Sweet Beginnings - Paal payasam - Milk 'n rice pudding

The blog has been silent for a while now.....and this time, it is not without reason. I have moved from one city to another and have been busy setting up our new home and getting accustomed to a new language and new surroundings.
The first festival that we celebrate in this home is Vishu - the first day of the Malayalam month Medam. Wiki has more information on how Vishu is celebrated. I have talked about the Vishu of my childhood in this post.
No celebration of an Indian festival is complete without a sweet dish. Vishu is no exception. Traditionally, payasam is made and offered to God. Vishnu being the presiding deity of this festival, I decided to make his favourite - paal payasam.

What you need:
Payasam rice - a handful (This is a special kind of broken matta rice that is available in Kerala or in Kerala stores. In the absence of this, you can use raw rice)
Milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 1 cup, heaped (adjust to taste)

Wash rice well. Add milk to it and cook in a pressure cooker until one whistle and then reduce the flame to low and cook for another 10 minutes. Switch off heat and let the steam settle down.
Open the lid carefully....stir well and add sugar. On low heat, let the payasam cook further until it starts thickening and develops a pinkish colour. This will take a good 30 to 45 minutes. Make sure that the heat is low and that you stir once in a while.
Usually, cardamom powder,nuts, or raisins are not added to paal payasam as it is said to deter from the taste. I have stuck to that rule and kept the payasam simple.

The Queen

Her mother in law(MIL) was coming over for lunch tomorrow. She stood in the kitchen, looking around, trying to see what faults her MIL would be able to find. Everything was dusted, clean and organized.....but that wasn't going to stop the old lady from saying something caustic. She would have to try the food route. Maybe the way to her mother in law's heart was through her stomach. What should she make??? She thought of all the sadyas that she had enjoyed and smiling, moved to pick up a little plastic packet that she'd bought on her last shopping trip. The smile became wider as she added milk and sugar to it and put it into the pressure cooker. By the time she was done with the rest of her cooking, the whole house was filled with a heady, sweet aroma. The MIL walked in, sniffing appreciatively....but trying hard not to show that she was impressed. She looked around and raised her eyebrow at the cushion that was out of place in the living room. The DIL quickly ran in to the kitchen and came back with a warm bowl of the palada pradhaman that she had made. A spoonful of that and the MIL had to really struggle to hide her delight....a few more spoonfuls and she gave up trying to pretend that she didn't like it. With a half smile in her daughter-in-law's direction, she threw the spoon aside and slurped noisily from the bowl.

What you need:
Double Horse Rice ada - a large handful
Milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 1 cup, heaped
Saffron - a few strands (optional)

Wash ada in plenty of water. Soak it for 20 minutes in hot water. Drain the water and transfer the ada to a pressure cooker. Add milk, sugar, and a cup of water. Stir well. Cook until one whistle. Reduce the heat and cook for another 10 minutes. Once the pressure has been released, continue to let the mixture simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced to half. This will take a little over an hour. At this stage, the payasam will acquire a slightly pinkish colour. Switch off the heat and serve hot, warm or cold.

Notes:
Any brand of store bought rice ada can be used for this payasam. However, after trying out several brands, I have found that Double Horse ada is closest in taste to home made ada.
If you don't have the patience to stand and stir the payasam for an hour, reduce the amount of sugar used, add half a tin of condensed milk and then you'll find that the payasam thickens sooner.
For an excellent post on how ada can be made from scratch, please check out this post at Kailas Kitchen.
This goes to Desi Soccer Mom who is hosting the 4th edition of Chalks & Chopsticks, a monthly event started by Aqua.

Carrot payasam / carrot kheer

No feast in India is complete without a dessert. In a typical Kerala sadya (feast), dessert takes on the form of payasam/kheer. Palada pradhaman, arguably, is the best dessert from my home state.
This year, for Onam, I wanted to try something different and that is how this carrot payasam took shape in my kitchen. Having tasted it a few times before, I relied on my taste buds and memory to recreate it.

What you need :
Carrot - 3, washed, peeled and cut into large pieces
Milk - 3 cups
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup *
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (or 3 pods of cardamom)
Almonds - 8-10

Take 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water in a pressure cooker. Add the carrots and almonds to it and cook until one whistle. Then reduce the flame to low and cook for another five minutes. Once the pressure settles, let it cool and then grind to a smooth paste. Set aside. Boil the remaining milk in a saucepan. Add sugar and cardamom. Once it boils, switch of heat and let it cool slightly. Add the carrot mixture to the slightly cooled milk and heat for a few minutes on low. Garnish with some slivered almonds.
This tastes great both warm and chilled. It is a quick and simple recipe to have on hand when a craving for something sweet strikes or when unexpected guests make an appearance.

Note : Do not add the carrot mixture to boiling hot milk as the milk may curdle. Also, do not boil the milk after adding the carrot puree to it.
* If you like your desserts  super sweet, you may need to add more than half a cup of sugar. I would suggest starting with half a cup and then, adding more if you feel it is required.

A traditional Kerala duo- the uruli and chattukam

A traditional uruli - this one can hold enough payasam for 2,000 people

With an uruli so big can the chattukam(stirrer) be left behind???

Bubbling palada pradhaman

Godambu payasam

Apple semiya payasam

My little girl would be content if I fed her only fruits all day - no rice, no rotis, no spicy curries. That, I think, would be an ideal day for her. However, I am the proverbial monster-mother who forces her to eat rice, sambar, veggies and rotis every single day. It is amazing to see how the nose that wrinkles up in disgust at the sight of rice will excitedly sniff out a perfectly ripe chikoo or papaya.
Today's dish incorporates fruit into payasam - a dessert that is usually made during festivals.

What you need:
Vermicelli/Semiya - 3/4 cup
Apple - 3/4 cup, peeled and cut into tiny pieces
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (adjust to taste)
Milk - 1.5 cups
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashews, raisins - a few, fried in ghee till golden brown

Take the chopped apple and water in a pan. Stew on low heat for 10-12 minutes until the apples are soft. Add the vermicelli and milk. Continue to cook on low heat until the vermicelli turns soft. Add sugar and stir till it dissolves completely. Remove from heat and add the fried cashews and raisins.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#14

Black forest cake (Eggless)

When I was growing up, cakes were not very common. There were plum cakes for Christmas, but other than that, we hardly ever ate much cake. For birthdays, the standard fare was always payasam and a sadya - very rarely did the celebration involve cutting a cake. The few birthday cakes I remember eating were all iced with flowers that looked bright, colorful and beautiful, but were really hard to bite into. Now, with a profusion of flavors, frostings, toppings and fillings to choose from, I find that I prefer simple flavors and minimal frosting.
For the last few years, I have been baking the new year cake for the get-together that me and my friends host on new year's eve. This year, I made a crowd favorite - an eggless black forest cake.

What you need:

Basic chocolate cake - 1
Whipped cream ( 1cup of heavy whipping cream + 5 tbsp. of sugar beaten at high speed till stiff peaks form)
1 jar of canned cherries
Chocolate shavings

With a serrated knife or a cake leveler, cut the cake into two layers. Place the bottom layer on the cake board. With a pastry brush, apply some of the canned cherry syrup all over the cake. Alternatively, you can use sugar syrup too. Evenly spread a layer of whipped cream on this layer and top it with some chopped cherries. Place the second layer of cake on top of this. Apply cherry syrup over it and then spread whipped cream on top of it. Frost the sides of the cake and smooth the icing with an offset spatula. Top the cake with some cherries and chocolate shavings.

This is my second recipe for Blogging Marathon #72 under the them Kids' Delight - Cakes & Cookies. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM
This recipe also goes to Kids' delight event hosted by Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen and run by Srivalli – Spice Your Life!

Restaurant review - Mahamudra

What?
A new restaurant from Isha life that offers food that is healthy and nutritious. Most of the food is made from ingredients that have been traditionally used in Indian households for ages. There are some that are extremely familiar, and some that are new because the ingredients used are different.
Where?
Old No. 50, New No. 117, Luz Church Road, Nageswara Rao Park, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004, Tamil Nadu, India.
For those who are familiar with the Mylapore area, this is close to Rangachari.
Will I go there again?
The restaurant definitely does have its plus-es and minus-es.
For one, the ambiance is fantastic. The whole place is done up extremely well....it is hard to believe that such a place exists on a busy street in Mylapore. They also have a spa, a fitness center and a boutique that offers some interesting, albeit overpriced stuff.
The food is basic...they say that it is made using the best of oils and the freshest of ingredients. The usual dosas and idlis are present, with variants using ragi flour and kambu flour.
We started off with a lentil soup which, according to the menu, was to be served with ragi thattu vadai. I was looking forward to tasting the vadai when the waiter brought us three bowls of soup and a plate of bread. When I asked for the vadai, the waiter said they were serving bread instead. No complaints about the bread....it tasted fresh and good, but I was disappointed that there was no vadai.
The soup was good, but then, you can't expect mashed, watered down and salted dal to taste bad, right?
The husband had a dosa (can't remember what it was called, but it had fenugreek in it). It was light, and crisp with absolutely no trace of oil in it.
I had a thali which had akki roti, parippu vadai, 2 salads, ragi koozhu(porridge),wild rice payasam,keerai poriyal, broken wheat bisibela, and broken wheat curd.
When I saw the menu and saw that the thali had all this, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to eat it all, but I wanted to taste everything that was on it. When the thali arrived at the table, I knew that I could eat all of it and still eat something else. The portions were small....there were 2-3 tsps of all the dishes. The akki roti and the vada were of the same size and both would easily fit into your palm comfortably with space to spare. Everything tasted good, but I definitely wouldn't recommend going here if you are ravenously hungry. I really like their idea of making a bisibela and curd-rice equivalent with broken wheat. That is something I am definitely going to try out at home.
All said and done, I don't think I would want to spend 250 Rs on a thali that has stuff that I could easily make at home for a fraction of the cost.

Restaurant review - Cholayil Sanjeevanam, Nungambakkam, Chennai

Where???
97, Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai.
Phone:044-64508427

What???
Healthy, vegetarian food.

Would I go back there?
I've been to Cholayil a few times now but it is only today that I got to taste their "Rajakeeyam meal" which is basically a South Indian vegetarian thali that serves healthy food. The food is served in a certain order and you are expected to eat it in the same order. First, there's a small bowl with cut up nenthrapazham(ripe plantain) and grated coconut, followed by a colourful array of juices (dates, nut milk, haritha buttermilk, vegetable juice and rice bran water). Once you down all of these, you are served four kinds each of uncooked veggies, semi-cooked veggies and fully cooked veggies in that order. You are not given water even if you ask for it, because they say that water fills up the stomach and hampers digestion. It is given to you only at the end. Once you are done with all of these, you are almost full. That's when red rice and parippu (dal) make an appearance. Then comes white rice with sambar, rasam, morkozhambu and buttermilk.
This is followed by payasam. The meal ends with a spoonful of honey poured into your hand.
The meal leaves you pleasantly full and it is nice to sit down and eat in an orderly fashion once in a while. There is no cloying sense of oil or fat that you leave with at the end of the meal.
At Rs. 120 a meal, it is good value for the money too.
However, if you do not like to be told that you should eat in the order that they ask you to, this restaurant is not for you. For me, it was a pleasant experience and I enjoyed the food.

Vishu memories

Vishu is a festival celebrated by the people of Kerala during the first day of the Malayalam month Medam. Contrary to what most people think, this is not the Malyali New Year 'coz the Malayalam calendar begins in the month of Chingam.
To me, Vishu is an incredibly beautiful festival which is made even more beautiful by the memories that I've carried with me since childhood.
The vishukkani is something that is set up in the puja room on the previous night. The colour yellow plays a very important role in the kani. Fruits and vegetables that are usually abundant in this season are used. A brass tray or an uruli is placed on a kolam in front of Krishna's picture. Ripe mangoes, kani vellari (a kind of golden orange coloured cucumber), ripe bananas, and jackfruit are placed in it. In addition to these, I added some non-traditional fruits and veggies like apple, orange and padavalanga (snake gourd) to my vishukkani.Rice and uncooked parippu (dal) are also placed in front of the deity. A small silver cup is filled with coins (increasingly being replaced with notes) and placed in the kani as well. A large mirror is placed behind the arrangement so that the entire kani is reflected in it. Gold, usually in the form of a necklace or bangles is also part of the kani. The whole arrangement is then bordered by the beautiful vishu konna flowers (yellow flowers). In the morning, a lamp is lit, casting its golden glow on this simple, yet beautiful arrangement.
The predominant memory that I have of Vishu is that of being woken up at a really early hour and being led with my eyes closed, by my mother, to see the kani. The belief is that if you wake up seeing the kani, the rest of the year will be good for you.
Vishu kaineetam is an inseparable part of Vishu. The elders in the family give money (it used to be coins, but that has now been replaced by notes) to the younger ones. It was a good way to supplement pocket money, and I used to visit lots of relatives on Vishu just to receive kaineettam. Kaineettam is given not just to kids - any person can give kaineettam to someone who is younger than them.
No Indian festival is complete without food, and no mention of a festival in Kerala is complete without the traditional sadya. Check out my sadya pics here, and here. Sambar, rasam, thoran, pachadi, olan, koottu curry, avial, papadum, payasam and manga kari are usually made for the Vishu sadya.
Now, in our family of three, it is my turn to lead my daughter to the kani in the morning. We had fun setting up the kani together at night, with her wanting to eat all the fruits right then and there.
Here's wishing all those who are reading this a very happy and prosperous Vishu.

We met, we talked and....we ate

For months together, mails were exchanged, plans were made,and then, eleven strangers decided to meet under one roof on May 1st, 2008.
What brought them together is nothing other than the passion to write about good food. There were the initial akward silences, but then as time passed, peopled opened up and we found
ourselves discussing stuff other than food. We talked about our babies.....how ridiculous it is that we have to register them in school as soon as we see two pink lines......and lots of other stuff.

A food bloggers' meet is never complete without the presence of food.....and boy, was there food!!!!
Lakshmi graciously opened up her house to us.....and also made yummy delicious tava bread and thayir sadam......thank you, Laks.....
Rachel baked a lovely looking and even lovelier tasting ladenia for us......Kamini's aloo tikkis were lip-smacking good.....Srivalli's Channa pulao and raita were awesome...
Sra's paneer curry and Arundati's Idiyappam and Mango pulissery both were perfectly delicious.
Nirmala's florentines, which to her dismay, were called cookies by everybody, tasted fabulous.....after all, what's in a name, Nimmi???
Kamalika's chakkara pongal and Lavi's Rosogullas were the ultimate sweet treats.....Yours truly took along chakkavaratty payasam, the recipe of which will be posted soon.
Whew!!! There, didn't I tell u there was A LOT of good food.
This meet also made me realise something else.....
I'd forgotten to take my camera along...and so, had to wait until the others had taken several pictures of the food from different angles...
...and that's when I understood what my family truly goes through when I put food on the table and then ask them to stand around and gaze at it until I've taken enough pictures :-))
A lovely potluck, good company and a great time....that's what we had....and I really, really hope we do this again.....

MEC-Celebrating bloggers round-up

I have always wondered why people host events. Sending out e-mails, checking entries for adherence to rules, collating all the entries in one place, and then thinking out a post that would put all these together in an interesting manner – PHEW!!! To me, that has always seemed like too much work.
When I said YES to hosting Valli’s MEC, it was the analyst in me that was at the forefront. I really wanted to find out for myself what made people do this.
Now that I’ve done it, I can tell you – THIS IS ADDICTIVE. I would never have thought that receiving a mail with the subject line MEC in it could make me so happy or that a day without any entries could have me so worried. Believe me, I loved hosting so much, I am already thinking of other event ideas.
Here’s the lineup of entries that Celebrate fellow bloggers.

“Bookmarking dishes from other blogs and trying them out is no more anything new to me..I do that all the time!!” says Divya, as she cooks up some amazing looking Chundo from Srivalli’s blog.


“It was a simple, yummy dessert, which could be prepared under 20 minutes in a MW”, is what Suma has to say about this Beet halwa made from Mahima’s blog.


Paneer is a guaranteed party pleaser. Nandini sends in Palak Paneer which she tried from Cham’s blog.


Here’s one entry that I can vouch for because I tasted it and polished it off by the end of the day. New blogger Nirmala cooked up this amazing Chocolate Cashew Almond burfi from My Culinary Endeavours.


“Iam getting very tensed, when the stuff is in oven, like i was in exam hall. i have successfully burnt cookies in my previous attempt's.” If you look at the eggless coconut and raisin scones that Lavi has made from Aparna’s blog, you will definitely not believe what she says about her cookies.


I started following Priya’s blog recently and am awed by the number of posts that pop up on my reader each day. She sends in not one, but two entries. Check out the brinjal chips she has made from Valli’s blog

and the mixed veggie halwa made from her namesake’s blog.


Sowmya sends in two entries, both chosen from my blog – Kasi halwa

and tandoori aloo,

Thank you for choosing my recipes, Sowmya. You have no idea how happy I am.

Valar makes halwa making sound like a breeze with this Carrot halwa made from Lubna’s blog.


Blogging introduces me to something new each day. Never before reading Jayasree’s post (based on Priya’s recipe) did I know that fresh jackfruit could be used to make payasam.


"Whenever i return from India first thing he checks with me is Did u get Grand Sweets/Aavin Thirati Paal?", says Priya , talking of her husband’s love for therattipal. Now that she has this microwave version tried from her friend’s blog, she doesn’t have to make trips to Aavin any more.

It is not just a sweet tooth that Priya satisfies…..she also brings in a healthy microwave spinach raita cooked from Suma’s blog

and baby-corn potato stir fry from Valli’s blog.


How long do you think it will take to make tandoori paneer? Iam sure there’s no way you would have guessed five minutes. That’s what Umm Razeen does – she whips up a mean looking dish of tandoori paneer from Priya’s blog, quicker than you can say Microwave Easy Cooking.


Aparna’s scones find another taker in Tasty Curry Leaf. Curry leaf says she is surprised that scones can be made in the microwave.


I made Sowmya’s eggless chocolate cake which is just perfect to satisfy any cravings for something sweet in a jiffy

and Indira’s strawberry cake which was baked close to midnight and polished off in a remarkably short amount of time.


Thank you all for you lovely entries. If I have inadvertently made any mistakes or left out any entries, please do let me know.