Sago/Sabudana Upma

I still remember the days when I used to get absolutely excited of a dish made of small balls :) And that excitement still persists in me. :)

Sago is rich in carbohydrates. Sago upma can really be a fulfilling breakfast.


Ingredients:

Sago(nylon- fine) - 1 cup
Moong dhall - 1/3 cup
Green chillies - 3
Cashew - 5
Coconut(Scrapped) - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
Bengal gram dhall - 1/2 tsp
Lemon extract - 2 tsp
Curry leaves
Salt - for taste

Image curtsy: http://www.hsaba.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/sago.jpg

Method:

Wash and soak sago in water for minimum of three hours. The water level should be half an inch above the sago.

Cook moong dhall so that it is soft and does not change form. See to that you dont over cook it.

In a pan heat 2 tbsp of oil and season with mustard, urad dhall, bengal gram dhall, cashew, curry leaves and green chillies. Now add the soaked sago and fry for few min, till the sago becomes transparent. Add cooked moong dhall, grated coconut, lemon extract and salt to it and mix well. See to that the sago does not become sticky. Sago upma is ready to serve. You can serve it hot with mango pickle or curd. :) Enjoy eating :)




Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com

Tomato Dosa

Is red your favorite color??? Its my favorite. I just love dishes that are in red. So here is a red colored gorgeous tomato dosa for your eyes and tongue to enjoy :)


Ingredients:

Par-boiled rice - 1 cup
Tomato - 4
Red chillies - 6 nos
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - for taste


Method:

Soak the rice in water for two hours. Grind it along with the other ingredients and make a watery batter.

Now heat the skillet and pour a ladle full of batter starting from the edges in a circular way. Since the batter is loose it will automatically fill the middle portion. Add a spoon of oil to roast it. Turn the dosa and roast it on the other side too.

Yummy tomato dosa is ready to eat. :) Serve it hot with pickle or chutney.

Happy making. :)




Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com

My Entries for Events :)

I am happy to be a part of many events this month. :)


Entries for Sanghi's 'Fall in love - Milk' event are

Badam Kheer

Pasta Paayasam

Star granate shake

Jack and Jill shake

I am dedicating these dishes to my lovable sister. She enjoys all the delicacies that I make and tastes them with absolute enthusiasm and constantly gives me the feed back. :) This is for you dear :)


Entries for Mom's recipes 'Soup 'n Juice' event are the above Jack and Jill shake, Star granate shake and

Melon scotch

Aam Panna

Kiwi Shake

A for Carrot Soup

Entries for Divya's Cooking for kids - 'Evening snacks' are

Desi Monaco Sandwich

Stuffed Fryums

Zoo zoo Biscuits

Babycorn Tikka

Frozen Elani(Tender coconut)

Entries for Simple Indian food's 'WYF:Breakfast' event are

Sago Dosa

Pittu

Andhra Pesarattu

Rice Dosa

Vegetable Dosa Roll

Thanks to all the event hosts for giving me an opportunity to participate in their events. :) Happy hosting and Happy participating :)


Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com

Vinayagar Chathurthi Celebration and Sweets :)

Ganesha Festival, popularly known as Ganesh Chaturthi, or Vinayaka Chaturti, is the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu God of wisdom and auspiciousness. The elephant-faced Hindu god Ganesh is one of the most popular deities in Hinduism and is today worshipped around the world. Lord Ganesha is slowly becoming the face of Hindu religion. In 2009, the date of Ganesh Festival is August 23. The Ganesha Festival ends with the immersion of the idol on Ananta Chaturdasi day on September 3.





Since I have a really huge collection of Ganeshas at home, I love to arrange them all as a golu and celebrate it on a grand scale.

Guess what....??? I have place 108 idols of Ganesha in my Golu :):):)

Ganesha Festival is observed on the fourth day of the Shukla Paksha (Waxing Phase of moon) in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (August - September).

The josh is spread all over the house on the festival day. Starting from a grand kolam in the entrance. Then maa yelai(mango leaves) as thoran. All of us dressed in traditional wear of our culture and so on..




The puja starts with prayers to lord Parvathi - mother of lord Ganesha.

We have a tradition of making parvathi's face by mixing turmeric powder with water. This year I made it all by myself, and was so happy with the outcome. :)





Then comes the puja for the hero of the show or the birth day boy. :) The Ganesha idol is made out of clay and is decorated with flower garlands, arugampul(grass) garland etc. Various ashtothrams are read and puja is performed.




Now coming to the important part of the pooja. The neivithiyam or prasadam. :) A long yummy list of items are made for the lord.

* Kudumu(idly)
* Udhu untallu(Steamed Dhall balls)
* Undrallu Sundal(steamed rice balls mixed with channa sundal)
* Modakam(modak - Steamed rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut jaggery filling)
* Jillidikayalu(Another form of modak but semi circle in shape with three types of fillings - cashew filling, sesame filling and coconut filling)

Kudumu and udhu untallu(idly and steamed dhall balls)

Sweet Dumplings/Modakam/Jillidikayalu

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Salt - a Pinch

Method:

Heat the water in a bowl adding some salt to it. When it boils, simmer the stove and add the rice flour and mix quickly. Immediately switch it off and keep it aside for ten min. Then kneed the dough smoothly adding little cold water and 2 tsp of oil to it.

To make modak either use the mould if you have one, else make small balls from the dough and press it to make cup shape, add the filling to the center and close it to make the drop shape.

To make the semi circular ones, make small balls out of it and press it to make a flat circular disk(you can use your chapathi press or simply a greased cup to press the ball). Put a spoon of filling in the center and seal the corners by pressing.

To make filling:

1) Coconut jaggery filling for Modak

Ingredients:

Coconut scrapping - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method:

Take coconut and jaggery in a heavy bottom pan and heat it until the jaggery mixes and comes to a sticky consistancy. Now switch off the flame and add the cardamom powder and mix well.
Use this to stuff in modakams.





2) Coconut sugar filling for Jillidikayalu(kolukattai/Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Coconut scrappings- 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cashews - few(optional)

Method:

Take coconut scrappings and sugar in a heavy bottom vessel and heat it till the sugar melts and the coconut gets cooked. Finally add broken cashews to it and use as filling.


3) Sesame Filling for Jillidikayalu(Kolukattai/Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Sesame - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 1/4 cup

Method:

Fry sesame in a pan adding little water to it. Once the water eveporates and the sesame crackles, switch off the flame and let it cool for a while. Once it is absolutely cool, powder it along with jaggery and use it as filling for kolukattai.


4) Cashew Filling for Jillidikayalu(Kolukattai/Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Cashew - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup

Method:

Fry cashews adding few spoons of ghee to it. Once it turns goden brown switch off the flame and let it become absolutely cool. Finally powder it in the mixie along with the sugar and use it as filling for kolukattai.

All of them taste absolutely yummy.. :) I am crazy for the modak shape and also for the cashew filling. :) Happy celebration :)

Modakam(modak - Steamed rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut jaggery filling)

Jillidikayalu(Another form of modak but semi circle in shape with three types of fillings - cashew filling, sesame filling and coconut filling)

Wish you all a very happy Vinayagar Chathurthi :)

My collection at the pooja

I am sending this post to Purva's FF event.

Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com

Horse gram Soup / Rasam & an Award

Horse gram - what comes to your mind when you hear this???!!!!. :) Blink blink.. I know its the gram that is used to feed horses. When it can make horse so powerful.. wont it do good to us too. :):)

Lets get the horse power.. :) Say cheers with a cup of healthy horse gram soup today. :)


Ingredients:

Horse Gram - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 6 flakes
Big onion - 1
Salt - for taste
Curry leaves - few
Tamarind - small lemon sized
Coconut - 2 tblsp

Grind together(masala):

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Red chillies - 4
Asafoetida - a pinch
Black gram - 1/2 tsp
Bengal gram - 1/2 tsp





Method:

Dry roast the horse gram and then pressure cook till soft and keep it aside. Now in a pan take few spoons of oil and fry the masala items for few min. Then grind them finely along with 1 1/2 tblsp of cooked horse gram and coconut.

In a pan take a spoon of oil and crackle mustard and fry along with red chillies, garlic and chopped onion. Now add the ground paste to it and fry till good smell comes from it. Add the remaining cooked horse gram, tamarind extract, jaggery and salt to it and allow it to boil for a while. Finally garnish with curry leaves.

Horse gram soup or rasam is ready to serve. :) Serve it hot with steamed rice and chips or just have it as a hot soup. Happy making. :)





Now for the award:

I should really thank my sweet blogger friends for nominating me for the award. Its absolutely nice of you to encourage me so much.

Thanks a million to Gheeth of En samayal arayil , Ammu of Ammuvin samayal kuripugal and Sushma Mallya of Authentic Food delights.

Thanks to Dhanyaa Rajeesh of Amma's adukkal for passing the cretive blogger award.



And my best buddy Parita of Parita's world has passed me the ABC tag :) Thank you dear.

So here it goes

The Rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share the ABCs of you.
4. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let the 4 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag.

The Tag:

1. A – Available/Single? Single

2. B – Best friend? Loads

3. C – Cake or Pie? Cake

4. D – Drink of choice? Mango Complan

5. E – Essential item you use every day? PC and Mobile

6. F – Favorite color? Aqua Blue and Red

7. G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Gummy Bears

8. H – Hometown? Salem - Tamil Nadu

9. I – Indulgence? Many - Shakes, Candies, ice creams, chaats etc. the list goes on.

10. J – January or February? Y not March :(

11. K – Kids & their names? Ha ha, yet to get married. But have loads of names in mind.

12. L – Life is incomplete without? Love and affection

13. M – Marriage date? Not Applicable

14. N – Number of siblings? 1 elder sis

15. O – Oranges or Apples? Oranges

16. P – Phobias/Fears? Route phobia combined with darkness phobia.. I often get lost :):(

17. Q – Quote for today? Whatever happens, life has to go on (courtesy vaaranam aayiram movie)

18. R – Reason to smile? I really don't need one. I keep smiling.. :):):)

19. S – Season? Rainy season in Chennai. If at all it comes. :)

.20. T – Tag 3 People? Right here????

21. U – Unknown fact about me? Its really unknown

22. V – Vegetable you don't like? Brinjal

23. W – Worst habit? Very naughty. Not sure if it is harmful.

24. X – X-rays you've had? Too many..

25. Y – Your favorite food? Everything I make. I have no choice.

26. Z – Zodiac sign? Pisces.

I am passing this tag and awards to Vedha, Sandhya, Supri and Abhi.

Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com

Polala Amavasya - Rice Noodles Payasam & Streamed Rice Flour Chapathi :)

Polala Amavasya is observed on the Amavas (No moon day) in Shravan month in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka and Orissa. It is dedicated to Goddess Poleramma who is the protector of children. Mothers observe Polala Amavasi Vrata for the welfare of their children. In 2009, Polala Amavasya is dated on August 20th.

Goddess Poleramma is quite similar to the Goddess Shitala worshipped in North India. The popular belief is that the Goddess protects children from various diseases.

We make two prasadams for this festival. One is known as Billa Kudumulu(Streamed Rice flour chapathi) and the other is Thaligalu paravannam( Rice flour noodles payasam).

Thaligalu paravannam( Rice flour noodles payasam)

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Salt - a pinch
Coconut - 3 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
Cashews - 6
Jaggery - 1 cup
Ghee
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Heat the water in a bowl adding some salt to it. When it boils, simmer the stove and add the rice flour and mix quickly. Immediately switch it off and keep it aside for ten min. Then kneed the dough smoothly adding little cold water and 2 tsp of oil to it. Then squeeze the dough through the muruku nazhi(muruku maker) on a well greased plate. Now steam cook it for 15 min smearing some ghee over them.

Now grind coconut, cashew, poppy seeds and cardamom together into a smooth paste and keep it aside. In a bowl add the jaggery and some water just to immerse it and heat this contents till the jaggery dissolves completely. Once done filter it into the above ground paste and let it boil. When it is boiling add the steam cooked rice noodles to it(you can break it into small pieces). Stir well for 3 min and your rice noodles payasam is ready to eat. :)

Its an absolutely delicious payasam which I always enjoy eating. The rice noodles makes it more interesting. :)

Billa Kudumulu(Streamed Rice flour chapathi)

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Coconut scrappings - 1 tbsp
Moong dhall - 2 tsp
Bengal gram dhall - 2 tsp
Ghee
Salt - for taste

Method:

Soak the moong dhall and bengal gram dhall in water for half an hour. Heat the water in a bowl adding some salt to it. When it boils, simmer the stove and add the rice flour and mix quickly. Immediately switch it off and keep it aside for ten min. Then kneed the dough smoothly adding little cold water,2 tsp of oil, soaked moong dhall, bengal gram dhall and coconut scrappings to it.
Now make small balls with the dough and press it using the chapathi maker(it should be slightly thick). Use two greased plastic sheets on either side of the maker and press the ball inbetween so that it would be easy to remove from it. Now place them on a well greased plate and steam cook for 15 min smearing some ghee over them.

Steamed rice flour chapathi is ready to eat. :) Serve it hot with Urad dhall chutney. This serves as a healthy breakfast :)

Click here to refer to my older post for Urad dhall Chutney.



Happy Polala Amavasya to all. :)

The below pooja was done by mom, praying for me. :) :) :)



Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com