Thursday, February 13, 2014

Jaggery Kesari Baath/ Gul Pavate

Gul Pavate/Jaggery Kesari is a sweet dish.






It is prepared  using jaggery, rava, ghee and cardamom.Gul Pavate is one of the traditional and healthy dish. Loads and loads of ghee used in preparing Gul Pavate. May be some thing like Chooran Halwa which is prepared with wheat, sugar and ghee. In olden days this dish was one of the kids special too. There is a proverb in Kannada " Kallu tindu jeerna Maadi kolluva kaala ". This means kids can digest whatever they eat. in the younger age. But as the time changed, the favour for using sugar grown and sugar replaced the jaggery in most of the items and it became more fancy and the status too. So lots of sweets prepared using sugar loaded the market too. It made easy for people to have more crave for sugar made sweets. Now again people prefer to intake jaggery and reduced the consumtion of sugar.

There are innumerable benifits of jaggery. Jaggery is a great remedy for anemia, astama, joint pains and menstrual pains. It also aids in digestion, purifies blood and keeps the skin away from problems like pimples and acnes. It is a great enery booster as it provides us lots of energy. Jaggery is a very good source of minerals for the body.

Semolina is made from durum wheat and it is digested slowly. Semolina improves kidney function. It contains potassium. Samolina is an ideal food for active, energetic people. It contain protein and variety of minerals. Samolina contains Vitamin E and Vitamin B.

Remember Samolina is high gluten content and it should be avoided by those who are sensitive to gluten.

Here is a Gul-Pavate recipe. As I said, gulpavate is prepared using rava-jaggery, ghee and cardamom. I added carrots to Gulpavate. Carrots provid the natural colour and taste to the Gul Pavate. I am sure the whole family will enjoy eating Gulpavate and all age group will surely like this dish.

Things Needed :

Rava : 1 Cup
Jaggery : 1/2 Cup
Ghee : 1/2 Cup
Cardamom Powder : 1/2 Tea spoon
Carrots : 1 Cup
Water : 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Cashew nuts : 1 Table spoon

 :

Method :

1. Wash and grate carrots, cut cashew nuts and powder the cardamom. (5 to 6 pods)

2. Keep water for boiling.
3. Keep a pan on the fire and heat.
4. Add 1 spoon of ghee and fry cashew nuts and carrots for 2 minutes. Keep it aside.
5. Keep a bigger pan on the fire. Heat and put 2 to 3 table spoons of ghee and fry rava until the raw smell disappear. (3 to 5 minutes).

6. Add boiling water and stir slowly. Let the rava cook and become thick.






7. Add jaggery and stir kesari. Let it mix it nicely.
8. Add fried carrots and cashew nuts. Stir and mx it well.
9. It starts to become thick Stir until it starts leaving the pan.
10. Now add cardamom and remaining ghee.
11. Mix it well and shift the Jaggery Kesari to a serving bowl.
12. Serve Jaggery kesari with any savoury or as it is .

Note:

You must roast Rava well to get good Kesari baat. You can add jaggery according to your taste. I have used organic jaggery. You can also prepare jaggery syrup and filter it and get the clean jaggery. Adding ghee increases the taste of the Kesari. You can also use ripe banana or pineapple or ripe mango pulp to give a fruit taste and natural flavoural.   

Time : 30 minutes 
Serves : 3 to 4

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Spicy Moong Daal & Peas Pongal

Pongal or Huggi (in Kannda language) is a traditional dish. Pongal is prepared using Moong dal + Rice and Jaggery. This savoury Pongal also contain Moong dal + Rice and some spices. This traditional dish is prepared on the day of Makara Sankranthi (also called Makara Sankramana) and served after Pooja. (Traditional way of Thanking God).


Pongal or Makara Sankramana normally falls on 14th of January every year and it is also called Uttarayana according to Hindu Mythology. The sun movement changes towards the north in this period. Uttara means North.

Makara Sankranthi is celebrated all over India. In Assam this festival is called as Bihu, in Tamil Nadu-Pongal, Makara Sankramana in Northern parts of India, Andra Pradesh and Karnataka ,Uttarayan in Gujarat and Lohri in Punjab.

Pongal falls during the Harvest time. People bring freshly grown paddy (rice), grains and vegetables home. This festival is celebrated to thank God for the good yield also may be the reason too.The Sun God is worshiped to thank him for his help to grow and get the good yield.

Moong dal has very low fat content which helps in reducing weight and it is a rich source of protein and fiber which helps to lower the high cholesterol level in the blood system.

Green peas are one of the most nutritious leguminous vegetables. They are rich in health benefiting phyto-nutrients, minerals, vitamins and anti -oxidants.

Here is a recipe with Khara (Savoury) Pongal. Now a days people  prefer to have Spicy Pongal for break fast, lunch or dinner as a main course. It is in a way healthy and contain less oil and mild spices.I have added peas also along with moong dal. Peas is a winter crop and fresh peas is available plenty in the market. Healthy note is that peas helps to keep the body warm.

Ingredients

Moong Dal :1 Cup
Raw Rice :  1 Cup
Pepper Pods : 10
Jeera : 1 Tea spoon
Green chilly :1
Ginger : 1 Tea spoon (grated)
Coconut : 3 to 4 Table spoon (Optional)
Curry leaves : 6 to 8
Ghee : 2 Table spoons
Oil :1 Table spoon
Salt : to taste
Asafetida :  a pinch
Coriander leaves

Method:


1. Wash and dry roast Moong dal.


2. Crush the pepper pods and grate ginger and coconut.
3. Wash and cut green chilly,coriander leaves and curry leaves.


4. Now wash and cook roasted Moong dal and rice together in a pressure cooker. ( You can cook with out using the pressure cooker too) and leave it for cooling.
5. Cook Peas separately with very little water and keep it aside.


6 .Keep a pan on the fire. Put oil and heat.
7. Put jeera and crushed pepper pods. Let it fry for 3 to 4 seconds.
8. Add green chilly, ingh, Curry leaves. Mix well and add cooked peas. Fry for 2 minutes.
9. Add cooked rice and moong dal. Add ginger. Mix it well.
10. Let the fire be on the lower flame.
11. Add salt and stir slowly and leave it for 1 minute.
12. Add Coconut, cut coriander leaves and shift the Pongal to a serving dish.

13. Add ghee and mix it well.
14. Serve Khara Pongal with a side dish you have prepared.
15. Any kind of chutney will be tasty with Khara Pongal.


Notes. 

Do not over cook rice and moong dal. You can add more chilly if you wish. You
can also add more ghee. It adds taste to the Pongal. You can also use ghee instead of oil to fry jeera and pepper pods.

Serves : 3 to 4
Time : 
Preparation :10 Minutes
Cooking : 30 minutes.

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author
My name is Nalini Somayaji. Teaching is my profession. Cooking is my passion. Reading, travelling, visiting new places, having fun with kids are some of the hobbies I can say. My recipes are Healthy, quick, easy and simple. Grown up being a traditional family member I love and respect Indian culture and traditions. Love classical dance and music.
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