Deepavali Legiyam

Deepavali Legiyam

Deepavali is nearing. No doubt it brings lots and lots of Happiness in our minds! It commemorates the death of Narakasura at the hands of Lord Sri Krishna. The people celebrates Narakasura's defeat with sparklers, lights and firecrackers. This celebration has continued down the generations as Diwali. In Tamil Nadu, the day begins with an early morning oil bath, wearing new clothes, bursting of firecrackers, visiting Lord Ganesha, Lord Vishnu and Shiva temples. The exchange of sweets between neighbours, visiting relations, and preparing Diwali special sweets are traditions of the day.

Typical Deepavali celebrations begin with waking up early in the morning, before sun rise, followed by an oil-bath. The bathing tradition involves extensive massaging of warm til-oil containing pepper corns and betel leaves. New clothes are typically worn as a part of celebrations. After the bath, a home-made medicine known as "Deepavali Lehiyam" is consumed, which is supposed to aid in soothing digestive problems that may ensue because of feasting that occurs later in the day. Sparklers, firecrackers and lights are used extensively, much like the rest of the world where Deepavali is celebrated.

Here, I am going to give the preparation method for Deepavali Legiyam!  

Deepavali Legiyam

Ingredients:

To roast:

Virali Manjal (விரலி மஞ்சள்) / Turmeric (finger shaped) - 2 nos
Kanda thippili (கண்டந் திப்பிலி) / Roots of Long Pepper - 5g
Arisi thippili (அரிசித் திப்பிலி) / Long Pepper - 5g
Omum (ஓமம்)/ Ajwain seeds - 25g
Sombu (சோம்பு) / Fennel seeds - 5g
Milagu (மிளகு) / Black pepper - 25g
Jeeragam (சீரகம்) / Cumin seeds - 25g
Lavangam (இலவங்கம்) / Cloves - 10g
Lavanga pattai (இலவங்கப் பட்டை) / Cinnamon - 5g
Sukku (சுக்கு) / Dried Ginger - 25g
Chitharathai (சித்தரத்தை) / Lesser Galangal - 5g
Adhimathuram (அதிமதுரம்) / Liquorice - 5g
Dhaniya (தனியா) / Coriander seeds - 25g
Cardamom (ஏலக்காய்) - 5g

Turmeric (Finger Shaped)

Dried Ginger

Adhimadhuram /Liquorice

Chitharathai / Lesser Galangal

Arisi Thippili / Long Pepper

Kanda thippili / Roots of Long Pepper

Sombu / Fennel Seeds

Omum / Ajwain Seeds

Milagu / Black Pepper

Dhaniya / Coriander Seeds

Jeerakam / Cumin Seeds

Lavangam / Cloves

Lavanga Pattai / Cinnamon

Panai Vellam / Palm Jaggery

Elakkai / Cardamom

Inji / Ginger

To use as such:

Ginger (இஞ்சி) - 25 g
Panai vellam (பனை வெல்லம்) / Palm Jaggery - 300g
Honey (தேன்) - 2tbsp
Ghee (நெய்) - 1tbsp
Gingelly oil (நல்லெண்ணை) - 2tbsp

Method:

Remove outer skin of ginger and grind it and extract it's juice and keep aside.

Ginger Juice

Roast all the above mentioned ingredients without oil or ghee to golden brown in low flame, one after another separately. (If you are not sure about the golden brown colour, watch for the fumes. If  fume comes, then you can stop roasting.)

 

Grind into fine powder one by one and sieve it to remove chunks.

 

Mix all the powder evenly. This is the herbal powder for preparing Legiyam.

For 1 cup of powder you need 1.5 cups of jaggery and 1 tbsp of ghee, and 2 tbsp gingelly oil.

 

Dissolve panai vellam in little water and filter the impurities.

In a deep thick bottomed pan, heat the filtered vellam and bring it to boil. Add the ginger extract and mix well. Allow it to boil.

When it boils continuously, simmer the stove; add the herbal powder slowly. While doing so, take care that no lumps are formed.

 

Stir continuously otherwise it'll stick with the bottom of the pan.

Add ghee and gingelly oil. When it  thickens and will blend so that it will come without sticking to the pan, you can switch off the stove.

Allow it to cool. When it comes to room temperature, add honey and mix well.

Store it in an airtight container. It will be good for six months.


Wishing You All, A very Happy Deepavali! 

Simple Tips for your recipes to taste great!

Simple Tips for your recipes to taste great!

Hi friends! Here I'm going to share some useful information regarding cooking problems which we face daily! These problems are faced by me and solved them successfully in the given methods! So I thought, why not to share these tips with my friends! And here we go!

Grated Coconut

Pumpkin (Yellow)

* Instead of using coconut, you can use carrot or pumpkin (yellow) for making masala for kootu or sambar. It'll give great taste and aroma to the kootu and sambar!

* While roasting par boiled rice for making poridge or kanji, add a pinch of omum! The digestion will be easier and Kanji will taste great too!

Boiled Cut Potatoes

 

Mix with Masala

Spread in Dosa tawa

Crispy Potato Curry

* For making crispy potato curry: Mix required spices and salt to the boiled and cut potatoes; spread the masala mixed potatoes on a dosa tawa (preferably hindalium tawa) and cook in very little flame for 10-15 minutes. You'll get crispy potato curry!

Traditionally Tasting Potato Curry

* To get a traditional taste in your Potato curry: Roast 1/2 tsp of dhaniya and 2-3 red chilli with very little oil. Grind it to a coarse powder. Add this powder to the boiled potato instead of ordinary chilli powder and continue your cooking as usual. Your potato curry will get a traditional taste and you will definitely get applause from your in-laws and elders!

Soft & Spongy Idlis

* For getting soft spongy Idlis: Instead of adding raw rice for making Idli, add hand pounded rice (kaikuthal arisi) and a scoop of rice flakes (aval)! You will get soft spongy Idlis!

Softy Chappathis

* For making soft Chappathis: While preparing dough for making Chappathi, make sure that the dough is little loose and not very thick. When rolling the dough, use maida! It'll be easier to make smoother, evenly thick Chappathis! It'll consume less maida and the dough will not lose its moisture content! So it'll be so soft even in room temperature!

* You don't like the smell of ginger-garlic paste! No worries! Instead of adding ginger-garlic paste, you can grate the ginger and garlic separately and add this in the place of ginger-garlic paste! The smell will be lesser but has same health benefits!

* To enhance the taste of rasam: Make a fine paste of one tomato, one green chilli, 2 strands curry leaves, 2 strands coriander leaves, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp pepper and add this paste to tamarind extract and allow it to boil so that the raw smell of tamarind and the ground tomato goes. After this you can add required water or dhall water and continue to finish your preparation.


To enhance the taste of some boring dishes, we have two wonderful vegetables called ONION and TOMATO! You may wonder what I'm saying! Yes! Onion and Tomato combine to give a delicious taste to our boring dishes! Here we go!


* To enhance the taste of Sambar: Make a fine paste of one tomato, one onion, one small carrot, 2 strands of curry leaves and coriander leaves and add this paste to sambar before adding dhall. Your sambar will definitely win great contests!

* To convert Paruppu Rasam into Sambar: Heat one tsp oil in a pan. Saute one chopped onion and tomato; (add 3-4 tomatoes) add little water. Allow it to boil. Now add little salt and very little sambar powder and allow it to boil. When the raw smell of sambar powder reduces, add the rasam and allow it to boil. Season with mustard seeds, and fenugreek and garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves. Your rasam is now changed to sambar!

Keerai Soup

* You can convert the left over poriyal into a healthy and delicious soup! Take one tomato, one onion and two garlic pods. (If you want it to be spicy then you can add one green chili!) Cut it into small pieces! Heat a very little oil in a pan. Saute cut onion and tomato and garlic with a pinch of garam masala powder and coriander leaves. Grind this fried items with the left over poriyal into a fine paste. Add required water to this paste and filter it to remove chunks. Now bring it to boil. Add required salt and pepper powder and serve hot. (You can do it with left over greens too! Nobody will find the secret from what it is made off!)

 

* Is your child is not taking enough vegetables! Are they bringing back the given veggies from school! No worries! Saute, chopped onion and chopped tomatoes in a pan. Add ground paste of carrot with it. Add garam masala powder, chilli powder, dhaniya powder, and required salt. Cook for few minutes to get rid off the raw smell! Add your veggies which your child refuses to eat. Mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Make sandwiches with this veggie stuff! They'll definitely finish it in no minutes! You can prepare a chappathi roll or dosa roll too! (In my childhood, my Mom made me eat the vegetables which I don't like, in this method only!?!?)

Masala Buttermilk

* During summer, we tend to drink fruit juice or tender coconut or buttermilk to get over from heat. When preparing buttermilk for drinking, don't just add salt and water! It will be very mild and the very purpose of drinking buttermilk does not fulfill! Take 2 strands of curry leaves, 2 strands of coriander leaves, 1/2 inch ginger, 1/4 cup of grated carrot, 1/4 cup grated cucumber and 1/4 cup grated pumpkin (white). Grind all the above to a fine paste and add this paste to buttermilk and blend it. Add required salt and a pinch of Asafoetida powder, pinch of Omum (Ajwain) powder and have it. You can have it in room temperature itself. It will be very tasty and delicious and you feel filled up too! Try it!


Will add more tips as and when I learn! Till then, have a nice and healthy life! Bye! 

Kollu / Horse Gram Masala

Kollu / Horse Gram Masala

Kollu or Horse Gram has many health benefits.

Kollu / Horse Gram

Horse gram is a reddish brown legume with many health benefits. It is rich in taste and at the same time provides you many nutritional benefits. Hence it is one of the favorite food for all walks of people. As it is a grain with rich amounts of proteins, vitamins and iron it is believed that it can reduce the extra fats in the body along with the help of reducing weight.

It is having good amounts of B-complex vitamin and proteins. It aids in purifying menstruation and prevents and cures the arthritis. The high amount of dietary fiber present in the horse gram balances the blood pressure and sugar glucose levels.

The horse gram plant exhibits the properties of astringent, diuretic and antioxidant. It is used in the treatment of many health problems especially to treat diarrhea, hemorrhage and hemorrhoids.

In curing the menstrual problems, leucorrhea and bleeding during the pregnancy period horse gram plant works effective. Horse gram plant treats the patients who are suffering from weak liver, spleen enlargement and colic problems with its medicinal properties. And to cure the kidney stones, gall stones and high blood pressure increase the intake of horse grams.

The regular intake of horse gram helps to flush out the worm infections, it regulates the digestive system and ward offs acidity and flatulence. Grind the horse gram and make it into fine powder, add two table spoons of this powder to a cup of water and drink it. This mixture gives you relief from skin rashes and controls the boils. Add some amount of horse gram to water and boil it, this boiled water will helps to regulate the fever. Would you like to treat the menstrual problems like irregular periods and heavy bleeding, then horse gram is an ideal choice. Add horse gram to your daily diet whether in the form of sprouts, soups or boiled water to watch the results.

Similarly to control the bleeding after pregnancy horse gram works well. Women can daily intake one table spoon of horse gram powder in the early morning on empty stomach to improve the overall health.

Note: It is not recommended for pregnancy women.

Boil a table spoon or two of horse gram in water and grind it to form a semi solid paste, now add this paste to pinch of pepper powder and swallow. This simple method will give you relief from common cold, cough and sore throat.

Ingredients

Kollu / Horse Gram - 1 cup
Pacha Payaru / Green Gram - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Onion - 2 no's
Tomato - 2 no's
Green chilli - 1 no
Garlic - 3-4 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Curry Leaves - 2 strands
Coriander leaves - 4-5 strands
Ghee - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For Masala

Take one onion, one Tomato, green chili, curry leaves, coriander leaves and ginger. Cut it into pieces. Grind all these things into fine paste and keep it aside.

Method

Wash and soak Kollu / Horse Gram and Pacha Payaru / Green Gram separately for 6 - 7 hours.

Pressure cook both soaked Kollu and Payaru separately up to 7 whistles, so that both becomes so soft.

Mash the cooked Kollu / Horse Gram in a mixer grinder to a fine paste. Keep it aside. (Don't waste the water you used for cooking the above dhalls.)

Pacha Payaru / Green Gram

Kollu / Horse Gram

Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan. Add cumin seeds to it and when it to splutters add chopped onion and saute until it becomes transparent.

Now add chopped tomatoes to it and continue to saute.

Add the ground masala paste and mix well.

Now add turmeric powder, dhaniya powder, chilli powder and garam masala powder to it and mix well. Add the Dhall water to this. If you feel it is still thicker you can add little water.

Cook this until the raw smell goes off.

Now add the softly cooked Pacha Payaru / Green Gram to it and mix well.

Now add the mashed Kollu / Horse Gram to it. Add salt as per your requirement. Mix well.

Cook for few minutes.

Switch off the flame and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and Little Ghee.

This will go well with Chappathis and Fried Rice!

* You can use Peas or Black Channa or Lobia in substitute of Green Gram for variety.

Will revert back soon with more healthy dishes. Till then have a nice day!