Thengai Sadam/Coconut Rice

In my childhood days, kalandha sadham/ mixed rice preparations was not very common at home. It made occasional appearance when packing food for travel and invariably for Pathinettamperukku(Aadi-18). We used to look forward to the lemon rice, coconut rice, puliyodarai prepared for the same. That used to be the after-school tiffin for us, with generous helping of karuvadam and rice vadams. Later on,things changed. It was prepared when ever we wanted and we needn't wait for Aadi to arrive. And coconut rice tops my list of favorites. This is how I prepare it. Its ideal for lunch box too.

Rice - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup

Coconut oil- 4 tblspn

Mustard seeds -1 tspn

Urad dal - 1 tspn

Red chilly- 2nos

Hing - a pinch

Curry leaves - few

Salt

Pressure cook rice and spread on a plate to cool. Rice should not cook mushy. It should be cooked but the cooked rice grains should be separate.
Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add urad dal, chillies broken into two,hing and curry leaves. Roast till dal turns light brown. Pour the seasoning over the rice. In the same pan, heat 3 tblspn of coconut oil and add the grated coconut. Roast the coconut till light brown. Add the roasted coconut along with salt to the rice. Mix gently. Serve with applams or any other deep fried fritters. For a change, I have served with an easy potato curry.

Pressure cook cubed potatoes, chopped onions, green chilly and ginger with salt and turmeric. Mash lightly with a ladle. Season with mustard and cumin. A tasty side dish is ready.

This is my entry to Rice Mela hosted by Srivalli

Print Recipe

Fluorescent Lighting and THE MERCURY PROBLEM

I have long not made it a secret that I favor fluorescent lighting over incandescent because of energy savings. I also favor LED lighting but that's another story.

I have taken some heat for my position from some who are protective of their rights to consume forever as they see fit without regard for the rest of humanity or the effect on our environment.

Here is an exchange with "Anonymous":

Anonymous said...

Fluorescent light is horrible and the tubes contain mercury.
There are better ways to conserve than forcing fluorescents on everyone.
There needs to be some "quality of life".
Maybe we should go back to paper and turn off all these computers?


Peggy Deras, CKD, CID said...

C'mon "Anonymous", haven't you heard Al Gore?

1. Fluorescents save energy compared to your precious incandescents. A LOT of energy.
2. They last a lot longer too.
3. You can spend a few more bucks and buy high CRI fluorescents and look good too!
4. Mercury can be mitigated if the spent lamps are properly disposed of.
5. Get with the program. We all are in this together.

Peggy

Anonymous said...

Peggy, tell you what… if you want to push legislation, put a limit/tax on kWh used and let people use the kW any way they choose.

How much power does it take to support this website?

If the government tells me I can’t choose incandescent lights maybe they should tell you to stop posting & blogging.

And by the way, the majority of people will NOT dispose of CFLs properly, they will just chuck‘em in the trash. Forward thinkers know this, and they know the real consequence of mercury contamination. The proposed ban in USA will be reversed…. wait and see.

Well, now I have some additional ammunition in hand to quell the worries of people like Anonymous: The article is "MERCURY AND THE COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMP" and appears in the Illuminate supplement to October 2008's Architectural Products magazine.

Apparently, even taking into account that NOBODY ever recycles their spent fluorescent bulbs/lamps, fluorescents put less mercury into the environment than the incandescents they replace because the additional burned coal needed to light the incandescents adds substantially more mercury to the environment.

Not only that, but the mercury released by burning coal is airborne methyl mercury. Airborne mercury enters the body through the lungs and is attributed to a wide range of health issues and contamination of water and fish.

The mercury in fluorescents is primarily elemental mercury, a health risk if treated improperly (ie. broken), but not inherently likely to become airborne unless vacuumed.

Also most (86-89%) of the mercury in a CFL is bound to the lamp glass itself and not released if broken.

So, now that we have several degrees more safety from mercury poisoning by using fluorescents, AND substantial energy savings, AND lots of bulb/lamp shapes and sizes, AND dimmable, AND a good color range and CRI; maybe, just maybe, people like Anonymous will try a few fluorescents in their own homes and find out they aren't so bad after all.

Give 'em a twist!

Peggy

Deepawali Sweets - Papu Pati's Godi Halwa

PAPU PATI'S GODI HALWA

This is a very special sweet adored by all my family members. My mother-in-law was a specialist in preparing this dish on all festive occasions. My nephew loved to relish this sweet prepared by his dear Pati. She did not mind all the laborious steps which she had to slog through in its preparation. She happily made two tambalams-ful (very large plate) of the halwa which would vanish in no time. The thought of the translucent and shiny halwa topped with blanched almonds and saffron strands makes my mouth water even now.

I had only watched her, and assisted her in the preparation and I never dared to try it out all by myself. Last year my nephew, who now resides in the U.S. visited us for a short stay. I immediately remembered his favourite (and ours!) Godi Halwa, my mother-in-law would have prepared had she been alive now. I pulled up courage and was determined to make the dish myself for my dear nephew. I tried it out by using broken wheat instead of whole wheat. and the mixer instead of the heavy grinding stone. Though the halwa was not comparable to my mother-in –law’s preparation, it had turned out well.

INGREDIENTS:
Broken wheat – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Ghee – ¼ cup
Cardamom powder – 1 pinch
Saffron – a few strands
Almonds – 15

METHOD:
1. Cover the broken wheat with water and soak for two hours.
2. Soak almonds in warm water, and remove the skin.
3. Soak the saffron strands in a little warm water.
4. Grind well the soaked wheat with water, and filter through a mesh to extract the wheat milk.
5. Grind it yet again with some more water and extract more milk.
6. Repeat the process till all the wheat milk is extracted, and discard the solids.
7. Add water, if necessary to make up four cups of wheat milk.
8. Start cooking the wheat milk with sugar in a heavy bottomed pan.
9. Keep stirring to avoid lumps.
10. Once it starts boiling it will thicken very fast. So keep stirring.
11. Add half of the ghee and keep cooking until the mixture becomes like a thick custard.
12. Add the soaked saffron and blend well.
13. Add the remaining ghee and cardamom powder and remove from heat when the halwa leaves the sides of the pan.
14. Pour into a greased plate and decorate with almonds.
15. The halwa will set like a custard when it cools down, and now you can cut them as desired.
Store it in the fridge in the plate as it is, and relish piece by piece when ever you crave for it!

***
A note from Dibs: Papu Pati’s godi halwa, is one of the most amazing sweets I have ever had. I would say the consistency of this halwa is between a custard and a jelly. A cut piece will hold its shape, but would be wobbly! Since only wheat milk is used, the halwa is a delicate translucent colour, and the ghee gives it a nice shiny gloss!

I really miss my Papu Pati!

***

This post goes to JFI Nov '08 Festival Treats hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons, as well as Yummy Festival Feast at Pallavi of All Thingz Yummy, as well as Sunshinemom's FIC Brown event at Tongue Ticklers!