Parippu Pradhaman ( Split green gram payasam)

This is a much awaited item for our ‘Onassadya (Onam feast).

Ingredients

1 cup (100gms) Split green gram (mung) with skin, roasted till it turns light brown ad gives out nice aroma

50 gms Sago, soaked in 1 ½ cups water for 10 minutes

300 gms Jaggery

2 ½ cups grated coconut, add water and extract 2 cups coconut milk

½ tsp cardamom powder

1/3 tsp dried ginger powder (optional)

1 tbsp kismis(raisins)

To season

1 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp broken cashews

A few curry leaves

1 tbsp coconut pieces (optional)

Instruction

-          Wash and clean the roasted green gram and soak in 2 ½ cups of water for 15 minutes. Pressure cook it for 8 minutes. Let it cool and then open.

-          Keep the jaggery with ½ cup water on medium flame.

When it dissolves totally, sieve it to remove any impurities and add it the cooked green gram.Let it simmer on low flame for about 8 minutes. Stir in between to avoid it sticking to the bottom of thevessel.

-          Meanwhile, cook the soaked sago on low flame, stirring in between for about 6 minutes when the pearls will turn partly transparent. Keep covered for ten minutes. 

Add this to the green gram jaggery mix along with kismis  and stir in.

-          After five minutes, add the coconut milk, cardamom powder, dried ginger powder and stir. 

Remove from flame after two minutes

-           Heat the ghee and add the curry leaves, cut coconut pieces and broken cashew nuts. 

When the cashews turn light brown, add the whole thing to the payasam. It is ready to be served.

Sago(sabudana) thalipeet

 

This is a delicious alternative for the popular fasting dish, sabudana khichdi.

Ingredients

1 cup sago soaked overnight with equal quantity of water- for four thalipeets

3 potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed

1 tbsp roasted, powdered peanuts

Salt to taste

1/3 tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp red chilli powder

1 green chilli cut fine

1 tbsp finely cut coriander leaves.

2 tbsps oil or ghee to roast on thave

Instruction

-          Knead all the ingredients together into soft dough.

-          Heat thava on medium flame, oil it and spread one fourth of the dough on the thava into a circle. 

      Cover and let it cook for three minutes.

-          Now remove the lid, pour some oil on the thalipeet, flip it over and let cook for two minutes without covering with the lid.

-          Serve hot with curds, tomato ketchup or pickle.

                                                          Sago thalipeet served with curds

Versatile gravy

 

Recently we had lunch in a friend’s hotel and my husband loved the gravy that was provided with the meals. He asked for the recipe and graciously the owner gave it to us. Any vegetable can be added to this gravy. I had some raw papaya at hand and decided to add it.

Ingredients

1 cup raw papaya skinned and cut into small cubes.

1 ½ cups water

1 small onion sliced

1 tomato cut small

1 tbsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

Salt to taste

To grind:

1 cup grated coconut

6 pepper corns

2 large byadige chilli

½ tbsp coriander seeds

Instruction

-          Boil the cut papaya in water with salt till it is cooked and tender, takes about 10 minutes

-          Grind the coconut with pepper, red chilli and coriander seeds. Add this to the cooked papaya and mix. Add more water if needed.

-          Heat the oil, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cut onion, reduce the flame. When they become translucent, add cut tomato. Keep on low flame, stirring in between till they become mushy.

-          Add this to the papaya with gravy, adust the salt, and simmer for five minutes.