Ada Pradhaman ( Ada Payasam )

Ingredients

Ari ada  - 150 grams
Jaggery - 250 grams
Ghee - 2 tablespoons
Water - 6 cups
Cardomom  - 5
Coconut - 1 1/2
Salt  - 1/4 teaspoon
Raisins  - 25 grams
Cashew nuts  - 25 grams
Condensed milk  - 100 grams

Step 1
Coconut milk

Grind the shredded coconut for two minutes in one cup of water. Take the first coconut milk which should  be around  2 cups. Keep it aside. Again grind the remaining coconut in 3 cups of water. Take this 2nd coconut milk which is equal to 3 to 4 cups. 

Step 2

Start boiling the 2nd coconut milk in a very large pan. Once it is boiled, add ari ada, jaggery and Cardomom powder. Let it cook for 40 - 45 minutes in medium to low flame. Stir continously.  Ada is well cooked when you see the thick texture of the milk. Now slowly add two cups of first coconut milk. Once it is boiled. Switch off the flame and keep it aside. In a small pan, add ghee. Once it is hot, add raisins and cashew nuts. Saute it until it becomes golden brown colour. Add this to the ada mixture. Finally mix it with condensed milk. Yummy ada prahaman is ready. Serve it once it is cool. Have it after lunch or dinner and it goes well with kerala sadhya. It's a special sweet which you can try on special occasions. You need little bit of patience as it takes around 50 -60 minutes. Try to cook ada for 5 - 10 minutes  more if it's not cooked well. Once again wish you all a very Happy Onam 2016.

Chena Kalan ( Onam Sadhya Recipes ) - Kerala Sadhya Recipes

Ingredients

Raw banana - 1
Elephant Yam - 250 grams
Ginger - 1 small
Garlic  - 3
Dry red chilly  - 1
Fenugreek - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds  - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder  - 1/2 teaspoon
Green chilly  - 4
Coconut  - 1 cup
Curd - 1/2 cup
Mustard
Oil
Salt
Curry leaves

Add yam and banana in a pressure cooker along with 1/2 cup water and 1 teaspoon salt. Pressure cook it for two whistles. Keep it aside. Now grind coconut, 1/4 cup water, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic and green chilly to a thick paste. Mix it with yam and banana in the cooker. Cook it for a minute. Add half cup curd in the cooker along with salt if needed. Now in a pan, add 1 teaspoon  oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds, fenugreek, curry leaves  and dry red chilly. Finally mix it with cooked yam and banana. Chena Kalan is ready to have. This is one of the famous Kerala Sadhya Recipe especially during Onam Festival where we get to see lot of veg recipes. And Chena Kalan is one recipe which goes to this group. Am planning to post few more traditional Onam Sadhya recipes in this week. Hopefully if I get time :)

Gooseberry Pickle ( Amla Pickle, Nellikka Achar )

Ingredients

Gooseberry  - 1/2 kg
Water  - 3/4 cup
Gingely oil - 4 tablespoons
Red chilly powder  - 3 tablespoons
Turmeric powder  - 1/4 teaspoon
Fenugreek - 1 teaspoon
Garlic - 50 grams
Mustard - 2 teaspoon
Asoefatida  - 2 teaspoon
Salt
Curry leaves

In a pressure cooker, add gooseberry and water. Pressure cook it for one whistle. Open the lid in two to three minutes. Slowly separate the seeds from Amla. Keep it aside. In a large pan, add oil. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek and garlic. Saute it for one minute. After this add chilly powder, turmeric powder. Saute it for a minute. Now add gooseberry to this and mix it well. Finally add salt and asofateida. Slowly mix it again for a minute. Ensure not to break the Amla's. Pickle is ready. Once it is cool, Store it in an air tight container. It is always  best to use pickle after one or two days. 

Rasmalai (Dessert)

Ingredients

Step 1 :

Rasgullas

Milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Water - 3 cups
Lemon - 2 tablespoons
Semolina  (Rava) - 2 teaspoon
Cardomom powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Boil milk in a large pan. Switch off the flame once it is boiled. Add two tablespoon of lemon. Wait for two to three minutes. And you can see the texture of the milk changing. Now pour this in a thin cotton cloth and drain off the water completely by gently squeezing. Also you can hang the cloth for 20- 30 minutes by tieing it properly. 

After 30 minutes,  start kneading the dough. And stop once you feel the greasy texture on your palm. Make sure to knead it in right texture by adding cardomom powder and semolina to this. Ensure not to have too much of moisture as it may break while cooking. Also it may become dry if moisture is less. Start making round chenna balls out of the dough by slightly pressing it with palm to get the round shape. Keep it aside.

In a large pan , heat 3 cups of water and add sugar. Keep stirring when it starts boiling. This helps the sugar to dissolve in  water. Slowly add the chenna balls into the boiling water. Start with medium flame for 5 minutes. Later reduce the flame and cook it for 20 minutes. Make sure to cover the pan with a lid. Slowly flip the chenna balls in between so that it is cooked evenly. You can see the chenna balls size increasing almost double when it starts absorbing the sugar. Switch off the flame. Let it cool in room temperature for 30 - 60 minutes.

Step 2:
Sauce

Milk  - 1 litre
Cardomom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Almonds -  6
Pistachio  - 6
Sugar - 3 tablespoon
Saffron strands  (Kesar)

Heat milk in a large pan. Keep stirring it in one direction. Add three tablespoons of sugar, finely chopped almonds, pistachios, few saffron strands and cardamom powder. Once the milk become half the quantity, reduce the flame. Slowly add rasgullas into this. Cook it in low flame for four to five minutes so that the rasgullas will absorb the flavour. Switch off the flame and keep it in room temperature for 10 - 15 minutes.  Refrigerate it for 15 - 20 minutes and rasmalai is all set to serve after lunch or dinner.