Tuesday, January 19, 2010

My first ever blog post!

"Vakratunda Mahakaaya, Suryakoti Samaprabha
Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Deva, Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvada"

After thinking for a long time on what to blog about and how to go about doing it, today I started doing it, at last!!! I am looking forward to Happy blogging days ahead :)
My first post was supposed to be on Sankranthi day but since it was not, I am going to post it today.
Pulihora and vada are all time favorites with Andhraites and also in my house. Though there are different type of pulihoras, my favorite is chintapandu pulihora or tamarind rice.
I am posting what I cooked on Sankranthi day. I typically make a type of vada, a type of pulihora, a type of dal, white rice, plain dal, a curry which usually is aloo mudda kura. This Sankranthi I made Masala Chanaga vada, Chintapandu Pulihora/Tamarind rice, Pappu Chaaru, Mudda Pappu, Halwa poli, White rice and Aloo Mudda kura(potato curry). And most importantly a sweet as Prasadam or Naivedyam. This time I made Ravva Kesari.



Masala Chanaga Vada and Ravva Kesari

Ravva Kesari:

Ingredients:

1 cup Ravva (dry roasted on a dry pan on low heat)
1 cup Sugar (or less to suit your taste)
3-4 tbsp Ghee (or less for the health conscious)
1 tbsp Cashew halves
1 tbsp golden raisins
1 1/2 cup water
a pinch of Elaichi powder/ Green Cardamom powder
a pinch of yellow or kesar food color

Method:

Ravva tends to burn really fast on high heat so dry roast the ravva on low heat without any oil or ghee. Once it starts to turn color, remove from heat and transfer to a clean, dry plate. Add sugar and water and bring it to a boil. Add the elaichi powder, a pinch of food color and couple of tbsp (or less) of ghee to the sugar and water mix. Slowly add the roasted ravva stirring it continuously into the sugar and water mix otherwise it will form balls which then become very hard to dissolve. The mix now might look watery but the ravva will absorb all the liquid slowly and become thicker. Cover it and let it cook on low heat until completly cooked.
At this point what I do is take out half of it if I intend to make halwa poli, and keep aside (because you don't want nuts in your poli).
Heat the rest of the ghee (in a separate pan) and roast the cashews and plump the raisins in it. Add it to the rest of the mixture and TADAaa.... your Ravva Kesari is ready!!!....

Masala Chanaga Vada:

Ingredients:

2 cups of Chanagalu (chick peas, Garbanzo beans)(soaked overnight)
1 inch piece of ginger
1 inch piece of cinamon stick
2-3 cloves
1/4 cup of channa dal soaked in water for 30 min
1 small chopped onion
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
a pinch baking soda (optional)
3-4 tbsp rice flour (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:

Soak Chanagalu overnight.
When ready to prepare this recipe, soak 1/4 cup channa dal in water for about 30 min. In a grinder/mixie, add soaked chanagalu, cinamon stick, cloves, ginger and grind until smooth but not too smooth (just make sure that ginger, cloves and cinamon stick are properly ground). Take this into a new bowl and add chopped onion, coriander leaves, soaked channa dal, baking soda, rice flour and salt. Mix well. Make small flattened balls with your hand and deep fry them in oil.
Vadas are ready to eat, when they are cool enough to eat, just plain or with chutney or tomato ketchup. Enjoy!!


After finally getting down to wrinting my first blog, I am going to call it a night...I will post the rest of the recipes over next few days...
GN everyone!!!












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4 comments:

  1. Thanks! I will have my wife try these recipes immediately... All the best with your blog!

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  2. Congratulations Smitha. Site look's great and very colorful and delicious. Happy blogging :-)

    --Padma

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  3. Smitha, that rava keseri looks very much like what my mom makes..so I can say it must have tasted great!..it is a pleasure seeing another andhraite dishes on site..good luck!

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