Akkaravadisal (Akkara Adisal), Sweet Milk Pongal

          Akkaravadisal, I have come across this name so many times, but never got to taste it and when going through the recipe for it, I found it to be similar to Sakkarai Pongal, but with a slight variation. It's a Tamil Iyengar recipe and it's made as a 'naivedyam' especially on Koodaravalli which is an auspicious day observed on the 27th day of the Tamil month Margazhi . This year it happens to fall on today and also, Pongal being just around the corner, I thought of making and posting it today. Taste wise, it is more like Sakkarai Pongal, but with a milky flavor, since we cook the rice in lots of milk and ghee. Since it's a rich dish with lots of milk and ghee, have a small serving and enjoy..

Nei Appam, Ghee Appam

          Happy Karthigai Deepam, Festival Of Lights, it falls on 12th December this year, we light our houses with lots of mud lamps and as with any other festival, we make some yummy food too. I have already posted the traditional Pori Urundai that we make on that day, Nei Appam is also another sweet dish that is made on this day. The main ingredient for this is rice and sugar and of course as the name suggests 'nei' or ghee is used for frying these appams and they smell and taste very delicious..

Suzhiyam, Suyam, Seeyam Recipe

          Suzhiyam/Suyam is one sweet that my mother never misses to make on Diwali, but for some reason, I never made it at all till now. This year, I made it for Diwali, but of course, I didn't get a chance to post it then, since I made it on the festival day, but I managed to take some pictures. This is an easy dish, and if you like sweets made with jaggery, then you will definitely like this..

Ragi Sheera, Finger Millet Halwa

          Today's post is going to be an easy sheera/halwa recipe using ragi flour (finger millet, kezhvaragu ). I followed the same method as we do for atta ( wheat flour ) sheera, except I have made this a little healthier, have used half the ghee and also, I have used jaggery instead of sugar. I have made a very small quantity, using just 1/4 cup flour, just enough for 2 to 3 people, so it got done in minutes. The halwa/sheera tasted great and even my daughter who's a little picky when it comes to Indian sweets loved it, and also another good thing, the sheera/halwa is also gluten free..

Jowar (Cholam) Pidi Kozhukattai (Sweet), Jowar Modaks

          Tomorrow is Vinayagar Chathurthi, and here is another healthy Kozhukattai recipe that you can try out, Jowar/Cholam/Sorghum Pidi Kozhukattai. This is such an easy dish, so if you don't have time to make the Stuffed Kozhukattais/Modaks, you can make these simple ones and they would also make for an healthy evening snack for kids. I made it just like the regular rice flour ones and they tasted very good both warm and cold..

Chakka Pradaman With Chakka Varatti, Jackfruit Payasam

          After making Chakka Varatti ( Jackfruit Preserve ) at home, the first dish that I wanted to try out with it was the Ela Ada and the next down the list was this Chakka Pradaman or Payasam. Once you have your Chakka Varatti ready, making this payasam is very easy. It's a very sweet dish, that's how it's supposed to taste but if you feel that it's too sweet for you, then you can leave out the jaggery that I have added to make the Pradaman, the final taste is totally your choice. This is a traditional dish from Kerala and I have followed the recipe from here and I have stuck to the original recipe, since I wanted to get the authentic taste, it's a rich and sweet dish, so enjoy it in moderation..

Ela Ada With Chakka Varatti, Steamed Rice Parcels With Jackfruit Preserve

          After making Chakka Varatti/Jackfruit Preserve, I was waiting to try out Ela Ada, when I say waiting, I really mean it because where I stay in Bangalore, I don't easily get banana leaves, except might be on festival days. I had to tell the flower lady to get me some and then I finally got after a week. Though we can use just coconut and jaggery filling, I wanted to make the Ela Ada with Chakka Varatti. Once you have the Chakka Varatti ready, then making these Ela Adas is not a big task. We can even use parchment paper for making these adas, but the banana leaf gives a unique flavor to the dish. The finished dish tasted awesome, close in taste to kozhukattais and my family loved it..

Chakka Varatti, Jackfruit Preserve ( Halwa )

          Ever since I saw Ela Ada on blogs and cookery shows, I had wanted to try it out home, especially the Ela Ada using Chakka Varatti/Jackfruit Preserve. I thought I'll do it during the last jackfruit season but it so happens, that jackfruit season coincides with school summer holidays and I am usually not at home and I keep missing it. This year also I thought that I'll not be able to do it, but just towards the end of the season I finally got to do it. Today's post is Chakka Varatti, a fruit preserve made with jackfruits and jaggery and I also made the Ela Ada using this preserve and will be posting it soon. I had mixed thoughts while making it, whether we would like it, especially the flavor because, as such jackfruit has a strong scent and I thought that it would intensify when cooked. But it turned out the other way, it smelled and tasted so good, that my daughter who doesn't like jackfruit at all, liked the Chakka Varatti very much. You can eat Chakka Varatti just as such, the texture is like Halwa and it tastes like one too or you can use it in making other dishes like Ela Ada and Payasams. The dish belongs to Kerala where jackfruits grow in abundance and they make a variety of dishes using both the ripe and unripe jackfruits and for Chakka Varatti, we use the ripe ones. Cutting a big jackfruit, and removing the fruit arils/bulbs from it is a huge task by itself and needs a separate post and I don't want to go into the details of it today and I usually ask the fruit vendor to do it. The process takes a little time but the taste at the end is worth all the effort, do try it when you next buy jackfruit..