happy onam

Made Kadala Payasam and it came out real good:)

Recipe for Kadala Payasam.

Take a cup of chana dal and pressure cook it.Drain the excess water using a strainer.It should be well cooked,now using your fingers mash them well.If you use mixie,then the dal will be really pasty smooth,which i dont like.

Take jaggery as much as you need and put that on a sausepan along with some water.Keep it in low flame till all the jaggery melts.

Put a vessel on stove and add some ghee,(i use 100% veg margarine).Add mashed chana dal in this and fry for a couple of minutes.Add the jaggery water in to this and let it cook.When the water is half gone,add very thin coconut milk(if you are using canned coconut milk,take 1/4 cup and add 1/2 cup of water)and let it boil some more time.When you get the payasam a little thick,reduce the heat to low and add thick coconut milk.Dont let the payasam boil anymore after you add thick coconut milk.Stir well and take it away from the stove.Add cruched Cardomom.

Heat some more butter/ghee and fry cashew nuts,raisin and chopped fresh coconuts.Add these to the payasam.

Some people also add sabudana/chowari in this.But very little,like a table spoon will be enough.Soak that in water for sometime and then cook it in microwave before you add this in to chana dal.You can add this when you add jaggery water to chana dal.

Many people mix this payasam with baby bananas and have it.Its tasty:)

I am unable to give the right quantities:( I took one cup of chana dal and used almost a can of coconut milk and one and a half big chunk of jaggery for making this payasam.

look who is sitting on our backyard

zuchini erisseri

Recipe follows:

Take a medium size Zuchini.Cut them in to small cubes and let it cook with water enough to cover it and a pinch of turmeric.When its half done,add crushed garlic,cumin seeds and green chili.Stir well and let it cook.Add some dry coconut powder(if you are using fresh coconut,thats fine too).When its cooked and the water is almost gone,add salt and mash it with a spoon.It doesnt have to be too smooth.

Now heat some oil in a pan (coconut oil is the best) and add mustard seeds,red dry chilis and urud dal,for seasing.When they are ready, reduce the heat to the lowest and add freshly grated coconut(2 table spoons would be enough.).Let it fry til they turn brown.Pour this on top of cooked zuchini and ERISSERI is ready:)

nearby places

pepper

this is our pet dog,his name is pepper:)my son wanted a pet dog and we got him one last year.he was 6 months old at that time.after neary an year away from him,he didnt forget us!!.

vacation pics

back from vacation:(feeling soo lazy!!

posting a couple of pics:)we made this platform at the back of our home recently, to watch sea :)its beautiful,especialy in the evenings.you can see the small lights in the fishing boats.