NEEM FLOWER PACHADI, VEPAMPOO PACHADI

 I remember six year old, we were going to Madras (now Chennai).  I was fed up of sitting in the train for a longer hours and asked my mom when are we going to reach?  my mother said tomorrow.  I said i want to get down and go home to which my mother said, i will allow you to get down at the next station and you go home alone.  I got scared and kept quite.  After reaching Madras, we were playing,  that time,  my mom told me and my cousin to go to terrace and collect the neem flowers.  when we went to terrace, i could not believe,  such a lot of fresh flowers were lying like a carpet. we collected plenty of it in a bag and brought down.  Since that age, i am familiar with the rasam, pachadi.  In the beginning i felt it bit bitter, but we used to have karela, bitter gourd subzi, i liked these dishes also very much.

Neem flower pachadi, rasam is made during the Tamil New Year which falls mostly on 14th April.  This flowers are also available at that time, very fresh.  This pacahdi is made with mango, jaggery, chilli powder. You can use tamarind instead of mango.  Use the mangoes which are not ripe but not raw which will have a sweet and sour taste.  If you are using raw mango, ensure that less sour one is picked.

Neem flower pachadi

  Vepampoo pachadi has got five unique flavours viz salt, bitterness (neem flowers), sweetness (jaggery, vellam, sarkara), mango (sour), spice (red chilli powder).
neem-flower-rasam-vepampoo-rasam-rasam,   neem flower raita  watchyoutube : neem flower pachadi

NEEM FLOWER RAITA, VEMPAMPOO RAITA

You will think that the neem leaves are bitter so as the flower.  yes it is bitter but when you fry them in ghee, you will not feel much of the bitterness.  the flowers are usually available in the month of April during the beginning of the year i.e. New year (Varsha Pirappu) and the cuisines like vepampoo rasam, pachadi and raita are made.  if you cannot get fresh flowers, dried flowers are also available in the market.

neem flower rasam, vepampoo rasam
neem flower pachadi

SHEER KURMA (SEVAI KHEER)

Sheer kurma is made with vermicelli i.e. semiya, milk, sugar and dry fruits and dates.  Today is Ramadan, Ramzan and it is the special dish today made in every household.  It is a delicious kheer one can enjoy any time. This has got the similary to sevai kheer  or semiya payasam.  in semiya payasam, we do not add dates.  we can add kishmish also in both but my daughter does not like it hence I have not added the same.

RICE MARBLES, RICE BALLS, AMMINI KOZHUKKATTAI, MANI KOZHUKKATTAI, RICE DUMPLINGS

AMMINI KOZHUKKATTAI, MANI KOZHUKKATTAI, RICE BALLS, RICE DUMPLINGS

 
Ammini Kozbukkattai, mani kozhukkattai, rice balls, rice dumplings, you name it anything, it is a nice snacks for everyone.  This is loved by all at home as my mother makes it very easily.  You can also make it,  provided you have rice flour at home. You can make it plain, spicy and put in yoghurt like we make dahi vada.

LOTUS STEM PICKLE (kamal kakkadi pickle), tamarakizhangu urugai

Kamal kakkadi, lotus stem, thamarai kizhangu is the root of Lotus flower.   I was knowing only about the Tamarakizhangu vattal until such time, one of my colleage brought the pickle and one of my friend gave me the curry made along with potato. 

Crunchy, delicate flavored lotus root is an under-water edible rhizome of lotus plant. Since centuries, the lotus rhizome has held high esteem in oriental regions, especially in Chinese and Japanese cultures. Almost all the parts of the plant: root, young flower stalks, and seeds are being used in the cuisine.

It is good source of vitamin C and dietary fibre.  In addition, it contains moderate levels of some of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), folates, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and thiamin.

kamal kakkadi pickle

lotus seed pickle

SEASAME RICE, ELLU SAADAM,

Ellu saadam or sesame seed rice is one of the Chitrannams (varieties of rice preparation) made during Pathinettamperukku.  On Saturday,  this rice is made and offered to Shani Bhagwan.  If it is given to the crows also, Shani bhagwan bless us because the Vehicle (Vaahanam) of Shani is Crow, is the belief.

Apart from the above, it is a flavourful rice, I love to eat.  Since I forgot to click the picture separately on the day of Pathinettamperukku, shall post the picture later on.

chitrannams

BISI BELE BHATH l BISI BELE HULIANNA l MASALA BHATH

Bisi bele bhath is a spicy, rice-based dish with origins in the state of Karnataka, India. Bisi bele bhath, which translates to 'hot lentil rice dish' in Kannada language, is a wholesome meal. It is said to have originated in the Mysore Palace and from there spread across the entire state.
  
I love this dish  as one of my neighbour used to give me this.  It is a dish which includes the dals and vegetables along with rice.

I have used the masalas of my version and not the original one.  If anybody is not finding time to prepare the authentic masala, then they can opt for my method of preparing it.

I shall give below the original version also.

I love to eat this rice along with Pappadams, Appalams, Karuvadam and Onion Raita.

Bisibele Bhath

When I was carrying my daughter, I was craving for this dish.  I told one of my colleague to make it because she was from Karnataka, she said she does not know how to make it.  Finally, before my delivery, I  happened to be to my  family Doctor's house in the night when she was ready to eat her dinner.  She just asked me casually, Raji, Bisibela bhat khayegi, before she could finish the sentence, I  ran to her kitchen, pulled out a plate and took out some rice out of the cooker.  She gave me some karuvadam, vadiyum, papad etc. to eat along with it.  Piping hot from the cooker, I really enjoyed it.

When I checked with her the recipe, it was a long process.  Today, I wanted to make it as I was running short of time and everyone was hungry.  So I decided to make it and the recipe is here.  I adopted a simple method and it was lovely.

If you see the ingredients of the recipes in any of the sites, you will get a long list.  All those ingredients are included in the Garam masala except one or two.    So I decided to make  this way.

While preparing in the cooker, must ensure that it does not get burnt from the bottom.  or you can cook the same directly on a thick bottom vessel which you can check very often.


Let us look at the recipe now:

                                      
                                     Bisibele Hulianna l Bisibele Bhat

                                  Broken wheat Bisibele bhat l Lapsi Bisibele Bhat

BITTER GOURD PICKLE, PAVAKKA PICKLE, KAIPPAKKA URUGAI, KAIPAKKA UPPLILITATHU, KARELA ACHAR

Bittergourd or karela or pavakka or kaipakka  is a vegetables that is low in calorie but rich in many nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2 and B3, Vitamin C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus, manganes, iron, calcium, beta-carotene and has high dietary fiber.  a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. It also has polypeptide, an insulin like compound that is good for diabetic patients.  in take of juice in the empty stomach helps in reducing the diabetic.

MYSORE PAK

Mysore Pak

Today is my daughter's birthday.  When i asked her  what should i make for her, she said Mysore Pak as she loves it.  Mysore pak is made with gramflour, sugar and ghee.  You can use generous amount of ghee in it but keeping the health factor, i have used only the required quantity and not more.

Mysore pak is a sweet dish made specially for Diwali and occasions like wedding, engagement etc.  It is a mouth watering rather meling in the mouth item and i love this.  I have seen my father making this but that time did not bother to  learn.  After coming to Mumbai, I attended a wedding there they served this mouth watering dish. Let me tell you, it melted in mouth so I decided to try my hand on it.

BIITER GOURD FRY, PAVAKKA FRY, KARELA FRY, KAIPPAKKA FRY - DIET FRIENDLY

BITTER GOURD FRY, PAVAKKA FRY, KARELA FRY, KAIPPAKKA FRY - DIET FRIENDLY

Karela or bittergourd or pavakka or kaipakka is bitter in taste but has got medicinal values as well as quite tasty if prepared well.  For diet friendly people, this method is quite ok with them as i have not used oil at all in this preparation.  I have already posted one recipe which is fried in oil.  Considering the health conscious people, i have made this in microwave oven and is cent percent diet friendly.  I could have very well  included the same in the same post but it will not serve the purpose much as people will think about frying them in oil only.