Vinayaka Chavithi or Ganesh Chaturthi Specials-Undralla Payasam and Spicy Undrallu

"Vighna Vinayaka Namosthuthe!"

Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi is one of the main Hindu festivals that is celebrated in honour of  Lord Ganesha. Ganesha has not only a special appearance with his elephant head, he also has special importance amongst the other Hindu Gods. He has the power of removing obstacles and is prayed to first. Lord Vinayaka is fond of food and Ganesh Chaturthi is his birthday. On this day, people from different places in India offer different dishes to him. Telugu people prepare paramannam (sweetened rice), garelu, pulihora, undrallu (sweet, salted or spicy), modakam, kudumulu, etc.

I have already posted the Modakam recipe previously:
http://dailymeals.blogspot.in/2007/09/modak-or-kozhukattai-or-modakam.html
Now I want to share with you the recipes of Undralla Payasam and Spicy Undrallu.

Undralla Payasam

Ingredients:

Rice-1 cup

Milk-2 cups

Sugar or grated jaggery-1 cup

Water-2 cups

Cashew paste-grind 8 cashew nuts into a paste

Cardamom powder-a pinch

Ghee-1 tablespoon

Sliced almond nuts-4 

Method

                                         

1. Soak the rice for two hours and grind it into a smooth paste using 1/2 a cup of water. Pour it into a pan and heat it on a low flame. Add one tablespoon of ghee and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

                                        
                                       

2. Stir continuously until it forms a thick and soft dough. Turn off the stove, cover the pan and keep it aside. Grease your hands with oil or ghee and start making small balls when the dough has cooled down slightly.

   

   

3. Steam the balls on a greased plate in an idly maker for 8-10 minutes. Now mix the milk and remaining water and heat to a boil in a separate vessel and add sugar to it. Now add the steamed balls and boil it for five minutes on a low flame.

  

4. Add the cashew paste and cardomom powder and boil for two more minutes. Turn off the stove and garnish with sliced almonds.

  

Offer the delicious Undralla Payasam to Lord Ganesha and get his blessings :)

Note: If you want to use jaggery in your payasam, melt the jaggery and sieve it to remove impurities. Add it before turning off the stove and mix it. If you heat after adding the jaggery, the payasam may curdle. For thickening the payasam, you can also add rice flour paste (mix one tablespoonof rice flour with two tablespoons of water) or almond paste (soak almonds in hot water for ten minutes and remove the skin and blend into a paste) or khas khas (poppy seeds) powder (dry roast the poppy seeds for 1-2 minutes. Let them cool and grind into a powder) or fresh coconut  (grated) instead of cashew paste.

Spicy Undrallu

Ingredients:
Soaked rice-1 cup
Salt-a pinch
Water-1/2 cup
Ghee-1 tablespoon
For Seasoning: 1 teaspoon oil, 1/4 tsn mustard seeds, 1 tsn cumin seeds, 1/2 tsn urad dal, 1/2 tsn chana dal, hing to taste, curry leaves 1tsn, chopped chilli-1 and turmeric powder-a pinch (optional)

Method

  

1. Grind the soaked rice into a smooth paste using 1/2 a cup of water. Heat it in a pan on a low flame by adding salt and ghee until it forms a thick and soft dough. Turn off the stove, cover the pan and keep it aside.
2. Grease your hands with oil or ghee and make tiny balls out of the dough when the dough has cooled down slightly. Now steam the balls on a greased plate for 8-10 minutes in idly maker.
3. Heat one teaspoon oil in a pan and add all the seasoning ingredients one by one. Once they splutter, add the steamed balls and saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn off the stove and transfer into a serving bowl.

Offer the Spicy Undrallu along with Undralla Payasam to Lord Ganesha :)

  

Note: For spiciness you can replace green chilli with pepper powder or red dry chilli powder.

Dondakaya and Baby Corn Vepudu

Tindora And Baby Corn Stir Fry

Nowadays baby corn has become one of the popular vegetables in Indian culinary cuisine. In restaurants, baby corn fritters are favorites as starters. I too wanted to try cooking these. So I tried cooking them along with dondakaya or ivy gourd. The crunchy baby corn slices with sesame powder tasted amazing :)

 

What you need:

Tindora-15 in number
Baby corn-6 in number
Sesame seeds-2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds-1/2 tablespoon
Garlic cloves-4
Coriander powder-1 tablespoon
Chilly powder-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Salt-to taste
Oil-3 tablespoons

                                      
Preparation:

1. Wash tindora and baby corn and slice them into discs. Heat the oil in a wok or pan and add tindora slices.
2. After 2-3 minutes, add the baby corn slices. Add turmeric powder and cover it with the lid. Allow them to cook on a low flame for 7-8 minutes. Stir in intervals.
3. Take sesame seeds, cumin seeds, garlic cloves, chilly powder, coriander powder and salt in a mixer jar. 
4. Grind them into a powder and add it to the vegetables in the pan.
5. Mix them well and fry them for 3-4 minutes on a low flame. Turn off the stove and serve it with steamed rice and rasam.

Note:  We can also add baby corn in mixed vegetable rice and salads.  

Venna Undalu or Butter Balls

                                      

Happy Krishnashtami!
Krishnashtami is the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna. Krishna is very fond of butter. He is also called as 'Venna Donga'  or 'Butter Thief' as he used to steal butter from people's houses with his friends in his childhood. On Krishnashtami day,  many people offer butter or dishes that are prepared with butter to Krishna. I am going to share the Andhra style 'Venna Undalu' recipe which I  learnt  from an aunt in Vijayawada.The recipe is as follows...

 

What you need:

Butter-1 cup
Rice flour-2 cups, preferably home made, if not store bought (I used store bought)
Grated jaggery-1 cup-
Sugar-4 tablespoons

Cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon
Warm water-1 cup
Oil-for deep fry                                       

Preparation:

1. Mix rice flour and butter in a bowl into a soft dough using warm water. Keep the dough covered for half an hour.
2. Make small balls out of the dough and deep fry them until they turn light brown.
3. Mix jaggery and sugar in a thick bottomed vessel and heat on a medium flame. Once it melts, filter it into a bowl to remove the impurities. 
4. Transfer the filtered contents of the bowl back to the same vessel and boil it for 4-5 minutes. Lower the flame and check the syrup by adding 2-3 drops of syrup to a bowl of water. If the syrup forms into a soft ball, turn off the stove. Add the cardamom powder and the fried balls to the syrup and mix it well under a fan.
5. Continuously separate the balls to prevent them from sticking to each other. Once the coated syrup on the balls becomes dry, store them in an air tight container.

           Enjoy the cute and yummy butter balls..

Note: Fry the balls in oil on a low flame. They take time to cook on the inside.

Carrot, Onion and Spinach Gravy

Happy Independence Day:)
I tried a recipe in which I have used carrot, onion and spinach. These colourful vegetables have great nutritional values. The outcome was awesome. Hope you will also give it a try..
Enjoy the butter flavored spinach gravy with soft carrot cubes and crunchy onion slices.

What you need:

Spinach-1 bunch
Carrot-2
Green chilly-3

Chopped onions-1/2 cup
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Garlic cloves-3
Ginger-1/4th  inch
Coriander powder-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Salt-to taste
Butter-1 tablespoon
Oil-1 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Wash and chop the spinach. Peel and cut the carrots into small cubes.
2. Take 1/4th cup of chopped onions, green chilly, chopped spinach, garlic cloves, cumin seeds, coriander powder, ginger, turmeric powder and salt into the mixer jar. Blend them into a smooth paste.
3. Heat the pan or wok and add butter and oil. Lower the flame and add the ground paste. Stir it for 2-3 minutes and add the carrot cubes to it. Mix it well and add 1/2 a cup of water. 
4. Cover with the lid and cook it for 5-6 minutes on a low flame. Once the gravy thickens, turn off the stove and transfer it into a serving bowl. Garnish with the  remaining chopped onions.
5. Serve it with steamed rice or roti or poori. 

Note: You can also add a pinch of amchur powder to the gravy one minute before turning off the stove.

Uthappam

Hi! There are very few dishes in my house which are liked by all of us. Idly is one of them. If I make idly today, my children can guess easily what will be the breakfast for next day..that is uthappam or dibba rotte:) Usually I make it with out any toppings, because my children like plain one. I just add cumin seeds while preparing and serve it with any chutney.

We make ravva idly most of the time and the same batter we use for utahappam. Sometimes I add vegetable toppings to it. Now I want to share with you our version of uthappam.

                            Uthappam and coconut chutney

What you need:

Ingredients for the Uthappam:

Idly batter-4 cups
Rice flour-1 cup (optional)
Oil-4 tablespoons

How to make idly batter:
Soak 1 cup of urad dal (skinless black gram or white lentil) for 5-6 hours. Later clean the dal with water 2-3 times and grind it  into a soft batter using little water. If you put little batter in a cup of water, it should float on the water. Now your batter is ready. Take two cups of  idly suji or ravva in a vessel and fill it with water. Wash it with hand carefully and leave it for two minutes. Once ravva reaches the bottom of the vessel, drain  the above water slowly. Do like wise 2-3 times. Now squeeze the ravva and add it to the batter. Add one teaspoon of salt and mix it well with your hand.  Store it in an air tight container in warm place and leave it aside for overnight to ferment. The container should be spacious because the batter doubles in quantity during fermentation.

For topping:

Grated carrot-2 tablespoons

Grated beet root-2 tablespoons

Chopped onions-1/4  cup

Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon 

Grated ginger-1 teaspoon

chopped coriander leaves-1 tablespoon

Ingredients for the coconut  chutney:

Fresh coconut pieces-1 cup

Chopped coriander leaves-1/2 cup

Green chilly-3

cumin seeds-1 teaspoon

Lime juice-1 teaspoon

Garlic cloves-3

Salt as per your taste

Preparation of Uthappam:
1. Mix the rice flour to the idly batter half an hour before making. Heat the pan and add two table spoons of oil. Now mix the idly batter with ladle and pour two ladles of batter on the pan. Spread it clock wise in circular motion to get a thick and round shaped uthappam.
2. Take all the topping ingredients in a bowl and mix them. Sprinkle them on the uthappam and cover it with a lid .
3. Cook it on low flame for 2-3 minutes and take the lid out. Slowly flip the uthappam to other side and add one tablespoon of oil around it. Close it with the lid and cook it for 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn of the stove and transfer it on to a serving plate.

Preparation of Coconut chutney:

1.Take coconut pieces, chopped coriander leaves, green chilly, cumin seeds, garlic cloves and salt into a mixer jar.

2.Grind it into a smooth paste. Transfer it into a serving bowl and add the lime juice and mix it well.

Serve the uthappam along with the chutney. Crispy and yummy Uthappam is ready to eat now:)

Note: To prepare chutney, you can replace lime juice with tamarind pulp and grind along with the remaining ingredients. And can also give it seasoning.

Carrot Kheer

Hi! We all know that carrots are good for eyes. Especially for kids..nowadays children are playing games on their phones and sitting in front of laptops and T.V.s (of course along with studies). So we have to think of new ways to get them to eat their carrots. Here is a simple and delicious dish that kids will love :)

 

What you need:

Carrots-2

Sugar-1/2 cup

Ghee- 2 tablespoons

Boiled milk- 2 cups

Cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon

Cashew nuts- 6

Pistachios- 6

Preparation:

1. Heat one tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry the cashew nuts and pistachios till they turn light brown in colour. Allow them to cool and cut them into small pieces.
2. Peel the carrots and grate them. Now fry the grated carrot in the same pan on a low flame for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and milk to it and let it boil for 4-5 minutes on low flame.
4. Add cardamom powder and turn off the stove.
5. Garnish with the sliced and fried cashews and pistachios and serve it after refrigerating it for an hour or so. 

Note: You can also add almonds instead of pistachios.