Sweet Pongal

Pongal is a very popular south Indian dish made with rice. There are various varieties of pongal like sweet pongal (made with sugar / jaggery or sometimes with both) and ven pongal made with mixed spices. Hope you had already seen the ven pogal preparation process in my blog so now lets see how to prepare sweet pongal with jaggery.

Sweet Pongal

Ingredients Serve -4

• Moong dal – ½ glass
• Rice – ½ glass
• Water – 3 & 1/4 glass
• Jaggary powder – ½ cup
• Cardamom – 3
• Kaju – 10
• Kishmish -10
• Ghee – 8tspn

The following picture shows the step by step process for Sweet Pongal:

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 Method:

1. Wash and soak moong dhal and rice for 15 min.
2. Take a pressure cooker, add moong dal, rice & 3 glass of water. Close with lid and cook for 3 vessels in medium flame. (figure 1 & 2)
3. Take a small pan add ¼ glass water,  jaggery and cook until jaggery gets fully melts. (figure 3 & 4)
4. Mean while, open the lid slowly and smash the mixture well. (figure 5)
5. Now transfer melted jaggery into dhal mixture which has been prepared in step 4 and mix well without lumps. (figure 6)
6. Take a pan, heat ghee and add kaju, kishmish. Roast them until color changes to golden brown.(figure 7)
7.  Transfer them along with ghee, cardamom into the dhal mixture and mix well. (figure 8)
8. Serve in a bowl. (figure 9)

Tasty & yummy sweet pongal is ready to serve !

Additional Tips:-

• In step 3, smash the mixture well or else when we add jaggary syrup into it then rice will become as separate grain.

Potato Curry

Here is our next curry recipe - Potato curry. The main ingredients in this recipe are potato and tamarind juice. You should try this recipe atleast once to enjoy the taste of potato which is cooked along with tamarind juice. 

Potatoes contain a wealth of health benefits like ability to improve digestion, reduce cholesterol levels, boost heart health, protect from polyps, prevent cancer, manage diabetes, strengthen the immune system, reduce signs of aging, protect the skin.

This recipe tastes best when served with rice or chapati. Let's begin the process.

Potato Curry

Ingredients: Serve- 4

• Potato  - 4(medium size)
• Oil – 8tspn
• Mustard seeds – 1/2tspn
• Urad dhal -1/2tspn
• Cumin seeds – 1/2tspn
• Garlic pieces - 5
• Curry leafs – as required
• Coriander leaves –as required
• Onion- 1 (large size)
• Tomato- 2 (small size)
• Tamarind Juice – 2 glass
• Turmeric powder- 1/4tspn
• Red chili powder - 4tspn (adjust to taste)
• Salt - 3tspn(adjust to taste)

The following picture shows the step by step process for Potato Curry:

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Method:

1. Remove the potato skin & cut it as medium size pieces. Tansfer into bowl add water and 1/4tspn salt. Keep aside.
2. Take 2 glass of tamarind juice in a bowl, ensure that juice is little thick shown in the figure.(figure 1)
3. In tamarind juice smash 1 tomato with hand and then add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt. Taste the juice, if you feel like the taste is not as expected then add necessary ingredients to suit your taste and mix well. (figure 2)
4. Take a big pan heat oil in medium flame, add 1tspn mustard seeds wait for crackle and then add 1tspn urad dhal, cumin seeds, garlic pieces ,few curry leaves. Saute for few seconds. (figure 3)
5. Add onion and continue sauteing until onions become soft. (figure 4)
6. Add tomato and saute until tomatoes are smashed. (figure 5)
7. Add potato pieces and saute for 8 minutes in medium flame. (figure 6)
8. Now add Tamarind juice prepared in step 3 and mix well. Close the pan with lid and cook until potatoes gets cooked well. It’s take the time around 15- 20 minutes.(figure 7 & 8)
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve in bowl. (figure 9)

Potato Curry is ready to serve !

Additional Tips:-

• In step7, please ensure you saute the potatoes for 5-8 minutes so that it will cook soon.

Carrot Milk

Carrot Milk is simple,easy to prepare and delicious sweet milk flavored with cardamom. Let's see the process for carrot milk.

Ingredients: Serve - 4

• Carrot - 3 (medium size)
• Sugar – ½ cup
• Water – 1 glass
• Milk – 2 glass
• Cardamom powder – 1/4tspn

The following picture shows the step by step process for Carrot Milk:

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Method:

1. Remove skin and cut the carrot as small slices.
2. Take a pressure cooker, add carrot pieces, 1 glass of water, close with lid and cook for 3 vessels in medium flame.(figure 1 & 2)
3. Remove carrot from water and let it cool down. keep the water aside (figure 3)
4. In a mixer, add carrot and grind it as smooth paste (figure 4)
5. Add sugar, milk and grind it. (figure 5 & 6)
6. If carrot milk is very thick then again add sufficient water which is keep aside in step 3 (figure 7 & 8)
7. Transfer the milk into a bowl, add cardamom powder and mix well.
8. Keep in refrigerator for at-least 20 minutes and serve as cool. (figure 9)

Yummy carrot milk is ready to serve !

Additional Tips:-

• Ensure that,Carrot milk should be a little thick not very thick

Finger Millet Roti

Finger millet roti is a very famous south India recipe. Generally millet are high in fiber, protein, phosphorus and they help us to control blood sugar as well. Finger millet has highest calcium (344mg) content among all the food grains. In wheat and rice calcium content is less than 50 mg so just imagine the amount of energy you get by eating Finger millet.
 
Today lets see the steps involved in making finger millet roti. This recipe is also known as ragi adai in tamil, ragi roti in telugu. It's a healthy breakfast/dinner for diabetic and for people who wants to lose their weight. There are two versions of roti one is sweeter and other is spicy version. Now we are going to see the spicy version.

Finger Millet Roti

Ingredients: Serve -2

• Ragi flour / finger millet flour – 1 cup
• Onion – 1 (big size)
• Green chilly – 3
• Curry leaves – as required
• Coriander leaves – as required
• Salt – 1/2tspn (adjust to taste)
• Oil – required for roti
• Water – as required

The following picture shows the step by step process for Finger Millet Roti:

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Method:

1. Take mixing bowl, add ragi flour, salt, onion pieces, green chilly pieces, chopped curry-coriander leaves and mix them well. (figure 1 & 2)
2. Add required water and make a dough.
3. Add 1tspn oil, mix well and make small equal balls.(figure 3 & 4)
4. Heat a pan in a medium flame.
5. Now take a cover, apply oil to the cover.
6. Take one ragi ball and make roti by spreading with hand (figure 5 & 6)
7. Shift the roti to the pan and cook both sides by applying oil in a medium flame. (figure 7 & 8)
8. Repeat the same process for remaining ragi balls.
9. Serve in a plate. (figure 9)

Finger Millet Roti is ready to serve !

Additional Tips:-

• In step2, make dough as little tight not smooth. For this dough we need only little water.
• In step 6, make roti as medium thick and not very thin
• In step7, take care while shifting roti to pan otherwise roti will broken. Cook roti in only medium flame otherwise roti wouldn't cook well.

Channa Dhal Curry

Channa Dhal Curry is a main course recipe were channa dhal balls are cooked along with tamarind juice. I'm sure you will definitely like this recipe.  Let's see the process for channa dhal curry.

Channa Dhal Curry

Ingredients: Serve - 4

• Channa dhal – 1glass
• Tamarind juice – 2 glass
• Fennel seeds – 1tspn
• Garlic -  5 pieces
• Ginger – small piece
• Green chilly – 6
• Onion – 2 (medium size)
• Tomato – 2 (medium size)
• Oil - 8tspn
• Mustard seeds – 1/2tspn
• Urad dhal – 1/2tspn
• Curry leaves – as required
• Coriander leaves – as required
• Salt – 2tspn (adjust to taste)
• Turmeric powder – 1/4tspn
•  Red chilly powder – 4tspn

The following picture shows the step by step process for Channa Dhal Curry:

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Method:

1. Wash and soak channa dhal for 1 hour (figure 1)
2. In a mixer, add green chillies, garlic pieces, ginger pieces, 1/2tspn fennel seeds and grind them soft paste as shown in figure 3. (figure 2 & 3)
3. In a mixer add channa dhal make little rough paste by adding very little amount of water.(figure 4)
4. In a mixing bowl add chilly paste which has been prepared in step 2, channa paste , 1 onion piece, chopped curry-coriander leaves, 1tspn salt and mix well. (figure 5)
5. Take 2 glass of tamarind juice, add 1/2 tomato and mash it. (figure 6 & 7)
6. In tamarind juice add red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Taste the juice and if you feel like the taste is not as expected then add necessary ingredients to suit your taste and mix well. (figure 8)
7. Take wide mouth pan, heat oil in medium flame, add 1/2tspn mustard seeds wait for crackle and then add 1/2tspn urad dhal, 1/2tspn fennel seeds, few curry leaves. Saute for few seconds.
8. Add remaining onion and saute until onions become soft. (figure 9)
9. Add tomato and saute until tomatoes are smashed. (figure 10)
10. Add Tamarind juice which is prepared in step 6 and mix well. Close with lid and cook until tamarind juice become thick, which takes 10 - 15 minutes.(figure 11 & 12)
11. Mean while make channa dhal paste into equal small balls.
12. After tamarind juice become thick then add channa dhal balls. Close with lid and cook for 10 minutes or until channa dhal balls are cooked well in medium flame. (figure 13 & 14)
13. Garnish with coriander leaves. (figure 15)

Channa Dhal Curry is ready to serve !

Additional Tips:-

• In step3, make channa dhal paste little rough not in smooth by adding little water.