Khara Pongal with Tamarind Rasa

Preparation time : 45mins | Cooking time : 10mins
Serves : 4 plates | Recipe Cuisine : South Indian 

Ingredients for Pongal
Raw Rice - 1/2 cup
Moong dal -1/2 cup
Black pepper - 10nos
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Ginger -1/4 inch
Green chillies - 4 nos
Groundnut - 2tsp
Turmeric - 1/4tsp
Salt according to taste
To Temper
Oil - 2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
Jeera - 1/4tsp
Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs
Asafoetida - 1 Pinch
Ingredients for Tamarind Rasa
Tamarind - 1lemon sized
Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Jaggery - 4tsp
Salt according to taste
To Temper
Oil - 2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida - 1 Pinch

Before start preparing Pongal soak tamarind in a cup of water for about 15 minutes.


Procedure to prepare Pongal

Take rice and moongdal in a bowl.

Wash thoroughly and add 3 cups of water and keep it in the cooker.
Let it whistle for three times.
By the time rice and dal gets cooked,lets prepare masala.
In a pan add 1tsp oil in medium flame fry groundnuts and pepper.

Fry it until ground nut turns to pop.
Grind it along with greenchillies,ginger and make a fine paste.

Now lets do the seasoning....
Add oil in a pan, temper it with mustard seeds,once it starts to pop add jeera,turmeric,asafoetida and curry leaves to it.

Now add cooked dal and rice and paste made out of groundnut,greenchillies and pepper.
Add salt and grated coconut to it.

If its thick add little water and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Pongal is ready to eat....

Tamarind Rasa Preparation
Extract the thick juice of tamarind and discard the residue.
Add thick tamarind extract,jaggery,salt and chilly powder into a vessel.

Let it boil in medium flame.
Once the tamarind rasa thickens and becomes like syrup,switch off the flame.
 Now temper it with oil,mustard seeds,curry leaves and asafoetida.

Its ready to serve......
Now enjoy your Pongal along with Tamarind Rasa.....

Vegetable Upma - Uppittu

Preparation time : 25mins | Cooking time : 15mins
Serves : 3 plates | Recipe Cuisine : Indian
Ingredients :
Bansi sooji/semolina - 1 cup
Green beans finely chopped- 6-7nos
Carrot grated -1(large)
Potato finely chopped - 1 small
Capsicum finely chopped - 1 small
Tomato finely chopped - 2nos
Green chili 4-5
Curry leaves 8-10
Ginger 1/4 inch
Grated Coconut - 3tsp
Ghee - 1tsp
Salt according to taste.

P.S : 1cup - 250ml (liquid) and 225gms(solid)

To temper
Oil - 2 - 3 tablespoons
Mustard 1/4 tsp
Channa dal 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 2 pinch
Asafoetida -1 pinch
To Garnish
Coriander leaves - 2tsp

Procedure to prepare Vegetable Upma
Heat the tava and add 2-3 tablespoons of oil.
Add Urad dal,channa dal and mustard seeds simultaneously to it.

Once the mustard seeds start popping or the dals start turning golden brown add asafoetida,turmeric and Rava/Sooji to it.
Roast it until the rava becomes light brown or until you smell the aroma.
Keep it aside.

Add finely chopped beans,potato and grated carrot with 2 1/2 cups water.
Add a little salt while the vegetables are kept for boiling so that it absorbs salt.

Close the lid as the nutrients won't evaporate and boils quickly.

Boil it in medium flame for 10-12 minutes.
Water will be reduced to almost 1/2 cup.

Now grind coconut,ginger and green chillies coarsely.


Add it to the boiled vegetables along with 3/4 cup of water,chopped tomatoes,capsicum and curry leaves.

Add little more quantity of salt.

Let it boil for 2 more minutes in medium flame.
Now add the tempered Sooji/Rava in low flame.quickly stir and mix very well.
Make sure there are no lumps.

Cover the lid and allow the upma to steam for 4-5 minutes on the low flame.

Add ghee to it.
Last but not the least add about 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves to garnish.
Upma is ready to eat.....

Curd Vada - Thayir Vada

Preparation time : 2 ½ hours | Cooking time : 30mins

Serves : 6 plates | Recipe Cuisine : South Indian
Ingredients
Urad Dal - 1/2 cup
Ginger(grated) -1tsp
Finely chopped coconut - 2tsp
Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Curry leaves(finely chopped)
Chopped green chillies – 4 medium size
Salt according to taste - 1/2tsp
Oil for frying
Hot water for dipping fried vadas.

For curd Mixture
Curd - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar powdered - 2tsp
Salt according to taste - 1tsp
To temper
Oil - 1tsp
Mustard - 1tsp
Curry Leaves -1sprig
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
To Garnish
Grated carrot - 1 small size
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Red chilly powder(optional)

Procedure to prepare curd vada

Soak the thoroughly washed urad dal in water for 2hours.

Drain all the water.Make a fine paste.Add coriander leaves,curry leaves,chopped coconut, green chillies,grated ginger.

Add salt according to the taste.I have added 1/2tsp.Mix it thoroughly until the paste becomes fluffy.In order to avoid stickiness,you have to water your hand and shape it as shown in the picture below.

 Heat the oil in medium flame.Place the shaped vadas inside the oil gently.

 Fry it until it turns golden brown in color.Remove it and dip it in the hot water for 2 minutes on either sides.

Don’t squeeze the water out of it as the vada becomes dry.

Immediately put it in the curd mixture.
Temper the curd mixture and garnish it with grated carrot and coriander leaves.

Enjoy your freshly prepared curd vada.....