ALMOND KHEER /HOW TO MAKE BADAM KHEER

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022.

Kheer recipes are popular throughout India. They are a favorite among all and are available in a range of flavors. Here I will try making Almond kheer with a few nuts in it. Badam Kheer is very delicious and popular dessert in India. Almond kheer is mainly popular for its lovely aroma and flavoring. The ingredients of this kheer recipe are very simple. Milk is cooked with Badam paste, saffron and sugar.. Along with them, saffron and cardamom are also added so that this dessert gets a distinct aroma and color. Let us see how to make this Badam kheer, which is one of the most popular Indian desserts.

Ingredients:

Badam/Almonds                  ½ Cup

Basmati Rice                        2 Tablespoon

Whole Milk/Creamy Milk      3-4 Cups

Ghee                                     1 Tablespoon

Saffron                                10-15 strands

Sugar                                    ½-3/4 Cups

Crushed Cardamom seeds      1 Teaspoon

Almond nuts                           1 Tablespoon

Preparation of Kheer

• Wash and soak the almonds in  boiling water for 5 hours.
• Remove the skin grind with little milk to make a fine paste.
• Take a deep bottomed frying pan and add the ghee to it. Let it get heated over a low flame. Add the rice to the pan and fry it lightly over a low flame. Take it down before it turns reddish.
•  Now take another deep bottomed Pan over the gas oven and pour the milk into it. Keep it on a medium flame. Now keep stirring it slowly and bring it to simmer once the milk starts boiling. Drop the crushed cardamom seeds into the milk.  Add the rice and saffron and let it cook in low heat until it reduced into almost half. Keep on stirring in between.
• Now add the grounded Almond paste into the boiling milk. Stir well.
• Add sugar and Cook again until the Kheer thickens to desire consistency. Turn off the gas oven.
• Garnish with saffron strands.
• Serve hot or Cold.
• Serve this Kheer with scoop of vanilla ice-cream for Kids. 

Notes:

• Add ½ cup of grated Paneer or Khoya to make Kheer richer.
• You can use almond flour instead of Almond Paste.
• The consistency of kheer will turn thick when it chills.

  

Kovil Puliyodharai/How to Make Temple Style Puliyodharai

Rice Prasadam are offering to God prepared with rice as the main ingredient and these from a majority of all the sacred food offerings.

This Temple style tamarind rice/Kovil Puliyodharai has a unique taste and flavor unlike the regular Puliyodharai. Temple style Puliyodharai, fresh Puliyodharai spice mix is used. This spice mix is stored in an air-tight container and stays fresh for months’ time.

Ingredients:

 Raw Rice                   2 Cups

Sesame Oil                2 Tablespoon

Turmeric Powder       ½ Teaspoon

Salt                           To Taste

Cashew nuts               1 Tablespoon

For Powder:

Black Pepper                2 Tablespoon

Cumin Seeds                 1 Tablespoon

Fenugreek Seeds          1 Tablespoon

Black Sesame Seed       2 Tablespoon

For Pulikachal

Sesame Oil                    3 Tablespoon

Tamarind                       1 Big Lemon Size

Mustard Seeds              1 Teaspoon

Chenna Dal                     2 Tablespoon

Urdh Dal                          1 ½ Tablespoon

Raw Peanuts                     ½ Cup

Katti Perungayam (Hing)    a small cube

Curry Leaves                     Few

Jaggery Powder                 1 Tablespoon

Preparation:

• Raw white rice washed and cooked with turmeric powder, to a dry consistency, so that the grains remain separate. The Prepared rice is drained and kept separately.
• Black Pepper, cumin seeds, Black Sesame seeds and Fenugreek seeds are separately fried brown and coarsely powdered.
• Puliyodharai
• Soak the tamarind in hot water and thick juice is squeezed out.
• Heat sesame oil in heavy bottom vessel , add in the mustard seeds, split white lentils, split Bengal gram, Peanuts, curry leaves and wait until they crackle.
• Pour in the tamarind extract, followed by turmeric powder, salt and asafetida.
• Bring it to boil, cook in medium flame until the oil starts floating on the top.
• Add in the powdered jaggery, mix it well or until it dissolves.
• Transfer the cooked rice in a big vessel/plate, add sesame oil, followed by tamarind paste/Puli katchal , Salt with a pinch of Turmeric Powder.
• Sprinkle Powdered mixture, mix it well.
• Cashew nuts deep fried in ghee and asafetida are added in mixed well with the final Puliyodharai preparation.

 Note:

• I use only basmati rice and drain out the starch water so that the rice does not stick.  Normally in temples Madappalli, they use only Raw white Rice.
• One important thing after you make the Puliyodharai remember not to serve it immediately as the rice needs some time to absorb the flavors, 1 hour after preparation should be ideal to serve.

Pineapple Kesari/Pineapple Sheera/Pineapple Kesari Bath

A popular dessert recipe made in South India on auspicious occasions and festivals. This mouthwatering Sweet Dish is cooked with Pineapple, Rava, Sugar, Ghee, saffron and nuts. You will love this delicious melt in mouth Kesari/Sheera with mild pineapple flavor. Here is how to make best pineapple Kesari at home!

Ingredients

Coarse Rava/Semolina           1 Cup 

Chopped Pineapple                 ¾ Cup

Desi Ghee                              ¾-1 Cup

Sugar                                     1 ½ cup – 2 Cups

Boiling Water                         2 ½ cup – 3 Cups

Saffron                                  ¼ Teaspoon

Crushed Cardamom Powder     1 Teaspoon

Warm Milk                               3 Tablespoon

Raisins                                      1 Tablespoon

Cashew nuts                              1 Tablespoon

Kesari Preparation Method:

• Wash the Pineapple and remove the skin and chop it into cubes. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and mix well. Keep aside.
• Add a saffron into the warm milk and mix it well and keep aside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a thick pan. Add cashews and raisins. Fry till golden. Keep aside.
• In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of ghee, add the Rava and roast it. until the raw smell disappears, you get the nice aroma and Rava turns golden brown. 

• Transfer the roasted Rava to a plate.
• In a mean time boil the water, add the sugar and melt it.

• By this time, Heat pineapple cubes with a little water. The mixture would also begin to boil..
• Pour the sugar syrup to the roasted Rava. Stir quickly and briskly so that lumps are not formed. Add the saffron milk and mix well.

• Simmer on a low flame and add the pineapple and mix well. Allow the Rava to absorb the water.

• Add the ghee and stir well. Takes about 4 to 5 minutes on a low flame. Keep on stirring, so the Rava does not get browned.

• Turn off the heat and add fried raisins and cashews and cardamom powder. Mix it well.

•  Enjoy the Hot pineapple kesaribath.

Notes:

• To get the good tasty Kesari, always use the ripe pineapple.
• Use good desi ghee to make Kesari.
• Pineapple Kesari stays 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. To reheat you can microwave or gently reheat on stove top with two teaspoons ghee.
• You can use Tinned Pineapple. Using tinned pineapple
  slices, no need to boil them in water. Just add them directly.
• You can grind the pineapple add to the boiling water.

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Tirupati Vada/ How to make Whole Black Urdh Dal Pepper Vada

After Tirupati/Tirumala Laddu, Tirupati Vada Prasadam is one of the most famous Prasadam of Tirupati Temple. Tirupati Vada is made with skinned Whole Urdh dal and Black Pepper. These vadas are deep fried in ghee and is very crispy. Today instead of ghee I used oil for deep frying. Let’s see how to make this.

  

Preparation Time :     10 Minutes

Cooking Time           30 Minutes

Soaking Time           8 Hours

Cuisine                  South Indian Snacks

Serves                  4-6 Nos.

Ingredients:

Whole Black Urdh Dal (Skinned) -  1 ½ Cup

Black Peppercorns                          3 Tablespoons

Cumin Seeds                                   2 Tablespoons

Hing Powder                                    1 Tablespoon

Ghee                                                1 Tablespoon

Cooking Oil/ Ghee                            For Frying

Salt                                                  To Taste 

Preparation Method:

• Wash and soak the Urdh dal 8 hours or overnight.
• Grind Coarsely the black Pepper and Cumin seeds and keep aside.

• In a mixer jar, add the  Grind the Urdh dal without adding water.
• Run for a second, then mix it and again run for a second.
• Do not make it into a smooth paste. If you are finding it difficult to grind just sprinkle one or two spoons of water before grinding.
• Grind it coarsely
• Take a mixing bowl, add the grounded Urdh dal, Pepper Cumin Mixer, Hing Powder, Ghee and Salt. Mix Everything well.
• Take greased Plastic Sheet, put a lemon size Urdh dal paste, flatten it using your fingers to make a inch diameter disc.
• Heat oil in a frying pan/kadai. Reduce heat to medium to low. Gently slide the disc into the hot oil and fry 2-3 of them together.
• When it is half cooked take it out from oil and keep aside. (Very important Step). Take out half cooked vadas and keep.
• After half frying all vadas, deep fry the half cooked vadas batches by batches. Fry on both sides until they are crisp.
• Remove from the fried Vadas and put it in the Kitchen Paper towel to drain the excess oil.
• Now Tirupati Vada is ready. Store it in the Airtight Containers.

Note:

• Make sure, your Vada Batter should be Coarse.
• Deep fry 2 times to get the crispy vada. When it is half cooked take it out from oil and keep aside.
• Please note: this step is very important. If you are missing this step vadas will be soggy.
• If Vadas are fried in a ghee, it very tasty. In the temple, they are frying the vadas in Ghee. In this recipe I used Oil.

514; Milagu Orai/Milaghu Satham/ Black Pepper Rice

. Black Pepper Rice is a spicy, flavorful and easy to make rice recipe prepared using very basic ingredients in less than 30 minutes. If you have left over rice, this recipe can be prepared in less than 10 minutes. It served as Naivedyam Prasadam in Perumal Kovils and  Madams.

Ingredients

Cooked Rice                    2 cups

Black Pepper                   1 Tablespoon

Chenna Dal                     2 Tablespoon

Urdh Dal                         1 Tablespoon

Cumin Seed                    1 Teaspoon

Curry Leaves                   Few Leaves

Red Chilli                        1 nos

Gingelly Oil                     1 Tablespoon

For Tadka/ Temper

Ghee                              1 Tablespoon

Mustard seeds                 1 Teaspoon

Chenna Dal                     1 Teaspoon

Curry Leaves                   few

Asafetida Powder             ½ Teaspoon

Method:

• Cook the rice to the right consistency – not too dry nor too well-done.

• In a small pan, add 1/2 tsp Gingelly oil and peppercorns , Urdh dhal. Chenna Dal, Curry Levees and Red Chili. Fry till you get a nice aroma. Switch off the stove. When cool Grind coarsely. Keep Aside.

• Mix this powder with cooked rice.
• Heat Ghee in a kadai, add mustard seeds, Chenna dal, Asafetida Powder and Curry eaves. Fry it in ghee.
• When it crackle, switch off the stove. Add to the rice and Mix well.
• Serve the Iyengar Style Black Pepper Rice hot with Elai Vadam Recipe (A Traditional South Indian Rice Papad) and Cucumber Raita to complete your meal.
• Other 30 Rice recipes that you can try are:
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504: Medhu Vadai / Ulundu Vadai

The word Medhu Vadai makes many of us drool and crave for it. Also, it is a festival snack in many households. Urad dal/Husked Black gram is soaked in water for a couple of hours, drained and ground to fluffy consistency. Frying the Vadai when the oil is of the right temperature ensures that it absorbs very less oil. It is easy to make and tasty too.  You can make these Vadai even as evening tea time snack .

Soaking time:      45 Mins

Cooking time:     20 minutes

Category    :        Snack

Serves-               3 to 4

Ingredients

Urad dal                -        1 cup

Rice                      -        1 tbsp.

Reva                     -        1 Teaspoon

Green chillies         -        5 Nos.

Ginger                  -         1/2 inch

Curry leaves                    1 Sprig

Refined Oil           -           For Deep Frying

Salt                                To Taste.

Method:

• Soak Urad dal and rice in water for 1/2 hour. 

• Chop roughly, green chillies , Ginger and curry leaves and keep it aside.
• Drain the water, add it to a mixer / grinder. Grind the urad dal using 2-3 tbsp. of water alone. Do not add more water.

• Blend to a smooth, sticky batter. (Takes around 15 minutes in my grinder). Transfer to a bowl.

• Add roughly chopped curry leaves, Chopped Ginger, Chopped Green chillies, Rava and Salt.

• Mix it well, until it gives out bubbles. This mixing makes the batter fluffy (When you place about 1/2 tsp of batter in a bowl of water it should float on top and not sink.)
• Refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

 Making Vadais

•  Heat a kadai with oil.
• Keep water in a bowl and wet your hand.
• Then take little batter with the wet hand and flatten it. Drop a hole at the center.Again, wet your hands and shape the sides evenly.

• Slowly drop it in oil. Keep the flame medium to low while frying.
• Once a side become golden brown turn the other side and wait until it turns into light golden brown.
• Fry Vadai in batches over moderate heat turning frequently till the Vadai is golden and crisp.

• Drain and place on kitchen towel.
• Serve with chutney or sambar.

442 : UNNIYAPPAM

Sweet paniyaram aka Neyyappam, a common prasadam in Kerala temples. This sweet is must on Gokulashtami and karthigai deepam.  I already posted unniappam recipe  in my blog. This is slightly different from that. You can make this  even 20 minutes. Krishna Jayanthi is very near, try this recipe

INGREDIENTS

 Rice flour                              1 cups

 Wheat Flour                          1/2 cup

 Jaggery                                150 gms

 Ripe banana -                       1 No.

 Coconut bits –                      1/4 cup

 Black sesame seeds              1½ Tbsp.

Green Elachi powder              1 Tbsp.

Baking soda                          1/3 Tsp.

Ghee -                                  1 Tbsp.

Coconut Oil /Cooking oil         For deep frying

Method:

• Add a cup of water to jaggery and melt it. Strain the jaggery and let it cool.
• Cut the banana and grind with 1 tbsp. of jaggery, till you get a smooth paste.
• Fry the black sesame seeds and coconut bits in a ghee till it turns golden brown.
• Take a big bowl, add the rice flour, wheat flour, banana gravy, baking soda and fried coconut bits ,black sesame seeds and melted jaggery. Mix well. Keep aside the batter for 30-45 mins
• If the batter turns too thick after resting, add extra water to loosen it and stir well.
• Heat the Unniappam mould, fill it ¾ of oil, pour the batter into mould.
• When one side is cooked, using sharp ladle flip it.
• Once appam is cooked, drain the oil and set aside.
• Sometimes sugar is sprinkled on top to give that awesome black/brown and white contrast and add sweetness. Also it tastes far better if you take it after couple of days, instead of fresh.other 

Try my other Unniappam Recipe Here

http://www.sadhanakitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/unniappam.html

433: Kesari Seviyan /Sweet Vermicelli

Sweet vermicelli cooked to perfection with raisins and almonds, a great and quick dessert to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee or chai.  It is so simple to make and it tastes awesome. It tastes even better when topped with khoa.  I made this dish in less fat and less sugar, if you want more taste, you can add more sugar and ghee.

Ingredients:

Vermicelli ( Thin ones)            1 cup

Water                                   1 cup

Sugar                                    ½ cup

Crushed Green Cardamoms       4 no.

Ghee                                     1 tbsp+1 tsp.

Fried Raisins & Cashews           for Garnishing

Kesar color                             a pinch

Method:

• In a pan put one teaspoon ghee and fry the vermicelli till light brown.  Constantly stir it to ensure even browning. Keep aside.

• In the same pan add one tsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins. Keep aside.
• Take a frying pan, add water and bring into boil.
• Now add the fried vermicelli and cook till soft.

• Now add sugar,crushed cardamons and color in it. Mix it well.
• Cook till it thickens in low flame.
• Add remaining ghee and stir thoroughly and make sure and water is completely absorbed.
• Garnish with fried cashew nuts, and raisins.
• Transfer it to a glass bowl.
• Serve hot chilled with tea or as snacks.

Note: 

• For Health reasons, I made this dish in less fat and less sugar.  You can add khoya  or milkmaid for more creamy tasty. If you want more taste, you can add more sugar and ghee.
• Instead of water, you can add whole milk also.