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Srivalli chose vennai puttu, a traditional dish from Tamilnadu for this month's Indian cooking Challenge. Recipe source is Priya Suresh who shared her grandmother's recipe.
I would say that it was an interesting sweet dish and was more closer to halwa in consistency.
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1/2 cup jaggery powder (Check the notes.)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 Tbsp shredded or sliced fresh coconut pieces
1/4 cup cooked chana dal
Few cashew nuts to garnish (I used almonds)
Method:
* Soak rice overnight or at least for three hours. Throw away the water used to soak. Grind the rice finely adding a little water. It should be somewhat like idli batter.
* Meanwhile cook chana dal in a pressure cooker or in a sauce pan just until cooked. The dal should hold the shape and not turn mushy.
* Add 1/4 cup of water to jaggery and boil until it starts to turn foamy. There is no need to reach any threaded consistency. Strain the syrup and keep it aside.
* Boil 2 cups of water in a nonstick pan / heavy bottomed vessel. Add the ground rice paste to the water slowly and keep stirring continuously through the process. It starts to form lumps and so keep stirring to avoid it. Try to break the lumps any formed with the back of the ladle. Cook on medium flame until the rice paste is well cooked. You may have to continue to stir through out the process.
* Now add the jaggery syrup, cooked chana dal, cardamom powder and coconut to the cooked rice paste and stir well. Continue to cook until it turns into a solid mass and starts to leave the sides of the pan.
(I used a non stick pan and so, the paste was never stuck to the pan. And so this tip of the cooked puttu leaving the sides of the pan that helps to determine the final stages may not work if using nonstick pan.)
* Pour this puttu on a greased plate and garnish with ghee toasted cashew pieces. I garnished with almonds and coconut. Let it cool completely and cut into slices.
* Refrigerate the leftovers. It will stay fresh only for a day if left at room temperature.
Kalyani has posed an interesting challenge of Almond & Ginger for this month's Magic Mingle and I was eyeing some baked recipes using the above mentioned ingredients. In the mean time, the box of Hurst bean bags I won for the MLLA arrived and I decided to create a recipe of my own utilizing the beans as well. And so was born this delicious lima beans curry in spicy almond sauce which garnered appreciation from my kids. I consider this experiment a success since after coming from school, my kids remembered to tell me that the curry I packed for their lunch was very yummy. :)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dried baby lima beans - soaked overnight (or 1.5 cup soaked or canned lima beans)
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch of turmeric powder
1 big onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
To grind:
6 Tbsp almonds
a handful of cilantro leaves
2 green chillies (I used hot Serrano Peppers. Adjust the quantity as needed.)
a small piece of ginger
Method:
* Pressure cook the soaked beans. If using canned beans, rinse thoroughly and keep aside.
* Heat oil and add cumin seeds. When they start to brown, add onion and cook until translucent. Then add tomatoes and cook until mushy.
* Mean while, grind the ingredients mentioned under "to grind" adding a little water.
* Add the cooked / canned lima beans, ground paste, salt and coriander powder to the cooked tomato - onion mixture. Cook the mixture on low flame until the raw smell of the almond paste is gone. Turn off the stove and serve warm with rotis.
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Desserts are an integral part of all cuisines and celebrations. Even a festive platter without desserts would come across as a humdrum meal, wouldn't it? For me, the dessert is the best part of a meal and so when Raven inquired whether I would be interested to host Cook.Eat.Delicious.Desserts event, I immediately had to say yes. :) Fellow food bloggers as usual showed their support by sending in delectable entries and making this event a fruitful one. :) :) Thank you gals for all your wonderful entries and thanks Raven for the hosting opportunity. Now here is the CEDD - Fresh produce roundup for you to enjoy. They have been posted in the order in which I received them.
Before proceeding to the roundup, here is the exciting part of the event. Raven has chosen randomly Cool Lassie of Pan Gravy Kadai Curry to be the winner of the giveaway and she will receive a copy of 500 seasonal recipes. Congrats Cool Lassie.
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