Rava laddoo is a traditional Indian subcontinental sweet dish made out of rava, milk, sugar and cashews shaped as balls, one of the most popular south Indian sweet. Rava also spelled as Ravva,rawa, Rave, Sooji, Suji, Semolina. The ingredients to make Rava ladoo are easily available everywhere in the world. Rava laddoo is one of the easy sweet dish which can be prepared within 15 minutes. This dish is very famous during Krishna Jayanthi (also known as Gokulashtami or Janmashtami), a popular north indian Hindu festival. Rava laddoo also spelled as Rava Laddoo, Rawa Ladoo, Sooji Ka Laddo, Suji Ke Laddoo, Semolia Laddu etc.

There are many types of Laddos available. One of the most popular version is Boondi Laddu or Besan ladoo. But this besan ladoo is not so easy to prepare. So, i would like to go for other variety which is very simple and easy to prepare – Rava Ladoo. Rava is also known Semolina, Suji, Sooji, Ravai etc.
Whenever my mom prepares ladoos, she prepares 100′s of laddoos. Still I remember my father never said “enough” to rava laddoos … He can finish 6 – 7 laddus at one time. This laddoo is not only my fathers’ favorite but also my favorite indian sweet. This is the first sweet reicpe, which I learnt from my mom during the school days. I served rava laddoos to few of my german class mates, they liked it so much. So, I thought why not to share with you. In this recipe I have used sugar sprinkles (German name: Zuckersteusel) to make colourful laddoos. Usually, Germans use these sugar sprinkles for preparing cakes, but in this recipe I given a try to make colourful rava laddu or rava urundai. Some people add safron to get a nice aroma. But I like the aroma of cardomom, I used just cardomoms.

Don’t forget to check my other spicy indian snack – Maida diamond cuts, which may neutralise over sweet of this Rava laddu sweet.
In this food blog, this time i am going to write an easy recipe guide to make Rava ladoo – a most popular Indian sweet dessert with step by step recipe photos. Try this favourite Indian sweet recipe and share your tasty experiences with us.

Indian Recipe – Step by step images – How to make Rava (Semolina or Suji) Ladoo – Indian Sweet

Semolina Suji Rava Laddoo Laddu

Ingredients:

Rava / Semolina / Suji– 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Ghee/Butter – 25 gms
Milk –500ml
Cardamom-10
Cashew nuts – 10 whole nuts
Raisins – 10 nos
Grated fresh coconut – 25 gms
Sugar / Choco sprinkles – 50gm
Sugar – 5tbsp.

Ingredients for making rava laddu

Recipe Preparation- Rava (Semolina or Suji) Ladoo – Indian Sweet:

Beetroot, also known as the red beet, table beet, garden beet, cukundar, betavulgaris or simply as beet. Beetroot can be eaten as raw or in salad with a dressing of mustard oil or vinegar. Beetroot is used to cure anemia due to its richness in Vitamins A, C, iron and Calcium. It is used to increase the stamina of the body. Modern research says that drinking 1 glass beetroot juice improves the energy levels, hair growth and healthy skin. Beetroot rasam or Indian Beetroot spicy soup is prepared from the mixture of healthy beetroot and lentils with the flavor of Indian exotic spices. 

Whenever I feel ill, my mom used to prepare various types of rasam. I love to have drumstick leaves rasam, beetroot and lentil rasam. Usually people prefer to make pepper rasam (milagu rasam), which is one of the best treatment for cold and fever. Rice and rasam combination is one of my favorite food. As I said in my previous post, Beet root rasam is made with beetroot, lentils, pepper and spices, tomatoes and tamarind. It is a kind of soup, normally served with rice. But I love to drink like a normal soup. Rasam Powder is a mixture of Toor Dal, coriander seeds, whole pepper, cumin, Channa Dal and dried redchilies. The ingredients are dry roasted and dry grinded to make rasam powder. I will explain the procedure to make rasam powder in my forthcoming posts.

Check out my other recipe with Beetroot and Broccoli Curry – a new recipe using broccoli.  In this post I am going to explain the procedure with step by step recipe photo guide to make beetroot rasam. Beetroot rasam is such a delicious and tasty one and is very helathy too. Enjoy the recipe and share your feedback with us.

Indian Recipe – Step by step images – How to make Beetroot Rasam – South Indian Style Recipe

Beetroot Rasam

Ingredients:

Ingredients:
Beetroot – 1 cups
Green chilly – 1
Ginger – 1 tbsp.
Garlic – 5 flakes
Toordal – 4tsp
Water – 3 cups
Tamarind paste – 1/2 cup
Tomato -3
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Rasam powder – 1 tsp
Whole pepper – 1/2 tsp.
Jeera -1 tsp.
Coriander leaves – chopped
Curry leaves – 15
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Hing/ Asafeotida – 1/4 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste

Ingredients for Prearing Beetroot rasam

Recipe Preparation- Beetroot Rasam – South Indian Style Recipe:

Bajji is a common hot and crispy tea time snack in south india especially during rainy season. Bajji is a simple dish prepared by dipping any sliced vegetable in the gram flour batter and deep frying it. Bajji can be prepared with Onion, Potato, Plantain, Eggplant / brinjal, Ladies finger (and even Bread slices) sliced into thin pieces and are dipped in Batter and deep fried in oil. And it is served with any chutney or sauce. In this food blog, i am going to share my homemade easy indian recipe for Raw Banana (also called Plantain, Vazhakkai, Aratikaya) Bajji.

Here comes a most popular south indian snack recipe from my Indian kitchen. Golden crispy Banana Bajji. Last week one of my south african German classmate came to my home to visit me. That was an unexpected visit. So, i was little worried what to instantly at that evening. I had just besan flour (Gram Flour or Chickpeas Flour) thats all. My husband suggested me to prepare some vegetable bajji. Then i decided to prepare raw banana bajji for my friend. It turned out so crispy, delicious and ofcourse very easy to prepare. One thing that made the bajji more tasty than ever (take a look at the tips section to see what was that). My South African friend liked the hot bhajji’s a lot. I gave her the recipe. She told me that she would be preparing bajji’s at her home later. This famous Indian snack also has various names in South India like Aratikaya bajji,vaalaka bajji,valakkai bajji, aratikai bajji, kela bhajia, plantain tempura, Kerala Vazhakka Bajji.
As I said I am making the recipe as simple as possible. Do try this recipe and share your tasty experience with us. Check out my other indian snack recipe – Spicy diamond cuts.

Indian Recipe – Step by step images – How to make Raw Banana (Plantain – Vazhakkai) Bajji

Raw Banana / Plantain (vazhakkai Bajji) Fritters

Ingredients:

Raw banana-1
Besan powder – 150gms
Rice flour- 3 tbsp
Barbeque (BBQ) Masala-2tbsp
Eno salt – a pinch
Hing powder – small pinch
Oil- to deep fry
Salt to taste

Ingredients for making Raw Banana / Plantain Bajji

Method of Preparation – Raw Banana (Plantain – Vazhakkai) Bajji:

Vegetable puffs are very common tea time snack in India and its available at every local bakery in India. Vegetable Puffs are one of the most popular Indian Snacks worldwide. There are many varieties available for stuffing the Puffs pastry. The most common popular stuffing are potato and peas. Puff is also known as „Patties“ and can be made easily using pastry sheets. In German they call it as „Blaeter Teig“, which is available in all the German supermarkets. Using those pastry sheets, puffs can be made easily. In this Indian Recipe section, I have explained the homemade recipe to make Vegetable (Potato Peas) Puff.

When I was in India, after our office working hours, we used to order Vegetable or Egg or Chicken puffs. This always used to be tea time side dish for us and many of Indians. After my arrival in Germany, I didn’t get a chance to get buy Puff pastry from the shop. Since three years, I tried so many ways to make Vegetable puffs. Unfortunately none of the methods worked out for me. Finally I had tried vegetable puffs with Potato and Peas by using pastry sheet bake-dough, which we get from all the supermarkets in Germany (the pastry sheet in German is Blätter Teig). Germans usually use this pastry sheet for making some kind of typical German cakes and Pie.
When we were kids, my parents used to get super-hot vegetable puffs from bakery. Now its such easy process to make Puffs at home. It’s an excellent tea time snack. My husband loves to have Indian special foods. But, unfortunately I can’t make all the items, as we don’t get all the ingredients in Germany. I tried most of the recipes with the ingredients, which we can get from German supermarket. One of such recipe is Potato Peas Puffs. Yesterday, I made Vegetable puffs, all my friends loved it. Here is my ste by step homemade recipe for making Vegetable (Potato and Green Peas) Puffs Pastry – a famous Indian Snacks. As usual, I will try to keep the recipe preparation steps as easy as possible, so it makes a quick start for beginners of Indian cooking. Step by step easy preparation to make spicy and crunchy homemade recipe for Vegetable Puffs is given below. Try this popular Indian snacks and drop us a word about your tasty experiences.

Vegetable (Potato Peas) Puffs – Indian Recipe with Step by step photos

Homemade Indian veggie puffs pastry

Ingredients:

Vegetable Stuffing:
Potatoes -4
Green Peas – 1/2 cup
Onion (Chopped ) -2
Green Chilies (Chopped )-2
Tomatoes-1/2
Ginger-Garlic paste-1/2 tbsp.
Turmeric Powder -a pinch
Red chili powder -1/2 tbsp.
Garam masala -1 tbsp.
Coriander (Chopped)
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp.
Salt – to taste
For Tempering:
Vegetable Oil – 2tbsp.
Mustard seed -1/2 tbsp.
Curry leaves -5
Jeera Cumin – 1/2 tsp.
Urad dal -1tbsp.
Chana dal -1tbsp.

Ingredients for making vegetable puffs curry

Method of Preparation – Vegetable (Potato Peas) Puffs:

Paratha is Indian flat bread made with several type of vegetable stuffing. Parathas originated from Punjab region. The common stuffings are Potato, Radish, Spinach, methi leaves, cauliflower. It goes well with Yogurt Raitha or thick spicy curry. Paratha stuffing is kneaded with (Whole Wheat) Atta flour. Some people knead only Atta flour, when Atta flour are made flattened, they keep stuffing in the middle of the Atta and then they roll like a chapathi. This kneaded Atta reacts like an envelope over the vegetable stuffing. In this Easy-Indian-Cooking.com food blog, I have used completely new stuffing (carrot and peas). Carrot enriched with Vitamin A, which is necessary for proper growth of tissues, skin and its good for eyes. Now a days we are working more than 12 hours a day in front of computer, even I am not an exception. My doctors advised me to take vitamin enriched food like carrot. But always cooking curry or sabji became boring. Here in this recipe post I have written my homemade recipe – an easy way to make Carrot Peas (Gajar Mattar) Paratha.

Last week Sunday one of my friend visited us. Unfortunately, I forgot to purchase fresh vegetables on that Saturday. So, it was hectic for me, because Sunday no supermarkets are open. Fortunately, I had some Carrot and (frozen) Green Peas. Then, keeping the only option with carrots and peas, I thought to make some exclusively new Indian cuisine for my friend. I decided to give a try for some kind of Paratha using carrot and peas, which I one of my North Indian friend told me some weeks ago. I surfed in the internet for some good recipe using carrot and peas but not found anything as I expected. Then, I prepared Carrot Peas (Gajar Mattar) Paratha in Indian way. The new recipe really turned very nice. My friend and my family were so happy with that delicious and awesome healthy Paratha. I hope you admire this recipe and I believe you will include this as regular recipe. Let me tell you the recipe. Moreover, this became now one of my recently favourite recipes. This is an exclusive recipe . What makes this recipe exclusive ?. Well, very simple, i did not do that in a normal way when stuffing the parathas, but to keep in simple and easy, i just mixed everything (Cooked Carrot, Peas together with Wheat Flour Att) to make the dough and prepared just like Chapathi.
As usual I will try to keep the recipe preparation steps as simple as possible, so that it will be comfortable for beginners of Indian cooking. Step by step easy recipe to make an exclusively new Carrot Peas (Gajar Mattar) Paratha is given below. Try this new Paratha variety and drop us a word about your tasty experiences.

Indian Recipe – Step by step photos – How to make Carrot Peas (Gajar Mattar) Paratha

Carrot Peas (Gajar Mattar) Paratha – Indian Flat Bread

Ingredients:

Carrot (Grated) -4
Green Peas – 1/2 cup
Onion (Chopped ) -2
Green Chilies (Chopped )-2
Ginger-Garlic paste -1/2 tbsp.
Turmeric Powder -a pinch
Red chilly powder -1/2 tbsp.
Garam masala -1 tbsp.
Jeera seeds – 1/2 tsp.
Urad dal -1tbsp.
Chana dal -1tbsp.
Mustard seed -1/2 tbsp.
Curry leaves -5
Tomatoes-2
Salt – to taste
Vegetable Oil – 2tbsp.
Coriander leaves chopped

Ingredients for making carrot peas paratha

Method of Preparation – Carrot Peas (Gajar Mattar) Paratha:

Chana Chickpeas Chole Pulao Biryani is a North Indian dish prepared with Chickpeas, Rice, onions, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste aromated with exotic Indian spices. Chana dal also called as garbanzo bean, Indian pea, ceci bean, Bengal gram, Kabuli chana, konda kadalai etc. Its rich in protein, fiber and carbohydrates. Its a simple vegetarian Biryani variety rice, goes well together with raita.

As I told you in my previous post (Chana Chole Masala), I love to have chana in various forms. Chickpeas contain rich calories, high in fibre content, rich in carbohydrate and protein too. My younger Sister suggested me a new recipe to prepare Channa with rice. So, after hearing her advice, I started my own experiment with Chole Chana and Rice to make Chole Pulao / Pulav (kind of Biryani style). When I started doing this recipe, I was not sure how it will turnoff because i want to cook easily and without much time. Finally, the chickpeas rice pulao turned out tasty and delicious. If I do not get enough time in the morning, then this chana chickpeas pilaf occupies my lunch box. This tasty North Indian recipe just takes 15-20 mins to cook. You can also use any left over rice to prepare this dish.
As usual, I will try to keep the Chickpeas Biryani Rice recipe steps as simple as possible, so that it will be easy for beginners of Indian cooking. Step by step easy preparation to make tasty and delicious Channa Chickpeas Pulao Biryani. Try this new recipe and drop us a word about your tasty experiences.

Indian Recipe – Step by step photos – How to make Chana Chickpeas Chole Pulao Biryani

Chana Chickpeas Pulao Biryani

Ingredients:

Rice-1cup
Chickpeas-1cup
Tomato-2(chopped)
Onion-2(chopped)
Ginger Garlic paste-2tbsp
Cloves-1
Bay leaves-1
Cumin seeds-1/2tbsp
Turmeric powder-1/2tbsp
Coriander powder-1/2tbsp
Garam masala-1/2tbsp
Chilli powder-1/2tbsp
Coriander powder-1/2tbsp
Curry leaves-10
Corriander leaves- 1/4 cup
Salt- As per taste
Mustard seeds-1/2tbsp
veg. Oil-3tbsp

Ingredients for preparing Chana Pulao

Method of Preparation – Chana Chickpeas Chole Pulao Biryani:

Lemon rice is a very famous and delicious authentic south Indian rice dish that can be prepared in few minutes by adding cooked rice with fresh lemon juice. Usually lemon rice goes well with raitha or Pappad snacks. In Tamilnadu, this dish commonly prepared during festivals, traditional festivals and it is served as a prasadam in south Indian temples too. Together with Tamarind rice, Lemon rice is a popular long-lasting travel food. This rice also spelled as Ellumichai Sadam, Ellumichai Satham, Lime rice, Chitrannam, Lemon ki chawal.

Whenever my grandparents go for a long journey to various temples, they used to pack lemon rice and tamarind rice, since it doesn’t spoil for two days. When I was a beginner of Indian cooking, I used to prepare lemon rice often (as its very easy and don’t need any great cooking skills). I also prepare this rice variety, when I am very hurry or I feel too lazy. Throughout this food blog we are trying to publish some new Indian recipes. So, keeping this in mind, i planned to add some green peas and nuts to it (i know its nothing new, but just to add some crispyness and color to the dull Lemon rice). Yes, you are right. I am going to use Peanuts (Poorman’s Cashew) and few Cashew nuts. It enough to use any one nuts, but just wanna show it with both Cashews and Peanuts (groundnuts, kadalai). See the tips section to keep these nuts crispy even after adding to Lemon rice. It is very simple, tangy and tasty. Here comes the recipe for the most popular south Indian variety rice – Lemon rice.
As usual I will try to keep the recipe preparation steps as simple as possible, so that it will be comfortable for learners of Indian cooking. Step by step easy preparation to make simple but very tasty and crispy Lemon Rice is given below. Try this south indian rice recipe and share your tasty experiences.

Indian Recipe – Step by step images – How to make Lemon Rice with Peas – South Indian

South Indian Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

Rice (cooked)- 1cup
Peas – 1/2cup
Lemon-1/2 (for juice)
Cashew nuts-10
Peanuts – 50gms
Onion -1(chopped)
Green chilly-1(chopped)
Turmeric powder-1/2tbsp
Gram dal-1/2tbsp
Cumin Jeera-1/2tbsp
Mustard seeds-1/2tbsp
Vegetable oil-4tbsp

Ingredients for lemon rice

Method of Preparation – Lemon Rice with Peas – South Indian:

Spicy savory chips is a crispy tasty crunchy flour chips made out of plain flour or Maida or even with white Atta (wheat flour). In western countries, Plain flour is used as all-purpose baking flour for pastries. Some people make this recipe as a sweet flavour and it is called as kala kala. Maida biscuits or diamond cuts are very common tea time snacks in south India. This spicy savory chips are very easy to prepare and when stored in a dry container will be crispy and crunchy for a long time. In this post, I have explained the preparation of spicy Maida chips in an easy and simple way.

During my school days, one of my close friend use to bring Maida flour diamond chips / biscuits. It was very crispy and also spicy like potato chips. We use to eat together during our lunch. Recently I had a chance to meet my friend after so many years, I remembered the days we spend during our school days. I asked my friend’s mom about the recipe. She told me her secret of making crunchy spicy savory cuts. In this recipe given below is my aunt‘s secret recipe . This spicy flour cuts recipe is very easy to prepare and i used to do whenever if we think to have some crunchy snacks. As usual I will try to keep the recipe preparation steps as simple as possible, so that it will be comfortable for beginners of Indian cooking. Step by step easy preparation to make spicy and crispy savory flour chips is given below. Try this crispy snacks and drop us a word about your tasty experiences.

Spicy Savory Flour Diamond Cut Biscuits

Ingredients:
Wheat/Maida flour – 1 cup
Rice flour -1 cup
Besan flour -1/2 cup
Ajwain (omam) -1tbsp.
Cumin seeds -1/2 tbsp.
Red chili powder – 1tsp..
White seasom seeds – 6 tsp..
Hing(Asafoetida) – small pinch
Water – as needed
Salt (as per taste)
Water ( to prepare dough)
Oil for deep frying
Chapati roller (for slicing)

Ingredients for spicy maida Flour Chips

Method of Preparation – Spicy Flour Biscuits – Maida Diamond Cuts:

Step 1 – Dough Preparation:In a big bowl add the wheat/Maida flour, rice flour, besan flour, salt, red chili powder, sesame seeds and cumin seeds. Mix all the ingredients well. Knead the dough until its soft with 2 tbsp. oil or ghee. Make sure the taste of salt and spices are good enough to make biscuits. If not, adjust the taste by adding salt and red chili powder. Keep the dough for 5 mins.
Preparation of spicy maida biscuit dough

Step 2 – Dough rolling:Divide the dough in to large lemon size balls. Roll them in to slightly thick chapathis.
Rolled spicy maida dough for spicy maida Flour Chips

Step3 – Making diamond cuts:Make small holes using fork or knife in between the chapathi-like rolled dough. Using a sharp knife, cut the roti in to square or diamond shapes as shown in the picture. Now, raw diamond chips are ready.
Dough sliced into small diamond cut pieces

Step 4 – Deep frying:Heat enough oil in a wide vessel. Once the oil is superhot, deep the flour diamond cuts on high flame. When it is done, the biscuits rise to the surface. Slow down the flame and keep until it turns to golden color.
Deep fry maida biscuits in oil

Step 5 – Maida Biscuits presevation:Take out the biscuits using jallikarandi (big spoon with holes). Keep it on the kitchen Paper for some mins. Kitchen Paper absorbs the excess oil from the sncaks. Cool biscuits completely to room temperature. Store it in air tight container in order to preserve its crispiness for a long time. Try this recipe and share your experiences with us.
Spicy Maida Diamond Cut Chips

In South Indian kitchen, Plantain plays a special role. There are many recipe varieties available with Plaintains or Vazhakkai. One of the most famous Plantain recipe is Podimas fry. Plaintain Podimas (poriyal) fry is originated from Kerala and it is popular all over India. Podimas fry is a vegetarian dish made with boiled Plantains. Plantain podimas is a very famous dish in South India. Check our Easy Indian Cooking recipe site on how to make plaintain podimas fry in a simple and easy way.

Whenever I go for shopping to an Indian shop, I definitely buy plantains (raw banana) or Vazhakkai (in Tamil), no matter raw or ripe. I cook plantains very often, especially its podimas fry (poriyal) variation. There are many famous plantain recipes exists. My husband likes the podimas dish so much. One thing with Plantains is its stickness. So, I do not like to cut Plantains. Everytime I clean plantains, I spoil hands by cutting with knife. So, usually cutting part goes to my husband. Some oil needs to be applied on the knife, in order to scrub it easier. This dish goes well with Sambhar or Rasam Sadam. Step by step easy preparation to cook – Vazhakkai (Raw Banana) Podimas poriyal is given below. Try this tasty fry / poriyal and i hope that you and your family will love this recipe.

Banana Vazhakkai Plantain Podimas Fry

Ingredients:
Plantain / Vazhakkai 2-3
Turmeric -1/4 tbsp.
Hing (Asafoetida) – small pinch
Green Chillies -3
Ginger (Grated) – small piece
Urad dal -1 1/2 tbsp.
Channa dal – 1 tbsp.
Mustard – 1/2tbsp.
Curry leaves-10
Coriander leaves -1cup (chopped)
Lemon -1
Vegetable Oil -2 tbsp.
Salt – 1 tbsp.

Ingredients for plantain podimas fry recipe

Method of Preparation – Raw Banana Plantain (Vazhakkai) Podimas Fry :

Step 1 – Cleaning (Peeling) Plantain Vazhakkai:
Remove the outer skin of plantain. Cut it in to big pieces (into half) as shown in the pictures.
Cleaned (peeled) plantains

Step 2 -Plantain Vazhakkai preparation:
Boil plantains with little turmeric and salt in a pressure pan or cooker.
Cooking of Vazhakkai Plantains

Step 3 – Cooked Plantain Vazhakkai:
Once the plantains got cooked (for 5-10 minutes), grate (smash) them and keep it aside.
Boiled Plantain Vazhakkai

Step 4 – Tempering and Frying:
Heat 2 tbsp. edible oil in a non-stick pan. Fry mustard, urad dal, channa dal, hing (asafoetida), turmeric, curry leaves, red chillies and finely chopped ginger. When the mixtures turns light brown colour and nice aroma comes out from the tempered elements, add lemon juice and salt together with grated plantains. Mix all the ingredients well.
Cooking of Plantain Podimas

Step 5 – Garnishing:
Garnish the Plantain Podimas with finely chopped corriander leaves. Now tasty podimas fry is ready. Did you see how easy is to cook this South Indian special recipe ?. Enjoy the recipe and don’t forget to share your tasty experiences with us.
Vazhakkai Plantain Podimas Fry

Pongal or Sakkarai pongal is a kind of sweet rice pudding, made during pongal festival, one of the main traditional festival celebrated in South India, especially in Tamilnadu. Sakkarai pongal is made with rice, moong dal, jaggery and seasoned with cashewnuts, cardamoms and raisins. On the day of Pongal festival, Pongal is cooked in a new mud pot which is placed where the puja is to be performed. Fresh turmeric and ginger are tied around this pot. Then a delicious concoction of rice, moong dal, jaggery and milk is boiled in the pot. According to the ritual, this Pongal rice is allowed to boil and spill over. Once the rice is cooked, it is tempered with cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee. When the Pongal dish is ready, it is offered to the Sun GOD on a new banana leaf along with other traditional delicacies like vadas, payasam, etc.
Typical Sakkarai pongal is a mixture of rice, moong dal, milk, cardamom, cashews and raisins. This is a sweet variation of venn pongal. In various Indian languages pongal also known as chakarai pongal, gur ka pongal, sakkarai pongal, sankranthi pongal, Sakkarai Pongal, Sakkare Pongal.

Welcome to our new Indian recipe site. This is our first post. Why did we select sweet pongal as the start for this website ?. We friends got the idea to publish recipes online when we gathered together for the pongal celebration. So, this is the short history to come up with sweet (Chakkarai / Sakkarai) Pongal recipe. As an Indian tradition, we have started this food blog with a sweet.
This recipe is dedicated to my brother, who loves sweet variety of Pongal. He loves many traditional foods and chakarai pongal is one among them. There are so many ways to make sweet pongal. My mom makes little different and it is very quick and easy way. The very first time when i made this recipe, it tasted awesome. I am continuing the same procedure. Hope, food lovers would try it and give their feedback.

Sweet (Chakkarai / Sakkarai) Pongal

Ingredients:
Rice – 1 cup
Moong daal – 1 cup
Milk – 2 cups
Ghee – 1 spoon
Cashews – 10
Raisins – 15
Cardamom – 5
Water – as needed
Jaggery – 5 pieces

Ingredients for making Sweet Pongal

Method of Preparation – Sweet Pongal (Sakkarai Pongal or Gur ke Chawal) :

Step 1 – Rice preparation:Wash the rice, cook it in a pressure cooker with more water. I used 3 cups of water for 1 cup rice(you can use any rice, broken rice too). Stop the pressure cooker after three whistles. Now the rice is heavily cooked and very soft.
Cooked Rice

Step 2 – Dal (Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu) preparationWash the dhal, cook it in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water. Switch of the flame after three whistles. Now the dhal is heavily cooked. Mash the dal content to make it more soft.
Cooked Mung dhall

Step 3 – Jaggery (Gur / Vellam / Canesugar) syrup preparation:Break Jaggery in to small pieces. In a vessel, add Jaggery and ½ cup of water boil it for 5mins until the hard pieces get solved into water making a light-thick syrup.
Preparation of Jaggery Syrup or vella pagu

Step 4 – Jaggery Syrup Filtering: Filter the Jaggery syrup using sieve in order to remove any impurities. Taste it and add water or jaggery accordingly.
Jaggery Vellam Canesugar syrup

Step 5 – Frying Cashews, Raisins and Cardomoms:In a pan, heat some ghee or butter and roast cashews, raisins and cardamom (break the pods).
Roasting Elaichi cashew raisins in Ghee

Step 6 – Mixing the contents:In a bowl, add cooked rice, cooked dal, jaggery syrup and mix well. Also, add some milk to this mixture.
Mixing of Cooked moongdal and cooked rice

Step 7 – Mixing of Jaggery syrup:Now add prepared Jaggery syrup with mixed contents of cooked rice, dal and milk.
Mixing of Sweet pongal ingredients

Step 8 – Adding Cardamom, raisin and cashews:
Just spread it over the rice, dal, jaggery mixture.
Mixing Roasted Cashews Raisins Jaggery Syrup with Cooked Moong dal and Rice

Step 9 – Cooked Jaggery rice:Now yummy chakkara pongal is ready to serve!
Finished Sweet (Jaggery) Pongal