Pori upma/ puffed rice upma was in my try list for long time. I usually make kara pori and bhel puri at home. Recently my friend was telling me about this easy pori upma for breakfast.
Last time when I went to Salem, I got a bag of puffed rice. As I wanted to empty the pack soon, I tried this pori upma for our breakfast yesterday. The best thing about this upma is it can be made in jiffy because the cooking time is very less. It tastes super soft like aval upma and flavorful too.
For 2 persons, you need to use 5 cups of puffed rice. It shrinks as soon as we wash and add to upma. So this upma is the best way to finish off the leftover, excess puffed rice. If you have leftover puffed rice at home after the festivals like Ayudha poojai / Saraswathi pooja, you can try this upma.
This recipe is ideal for bachelors and working women to whip up a quick breakfast or dinner. Ok, Lets see how to make this easy, yummy and quick pori upma recipe for instant breakfast.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard, urad, chana dal, roasted peanuts and curry leaves.
Saute onion, green chilli till transparent.
Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt.
Saute for a minute in low flame.
Wash the puffed rice and squeeze gently.
Now add the squeezed puffed rice.
Mix gently and cook till its heated. Switch off the flame.
Add lemon juice and mix gently. Serve hot !
PORI UPMA RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, roasted peanuts and curry leaves.
Add finely chopped onion, green chilli , red chilli. Saute till onion becomes transparent.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder or sambar powder, salt. Saute for a minute in low flame without burning. Take puffed rice. Add water to cover it. Squeeze gently and add to the kadai.
Toss gently to coat the masala. Cook till puffed rice is heated and reduced in quantity. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
Enjoy hot for best taste.
Note
Puffed rice reduces in quantity after cooking. So you need to use minimum 2 cups for 1 person.
For variations, you can skip sambar powder / red chilli powder and use slit green chillies.
Do not add the pori without washing and squeezing the water. Puffed rice become chewy.
For healthy options, you can saute finely chopped carrot, beans, potato and frozen peas till cooked and then add puffed rice.
Try this interesting pori upma with excess puffed rice at home. You will love it.
Palada Payasam is one of the traditional payasam recipes of Kerala. It is prepared for Onam and Vishu festivals. Authentic palada payasam is prepared by boiling and simmering the milk, sugar, ada for hours together. Sugar caramelizes and milk turns pale pink (rose) in color naturally. But nowadays people follow this short cut and easy method to achieve this pink color in palada payasam. Every year during Onam, I try to make a new recipe as Onam special.
This year I tried pink colored palada payasam for a change. I used small sized store bought ada (Double horse brand). It helped to cook quickly. As usual I did in a cooker. In a pressure cooker, we need to boil milk, sugar and ada. In the mean time, a portion of sugar is caramelized in another pan and added to the cooker. Cook everything for 15 minutes in low flame. Ada will be well cooked and color of the milk turns to pale rose in color. It tastes great with a mild caramel flavor. You will love it for sure. Do try it friends. Lets see how to make pink colored palada payasam recipe with step by step pictures.
Pink Palada Payasam Recipe
Pink colored Palada Payasam Recipe with store bought ada in a pressure cooker
Wash the ada and soak in hot water for 30 minutes.
Wash the soaked ada in cold water and set aside.
In a pressure cooker, take milk and sugar. Let it start to roll boil.
Keep boiling the milk in low to medium flame.
In the mean time, add sugar and water to caramelize it. Mix well till sugar turns golden brown in color. Do not burn it.
Add to the boiling milk in pressure cooker. Add soaked ada. Put a small plate or spoon.
Mix well and cover cook in low flame for 3 whistles.
Open the cooker after steam is released. You will see a pale pink colored , flavorful palada payasam. You can add cardamom powder & ghee roasted cashew nuts if you like.
PINK PALADA PAYASAM RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash the ada and soak in hot water for 30 minutes. Quantity doubles after soaking. Wash the ada in cold water and strain it completely. Set aside.
In a pressure cooker base add 1/2 liter milk, 1/4 cup sugar and mix well. Boil in medium flame.
Take 2 tbsp sugar and 3 tsp water in a kadai. Mix well in low to medium flame till sugar dissolves. Keep mixing till sugar turns golden brown in color. Do not burn it. Keep the flame low to medium and do it patiently.
Add the caramelized sugar to the boiling milk in low flame. Mix well and add soaked,drained ada. Check for taste. Add more sugar if needed. Add a small plate or a teaspoon to the cooker. This helps to avoid spilling of milk from the cooker nozzle.
Pressure cook in low flame for 3 whistles. It takes nearly 10 to 15 minutes. Switch off the flame. Open the cooker after the steam is released. You will see a nice, rose / pale pink colored payasam. Remove the spoon. Mix well and check the consistency. If its too thin, boil for some more time to become thick. If the payasam is thick, add some boiled milk. Adding roasted cashew nuts is optional. I don’t add usually. Cardamom powder is not needed.
Mix well & serve hot.
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of sugar based on your taste.
Adding roasted cashew nuts is optional.
Enjoy this yummy, pink colored palada payasam at home for this Onam festival !
Kerala matta rice also known as rosematta rice, vadi matta rice, palakadan matta rice, red rice, Kerala red rice, Kerala parboiled rice (Malayalam: കേരള മട്ട)is a healthy grain that is grown in Kerala and Karnataka regions. It is mainly consumed by people all over Kerala, Srilanka and coastal areas of Karnataka like Mangalore. As we all know, Kerala matta rice is a magnesium rich grain with immense health benefits. This rice can be cooked in a pressure cooker, microwave, electric rice cooker and in an open pot without cooker.
One cup of Matta rice contains 84 grams of magnesium, one gram of calcium, one gram of fiber with 160 calories. It also contains vitamins. Though this red rice is different from brown rice, it has equal health benefits. Just like the usual polished white rice, this red rice can be used to make idli, dosa, appam, murukku and snacks. It can be consumed mixing with kuzhambu, sambar, rasam and non-veg curries. More than all these recipes, matta rice porridge is a most popular and healthy baby food.
Apart from this, Kerala matta rice is good for people having Type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and osteoporosis. It makes you feel full for long time. Rice gruel is given to babies. Every year during Onam festival, I used to make Sadya at home for our lunch. I cook Kerala Matta rice easily in a pressure cooker. Washing the rice & soaking for minimum one hour is essential for cooking this rice perfectly. Ok friends, lets see how to cook Kerala red rice with step by step pictures.
Soak in enough water for 2 to 4 hours or overnight.
Color of the rice turns pale white after soaking.
Drain the water and take the rice in a pressure cooker.
Add 2.5 to 3 cups of water. Keep the flame high till vapor comes off through nozzle.
Put the weight valve and lower the flame completely.
Cook for 5 whistles in low flame. Switch off the flame.
Open the cooker after the steam is released.
Strain the excess water through a colander.
Fluff the rice and serve. You can drink the rice cooked water (gruel).
Serve the hot rice with sambar, theeyal or any non-veg curry.
KERALA MATTA RICE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash the Kerala matta rice/ red rice twice or thrice till the water color changes from red to pale white. Soak in enough water for minimum one hour to maximum over night.
Color of the rice changes to pale white after soaking. Drain the excess soaked water and take the rice in a pressure cooker.
Add 2.5 cups of water (Rice : water = 1: 5). Mix well and close the cooker. Keep the flame high till vapor starts to come off through the nozzle.
Put the weight valve and lower the flame completely. Cook in low flame for 5 whistles. It takes 15 to 20 minutes.
Switch off the flame. Open the cooker after steam is released. Take a vessel and place a colander / sieve over it. Strain the cooked water. Its known as rice gruel.
You can drink it adding a pinch of salt. Its very healthy. Take the cooked rice and press it with your fingers. If it becomes mushy, rice is cooked well. Remove the rice from colander and transfer to a bowl. Serve hot with sambar, theeyal, rasam etc.
Enjoy !
Note
Wash the rice thrice to remove the starch.
Color of rice changes to pale white after soaking for few hours.
Soaking is mandatory. Minimum one hour is necessary.
Enjoy this flavorful, healthy Kerala matta rice for your lunch and stay fit !
Orange rasam recipe is one of the interesting and tasty rasam varieties. I buy Kamala orange or mosambi for Raksha as she loves both. But we all consume it as a fruit more than just drinking its juice. So I never had a chance to try recipes using orange juice. But this time, I reserved an orange to try out this rasam recipe and share in my space. I made it in a simple way just like my usual Tamilnadu style rasam. It tasted so good. I couldn’t spot any difference in taste but I could smell a nice orange flavor. We all loved it. Friend do try this easy, yummy orange juice rasam. You will love it too !
Check out my other Rasam varieties.
Wash and chop tomato. Powder all the ingredients given under “To powder”.
In a bowl, take 1 cup of water, chopped tomato, tamarind juice, turmeric and salt.
Let it boil for few minutes.
In a kadai, temper mustard, cumin, chilli.
Add the ground rasam powder in the ghee. Saute well for a minute and add to boiling rasam.
Add 1/4 cup of water and boil the rasam in low flame till its frothy. Switch off the flame.
Add orange juice after the rasam turns warm. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with plain rice adding few drops of ghee.
ORANGE RASAM RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Grind all the ingredients given under “ to grind” to a coarse powder. Set aside. Alternately you can dry roast the ingredients and then powder it.
Slice orange into two and extract the juice from it. Keep it aside.
In a bowl, take the chopped tomato, 1/4 cup tamarind extract, 1 cup water, salt, sugar and turmeric powder. Boil for few minutes.
In a small kadai, heat ghee. Temper mustard seeds, cumin seeds. Once it splutter, add rasam powder. Saute quickly in medium flame & add to boiling rasam.
Add 1/4 cup more water , lower the flame & boil till frothy. Switch off the flame. Let the rasam turns warm. Filter the orange juice & add to the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Close with a lid & rest for sometime for the orange flavor to infuse. Serve with plain rice adding few drops of ghee.
Enjoy !
Note
You can add lemon juice instead of tamarind extract but you should add at the end. Do not boil after adding it.
You can dry roast all the ingredients and then powder it instead of grinding it raw.
You can add orange zest ( orange skin gratings) if you like. But I din't add it.
Adjust the quantity of red chilli based on the tanginess of orange juice.
Today’s Kovakkai masala kuzhambu / Tindora gravy for rice and roti is my long time pending recipe bookmarked from Nees kitchen. At last I tried it yesterday for our lunch. I made slight changes in the ingredients and prepared this gravy directly in my pressure cooker as I had less time to cook. So the job was done under 15 minutes. It was so easy to make and tasted great with nice peanut flavor. We all loved it with plain rice and ghee. You can enjoy with roti if you make the gravy slightly thick. The taste of this gravy reminds you Andhra style dondakaya masala. Ok friends, lets see how to make this easy and yummy kovakkai masala with step by step pictures.
Kovakkai masala recipe
Kovakkai masala recipe / Tindora gravy for rice, roti
Heat oil in a kadai and roast all the ingredients given under “to roast and grind”.
Lastly add roasted peanuts and coconut. Mix well and switch off the flame.
Grind the masala to a smooth paste. In a pressure cooker heat oil.
Splutter mustard seeds, urad, chana dal and cumin seeds. Add green chilli.
Add the onion and saute well. Add the slit kovakkai and toss for a minute.
Add gg paste and saute well. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder.
Saute quickly without burning the masala. Add tomato , peanut masala and cook for a minute.
Lastly add 1 cup of water and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle.
Open the cooker after steam is released. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with rice or roti.
KOVAKKAI MASALA RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and slit the kovakkai / Ivy gourd into 4 parts till half the way.
Heat a kadai and dry roast the sesame seeds, dhania seeds, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Switch off the flame and add roasted peanuts, grated coconut. Grind to a smooth paste adding required water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a cooker base and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal , chana dal and cumin seeds. Add onion and green chilli. Saute till onion become transparent.
Add chopped kovakkai, saute for a minute. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for one minute. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt & mix well. Do not burn any spices.
Now add chopped tomato. Cook till mushy. Then add the ground peanut masala. Mix and cook for a minute. Now add required water. I used 1 cup of water. Mix well and check for taste. Pressure cook in low flame for one whistle (It takes 8 to 10 minutes). Switch off the flame and let the pressure subside.
Open the cooker. You will see a layer of oil floating on top with a nice masala smell. Check the thickness of gravy. If its too watery, boil for a minute. If its too thick, add little water and mix well. Give one boil if needed. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Enjoy mixing with plain rice adding few drops of ghee ! You can also try with roti / chapathi if you like.
Note
Use small size kovakkai for better looks. I used bigger ones. So my gravy was not so appealing.
Cinnamon and coconut are optional. Its not mentioned in the original recipe. But I used it.
Adjust the quantity of green chilli and chilli powder as per your taste.
Try this easy, yummy kovakkai masala kuzhambu recipe and enjoy !
Kara seedai / Spicy seedai recipe is one of the easy and interesting seedai varieties. Recently we bought this seedai in a shop and loved its spicy taste. For every Gokulashtami /Krishna jayanthi, we get varieties of seedai in Salem Lakshmi sweets. I have seen masala seedai, mint seedai, kara seedai, vennai seedai in the menu. I wish to try all of them and share in my blog. To begin with, I started with this kara seedai recipe.
Traditionally seedai recipe is prepared using processed rice flour/ homemade rice flour by soaking and grinding raw rice/ maavu arisi. But its a time consuming process to make a small batch. So I started using store bought idiyappam flour or kozhukattai flour to make sweet seedai and spicy seedai.
I have tried Double horse, Nirapara, Anil brands so far. All are good. Even if we use store bought dry flour, we must roast it to make crunchy seedai. If you make seedai without roasting the rice flour, seedai may stick to the tongue while eating. It won’t be light and crunchy as well. Also this seedai takes more time to cook. So you have to fry it patiently. Please keep this point and try this recipe. I am sure you won’t be disappointed with the results. I have also used pottukadalai maavu instead of roasted urad dal flour/ uluthamaavu. Color of the seedai may vary based on the quantity of chilli powder. Mine was not so dark in color but it tasted spicy and flavorful just like store bought ones.
Friends. do try this kara seedai recipe for this Krishna jayanthi festival and share your feedback with me.
Store bought idiyappam flour / kozhukattai flour - 1/2 cup
Roasted gram flour / Pottukadalai maavu - 1 tbsp
Soft butter - 2 tsp (at room temperature)
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing/ asafetida - 1/4 tsp
Powdered coconut - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Cumin seeds or black sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Cooking oil - to deep fry
HOW TO MAKE KARA SEEDAI RECIPE
Heat a kadai and dry roast the rice flour in medium flame for few minutes.
Remove the flour as soon as it starts to fume slightly.
Cool down the flour, Sieve and take rice flour, roasted gram flour. Add other ingredients except cooking oil and water.
Mix well to spread the butter evenly. Add water gradually and make a soft, smooth, non-sticky dough.
Roll seedai and spread in a cotton cloth, rest for 5 minutes and deep fry in oil.
Fry in batches by tossing them till bubbles cease. Remove and drain in a tissue.
Cool down and store in a box. Enjoy for a week !
KARA SEEDAI RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat a kadai and dry roast the idiyappam / kozhukattai flour for few minutes in medium flame without burning. Remove as soon as the flour starts to fume. Switch off the flame and draw a line to check it. Cool down.
Sieve the rice flour and roasted gram flour to a avoid bursting( most important step). Add chilli powder, salt, hing and powdered coconut. Add soft butter at room temperature. Mix it well to spread the butter evenly.
Add water gradually and make a smooth, non-sticky , soft dough. Roll seedai and spread in a cotton cloth. I got around 100 seedai. Make 2 rod shapes for baby Krishna. Let it dry for 5 minutes.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a pinch of dough. If it rises to the top immediately, oil temperature is right. Fry a batch of seedai in medium flame. Do not disturb or stir the seedai as soon as you drop them. Leave for a minute and then toss the seedai gently. (If you are a beginner and afraid of seedai bursting in oil, try this tip. Heat oil in a small tadka kadai. Drop one or two seedai and check it it burst or disperse in oil, If not, you can proceed for frying in big batches).
This seedai takes more time to cook. So cook it patiently in medium flame by tossing it in between. Remove the seedai after the bubbles cease. Do not burn them.
Remove in a tissue paper and drain the oil. Seedai becomes slightly darker in color as it cools down. It becomes more crunchy the next day. Store in an air tight box once the seedai cools down completely. It stays good for a week.
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of red chilli powder as per your taste.
Do not forget to sieve the flour to avoid bursting.
Dry roast the rice flour for best seedai. Do not skip it.
Try this easy, yummy, Kara seedai recipe and share your feedback with me.
Betel leaves / vetrilai rasam also known as paan leaves was in my try list for long time. After Varalakshmi pooja, I had so many betel leaves in hand. Usually I make homemade paan / sweet beedaor have it with gulkand as it helps for better digestion. As you all know, betel leaves has innumerable health benefits and uses. So this time, I wanted to make vethilai rasam.
I followed my tomato rasam recipe, made slight changes and came up with this recipe. With the dominating flavor of betel leaves, it tasted yummy. Sendhil & myself loved it. Use vellai vethalai for best taste. Karuppu vetrilai may taste bitter and gives a pungent taste.
Friends, do try this easy betel leaves rasam for a change. You will love it like us. Ok, lets see how to make vetrilai rasam with step by step pictures.
