Coconut Rice and Award Time

Coconut Rice:





My Grandma will prepare all mixed rices(Kalavai sadam) during Kaanum Pongal(4th day of Pongal festival).But  i like to Eat only this rice in my childhood.Flavorful & Tasty one.I can remember in my college days my friend Hema will bring coconut rice along with Cauliflower kurma.We finish that full box with in a minute.It will goes well with pickle,pappad or Thuvaiyal.You can prepare this rice with Minimum ingredients available in ur kitchen. This is very good choice for lunch box. You can prepare this with in a minute if u have Shredded Coconut in hand.I added ginger,it will help for digestion.If u don't like u can avoid this.

 Ingredients: 

Cooked rice - 1 cup
Shredded coconut- 1/2 cup

For seasoning:

Channa dal- 1/2 tsp
Urad dal -1/2 tsp
Mustard-1/2 tsp
Groundnuts- 5 tsp
Green chilli-4
Ginger-1/2 tsp (finely chopped )
Curry leaves
Cashews - 3 tsp (optional)
Salt- To taste

Preparation method:

1. Heat the pan with 2 tsp of oil,add all seasoning ingredients.
2. Saute till it turns golden brown.
3. Now add required salt & mix well.
4. Add cooked rice,mix slowly.
5. Serve along with pappad or ur choice of any gravy.



I am sending this Recipe to EFM - Variety rice series  conducted by  SriLekha

I am really Happy to share this news with my Blogger friends. Indian Cooking Blogs selected my blog for
Blog of the week   section. I am so happy.Thanks a lot those who Nominated my blog for this section.

Award Time:

Rohini    share this Awards with me.Thanks a lot Rohini.









Anncoo from Anncoo's Hobby   Pass this award to me.Thank you so much Anncoo.



I  like pass to this award with some of my blogger friends



 Rohini  
Anncoo  
ASRA..ASHAON KA 
Sangeetha subhash 
Priya
Sailaja
Babli 
Raje 
Lavi
Menaga


Friends please collect ur Awards

Honey Gooseberries- Indian gooseberries soaked in sugar-honey syrup

Gooseberries/Nellikkai/Amla are rich source of Vitamin C. The gooseberry from an integral part of various traditional home remedies and is an essential ingreident in most of the Ayurveda medicines. The gooseberry fruit contains as much as 20 times of vitamin C as that in an orange. Iron in the food is best absorbed when taken in combination of food containing Vitamin C. In that scenario, honey and gooseberries form a perfect pair.  I first saw gooseberries soaked in honey at Wayanad.   At first, I did not know that it was soaked in honey. When I saw similar jars at different tourist spots, I asked the cab driver and he enlightened me on that. I jusst bought two pieces to taste it. I loved it. From then on, I wanted to try it at home. But did not search for a recipe though. It was in the back of mind.  Later I found it in Meenakshi Ammal's Samaithupar Part II.

When I was preparing the post I googled to find the benefits of Goosberry to include as part of  the post. I found a recipe for honey berries. I felt it more healthy with out the addition of sugar and think these are the kind I had at Wayanad.

The gooseberry can be preserved using honey, and thus used throughout the year. Take required number of gooseberries and clean them in running water. Pierce the gooseberries using a sharp stainless steel edge at various spots. Now immerse these pierced gooseberries in a jar full of pure honey. Cover the mouth of the jar using fine white cloth and place the jar in sunlight for an hour for 15 days. 

A tablespoon each of fresh gooseberry juice and honey mixed together forms a very effective medicine for several ailments. Its regular use will promote vigor in the body within a few days. When fresh fruit is not available, dry powder can be mixed with honey.

For more info on gooseberries and how it can be used as home remedies, check here.

While writing the post, I am reminded of a popular Malayalam saying -
"Moothavar chollum muthunellikkayum Aadhyam Kayakkum, Pinne Mathurikkum "
(മൂത്തവര്‍ ചൊല്ലും മുതുനെല്ലിക്കയും ആദ്യം കയക്കും പിന്നെ മധുരിക്കും).
It translates as "Both elders's advice and goosebrries will taste bitter at first but will turn to be sweet later ". Have you tried drinking water after a bite of gooseberry. If not, try it. Then you will understand the meaning of the above.


Now on to  the recipe I followed.

You need

Gooseberries - 1 heaped cup

Sugar 3/4 cup

Water - 1/4 cup

Honey - 2 tblspn

Cardamom - apinch

Method

Wash and dry the berries. Prick with a skewer/toothpick at few places on each berry.  Prepare sugar syrup. When the syrup is sticky, i.e. prior to one thread consistency, add the berries and turn well. The moisture released from the berries will make the syrup thin. Continue cooking till the syrup attains the one thread consistency. Add honey and cardamom powder. Cook for 2 minutes and remove from fire. Cool and store in dry glass jar.

Since the berries are also cooked, it gets soaked faster. You can eat the berries the next day itself. But as it ages, it gets more soft and tastes better with soaking. You drizzle the syrup on poories, rotis or bread too. The syrup tastes delicious with the juice of the gooseberries blended in.

Peanut-Sesame Powder/Verkadalai-Ellu Podi

I m an ardent fan of Aval Vikatan. Not only for the Good Articles, also for the Recipe Supplementary they give. :)
Peanut-Sesame powder/Verkadalai ellu podi recipe i took it from the supplementary issue. If you areTired of the normal paruppu podi and dosai milagai podi, try this, it taste good.

Ingredients
Verkadalai/Peanut/Groundnut - 1 cup (Skinless)
White Sesame Seeds - 1/4 cup
Kadalai paruppu/Gram Dal/chana Dal - 2 tsp
Red Chillies - 6-8nos.(if you want it less spicy, make it 3-4)
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - one tight fist
hing/asafoetida - a pinch

Method
Dry roast Peanuts, chana dal and red chillies, curry leaves. Let it cool. Grind to them fine powder. The original recipe doesnt include chana dal, but i added a lil for that kara kara coarse taste.

Tastes Divine with Hot Rice and Appalams.
,
For Making Mixed Rice with this

Heat oil in a kadai, Splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves, Add chana dal, add one green chillie. Pour this seasoning over rice and add peanut-sesame powder and mix well. Add salt if required.  Enjoy with Appalams or Chips