Oats-Rava Express Payasam/Kheer

A quick n yummy dessert to serve your guests, especially when you are in short of time, or do not have enough items handy to go for a complicated one.

Just a grab of the regular stuff availabe in your kitchen...the Payasam is ready!

You Need:

Full Fat Milk - 1 1/2 Cups
Water - 1 Cup
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Honey - 4 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Nuts (Cashew/Almond) & Raisins - Hand Few
Saffron - a Pinch
2-3 drops of essence of your choice (i used almond essence)
Sooji (Rava)/Burgol (Broken Wheat/Gothumai Rava) - 4 tbsp
Quick Oats - 4 tbsp

Method:

1. Bring all the above ingredients together

2. Cook for 15 minutes on low flame

3. Rava-Oats Express Payasam is ready

Note:

Cooking time can me extended, based on preferred thickness. The more you cook, all the more thick the payasam becomes.

Tastes good when chilled.

Burgol Kesari

For those who want a change, who want something new!...Heres a new "Kesari"!

Unlike the usual kesari made from Semolina (Sooji/Rava), i have used Burgol for this discovery of mine. Yes, it is easy to make, simple to eat, all the more palatable and healthy too!

You Need:

Burgol (Broken Wheat/Wheat Rava/Gothumai Ravai): 1 cup
sugar: 3/4 - 1 cup (as per your taste)
Water - 2 1/2 cups
Saffron/Kesar Powder - a pich for the color & aroma
Ghee - 3 tbs
Fennel Seed Powder - a pinch (optional, you can even use clove powder/ or aniseed powder)
Cardamom - 3 pcs
Cashew Nuts - 4-5 pcs
Raisins - 4-5 pcs
a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Using 1 tsp of ghee, roast the bargol, cashew nuts, raisins, cardamom along with Fennel Seeds Powder, and keep aside

2. Now bring water to boil along with the saffron powder and salt

3. Now, add the roasted bargol along with other items

4. stir well without any lumps

5. close the lid and allow the burgol to cook  (process similar to rava kesari/ or rava upuma)

6. Now, when burgol is fully cooked with all water being absorbed, add the sugar and rest of the ghee

7. Turn-off stove after 3 minutes, or when sugar/ghee separates in the pan (when reaches the kesari consistency)

8. Top-it-up with few more ghee-roasted nuts (optional) and enjoy!

Ven Pongal & Rava Pongal

Ven Pongal/Pongal

Iam sure this dish will be a favorite for many of us. Though the main ingredient of this recipe is rice, we would not hesitate to have it for breakfast or dinner! This one among the VIP (Vadai-Idly-Pongal) combo, is a staple in all our South Indian Hotels' menu, festivals, auspicious days, as 'prasadam' in temples, marriages...and the list goes on!

This festive food is easy to make and rich in taste as well! The blend of finely cooked lentils with mashed rice and some fried nuts, spices along with the magical aroma of ghee makes it all the more delicious and lip-smacking!

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup

Moong dal - 1/4 cup

Grated ginger - 1 teaspoon

Green chilli - 1 split

Black pepper corns - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Ghee - 3-4 tablespoons

Bunch of curry leaves for seasoning

Roasted cashewnuts - 12

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Water - 4 cups normal water, 1 cup hot water

Boiled Milk - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash rice and moong dal and rinse completely. Cook the rice and moong dal with 4 cups of water, cumin seed and salt in the pressure cooker for upto 6 whistles

2. Meantime, heat ghee in a small wok, fry the pepper corns, curry leaves, ginger, chilli and finely when done add the asafoetida

3. Now, add the hot water and milk to the cooked rice and dal, and mash-mix well (more hot water can be added depending upon the pongal consistency)

4. Now, add the fried items to this and mix gently

5. Pongal is ready!

Rava/Sooji (Semolina) Pongal

1. For this pongal, substitute rice with 1 cup of ghee roasted rava

2. Cook the roasted rava in 3 cups of boiling water

3. Pressuse cook 1/4 cup moong dal

4. Mix the cooked rava and dal along with the fried items (same as above) and salt

5. Rava Pongal is ready! (the taste of this pongal is as good as Ven Pongal made of rice)

Pongal goes well with many sidedishes, whether it be a simple coconut chutney or kathirikai gotsu (egg plant curry), it tastes like heaven!

My personal choice is kathirikai sambar, along with medhu vadai!