Iyengar Puliyodharai

Sri:

Here is my mother’s recipe for Puliyodharai:
Pulikachchal:
Ingredients:
200 grams Tamarind
20 Red chillies (adjust per desired spice level)
1 cup sesame seeds
2 cups coriander seeds
1-2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 cup oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1-2 tbsp salt (adjust as desired)
Asafoetida (Hing / Perunkaayam) - 1 tsp

This will yield about  1 large Horlicks jar sized pulikachchal and can be stored in the fridge for around 6 months. Recipe can be halved or quartered.

Recipe:
Soak the tamarind in warm water for an hour or until softened enough to get the extract. Get a thick extract with water when softened.
Heat a thick bottom pan and without adding any oil. Add the sesame seeds and let it splatter. When it does, remove from the pan and keep aside.
Add 1 tbsp sesame oil, and roast the red chillies, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds until browned. Add the black pepper and roast slightly. Keep aside.

In a dry mixie jar - coarsely powder the sesame seeds. Then add the roasted red chillies, black pepper, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds, powder and keep aside.

In the pan add a tbsp of oil, add the tamarind extract, hing and turmeric powder. Let it boil and cook. Turn the flame to medium and let this mixture boil until it reduces to 1/4th of its original quantity and is in a semi solid consistency.
Now add the dry masala powder and let it cook for a few minutes. When this is thickened, turn off the flame, add the remaining sesame oil, mix well and let it cool down.

 Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store. This can stay outdoors for a week or so but can be refrigerated for almost six months.

Pulikachchal is ready.

To make Puliyodharai, cook rice separately, add the pulikachchal and temper with mustard seeds, peanuts, channa dal, urad dal, curry leaves and cashews. Add salt as desired.

Offer to Krishna and enjoy

Kesar Pista Burfi - From Another Post

Adding this to my blog only for reference.

http://www.foodindiablog.com/2013/08/kesar-pista-barfi-recipe-kesar-pista.html?m=1

Ingredients for Kesar Pista Barfi Recipe 

Mawa: 200 grams

Sugar: 125 grams

Pista powder: 100 grams

Ghee: 2 tea spoon

Crushed kesar: ¼ tea spoon

Cardamom powder: ¼ tea spoon

Cherries: 5

Green colour: 1 drop

Silver foil for decoration

Method How to Make Kesar Pista Barfi

Step-1: Take sugar, make three thread sugar syrup using water.

Step-2: Boil the syrup until it becomes thick and stir them well.

Step-3: Take some ghee in pan, shred and roast the mawa, add cardamom powder.

Step-4: Divide roasted mawa in two parts. One part add pista powder and green colour. Add half 

of suger syrup to mixture and spread them in a greased dish.

Step-5: In Second portion of mawa, add kesar and remaing syrup of sugar. Spread the mixture above pista mixture in a dish.

Step-6: After some time cut them in square and arrange them in paper cups. Decorate it with cherries and silver foil and serve.

Additional Tips

Instead of kesar, pista colour essence may also be used.

Javvarisi Upma - Sabudaana Kitchadi - No stick method

Sri:

My family loves javvarisi upma with peanut powder. I make it on Ekadasi days for dinner. I read through several blog posts and used to make it, but the result was not consistent. The tapioca pearls would sometime stick together and ruin the texture of the upma. Nevertheless, my family always loved it. Last Ekadasi, it dawned on me that my neighbour and friend, SJ, is a Marathi. Sabudaana kitchadi is so famous in Marathi cuisine, why did I not think of asking her about it. So, I asked and she gave me the tips for soaking. Thanks to SJ for this wonderful recipe. Now you can also make sabudaana kitchadi successfully.

Previously, I used to soak the tapioca pearls in a lot of water overnight. Then, I would drain it the next morning and let it sit on the counter the entire day and then make kitchadi with it in the evening. It was a hit or miss.
SJ pointed out that the pearls have too much moisture and that was the reason for the stickiness. She gave me two ways.
1. Rinse the sabudaana well in running water and let the powdery stuff wash away. Then, soak the pearls such that, only half a cm of water is above the pearls. Leave it like this overnight or 7-8 hours. When you are ready to cook, fluff the sabudaana with your hands. All the water should've been absorbed.

2. This method was used by SJ's mom - wash the sabudaana in running water well, then, just drain all of the water and let it sit overnight or 7-8 hours. The water that is absorbed by the pearls while rinsing is sufficient for it to soak and soften.

Today, I used method 1 above. I rinsed the pearls well in water last night, drained all the water. Then, I added just enough water to the pearls such that only a finger tip of water was above the pearls. I let it sit.
When I checked this morning, all of the water was absorbed and the tapioca pearls were quite soft.

Now to the process:
Ingredients:
2 cups Sabudaana / Javvarisi / Tapioca pearls, soaked as described above.
1/2 cup raw peanuts.
2 green chillies, chopped fine or slit in halves - adjust as needed
1 tbsp cumin (for seasoning)
1 tbsp salt - adjust as needed.
2 tbsp cooking oil of your choice - I used Sesame oil.
1 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
Other seasoning: curry leaves, hing (optional)

Dry roast the peanuts on the pan. Once roasted well, remove from the heat, let it cool, optionally remove the skin and grind to a coarse powder.
In a thick bottom pan, add some oil for seasoning. When it heats up, add the cumin, when it sizzles, add the green chillies, and other seasoning (curry leaves, hing etc).
Saute for a few seconds and add the tapioca pearls, salt and the peanut powder. Optionally, add some turmeric powder. Mix them all together with the seasoning. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of water over the pearls. Then close the pan with a lid and reduce the heat. In about 5-10 minutes, open the lid, stir and see if it is done. The kitchadi is done when most of the pearls turn translucent. White opaque pearls are an indication that they are not cooked yet. Cover and cook until done.

Offer to Krishna and enjoy!

Eggless Whole Wheat Pancakes with Palm Jaggery (Karuppatti Vellam)

Ingredients:

For the pancakes:
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup (I used Khazana Organic Whole Wheat Flour from Costco)
Milk - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp, melted  (you can substitute with olive or other oils as well)
Palm jaggery (karuppatti vellam) - 2 tbsp, for sweetening the pancakes
Water, 1/2-3/4 cups, optional, as needed

Strawberries - quartered - 1 cup (optional)
Butter - 1 tbsp (optional)
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup (optional)

Syrup:
Palm jaggery (karuppatti vellam) - 4 tbsp

In a medium sized bowl, mix the whole wheat flour and baking powder well. Add milk, vanilla extract, coconut oil to it.
In a small sauce pan, add the palm jaggery and 1/2 cup of water. Heat to melt the jaggery. Once it is completely melted, filter and add to the whole wheat flour mixture.
Mix well until you get a slightly thick pouring consistency. If the batter is too thick, add some water or milk as needed. Consistency should be similar to idli batter or a thick dosa batter.

Grease a griddle with butter or coconut oil and pour a ladle of the above batter. You will see the batter cook. Optionally, add some chocolate chips. Cook on medium flame, until the top is more or less cooked.

Flip the pancake to slightly brown the other side. In about 10-15 seconds or when the pan side is cooked, remove from the pan. 

Repeat to make a few more pancakes.

Syrup:

In a small sauce pan, melt the palm jaggery in water, cook on medium flame. Bring to a boil. When the jaggery is fully melted and the syrup is of slightly thick consistency, turn off the stove, filter to remove impurities and save in a bowl. 

Strawberry topping:

Add 1-2 tbsp of the syrup to cut strawberries and mix well. 

Top the pancakes with the syrup, and optionally butter and strawberries, offer to Krishna and serve. 

Saatvik Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

Fresh basil: 2 cups
Parmesan, grated:  1 cup
Pine nuts: 3/4 cup
Olive oil: 3/4 cup
Salt: 1/2 tsp

Cook pasta per package instructions.

For the pesto sauce, pick the basil leaves from the stem, wash, pat dry. Add it to a blender and give a quick blend, then add pine nuts, blend for a few minutes, add the parmesan and blend again. Add olive oil and mix well.

Add to cooked pasta and serve.

Pesto may oxidize to a dark green color. To avoid this, some chefs recommend blanching the basil leaves. I've never tried this method. The dark green color tastes just fine to us. 

Saatvik Panneer Butter Masala / Mattar Panneer

Ingredients

Tomatoes: 6-7 whole
Green chillies: 2-3, depending on desired spice level
Ginger: about the size of a large gooseberry, peeled and chopped.
Panneer: 1 cup cubed
Fresh cream: 2 tbsp
Butter: 1 tbsp
Spices:
Cumin 1 tbsp
Green cardamom 2-3
Black cardamom 1-2

Procedure:
Grind the tomatoes with green chillies and ginger smoothly, then in a thick bottom pan, add oil, cumin, cloves, green cardamom, black cardamom and sauté , then add the ground purée and start to cook, add butter while the purée starts boiling and cook until oil separates from the mixture. Then add chopped Panneer, and a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream.

Let it come to a boil. Turn off in a few minutes.

For Mattar Panneer, cook the green peas separately in a cup of water. Once the sauce above is thickened, add the cooked peas and bring to a boil.

Offer to Krishna and enjoy.

Baked Pasta

Cook the pasta per instructions. For sauce, I use the Costco tomato paste. To the tomato paste, add lots of water (2-3 cups) and dilute it. Then in a thick bottom pan, add olive oil, Italian seasoning and the diluted paste, add salt, let it cook until you get the desired sauce consistency.

Add it to the cooked pasta then spread in a pan, add mozzarella cheese on top and either bake for 30-45 minutes at 395F until cheese browns or do a low broil for a few minutes