Paal Payasam and Vadai for Saraswathy Poojai

Day ~9 Saraswathy Pooja

We keep the books on 8th day night for pooja. Though pooja for the books are done on 9th day morning. It is customary to make paal payasam and Vadai for nivedhyam. As kids, we used to look forward to this day, since this was the only day, when we are asked not to study. When our books are kept for pooja, we never used to read even newspaper or any thing on that regard.

Paal Payasam

Instead of doing the traditional way of making, I have opted the easier route, which results in equally good payasam. So why slog extra time in the kitchen. Let me tell you, this method works good for small quanitities. Let me give the recipe first

Ingredients

Broken raw matta/brown rice - 1/4 cup

Milk - 1 litre

Sugar -1 1/4 cup (Can reduce to 1 cup if you want don't want it to be too sweet)

Butter - A teaspoon (optional)

Wash the rice and add all the ingredients in a cooker. Make sure the ingredients come only to 1/4 of the cooker capacity. Later, on cooking, the milk will rise and it will start coming out of the steam vent. This is the reason I said the method suits only to small quanitities. I used my 5 litres cooker. Still during the last few minutes, milk came out through the vent on the top. After first whistle, set the flame to the lowest level. Let it cook for 20 minutes. Switch off the gas and leave it for another 30 minutes. Open the cooker to find creamy, pinkish pal payasam. Add a dab of butter if desired. I don't usually add cardamom powder since I like to retain the creamy milk flavor.

Isn't it easy to cook this way? And doesn't it look like the famous Ambalapuzha Palpayasam. As I have mentioned in my earlier post, husband doesn't eat this payasam. So its the only occassion that I make this payasam.

Vadai

I have posted the recipe earlier.

Navarathri Day 7 & 8 - Rice coconut Payasam, Cherupayar Sundal & Moong Dal Payasam and Kabuli Channa Sundal

Day 7

Rice Coconut Payasam



Ingredients
Rice - 3 tblspn

Coconut - 1/2 portion

Milk - 1 cup

Cardamom powder - 1 tspn

Ghee - 2 tspn

Cashewnuts - 10 nos

Wash and soak rice in enough water for half an hour. Grate the coconut. Grind the soaked rice and grated coconut together into a coarse paste. Take two cups of water in a wide vessel. Mix in the ground coarse paste to the water. Boil over low fire, enabling rice to get cooked well. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. Rice turns lumpy quickly on cooking. When rice is cooked well, add sugar. Stir well. When sugar is fully dissolved, add the milk. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for few minutes. Stir in the cardamom powder and roasted cashewnuts and remove from fire.

I followed the recipe from Meenakshi Ammal's. The recipe said 3/4 cups of rice. I used the said amount and the payasam turn into a pudding consistency. Then I adjusted by adding milk. So in the recipe I gave above, I have reduced the amount of rice.

Cherupayar/Whole moong Sundal - Sweet.

The procedure is same as the vella payar (black eyed beans) sundal. With whole moong, no soaking is required. I just dry roast and pressure cook. It cooks mushy and is perfect for the sundal.

Day 8

Moong Dal Payasam

Moong dal - 3/4 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Milk - 2 cups

Roasted cashewnuts - 10 nos

Elaichi powder - 1/2 tspn

Dry roast moong dal over low fire for few minutes. Pressure cook dal and it should be cooked well. Melt jaggery in 1/2 cup of water in a thick bottomed vessel. When the syrup starts bubbling, stir in the cooked and mashed dal. Let it simmer for few minutes so that the dal soaks in the jaggery flavor. Stir in boiled milk and boil for few minutes. Don't let it simmer since it might curdle. Usually, with jaggery, coconut milk is used. Add elaichi powder and garnish with roasted cashewnuts.

Kabuli Channa Sundal

The procedure is same as the kadala sundal given earlier

And with another one post, I will finish the Navarathri series.  I wanted to post these as and when it was made. But could not. After Navarathri, the days went in a flash and by the time I finish with these, its time for Diwali treats.

Biscuit Tour 2009—Birmingham

Just returned from Birmingham, Alabama where we presented an oral history and audio production workshop as part of the series Dialogue on Food at Birmingham-Southern College. During this year-long cross-disciplinary discussion, students will be reading, writing, and creating multi-media projects about what we eat and why. Opening the series was Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Small Planet the book published in 1971 that is considered the "blueprint for eating with a small carbon footprint."

Jones Valley Urban Farm, Birmingham

Our visit coincided with an Outstanding in the Field dinner at Jones Valley Urban Farm, an unlikely secret garden tucked into a square city block surrounded by freeways, railroad tracks and public housing in Birmingham. Jones Valley Urban Farm—three acres of arugula, sunflowers, hericot vert, waxy red peppers, sweat and possibility.

The farm grows food enough for an after-work farm stand during the summer, a food box CSA program, and fresh, seasonal vegetables for a handful of local restaurants. It has community garden plots for the neighborhood and a program for school kids to plant, harvest and learn about how gardens can change their community.

The mastermind behind the Jones Valley project is Edwin Marty (left), an Alabama native, who studied organic farming at University of Calfornia Santa Cruz. All roads seem to lead back to UCSC's visionary agroecology program. It’s been going on for 40 years and has graduated an army of disciples who have become the base of today’s organic farming and food movement. Edwin had visions of moving to China to teach organic farming until a friend pointed out that his home state might be a better place to start. Alabama has the second highest rate of obesity in the country. (Luckily, there’s Mississippi who comes in ahead of us, Frank Stitt told us).

Frank Stitt, chef and owner of Birmingham's Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega and Bottega Cafe, and Chez Fonfon, was the chef for our meal in the field. He worked with farmers throughout the region who provided the food.

Here's the menu:

McEwen & Sons deviled eggs (Helen & Frank McEwen)

Jones Valley Urban Farm sweet and spicy peppers, roast eggplant craklin' cornbread & Snow's Bend snap peas

Lady Pea Pilau with Snow's Bend butternut squash, Soul's Food Organic's cherry tomatoes (Linda & Michael Dean), okra & basil (David Snow and Margaret Ann Tooey)

Porchetta with Sequatchie Cove Farms pork (Bill & Miriam Keener), McEwen & Son's stone ground grits & JVUF collard greens & turnips

Petals from the Past apple cake with rum creme angalise

Davia interviews Chef Frank Stitt and Farmer Bill Keener of Sequatchie Cove Organic Farm & Dairy, TN. Bill (far right) and his wife Miriam raised the pig roasted for our meal.

Would love to hear about other urban farm projects and farm to table community dinners. What's happening in your part of the world?