Krishnaashtami Special - Palpayasam

Ashtami Rohini also known as Gokulashtami or Sri Krishna Jayanti or Janmashtami, is the birthday of Lord Krishna. The birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated with great importance on this day. It is held in the month of Chingam (Aug- Sept). Devotees visit the Krishna temples where special Pooja and cultural programs are held. Appam and Palpayasam (cakes of rice paste and jaggery) are considered to be Lord's favorite food .The houses are also decorated with special care. Patterns of small feet, drawn with rice flour are made, leading from the house entrance to the puja room, where the idol of Lord Krishna is kept. This symbolizes the baby Krishna coming to his devotees' house to bless them and leaving behind his footsteps.




Method:

Add 3 cups of Whole milk to a vessel (avoid non-stick pan) and bring to boil. To this add ¾ cup of sugar and bring to boil. Now add ½ cup of red rice or raw rice washed into the milk. Add crushed cardamom to it and mix it well. Cook in a medium heat until the rice is cooked. It will take 30- 40 minutes, so be patient and keep mixing once in few minutes, the end results are worth waiting. When it is almost cooked, take a small pan, add 4- 5tsp of ghee and sauté cashews and raisins and add them to the payasam. Once the rice is cooked turn off heat and serve hot.

Palak Paneer - Indian Cheese-Spinach Curry

Palak Paneer is a delicious, hearty North Indian dish prepared with spinach and Indian cheese. This traditional greens based vegetarian dish is a rich, smooth, creamy curry where paneer cubes are cooked in a onion-tomato-spinach based gravy which is moderately spiced with Indian spices.


I have tried various variations of the Palak Paneer curry and one of my favorites has been this particular recipe given to me by a dear Punjabi friend, Darshan.

The smooth and creamy consistency, melt in the mouth paneer cubes and the simple ingredients which go into making this dish give it a delightful subtle sweet flavor that is sure to keep you satisfied. This curry makes a great accompaniment with rotis, naan or hot steamed rice.


Palak Paneer Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 45mts

Serves 5-6 persons.



Ingredients:

-> 250 gms paneer (cubed and lightly fried till brown in a tsp of ghee)

-> 3 big bunches spinach (discard the coarse stems) – blanch in hot water for 2 mts and make a paste and keep aside

-> 1 ½-2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

-> 1 tsp cumin seeds

-> 2 onions finely chopped

-> 2 green chillis slit length wise

-> 1 tsp ginger garlic paste

-> 1 tsp red chilli pwd

-> 1 tbsp coriander pwd

-> 2 big juicy tomatoes (blanched in hot water, peeled and pureed)

-> 1 cup water (use the water in which spinach was blanched)

salt to taste

-> ½ tsp garam masala pwd (make a pwd of 2 cloves, 1 cardamom and 1” cinnamon stick)

-> 1 tbsp malai (top of milk)

-> ¼ tsp kasuri methi (optional)

1 Add ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add the onions and green chillis sauté them till light brown. Don’t burn them.
2 Add ginger garlic paste and fry further for 3 minutes. Add red chilli pwd and coriander pwd and combine well.
3 Add the tomato paste and let it cook for 5-6 mts on medium heat. Add the palak paste and let it cook further for another 4-5 mts.
4 Add the fried paneer cubes and combine. Cook covered on low heat for 3 mts. Add the palak water and salt and cook on medium heat for 10-12 mts.
5 Add malai, garam masala pwd and kasuri methi and mix well.
6 Reduce flame, cover and cook for 2 mts.
7 Serve hot with rotis or white steamed rice or rotis.




Note:

You could also add paneer directly (without frying in ghee) to the cooked spinach. Another variation you could do with the spinach is coarsely chop the spinach and stir fry in a little ghee instead of pureeing it and add it ( instead of the palak paste). But to get the creamy consistency, you have to blanch and puree the palak.

Semiya Payasam

Ingredients:

Milk 1 litre
Sugar 1/2 Kg
Vermicelli (Semya) 1/2 Kg
Ghee 4 tbsp
Cashewnut 10 nos(adjust as u wish)
Cardamom 5 nos(adjust as u wish)
Dry Grapes 10 nos(adjust as u wish)


Procedure:
1. Heat the Ghee in a pan and roast the cashews for about 1min. Remove and set aside.
2. In the same Ghee fry Vermicelli/Semya and roast until they start turning brown.
3. In a Milk Pan, heat the milk. When the milk starts to boil add the roasted vermicelli.
4. Cook for 4-5min or until the vermicelli is soft and well cooked. The mixture starts thickening.
5. Add the Cardamom powder and mix well.
6. Turn off the heat and add the powdered sugar. Mix well until the sugar dissolves.
7.Garnish with roasted nuts and raisin.

Raagi Rava Dosa

We all have eaten crunchy, paper like rava dosa. I wanted to make something different, which was quick, easy and also healthy. Did you know that Raagi contains high protein. Raagi flour has advantages of slow digestibility and high calcium content as well.

So, I changed the recipe for rava dosa quite a bit. Tried this twice at home and each time it was a super hit. So, here comes the recipe for Raagi-Rava dosa.

Ingredients:

1 cup Raagi flour - Raagi hittu
1 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Rava -
1/2 cup Besan flour or Kadale hittu
1 tsp Jeera
2 finely chopped green chillies
salt to taste
1 onion finely chopped
Method:

Mix all the above ingredients 1-7 with water except onion. Make sure there are no lumps at all in the dosa batter. The consistency should be as watery as Lassi or Neeru majjige. Heat a non-stick pan or tava. I didn’t use a non-stick pan; used a normal Iron tava. I saw this trick in youtube by VahRehVah chef. The chef there puts onion first on the Tava, and then sprinkles dosa batter on the Tava. It wasn’t easy for me to do that, so I did pour the dosa batter the normal way, but didn’t spread the batter on the tava.

So, first and foremost sprinkle onion on the tava As shown below. This is optional and you can leave it if your are making this on days during which you don’t eat onion.

Next, pour the batter as thin as possible on the pan, and add oil on top and sides of the dosa. Don’t spread the batter at all. See the image below:
Once the dosa is done on one side, turn over and let it cook on the other side as well. Serve with pickle, chatni or even better my daughter’s favorite Jam. Enjoy crunchy Ragi-Rava dosa.

Egg fried Rice

This is a very simple and easy way of preparing Egg Fried Rice....It takes just 15 minutes to do this, once the rice is cooked..I just love the aroma you get from the Basmati Rice when it is cooked...You can also try using Long Grain Rice.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Basmati Rice
2 Large Eggs
2 Tablespoon Milk
2 Drops Vanilla extract (Optional)
4 Green Onions chopped
1/2 Cup sliced Mushrooms
1 Green Chilly (Jalepeno)
2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper Powder(Little)

Preparation:


1. Cook the rice....There are 2 ways of cooking rice....For convenience i cook the rice in my rice cooker with 1 1/2 cups of water... Another way of preparing rice is to bring about 4 Cups of water to a boil in a vessel...Add the rice and stir it until the rice is cooked..Drain the rice through a sieve and rinse it with lots of cold water...Drain the water completely.

2. Take a small bowl and beat the eggs and milk...I add 2 drops of vanilla extract to it...But it is optional.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the green onions, chilly (jalepeno) and the sliced mushrooms...Fry it for about 5 minutes.

4. Add the beaten eggs to the frying pan and stir it around to scramble them.

5. Now, add the rice to the pan and stir fry it for about 5 minutes, until the rice is heated...Later, add 3-4 drops of soy sauce, salt and pepper and stir it.

6. Egg Fried Rice tastes good when served hot.

Carrot Pudding (Carrot Kheer)

Kheer or Payasam is a traditional Indian dessert made during festivals and celebrations. It is usually made with rice, vermicelli (semiya), sago and lentils. Carrot Kheer (Payasam) is a simple delicacy made with carrots, milk, cashews and sugar.

Ingredients:

2 Medium Sized Carrots
2 Cups Milk
4 Cardamom Pods
1 Tablespoon Cashews
2 Cups Sugar
Little Ghee or Clarified Butter


Preparation:

1. Peel the carrots and cut them. Boil it till they are tender. Cool it and blend it to a fine paste.

2. Toast the cashews in ghee or butter till they are golden.

3. Boil the milk in a pan for abt. 10 Mins and add the carrot paste and stir it for abt. 10 Mins.

4. Combine the sugar, cashews and crushed cardamom. Keep stirring for abt. 20 Mins on low flame until the milk thickens.

5. Refrigerate and serve cold. Carrot Kheer tastes good when served hot too.

Beetroot Pachadi

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups grated beetroot
• 1-1/2 tsp Grated ginger
• 1 Finely chopped onion
• 3/4 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 Sprig curry leaves
• 2 Green chillies, split
• 2 Cups curd
• 1-2 tbsp Oil
• Salt to taste


How to make Beetroot Pachadi:
• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
• Fry the mustard seeds.
• Add onion and fry until it turns brown.
• Mix green chillies and keep stirring.
• Add the grated beetroot, curry leaves, ginger, and salt to taste.
• Simmer it until the beetroot is cooked properly.
• Add curd to the mixture when cool.
• Beetroot Pachadi is ready.


Suggestions:
Use a mixture of buttermilk and curd if you prefer the pachadi to have a thin consistency.