Venn Pongal

Its been a while since I cooked patiently, clicking away pictures and doing things at leisure. Just got back from a beautiful short vacation and still in the holiday mood. DH wanted to have vathakuzhambu. Luckily had butternut squash at home and made it in a jiffy. The best complement to vathakuzhambu couldn't be better than a plate of hot venn pongal. Realized quite late that I had not posted pongal on the blog and was just in time to click a couple of pictures for the same.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

Moong dal - Split - 3 tbsp
Rice - 1 cup
Black peppercorns - 1 tbsp
Crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - A few
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - A couple (optional)
Butter / Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

• In a pressure cooker or a pressure pan, heat the butter / ghee and once it gets hot add cumin seeds, black peppercorns, grated ginger , curry leaves, green chillies, and crushed black pepper. Then add the moong dal and rice and roast all the ingredients well on medium flame for 3-4 minutes.

• Then add water and salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

• Pongal would have cooked well  after 3 whistles. You can adjust the proportion of water depending on whether you prefer it to be semi-solid or solid.

• Serve it hot with coconut chutney , tomato gojju or vathakuzhambu..

• Enjoy the hot and tasty pongal.

Notes:

• Adding green chillies is optional. If you prefer spicy pongal you can add it or you can omit it.
• Addition of crushed red pepper gives it a real pepper taste. You can add it according to your preference.
• You can cube up ginger and add or you can julienne it. Grated ginger blends well with rice and will not be felt while eating.

Spring Plumbing Tips!

With Spring just around the corner now is a great time to give your house a look over. With Spring comes rain (and usually the snow melt) and possible pipe leaks. Think of this as an extension of your spring cleaning project (from a plumbers viewpoint). Some areas to check include bathrooms,kitchen, appliances, and other general locations as outlined below.

For the kitchen and bathrooms check all faucets for any leaks. Repairing these will help save water and money. Make sure you have strainers on each of your drains. Strainers prevent the buildup of hair and soap which can clog your drains. Check your toilets for leaks. A fast, inexpensive way to do this is to put a few drops of food coloring into your toilet tank. If there are leaks the food coloring will appear in the bowl within 30 minutes. Turn your water supply valves off and on periodically. This will prevent them from getting stuck. Check your toilets to make sure they flush properly. If you have to hold down or jiggle the knob you should replace the parts of the toilet which are responsible for flushing. they don't cost much and you will save water and money. Clean your shower head using vinegar. this will remove mineral deposits and improve the flow of water.

Check the temperature of your water heater. Keep it at no more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit in order to prevent burning. This will also help control your gas or electric bill. drain a few gallons of water from your water heater. This will remove any sediment buildup. If your water heater is greater than 15 years old you may want to replace it. New water heaters are very energy efficient. Check the water supply hoses on your dishwasher, ice maker and washing machine for any leaks or signs of wear or failure. As a precaution, replace them if they are older than 10 years. Check pipes under your sink for leaks. Make sure your sump pump is working properly if you have one. Install a back flow valve under your floor drain in order to prevent backups if you have a sewer where you live.

HAPPY PLUMBING!!

Chinese Scallion Pancake / Spring Onion Pancake

Whenever I visit Indian shops, I find these scallion pancakes in the frozen section. Once, I bought them along with flaky paratha(which I used for making vegetable kothu paratto) and found the procedure for making it is almost similar to flaky paratha.



After knowing this, I prepared them at home using all purpose flour and wheat flour. The authentic recipe calls only all purpose flour. but, you can use only wheat flour for making it. The taste willbe more or less same.



Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Idle Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 6 

Ingredients:



All purpose flour/ Plain flour/ Maida - 1 cup

Wheat flour/ Atta - 1 cup

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Hot Water - 3/4 cup - 1 cup

Oil - 2-4 tablespoons

Spring onion - 1 cup, finely chopped

Method:



1) In a mixing bowl, mix all purpose flour, wheat flour and salt.

2) Add water little at a time and make a soft dough. Knead it for 10 minutes to make smooth dough. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.

3) After 30 minutes, divide the dough into equal size balls.

4) Take one ball in a floured kitchen surface and roll it to approx.20 CM wide. Make sure the dough is not sticking with the surface.

5) Apply a teaspoon or 2 in the rolled dough's surface using a brush.

6) Sprinkle a tablespoon of spring onion in the oiled surface.

7) Then, fold it in a zigzag manner(like a chinese fan) and as shown in the picture. You can also roll it like a cigar/rug.

8) At the end, make swirl/snail form as shown in the picture. Press down lightly using your fingers.

9) Gently roll it to 1/8th thickness with 10CM wide.

10) Heat the skillet. When it is hot, place the rolled pancake to it.

11) When one side is cooked, flip to cook other side. Make sure the flame is low to avoid burning outside. Use oil to cook if necessary.

12) When both the sides are cooked, cut into wedges and serve hot with any of your favourite sauce.