Rice Payasam

Happy Dasera to the viewers.  Rice payasam most popular Indian sweet pudding can be served either warm or cold.  I make it more rich by reducing the milk to half the quantity and adding nuts to taste.  If you want the lighter version you can skip the process of reducing the milk to half and just boil it along with the rice and cook till done.  Even condensed milk can be added to the payasam for more taste.  Wonderful & delicious sweet perfect for this season.

Ingredients :

1. Basmati rice - 1/4 cup
2. Milk - 4 cups
3. Sugar to taste
4. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Saffron strands - few 
6. Roasted cashew nuts - 1 tbsp
7. Ghee - 1 tbsp

Direction to cook :

1.   Heat ghee in the pan, add rice & fry till light golden brown in color.  Allow to cool.

2.   Coarsely grind the rice & keep aside.

3.   Boil the 4 cups of milk till it becomes 2 1/2 cup.  Add the rice & cook.

4.   Add the sugar, cardamom powder, roasted nuts & saffron strands.

Serve warm or cold.

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Nut Balls - Very Healthy

"Nuts ball a day keeps the doctors away"

There is no specific ingredient list for making this healthy and nutricious nut balls.  All kind of nuts like cashewnuts, almonds, pista, wallnuts, hazelnuts, etc., and dry fruits like raisins, dates, prunes, etc., can be used for this preparation.  Every time I try to add some seasonal nuts and fruits to this mixture.  Honey helps in binding all the nuts together and add more flavour to the mixture.  This needs to be stored in the air tight container & a tsp of nuts mixture is good to be served in everyday mornings.  

Ingredients :

1. Nuts ( Any kind)
2. Dry fruits (Any kind)
3. Dates
4. Honey 

Direction to Mix :

1.   Chop the nuts, dry fruits and dates to tiny pieces. 

2.  Mix together the chopped nuts and  honey.  Store in the air tight container.

Serve a spoon of nuts mixture everyday morning.

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Kothamalli Thokku (Corriander leaf paste)

I'm back with most comfort and excited dish which plays more prominant role in my kitchen every lazy days.  Fresh corriander leaves are used for this preparation and grinded along with the spices.  This can be refrigerated for a week or more.  Add a proportionate measure of kothamalli thokku to the rice and mix well- It taste simply delicious.  Can serve with dosai and idly too.

Ingredients :

1. Corriander leaves - 1 bunch
2. Tamarind - lime sized
3. Black gram (urad dal) - 1 tbsp
4. Jaggery - 1 tsp
5. Chilly powder to spice
6. Salt to taste
7. Gingilli oil

Direction to cook :

1.   Dry roast the urad dal.  Keep aside.

2.   Heat oil in the pan, add corriander leaves and salt to taste.  Allow to cool.

3.   Grind together the corriander leaves and urad dal together to smooth paste.

4.   Heat oil in the pan, add the grounded paste, tamarind juice, red chilly powder,  filtered jaggery water & cook over the low heat till oil seperates.

Serve it with rice, idly and dosai.

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