GAJAR HALWA RECIPE | MICROWAVE CARROT HALWA RECIPE

Gajar ka halwa | carrot halwa, a very popular Indian sweet | dessert, though i have tried it few times, this is the first time i am trying in Microwave. Before going to vacation, i have few carrots lying in the refrigerator and half litre of milk too. Thought i will make carrot kheer but milk will not be sufficient to make for all of us. So planned to try carrot halwa in Microwave. It turned out so well and we all enjoyed this with Vanilla ice cream.  Yes we all love this combo of vanilla icecream with carrot halwa. Check out my stovetop version of gajar halwa | carrot halwa with condensed milk. You can add condensed milk to this gajar halwa too to make it more rich.

MILLET SAKKARAI PONGAL RECIPE | PONGAL FESTIVAL 2015 RECIPES

Pongal festival 2015 is celebrated tomorrow and this year i wanted to post a sakkarai pongal with millet. I have tried sakkarai pongal with Thinai|foxtail millet for the supplement book i made for Mangayar Malar. So this time i wanted to try with Varagu | Koda millet . It is called Kodra in Hindi and Harka in kannada and Koovaragu in Malayalam . Check out the Pongal festival 2015 recipes. I made the normal sakkarai pongal but just replaced the raw rice with varagu arisi. As always the sakkarai pongal tasted divine and me generally don't prefer jaggery based sweets much, had an extra spoon today. Sometimes i pat myself on my back  if any recipes turn out very well. Millet sakkarai pongal tasted the same and no one could make out that you have made this with Millets.
  For buying millets in Singapore, check out Bhairavi Naturals an online shop. They do home delivery too. 

Millet Sakkarai pongal

  Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 25 Mins |Serves: 3-4

     Varagu arisi | Kodo millet   1/2 cup
     Moong dal    2 tbslp
     Jaggery | vellam      3/4 cup
     Ghee      2-3 tsp
     Cardamom powder    a pinch
     Cashew nuts    few
     Raisins      few (optional)
     Edible camphor | Pacha karpooram    a pinch   (optional)     
     

Method:

• Wash varagu arisi and moong dal  and pressure cook this by adding 1 and half cup of water. 
• You can even soak this for 15 minutes and cook in the pressure cooker. Once done mash this nicely with the back of a ladle.

• Add jaggery in a pan and add little water to this. Allow the vellam to boil and filter the impurities.
• Boil this jaggery water for 5 minutes in a medium low flame. 
• Add the cooked varagu rice mixture to the jaggery. 

• Mix this well without any lumps.
• Add cardamom powder, edible camphor(if adding) and ghee roasted cashew nuts.

• Add 1 tsp of ghee in the last and switch off the flame.
• Millet pongal is ready for neivedhyam.

Notes:

1. You can add 1/4 cup of milk to the pongal to make it more creamy. If adding milk add while mashing the rice.
2. Do not add milk once the rice is added to the jaggery. The milk will get curdled.
3. Samai, kuthiraivali and thinai will work out well for sakkarai pongal. Follow the same method for other millets too.

Technorati Tags: millet sakkarai pongal,sakkarai pongal recipe,pongal festival recipes,millets in singapore,varagu sakkarai pongal,varagu arisi pongal

PONGAL FESTIVAL 2015 | PONGAL FESTIVAL RECIPES

PONGAL FESTIVAL 2015 is celebrated on Jan 15. I have compiled the recipes which we make for the festival. click on the images for the recipe.

New recipes updated

PUDINA SADAM RECIPE | MINT LEAVES RICE | NO ONION NO GARLIC RECIPES

Pudina sadam | Mint leaves rice is simple south indian lunch variety. As pongal festival is nearing, everybody will be busy looking for pongal festival recipes. I have already posted Sakkarai pongal recipe. The next day of pongal is Kannum pongal for which we generally make variety rice. These variety rice shouldn't include onion or garlic in it. I am posting today Pudina sadam | Mint rice , which you can make for kannu pongal. You can try this for lunch box on normal days too. See you soon with a sweet dish tomorrow.

MILLET TOMATO DOSAI RECIPE | THAKKALI DOSAI | MILLETS IN SINGAPORE

Millet is gaining more popularity now a days. Also including millets in your diet, is very healthy too.

  Tomato dosai i wanted to try for a long time. During my vacation to Chennai, my sister made this for me but with normal idli rice. I thought i will replace rice with millet and tried tomato dosa with Kuthravali millet also called as Barnyard millet in English|Odalu in kannada|Jhangora in hindi, is a healthy variety of millet, helps to reduce cholesterol and also good for diabetics too. You can try out this dosa with samai and varagu too. Somehow thinai dosai gives little dry dosa. Check out my

• Samai Upma
• Varagu Idli

BEETROOT SALAD RECIPE | HEALTHY SALAD RECIPES

Beetroot salad is a very healthy one and super easy one to make. The recipe of this healthy Indian version of beets salad was given by my friend very long back. I love beetroot and so even kids too love beetroot. I have posted beetroot vadai, beetroot curry, beetroot pulao and many other recipes with beetroot. Some how raw beetroot never fascinated me and never tried this salad for a long time. When we had a casual dinner at my house few months back with her family,i made beetroot vada for starter. He was telling he is not a big fan of beetroot and the salad which she makes only he loves in beetroot. And complimented me for the vada too. Then i thought i should give this salad a try. That time only i was writing Salads and Soups article for Kungumam Thozi. I made it the next day and it was awesome. After that the beetroot salad is a regular one in my weekly menu. Try out this simple and healthy salad in your meal.

KAIMA IDLI RECIPE | RESTAURANT STYLE KAIMA IDLI

Kaima idli | fried idli is a must one in the list of order whenever we go to Saravana Bhavan. This time also during our vacation heartily had this kaima idli there. But i have never attempted to make this at home. Deep frying healthy food like idli makes me to feel guilt. But wanted to surprise my daughter Varsha, who is a big fan of this idli, i made this today. She loved this very much and surprisingly Varun also liked this. I referred Yummy tummy's blog for this recipe of kaima idli. Give it a try at home and once in a while deep fried is ok. It was too juicy and was very flavourful too. This can be done with left over idlis too.

CHETTINAD CAULIFLOWER SOUP | CAULIFLOWER RASAM RECIPE

Chettinadu style cauliflower soup always give me memories of my school days. We all used to have in our friend's place and her mom makes this very nice. When i was talking to her i was asking for the recipe and she sent me a voice note in whats app. When i made it tasted exactly the same her mom used to make. The aroma of the soup tempts anyone to have an extra serving. This can be had as an filling soup or can be mixed with rice as an rasam too. But generally they callas cauliflower soup. The same soup can be made with baby corn too.

ROASTED BELL PEPPER PASTA | EASY PASTA RECIPES

 
Roasted bell pepper pasta is an easy pasta recipe, which doesn't involve the use of tomato. It serves as an easy weekday dinner. Kids will also love this and you can always make it for them when they are back from school. The taste of the roasted bell pepper makes the pasta more yummy. Try this roasted bell pepper pasta for dinner tonight. Will be back to millet Mondays from next week.

THALAGAM KUZHAMBHU RECIPE | THIRUVATHIRAI THALAGAM RECIPE

Thalagam kuzhambu or kootu is a wonderful delicacy, a very common delicacy made by  Tirunelveli Brahmins. This is made mainly during Pongal festival or for Thirvathirai festival. Since Thirivadirai is on Jan 5 2015 (tomorrow), i thought i will post this today. I have already posted Thiruvathirai kali and 7 kari kootu. This Thalagam is similar to ezhukari kootu, but has it is unique in its flavour and taste. We had this for today's lunch. I have few traditional recipes to be posted in this week. I am back from my vacation and have loads of experience  and recipes to share with you all. Stay tuned for more interesting recipes from Jeyashri's kitchen.