Sakkarai Pongal (Sweet Pongal)

Category:  Festive Recipes
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 30-45 mins
Servings: 3-4 Servings

Sakkarai Pongal

  Ingredients:

• Raw Rice - 3/4 cup
• Moong Dhal - 3 tbsp
• Jaggery - 3/4 - 1 cup (adjust as per sweetness) (I have used the light coloured jaggery so the pongal looks little pale)
• Milk - 1 cup
• Water - Around 5 cups
• Cashews - 2-3 tbsp  (adjust as per liking)
• Raisins - 2-3 tbsp (adjust as per liking)
• Ghee -  Around 2-4 tbsp (as required)
• Cardamon powder - 1/4 - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Dry roast Moong dhal for few mins until its hot to touch and started to become golden brown. Then add the dhal to the soaking rice
   
2. Wash and soak rice along with roasted moong dhal for atleast 30 mins; drain them and keep it ready
   
3. Break the cashews into pieces and keep them ready along with raisins and jaggery
   
4. In a vessel add the jaggery and little water and heat it up to dissolve the jaggery
   
5. Once it gets dissolved switch off and strain it if it had any impurities
6. In a pot / pan add 5 cups of water along with 1 cup of milk and heat it up
   
7. Once it starts to boil, add the soaked & drained rice and dhal
   
8. Mix well and allow to cook till it becomes soft. Stir frequently to avoid charring and reduce the flame towards the end of the cooking
   
9. Once it gets cooked, mash it well using ladle / masher 
   
10. Add the jaggery water and mix well, cook in low flame for 5-6 mins
11. Meanwhile in another pan, add 1-2 tbsp of ghee and heat it up
    
12. To this add the cashew pieces and roast till it turns golden brown
    
13. Once it turns golden brown, add the raisins and fry for a min in low flame till it gets puffed up
    
14. Add the cardamon powder to the pongal and mix well
    
15. Add another 2-3 tbsp of ghee to the pongal, mix it up
    
16. Now add the roasted cashews and raisins to the pongal and give a mix; switch it off
    
17. Serve hot!!
    

Home made Ginger-Garlic Paste

Category:  Kitchen Basics
Preparation Time: 15-20 mins  
Yields: Around 1.5 cups

Home made Ginger-Garlic Paste is fresh, with quality ingredients and mainly without any chemicals compared go the store bought ones. Since we are not using water for grinding, it will remain fresh for atleast 3-4 weeks and I have used Turmeric and salt as preservatives. The quantity mentioned below will lasts for atleast 2 weeks for me and if required we can double the quantity and store it for a month in refrigerator with careful handling. The proportion of Ginger and Garlic can be adjusted as per our requirement.

Ginger-Garlic Paste

 Ingredients:

• Ginger (cleaned, skinned and chopped) - 3/4 cup
• Garlic (Peeled and chopped) - 3/4 cup
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Oil (Any cooking Oil) - 1-2 tbsp (as needed)

Method:

1. Wash the ginger well and dry it completely with paper towel; peel the skin off and chop into pieces. Peel the garlic pods and roughly chop them for easy grinding
   
2. In a mixer/blender take the ginger and garlic pieces and grind for a min till they get minced
   
3. For fine grinding, add 1 tbsp of oil, 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder into the minced mixture and grind it to a fine paste. Add another tsp of oil if needed
   
4. Remove it from the jar and store it in a clean glass bottle in the refrigerator
   
5. I have added turmeric as a natural preservative and also due to the health benefits; if you dont want the paste to be yellow, you can reduce / omit the turmeric powder. Also since we are adding little salt in it, just take care while  adding salt in the recipes
6. When properly handled, it will stay fresh and good for atleast 3-4 weeks; I usually used up within 2-3 weeks so not sure of the maximum limit:)
   

Mushroom Briyani (without Briyani Masala Powder)

Category:  Lunch / Rice
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Servings: 3 Servings

Mushroom Briyani

 Ingredients: 

• Mushroom - 1 packet (8 oz / 227 gms)
• Rice - 1 cup
• Onion, thinly sliced - 1 no
• Green chillies, slitted - 1-2 nos
• Tomato, roughly chopped - 2 nos 
• Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1 tsp ( Optional and adjust as per spice level)
• Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Fennel Powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mint leaves - handful
• Coriander leaves, chopped - handful
• Thick Curd- 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Ghee - 1/2 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp
• Bay leaf - 1 no
• Cloves - 3 nos
• Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
• Star anise - 1 no
• Cardamon - 1-2 nos 
• Water - as required

*For more richness, I would prefer adding coconut milk extracted from fresh coconut instead of water

Method:

1. Wash & Soak rice in enough water for atleast 30 mins
2. Peel the outer skin of the mushrooms and chop them into medium sized pieces; no need to wash in water
   
3. Heat Oil + 1/2 tbsp of ghee in a pan / pressure cooker; once it becomes hot, add the bayleaf, star anise cloves, cinnamon and cardamon, saute for 20-30 secs
   
4. Add the sliced onion along with green chillies and saute well till it starts to get browned
   
5. Add the Ginger-Garlic paste and saute in medium flame till the raw smell goes off
   
6. Add the chopped mushrooms and fry for 1-2 mins
   
7. Add little salt required for the mushrooms and mix well
   
8. Add in all the spice powders (Turmeric, Cumin, Chilly, Fennel, Coriander & Garam Masala Powders) , mix well and saute for another 1-2 mins. (Since I dont want spicy, I had not added chilly powder here)
   
9. Add in the roughly chopped tomato pieces; saute for 1 min (Take care not to turn the tomato mushy otherwise it would taste like tomato rice)
   
10. Now add the chopped coriander and mint leaves, give it a quick mix
    
11. Add the thick curd and saute for a min in medium flame until all the masalas gets combined
    
12. Add the drained rice and mix 
    
13. Add required water to it (around 1.5 - 2 cups as per the rice variety) along with needed salt
    
14. Mix well and before closing with lid, add the 1/2 tbsp of ghee over it and cover it
15. Pressure cook for 2 whistles and simmer for 5 mins, switch off and allow to cook in the steam itself Or we can cook in pan / using electric rice cooker
16. Once its done, let t stand for another 7-8 mins and then open it up and gently fluff it with fork
    
    
    
17. Serve hot with any raita / salna