FAST KULFI

by Shanthi Mohan

Preparation time: 5 minutes.

Cooking time: about 6 hours in freezer.

Ingredients

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 small cartons of heavy cream
200 grams of shelled pistachio nuts
A few pistachio and almond flakes to garnish on top

Method

Blend the first three ingredients in a blender until finely mixed. Pour the mixture in molds or tiny
cups and pop them into the freezer for 6 to 7 hours. Before serving, garnish with pistachio and
almond flakes.

BANANA IDLI
by Shanthi Mohan

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas
¾ cup semolina
4 tablespoons coconut, grated
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Ghee to taste

Method:

Peel and chop bananas into small pieces.

Heat ghee over a low flame and fry semolina till light brown. Cool and keep aside.
Mix chopped bananas with grated coconut, semolina, bicarbonate, salt, sugar and one cup
water.
Stir well. Cook like idlies in an idli mold for 10 - 12 minutes. Serve hot with ghee or chutney
powder.

CHAKLI
by Rangamani Iyengar (from Mysore)

Ingredients (for 40 pieces)

4 cups rice flour (slightly coarse for more crispiness)

1 cup urad flour (black gram)
2 teaspoon white sesame seeds
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida (peringayam or hing)
½ stick butter (for mixing)
Salt to taste
2 cups cooking oil for frying

Method
Fry urad flour in a dry pan on the flame until there is a fragrant smell.*
Dissolve salt and asafoetida in a cup of water.
Mix the rice flour, urad flour, butter and sesame seeds in a large container.
Add sufficient quantity of water, salt + asafoetida solution to the mix prepared in step 3.
Mix all the ingredients by hand to make a soft dough. Knead the dough well.
Using a chakli press, press the dough to make round chaklis on a plastic sheet.
Deep fry the chaklis until brown over slow heat.
Chaklis are usually very crisp, if you make urad flour at home by washing the urad dal, drying in
the sun, frying slightly and grinding to a fine powder.

KODVALE
by Rangamani Iyengar (from Mysore)
Quantity - 40

Ingredients (for 40 pieces)

3 cups rice flour

½ cup cream of what (rava)
½ cup coconut powder
4 teaspoons red chili powder
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tablespoons butter or cooking oil (for mixing)
Salt to taste
Cooking oil for frying
1 twig curry leaf or coriander leaves finely chopped (optional)

Method

Dissolve asafoetida and salt in a cup of water.

Mix well the rice flour, rava, chili powder, coconut and cumin seeds in a suitable container.
Add butter or hot oil and the chopped leaves to the mixed ingredients from the previous step.
Mix well.
Add sufficient quantity of water, and the salt + asafoetida solution to the mix prepared in step 3.
Mix all the ingredients with hand to make a soft dough. Kneed the dough well
Prepare suitable size kodvale rolls out of the dough(by hand), on a plastic sheet or on a
convenient plate.
Deep fry 4 to 6 kodvales at a time slowly until it is brown. Use a wooden or steel prong to lift
through the center hole.

LADDU
by Rama Patel

Ingredients (for 40 pieces)

2 cups besan (Gram flour)

2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups water
2 ½ cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi)
1/8 cup almond pieces
2 tablespoons white raisins

Method
Make a thick batter from gram flour and water.
Make boondis by frying the batter in hot oil using a laddu chalni (sieve).
Make sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water in a vessel until slightly sticky.
Mix the boondis, raisins, cardamom powder, and almond pieces in a big vessel.
After it cools, make small balls of laddus by hand

Seera Molaggu Sathammadu

by Smt. Rajalakshmi Rangaswamy, Colorado
Seera molaggu sathammadu is recommended for a cold or digestion problems.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup thoor dhal
3 medium sized red chilies (molaggai)
2 teaspoons pepper (molaggu)
1 ½ teaspoons jeera (jeeragai)
Turmeric powder (manjal podi)
Tamarind paste (puli)
Asafetida (perungayam)
Curry leaves (kari vepu illai)
Mustard seeds
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon cooking oil and water
Method:
Heat up the oil in a pan. After the oil gets warm, add the chillies and thoor dhal and roast till dhal
gets very warm. Add pepper (it will start popping). Add jeera. Switch off the heat, add asafetida
and cover the pan with a lid. When cool, grind ingredients mixed with water.
Pour 3 cups of water into a cooking vessel. Add 1 teaspoon tamarind paste and a small amount
of turmeric powder. Boil the water. Pour the ingredients paste to the boiling water. Add additional
water and shut off the heat after the liquid boils for one minute. Add salt to taste. Season with
mustard and curry leaves. Will make about ten cups of the sathammadu.
(Note: Raw tomatoes could be added for taste and cooked with the ingredients.)

Rice & Coconut Kali (Arashi Tenga Kali)

by Smt. Goda Dattatreya, New Jersey
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 teaspoon menthya (Methi)
1 cup sour yogurt
1/8 cup grated coconut
4 or 5 green chilies
A small bunch of coriander
Salt to taste
Garnish:
1 spoon of oil
1 stick of butter
Kadugu (Mustard seeds) and Perungayum
Method:
Wash and soak rice and menthya in two cups of water for about an hour or more. In a blender
grind the rice and the rest of the ingredients using all the water.
In a big sauce pan or koon, (non stick works very well or spray Pam on the surface) heat the oil
and butter. Add kadugu and peyrungayum. As you hear the popping sound of kadugu, pour the
blended liquid. Keep stirring. As the rice cooks, the liquid thickens and gradually comes to a soft
dough consistency. Should not take more than 10 - 15 minutes to cook.
Serve it hot with butter & kadugu gojju.

Ramanavami Preparations By Bhagya Chari

During Ramanavami, it is customary to make Kosambari (salad) and Panakam (juice). In south
India, one can find many households making these dishes with different variations. These
dishes are healthy, tasty and easy to prepare.
.
Kosambari:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup moong dhal or chana dhal
1 lime
4 cucumbers
2 green chilies
Salt to taste
Garnish:
Asafetida (perungayam or hing) - optional
Finely chopped coriander leaves (kotthamalli)
1 teaspoon ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
3 teaspoons of grated fresh coconut
Method:
Soak the dhal for one hour. Chop the cucumber into thin small pieces. Mix the soaked dhal,
cucumber, salt, grated coconut and coriander leaves. Add freshly squeezed lime juice. To make
the garnish, heat up a teaspoon of ghee in a saucepan. After the ghee gets warm, add the
cumin seeds. When it starts spluttering, remove from the fire and add green chilies. Mix
everything and serve.
Variations: Add carrot scrapings or finely chopped tomatoes or substitute chopped mangoes for
lime. This can also be prepared without the dhal or only with the dhal.

Panakam (Lime juice)

Ingredients:
6 limes
12 cups of water
1 1/2 cups sugar
A pinch of saffron soaked in hot water (2 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon of cardamom powder
Method:
Squeeze the limes and mix all the ingredients. Add ice, if required, and serve.
Note: Another popular juice is made with the pulp of a fruit that is only available in India, with
jaggery or gud. A similar tasting juice can be made in the US by mixing apple juice with
cardamom powder
Tenkol (Thenkuzhal)
By Prema Jayaram
Ingredients: (30 pieces)
2 Cups Rice Flour
1 ½ Cups Urad Flour
100 gms Butter
1 Tsp. Jeera
Salt as per taste
Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a big vessel. Pour water gradually into it and knead the dough till it is
soft (Poori dough). In a deep fry pan, pour 4 cups of oil and warm it. Using a tenkol press (warl),
press the dough and make tenkol shapes (coiled) and deep fry it until crisp.

Mysore Pak
By Prema Jayaram

Ingredients: (25 pieces)

1 Cup Gram Flour (Basin)
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Ghee
Method:
Boil 1cup of water with sugar till it thickens to a syrup.
Add 1 cup of ghee to it and continue stirring.
Later add the basin gradually to the mix and keep stirring to avoid lumps.
Add the remaining ghee to it gradually and keep stirring till you see pores in it.
Then, pour the hot mixture in a ghee greased pan and cut them into pieces while it is warm.

1. Spinach karamadhu:
Cook spinach in water. Season red chilies, urad dhal (ulaththam paruppu) and channa dhal
(kadalai paruppu). Add salt to taste.
2.
2. Nellikai Pachchidi (raitha):
Grind fresh gooseberry and mix in yogurt. Season as above. Add salt to taste. (Substitute
powder if fresh nellikai is not available).

3. Fried Sunadakkai:
Store dry sundakkai packets obtained from India. Deep-fry a handful of nuggets in oil. Use a
portion for direct consumption and the balance for mOrekozhambu.

4. More-kozhambu (for 4):

Soak two tablespoons each of thoor dhal and channa dhal in water for two hours. Heat up a
tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Roast two tablespoons of dhaniya (coriander seeds), two red
chilies, four chopped green chilies, a tablespoon of cumin (seera), a teaspoon of menthya. Add
a pinch of hingu (asafetida) and turmeric powder. Drain the water from the soaked dhals and
mix with the ingredients while hot. When the ingredients attain room temperature, grind with
coconut (optional). Add to precooked cucumber pieces and cook till the solution starts boiling.
Cool to luke warm temperature and add buttermilk. Season as above and garnish with coriander
leaves. Just before serving, add a few fried sundakkai pieces.
(Ash Pumpkin, Green Pepper, Okra, Seemai Kattharikkai may be used while preparing the
above item)

5. Thiru Kannan Amudhu:

Make any one of the following paayasa. Whole milk is recommended for taste. However, low fat
milk may be used if preferred.
a). Badami Paal (Almond Milk): soak almonds in warm water, remove skin, grind with milk. Heat
in a pan till the liquid boils. Add milk, sugar and saffron. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and
raisins.
b). Rava Paayasa: Warm the rava (cream of wheat) in a saucepan and cook in water. Add milk,
sugar and saffron. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and raisins.
c). SEmiyaa (rice vermicelli) Paayasa: Cook rice sticks in water till soft. Add milk, sugar and
saffron. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and raisins.
d). Rice Keer: Cook long grain rice in a pan. Add milk, sugar and saffron. Garnish with fried
cashew nuts and raisins.
Note: The above are few of the items prepared on Dwadasi, the day after Ekadasi, to break the
long fasting. For more details, refer to the article on “Ekadasi and Dwadasi.“

Pulippu Kootu
Ingredients:
1/2 cup thoor dhal
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Cut Vegetable (green beans, choate squash, cabbage, cauliflower)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
6 Red Chillies
2 tablespoons urud dhal
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
Grated Cocoanut (optional)
Salt to taste
Tamarind (concentrated or fresh)
Garnish:
1 Teas spoon Mustard Seeds
Asafetida (perungayam or hing)
Curry leaves (karivepillai)
Method: Cook thoor dhal with 1 teaspoon turmeric added to it either in a pressure cooker or in a
rice cooker. Dry roast to brown color in a pan using 1 tablespoon oil the urad dhal and red
chillies. While hot, add ½ teaspoon black pepper and a pinch of asafetida. Grind the cooled
ingredients to a paste with or without cocoanut. In a separate vessel, cook the vegetable of
choice. Add salt to taste. Add the ground paste and cook in low heat till the contents start
boiling. Add the cooked dhal. Add 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste. Heat the vessel till contents
boil. Add additional salt to taste. To make the garnish, heat up a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan.
After the oil gets warm, add the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop popping, turn off the heat,
add a pinch of asafetida and add curry leaves. Add the garnish to the vessel. Mix well.

Porichcha kootu

Ingredients:
1/2 cup moong dhal
I teaspoon turmeric powder
Cut Vegetable (green beans, choate squash, cabbage, cauliflower)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
Red Chillies
2 tablespoons urud dhal
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
Grated Cocoanut (optional)Salt to taste
Garnish:
1 Teas spoon Mustard Seeds
Asafetida (perungayam or hing)
Curry leaves (karivepillai)
Method: Cook moong dhal with 1 teaspoon turmeric added to it either in a pressure cooker or in
a rice cooker. Dry roast to brown color in a pan using 1 tablespoon oil the urad dhal and red
chillies. While hot, add ½ teaspoon black pepper and a pinch of asafetida. Grind the cooled
ingredients to a paste with or without cocoanut. In a separate vessel, cook the vegetable of
choice. Add salt to taste. Add the ground paste and cook in low heat till the contents start
boiling. Add the cooked dhal. Heat (low heat) the vessel till contents boil. Add additional salt to
taste. To make the garnish, heat up a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan. After the oil gets warm, add
the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop popping, turn off the heat, add a pinch of asafetida and
add curry leaves. Add the garnish. Mix well. Note: Tamarind is NOT used with cooked moong
dhal

Seera Kootu

Ingredients:
1/2 cup thoor dhal
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Cut Vegetable (green beans, choate squash)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
6 Green Chillies (jalapeno)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds (jeera)
Grated Cocoanut (optional)
Salt to taste
Garnish:
1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
Asafetida (perungayam or hing)
Curry leaves (karivepillai)
Method: Cook thoor dhal with 1 teaspoon turmeric added to it either in a pressure cooker or in a
rice cooker. Grind the green chillies and cumin to a paste with or without cocoanut. In a
separate vessel, cook the vegetable of choice. Add salt to taste. Add the ground paste and cook
in low heat till the contents start boiling. Add the cooked dhal. Heat the vessel till contents boil.
Add additional salt to taste. Prepare and add the garnish to the vessel. Mix well. Serve hot with
cooked white rice.

Chikki by Pushpa Ravindra, New Jersey

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Roasted and Crushed Peanuts
1 Cup of Sugar
Lightly grease a cookie sheet and a rolling pin with a cooking spray. In a thick bottom dry pan
put the sugar for melting. Keep stirring the sugar until it becomes brown liquid. Remove from the
heat add the crushed peanuts, mix well and pour it on to the cookie sheet. Spread the mixture
thinly with the rolling pin and cut immediately before it hardens. After about 5 minuets remove
them from the sheet and let them cool for about an hour. Store them in an airtight container.

Nalagiri (Kozhambu) Karnataka Style by Pushpa Ravindra, New Jersey

Ingredients:
1½ cup(s) thoor dhal
2 cup(s) of mixed vegetables chopped (potatoes, eggplant and beans)
1 Medium lemon size ball of tamarind or 2 teaspoons tamarind paste
1 tablespoon(s) oil
Kara paste
2 tablespoons Channa dhal
2 tablespoons Urad dhal
3 tablespoons Coriander seeds
3 tablespoons grated Coconut
6 dry red Chillies or to taste
2" cinnamon stick (optional)
Garnish:
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
6 curry leaves
½ teaspoon(s) each of Asafoetida
Method:
Cook thoor dhal with 1 teaspoon turmeric added to it either in a pressure cooker or in a rice
cooker. Dry roast to brown color in a pan using 1 tablespoon oil the channa, urad dhal and
coriander seeds. With quarter teaspoon of oil roast red Chillies. Let all the roasted ingredients
cool. Grind Coconut and rest of the roasted ingredients to paste. While hot, add ½ teaspoon
black pepper and a pinch of asafetida. In a separate vessel, cook the vegetable of choice. Add
salt to taste. Add the ground paste and cook in low heat till the contents start boiling. Add the
cooked dhal. Add the tamarind paste and curry leaves. Heat the vessel till contents boil. Add
additional salt to taste. To make the garnish, heat up a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan. After the
oil gets warm, add the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop popping, turn off the heat, add a
pinch of asafetida and add curry leaves. Add the garnish to the vessel. Mix well.

Hebbar Iyengar Kozhambu ( pachai kootu) By Nagu Satyan

Ingredients:
1/2 cup thoor dhal
I teaspoon turmeric powder
Cut Vegetable (green beans, choate squash, cabbage, cauliflower)
8 to 10 Red Chillies
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
Grated Cocoanut (optional)
Salt to taste
Garnish:
1 Teaspoon vegetable oil
1 Teaspoon mustard seeds
Asafetida (perungayam or hing)
Curry leaves (karivepillai)
Method:
Cook thoor dhal with 1 teaspoon turmeric added to it either in a pressure cooker or in a rice
cooker. Add raw coriander seeds, mustard seeds, red chillies and cocoanut to the blender. Grind
the raw ingredients to a paste. In a separate vessel, cook the vegetable of choice. Add salt to
taste. Add the ground paste and cook in low heat till the contents start boiling. Add the cooked
dhal. Heat (low heat) the vessel till contents boil. Add additional salt to taste. To make the
garnish, heat up a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan. After the oil gets warm, add the mustard
seeds. After the seeds stop popping, turn off the heat, add a pinch of asafetida and add curry
leaves. Add the garnish. Mix well.
Inji (ginger) Pachchidi (raitha) By Nagu Satyan
Ingredients:
Peeled and Chopped Ginger
6 Red Chillies
Grated Cocoanut (optional)
Salt to taste
Garnish:
1 Teaspoon vegetable oil
1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
1 Teaspoon Urad Dhal
Asafetida (perungayam or hing)
Curry leaves (karivepillai)
Method:
Grind the chopped ginger, cocoanut and dry roasted red chillies to a paste. Add the paste to a
bowl. Add salt to taste. Add yogurt to paste and mix well. To make the garnish, heat up a
teaspoon of oil in a saucepan. After the oil gets warm, add the mustard seeds. After the seeds
stop popping, add the urad dhal. After the dhal becomes brown, turn off the heat, add a pinch of
asafetida and add curry leaves. Add the garnish to the vessel. Mix well. Alternatively, the red
chillies can be dry roasted with urad dhal as part of the garnish and added to the ground paste.