Hearty Spices

Soak 1/2 Cup Urad Dal and 1 cup of Idli Rice in water overnight.  Grind into fine batter with little water, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Sugar and keep aside. Roast 3/4 cup Sooji in a tsp of Ghee in a pan until golden brown and remove from heat. Keep aside.  Heat 1 1/2 cup Water seperately and add it to the sooji pan and mix until the water is absorbed. Add 1 1/4 cup Sugar, a pinch of food color, 4 1/2 tsp of Ghee and cook for 2 minutes. Add a pinch of Cardamom Powder and cook for few minutes until halwa is manageable to make into balls. Let it cool. Once cooled, make balls and dip into the batter and deep fry until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

Start the Instantpot on "Saute" and add a tsp of Ghee to the pot. Add 1/2 cup of Vermicelli and roast for 5 minutes. Press "Cancel" once the vermicelli is golden brown.  To the pot, add 1/ 2 cup chopped nuts (Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts and Pistachios), 1/4 cup of Sugar, a tbsp of Raisins,  3 cups of Milk, a tsp of Cardamom Powder and mix well.  Close the lid with the vent on "sealing position" and select "Porridge" mode and cook for 6 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Serve warm or cold.

In a pan, heat a tbsp of Ghee and roast 2 tbsp of Cashew nuts, 2 tbsp of sliced Almonds and a tsp of Raisins until golden brown and keep aside. Roast 3/4 cup of Moong Dal in a pressure cooker pan for 2 minutes. Add 2 1/4 cup of Water to it and pressure cook for 3 whistles.  Add a cup of Jaggery and 1/4 cup of Water in a saucepan and on low heat dissolve all the jaggery. Add the cooked Dal and a tsp of Ghee to the Jaggery saucepan and let it boil for 2 minutes, while mixing well. Add a cup of Coconut Milk and simmer for 2 mins, while stirring well.  Add the roasted nuts, 1/4 tsp of Cardamom Powder and 1/4 cup of Coconut milk and stir well. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Wash 1 1/4 cups of Rice and pressure cook for 3 whistles with 2 1/2 cups of Water . Once the steam is out, add a tsp of Turmeric Powder, a tsp of Salt, 2 tbsp of Oil, a sprig of Curry Leaves and 3 slit Green Chillies . Mix lightly and keep aside. Grind together an inch of Ginger piece, 3 tsp of Mustard Seeds, 3 Red Chillies and Salt to taste into a fine paste with 2 tbsp of Water. Heat a tbsp of Oil in a small pan and splutter  half sprig of Curry Leaves . Add 2 tbsp of Tamarind Paste, a tbsp of Jaggery, mustard paste and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat and let cool. Add to the rice and mix well. In the same pan, add a tbsp of Oil and saute 2 tbsp of Groundnuts, a tbsp of Channa Dal, a tbsp of Urad Dal, a tsp of Mustard Seeds . Add 2 broken Red Chillies, half sprig of Curry Leaves and saute for a minute. Add this to the rice too and mix well. Serve hot.  

Soak a cup of Alasandulu/ Black eyed-peas/Lobia overnight in water. Pressure cook them with a pinch of Salt until 3-4 whistles (it should hold its shape and should not become mushy). Drain and set aside. Heat a tsp of Oil in a pan, crackle ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, a tsp of Cumin seeds, a tbsp of Chana Dal, a tsp of Urad Dal until they turn golden brown. Add 2-3 broken Red Chillies, few Curry Leaves, a pinch of Asafoetida and saute for another minute. Add the cooked and drained lobia and stir fry slowly for few minutes. Add Salt as needed, 2-3 tbsp of Grated Coconut (optional)  and mix well.  Remove from heat and add a tsp of Lemon Juice and mix well.  Serve hot/warm/cold.

Wash and soak 1/2 cup of Saggubiyyam in water for an hour. Grate 1/2 cup of Jaggery and keep aside. Heat a sauce pan with 3-4 tbsp of Water and add the jaggery to it. Once the jaggery melts, sieve it to remove all the impurities. Add the mixture back to the sauce pan and let it thicken till it reaches 1-string consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. In another saucepan, take 1 1/2 cups of Water , the soaked Saggubiyyam and let it cook until they turn transparent/cooked. Add a cup of Milk, a tsp of Cardamom Powder and cook until the mixture thickens. Add the cooled jaggery mixture and mix well. Remove from heat and transfer into a bowl. Heat a tbsp of Ghee in a small pan and saute a tbsp of broken Cashews and few Raisins until golden brown. Remove from heat and add to the payasam. Serve warm or chilled. Note: Replace 1/2 cup of Jaggery with 1/2 cup of Sugar and add after the saggubiyyam is cooked.

Roast a cup of White Sesame Seeds on medium heat until they turn golden brown. Keep aside to cool. Chop a cup of Jaggery into a fine powder. Grind both the roasted sesame seeds and chopped jaggery into coarse powder. Make round balls using few drops of milk, if needed.

Heat a tbsp of Ghee in a pan; toast the 10-12 Cashewnuts and 1 tbsp of Raisins till golden brown. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add the 1 cup of Vermicelli  and roast for about 4 minutes till a golden brown. Remove and keep aside. In a saucepan, add 2-3 tbsp of Sago/Sabudhana, 3 cups of Water and cook for 5 minutes. Now add the roasted vermicelli and let it cook completely. Add ¾ cup of Sugar and 2 cups of Milk and let it cook slowly on medium heat for another 7-8 minutes, stirring once in a while. Add the 1 tsp of Cardamom Powder and the toasted cashews and raisins. Serve warm or refrigerate until chilled.

Pressure cook 1 cup of Black Chickpeas till soft or for 3 whistles. Add Salt to taste and combine. Heat 1½ tsp of Oil in a pan, add ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, ½ tsp of Cumin Seeds and let them pop. Add ½ tsp of Black Gram Dal (Urad Dal) and saute for a minute till they turn red. Add a pinch of Asafoetida, 2-3 chopped Green Chillis, a sprig of Curry Leaves and saute for 15-20 secs. Add the cooked chickpeas, 2 tbsp of Grated Coconut (optional) and combine. Adjust salt and turn off heat.

Heat a pan with 1 tsp of Ghee / clarified Butter and roast some chopped Cashewnuts, Almonds, Raisins and a pinch of Cardamom Powder . Remove from heat and keep aside. Add another tsp of Ghee/ clarified Butter and roast 1 cup of Rava till it turns golden brown. Remove from heat and keep aside. Heat a saucepan with a cup of Water, 2 cups of Milk and bring to a boil. Add 1½ cup of Sugar, few drops of Food Color ; mix and let it dissolve. Then add the rava little by little so that lumps are not formed and simmer and cover with lid so that Rava cooks well. Garnish with the roasted nuts and  a tbsp of Ghee / clarified Butter .

Garnish - Heat a tbsp of Ghee and roast 1 tbsp of Cashewnuts and 1 tbsp of Raisins till golden brown and keep aside. Rice & Dal - Dry roast 1 cup of Rice and 1 cup of Moong Dal in a pan till the dal turns golden brown. Then, pressure-cook the rice and dal with 6 cups of Water till 3 whistles and remove from heat. (1:1 Rice:Moong Dal and 1:3 Rice+Moong Dal:Water) Pongal - Add 4 cups of Sugar or Jaggery or both to the Pongal and mix well till the sugar/jaggery dissolves. Add  a powdered Cardamom, 2 tbsp of Ghee and combine. Garnish with roasted nuts and serve hot or cold.

Prep - Cook 1 cup of Rice in 2 cups of Water and keep aside. Finely Powder 2 tsp of Mustard Seeds and keep aside. Make a paste of 1 medium sized Green Mango, peeled and cubed, ½ cup of finely chopped Fresh Coconut and 8 to 10 small Green Chillies . Heat 1 tsp of Peanut Oil , in a big sauté pan and toast ¼ cup of Peanuts to golden brown color and remove. Rice - Add another tsp of Oil or Ghee to the same pan. Toast a tsp if each - Cumin, Mustard, Urad Dal, Chana Dal, few pieces of dried Red Chillies and Curry Leaves . Add the Mustard seed powder, Smooth mango-coconut-chilli paste, 1 tsp of Turmeric Powder  and Salt to taste . Stir and sauté this mixture for 3 to 5 minutes on medium heat, until the raw smell is gone. Stir in the toasted peanuts and remove from heat. Add the rice, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

Garnish - Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp of Ghee and toast 2 tbsp of Cashewnuts and 1 tbsp of Raisins till golden brown. Remove and keep aside. Dal & Jaggery Syrup - In the same pan, add  ½  cup Split Yellow Moong Dal and roast it for approx 4 minutes till it turns a light brown shade. Remove from pan and pressure cook in 1 cup of Water till soft and mushy. Add 3/4  cup of Jaggery and ¼ cup of Water and bring to boil till the jaggery melts. Remove from heat and keep aside. Payasam - In a heavy bottomed vessel, boil  ½ cup  of Milk , stirring once in a while. Once the milk is boiled, add the cooked dal and combine well. Next, add the jaggery syrup and keep stirring on low heat till well combined for 12-15 minutes. Add the ½ tsp of Cardamom Powder and toasted cashews and raisins. Serve warm or refrigerate until chilled.

Vada Pappu - Soak 5 tbsp of Split Yellow Moong Dal (Pesara Pappu) in water for ½ hour and strain. Uncooked chalimidi - Soak 1 cup of Raw Rice for 2-3 hours in warm water. Drain and dry the rice on a dry cloth until completely dry and powder coarsely. Mix the coarse powder with ½ cup of Sugar or Jaggery adding 1-2 tsp of Water . Add 2-3 tbsp of Grated / Chopped Coconut and ½ tsp of Cardamom Powder . Mix well to make smooth dough. (Can use ready-made rice powder too.) Cooked Chalimidi - Add the rice powder is to the warm sugar or jaggery syrup and cooked in low heat to form the dough. Add the Coconut and Cardamom Powder to it and stir till no lumps are visible.

Prep - Soak ½ cup of Chana dal in water and pressure cook upto 2 whistles. Cook ¾ cup of Saggubiyyam (Sago) in 2 cups of Water till soft. Payasam - In a cooker, add the 1 cup of Jaggery, soaked in 1 cup of strained Chana Dal Water (for 10 minutes) and let it cook for 7-8 minutes on low heat. Add the cooked chana dal and sago along with the liquid and let it slowly simmer for 6-7 minutes, stirring in between. Add 2 cups of Milk, ½ tsp of Cardamom Powder and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Garnish - Heat a pan, add ½ tbsp of Ghee , toast 8-10 Cashewnuts and few Raisins till golden brown. Add them to the payasam and serve hot or cold.

Dal and Sago - Soak 1 cup of Senagapappu (Chana Dal) and ¼ cup of Saggubiyyam (Sago) in water for atleast 2 hours seperately. Pressure cook Chana Dal with a cup of Milk and a cup of Water for one whistle. Kheer - Heat ½ cup of Water , a cup of Powdered Jaggery / Sugar and stir cook until sugar/jaggery melts. When the syrup starts to thicken, add the soaked sago and 2 cups of Milk . Cook on medium heat for atleast 15 minutes, stirring in between. Stir in the Chana dal mixture also and mix well ocassionally for another 10 minutes till it reaches the desired consistency. Flavor - Heat a tbsp Ghee in a small pan, saute ¼ cup of Cashews and Golden Raisins and toast till light brown. Add them to the kheer. Finally, stir in the powdered Cardamom Powder (of 2 pods) . Switch off the heat and let it stand for 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

1 cup raw Rice 2 tbsp Chana Dal, washed ½ tsp Jeera 2 tbsp Grated Fresh Coconut ½ tsp Salt 2 cups Water Wash rice well and drain all the water. Spread on a paper napkin to dry out all the water. Rice grains have to be fully dry. Grind the rice grains in a blender/ grinder to a rawa consistency. Place a saucepan on the stove with water, chana dal, cumin and salt. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to a medium heat, pour in the rice rawa slowly into the boiling water and keep stirring. Stir till all the water is absorbed by the rice rawa. Add grated coconut and stir in well. Turn off the stove, cover with a lid. After 15 minutes, spread on a lighlty greased plate. With wet hands make small balls. Sprinkle some water if rawa is too hard or breaking. Use a idli steaming stand to steam these rice balls. Place idli stand in a pressure cooker with little water to steam. Cover the pressure cooker and steam for 10 minutes. Notes: Can substitute Rice Rava instead of Rice and skip coconut...

S oak a cup of Rice and ½ cup of Urad Dal for about 4 hours. Drain the water and grind to a thick dosa batter like consistency, add Salt to taste and mix well. Set aside.  Pressure cook 1 ¼ cup of Chana Dal along with 2 ½ cup of Water till the dal retains it's shape. Drain any left over water from the dal after it’s cooked. Add 2 cups of Grated Jaggery / Sugar and blend them together till it folds well. Cook till the mixture starts sticking to the pan. Remove from heat and add a pinch of Cardamom Powder , mix and make small balls. Heat Oil in a wide heavy bottomed vessel for frying. Dip each Channa Dal mixture ball in the dosa batter to coat evenly. Deep-fry it till golden brown.

2-3 cups Water ½ tsp Ginger Powder or 1tbsp Grated Fresh Ginger 2-3 tbsp Grated Jaggery ½ tsp Crushed Peppercorns 1 Crushed Cardamom Dissolve the grated jaggery in water and add fresh chopped ginger or dry ginger powder to it. Boil the mixture and filter it. Add crushed cardamom and peppercorns to it before serving.

Dry roast ½ cup of Sooji for 4 minutes and keep aside. Soak 2 tbsp of Moong Dal in water for 15 minutes, drain and keep aside. Heat  a tsp of Ghee in a pan and saute 1½ tbsp of Grated Coconut and ½ tsp of Cumin Seeds and keep aside. In a saucepan, add a cup of Water , pinch of Salt and bring to a boil. Immediately add the roasted sooji and stir continuously ensuring that no lumps are formed and once all the water is absorbed and appears like a big lump, cover and remove from heat. Once cool, add and mix the drained Moong Dal, sauteed Cumin seed mixture. Make lemon sized balls and serve or steam for 10-11 minutes in pressure cooker (optional).