Old is gold.

Ragi recipes

Hi Jaya,
These 2 are the popular Ragi Kali recipes in Tamil Nadu;

1 Morkali which is generally a breakfast dish. Mix 1 cup ragi flour with 1 cup sour buttermilk &1 ½ cups water & salt to make a batter without lumps. In a vessel heat 2 tbsp oil, temper with 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2 tsp udad dhal, a few broken curd chillies, curry leaves, hing powder –when well fried reduce the flame & add the batter in a stream with one hand, stirring well with the other hand. Lump formation has to be carefully avoided & stir continuously to avoid sticking at the bottom. The kali forms a soft ball-now switch off the gas & transfer the kali to a greased plate. Cool & cut into pieces.
Nowadays, I dry roast the ragi flour on a medium flame for 5 mts, cool & then proceed.




2 This is a simple dish which is a substitute for rice in a meal. Mix 1 cup of ragi flour with 3 cups of water adding salt &mixing thoroughly. Put this in a vessel on the flame & stir continuously avoiding lump formation till it starts boiling. Now simmer the flame & boil for 2 – 3 mts.Remove & temper with mustard seeds & broken curd chillies.Also you can make ragi dosai. As for idli& dosa grind 1 cup udad dhal very fine & allow that(alone) to ferment.
Ju Just 1 hr before you make dosa, add 3 cups ragi flour mixed with salt &water to the ground udad & mix very well. Make dosas the usual way-they come out thin&crisp. Also if ragi kurunai is available where you live, you can make upma with all vegetables & pongal with moong dhal.In fact wheat rava & ragi rava mixed equally & cooked is very good substitute of rice.

 

Soda or fruit salt - a must !

Hi Sunitha, If you don't want to use fruit salt, you have to use soda. Originally I was using soda - then I noticed Gujaratis use fruit salt for dhokla & so I changed over ! After all , it is just an antacid. Anyway either of the two is a must to get the typical spongy texture of aappam.
Love & regards,
Chithra.

 

Athirasam - a must for South Indian Functions.

For SBS photos, please go to
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/964304-post16.html

Athirasam:

Thin variety of rice is not recommended for athirasam. Use rice with big grains. In Chennai we get

Mavu Arisi which is suitable for athirasam.

Raw rice - 2 cups

Urundai vellam (round jaggery, also called pagu vellam) - 2 heaped cups ( jaggery suitable for syrups )

Cardamom powder - 2 tsp

Oil - to deep fry

Wash & soak 2 level cups raw rice for 1 hr.Drain very well & spread on cloth between sheets of

newspaper for 1/2 hr.Powder it in the mixi as fine as possible (in India, send it to the flour mill ).It is

not necessary to sieve this. Now add 1/2 cup water to 2 heaped cups of jaggery, keep on a slow

fire & keep stirring till it dissolves.Strain to remove the dirt. Again boil the syrup till the correct

consistency is reached- take out 1 tsp syrup & put it in 2 tbsp water.You should be able to gather

it like soft butter(this may sound tricky, but when you do it , you will see it yourself easily).Now

remove. In the meanwhile keep the flour in a slightly broad vessel ready & an electric hand

blender or electric dough kneader (if you do not have either, a wooden spatula) ready. Go on

adding the syrup gradually with one hand& hand blend (or knead )with the other hand (or mix

with the spatula) thoroughly without leaving out any dry lump in any corner.The consistency is,

formation of bubbles in the dough-slightly softer than chappathi dough &thicker than idli

dough.Do not add any more syrup even if some is left.The proportion varies with the quality of

rice, so it is safer to have a little extra syrup.Now blend the mixture thorughly after adding cardm

pdr. Spread 2 tsp ghee on top & rest it at least for a day.( For all the effort we take, I usually make

with 4 cups mix with, put in 3-4 ziplock covers & freeze. The more it matures, the better it turns

out !) Next day make athirasam.Usually the consistency on kneading again thoroughly will be O

K. It is supposed to get losened with the warmth of the palm while kneading. If too tight, add 2-3

tsp curds.Take a (slightly big) lemon size, pat it into a small circle with your palm, not fingers(only

then the pressure is even) on a plastic sheet, drop only one at a time in hot oil, change to med

flame.Splash oil on it from around & it will bloat. When one side becomes honey coloured, slowly

turn over. Don't keep this side for long , few seconds is sufficient- otherwise it will become hard.

Now lift it with a holed laddle, gently press on it with another ladle(do this very gently-if not, it

will become tough) & transfer to a tissue. Don't keep the hot athirasams one over the other.Spread

horizontally on a tray. Cool completely & store.

Do not overcook it –it will become tough. If you try to savour it when hot, you may think there is

raw dough inside. Actually it will get cooked in the heat.( ulle, irundhu veganum)

If you all think I am going overboard with details, let me know!

 

Chimili Urundai – the tiny delicacy before modern sweets arrived on the scene !

White seasame seeds - ½ cup

Jaggery powdered - ½ cup

Dry roast seasame seeds till the colour changes.

Powder in the mixi.

Now, add jaggery & grind, stopping the mixi every now & then & mixing thoroughly.

Remove to a plate.

The oil released by the seeds is enough to bind the mixture.

Roll into small balls, dry & then store.


This can be also made with black seeds.

Soak them for 1 hr, clean well & remove the husks if they come out.

Drain well & proceed as before.

 

Poruvilanka urundai - the favourite dish in olden days !

Wheat ( samba variety preferable ) - 200gms
Boiled rice - 200 gms
Gram dhal - 100gms
Moong dhal - 100gms
Barley - 50 gms
Sago - 50 gms
Dry ginger - 2” ( or 2 tsp ginger powder )
Cardamom - 6
Round jaggery - 1 kg

Dry roast easch ingredient separately till nice aroma comes..

Mix ginger & cardamom.

Grind to a powder in flour mill.

Mix jaggery in just enough water to immerse, simmer on low heat till it dissolves.

Strain & boil again.

The consistency is reached when ½ tsp syrup added to 1 tbsp water, can be rolled into a soft ball.

Remove, mix the powder thoroughly & roll into balls.

Rolling should be done thus:

Take 1 cup of powder in a basin, add syrup & mix well simultaneouly with a ladle.

When hot still, form small balls - I suggest wearing gloves, because your palm will become red by the time you finish one batch !

Don’t make the balls very tight.

Keep the syrup in the same consistency by keeping the syrup vessel in a double boiler on a low flame.