Kattu Pongali (Rice Pongal)

What I used:

Rice : 1 cup
Split green gram dal : 1/2 cup
Cashews : 2 to 3 tbsp
Ginger : 1/2 inch (finely chopped)
Pepper corns : 1 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Ground pepper : 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves : a few (I didn't put them, 'cause I didn't have them)
Salt : as required
Ghee : 2 tbsp

How I did:

• Wash rice and dal together and keep aside.
• Heat two tbsp of ghee in a pressure cooker, add cashews, pepper corns, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, chopped ginger and curry leaves.
• Saute till the seeds splutter and cashews are nicely browned.
• Pour 4 cups of water and add salt and ground pepper.
• When the water comes to boil, add rice and dal and put the lid on with the whistle.
• Cook for upto three whistles and switch off the stove.
• Wait for ten minutes, open the lid and mix thoroughly.
• Serve hot with Sambar or Split yellow dal chutney.

Ravva Palakura Garelu (Sooji and Spinach Fritters)

What I used:

Bombai Ravva (Sooji) : 1 cup
Urad dal : 1/2 cup
Spinach leaves : a handful (chopped)
Baking soda : 1/4 tsp
Salt : as required
Oil : for deep frying

How I did:

• Soak urad dal for 2 hours or more and grind into a smooth paste.  This doesn't have to be tight as we do for normal garelu, so add little water while grinding, 
• Mix ravva to urad dal batter and let rest for half-hour.  Add salt, baking soda and chopped spinach and mix thoroughly.
• Apply little water to your palms, take a big lemon sized batter, shape it in the form of donut, make a hole in the center and deep fry.
• When they turn golden brown on both sides transfer them to paper napkin which absorbs excess oil. 
• Serve hot with any chutney.

Egg Chettinad

What I used:

Hard boiled eggs : 4
Plain yogurt : 1/4 cup
Tomato : 1 (chopped)
Pepper corns : 1/4 tsp
Garlic cloves : 2 to 3 (chopped)
Pepper powder : 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder : 1 pinch
Salt : as required
Chopped coriander : 1 tsp
Oil : 1 tbsp

How I did:

• Cut the boiled eggs into 6 to 8 pieces each.
• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan, add chopped garlic cloves and pepper corns.
• Saute till garlic is nicely browned and add egg pieces and chopped tomatoes.
• Stir fry till tomatoes are cooked and add yogurt, salt, turmeric powder and pepper powder.
• Cook till the mixture comes together and egg pieces are coated well with yogurt and spices.
• Garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice or roti.

Gingerbread House and Merry Christmas

We had a play date for kids and I've planned Gingerbread house activity for them.  Everybody had fun assembling their own houses and decorating them.  I got a gingerbread mix from Michaels but I could make only three houses out of that mix.  I had to bake a total of 7 houses and so again I made the cookies from scratch.  I found this recipe in Joy of Baking but substituted molasses with honey and completely omitted nutmeg 'cause I didn't have it.  When I mixed the dough I felt it is too liquidy to roll out immediately, so mixed a little flour and refrigerated for an hour. I made paper cuttings of walls and roof proportionately for a house and used those as stencils for the cookies.  After I've finished with the houses, I made a few Snowmen and Gingerbread Men with the remaining dough.

What I used:

For the Gingerbread House:

All purpose flour : 3 cups (an extra 2 tbs if its too loose)
White granulated sugar : 1/2 cup
Butter : 1/2 cup
Honey : 2/3 cup
Egg : 1
Ground ginger : 2 tsp
Ground cinnamon : 1 tsp
Ground cloves : 1/4 tsp
Salt : 1/4 tsp
Baking soda : 3/4 tsp

For the Frosting:

Powdered sugar : 2 1/4 cups
Egg whites : 3 eggs
Cream of Tarter : 1 tsp

For the Decoration:

M & Ms
Sprinkles
Candy canes
Jelly Beans

How I did:

Gingerbread House:

• Sift together the flour, spices, salt and baking soda and keep it aside.
• Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy with an hand mixer or electric mixer.
• Add honey and egg and beat until blended. 
• Add the flour mixture gradually and beat until the dough comes together.  Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 deg F.  
• Directly roll out the dough on the back of the cookies sheet, which makes it easier.  Use a damp towel underneath the cookie sheet which holds the sheet in place while rolling. Lightly flour a cookie sheet from the bottom, unwrap the dough from the wrap, take a big ball sized dough and roll out on the floured cookie sheet to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Place the paper templates on the rolled dough and cut the shapes with a pizza cutter or you could even use a knife.
• Carefully remove all the extra dough from the cookie sheet.  This can be used again.
• Put the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges turn to brown.
• Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest for about 10 minutes and then transfer to another surface to cool completely.

Frosting:

• Combine the powdered sugar, egg whites and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for about 4 to 5 minutes till stiff peaks form.

Use the frosting as the glue and assemble the house and decorate it.

Coffee Fizzle

What I used :

Vanilla Ice cream : 2 scoops
Black coffee : 1/4 cup (Mix some instant coffee powder in warm water and add sugar if desired)
Sprite or plain soda : 1/2 cup
Chocolate syrup : 1 tbsp

How I did:

• Blend vanilla ice cream, black coffee and chocolate syrup together.
• Transfer to a serving glass or cup and pour chilled soda or sprite.

Crispy Sesame Cookies

What I used:

All purpose flour : 1 1/4 cups 

Egg : 1

Butter : 1 stick (1/2 cup)

White granulated sugar : 1/2 cup

Brown sugar : 1/2 cup

Sesame seeds : 1 cup

Vanilla extract : 1 tsp

Salt : 1/4 tsp

Baking powder : 1/2 tsp

How I did:

• Heat a pan on medium heat and roast the sesame seeds until lightly brown.   Keep them aside to cool.
• Heat the oven to 350 deg F.  
• Sift all purpose flour, baking powder and salt and keep aside.
• Take butter, white sugar and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cream them together for about 2 minutes.
• Add egg and vanilla extract and beat till combined.  
• Add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Fold in 1/3 cup of roasted sesame seeds.
• Take a tea spoon sized dough, shape into a ball and roll in the sesame seeds to coat.  Similarly make the remaining cookies and place them on a greased cookie sheet leaving 1 inch space between each cookie. Slightly press the balls with a spatula to flatten.
• Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or edges turn golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring from the cookie sheet.
• Let cool completely before storage.
• Makes about 80 cookies.

Sending this to Dr. Sameena's Cookies and Cakes for X-Mas Event

Challa Pindi

This is a type of upma made with rice flour and sour curds. Mom prepares this for breakfast whenever curd is leftover at home. Challa Pindi doesn't taste good if the curds are not sour enough.  Here in US usually the curds won't turn that sour because we keep it in the refrigerator . Even if we leave it outside, it won't turn sour because of the cool weather.  As usual I add little lemon juice to fill up that sourness.

What I used:

Rice flour : 1 cup
Sour curd : 1 cups (well whisked)
Water : 1 cup
Green chillies : 4 to 5 (slit lengthwise)
Onions : 1/2 (chopped)
Mustard seeds : 1/ 2 tsp 
Bengal gram : 1 tbsp
Urad dal : 1/2 tsp 
Cumin : 1/2 tsp 
Turmeric : a big pinch 
Curry leaves : a few
Red Chilli : 1 (broken) 
Lemon juice : 1 tsp or as required (optional)
Salt : as required
Cooking Oil : 1 tbsp


How I did:

• To 1 cup of curd add 1 cup of water and whisk well. To this mix rice flour, salt and turmeric powder and keep it aside.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds, bengal gram, urad dal, cumin and red chilli pieces.
• When the seeds start spluttering, add slit green chillies and curry leaves.
• Saute for a while and add chopped onions.  Cook till they turn translucent.
• While stirring, add the rice flour mixture slowly and keep stirring till it starts bubbling. Adjust the salt if any and switch off the stove when the rice flour is cooked.  Add lemon juice and mix.
• Serve hot as breakfast.