Onam Sadya 2020

Happy Onam 2020.

We were blessed to have our neighbor couple to enjoy sadya with us. So made it with happiness and love.

Onam sadya is vegetarian.

Avial, thoran, Koottukari, pachadi, kichadi, mezhukkupuratti, maranta, manga, inchi, banana chips, sarkarapuratti, papadum and banana go on the top portion of the banana leaf from left to the right.

Then red rice is served. First parippu curry with ghee and papadum, followed by sambar. Then come the sweet kheers. Today’s special are parippu pradhaman and semiya payasam. Then again rice with kurukku kalan followed by rasam and moru. 

Even the Covid 19 protocol prevails and made us stay safe at home we had a great day on Thiruvonam.

Thank you Alka and Mathew ❤️❤️

 

Raw Banana dish as a main meal

If you are having a ripen Banana bunch from your homestead. Then lot of options are there. Here this bunch of banana is a two tier one. Nature’s gift. The bunch as usual emerged. Then it finished. After a break of a week further the inflorescence starts blooming out with small bananas. Thus came the two tier.

The side dishes with raw banana are common in our cusine such as avial, thoran, parippu curry, mezhukkupuratti etc. 

This time I did main dishes out of raw banana. One just peeled, quartered, pressure cooked and sautéed. Already posted in this blog.   

Today prepared with grated coconut and had it for dinner with pickles. Avoid the main carbs, rice and wheat from the main meal.

Easy to prepare. Peeled the banana, put its in water to get rid off the stain in the raw banana. You need to apply coconut oil in your palms before peeling the raw banana. Wash it well in 3-4 waters and pressure cook adding turmeric and salt. Allow to cool down. Heat a tbsp. of coconut oil in a shallow pan, drop in finely chopped onion and garlic, sauté till tender, add green chilli slits, grated coconut, cumin and chilli powder, mix well and add cooked banana and 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Combine well, adjust salt. Dish is done. 

Sunflower design platter of chicken and veggies

Presentation is equally important in cooking.

Chicken pieces 10, marinate with ginger garlic paste, salt 🧂 and chicken masala for about 4 hours.,

Shallow fry the pieces and keep aside,

Carrots 2, okra 12, cut it in slants, sauté it in coconut oil adding salt to taste separately,

Onion 1, garlic cloves 7, ginger 2 inch piece, finely sliced, sauté it in coconut oil, adding pepper and salt to taste, add two silted green chilli at the end of sautéing. Take a plate and arrange carrots first followed by okra, chicken in the centre, bordered by onion mix, topped up with sautéed green chilli and cilantro. 

A great lunch idea with your favourite sauce to dip. For me I will say no dippers are needed. The colour of the carrots, okra, fried chicken and sautéed onion are a great combination to see.

Delicious, nutritious, then why not to try❤️

Cooked and sautéed raw banana

Serve the dish with your favourite chutney. Combine the cooked banana in the coconut oil chilli flakes mix before serving and serve hot.

Healthy meal idea.

Super healthy and delicious with chilli flakes and salt.

So simple to prepare.

I love to try variety dishes. When the banana bunch is cut down to ripen is the perfect time to cook the banana. Take a few bananas, peel the outer skin. Cook it. If pressure cooked we can save time. Care should be taken not to over cook. Add turmeric and salt to taste while cooking.

Strain out the excess water. Heat a tbsp. of coconut oil, lower the flame, drop in 2 tsp. chilli flakes and add the cooked  

Hibiscus flower beverage a healthy drink

In every homestead we can find a hibiscus plant with flowers. The leaves are crushed and used as a healthy natural shampoo conditioner. When I was young, used to eat the flower petals which was promoted by mom and granny. May be because off the benefits of the flowers it was allowed.The flowers are rich in antioxidants. It is anti inflammatory. Rich in vitamin C and iron. Keeps the skin glowing. Helps in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Good for liver and heart health. Aids in digestion and promotes weight loss. 

This healthy herbal beverage is caffeine free. Sweeten the drink with jaggery instead of sugar. 

Preparation and Ingredients 

Collect the flowers flowers directly from the garden. Wash it and allow to drain. Remove the calyx and the pistil.

Jaggery grated 1/4 cup, water 4 cups, dried ginger powder 1 tsp., lime juice 4 tsp.

Boil the water, jaggery and ginger powder thoroughly. On stirring boil, add the petals. Off the flame. Allow to settle down for 15-20 minutes. Strain the drink into a jar. Add the lime juice. Mix well and serve. A great drink after a heavy meal. This flavoured herbal drink after a heavy meal gives a desert feel and helps in digestion. 

Ms Geetha Unni, my beautiful friend, inspired me in exploring this healthy drink with her hibiscus squash which I posted in my blog sumashealthyrecipes. blogspot.com. Thank you dear Geetha ❤️

Sago pearls ( Sabudana/ Chowari) jaggery Kheer

Sago pearls are tapioca pearls. I had seen my mom used this sago balls to thicken the milk and jaggery kheer. In my younger age I was so keen to pick the shining eye like sago pearls from the Kheer and enjoy. Now even in my grandma stage I enjoy it. 

From my son in law’s mom I learned to prepare ‘kichdi’ a breakfast dish and vada (patties) an evening snack with sago pearls. I was so surprised to see the light milky desert with sago pearls after Thai lunch in a restaurant in USA. Back home I tried the dish and was very happy to see my grandkids love it.

From there I started to improvise dishes with sago pearls.

Today my husband’s birth-star. I love to prepare a sweet. Thus this sweet Kheer with sago pearls in jaggery came out. So delicious and great desert for a wonderful treat.

Ingredients 

Sago pearls 100g, wash it, soak it for 4 hours with enough water. 

If you are in a hurry you can soak it in boiled water and keep for half an hour. The balls will be crystal clear when it is done. If not while cooking take care to add jaggery after it turns crystal like.

Grated jaggery 1 cup, boil it in a little water, sieve it to remove the dirts if any in it. 

Cardamom 7, powder it with a tbsp. of sugar in a mixie,

Salt a pinch,

Cashew nut splits 12, 

Raisins 1 tbsp.,

Coconut milk thin 2 cups,

Coconut milk thick 1 cup,

Ghee 1 tbsp.

Preparation 

In a nonstick wok, pour in the thin coconut milk along with the soaked sago pearls, cook it in medium flame, stir continuously. In 7-10 minutes it will become completely cooked. Pour in the jaggery syrup and salt. Stir till it gets thick. Add the thick milk and allow to bubble in low flame. Heat the ghee in a pan, fry the cashews and raisins separately and pour into the Kheer. Sweet and delicious ‘Sago pearls jaggery Kheer’ ready. 

 

Sweet and spicy Rice Halwa

Variety instant halwa with rice starch water, rice flour, jaggery, coconut oil, milk and chilli flakes.A totally different idea come true. No need to waste the excess rice starch water. The idea is to use the available ingredients in our kitchen to delicious snack.

Ingredients  

Rice starch water 3 cups, sieve it to get rid off any rice in it,

Rice flour fried 1cup,

Grated jaggery 3/4 cup, if you want to make it more sweet go for 1 cup, melt it in a little water and sieve to remove any dirt in it,

Milk 1/2 cup,

Coconut oil 2 tbsp.,

Chilli flakes 1-2 tsp., I used 11/2 tbsp.

Combine all the ingredients in a nonstick wok or shallow pan. Combine well. Make sure no lumps are left in the mix.

Preparation 

Heat the mix in medium flame. Stir continuously to cook the Halwa. It will take 12-15 minutes to get it cooked. Brush oil in a shallow plate, transfer the mix into the plate, tap it and level the surface with moist fingers or with the bottom of a flat spatula. Allow to cool down for about 2 hours. Upside down it on a plate. Cut it into desirable size and shape. A great sweet snack with a spicy bite. Have it with a cup of hot tea or coffee. With less sweet this is good for breakfast. Love the variety taste. 

Elephant foot yam stem and Bengal gram curry

Elephant foot yam stem and Bengal gram in tamarind turns into a delicious curry for rice.

If your elephant foot yam is having 2 stems, go for the tender one. Cut it, the tender leaves can be stir fried or cook with dal. 

Here I used the stem. Peel it, wash it and chop.

Cooked Bengal gram 1 cup, grind into medium coarse  3/4th cup

1/4 cup keep as it is to add in the curry last.

Onion small 1, garlic cloves 7, peeled and finely chopped,

Tamarind a gooseberry size, soak in warm water, squeeze and take out the juice,

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp., chilli powder 2tsp, asafoetida 1/2 tsp., grated jaggery 1 tsp., salt to taste.

Coconut oil 1 tbsp., mustard seeds 1/4 tsp., dried red chilli 2.

Heat the oil in a shallow pan, drop in mustard seeds, allow to crackle, drop in the broken red chilli, followed by chopped onion and garlic. Sauté it till tender, add the chopped stem, mix well and allow to cook. Add the powders and salt, combine well, add tamarind juice and allow to boil. Add the jaggery. Combine to melt. Add the 1/4 cup of the balance cooked bengal gram. Curry is ready. Serve with hot rice .