Moogadali Paaysu (Moongdal Kheer)

Moogadali Paaysu is a popular South Indian Kheer. I got this recipe from my mother. This kheer is very simple to make. The moongdal is cooked and then sweetened with jaggery. Finally it is enriched with coconut milk and a dash of cardamom. 

Long time back my brother had suggested me to post this recipe. I have been thinking of making this since then and finally I made it. It is my first try and  turned out pretty good. Do try making this for any festivals which are lined up and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Moongdal* (Split skinless green gram) - 1 cup
• Jaggery - 1/2 cup (adjust accordingly)
• Thick Coconut milk - 3/4 cup
• Cardamom Pods - 3
• Ghee - 2-3 tsp
• Cashew and Raisins - As desired

*You can also use 3/4 cup of moongdal and 1/4 cup of sabudana (sago pearls) for variation.

Procedure:

Wash moongdal 2-3 times and drain the water completely. Now take this dal in a pressure cooker and fry this for 2-3 minutes along with a tsp of ghee (you are not looking for change in color of the dal) until a nice aroma is got.

Then add 2 cups of water and pressure cook it for one whistle.

Then mash it lightly with a wooden spoon. Add little water to loosen it and then add powdered jaggery. Start heating this mixture.

Turn off the heat when the jaggery is well dissolved and the mixture has boiled for 2-3 minutes. Now add in the coconut milk and cardamom powder. 

Mix well. Also add cashew and raisins fried in ghee. Mix well. 

Moogadali Paaysu is ready!!

Serve it warm. Above measurement serves 3-4 people.

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Cheppi Kheeri (Unsweetened Rice Pudding)

Cheppi Kheeri is a popular dish in Konkani cuisine. It is prepared especially during festivals like Nagarpanchami, Gowri Tritiya and Navaratri. I got this recipe from my mother. This dish is unique. The rice is cooked along with turmeric leaves until soft. The leaves infuses a mild flavor to the rice. It is then enriched by adding freshly extracted coconut milk. The coconut milk makes the dish little sweet and no other sweetening agent is added.

My husband is a great fan of this dish. Hence I decided to plant turmeric roots. Now I have five plants in my garden. I used those leaves in this dish. This is the first time I am making it and it did turn out very tasty as my mother's would taste! :-)

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1/2 cup
• Homemade Thick Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup
• Turmeric leaves, small sized - 2
• Water - 2 1/4 cup

Procedure:

The most important ingredient for this dish is freshly extracted coconut milk. So please don't use canned coconut milk. 

Another important ingredient is turmeric leaves. This is the picture of the plant from my garden.

For extracting Coconut milk- 

Break open the coconut into two pieces using a hammer.

Now take one of the piece and remove the coconut meat (white part) using a knife (or use a scraper if you have).

Now transfer the coconut meat into a blender along with water (1 1/4 cup).

Grind it to get a smooth paste.

Place a fine sieve (or cotton cloth) over a bowl. Now add the coconut paste into the sieve.

Press it until all the milk is removed. You will be left with dry coconut scraps. The bowl will have the thick, creamy coconut milk (thin coconut milk can be extracted using the coconut scraps by adding 1 1/2 cups of water and then passing it through the sieve. This thin milk can be added while making payasam).

I extracted both the thick and thin coconut milk. Now set it aside.
Next step is to cook rice.
Wash the rice 2-3 times and put it in a cooking pot. Now add 2 1/4 cups of water (or I added 1 cup water and 1 1/4 cup thin coconut milk) and turmeric leaves. Start heating the mixture.

When it comes to a boil, continue heating for a minute and then close the lid. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes. After 15- 20 minutes, the rice will be cooked and most of the liquid will be absorbed.

Now again heat the rice mixture and mash it lightly using a ladel. Once the mixture looks thick, turn off the heat. 

Let it cool for 15- 20 minutes. When it is still warm, add thick coconut milk and mix well. 

Cheppi Kheeri is ready!!

Serve it immediately. Above measurement serves two people.

Serving suggestion: Sprinkle little salt while eating. 
Discard the turmeric leaves.

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Homemade Coconut Milk (Narla Rosu) ~ Using Fresh Coconut

I grew up eating coconut in anything and everything...literally !! Yes, in Konkani Cuisine almost every dish has to have coconut in it. Every week a family of four uses 4-5 coconuts/ week. So now you know that we are coconut lovers :-)
During festivals making coconut milk at home is very common. Traditional jaggery based payasams is enriched by adding freshly extracted coconut milk. I used to help my mom with the extraction of coconut milk. Back then I never appreciated the taste of fresh coconut or coconut milk. Now after using frozen coconut for many years, I really miss the taste of freshly grated coconut and coconut milk. 

This is the first time, I am extracting coconut milk.I wanted fresh coconut milk for another recipe and hence got a coconut. The process is very simple and it indeed makes a lot of difference in whichever dish you use it :-)

Ingredients:

• Fresh Coconut in a Shell - 1/2
• Water - 1 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Break open the coconut into two pieces using a hammer.

Now take one of the piece and remove the coconut meat (white part) using a knife (or use a scraper if you have).

Now transfer the coconut meat into a blender along with water.

Grind it to get a smooth paste.

Place a fine sieve (or cotton cloth) over a bowl. Now add the coconut paste into the sieve.

Press it until all the milk is removed. You will be left with dry coconut scraps. The bowl will have the thick, creamy coconut milk (thin coconut milk can be extracted using the coconut scraps by adding 1 1/2 cups of water and then passing it through the sieve. This thin milk can be added while making payasam).

Homemade Coconut Milk is ready!!

Use it immediately for best results or store it in the refrigerator for later use. Half a coconut yields 1 1/2 cup of thick coconut milk.

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Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake

Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake is one of our all time favorite cake and I prepare it quite often. I am a huge fan of orange flavor and hence love the mild flavor in this cake. I got this recipe from Easy Cooking. I skipped the glaze as we are not fond of it. Hence incased the amount of sugar in the cake. The recipe is very easy to put together and it comes out perfect every single time. 

Its been a long time since I updated this space. I got busy with friends and then pain of wisdom tooth took over. I am slowly recovering from it and hence decided to bake a cake. This will be the first cake recipe on my blog. Do try it and I am sure you will love it.

Ingredients:

• All Purpose flour (Maida) - 1 1/2 cups
• Baking powder - 2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1 1/4 cup
• Orange zest - From one whole orange
• Yogurt (curd)- 1 cup
• Large Eggs - 3
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Oil* - 1/2 cup

*You can use any flavorless oil like canola or vegetable oil.

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
Grease the loaf pan using oil or butter. You can also spread parchment paper inside the pan.
Take all the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and give a rough mix.

In another big bowl add in the sugar and orange zest.

Now rub in the zest into the sugar so that the sugar gets flavored.

Now add yogurt, vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and mix well using a whisk until it comes together. Then add in the eggs and mix. Once the eggs gets incorporated add oil and mix. The mixture looks like this.

Now add the dry ingredients mix prepared earlier.

Mix the flour gently until you get a homogeneous mixture (don't over mix the batter).

Now pour this mixture into the prepared loaf pan (I used a portion of the batter to make four muffins).

Bake it in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean (for me it took 40 minutes for the loaf cake and 20 minutes for the muffins).
Once done let it cool for 5 minutes and then allow it to cool on a cooling rack.
Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake is ready!!

Serve it at room temperature. It stays good for 2-3 days. For later use refrigerate it.

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