste and add salt.



Mango / Avocado salad
1 Ripe Mango -- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half
1 Ripe avocado-- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half
1 Jalapeño - 1/2
Red Leaf Lettuce -- 8 to 10 leaves
Walnuts - 1 handful, chopped
1 cucumber - slit in half and sliced.
Salt - as needed
Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
1/2 Lemon - squeezed
Ground Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

Just toss everything in and serve chilled.

Manathangaali keerai / spinach

My friend Mrs. Raji Ramachandran grows this kind of greens in her backyard. We use the fruits (really tiny) as a side to many dishes, you can see the dry version here. This is very high in iron just like spinach. You would also cook it like any other spinach, south indian style.
However, this is a little different version, Mrs. Raji Ramachandran's version.

You wash the spinach and drain well. Cut in small pieces, keep aside. For 2 cups of spinach, you can use 1 cup of moong dal. Wash the dal, In a vessel, put the spinach, place the dal and add a little chili powder and salt on top. Do not mix. Place in cooker and let cook for atleast 3 whistles.
In a pan, add oil, add urad dal, red chili, cumin and let roast until you can smell the spices, don't burn them. Grind the spices with a little coconut and keep aside.

Once the pressure is off, put the spinach in the pan add the ground masala to this and give a tadka with mustard seeds, chili, and curry leaves. This will taste great with rice or hot rotis.

In the Picture Above, is a typical weekend lunch at out house, starting from left to right on top is
Rasam, White Rice, Brown Rice, Kovakkai (Tindora) Kari, Potato Kari, and Manathankaali Keerai.

Vella Adai and Kara Adai

         Both of these are small Rice cakes one sweet and one spicy, and are made for Karadayan Nombu. This festival comes on the first day of the Tamil Month Panguni. For people who know the Story of Satyavan and Savitri, this was the day she fought the God of Death, Yama, to bring her Husband back to life. You can read the story in detail here.
          When my son was 9 years old, I was telling him this story and said that all married women pray that their husbands that they lead a healthy and long life and unmarried girls pray for a good husband. And  after listening to the whole story, my son stumped me with this question "What kind of a puja does Appa do, so that you may lead a long healthy life?" :))
                      

                                               
                     Vella Adai
Items Needed:
Rice Flour  1 Cup
Jaggery 3/4th to 1 cup
water - 2 to 2 and 1/2 cups
Black Eyed Peas  1/2 Cup (or lesser if you prefer) (I like the beans so I usually add a little more)
Cardamom - a few peeled and powdered
Coconut - cut in to tiny tooth shaped pieces (optional)

----> Pre Soak the the Black Eyed Peas and drain them. I usually soak it overnight, but if you are planning to cook it before you add it to the rice flour, then soak it just for 10 mins.
----> Dry Roast the Rice flour till it changed color lightly on a medium flame.
----> Keep Aside, and add the jaggery. If you like it sweeter then, add a bit more jaggery. Add water to this and let it melt. Turn the Stove on, and let the jaggery turn in to a thick syrup.
----> At this point add the Cardamom powder and the Black Eyed Peas and let it boil for a minute.
----> Turn the Stove off and then add the Rice flour. If you feel the dough is dry and need to add a little more water, then go ahead and add, just make sure the dough is like a good bread dough.
---->In the Picture Below, the dough on the left hand side is the Vella Adai Dough.  and the one on the right is the Kara Adai Dough.

Kara Adai: (I make more of these since my daughter is very fond of them)
Items Needed:
Rice Flour  1 and 1/2 Cup
Green Chillies - 4 or 5 Chopped (Depending on your spice level)
Water - 2 and 1/2 to 3 cups

Black Eyed Peas  2/3 Cup (or lesser if you prefer) (I like the beans so I usually add a little more)

Curry Leaves-   A few
Oil - 1 Tablespoon
Mustard - 1 Teaspoon
Hing - 2 Dashes
Salt - 1 and 1/2 Spoons (less if you prefer)
Coconut - cut in to tiny tooth shaped pieces (optional)

----> Pre Soak the the Black Eyed Peas and drain them. I usually soak it overnight, but if you are planning to cook it before you add it to the rice flour, then soak it just for 10 mins.
----> Dry Roast the Rice flour till it changed color lightly on a medium flame.

----> Keep Aside, and add the Oil
---->Let the oil become hot, and then add the mustard seeds, While they sputter, add the hing, chopped Green Chillies, and the curry leaves, and then the Black Eyed Peas and Fry for about a minute
----> Now, add the water and salt and let it come to a slow boil.
----> Turn the Stove off and then add the Rice flour. If you feel the dough is dry and need to add a little more water, then go ahead and add, just make sure the dough is like a good bread dough.

Steaming Process
Now that the Dough is ready, we are ready to make Adais.
Make the steamer ready, in my case, I just used a kadai and put  a cooker ring in it to get some height and then placed my steamer on it. IF you want you can smear the steamer with oil, but it is not necessary. Add water in the pan and let it come to a boil,
---->Meanwhile, make balls out of the Vella Adai Dough and flatten it and make a hole in the middle
----> Do the same process with the Kara Adai Dough ..
----> Steam for about 15 minutes.

 When you are ready to offer this to God, on a clean banana leaf, place one of each adais and a dollop of White Butter and say
“Urugaatha Vennayum Oru kaaradayum naan nootren
Orukaalamum en kanavar ennai vittu piryadhirukkavendum”
(I offer you un-melted butter and one Kaaradai, At no time whatsoever should I ever be separated from my husband)  
Since I don't have access to Banana Leaves, I put them on a plate... :)

Manoharam --- a Traditional Sweet made in Tamilian Homes

                                                                      Manoharam...... 
This sweet is traditionally made for weddings. If you notice two cone shaped objects placed in front of the bride and groom, decorated in foil and flowers, this is what is inside of it. I attempted this for Diwali.
You have to make the Thenkuzhal first. And when you make it, do not add the salt and the Jeera to it. Make it Bland.

What you need to make Thenkuzhal:
Rice Flour : 4 Cup
Urad Flour : 1/4 Cup
Butter -  1/2 Cup Softened to Room Temperature
Water : As Needed

When You deep fry the thenkuzhal, take it out when it becomes crisp. It will not brown much, because it does not have salt in it.

To make the Paagu:
Jaggery - 2 cups
Water - 1/4 of a cup and little more

Bring the water and Jaggery to a boil, and strain through a strainer to get the dirt out. When it comes to a thick liquid like consistency, you can put a drop in a small bowl of water, you should be ale to rotate it, with two fingers and make a ball. At that time, switch the stove off, and take it off the stove.


From here, you are ready to make the Manoharam:

In batches, take about two cups of crushed thenkuzhal, and mix about 1/2 cup of the paagu in it, let it set for a few mins and then you should be able to make small balls of it.

I made about 19 Urundais of Manoharam with half of the Thenkuzhal I made.

Warning:
With the second batch of Manoharam, I was not lucky, The paagu was too thick for it,and it kind of did not set well at all and I ended up with some loose Manoharams. they taste great, but it is like sweet boondi...
 Hey, you can't win them all :))
This is what they look like....

Broccoli Canneloni Pasta

Note: The recipe calls for Ricotta Cheese, but my kids don't like the taste so I substituted Mozzarella instead. If you like Ricotta, then go ahead with it.

Serves 4

You Need

Olive Oil  - 2 Tbsp

Canneloni Tubes - 12

Broccoli Florets - 4 Cups

Bread Crumbs - 1 and 1/2 Cup

Milk - 2/3 cup

Olive Oil for brushing  -- as needed

Mozzarella Cheese - 1 cup

Nutmeg - a pinch

Parmesan or Pecorino - 6 Tbsp

Pine Nuts - 2 Tbsp

Salt 

Freshly ground Black Pepper

For Tomato Sauce

Olive Oil - 2 Tbsp

Onion (large) - finely chopped

Garlic Clove -1 Crushed

14oz can of chopped tomatoes- 2

Tomato Paste - 1 Tbsp

Black Olives - 4 (chopped)

Dried Thyme - 1 Tsp 

Method

Make the Broccoli Stuffing

---> Steam / Boil the Broccoli until tender but not mushy. and let cool

---> In a food processor, process Broccoli until smooth.

---> Place bread crumbs in bowl, add milk and oil and stir until soft, add the cheese, broccoli puree, nutmeg, and grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese and season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Make the Sauce

--->Heat oil in a frying pan, add onions and garlic, cook for 5 to 6 mins until soft, stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, black olives and thyme. Add Salt and pepper to season and boil for 2 to 3 mins and pour in to oven dish. (leave some to pour on top of the pasta)

Cook the Pasta

---> Bring a large pot water to boil, add olive oil, salt to it. Once it comes to rolling boil, add the pasta  and cook according to package directions.

--->  Drain the pasta and rinse under cold water to prevent from sticking.

Stuff the Pasta

---> Spoon the broccoli mixture in to a pastry tube or a Ziploc bag (with a hole cut in) and fill in the cannelloni tubes, standing each one to upright, Do Not Overfill.

Bake It

---> Preheat to 375 deg F. Lightly grease one big oven proof dish with olive oil (big enough to hold all the tubes)---> Lay the tubes in the dish over the sauce , Brush the top of pasta with olive oil,and pour some sauce over the pasta, and sprinkle pine nuts. You can sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on top too.

--->Bake it for 25 to 30 mins until golden.

and Serve it HOT !!!

Mango / Avocado Salad

Mango / Avocado Salad

1 Ripe Mango -- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half

1 Ripe avocado-- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half

1 Jalapeño - 1/2

Red Leaf Lettuce -- 8 to 10 leaves

Walnuts - 1 handful, chopped

1 cucumber - slit in half and sliced.

Salt - as needed

Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon

1/2 Lemon - squeezed

Ground Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

Just toss everything in and serve chilled.

Basic Tomato Soup

Basic tomato soup.

You will need:

1 32 oz can tomatoes (I usually buy the 365 brand from whole foods)

1 box vegetable broth (I usually buy the 365 brand from whole foods)

5 ripe tomatoes (chopped)

1 Teaspoon pepper

20 cloves garlic (chopped in 2)

1 big onion or 2 small ones (cubed)

3 bay leaves

2 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt - as needed

The Process:

In a pan, heat the oil, and add the cumin when the oil is hot, let it sputter and then add the garlic, onion and saute for 5 to 6 mins on a medium flame, then add the bay leaves, pepperand then add the tomatoes and the can tomatoes. Let it all come to a rolling boil, add the salt.

At this point, I usually transfer the contents in to a pressure cooker and give it 2 whistles. If you dont want to do that, keep on a medium flame and then keep on simmer for at least 20 mins, to let it all come together. But make sure the water doesnt evaporate and burn it down. You can add an extra cup of water so it does not happen.

Once the pressure is off, in the pressure cooker / or after 20 mins in the pan,
Fish the bay leaves out and then add the vegetable broth to this and with an immersion hand blender blend it all in to a smooth puree. If you don't have an immersion blender, use a food processor to blend it.

Add a little water if its a little thick for you, and taste for salt; serve with croutons...