SuvaiArusuvai - Veg Recipes of India

  The day after  Aavani Avittam  all the menfolk do Gayathri Japam. On this day, no  rasam  is made. And only mixed rice varities are made. Some of the dishes that are made on this day are as follows. Aama Vadai Chakkarai Pongal Lemon Rice Coconut Rice Tamarind Rice Curd Rice

Though the name of this vadai raises many people's eyebrows and make them ask whether it is anyway related to tortoise no it is not. Either this or plain Ulundu vadai is prepared as Neivedhyam for almost all special pooja days. Ingredients: Bengal Gram Dal - 2 cups Thuvar Dal - 2 cups Salt to taste Red chillies - 6 to 8 Curry Leaves - 1/2 cup Asafodeita - 1/2 inch piece or powdered asafodeita 2 spoons Method: Wash and soak the Bengal gram and Thuvar Dal together for almost 1 hour. Grind it along with the other ingredients to a coarse consistency. Mix all the ingredients. Heat oil in a pan. Make balls of the dough. Flatten the dough and put it in oil and fry till it becomes golden brown. Remove from oil and drain it.

This is one recipe which is made very often at home especially on fridays of the Tamil month of Thai and Aadi. This is also one Pongal that is made during the festival of Pongal. Ingredients: Rice - 2 cups Moong Dal - 1/2 cup Jaggery - 1 1/2 cups Milk - 4 cups Cardamom - 2 pieces (grind it to fine powder) Cashew nuts - 10 to 12 pieces Ghee - 1/2 cup Raisins - 12 pieces Method: In a dry pan fry the rice and moong dal separately till a nice aroma is emitted. Pressure cook the rice and dal together with 2 cups of milk and 5 cups of water. Cook for almost 5 whistles. Mash it thoroughly when the rice is warm. Heat the remaining 2 cups of milk in a solid bottom vessel or pan and add the mashed rice to it and mix thoroughly. Slice the jaggery and add it to the rice and milk and mix thoroughly. Add cardamom powder and mix again. Fry cashew nuts and raisins in ghee and add it to the cooked Sarkarai Pongal.

 Many might think that making curd rice is very easy. But if not done correctly, even the curd rice could turn out bad. The rice that is cooked for the curd rice should be soft and should be mashed thoroughly. The curd used for curd rice should be unsour.  Many variations can also be added to the plain curd rice to make it more attractive. Ingredients: Rice - 2 cups Fresh unsour curd - 1 cup Milk - 2 cups Ghee - 1 tbsp Asafodeita - a pinch Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp Green Chillies - 2 nos Curry Leaves - 1/2 cup Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup Method: Cook the rice with 6 cups of water and 1 cup of milk in pressure cooker. Atleast 5 whistles be allowed. When it is time to open, remove the rice and transfer it to a shallow bowl. Mash well with the back of a scoop laddle thoroughly. When warm add salt and the remaining 1 cup of milk and mix again. Add the curd and mix well.  In a tadka laddle, add ghee and mustard seeds, when it splutters add the hing, green chillies. Chop the curry leaves to

Tamarind Rice have different varieties. The traditional Tamarind Rice can be made either as instant rice or using Pulikaichal.  Ingredients to make Instant Tamarind Rice:  Cooked Rice - 2 cups Gingely Oil - 1/4 cup Mustard - 1/2 tsp Bengal Gram Dal - 2 tbsp Ground nuts - 2 to 3 tbsp Cashewnuts - 10 to 12 nos Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup Red chillies - 2 to 4 nos Tamarind Paste - 6 tbsp Multi purpose Powder - 3 to 4 tbsp Powdered Salt - To taste Method to make Instant Tamarind Rice: Add 1 tbsp of gingely oil in a pan and when hot add the mustard seeds. When it splutters add it to the rice spread on a flat bowl. Mix well without damaging the rice. Add oil again in pan and fry the Bengal Gram, Ground nuts, cashew nuts, Red chillies and curry leaves to it. After sauteing it for a few minutes add the tamarind paste and bring it to a boil. Add Multipurpose powder and mix well. Add it to the rice and  add salt to it. Mix well without damaging the rice. Instant Tamarind rice is read

Preparing and storing Pulikaichal will help in making Puliyodharai easily whenever needed. Ingredients: Tamrind - 1 tennis ball sized Salt - (Better Rock salt) 1/4th handful or to taste Vendhayam(Fenu greek) - 1 tbsp Red chillies - 10 to 12 nos Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp Asafodeita - 1/2 inch piece Mustard seeds - 2 tspn Gingely oil - 1/4th cup Bengal Gram - 1/2 cup Groundnut (Raw) - 1/4 cup Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup Method:  Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract tamarind juice. The juice should be thick. This size of tamarind will give 2 to 3 cups of thick extact. (Alternatively around 12 to 14 tbspns of Tamarind Paste can also be used) Dry roast methi seeds. Fry 1/4 cup of Bengal gram in 1 tsp of gingely oil along with 6 Red chillies. Grind bengal gram and red chillies together with methi seeds and asafodeita to a fine powder. Heat pan and add gingely oil to it. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add the groundnuts to it and fry it till it turns crispy.

Another mixed rice variety, which can be made in a jiffy. Ingredients: Cooked Rice - 1 cup Ghee - 2 tbsp Oil - 1 tbsp Bengal Gram Dal - 2 tbsp Mustard Seeds - 1/4 sp Green Chillies - 2 Red Chillies - 2 Cashew Nuts - 6 to 8 (optional) Turmeric Powder - 2 pinches Asafodeita - 1 pinch Lemon - Big 1 no. Curry Leaves -  a few Salt to taste Method: Spread the cooked rice in a flat bowl and add 1 tbsp of ghee to it and let it cool. (Dont let it cool too much, it have to be warm enough). In a pan add 1 tbsp of ghee and 1 tbsp of oil and when hot add mustard seeds. When it splutters add Bengal gram dal and cashew nut(cut into small pieces). Add the red and green chillies. Add turmeric powder and asafodeita and when the cashew nuts turn golden remove from flame. Cut the curry leaves and add it on top of the rice. Pour the oil on top of the rice and mix thoroughly. Add required salt and mix again without breaking the rice. Better mix it with a fork or the back of laddle. Squee

Coconut Rice is always a favourite in our family. It also happens to be one of the dishes for Aadi Perukku. Ingredients: Cooked Rice - 1 cup Coconut - 1/2 Red Chilly - 2 nos Green Chilly - 1 small Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Broken Urad Dal - 1 tbsp Bengal Gram Dal - 1 tbsp Cashew Nuts - 12 nos Curry Leaves - A few Salt to taste Ghee or Oil - 1 tbsp Method:    In a pan add ghee or oil and add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add urad dal, bengal gram dal and cashew nuts and fry it till it becomes golden in colour.  Add the green and red chillies and fry it for a few minutes. Add the grated coconut and fry till it become red in colour. Add curry leaves and salt and mix thoroughly. Remove from flame and add the cooked rice to it. (Check for slat after mixing the rice and add if needed).

Ingredients: Thuvar Dal - 1/4 cup Tomatoes - 2 large or Tomato Puree Lemon - 1 big Green Chillies - 1 no Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup finely chopped Salt to taste Method to make Lemon Rasam: Pressure cook Thoor dal. In a vessel add 2 cups of water, finely chopped tomatoes, green chillies, curry leaves, coriander leaves and salt and bring to boil. Add another 1 cup of water to the thoor dal and mash it well. Add the mashed dal to the boiling mixture and when it bubbles remove from flame and squeeze the lemon juice to it. Temper mustard seeds,jeera and hing in ghee and add it to the Rasam. Note: The green chillies can also be added while tempering instead of adding it while boiling. Adding of Tomato Puree instead of chopped tomatoes helps in cooking even more faster