Mamidikaya Pulihora / Mango Rice / Mangai Puliodarai

Made this Mango / Mamidikaya Pulihora on Ugadi day 2013 along with other delicacies. Tangy taste of the raw mango along with the spices made this Pulihora a divine treat. This is very much suited for people who cannot have tamarind for some reasons. Simpler process and less preparation time makes it more easier especially during festive time as you will be focusing on many festive treats at the same time. Mango rice along with just appalams / papads  is a good lunch combo on normal days.

Ingredients

Raw Mango - 1

Sona Masoori Rice - 1.5 cup uncooked.

Green Chillies - 2 Big

Dry Red chillies - 2 Big

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1 tsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 2 tsp

Ground nuts / Peanuts - 1 Full Handful

Curry Leaves - 1 stem.

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Spice Powder - 1 tbsp ( Dry Roast 1 tsp of coriander seeds, 1/2 tbsp of white sesame seeds, 1 dry red chili and grind them to a fine powder )

Salt - As required

Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp 

Method

• Cook the Sona Masoori and keep ready. Peel the skin off and grate the raw mango and keep ready.
• Make the spice powder as described above and keep ready.
• In a big cooking pan, add oil first and finish the tempering process by adding the above mentioned ingredients. 
• Add the turmeric powder, grated raw mango into the pan and fry for a minute.
• Add the cooked rice, spice powders, salt into the pan and mix them thoroughly. Let the Mamidikaya Pulihora remains for atleast an hour before you actually serve. In this way, the tangyness of the raw mango and spiciness from the powders will get into the cooked rice which in turn makes the Pulihora even more tastier.
• Enjoy with a side of Appalams/ Papads, Vadams or crispy vada or Potato fry.

Tips / Variations 

• Reduce the amount of the spice powder if the raw mango is not too tangy. Also, the amount of spice powder  can be decided according to your taste buds.
• Cook the rice to the desired level which is the key point while making any mixed rice.

Crunchy Mint Vadai / Pudina Vadai

Made these crunchy and flavourful mint vadas on the day of Tamil New Year 2013. Have been trying to post the recipe of this vadai since then but it got materialised only today. What is different from the regular paruppu vadai? A question may arise in your mind. I made this mint vadai only with Split Pea Lentil and little bit of Moong Dal and with a cup of fresh mint / pudina leaves.  Thanks to my efforts on grinding, the vadas came out pretty much dry and crispy. Needless to say that there were none left in the serving plate for me to munch while cleaning the leftovers.!!!

 

Ingredients

Split Pea Lentil - 1.5 cups

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu - 1 Handful

Green Chili - 1 Big

Dry Red Chillies - 2 Medium

Fresh Pudina Leaves chopped - 3/4 th of a cup.

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Grated Ginger - 2 tsp

Sombu / Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - Enough for frying the vadas.

 

Method

• Soak the Split Pea Lentil and Moong Dal together for 2 hours. Add a handful of Split Pea lentil just before grinding into the soaked lentils.
• Grind them coarsely along with all the other ingredients except pudina / mint leaves. Add salt only during the last grinding cycle.
• Add little water while grinding enough to grind the mixture coarsely. Add the fresh pudina leaves to the grounded dal mixture.
• Heat the oil under medium flame. When its heated, fry the vadas till they become golden brown on medium flame.
• Complete the process for the remaining vada batter and enjoy the crispy, mint flavoured vadas.

Tips / Variations

• Don't grind the vada batter to a fine paste.
• Do not add coriander leaves or curry leaves while making these vadas. Somehow I prefer to enjoy only the unique mint flavour in this vadai.
• Handful of split pea lentils that are added just before grinding makes it even more tastier.

Rava Idli with Peanut Chutnet / Sooji Idly with Peanut Chutney

Since few weeks, I have been waiting to make Rava Idlies for breakfast but never get a chance to implement my thought. This is mainly due to my husband who does not like any kind of Idlies at all. This morning, I decided to make it happen and it was a great success indeed.!! Any tiffin with a side of good chutneys will always get an applause and a side of a spicy peanut chutney came for my rescue today. I used only 1.5 cups of Rava and it almost yielded 15 medium size Idlies. Trust me, its very easy to prepare with very less preparation time and you can enjoy fluffy rava idlies instantly.

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji - 1.5 cups
Oil - 3 tsp ( for frying the mustard seeds, rava )
Turmeric Power - 2 tsp
Salt - As Required
Hing - A Dash
Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp
Chopped Curry Leaves - 6 or 7
Grated Ginger - 2 tsp
Chopped Green Chillies - 2 Medium
Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 3 tsp
Thick Curd - 1 Cup
Water - As Required.
Cooking Soda / Eno - 1 pinch ( Optional )

Mini Rava Idlies with a side of red capsicum chutney --- Excellent Lunch Box Option for kids


Method

• In the frying pan, add oil first. When its heated, add Hing, Mustard Seeds, Channa Dal and roast them. To that pan, add the rava and roast it till you get a nice aroma. Switch off the flame. 
• In a big mixing bowl, transfer the contents from the pan and add the remaining ingredients as well.
• Mix them well and make sure that the batter consistency is perfect like the regular Idly batter.
• Leave the Rava Idly Batter aside for 30 minutes. After that, pour them over the oil sprayed idly moulds and steam cook them for 10-13 minutes.
• Yellowish fluffy idlies would be ready to enjoy with a side of a spicy chutney and podi.

Tips / Variations 

• Try to make the batter atleast 40 minutes before you steam cook. This in turn yields fluffy, softer and well cooked rava Idlies.
• Don't add too much while making the batter. Add little by little during the mixing process till you get the correct idly batter consistency. After adding the thick curd, it wont be necessary to add more water.