Sweet Sevai (Rice Noodles flavored with jaggery and coconut)

Sevai - A type of rice noodles,  is a light tiffin/snack item flavored with lemon, coconut or jaggery.  Today I am posting the sweet version using jaggery.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
Instant Rice Noodles - 200 grams
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Cashews - a handful
Raisins (optional) - 2 tsp

Method:
Immerse rice noodles in boiling hot water for 2 minutes and drain.
In another pan, roast cashews and raisins and set aside. In the same pan, fry coconut till it turns light golden brown.
Mix jaggery with 1/4 cup water and cardamom. Heat the mixture till jaggery dissolves in water and starts to thicken. It will take about 5 minutes. Filter the jaggery water to remove any stones.
Now mix the rice noodles, coconut, jaggery syrup and cashews and toss well.
Serve warm.

My close friend, Sharmi insisted that I should send some snack item for her event. I thought I will send this recipe.

BTUs and Your Air Conditioner

A British Thermal Unit -- or BTU -- is the measure of an air conditioner’s power output and cooling capability. Normal BTU range for most air conditioners goes from around 5000 for a small window unit to 30,000 or more for a central AC system. BTU output is directly related to the size and cost of a unit—lower BTU means less power and lower cost, higher BTU means more power and higher cost. When you’re shopping for a new air conditioner, pay special attention to BTU because this is the best indicator of whether the unit is powerful enough to meet your needs.


What is a BTU?
If you’re talking about air conditioners, BTU describes the power capacity of a specific unit. Generally, BTU output corresponds to the size of the space an AC can cool—a unit with more BTU can cool a larger room. About 20 BTUs are needed for each square foot of space in a room or home. Other things to consider are the height of ceilings, size and number of windows, and amount of insulation.

Still, BTU is a fairly accurate indicator of cooling capability, though it usually makes sense to adjust down. For example, if your living room is 10 feet by 15 feet and has a total area of 150 square feet, you’d multiply that by 20 BTUs to get 3000. Therefore, you’d need an air conditioner with at least 3000 BTUs to effectively cool your living room. However, when you take into account the other factors that impact the space—like cathedral ceilings, large windows, or an unusually warm climate—you may find that 3000 BTUs are not enough to keep you cool. In that case, it’s obviously best to choose a unit with higher BTU.


BTU Range
There’s a wide range of BTU outputs available in both commercial and residential air conditioners. Most residential units average 5000 to 30,000 BTUs. 12,000 BTUs equals one ton of air; some units are marked with a measurement in tons rather than BTU. A “2-ton” AC, for instance, means that the unit has an output of 24,000 BTUs.

Portable air conditioners average about 5000 to 12,000 BTUs. Wall and window units can reach upwards of 24,000 BTUs at the high end. Mini split systems range from 9000 to 24,000 BTUs, while multi-split systems and central air conditioners can put out 30,000 BTUs or more. Industrial air conditioning systems frequently have BTU output significantly higher than 30,000.

Not only will BTU tell you how much room an air conditioner can cool, but it can also give you an idea of how much you’ll have to pay to run it. The more BTUs a unit uses, the more it will cost to operate. To save money on utilities, look for air conditioners with a high Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (or SEER). Additional features like programmable thermostats, timers, fans, and power-saving settings can reduce strain on your system, boost efficiency, and lower your energy costs while still keeping your home cool.



Related Air Conditioning Information from Horizon Services...

• Horizon Air Conditioning Services
• Air Conditioning Installation & Replacement
• SEER, AFUE and HSPF Ratings Explained
• Heating and Air Conditioning Glossary

Palada pradhaman from scratch ~ Kerala Special

Hope all of you who celebrate Onam had it in a grand way. This Onam, I wanted to make the most favored payasam of Kerala - Palada pradhaman. Now a days making palada isn't a big affair when you can have ready made ada packets off the shelf from stores. But I wanted to try it from scratch i.e prepare ada at home.

Traditionally the batter is spread on banana leaf and is rolled and tied with the string from the leaves itself. Then these rolled leaves are dropped in boiling water and cooked. The adai is peeled from the leaves and cut into pieces. I was thinking of doing it the same way. But I haven't seen this myself and all I have is the theoretical knowledge of it. Just before making, called my amma to clear my doubts. My sister picked up the call and I said the reason for my calling and she was like I am enough to clear your doubts. And she told she she has made ada twice from scratch. She suggested me to use the vadam stand which will be easier to manage.

Preparing the ada

You need

Raw rice flour - 1 cup

Salt a pinch


Method

Soak rice for 5 hours or overnight.Grind to a smooth paste with a pinch of salt. The batter should not be very runny. While grinding the rice, take care not to add to much water and end up with a runny batter.
Spread the batter slightly thick on the greased plate.

Steam for 10 minutes. Remove the ada from  the plate and cut into four.

 Score into strips and chop into tiny bits.

By this time, the ada would have dried a bit and it will not be sticky. Transfer the bits to plate.

Repeat the steps with the remaining batter and store the ada in the refrigerator if you are not using it right away. If you have good sunshine, you could sun dry it and store in an air tight container for a long time. 

The ada measured to 1 cups heaped.



To prepare the palada pradhaman

You need
Ada - 1 cup heaped

Sugar - 2 cups

Milk - 2 litres


Method

Usually, the ada is cooked in  a mix of water and milk , till it turns soft. Then milk is added in installments and cooked till it is thick and then sugar is added to it and it is further cooked to attain a creamy consistency. All this will take loads of time. So I tipped all the ingredients to my 7 litre  cooker and pressure cooked for one whistle and kept the heat in lowest flame and continued for another 15 minutes. By then the pressure had build up inside and milk started coming out of the pressure vent along with the whistle. I switched off the heat and left if for half an hour.

Opened the pressure cooker and went on to cook till it had a creamy consistency which took nearly an hour on medium heat. Cooking in the pressure helped to get that pink color which intensed on further cooking and could cut down the cooking time and constant stirring. Leave it for an hour or so to let the pradhaman mature the flavor further.  The test for doneness is when you pour a ladle of the pradhaman on a plate and draw a line it should not join immediately.

Tasting just one spoon of the luscious pradhaman will make you forget all the work that went into it.