Peanut balls

Ingredients

Roasted peanut - 1/4 kg
Jaggery - 1/4 kg
Ghee - 1 spoon
Cardamom - 1/4 teaspoon

Preparation

1. Clean the peanuts and remove the skin & sand if present
2. Smash the jaggery
3. In a pan, heat ghee and add the jaggery.  Once the jaggery melts, heat the jaggery in low flame and stir continuously for 5 minutes till kambhi padham is reached.
4. Mix the peanuts and cardamom in a vessel.
5. Pour the jaggery fluid in this vessel and mix thiroughly. (Sand in jaggery might get settled down in the paaghu, so leave the bottom most portion of the paaghu in the pan itself.)
6. Apply rice flour in hands (to prevent burns)  and then make urunadi
7. Urundai must be made before the heat cools down. Hence apply rice flour in your hands and make urundai

Nel Pori urundai (Puffed Paddy balls)

Ingredients

Nel pori - 1/4 kg (Puffed Paddy)
Cardamom - 1/4 teaspoon
Copra - 2 spoon finely chopped (Kopparai Thengaai)
Roasted Peanut - 50 gm
Jaggery - 150 gm (ask for paaghu vellam)
Ghee - 1 spoon

Preparation

1. Clean the nel pori and remove the sand if present.
2. Smash the jaggery
3. Roast the chopped kopra in a dry pan till it turns red
4. In a separate pan, heat ghee and add the jaggery.  Once the jaggery melts, Heat the jaggery in low flame and stir continuously for 5 minutes till kambhi padham is reached.
5. Mix nel pori, cardamom and peanuts thoroughly in a vessel.
6. Pour the jaggery fluid in this vessel and mix thiroughly. (Sand in jaggery might get settled down in the paaghu, so leave the bottom most portion of the paaghu in the pan itself.)
7. Apply rice flour in hands (to prevent burns)  and then make nel pori urunadi
8. Pori urundai must be made before the heat cools down. Hence apply rice flour in your hands and make urundai

Nel Pori

Aval & Nel Pori balls

Aval Pori urundai (Puffed Flattened Rice balls)

Ingredients
Aval pori - 1/4 kg (Puffed Flattened Rice)
Copra - 2 spoon finely chopped (Kopparai Thengaai)
Cardamon - 1/4 teaspoon
Roasted Peanut - 50 gm
Jaggery - 200 gm (ask for paagu vellam)
Ghee - 1 spoon

Preparation

1. Clean the aval pori and remove the sand if present
2. Remove peanut skins, if present
3. Smash the jaggery
4. Roast the chopped kopra in a dry pan till it turns red
5. In a separate pan, heat ghee and add the jaggery.  Once the jaggery melts, heat the jaggery in low flame and stir continuously for 5 minutes till kambhi padham is reached.
6. Mix aval pori, cardamom and peanuts thoroughly in a vessel.
7. Pour the jaggery fluid in this vessel and mix thiroughly. (Sand in jaggery might get settled down in the paaghu, so leave the bottom most portion of the paaghu in the pan itself.)
8. Apply rice flour in hands (to prevent burns)  and then make aval pori urunadi
9. Pori urundai must be made before the heat cools down. Hence apply rice flour in your hands and make urundai

Aval Pori	Copra roasted
Smashed Jaggery	Halfway
Kambhi Padham (Consistency of jaggery)	Aval & Nel Pori balls

Jeeragam-milagu saatramudhu (Jeera pepper rasam)

Ingredients

Tamarind (puli) - size of lemon
Pepper - 2 teaspoon
Thoor dhal (thuvaram paruppu) - 2 teaspoon
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Red chilly - 6
Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4teaspoon
Salt
Ghee - 1 spoon
Mustard, Curry leaves (karuveppilai)

Preparation

1. Grind pepper, Thoor dhal, Jeera, chilly and asafoetida in mixer grinder. Do not grind the mix too nicely.
2. Prepare tamarind water by squeezing and mixing the tamarind in 2 tumblers of water
3. Add salt to the tamarind water and heat it in a vessel for 10 minutes
4. Add the grounded powder to this and continue heating for 3 minutes
5. Add 1 tumbler of water and heat the vessel in low flame till the top layer is full of effervescence. Turn off the stove.
6. Heat the ghee in a separate pan, add mustard and karuveppilai.  Add this to the rasam.

Paruppu saatramudhu (dhal rasam)

Ingredients

Thoor dhal (thuvaram paruppu) - 1/2 cup
Tamarind (puli) - size of lemon
Tomato - 2 (finely chopped)
Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
Rasam powder - 2 teaspoon
Salt - for taste
Mustard, Jeera, Curry leaves (karuveppilai)
Coriander - finely chopped
Ghee - 1 spoon

Cooking of Thoor dhal (thuvaram paruppu)

1. Thoroughly wash the Thoor dhal in water
2. Put Thoor dhal in a vessel which can be accommodated in a pressure cooker. Add 1 tumbler of water in the vessel
3. Cover the vessel with a plate
4. Add 2 tumblers of water in the pressure cooker
5. Leave the Pressure cooker heated until 3 sounds

Preparation

1. Prepare tamarind water by squeezing and mixing the tamarind in 2 tumblers of water
2. Add the chopped tomato, asafoetida, salt and Rasam powder to the tamarind water and boil them in a vessel for 5 minutes.
3. Mash the cooked Thoor dhal and add it to the above
4. Boil for 5 minutes
5. Add 1 tumbler of water, reduce to medium flame and continue heating till yellow effervescence occupies the top layer. Do not boil the rasam, just heat it till effervescent stage.
6. Turn off the stove
7. Heat ghee in a separate pan, add mustard, Jeera and karuveppilai.  
8. Add this to the rasam. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves.

Saatramudhu tastes great when prepared in eeya sombhu (Tin pot)

Do not overheat the eeya sombhu, always cook in medium flame. Reduce to low flame once yellow effervescence starts. Continue heating in low flame till the effervescence occupies the top layer.

Deepavali Lehiyam

Ingredients

Sukku (Dry Ginger) - 10 gm
Kandanthippili (Long pepper) - 10 gm
Omam (Carom seeds)- 10 gm
Kasa kasa (Poppy seeds) - 10 gm
Dry grapes - 25 gm
Chitharathai root (Fingerroot) - 10 gm
Cashew nut - 10
Badam - 10
Ginger - 50 gm
Pepper - 10 gm
Jeera - 10 gm
Gingely oil - 50 ml
Ghee - 50 gm
Honey - 25gm
Jaggery -250 gm

Preparation

1. Soak omam, kasa kasa in small cups of water separately. This is just to make sure the sand present in them gets settled down.
2. Thoroughly wash ginger, chop it and soak in a cup of water.
3. Wash kandanthippili, chitharathai, smash them and soak in hot water.
4. Soak badam in a separate cup of water
5. Leave all of the above for an hour
6. Peel the badam skin
7. Remove these ingredients from water and put in mixer grinder
8. Add dry grapes, cashew, pepper, jeera, required amount of water and grind them nicely to form a paste.
9. Add 1 cup of water in a pan and add the jaggery (smashed) and heat it till the jaggery dissolves completely
10. Filter the jaggery liquid or take only the top portion of the jaggery liquid, as the bottom portion might contain sand.
11. Add this filtered jaggery in a pan and heat it. Add the grounded ingredients from the mixer grinder in this pan. Heat the pan in medium flame.
12. Stir continuously for 15 minutes
13. Add gingely oil to this and heat for 10 minutes
14. Add ghee and stir for 5 minutes
15. Heat until the consistency is like lehiyam.  Add little ghee to your fingers and feel the consistency. The lehiyam should not stick in the fingers. (Consistency should be like idly flour batter)
16. Turn off the stove
17. Add honey and stir
18. Allow it to cool and preserve the lehiyam in an air-tight container. Preserve it in fridge for longer duration.

Omam (Carom seed)	Kasa Kasa (Poppy seed)
Soaked badam	Soaked Jeera, Cashew, Pepper
Chitharathai, Sukku	Chopped Ginger
Ingredients grinded in mixer grinder	Jaggery
Water with jaggery	Jaggery completely dissolved
Grinded ingredients mixed	After few minutes
Lehiyam

Ellu podi (sesame powder)

Ingredients
Sesame (Ellu) - 100gram
Red chilly - 10
Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - for taste

Preparation
Roast sesame seeds in a dry pan for 2 minutes and keep them separately.
Roast other ingredients in a dry pan for 2 minutes. Place this in the bottom of mixer grinder. Add the roasted sesame seeds on top of this and grind them

Paruppu podi

Ingredients

1. Thoor dhal ( thuvaram paruppu ) - 1 cup
2. Bengal gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 1/4 cup
3. Pepper - 1 tablespoon
4. Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
5. Red chilly - 10
6. Salt - for taste
7. Gingely oil (nallennai) -1/2 teaspoon

Preparation

1. Roast all ingredients, without salt, in a pan till they turn golden brown.
2. Roast salt separately in a pan.
3. Grind all the above in mixer grinder.

Thengaai podi (coconut powder)

Ingredients

1. Bengal gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 1 cup
2. Urid dhal (ulutham paruppu) - 1 cup
3. Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
4. Red chilly - 1/2 cup
5. Grated coconut (thuruviya thengaai) - 2 cup
6. Gingely oil (nallennai)-1/2 teaspoon

Preparation

1. Roast the grated coconut in a pan until it becomes golden brown
2. Roast the bengal gram, Urid dhal, red chilly, asafoetida and gingely oil in a separate pan till they turn golden brown.
3. Put them in a mixer grinder, add salt and then grind them for 1/2 minute.
4. Add coconut to this mix and grind them for 1/2 minute

Kothamalli podi (coriander powder)

Ingredients

1. Coriander (kothamalli) - 1 cup
2. Bengal gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 1/2 cup
3. Urid dhal (ulutham paruppu) - 1/2 cup
4. Red chilly - 1/2 cup
5. Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
6. Tamarind (puli) - size of a lemon
7. Gingely oil (nallennai)-1/2 teaspoon
8. Salt - for taste

Preparation

1. Wash the coriander leaves, dry them in fan and cut them for 1 cup.
2. Split the tamarind into small pieces and heat them in a dry pan until it gets heated.
3. Roast the bengal gram, Urid dhal, red chilly, asafoetida and gingely oil in a separate pan till they turn golden brown.
4. Mix the roasted chilly, salt and tamarind and grind them in mixer grinder for 1/2 minute
5. Add coriander to this mix and again grind for 1/2 minute
6. Add the remaining ingredients to this mix and grind them for 1/2 minute

Dhaniya podi - coriander seed powder

Ingredients

1. Coriander seed (Dhaniya) - 1 cup
2. Red chilly - 1/4 cup
3. Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
4. Gingely oil (nallennai) -1/2 teaspoon
5. Salt - for taste

Roast all ingredients (without salt) in a pan for 3 to 5 minutes. Mix the ingredients and salt and then grind them in mixer grinder.

Milagaai podi - idly chilly powder

Ingredients

1. Bengal gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 1 cup
2. Urid dhal (ulutham paruppu) - 1 cup
3. Red chilly - 3 cup
4. Sesame seed -25 grams (black or white)
5. Asafoetida (perungaayam) - 1/2 teaspoon
6. Gingely oil (nallennai)-1 spoon
7. Salt - for taste

Preparation

1. Roast sesame seeds separately in a dry pan for 2 minutes
2. Roast other ingredients (without salt) separately in a pan with 1 spoon gingely oil
3. Mix all the roasted ingredients and salt for taste and grind them in a mixer grinder

Kuzhambu Podi

Ingredients

1. Coriander seed (Dhaniya) - 3 cup
2. Bengal gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 1 cup
3. Turmeric Rhizome (kombhu manjal) - 4
4. Red chilly - 3 cup

Preparation

Keep the above ingredients in hot sun for 2 hours.
Alternative is to heat the above ingredients for few minutes in a dry pan until they get heated. Don't heat them too much untill they get roasted.  You must be able to touch the ingredients after heating.
If you have a flour mill near by, you can grind the above there for large quantity. Maintain the ratio of ingredients as above.
Or grind them nicely in a mixer grinder.

Saatramudhu podi - rasam powder

Ingredients

Coriander seed (Dhaniya) - 3 cup
Thoor dhal ( thuvaram paruppu ) - 1 cup
Red chilly - 1 cup
Jeera - 1/2 cup
Pepper - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 2 spoon

Preparation

1. Keep the above ingredients in hot sun for 2 hours.
2. Alternative is to heat the above ingredients for few minutes in a dry pan until they get heated. Don't heat them too much untill it gets roasted.  You must be able to touch the ingredients after heating.
3. Grind them in a mixer grinder. Do not grind until the powder becomes too nice

Filter Coffee

The first step for a refreshing & great filter coffee is to identify the coffee powder brand and coffee beans grade that tastes great for you. We have tried various brands like Kothas, Leo coffee, Fresh and Ground, Indian coffee and some local coffee shops and have tried different grades of coffee beans. Finally, now settled with Bayers Coffee (Bangalore) (JAVA - 80% Coffee, 20% chicory).
Chicory will not let water flow down easily through the filter and will extract the flavour from coffee. So make sure your coffee powder does contain some chicory.
Some people even use hand held coffee beans grinder everyday to prepare fresh coffee powder.
So identifying the coffee powder that tastes great for you will take some time (even days/months).


Decoction
Use a brass or stainless-steel coffee filter to make decoction. [We have tried other coffee makers, Stove Top filters, etc., but nothing comes close to the filter].

Here are the steps for preparing coffee for 3 people.

1. Heat the top portion of the filter on gas stove, so that any dust in the pores gets cleaned
2. Add 4 spoons of coffee powder in the top portion of the filter
3. Take some water and boil it. Pour the boiled water in the filter top fully and close the lid.
4. Let the decoction get collected in the bottom filter.
5. If the decoction is too watery, pour the decoction in the top portion of the filter again.
6. For 1 tumbler of coffee - take 1/4 tumbler of decoction and mix it with freshly boiled milk
7. Finally add 1-1/2 spoon of sugar.

1 Spoon Coffee powder	Filter
Decoction Color	Coffee

Some tips

1. Don't re-heat coffee. Always mix decoction with hot milk. Reheating a coffee will make it lose taste and flavour.
2. Coffee tastes great when freshly boiled milk is used. Subsequent heating of milk and preparing coffee will not taste that good.
3. Add Sugar as a last step, after mixing decoction and milk. We have noticed that, decoction, when mixed with sugar, loses its thickness.
4. Don't add too much of sugar. Only if there is some bitterness of the decoction left, the coffee tastes great.