SuvaiArusuvai - Veg Recipes of India

Ingredients: Khus/Khus - 1/4 cup Grated coconut - 1/2 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Rice - 2 tsp Jaggery - 2 cups Milk - 2 cups Cashew nuts - 8 to 10 nos Ghee - 2 tbsp Method: Dry roast or microwave Khus Khus for about a minute. Soak rice in warm water for about half an hour. Grind khus khus, rice, grated coconut, elaichi to a fine paste. In a thick pan add the paste and add 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil. In another pan add half cup of water and jaggery and keep stirring till the jaggery melts. Drain to remove impurities. Add the drained jaggery syrup to the boiling paste and stir well till both mix well. Boil it for about 10 mins in medium flame. Keep stirring to ensure that it doesnot settle at the bottom. Turn off the flame and remove from the stove and then add milk to it and stir. Heat ghee. Add the broken cashew nuts to it and fry till it becomes brown. Add it to the kheer. This also helps in treating cold and cough.

Every ingredient can be used to make a different kind of dish. There are lots of different cuisines in India and each different state have various kind of cooking the same kind of dish and each of us too have a different method of cooking a particular dish. These contests are to share the different types of dishes that we could make with one or two particular ingredient.  Here are the ingredients for the first contest - Wheat/Wheat flour and Rawa.  You can make either a sweet dish or a spicy dish or a snack or any other dish. Ensure you follow the contest rules  .  The last date to post your entries is Feb 20th.

Ingredients: Palak - 1 bunch Onion - 1 no. Tomato - 1 no. Chillies - 2 nos Garlic - 3 to 4 cloves Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn Salt to taste Water - 1 cup Method: Pick the leaves of Palak and wash them clean for about two or three times. Chop the onions, tomato and green chillies finely. Pressure cook spinach, tomato, onion and green chillies. Let it cook for about 3 whitsles. When cold blend it with a hand mixture. Add salt and another cup of water if needed and noil it for another 5 mins. Serve hot with a dash of butter on top. Can be accompanied by potato wedges.

Ingredients: Amchur - 3 tsp Salt - 1 tsp Black salt - 1 tsp Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Ginger powder(sonth/sukku powder) - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp Mint powder - 1/2 tsp Method: To a big bowl add all the powders and mix well.

Cheese Pakoras are delicious snacks that can be served to the kids as an after school snacks. Ingredients: Cheese cubes - 2 nos Onion - 1 no Green chilly - 2 nos Bread slice - 2 nos Curry Leaves - a few Gram flour - 1 cup Corn flour - 1 tbsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Red chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp Oil for frying Method: Cut the sides of the bread slices. Soak them into water for a min. Squeeze out the water. Mix salt, red chilly powder to gram flour. Chop onions, green chillies and curry leaves finely. Mix these too to the gram flour. Cut the cheese into small cubes. Mash the bread and mix it with the corn flour. Mix the cheese cubes also to the corn flour and make a dough which is not too hard or too watery. Heat oil in a shallow pan and add small balls of the dough to it. Fry them till they become golden brown in colour. Serve with green chutney or tomato sauce.

Ingredients: Rice flour - 1 cup Butter milk - 1 1/2 cups (a bit sour) Red Chillies or More milagai - 4 nos Salt to taste Oil - 4 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp Urad dal - 2 tbsp Asafodeita - 1 tsp Curry leaves - a few Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup finely chopped Method: Mix salt to the rice flour and mix it with butter milk and make a batter not thicker than dosa batter. In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and when it splutters add the urad dal and asafodeita. Add the batter slowly and keep stirring continuously so that it does not form any lump. Add curry leaves and coriander leaves. Reduce the flame and cover it with a lid (keep a wooden laddle in the pan, so that there will be a little gap and the steam will go out). Grease a plate with little oil and when it is cooked spread it in the plate, flatten it and make pieces. Serve it hot.

Except for Mysore Pak to make all other sugar syrup based sweets - when the correct consistency is reached, remove the vessel from fire and keep it on a solid surface and keep stirring it till it solidifies and reaches a dough consistency. Spread it on the readily greased plate. Flatten it using a cup which is greased at the bottom. Cut pieces when it is still warm. 

Pongal, is a dish that is made on the occassion of the festival of Pongal and also on many special occassions. When one performs Ganapathi homam in the house, for Homam and also for Neivedhyam one have to make Chakkarai Pongal . On Koodaravalli, I have heard many make Akkaravadisal * Sarkarai Pongal/Chakkarai Pongal * Ven Pongal * Pongal made of Sugar

Ingredients: Pudina - One bunch Green Chillies - 4-5 (depending on your preference add 1-2 more or reduce 1-2) Tomatoes - 3 medium size Oil, mustard, and urad for seasoning. Curd. Method: 1. Fry pudina and green chillies in a teaspoon of oil. 2. Grind it into a paste. 3. Chop tomatoes into small pieces. In a kadai, put teaspoon of oil and then season with mustard and urad. Then fry the chopped tomatoes in that. Add salt. 4. Turn off the stove. Add the cooked tomatoes to the pudina paste and then add curd according to taste. Pachadi is ready. This goes well with plain rice, thachi mammu, idli, dosa, and chappathis. Hope you all like it.

Masal Vadais or Masala Vadais are speciality vadais made using the same batter that is used to make Ulunthu vadai or Aama vadai with slight variations. Here is the recipe to make masal vadai using urad dal. Ingredients: Urad Dal - 2 cups Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Salt to taste Onion - 3 to 4 nos Method: Soak Urad Dal for about 2 hours. Grind it to a fine paste along with curry leaves, coriander leaves and salt. The dough should not be watery. Chop onions finely. Add it to the ground dough. Make vadas using it. This makes a great evening time snack or a rainy day snack.

Vadai is one special dish that is made in many of the South Indian festivals. But all at the same time, it also makes a great snack and evening tiffin too. Here is a list of different kinds of vadais. * Aama Vadai * Ulunthu Vadai * Keerai Vadai * Pepper Vadai for Hanumath Jayanthi * Masal Vadai using Urad Dal * Vazhaipoo Vadai