Sabudana Vada Recipe / Sago Vada

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Sabudana Vada Recipe / Sago Vada

After 4 special recipes for Navrathri - carrot kheer, pulihora, soya bean sundal and aval kesari, today I am posting another healthy and easy dish for the fifth day of this Navrathri season. Sago vada or fritters are again a Dussehra special recipe.

There are two types of these pearls. The first variety is big and the second is tiny balls. I have prepared these vadas with the first variety. You can also prepare these vadas with the second variety of peals as well. This is a no onion and no garlic recipe which is perfect for the festiveseason.

This is also a perfect evening snack on a chilly or a rainy day. Addition of mild spices give that extra oomph factor to the fritters. They are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and are a bit chewy. Throw in all the ingredients and spices accurately to get a great snack that your family craves for.

Like the other dishes, this dish is also very easy to prepare with simple ingredients that are readily available in the kitchen. These sagggubiyyam vadas can be prepared in just 15 minutes provided you soak the sago 3 hours earlier.

Preparation

Soak sago 3 hours prior to preparing the snack.

Grate the potato just before you start making the snack else it will turn black in colour. Keep aside. Drain the excess water from the sago. Squeeze out the water from the sago with your hands and take it into a bowl. Squeeze the water from the grated potatoes as well. Mix with the squeezed sago.

Add all the spices that are mentioned in the Ingredients list.

Mix everything well. Add rice flour and mix with your hands. 

Add coriander leaves, mint leaves and chopped curry leaves. Mix everything well.

Check for seasoning. Add more as per your taste. Shape the dough as small vadas.

Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.

Once the oil is hot, gently drop the vadas into the oil and fry on a medium to high flame.

Fry until the vadas turn into golden brown colour. Remove onto a tissue paper to absorb the excess oil.

Serve hot plain or with any chutney or tomato ketchup.

Ingredients

Sago 1/2 cup

Potato 1 ( medium sized )

Salt to taste

Coriander Powder 1 tsp

Cumin powder 1/2 tsp

Chat masala 1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Mint leaves 2 tsp ( chopped )

Coriander leaves few

Curry leaves 1 tsp ( chopped )

Rice flour 3 tbsp

Method

1. Soak sago in water for 3 hours
2. Grate the potato just before making the snack.
3. Squeeze out the water from both the grated potatoes and sago.
4. Mix all the spices in the potato and sago mixture and mix well.
5. Add the greens and mix again. Give shape as vadas. 
6. Heat oil in a pan and drop the vadas gently into the oil. 
7. Fry until they turn to a golden brown colour and remove onto a tissue paper. 
8. Serve hot.

Notes

• You can skip the spices if you do not like the flavours. 
• Let the oil become hot. If it is not hot enough, then the vadas will absorb too much oil. 
• You can add finely sliced onion if not preparing for the festive season. Since I was preparing for the festive season, I made it without onion and garlic. 

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aval kesari / poha kesari

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Aval Kesari Recipe / Navrathri Specials

Aval or avalakki or atukulu or flattened rice is the main ingredient for the fourth day of our Navrathri festival. Today's recipe is aval kesari. This is yet another simple dish that can be prepared very easily. This is also one of the beginners dish.

Atukulu kesari is a perfect sweet for this festive season. Atukulu or flattened rice is very light on the tummy and is easily digestible. It is rich in carbohydrates and iron. The best feature of avalakki is it is fat-free. So it is a highly recommended guilt-free snack. You can also check my recipe for poha oats chivda which is yet another healthy guilt-free snack. 

Aval kesari is a slightly chewy sweet made with milk and sugar. It is similar to the paramannnam ( rice payasam ) that we generally prepare during Pongal. I have seen many people preparing this sweet with water, but I prefer to make it milk. This gives a lovely richness to the dish and makes it delicious 😋. The preparation of poha kesari is similar to that of poha payasam or poha kheer, excepting that we do not add any colour to the dish and the consistency varies for each dish.

You can add any kind of dry fruits as per your choice to get extra energy from them. I have added raisins, cashews, almonds and pistachios. But you could also include chironji seeds, dates or any other dry fruits as well.

Preparation

Soak almonds in water for 15 minutes. Remove the skin and set them aside. Heat a pan. Add flattened rice and dry roast on a low flame until crisp.

Once the aval has become crisp and you get a nice aroma from it, transfer to another plate.

In the same pan, put ghee.

Roast all the dry fruits that you wish to add. Keep them aside.

In the remaining ghee pour milk. Let the milk get hot.

Meanwhile, crumble the aval into tiny pieces with your hands. Alternately, you can also put in the blender.

Add the crumbled aval and mix well. All the milk will be absorbed by the aval and the aval become soft.

Once cooked and soft, add sugar and colour.

Mix well and sprinkle cardamom powder. Give a nice mix.

Add a little black pepper powder.

This gives a lovely flavour to the dish. This is purely optional. Now add the roasted dry fruits and mix everything well. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Ingredients

Aval ( flattened rice ) 1 cup

Milk. 1 1/2 cups
Sugar 1/3 cup
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp
Black pepper powder  pinch
Kesar colour  pinch
Dry fruits  1/4 cup

Method

1. Soak almonds and remove the skin. Keep aside.
2. Dry roast aval until crispy. Transfer to another plate.
3. Add ghee in the pan and roast the dry fruits. Keep aside.
4. Pour milk in the remaining ghee and let it become hot.
5. Add crumbled aval and cook until soft.
6. Add sugar and colour and mix well.
7. Sprinkle cardamom powder and black pepper powder.
8. Put the roasted dry fruits and switch off the flame.
9. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Notes

• The sweet tends to thicken upon becoming cold. So add hot or warm milk just before serving.
• You can also prepare aval kesari with water instead of milk. You might not get the richness when prepared with water.
  
  
  

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soya bean sundal

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Sundal Recipes for Navrathri / Soya bean Sundal Recipe

The dish for the third day of Navrathri is one kind of a sundal recipe. It is soya bean sundal which is very healthy and tasty too. Soya beans are considered to be one of the healthiest bean varieties that are available in our country. It is known to be a good source fiber, calcium, Vitamin B and omega-3 fatty acids. Soyabean is the richest plant source of proteins. Hence it is always recommended to include soy products in our diet.

Consuming soyabean during this festive season not only keeps us healthy but also gives us the extra energy that is required to complete the extra activities during this Dussehra season. It does not take much time to prepare this sundal variety. The ingredients that are required to prepare this soyabean sundal are also very basic that we have in our kitchens regularly.

It is said that for each day of the nine days of Navrathri, we prepare each variety of sundals with the Navadhanya - namely - Bengal gram ( channa dal ), wheat ( godumulu ), Horse gram ( ulavalu ), Green gram ( Pesara pappu ), Rice ( biyyamu ), White beans, black sesame ( nalla nuvvulu ), Chickpeas ( kommu senagalu ) and  Black gram ( minapappu , urad dal ).

I have already shown the recipe for the chickpea sundal. Today, I am posting the recipe of soyabeans sundal. While the chickpea sundal is offered to the planet Mars, the soyabean sundal is offered to the planet Venus. The other navadhanya sundals are offered to other planets accordingly.

The soyabean sundal is very delicious as an evening snack. This is also very good for an after-school snack for kids. Soyabeans are low in fat, yet are very filling. Prepare this easy sundal for this Navrathri season and enjoy with your family. Happy Navrathri!

Preparation

Soak soyabeans overnight or atleast for 5 hours. Drain the water from the soyabeans and cook them in a pressure cooker for until 4-5 whistles.

Once the pressure is off from the cooker, remove the excess water and keep the cooked soyabeans aside. If you wish you can remove the skin of the soyabeans that are already out from them. Take oil in a pan and put it on stove.

Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

When they splutter, add red chillies and curry leaves.

Add a little turmeric and sauté for a minute.

Pour the cooked soyabeans. Add salt and mix well.

Throw in the grated coconut and mix well.

If you want a little spicy, you can also little chilli powder. Mix well and switch off the flame. Serve to God as  Prasadam and to your family as well.

  

Ingredients

Soyabeans 1 cup

Oil / Ghee 1 tsp

Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Curry leaves few sprigs

Red chillies 2

Salt to taste

Grated coconut 2 tbsp

Turmeric power 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder 1/2 tsp ( optional )

Method

1. Soak soya beans in water for atleast 5 hours.
2. Pressure cook the beans for upto 4-5 whistles. 
3. Drain the excess water and keep the beans aside. 
4. Heat oil in a pan and add oil in it.
5. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. 
6. When they crackle, add curry leaves and red chillies.
7. Saute for a minute and put the turmeric powder.
8. Add the cooked beans and salt. Mix well.
9. Sprinkle the grated coconut and little chilli powder all over the beans.
10. Mix well and switch off the flame. 
11. Offer as Naivedhyam to God and enjoy with your family.

Notes

• This kind of sundals can be prepared with other bean varieties as well.
• You can also add peanuts, channa dal, urad dal etc., while tempering. 
• This is no onion-no garlic recipe. But if you are not offering to God, then you can also add finely chopped onion and ginger pieces for the extra crunchiness.
• You can also use ghee instead of oil for tempering.

This post has been submitted to the Livogen Iron Chef contest ...  http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef

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pulihora making / pulihora recipe

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Pulihora rice / Tiger Rice

For the first day of Navrathri I have posted carrot kheer which tastes heavenly. For the second day of this Navrathri I am posting the most popular and famous yet simple dish of South India - Pulihora. Pulihora also known as tamarind rice in English is a must for any festival in South India especially in the Telugu states of Andhra and Telangana. Almost every household prepares this pulihora for any auspicious or festive occasions.

In my childhood days, my friends used to call this rice as tiger rice. Because puli means tiger in Telugu, hence the name. It indeed sounds very funny. My kids call it yellow rice. They always give names to the dishes with the colours they associate with. For example, they call palak rice as green rice, coriander rice as light green rice, beetroot rice as red rice, carrot rice as orange rice, etc.,.

This tamarind rice is very simple and easy to prepare. Cook rice, do a little tempering and mix. That is it. Your dish is ready in minutes. The most important and crucial part of preparing this dish is the tempering. If the tempering is good, then only the dish will be perfect. You will not even ask for a side dish if the tempering is done well.  Pulihora is also one of the best lunch box idea recipes.

There are various versions of preparing pulihora. The version that I am presenting today is the most simple and easiest recipe. There are no masalas or spices that are added to this dish except that of ginger and garlic paste. There are other versions where you can add methi powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, etc.,. I will be discussing those recipes in another post. There is also a different version of preparing the temple style pulihora which I will be posting soon. But for today, I am finishing off with the most simplest version of preparing the yellow rice.

Preparation

Cook rice in a pressure cooker. Once the pressure is off, transfer the rice into a wide plate and allow to cool. Add 2 tsp of oil and gently mix without mashing the rice.

Extract juice from tamarind pulp and keep aside. Take a pan and add oil in it.

Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and methi seeds.

When the mustard seeds splutter, add peanuts and roast for 1 minute.

Now add the split urad dal. I have used to urad dal with the skin on it. You can use the normal ones which doesn’t have any skin on it. You can also add channa dal and moong dal as per your preference.

When the peanuts change to a light brown colour, add red chillies.

Fry for a minute and add hing and curry leaves.

Sauté for a minute and put the green chillies.

Give a nice mix and add the ginger garlic paste.

Mix well and put the turmeric powder.

Sauté for a minute and add tamarind juice and sugar. Also add salt and mix well.

Bring it to a boil. Cook until you see oil floating on the top.

At this stage, switch off the flame and pour it on the cooled rice.

Mix gently taking care not to mash or break the rice. If by any chance, lumps are formed in rice, mix with your hand breaking the lumps gently. 

Check for seasoning. If the sourness is not sufficient for you, you can add the juice of lemon. Else cook some more tamarind juice and add to the rice. Adjust salt and spice as per your taste and transfer to a serving bowl. This is served to God as Naivedhyam and can be enjoyed with family and friends. 

  

Ingredients

Rice 2 cups

Oil 3 tbsp.

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp

Peanuts fistful

Split urad dal 1/2 tsp

Red chillies 3

Hing 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves few sprigs

Green chillies 4-5

Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Tamarind  Juice extracted from the size of 2 lemons 

Salt to taste

Sugar 1 tsp

Method

1. Extract juice from tamarind and keep aside. 
2. Cook rice and transfer to a wide plate to cool.
3. Take oil in a pan for tempering. 
4. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. 
5. Once they splutter, add peanuts and urad dal. Any kind of lentils can be added according to your desire. 
6. When the peanuts change colour, add red chillies and hing.
7. Sauté for a minute and add curry leaves. 
8. Cook for a minute and add green chillies. 
9. Mix well and add ginger garlic paste. 
10. Saute for 2 minutes and add turmeric powder. 
11. Mix well and finally pour the tamarind juice with salt and sugar. 
12. Cook until you see oil floating on the top ( uncovered ). 
13. When you see oil floating, switch off the flame. 
14. Pour this tempering on the cooled rice.
15. Mix gently without breaking or mashing the rice. 
16. Adjust salt, spice and sourness and take it into a serving bowl.
17. Serve hot with plain curd, raita or any masaledaar curry.

Notes

• Tempering should be done very well for the best taste of pulihora.
• Any kind or all kinds of lentils can be added according to your likes or availability. 
• Adding sugar will enhance the taste of the pulihora cutting out on the sourness of the tamarind. 
• Salt, spice and sourness should be perfect for the dish, else you will have to compromise on the taste.
• Other versions of pulihora will be discussed very soon. Watch this space for more.

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