Spinach Pongal / Palak Pongal

Palak Pongal / Spinach Pongal

A delicious and healthy breakfast dish in Tamil Cuisine. Best with sambar / chutney !!

Serves: 3

Please use same measuring cup to measure rice, moong dal and water.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Silky raw rice ( pacharisi ) (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

1/4 cup moong dal (split gram dal)

½ bunch spinach or 1 cup

3 3/4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon cooking oil

2 pinches turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the  seasoning:

1 tablespoon ghee

2 teaspoon jeera ( cumin seeds )

1 spring curry leaves (6 no)

1 green chilli, slit lengthwise

1/2 - inch ginger, finely chopped

1 teaspoon peppercorns

2 teaspoon cashew nut, splits

2 pinches hing ( asafoetida ), optional

Method

Wash and clean spinach. Drain out water completely and chop finely.

Wash and clean dal and rice. Do not soak rice and dal in water.

Mix rice, moong dal, chopped spinach, turmeric powder, oil and salt and cook in a pressure cooker. Reduce heat from high after 3 rd whistle (3 quick whistles) to low and cook again for 5 minutes.

Allow the cooker to cool naturally. Open the lid. Rice, spinach and dal mixture will be thick and there won’t be any trace of water.

For the  seasoning:

In a pan, heat ghee. Add cumin seeds ( jeera ) and saute for few seconds or till fragrant and light golden color.

Add slit green chillies, chopped ginger, curry leaves, peppercorns, split cashew nuts and hing ( optional ). Fry on a low heat for 5 - 8 minutes or till cashew nut turns golden color and fragrant. Pour this seasoning over pongal and mix well. Serve hot with sambar, vada and filter coffee.

Mando (A popular sweet in Konkan / Saraswat Cuisine)

Mando

A very popular sweet dish Konkan / Saraswat cuisine !!! (A deep fried puri with sweet filling) !!!

Recipe from Femina

Ingredients

Flour 220 gm

Warm Water 1/2 cup

Ghee 2 teaspoon [ 5 gm ]

Cardamom crushed 6 pods [ 10 gm ]

Beaten Rice [ poha ] 1 cup [180 gm ]

1 cup [ 225 gm ] powdered sugar

Til [ sesame seeds ] 100gm

A pinch of salt

My recipe

Makes: 7 mandos

Ingredients

Please prepare filling first

For the filling:

5 tablespoon white poha (white aval / beaten rice)

1 tablespoon white til (white sesame seeds)

3 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

Method

Wash til seeds and drain out water. Spread it on a kitchen towel for drying.

In a pan or iron kadai, gently dry roast poha  and dried  til seeds separately on a medium to low heat until crisp. Finally mix with sugar and cardamom powder. Transfer all the filling into a small mixer bowl and make a fine powder. Filling is ready now.

For the puri:

200 ml / 1 cup (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

½ cup warm water

1 pinch salt

300 ml oil / ghee for frying

Method

Knead the flour, salt and water to form a dough (first start with 1/4 cup warm water and add extra 1 - 3 tablespoon water and make a  soft dough). Make small balls and roll them out to form puris. Deep fry them in medium hot oil, and take them out before they become crisp. Keep the filling when the puri is very hot. Otherwise filling won't spread properly.

Take a bit of the filling and place in one half of each puri. Fold it over to form a semi - circle, and press the edges together.

 Immediately place again about 2 teaspoon of the filling in a heap in the middle and for the puri across, to form a triangular shape and seal / press the edges tightly. Do not allow the filling to go outside.

Stack them one on top of the other so that they retain their shape. Sprinkle a little of the filling on top of each mando. As they cool, they will become crisp. Mandos are ready now.

Final recipe suggestion from Susheela maayi / Susheela Bhat (Author - Konkani Paachaka Sahayi)

Heat a non stick pan or dosa / roti tawa on medium heat. Reduce the heat to low. Arrange 3 - 4 prepared mandos and gently dry roast (like chapati) until golden spots appear on both the sides (do not add oil or ghee). Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon filling on the top of the mando. This cooking tip is very useful to remain mandos crisp (see the first photo). Cochin GSB cuisine follows dry roasting method for the  final step of mando preparation.

Recipe from Jaya Maayi’s cookery book – Dakshin Bharath Dishes

1 cup maida (all purpose flour)

1/2 cup warm water

2 teaspoon ghee

6 cardamom pods

1 cup powdered beaten rice

1 cup powdered sugar

1 handful til seeds (sesame seeds)

1 pinch salt

Ghee / oil for frying

Method

Wash til seeds. Dry and roast them. Dry roast 1 cup of beaten rice and powder it in mixer. Prepare a blend by mixing powdered sugar and cardamom along with til seeds and powdered beaten rice and keep aside. Prepare dough as  for puri using a pinch of salt and maida with warm water. Shape portions of the dough into small balls and roll into puris. Heat ghee in a frying pan and fry puris in it, one by one. Take out puri before crisp. At once place a small quantity of the above blend near one edge and fold a third of the puri over it. Immediately place about 2 teaspoon of the blend in a heap in the middle and fold the puri across, to form a triangular shape. Seal the edge by pressing. Prepare mandos thus and keep them one over another in a row, each a little forward to the one below it (like tiles on roof). Mandos become crisp, as they cool (Note – Mandos can be prepared with Bengal gram panchakajai or a mixture of fine pop rice powder, powdered sugar, til seeds and powdered cardamom, instead of the above blend).

Phulka with Chicken Curry

Phulka with Chicken Curry

A tasty chicken curry, goes well with rotis / phulka / pulao / rice …

Serves: 3

For the chicken:

500 g chicken, cut into medium pieces

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon salt

Wash and clean chicken pieces. Drain out water completely. In a wide bowl, marinate chicken pieces with turmeric powder and salt. Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

For the paste  (masala):

2 heaped tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (or a mix of mint and coriander leaves)

12 garlic cloves

1 well ripe tomato, chopped

½ - inch ginger, chopped

2 onions, chopped

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

Method

Transfer all the ingredients in a mixer bowl and make a smooth paste (without adding water). Keep aside.

For the curry:

1 tablespoon oil

Spice paste (masala)

Marinated chicken pieces

Salt to taste (or ½ to ¾ teaspoon)

1 cup (200 ml) water

1 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves

Method

In a wide pan, heat oil on a medium heat. Add spice paste and stir well on a medium to low heat for 5 – 8 minutes until the raw smell goes and gravy slightly thickens.

Add marinated chicken pieces, 1 cup water (200 ml), and adjust salt to taste (or ½ to 3/4 teaspoon). Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a tight lid and cook on a medium to low heat for 25 – 35 minutes or until done / chicken pieces softens /  gravy thickens.

Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice / pulao / rotis / rumali roti …

Ras Malai

Ras Malai

A very popular sweet in Bengali cuisine !!

Serves: 3 - 6

Ingredients

6 Rasgullas (Rasgullas available @ all sweet shops or leading brands are Haldirams, K C Das ….

250 ml boiled milk / 1 ¼ cup (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity)

3 level tablespoon milkmaid sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon green cardamom powder

10 – 12 Pistachios, blanched and slivered or any other dry fruits

A few strands Saffron (optional)

Method

In a sauce pan or any other thick bottomed pan , boil milk, sugar and milkmaid condensed milk on low heat for 15 – 18 minutes till it is reduced to a thick consistency.

Add cardamom power and mix well. Remove from heat, keep aside to cool and refrigerate for an hour.

Squeeze the rasgullas and put them into the chilled milk. Refrigerate it for another one hour.

Serve chilled garnished with pistachio slivers / saffron strands .