Aval payasam

It is an easy to prepare, easy to digest, delicious dessert.

It is also called Awal paayaasam, rice flake pudding, pressed rice pudding or beaten rice pudding.

Aval is also called attukulu, atukulu, avval, avvalaki, avalakki , poha or rice flake.

Payasam is also called payas.

Ingredients:

• Rice flakes: ¼ cup
• Milk – 2 cups
• Sugar: ¾ cup
• Cashew nuts: 5 to 10
• Raisin (Kismis / ular drakshai): 5 to 10
• Almond (Badam): 4 to 6 (optional)
• Pista: 4 to 6 (optional)
• Cardamom powder: A pinch
• Ghee (nei / clarified butter): for frying
• Saffron: A few strands (optional)

Method of preparation:

• Fry badam, pista, kismis and cashew nuts in ghee.
• Break them into small pieces.
• Boil milk under low flame.
• Roast a little the rice flakes (with a very little ghee) till golden brown.
• Add the rice flakes with boiling milk and stir.
• Add sugar and stir. Add pista, badam, kismis, cashew nuts and cardamom powder.
• Remove from heat.
• Garnish with saffron.
• Serve hot or cold with great pleasure.

Godhumai Mavu Halwa

It is also called Wheat Halwa / Wheat Flour Halva, Atta ki hulva, a very tasty and delicious sweet dish.


It is an easy to prepare dessert. It can be had at any time.

Wheat flour is called Godhumai mavu / Gothumai maavu / Godumai mavu in Tamil language.

It is also called Atta in Hindi.


Ingredients:

• Wheat flour: 1 cup
• Sugar: ¾ cup
• Ghee: 3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder (yelakkai podi): 1 tsp
• Roasted Almond or peanut / ground nut: 20
• Fried Raisins (Poriththa kismis): 20
• Saffron / Kesari powder / food color: A pinch (optional)

Method of preparation:

• Heat ghee.
• Add the wheat flour.
• Roast till pleasant aroma with a change in color.
• Add 3 cups of boiling water.
• Stir well avoiding formation of lumps.
• Add cardamom powder, color and sugar.
• Continue stirring to get thick halwa.
• Some more ghee may be added according to your choice.
• Garnish with roasted nuts and fried raisins.

Wheat Laddoo (Godhumai mavurundai / Atta laddu)

It is an easy to prepare energetic dessert. It is enjoyable to have during tea time along with snacks. It is also called kodhumai maavu urundai.

Method of preparation:

• Roast 250 grams of wheat flour (Atta / Godhumai mavu).
• Mix 200 grams of grated jaggery (Gud / Vellam) with the roasted flour.
• Add 30 grams of ghee (clarified butter / makkan / vennai).
• Mix well.
• With the help of your palm, prepare ball shaped laddus of your preferred size.
• Serve with or without snacks and tea or coffee.

Kummayam

It is an excellent, easy to prepare, delicious chettinadu / chettinad sweet dish or dessert.

Ingredients:

• Raw rice (pacharisi / colam rice / kachcha chawal): ¼ azhakku (approx 60 ml)
• Black gram (uluttham paruppu / urad dal): ½ azhakku (approx 125 ml)
  Split green gram (pasipparuppu / moong dal wash): 2 azhakku (approx 500 ml)
• Jaggery (vellam / gud): 500 gm
• Ghee (nei): 200 gm
  
  
  Method:
  
  
• Roast the rice, black gram and green gram separately.
• Mix them together and grind to fine flour.
• Sift with the help of a sieve and keep aside.
• Take the jaggery in a vessel.
• Add a little water.
• Heat a little till the jaggery dissolves and filter.
• Mix this with the flour.
• Make up the consistency like that of dosai batter.
• Now, heat it slowly by adding ghee gradually.
• Cook till the appearance of shiny colour.
• Serve hot or cold.
  

Suitable to prepare during festivals and special family functions.

Ellurundai / ellu urundai / Til ke Laddoo

Sesame seed sweet ball (Winter laddu). It is a suitable dessert that warms up our body during winter season. Narimedu (Madurai special)

Ingredients:

• White Sesame seeds : 1 cup
• Jaggery (gud) : 1 cup
• Grated dry coconut : 1/2 cup (Optional)
• Peanuts (groundnuts) : 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder : 1 tsp
• Ghee : 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Roast the sesame seeds till golden brown.
• Roast the grated coconut.
• Roast the groundnuts and coarsely powder them.
• Melt jaggery in a heavy bottomed pan, add 1 tbsp of ghee and stir.
• On boiling, add all other ingredients and stir.
• Remove from flame.
• Grease your hands with a little ghee and make laddoos when the mixture is of bearable warmth. You can heat again a little, if mixture becomes cold.
• Laddus can be stored for 10 to15 days in an air-tight container.

Sarkarai Pongal / Sakkarai Pongal / Chakkara Pongal / Jaggery Rice, a sweet dish

• Take a pressure cooker.
• Add 2 cups of washed raw rice, ½ cup of slightly roasted split green gram and 4 cups of water.
• Pressure cook till the contents become soft.
• Remove the lid.
• Add ½ cup of ghee, 5 cups of grated jaggery and 100 ml of milk.
• Stir and cook under low flame so as to get the contents thick.
• Add a tsp of cardamom powder, 10 each of fried cashew nuts and fried raisins.
• Mix well and serve hot or cold.

Glossary:
Raw rice – Colam rice / Pacharisi / Kachcha chaval
Split green gram – Pasipparuppu / Moong dal wash
Jaggery – Vellam / Gud
Cardamom – Elakkai / Elaichi
Cashew nut / Mundhiri paruppu / Khaju
Raisin - Kismis / Ular dhrakshai

Kesari (A type of halwa like dessert: Kulipirai, Sivagangai, Devakottai special)

Ingredients:

• Rava (Sooji) - 1 cup
• Ghee - 4 tbsp
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Saffron or Kesari powder – 1 pinch
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Cashew nuts - 5
• Raisins (Kismis) - 5
• Water - 2 cups
  

Method of preparation:

• Heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a pan.
• Fry cashew nuts.
• Remove the fried cashew nuts and keep separately.
• Now in the same pan roast rava, till golden brown.
• Add boiling water.
• Keep the flame low till the rava is cooked.
• Add 2 tbsp of ghee, sugar and stir it continuously till it becomes thick.
• Add saffron or kesari powder, cardamom powder, raisins and fried cashew nuts.
• Stir a little.
• Serve hot.

Athirasam / adhirasam: a sweet dish as a dessert or snack

A suitable sweet to enjoy eating especially during festivals like Deepavali.


Ingredients

• Raw Rice (colam rice) - ½ kg
• Jaggery - 1/4 kg
• Edible oil for deep frying – As required
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Dry ginger powder – 1 tsp
  
  

Method of preparation

• Soak rice in water for about 3 hours.
• Decant the water and partially dry the rice.
• Grind into powder using mixer-grinder, sieve and get fine powder.
• Prepare syrup (pagu) by boiling jaggery with required water.
• Filter the syrup and continue boiling and stirring to wire like consistency (kambi padham).
• Mix cardamom powder and dry ginger powder with the jaggery syrup.
• Let it cool very well and thoroughly mix it with the powdered rice so as to make dough. The dough will become thicker on further cooling preferably over night.
• Pat the dough into discs and deep fry in oil till brown.
• Serve hot or cold.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa is a dessert, also called Gajjar Halwa, Gajar Halva or Gajar ka Halwa.
Carrot is a versatile root vegetable. We can eat carrot raw as well as cooked. Carrot contains ‘Carotene’, an yellow pigment, which converts itself into Vitamin A. Vitamin A is very effective in correcting night blindness. Consuming carrots give good color to our skin. Carrot also contains phosphorous, folic acid, sodium, potassium, vitamin C, etc. Carrots are also useful to get rid off anaemia / anemia and acidosis. It is a blood purifier.
Method of preparation:

• Boil 500 gm of grated carrots in 750 ml of milk.
• Stir intermittently at the beginning and continuously when it starts thickening.
• Reduce flame; add 200gm of sugar, a tsp of ghee and a pinch of cardamom powder.
• Stir until the ghee comes out.
• Serve hot with decoration of your choice.

PAL PAYASAM MADE EASY (KHEER), A GOOD DESSERT

• Take 1 litre of milk, ½ Kg of sugar & a handful of washed rice of your preference in a pressure cooker.
• Cook for one whistle and then for about 5 minutes.
• Add a pinch of cardamom powder and stir.
• Serve for 4.