Arisi Upma in Vengala Paanai (Bronze Pot)

Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 1 cup

Toor Dal - 2 tbsp

Black Pepper - 1 tbsp

Cumin - 1 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Red Chillies - 2

For tempering:

Sesame Oil - 2 tbsp-4 tbsp +

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Urad Dal - 1 tbsp

Channa Dal - 1 tbsp

Water: 1.75 cups (if rice is washed and dried) or 2 cups if rice is not washed.

Salt: 1 tsp

Perungaayam / Asafoetida / Hing - 1/4 tsp, optional

Grated coconut - 1 tbsp, optional

Arisi upma can be made with washed rice as well as just the plain rice. If you have atleast 2 hours, I recommend washing and drying the rice. If you dont have time, just make sure the rice is clean and free of bugs, stones etc. 

If you decide to wash and dry, wash rice atleast 2-3 hours prior and lay flat to dry on a clean cloth. You can do this several hours/days/weeks ahead of time as well.

Preparing the mix:

In a mixie, add the toor dal, cumin seeds, black pepper and fenugreek seeds and grind coarsely. 

Then add the raw rice (washed and dried or plain) and grind further into a coarse mixture. 

Method:

In a vengalai paanai (bronze pot), add 2 tbsps of oil and add the red chillies. Fry the chillies in medium heat until they blacken. If there is too much heat, the oil will turn rancid so fry in medium heat. Once the chillies are darkened, add mustard seeds, when they start spluttering, add channa dal, urad dal and temper to a brown color. Once done, add curry leaves and fry. 

When the tempering is ready, add water and add salt. Bring to a rolling boil. When the water is boiling, add the prepared mix, grated coconut (optional) and stir to ensure there are no lumps. Lower the heat slightly and let the mix absorb all the water. 

Once the water is absorbed, reduce the heat to a minimum, optionally add a few more tbsps of oil on top, close the lid and let it cook in the reduced heat for 10-15 minutes. 

Then, open the vengala paanai and stir. If the mix looks dry, add a tbsp or two of oil. 

If there is sufficient oil, just stir for a few seconds.

If the mixture needs to cook further, close the lid and check again every five minutes until the mix is cooked. Cook in reduced heat and keep it covered for the kaandhal (brown crust) to form. 

Switch off after the mix cooks.

You will know the mix is cooked when you dont see the dry rice rava. If the water is right, then the upma will turn out with crispy kaandhal (brown crust) with the rest of it crumbly. If there is too much water, then it will be semi solid, but nevertheless will still taste good and the vengala paanai will absorb the moisture as the time goes on. 

Offer to Krishna and enjoy

Ba Sing Se Theme Dairy Free Birthday Cake

 Sri:

Here comes the next challenge in our baking journey. Half of our family has turned vegan, which means no more butter in the cakes or icing. Cakes can be made easily without butter, but my abilities for frosting with a vegan butter cream are limited to say the least. 

Add to this, the sibling wanted to impress the birthday baby with a cake themed from 'Avatar: The Last Air Bender' series. Yes, they wanted a cake themed like 'Ba Sing Se'.

Ba...Sing... what? I had to ask multiple times... and was made to watch the series for many hours at a stretch to understand what it is they wanted.

Ba Sing Se means the impenetrable city and that's where the heroes from the series were headed. 

So, here's our attempt at the Ba Sing Se.. impenetrable city cake.

Instructions:

Bake any dairy free cake. 

Cut up graham crackers.

Make frosting with Vegan butter.

Use the frosting to stick the graham crackers to the sides of a cake to resemble the fort walls of the city. 

Make slits inside the cake to slide in more graham crackers for the inner walls of the city. 

Color a part of the icing blue/teal and layout the rivers that pass through the city. 

Color a part of the icing green and draw out trees. 

Decorate with anything else you like. In this case, we sprinkled strawberry and banana mini pieces just for fun. 

Offer to Krishna and enjoy.