Easy Atta Halwa – Atta Ka Sheera Recipe – Instant Wheat Flour Halwa - Gurudwara Style

Atta halwa also known as Atta ka sheera is one of the most popular sweet/ dessert recipe in North India. This is an Instant halwa made with whole wheat flour( atta in Hindi). This atte ka halwa is served as Kadah prasad ( Karah prashad) to all the visitors of Gurudwara ( A place of worship for Sikhs ) in Punjab.

Traditionally, it is prepared with equal quantity of Whole wheat flour, Sugar and Butter/ghee to emphasize everyone are equal. Some people make this halwa adding equal quantity of wheat flour and sooji. For variations, this halwa can be made with milk or jaggery instead of sugar. I never thought making this North Indian style wheat flour halwa is so easy.

 South Indian style Godhumai halwa/wheat flour halwa ( Tirunelveli halwa) is in no way related to this atta halwa in preparation and cooking procedure. Both has its own variations and taste. This sweet can be prepared easily and instantly for surprise guest and to celebrate special occasions at home. I am sure this ghee dripping halwa gets a big applause from your family members and friends. I followed the recipe from HERE and watched some You tube video recipes too.

 Even though its my first attempt, making this halwa was a breeze for me. You can easily find the correct stage of removing the halwa. Its 100% a beginners recipe. This halwa tastes very soft and it slides in your mouth. I made in very less quantity just to serve 2 people as the quantity of ghee is more . Holi festival is fast approaching. Include this easy, rich atta ka halwa in your menu and enjoy the festival ! This atta halwa can also be prepared for babies but its made without ghee. I will share that recipe later.

Now lets see how to make Instant, easy wheat flour halwa/ atta halwa with step by step pictures and a video !

Check out my Sooji halwa and Bread halwa recipes too.

Atta halwa recipe - Atta Ka Sheera

Easy Atta halwa recipe - Atta Ka Sheera - Gurudwara Karah Prasad

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 2

Prep time: 2 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 12 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 240ml Whole wheat flour - 1/4 cup ( I used Aashirvad atta) Sugar - 1/4 cup ( I used 1/4 cup heaped, add 1/2 cup for more sweetness) Melted Ghee - 1/4 cup Water - 1/2 cup Cardamom powder - a pinch ( Optional, Its not used traditionally) Cashews & sliced almonds - To garnish

HOW TO MAKE INSTANT WHEAT FLOUR HALWA - METHOD

Heat 1/4 cup of ghee in a wide, non-sticky kadai. Add wheat flour and roast till it turns golden brown in color with nice aroma. Keep the flame low to medium  while roasting and keep mixing to prevent burnt bottom. It takes 3- 5 minutes to roast well based on the quantity you use. Boil 1/2 cup of water in a bowl and add the hot water carefully to the roasted wheat flour. It splashes. Add 1/4 cup (heaped) sugar, cardamom powder ( I din’t use) and mix well without any lumps. All the water would be absorbed by the wheat flour and gets cooked. Mix well till halwa leaves the sides completely, becomes a whole mass. Do not switch off the stove. Keep mixing till ghee starts to ooze out in the sides of kadai. It will turn glossy too. Do the whole procedure in medium flame. It takes just 3-5 minutes to release the ghee. Switch off the flame and remove in a plate or bowl. Serve warm or cold as you wish. Please watch the video for clear understanding ! For variations, you can add milk instead of water. You can also use grated jaggery in place of sugar. Enjoy !

Note

Traditionally this halwa is prepared with equal quantity of wheat flour, sugar and ghee. But I used little more sugar ( 1.25 cups) as we are sweet toothed. If you don’t want to use equal quantity of ghee, you can use half the quantity mentioned. But texture may slightly vary. Cardamom powder is not used in the traditional atta halwa. If you wish, u can add it along with sugar. If you feel the sweetness is less, you can add it even at the end. Heat the halwa till the sugar melts and ghee oozes out. Serve it warm. I read people have this halwa as a side dish for poori too just like suji ka halwa.

Try and enjoy this easy, yummy, rich wheat flour halwa at home !

 

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Easy Peanut Ladoo Recipe With Skin |Groundnut Laddu Recipe – Ladoo Varieties

Peanut ladoo recipe with skin adding jaggery / sugar. Last year I tried Kadalai urundai( Kadalai mittai/Peanut chikki) for Karthigai deepam festival. But it wasn’t up to the mark.When I was telling about this to my friend Shalini, she suggested me to try this easy peanut ladoo which was her favorite childhood snack. She shared her recipe with me and told it is called as “Palli laddu / Verusenega pappu ladoo” in Telugu. In other languages, it is Nilakadalai/Verkadalai laddu or kadalai podi urundai in Tamil, Kadalekai unde in Kannada, Shengdana ladoo in Hindi (Marathi).This is an easy ladoo recipe with just 2 ingredients and amazing health benefits.If you have roasted peanuts in hand, you can prepare this ladoo in the next 5 minutes.Ghee is not used in this recipe. So its a low calorie ladoo when compared with other ladoo varieties. Roasted peanuts with Jaggery is a good source of protein & iron. Kids would love this very much. It can be packed for their school snack box. If your kids don't like jaggery, you can add sugar too. Generally this laddu is made by removing the skin of roasted peanuts but I ground the peanuts with skin. So my job has become even more easy. I din’t find much difference in taste or flavor. Sendhil is a big fan of peanut recipes. So he loved this ladoo very much. The same procedure can be used to make till ladoo/Sesame seeds laddu( ellu urundai) as well. Do try this easy, healthy peanut ladoo for your husband and kids evening snacks, reap its health benefits during this winter season.Ok,  Lets see how to make easy peanut laddu with step by step photos !

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Kadalai Paruppu Sundal Recipe – Bengal Gram Sundal–Sundal Varieties

For this Navratri, I din’t  try any new sundal variety. As I have kept Golu in my house, I was busy in inviting guest, giving thamboolam and other household works. So I prepared Green gram sweet sundal, Green gram masala sundal, Badam burfi, Black chana sundal, sweet corn sundal, Rava kesari and Sweet pongal in these 7 days. This morning I prepared Kadalai paruppu Sundal keeping Saraswathi Pooja/Ayudha poojai celebration in mind. 

My MIL usually makes Chana sundal i.e Konda Kadalai sundal (In Tamil) along with 5 rice varieties and Vada whereas my mom makes Kadalai paruppu sundal / Bengal gram sundal adding more coconut. As my dad is not fond of chickpeas sundal, mom makes either Kadala paruppu sundal or paasi paruppu sundal(Moong dal sundal) for neivedyam.  Its a very easy, quick and no soaking sundal variety. When we forget to soak the legumes, this kadala paruppu sundal will come to rescue. Its healthy as well.You can use the cooked dal water to make rasam or drink it as a soup. Fine, lets see how to make South Indian style Kadalai paruppu sundal / Bengal gram sundal with coconut.

Do check out my other Sundal varieties in this link !

Kadalai paruppu sundal / Bengal gram dal sundal recipe

How to make Kadalai paruppu/ Bengal gram dal sundal recipe - Easy, no soaking sundal variety for Navrarti !

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Sundal varieties

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Bengal gram dal / Kadalai paruppu - 1/2 cup Salt & water - as needed Grated coconut – 3 tbsp To temper Coconut oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - few Green chillies - 1 no ( slitted or finely chopped)

HOW TO MAKE KADALAI PARUPPU SUNDAL - METHOD

Wash and take the dal in the cooker base. Add enough water ( I used 2 cups) and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles in very low flame. Kadalai paruppu won’t become mushy very easily. So It would be perfectly cooked in low flame in just 2 whistles. Remove the lid after the steam is released. Check whether it mashes in your finger. Drain the excess water if any and use it for making rasam or dal soup. Make sure you keep 1 tbsp of water in the dal. In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds. Add slitted or finely chopped green chillies, curry leaves & hing. Saute for a minute. Add the cooked dal along with the little water in the cooker. Add the required salt, Mix well & boil till all the water evaporates. Mix it gently without mashing the dal. Lastly add the grated coconut, give a quick stir & switch off the flame. Remove from the kadai & transfer it to a vessel. Offer to God & serve ! This sundal will become grainy once it starts to cool down. So do not panic if it looks slightly mushy while hot. Enjoy ! Do check out my other Sundal varieties in this link !

Note

Use finely chopped chillies for spicy taste. I use slit chillies. You can also use finely chopped ginger if you like its flavor. Optionally, you can garnish this sundal with coriander leaves. Add more coconut for rich taste.

Easy, quick and healthy Kadalai paruppu sundal is ready to offer GOD and serve !

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Poha Kheer - Choora Kheer - Aval Payasam With Sugar - Krishna Janmashtami Recipes

Poha kheer also known as Choora Kheer ( Aval Payasam in Tamil, Pressed rice/Rice flakes pudding in English, Atukula payasam in Telugu, Avalakki payasa in Kannada) is a creamy, rich North Indian dessert recipe made using Milk, pressed rice, sugar, nuts and cardamom powder. Krishna Janmashtami/Gokulashtami festival is around the corner. We South Indians i.e Tamil people make sweet seedai, Salt seedai, Kai murukku, Paal payasam and appam for the festival whereas North Indians make their specialty recipes like Rice Kheer/ Poha kheer, Kalakand, Shrikand, Gopalkala, Mathura Ke peda and many more. Actually I bookmarked these recipes long back but I couldn’t try them.So this year I started with a North Indian recipe for Krishna Jayanthi festival.. I followed Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe but used more milk than the mentioned quantity. Its so easy to make and it came out creamy and delicious.This kheer can be given for babies too. Actually Sendhil  & Raksha is not a big fan of Poha kheer with sugar. But they liked this a lot. Try this easy kheer recipe for this Janmashtami festival and offer to God. Lets see how to make poha kheer with step by step photos and a video ( Will update soon) !
Check out my other Krishna Jayanthi recipes HERE

Poha kheer/ Aval Payasam

Poha kheer/Choora kheer recipe - Krishna Janmashtami Recipes

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Dessert

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Thick poha/Aval/Rice flakes - 1/4 cup Milk – 1.5 cups Sugar – 2.5 tbsp Cashews, Almonds and Raisins - 5 each Saffron threads - few Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp Ghee - 1 tbsp

METHOD

Boil milk in a pan. In the mean time, heat ghee in a kadai. Roast cashews, almond and raisins. Remove in a plate leaving the ghee in the pan. In the same ghee, roast poha for 2 minutes. It will roast with a nice flavor. (Skip roasting poha. Just wash and add to milk. Some versions call for this method too) Add the roasted rice flakes to the boiling milk. Cover and cook the poha in very low flame. It takes nearly 10 minutes to cook. Mix it well once or twice in between. Make sure the bottom is not burnt. If needed, add 1/4 cup more milk in the middle. After the poha is cooked well, add sugar and mix well. Add cardamom powder and roasted nuts. Add saffron threads if you wish. Mix well and give a boil. Switch off the flame and serve warm. Note : This kheer thickens over time. So add more milk and sugar while serving to adjust its consistency and sweetness. Boil for a minute and serve warm. Enjoy !

Easy, yummy Poha kheer is ready to enjoy !

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Andhra Pulihora Recipe – How To Make Chintapandu Pulihora Pulusu

Andhra Pulihora also known as Chintapandu Pulihora in Telugu is a must try recipe during festival time. As Varalakshmi Vratham is fast approaching, I thought of sharing some Andhra style neivedyam recipes for this festival. This morning, I was asking my friend Megha about Varalakshmi Vratham special recipes as her MIL belongs to Andhra. She suggested recipes like Boorelu, appalu, Garelu and Pulihora. As our family is a big fan of tamarind rice, I started with this recipe. The ingredients and preparation of Andhra Pulihora is completely different from our Tamil nadu style Puliodharai. Its a very simple recipe without any grinding job. In the traditional temple style pulihora recipe, they add sesame seeds powder or mustard powder. But I made the basic version as told by Megha and watched Attammaa TV YouTube video recipe too for more reference. This Puliogare paste i.e. Pulihora Pulusu can be quickly made in minutes if you have readymade tamarind paste in hand. Its an ideal choice for quick lunch box recipe. Raksha loved it a lot and asked me for second serving as well. But this pulihora needs a standing time of minimum 2 hours for all its flavors to blend well. So friends do prepare this rice at least two hours before serving to relish its actual taste and flavor. Now lets see the step by step recipe of how to prepare Andhra Pulihora / Chintapandu pulihora in detail.

Check out my Tamil nadu style Puli Sadam and Pepper Puliogare recipes too.

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Milagu Jeeraga Aval Recipe – Pepper Poha - Poha Recipes

Last year I got few requests from readers to share different types of poha recipes( Aval in tamil & Malayalam, Avalakki in Kannada, Rice flakes in English, Poha in Hindi, Atukulu in telugu). I have never thought or tried any recipes beyond my lemon aval/Lemon poha. When I got those requests, I started looking for varieties of poha recipes. At that time, my MIL taught me this easy pepper poha (Milagu aval in Tamil) recipe for breakfast & dinner. Its a super easy and super quick recipe that needs just 10 minutes to prepare.We usually make pepper idiyappam but never tried with poha. As Sendhil loves pepper based recipes, it was like double bonanza for me.. No side dish is required for this recipe. So I make this atleast twice in a week. Working women and bachelors can try this recipe if you like pepper recipes. You would love its taste and simplicity. Its is a no onion no garlic Jain recipe. So it can be prepared during festival seasons or for vrat/fasting days.Ok, lets see how to make this easy and yummy breakfast/dinner recipe using poha – Milagu aval/Pepper Poha !! I will try to share more poha recipes in my upcoming posts.

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Kesari Bath Recipe-Karnataka Recipes

2015 was a big year for me. My long time dream of buying an own house came true. My blogging life also went well. I got so many new readers & a good fan base. 

Thanks to everyone for your continuous support and encouragement. I wish & I hope 2016 would be much better by God’s grace. I am happy to start this New year post with Karnataka’s most popular Sweet, Kesari bath recipe.

In most of the hotels, kesari bath & khara bath are served together as “Chow Chow bath” for breakfast. I have tasted this kesaribath in brahmin’s coffee bar and many popular restaurants here. My Kannadiga friends make Kesari bath with milk & banana and offer it as prasad for Satya Narayana pooja. I will try to get that recipe from my friends and share it here.

I usually make Rava Kesari following my MIL’s fool proof recipe adding less ghee and more water. Yesterday for our New Year celebration, I tried Kesari bhath (Sooji Ka Halwa in Hindi) in Karnataka style adding more ghee and water. It came out really well and got credits from my family members. I was extremely happy to see the ghee dripping Kesari bath just the way it is served in hotels.

 Actually I wanted to serve in a banana leaf but i couldn’t get it. So I clicked it by keeping it in a banana leaf plate.Soon I will make Chow chow bath and post it with a good picture.

Lets see how to make Karnataka Kesari Bath Recipe with step by step pictures.

Kesari bath recipe

How to make Karnataka style Kesari bath recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 250ml Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1 cup Water - 2 cups Melted Ghee - 1/3 cup Cooking oil – 1 tbsp ( use odourless oil) Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Yellow food color -2 pinches Cashewnuts - few to garnish Cloves - 1 to 2 nos

How to make kesaribath - METHOD

Heat a kadai with mentioned quantity of ghee+oil.Roast the cloves and cashews till golden. Remove and set aside.In the same kadai, roast the rava till you get a nice smell but without changing its color. Switch off the stove and let the rava be in the same kadai. Boil 2 cups of water in a bowl adding food color. When the water comes to a roll boil, add this water to the roasted rava.Be careful,water splashes. Stay a feet away and carefully pour the water. Sorry, I missed to take the pictures for this step. Mix the water and rava. Add a pinch of salt. Switch on the stove and keep the flame in medium. Mix well till all the water is absorbed by the rava. Close the kadai with a lid and cook for 3-4 minutes. After the rava is cooked well, add the sugar.Mix well. When the sugar is melted completely, mixture will become watery. So keep mixing till the kesari bath becomes thick and starts to leave the sides of pan. Add cardamom powder, roasted cashews, cloves and mix well. Transfer it to a ghee greased bowl and flatten it with a ladle. It will fall like a ribbon and looks very loose in consistency. But It will become just right when warm. Sprinkle more cashews if needed and serve hot if you like. If you touch the kesari bath when its slightly warm, it should be non-sticky. Scoop it with a ladle and serve hot to enjoy its best taste!

Note

Adjust the quantity of sugar based on your tastebuds. You can use 3/4 cup of sugar for medium sweetness. I used 1 cup here. You can add more water but do not add less than the mentioned quantity. You can also replace yellow food color with orange color. Use pineapple essence if you like pineapple flavored kesari.

Enjoy this ghee dripping sweet- Kesari bath with your family !

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Easy Atta Ladoo Recipe - Wheat Flour Laddu

Atta laddu/Whole Wheat flour ladoo is one of the easy to make Indian dessert recipes just like Rava laddu , Moong dal ladoo , coconut laddu and Poha ladoo. Whenever I plan for Diwali sweets menu, I usually include few ladoo varieties too. Last year I tried Malai Laddu/Paneer laddu & coconut ladoo and shared here. For Diwali 2015,I wanted to try motichoor & this atta laddu. I will share the recipe for motichoo laddu next week.Atta ladoo/ Wheat flour laddu can be prepared in many ways.Some recipes call for cooking atta in ghee.Some recipe uses jaggery instead of sugar.In North India especially in Gujarat & Rajasthan people make wheat flour ladoo adding jaggery which is popularly known as Churma Laddu. Today I have made this laddu in a very simple way adding powdered sugar. It was very tasty and all the laddus vanished within no time.If you are looking for an easy & healthy laddu recipe,bookmark this ladoo in your try list for this Diwali.I am sure everybody would enjoy this sweet !

Wheat flour ladoo / atta laddu recipe

Wheat flour ladoo / atta laddu recipe - Easy diwali sweets recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweets

Serves: 8-10 nos

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 200 ml Atta / Wheat flour - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Cardamom - 2 nos Melted ghee - 1/3 cup Salt – a small pinch Cashews & nuts - as needed

METHOD

Dry roast wheat flour in a wide kadai till it changes to light golden brown in color.Stay nearby & do it in low to medium flame. It takes 4-5 minutes.Take care the flour should not be burnt.Remove in a bowl and let it become warm. In the mean time,powder the sugar adding cardamom seeds.You will 1-2 tbsp more sugar than 1/2 cup .But its fine.Add it as such. Add the powdered sugar , melted ghee,roasted chopped nuts ( If using) and a pinch of salt to the wheat flour.Mix well and make a crumbly mixture. Do not add all the ghee. Add it little by little and mix well.Stop adding ghee if you are able to shape the ladoo. Make balls and arrange in a plate.I roasted few dry grapes in ghee and studded over the ladoo. You can stud roasted cashews or dip a small portion of ladoo in ghee & coat with nuts powder. Decorate it as per your wish. Store them in an air tight box and use it for a week. Enjoy !

Note

You should roast the flour well else laddu will have a raw smell. Do not burn the flour.Roast in low to medium flame only. You can add finely chopped nuts to the laddu mixture before shaping them.I din’t add it. The quantity of ghee may vary from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup.

Try this easy,healthy ladoo during this Diwali & enjoy with your family !

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Thenga Manga Pattani Sundal Recipe-Beach Style Sundal

I wanted to try this thengai mangai pattani sundal(Coconut,Raw mango,peas) during last year Navaratri.But I couldn’t do it.So this year I was very much stubborn & determined to start my Navratri Sundal recipes posts only with this most popular Chennai Marina Beach style sundal recipe.Luckily I found a raw mango in the market yesterday and bought it even though it was too costly.Generally when we think about Chennai beach, apart from the wonderful sea breeze,snacks like Kara pori,Green peas masala chaat, fire roasted corn, sweet cotton candy ( Panchumittai) and thenga manga pattani sundal flashes in our mind.But frankly speaking,I have never tasted any one of them in the beach.I visit Chennai very rarely and that too to attend weddings and other family functions.So when I go there,I directly go to our relatives house.As soon as the function gets over,we would be off to Bangalore immediately.This year too we have planned for a Chennai trip in a month or two.This time I have demanded few things to Sendhil like Shopping in T Nagar,Food at Saravana Bhavan especially Vada curry & Kaima idli and most importantly,a visit to Marina beach.I think Sendhil would keep up his promise and take me to all these places.After I taste the real sundal in the beach,I will update this post to match its original taste.Today I made this sundal following the recipe from Radhika’s blog.It came out very well and tasty.With the flavor & tanginess of raw mango,it tasted awesome !! Friends,do try this sundal for Navratri neivedyam and share your feedback.If you don’t have raw mango in hand,add more lemon juice and use grated carrots.After doing the pooja,you can also add finely chopped onions & relish this sundal.Lets see how to make this yummy Beach style Thenga Manga Pattani Sundal .
Check out my beach style Kara pori/Spicy puffed rice recipe if interested !!

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Akkaravadisal (Akkara Adisal) Recipe - Iyengar Recipes

Navratri is starting from today. I hope most of you would be planning to make some sundal variety along with Sakkarai pongal for today’s neivedyam. Every year we make paasi paruppu sundal and sweet pongal for first day. This year for a change I tried Iyengar special sweet pongal recipe with milk popularly known as “Akkaravadisal/Akkara adisal”. Iyengars make this for Koodaravalli festival during tamil month Margazhi. The term Akkaram is a literary word for Sugar or jaggery and the word Vadisal is a descriptive term for cooking by steaming or boiling. 

Starting from this explanation till the recipe I have shared here are shared by my school friend Sumi Raghavan who is a Tamil (Iyengar) Brahmin.Whenever I look for Iyengar recipes, my first hand source is Sumi. She is so sweet to share her traditional recipes with me. Based on her recipe and method, I started to search for more ideas on net. You could find different recipes for this akkaravadisal. Some people use sugar candy ( Kalkandu) or sugar to make this sweet pongal. Some add equal amounts of jaggery and sugar. But I followed the recipe of my friend which is more of temple style. 

Actually I came to know about this akkara adisal from a priest in Thirukannapuram Perumal temple. He told us that every morning nearly 12 ladies prepare this akkaravadisal in a wide bronze pot ( Venkala paanai) adding lots of ghee and serve it as kovil prasadam to all the devotees during Margazhi month. Though I couldn’t taste the prasadam,I was able to feel its taste from the way he explained. So I badly wanted to try and share this recipe in my blog. As he told, the taste of this creamy pudding like Akkaravadisal was truly flavorful & very rich in taste. Don’t hesitate to add the amount of ghee mentioned here. Ghee and the edible camphor(Pachai karpooram) are the star ingredients of this recipe.

 So here you go authentic Iyengar style akkaravadisal preparation with stepwise pictures. Do make this for Koodaravalli and Navratri neivedyam and offer to God !! 

Akkaravadisal Recipe

Iyengar style akkara adisal recipe - Sweet Pongal with milk. 

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 50 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Raw rice(Good quality sona masoori) - 1/2 cup Yellow moong dal - 2 tbsp Milk – 4 to 5 cups Water – 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup for melting jaggery Grated jaggery - 1/2 cup ( use dark colored jaggery to get this color.) Crushed Sugar candy or sugar - 1/4 cup Cardamom - 3 nos (crushed) Edible camphor/Pachai karpooram - 2 pinches Ghee - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp ( Rice & ghee ratio is 1:1, but I used less) Cashew nuts - a fistful Saffron threads - Few ( soak in 2 tbsp milk) Salt - a pinch

HOW TO MAKE AKKARAVADISAL - METHOD

Wash and soak the rice, dal in milk for 30 minutes adding 4 cups of milk + 1/2 cup of water. Alternatively you can roast rice and moong dal in a tsp of ghee and soak in milk. But I din’t roast moong dal & rice. ( If you want to follow traditional temple method, cook the rice & dal in an open pot by stirring every now & then. Else it will burn in the bottom. If cooking in pot, quantity of milk would be more.) Soak saffron thread in warm milk and set aside.  Take a pressure cooker and add the soaked rice, dal, milk,,water, a pinch of salt to it. Put a small plate inside the cooker to avoid splashing while the cooker whistles. Pressure cook in very low flame for 2 to 3 whistles. It takes more time to cook as we are cooking rice in milk. So be patient.   In the mean time, boil the jaggery adding 1/4 cup of water and let it melt. Strain the jaggery syrup using a filter , add sugar or crushed sugar candy ( kalkandu), mix well and keep aside. After the steam is released from the cooker, remove the plate and mash the rice very well. Add 1/2 cup of milk and mix well to bring semi solid consistency. Add the jaggery syrup + sugar or crushed sugar candy to this. Let the mixture boil for a minute. Akkaravadisal should be in semi solid state unlike our usual sweet pongal. It will tend to thicken as time proceeds. So add more boiled milk ( Say 1/2 cup) and adjust its consistency at this stage or before you serve if needed.  Roast the nuts in 1/4 cup of ghee and add to the pongal. Switch off the flame, add cardamom powder, saffron soaked milk, edible camphor / Pachai karpooram, mix well and offer to God.  Enjoy ! I drizzled 2 tbsp of ghee on the serving bowl to give a ghee dripping pongal look ;)

Note

Traditionally akkaravadisal is made by cooking rice in milk in a wide bronze pot. But I used pressure cooker to make it easily. You can grind the rice coarsely and pressure cook it for easy and quick cooking.  You can also add equal amount of rice & moong dal if you like.  Ratio of rice & jaggery + sugar is 1: 1.5. Adding edible camphor gives the temple style flavor. So don’t skip it. But do not add more. Just a big pinch would do. For variations, you can add equal amount of sugar or sugar candy ( Kalkandu) mixed with jaggery.

Iyengar style akkaravadisal is ready to serve !

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