SUN TV & Other Recipe Collections

Thanx R.How long does it take for u to get the "Kola padham"..Do u roast in Low or medium?

GVB

R
Made the "lemon rice" u had posted in Andhra thread and it was a good change from our normal way of making.Thanx.

Hi R,

Thanks for posting the 'seedai' recipe but am very hesitant to try, I never knew it will burst like what you guys have written ! Sounds rather dangerous. Will there be much diffference in taste, if made at home ? Actually I'm planning to only buy (for now at least) from some place here called 'Chennai Bazaar'. Maybe later, I can get together with some friends when trying for first time.
Cheers, Bye.

Forgot to ask one more doubt, R. About that rasam (powder from Hemantji's friend), did you make dal or tomatoes rasam ? And when to add that powder, while boiling imli or afterwards at end, after doing tadka ? Have made rasams only very rarely, but unsuccessfully..boo hoo ... Could you possibly give a brief of method to make rasam with that powder ?
Sorry for trouble, bye.

thks R.

Hi Urmi,

"Maybe later, I can get together with some friends when trying for first time. "

The above line really makes me laugh. Though no offend. Me also scared.

gvb, It is always better to fry flours in medium. When I was using a small tumbler, think that fried for around 5 mts or so. Surely, less than 10 mts.

After you have started frying, take a fist of flour, and draw the line in a plate or that vanali itself. Minute by minute, you will notice the difference from the beginning and in this way, you will find out when it comes to the right consistency. Even, if you delayed, dont think that it will make any difference.

thanks for the appreciation about lemon rice.

Bye.

Thanks R..Will keep that in mind..
BTW in which heading is Rava Kuska that u had mentioned?

GVB

Hi Urmila,

I understood totally. If we are making the snacks on normal days, then we do have choice of making or not making. But, it is our custom that we should make these items for Krishna Jayanthi everyyear. So, we dont have any choice!!

As far as I know, everyone must have faced this bursting experience, and slowly, they became a master one day!!

Anyways, about buying seedais, if the shop is really an authentic south indian shop, then you can go for it. Have not tried buying here.

Abt the taste, in Chennai, there are many shops where they make a wonderful crunchy seedai. Still, back at home, my mother or my grand mother makes better seedais than me becoz of the EXPERIENCE which motivates me very much inspite of the hazards!!

Bye.

Hi gvb,

I dont remember the exact name that I have sent becoz mine is Read only before sent to all of you. Anyways, have PMed the recipe to you.

Bye.

Hello Urmila,

Abt rasam, I prepared neem flower rasam that day. And, you can do the tadka first or last whichever you want. There is no such rule; that is how I feel. As long as you add all these ingredients, the taste will come automatically!!

In a pan, add water, salt and haldi. When it starts boiling, add cut tomato and tamarind. Heard from my mother that one should prepare rasam only in the medium flame to get a real RASAM taste. The boiling bubbles should stay on the top till the end.

After 3 to 4 mts, you can add the rasam powder too and allow to boil till you get a good smell. finally, garnish with coriander and curry leaves.

Or while seasoning in ghee with mustard, jeera and hing, add curry leaves too. Add it to the rasam and close the vessel so that the smell will stay in the vessel itself.

p.s: Some people grind tomato and put in the rasam so that you will get the red color and the taste will be so good. Adding more tomato will also give a good color.

Elderly people use to say in order to increase the rasam taste, one should mash roughly the tomato with yr hand and put it in the boiling rasam. Try everything and choose whichever you want.

Good luck!!

This week's SUN TV recipes are coming here..

Rice puri:

Rice flour 1 cup
onion grated 1
methi seed 1 tsp
saunf/jeera 2 tsp
oil and salt

Boil 1 1/2 cups of water with salt and oil, add seed and saunf. Boil for a couple of mts and filter the water. Mix flour, grated onion and the boiled water into dough. Good for health and puri's smell will be so good.

Make small puris and fry in oil.

My points:

I was not impressed with the rice puri becoz this seems more or less like our thattai(softer version); but, the idea of seed and saunf is really a good one becoz both of the ingredients have their excellent qualities.

So, substituted wheat flour in the place of rice flour and repeated rest of the steps!!

--------------------------------

The below said recipe is similar to Sanjeev kapoor's Afghani baingan where you have to cut the baingan into lengthy pieces. Pour and heat oil lavishly to fry eggplant crispily or you can add few amt of oil and keep the flame high and fry carefullywithout sticking to the bottom. Before that, you have to mix all garam masala, chilli powder, dhania, jeera powders, salt and haldi with baingan; marinate for 30 mts. Then, fry them in oil.

Drain them in a tissue paper. Before serving, pour curd on them, mix well. Yum yum baingan goes with roti and pulav!! Now, comes to the recipe..You can add onion, tomato to the above..

Dahi baingan:

Baingan big 1 or small 4
onion 2
besan flour 2 sp
curd 1 cup
jeera powder 1/2 sp.
garam masala 1 sp.
dhania powder 2 sp.
chilli powder 1sp.
ginger garlic paste 2 sp.
hing 1/4 sp.
red chillies 2
jeera 1 sp.
green chillies 4
coriander leaves and haldi
salt.

Chop brinjals whichever size you want to. Add haldi, salt, all powders, ginger garlic paste, a tsp of oil and mix well. Marinate for an hr.

Mix besan with curd well. Heat oil, add onion, green chillies, curry leaves and marinated brinjal, cook. Add besan mixture cook for some more time. When it comes like a cream, keep aside.

finally, season in oil with jeera, red chillies, hing and garnish with coriander leaves.

------------------------

Peanut kuzhambu:

This goes well with idly, dosa, aapam and pongal.

Vegetables are okra, beans, corn, lauki, ridge gourd.

Baby corn 200 g
peanut 1/4 cup
fresh cream 1/4 cup
tomato puree 1 cup
milk 1/4 cup
curry leaves
garam masala 1/4 sp.
ginger garlic paste, jeera 1 sp each
amchur powder, mustard and chilli powder 1/2 sp each
onion 2
dhania powder 2 sp.
salt, oil

Season in oil with mustard, jeera, curry leaves. Once spluttering is done, add onion and saute well. Put all powders with salt and mix well. Let it cook for a couple of mts and add cooked corn with tomato puree, ginger garlic paste, stir well.

Meanwhile, grind peanut with milk and add to the above. Add enough water to the above mixture. Once it is thick, add fresh cream and switch off.
_______________


Points:

Can omit fresh cream and amchur powder; instead, can put tamarind too. If fresh tomato is not available, can use canned tomato puree. Similarly, frozen corn will also suits this gravy.

Banana milk shake:

Banana 2
Skinless Mango small pieces little
Vanilla ice cream 3 scoops
Milk 200 ml
mixed fruit jam 2 tsp
sugar 2 tsp
cardamom 1 tsp
coconut grated 1 tbsp

Grind banana, sugar, cold milk, ice cream, coconut thickly(not nice). Otherwise, it will not be like a milk shake.

Take a plain glass, spread jam around the top sides(inside)alone which will give you extra sweet taste and also looks colorful. Pour mango pieces inside the glass and add milk shake full of the glass.

Garnish with grated coconut & cardamom powder.

For the forthcoming hot summer, taste this nice and healthy assorted milk shake.
__________________________

Few points to note:

When I made this milk shake, did not have vanilla ice cream. So, I substituted with mango ice cream and instead of mango fruit, added cut dates and badham.

The purpose of adding mango and jam is that incase if the milk shake is not sweet, these two ingredients will compensate. So, we did not find any difference. It was great.

If you dont find mixed fruit jam, any jam like raspberry or strawberry will do.

Hi gvb,

One important point forgot to say abt seedai-if you are using flour from the rice then, the qty of butter will increase like 3 tbsp since it will take whereas in flour, it is uncertain.

Since you had mentioned that the outer layer is not crispy, maybe you can try adding 1 tbsp of butter. Becoz, if it is a good quality of flour, it may take more butter. Flour's quality will definitely differ. Without even frying the flour, some people make seedais!! But, have not tried it.

The above said qty is for a cup of rice, 3 tbsp of butter can be added. Start with 1 tbsp of butter and mix with the flour, try a couple of rounds. You will eventually know whether to add more or not.

Bye.

Thank u very much for that tip,R ..I was thinking that myself..I'll definitely add more butter next time.

GVB

Hello R,

Happy happy news..I tried uppu seedai just now. No Accident! What a great news!

I used 1 cup of flour,sesame seeds,dried coconut flakes. I used 'cover the vessel' tip for the first two batches then i became brave and didn't used. Though i left the kitchen while they were cooking. My initial batches were little hard on the out side. those r the times i coverd the vessel and waited for 1/2 to 1 min before i put the next batch. I got crunchy seedais when i put the balls imedialty without wating for the oil to get hot. Since i used 6 to 7 balls at a time i didn't use low the fire and high the fire tip.

then the seedais cover has pori pori spots like we have in thattai. Is that is the way it is? and i fried the rice flour and urad flour separatly. I got kolam podara padham with rice flour but not with urad flour. Since i smelled fried smell of urad,i took it away from fire even i did't get that padham. Whats ur input here? One more thing i used ghee instead of butter.

Thanks R for ur recipe and step by step instruction to get good seedais and avoid explotion. Will try sweet seedai soon and let u know. Thanks once again.

Kavitha, Wow!! cant believe becoz you were so scared. Looks like it has been a seedai VAARAM!! In one way, I am little envy on you and gvb becoz my first experience was a MINOR VAANA VEDIKAI; just kidding..

And, "cover the tip" is only for the first COUPLE of secs ONLY becoz in that couple of secs, most of the seedais will explode!! Not for the whole process. You have to change the seedai's side frequently, otherwise, one side will be cooked fully and the result will be HARD. That is the main reason, people never use any lid while making seedai or any savory. Just for our safety, we do this.

Abt heat, as mentioned, eventually, you will know whether to put it immediately or not OR raise the fire high or low while frying itself. The reason I told you to keep in sim after frying is not to change the color of seedai(will be red) and if the vanali is big, you can put 20 to 25 seedais and it will take a little longer time to take all of them out. BY the time, you are done with the other seedais, rest of the seedais in oil will change color and the taste will also be KADUKKU.

Gas's heat will differ and also depends on oil's heat and the vessel's heat. It all depends on our experiences. The important point is the oil should be hot while pouring seedais whether you use any tip or not. If the oil is extremely hot or not hot enough, definitely, you will not get a good seedais.

When I was making the seedai, mine is a gas stove(med., size burner), and though I keep in the medium and while taking out the seedais, use to put in sim. So, have to wait for a mt for the iron vanali to get hot!! If it is a non-stick frying pan, then, dont have to.

And, abt adding ghee, hope it should not be a problem as long as it is melted ghee.

>>Since i smelled fried smell of urad,i took it away from fire even i >>did't get that padham.

You can fry until you get the golden color comes; that is the right consistency for urad flour.

Pori pori-have to think..dont have any experience. Was it a used oil??

--------------------

I have a few queries for you-What is the qty of butter did you use?
Did you make a round balls(both hands) or irregular ones?

Bye.

Hello R,
Thks for ur immediate reply. I forgot to mention these...
I used both hands and made uniform,regular balls. While making the dough and rolling the balls...it remainds me of how we do with gulab jamun with mix. I was doing softly and gently like gulab jamuns.

Then i used ghee as i didn't have butter at home. Used the required amount, the recipe calls for. But it was unmelted ghee.

My stove is a electric sotve. My oil was new,not used one. May be it is becaz of ghee i got pori pori thing. I used small vessel and little oil so there was no need to wait for the oil to get hot. I put the fire little above med.

Hope i mentioned every thing. We(me,gvb) didn't have any accident ..absolutly becaz of ur small small tips and tricks. thanks.

I think we have dealt extensively on how to make seedai. :) It shud be relatively easy for all those following me and Kavitha..Thanks to u ,R.

gvb & Kavitha: to the extension of seedai, there is a NEWS.

Soon, will be posting rava seedai tested recipe for you both!!

So, seedai vaaram is not over yet..bye..

Hi R
BTW is it "Seedai vaaram" or "seedai varam?(i mean boon!) :roll:

Regards
Sowmya

Looks like we are not going to rest until we have a minor VAANA VADIKAI in our kitchen too.. Just Kidding..Sounds Yummy,R ..Am always game to try anything..

GVB

Way to go, Kavitha ! I was smiling to read that you got good results on your first attempt itself. I'm still not having that much of confidence to try, as bursting seems to be 'expected' while making this item.

Thanks for the reply R, didn't know you guys HAD to make it as prasad for Janmashtami. We usually make only mithais based on milk/khoa, kheer etc. Namkeens we make only as snacks, not must for festivals.

No problem, gvb..the more you do, guess, the better will get used to all kind of things!!

And, urmila, you know something-my MIL use to make the same kaara seedai(dont remember) without even adding the water and she will make balls through the water released from the coconut and the ground rice!! ooh, it is so so difficult, but the result will be simply superb.

When compared to that seedais, these are all nothing!! Only once, tried making balls with them, but, my hands were gone.

Since it is a birthday of Lord Krishna, we have to keep snacks like seedais, thattai, dairy products, poha payasam etc. you have to draw two legs with rice flour batter from the entrance upto the pooja room believing that Lord Krishna visits that night(crawling or jumping) and takes some prashad(so, we keep everything infront of the Pooja shelf itself!!)

Thats alright urmila. But one day you will be curious to make this. Becaz this seedai explanation and discussion surely make ppl to try someday. As u said take ur friends with you and try.

R,

the funny part is i didn't know that seedais will burst only in the initial stage. I thought it will do at any time of cooking so i ran away from the kitchen but stand infront of the stove in the initial stage. Thks for ur info i will be careful in the initial mins here after.

Hi R
yesterday evening made "Simple Pasta" and it was "Simply" Superb!!I din't think it wud turn out as tasty as it did..We had it with Hot and sweet Tomato sauce.Thanks,R.

GVB

Hello R and sowmiya,

Tried the payasam but sorry..it didn't truned good. At the time i went to switch off the stove, the milk came out through the vent. Before i realize whats happening 3/4 of milk came out. When i open the cooker i had little left over milk with cooked rice. It looked like a pudding so i just added couple of spoons of sugar mixed it and ate it. Just finished big messy cleanup. Niether i tasted nor looked this payasam, so don't know the consistancy..otherwise i would have cooked again this left over payasam.

So from my experience and others..i know very well..we need to cook in big cooker or we should reduce the quantity. I will surely make this again as i don't want to be a failured guy.

Too bad to note it, kavitha.

Yes, you can do it becoz you have succeeded in making seedai, so after all payasam, no big deal.

I have been making this payasam for the last 5 yrs!! Mine is 7 1/2 litres to 8 litres; my cousin used the smallest 5 litres or lesser than that-she followed this method and succeeded.

Anyways, it is not about cooker or vessel. I always cook in a vessel which has 3/4th of milk!! As I told, spilling will be maximum 2 to 4 tsp.

If you explain what did you do, then,will try to help you out.

Bye.

Hi kavitha
Here are some tips from my MIL regds paal payasam..

1.Use a tall vessel and make sure that it is just 1/2 filled with milk

2.You can place a dabara/tumbler in the vessel itself and milk will not overflow..

All the best..

regrds
Sowmya :D

gvb, thanks for the appreciation..And, will send you a reply shortly.

Bye.

Hello R and Sowmiya,

Thanks for your reply. I used 5 ltr. cooker. The vessel's capacity i used inside the cooker is 5 to 6 cups. I used 4 cups of milk. After 2 whistle(I kept in high) i reduced to low-med setting. And it happend at 22nd min.

Should i reduce the amount of milk?(Hope so) Then should i keep the stove in low instead of low to med?

Kavitha, now I understood; mine is a bigger one, so the pressure is low and since yr cooker is small and so, the pressure will be high. So, it is overflowing though you keep 4 cups of milk whereas it does not happen to me.

Better, keep them in sim becoz the pressure already has been there and if you keep in the medium to low, will give the cooker more pressure. I have clearly mentioned to keep in sim fire for the last 20 mts, didn't you note?

Anyways, this is an information to everyone that I saw in SUN TV making paal payasam through caramelizing method which is easier than this method. Tried and also got a nice rich color like how we taste in marriage/functions.

So, pls do wait till tonight so that can post both normal and caramel methods and whichever is easy, can follow that method.

Thanks for understanding.

R, Thks for the reply. I did notice that we need to put it in sim. But i thought low-med is sim. What a bad understanding! :(

I wanted to try again this evening but after reading ur post planed to wait for ur new method. Thks!

After tasting the pal payasam, i like to share one of my amd my circle's fvorite payasam recipe with all of you.

Why wait?? Pls proceed..

Bye.

This is the recipe from SUN TV.

Caramel payasam:

Well washed basmathi rice 1 cup
sugar 1 cup
milk 3 cups
cardamom powder 1 tsp

Heat vanali, add 2 tsp of sugar(dont stir) to change into caramel completely(brown color). Once it changes, add 2 tsp of water(careful, it may splutter) and make sure it dissolves completely. Add the rice with milk; pressure cook or directly cook.

Once it is cooked well, add the cardamom powder and switch off the fire. After switching off, put the sugar and mix well till it dissolves completely.

------------------------------------

Here is a few points to note:

1. Adding sugar at the earlier stage(before switching off) may curdle the milk which is the first time I am hearing.

2. Since it is a caramel method(new method), did not want to take risk; so, added sugar after switching off. But, it is not a problem since the milk is very hot.

3. And, always prepare paal payasam with 1 or 2 % milk and will not find any difference tastewise.

4. The rice qty is quite high and so, the result will come out like a sweet milk rice; so, pls reduce the rice qty and also, it is better to fry it as I told you earlier.

5. Since we are using basmathi rice, it is better to grind nicely, particularly, those who does not want to feel the rice in mouth.

6. Instead of washing, can fry the rice in ghee, powder it with cardamom and cook as usual.

7. In this method, as soon as you pour the caramel water to the milk vessel(before cooking), u will see the pink color immediately which will be the final color. If it is not caramelized properly, then, the milk will not change into pink as soon as you add the caramel water.

8. Since we are already caramelizing, dont have to keep for a long time; just, 2 whistles and 10 to 15 mts sim time is enough. But, the sugar shd be well brown.

9. My opinion is I love both of these versions; still, in my house, my husband felt that in this caramel method, he could not feel that it is paal paysam though the color is attractive and taste is great. So, he prefers the first method. anyways, upto individuals.

---------------------------------

Now, comes to my method of paal payasam:

Milk(1 % or 2 %) 2 1/2 to 3 cups
rice 3 to 4 tbsp (basmathi or regular)
sugar 1 1/2 cup (if needed, can add at the end too before switching off)
cardamom powder 1 tsp
ghee 1 + 1 tsp separately
dry fruits like raisins, any nuts you want.

Heat ghee, add rice and fry till the color changes into red or brown. Now, grind it nicely with cardamom powder.

Take the cooker, add enough water, in a vessel, pour milk and rice mixture; keep it inside the cooker and wait for 2 or 3 whistles. Sim for 20 to 25 mts.

Once cooled down, add sugar, keep stirring. When it dissolves completely, add the fried nuts and raisins.

---------------------

Points to remember:

If you cook with basmathi rice, the grains will stay still if you dont grind properly whereas, with raw rice, you will not feel anything. Otherwise, smell wise, dont feel any difference. Both are seems to be equal.

Have not tried cooking the paal payasam directly in the cooker since chances of sticking at the bottom or overflowing are high. One or the other time, it might happen. Anyways, it is people's convenience.

those who have small size cooker, becoz of the pressure, try to use wide mouth vessel with lesser amt of milk. Otherwise, it will keep on overflowing or else, you can follow the caramel method too.

Finally, once you do it, then, will adjust the qty of milk or rice according to kheer or payasam(thin or thick consistency).

Hope I am clear here..Any suggestions or ideas are welcome!!

Good luck..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by R

Why wait?? Pls proceed..

Bye.

---

Hello R,

I don't understand what u r mentioning. U mean try the payasam or post my fav.recipe? What ever the case i have ans for both.

I tried the payasam last night and it turned great! I did't have time to post the feed back. I used just 2 cups of milk and also put small tumbler in the milk vessel as per somya's idea then put the fire in low and cooked for 35 to 40 mins. The consistancy was like payasam and we can drink it without using spoon as we do with pudding. Great tasting recipe. My daughter called it 'payasun' (she is just 2 1/2 yr)and loved very much. thks for the tips.

Then our fav.payasam is aval payasam. It is equally or an ounce more tasting payasam. The consistancy is like pudding and we use spoon to have this. Ppl so for tasted this aval payasam loved it. Here it is..

Aval Payasam

Milk 1 lt
Aval 1/4 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder 1/2 ts.
safforn pinch
Cashew 10
pista,almond-sliced thinly 12 to 3 ts
ghee to fry cashew


Boil the milk.When it boils add wahed aval and keep the falme in medium and keep stiring now and then. Once aval is cooked well add sugar and keep cooking till it reduced to 3/4. Add cardamom,saffron,ghee fried cashew,sliced almond,pita. Once cooled put it in the fridge.

This is very tasty pudding. Definatly give it a try. I don't know the short cut method like palpayasam.

What I meant was about yr recipe? Anyways, thanks for the same and will try definitely whenever prepares Aval payasam.

FYI, you can implement this paal payasam method even for semia payasam and you will get the good flavor and color.

Thanks & Bye.

Here is an interesting and a different rasam from an article-

Vendhaya vengaya rasam:

Tomato 1 small
red chilly 2 to 3
fenugreek seed 1 spoon
thoor dal 1 tbsp
channa dal 1 tbsp
small onion 100 g(regular one is also fine)
tamarind
salt, haldi
coconut milk < 1/4 cup
water and ghee

Heat a spoon of ghee/oil, season with mustard, curry leaves, hing and halved chillies. Once spluttering is done, add seed, dals, saute till the color changes.

Add cut onions, fry more till the smell comes and pour tamarind water, cut tomato, salt with haldi. Let them boil in a medium fire. This gravy itself will be tempting to take directly.

Finally, add coconut milk(minimum qty is enough). Let it boil for a mt. then, keep aside.

Tasty rasam is ready.

As I told, the rava seedai is here..

Rava seedai:

Rava 1 cup
urad flour 1/8 cup
coconut grated 2 tsp
hing 1/2 tsp
pepper jeera powder 1 tsp
salt 1 tsp
soft butter 1 tbsp

Heat vanali and dry fry rava till it is golden color. Cool down. After that, mix with the remaining ingredients. Before that, check if there is any dust in rava since most of the people does not have siever for rava.

Add little by little water to the rava mixture; unlike rice seedai, this seedai will absorb more water to make into balls becoz of rava. So, careful in pouring water.

Now, back to the same method-heat oil and when the temperature is ready, pour few number of seedais keeping the fire in medium. Once the color changes into golden, take them out.

Crunchy seedai is ready.

This is more easier than rice seedai if you get the right consistency.
-------------------------------------------

Points:

Basically, rava is coarse and we use it for dal vada in order to get crispiness. So, the same crispiness we are getting in this seedai becoz of the main ingredient.

Similar to the rava seedai, heard that one can prepare in steamed maida flour. But, have not tried..

Anyways, seedai vaaram is OVER.

This sambar which I learnt from my husband's aunty who is in Trichur; with a simple ingredients, but the taste and flavor will be so irresistible!! She would say that this is how she use to make Kerala or (trichur) sambar at her place.

I cant compete with the authentic Keralite taste, still...

Kerala sambar: (all qty are app., so, converted to my measurement)

Thoor dal 2 handfuls cooked
haldi 1/4 tsp
onion 1 small
potato 1 small
drumstick 5 to 6
okra 3 to 4
Ash gourd 4 to 5 cubical pieces
tomato 1 small
green chillies 2 small
dhania 2 tbsp
fenugreek seed 1 tsp
mustard 1 tsp
hing 1 tsp
tamarind, salt depends
red chillies 3 + 1
coconut oil for sesoning
curry leaves and coriander leaves.

When comes to vegetables, you can add whatever at home. For instance, I use to make with standard frozen drumstick and frozen sambar onion with tomato.

Season in coconut oil with mustard, halved red chillies and curry leaves. Put onion and saute well. then, add one by one vegetables with green chillies saute for a couple of mts. Add water, haldi and salt, let them cook until they are done.

In a little amt of oil, add dhania, red chillies and fenugreek seed and grind ncely. Put the same in the boiling sambar and add mashed dal. Keep the fire in medium and let it boil till you get a unique flavor.

Finally, garnish with leaves.