Puli Aval recipe| Tamarind Poha

Puli Aval Upma| Tarmarind poha is a variation to the poha upma which is a quick breakfast fix, that could be made in a jiffy. Poha always comes handy for breakfast as it soaks up within seconds. I have already shared a variation of Lemon poha earlier in blog, I have also shared a sweet using poha i.e. aval ladoo and also a snack item Poha chivda. Winter season always puts me in a sleepy mood especially in the mornings and I really hate to wake up. These days simple quick recipes comes handy. Tamarind with the spices gives warmth and provides a feelgood factor in the mornings. I have prepared this recipe at the time of Vinayaka chaturthi but could not post the recipe. I again prepared this dish recently and thought it was the right time to post the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
Beaten rice| Avl| Poha, thick type- 1 cup
Oil- 3 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera- 1/2 teaspoon
Chana dal-1 teaspoon
Urad dal- 1 teaspoon
Peanuts- 2 tablespoons
Dry red chillies, broken -3
Hing| Asafetida- big pinch
Onion, chopped- 1/2 large
Green chilli-1
Garlic, cut into two- 2 big clove(optional)
Curry leaves- 2 strands
Tamarind- small gooseberry size(soaked in 1/2 cup water)
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
Salt-to taste


PROCEDURE:

• Soak the poha by sprinkling enough water to wet the poha and allow it to soften
•  for about 5-10 minutes. 
• Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of water and extract the juice. Now add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt with this and mix well and set aside. 

• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, jeera. Once the mustard seeds splutters add the chana dal, urad dal and peanuts. Allow the dal to become golden and the peanuts gets roasted. Now add the broken dry red chillies and reduce the flame; add the hing.

• Now add the chopped onion, green chillies, garlic and curry leaves; cook in that oil till the onion turns translucent.
• Now add the tamarind juice with all the masala; allow to cook till the raw flavour of the tamarind leaves and the water content almost evaporates  like a thick gravy.

• Add the soaked poha and mix well. Check for salt and add if required.

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Poha Chivda| Chiwda

Poha chivda| Poha chiwda is an easy to prepare snack|namkeen at home with in minutes. It is crunchy and tastes awesome. Perfectly suits with a cup of steaming hot tea. It is healthy as it has no deep fried items there. Tasty healthy home made snack in minutes!!!

I learnt this recipe from my North Indian neighbor Swagatha 5 years back. She often prepares this snack at home. I got a chance to taste this and i loved this tastes similar to mixture. When compare to mixture it seems healthy as there is no deep frying process involved. I love to prepare this with thin variety poha.

INGREDIENTS:
Poha| Aval- 250 grams(2 cups) I used thin poha
oil- 3 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Ajwain|omam-1 teaspoon
Green chillies, cut- 3-4
Curry leaves- 3 stands
Peanuts- 1/2 cup
Roasted chana dal|pottukadalai- 1/4 cup
Asafetida- big pinch
Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
Sugar- 1 teaspoon (adjust acc.to your taste)
Salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

• In a wide pan roast the poha in low flame till it becomes crispy. If you use thin variety it becomes crispy and light like a paper. The colour of the poha should not change.
• Remove from pan and set aside.
• Heat oil in the pan and add the mustard seeds and ajwain allow to crakle.

• Now add the cut green chillies, curry leaves and peanuts; roast in medium flame until the peanuts gets golden colour.
• Now add the roasted gram dal and roast for fifteen seconds in oil.
• Add the asafetida and turmeric powder and cook a second to leave the raw flavour of turmeric.

• Add the sugar and salt accoding to your taste. I like sweet and salty balance.

• Finally add the roasted poha and mix well till the colour of the poha gets yellow and every thing mixed together and becomes crispy. 
• Notes: You could add some cashewnuts and coconut pieces too with peanuts and roast for richness in taste.

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Aval Kesari Recipe| Poha Kesari

Aval Kesari| Poha kesari| Poha Sheera is a yummy alternative to the regular Rava kesari. I have already shared pineapple kesari, Milk kesari and Semiya kesari recipe in blog. This recipe i have prepared for Vinayaka chaturthi and was not able post. Today i some how managed to post this yummy kesari recipe.

This tastes similar to rava kesari, it suits perfect for Navaratri or Vinayaka chaturthi which occasions lots a of aval recipes been prepared. This kesari requires less ghee when compare to the normal kesari so i feel guilt free when i consume this yummy dessert.

INGREDIENTS:
Aval| Poha| flaked rice- 1 cup
Ghee- 3 -4 tablespoons
Sugar- 1 cup
Water-2 cups
Orange red colour| Kesari colour- pinch
Cardamom powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Cashews- 10
Raisins- 6

PROCEDURE:

• Using a blender jar powder the aval like fine rava.
• In a pan heat a tablespoon of ghee and roast the cashew and raisins.

• Once they become golden remove from the pan and add the powdered aval on to the hot ghee and fry till nice aroma arises.
• In a boil 2 cups of water till rolling hot and add the food colour. 

• Now add the roasted rava powder and mix well. Cook till the water almost evaporates.
• Now add the sugar and allow to cook. Once the sugar dissolved completely add ghee little by little till the kesari comes together as a whole mass with out sticking to the pan.

• Now add the cardamom powder and cook for a minute. Now add the roasted cashews and raisins and switch off the flame.

• Grease a bowl and keep the kesari while it is hot. You could grease a pan and fill the kesari and cut into pieces and serve.

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Red Aval Ladoo/ Poha Ladoo/ Aval Laddu

       Aval Ladoo is a simple sweet that could be prepared especially at this festive juncture. Here i would like to share healthy version of  traditional Aval Ladoo. Aval ladoo is preapred using white rice flakes and here i am using red rice flakes to make it a bit healthy. I have referred here for this recipe and modified according to my needs.

       Best dish to prepare at this festive season as all of you have some poha (rice flakes) at home to offer god. I had some left over red aval sitting (on the shelves) after preparing Red alval payasam on Onam and i would like to finish it off by preparing these yummy ladoos. These ladoos are liked by my family and friends. Do try these ladoos and let me know the results.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 18-20 small ladoos

INGREDIENTS:
Red Aval/ Flaked Rice/ Poha- 2 cups
Sugar- 1 cup
Cardamom- 5 pods
Ghee- 1/2 cup
Cashews-20
Raisins-20 (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• Dry roast the flaked rice in a pan till roasted smell arises. (small broken ones start to turn golden colour); Allow to cool slightly.

• In a blender jar add the roasted rice flakes, sugar, cardamom pods and finely powder them together; set aside.

• In a broad pan melt the ghee and fry the cashews and raisins; switch off the gas. Remove the cashews from ghee and keep them while making ladoos.

• In the hot ghee add the powdered rice flakes mixture and mix well with out any lumps by constant stirring.
• Make them in to small ladoos when the mixture is  warm and stud them with roasted cashews. 
• The ladoos should be slightly hard to touch. If your ladoo slightly jiggles refrigerate half an hour to one hour to harden the ladoos. If you add more ghee it happens. So no need to worry. After refrigeration your ladoos  will be fine  and never jiggles :-)

• Note: You can reduce the quantity of ghee added in this recipe by replacing ghee with quarter cup of milk. Add milk when you make them into ladoos. If you prepare with milk do refrigerate the ladoos to avoid spoiling.

Do check my other Aval recipe Lemon Aval and ladoo recipe Rava Ladoo.

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Aval Payasam in Jaggery/ Red Aval Payasam/ Rice Flakes Payasam/ Poha Payasam

       Rice Flakes Payasam is a yummy easy to make payasam. Almost every home rice flakes will be available in pantry through out the year. This payasam comes handy at the time of unexpected guest arrival and perfect for all occasions, festivals.

     Simple to make delicious payasam. I have used here red rice flakes for this recipe to make it little healthy. You can follow same instructions if you are preparing this paysam with white rice flakes.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Cuisine: South Indian
Serves:4-5

INGREDIENTS:

Red Aval/ Red Poha/ Flaked rice- 1/2 cup(You can use White)
Jaggery- 3/4 cup
Milk-1 cup
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Cardamom powder- big pinch
Dry Ginger/ Chukku, powdered- big pinch (optional)
Ghee- 1 tablespoon
Cashew nuts- 8
Raisins-8

PROCEDURE:

• Roast the aval in a pan till roasted smell arises. Now the rice flakes becomes more crispy.
• Melt the jaggery in a separate pan with half a cup of water and sieve to remove impurities.
• In a deep pan add a cup water and allow to boil once it starts to boil add the roasted rice flakes and cook till soft.

• Add the jaggery water inside the cooking rice flakes and mix well.
• Allow to cook some more time to cook the rice flakes inside the jaggery water.

• Add some milk and allow just to boil if you cook more time jaggery may tend to split the milk. Add the cardamom, dry ginger powder and mix well.
• Add the coconut milk and just allow to boil and switch of the gas. Do not over cook it.

• Roast the cashew nuts and raisins in ghee and pour on top of payasam and mix well.

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Lemon Aval/ Lemon Flaked Rice/ Lemon Poha

      I have used lemon rice recipe to prepare this dish. Easy to make in a jiffy and also the peanuts gives crunch and texture to this dish. Can be prepared instantly and it’s best for a busy day's breakfast. Lemon is a rich source of Vitamin-C so it turned out healthy.

INGREDIENTS

Rice flakes -1 ½ cup

Oil-3 teaspoons

Mustard seeds- ½ teaspoon

Urad dhal- ½ teaspoon

Roasted peanuts-handful

Onion, chopped-1

Curry leaves-1sprig

Green chilli, chopped-1

Ginger, chopped-1teaspoon

Turmeric- ¼ teaspoon

Lemon (deseeded)-2

Salt- to taste 

PROCEDURE

• Sprinkle some hot water on the flaked rice and soak for 2-5minutes and mix well with a spoon or fork.
• In a pan add oil and splutter the mustard seeds, then add urad dhal and peanuts. When it turns golden colour add the onion and curry leaves.
• Then add green chillies and ginger when the raw smell of ginger goes add turmeric and sprinkle little water then add the flaked rice and salt. Mix well and put off the gas the squeeze the lemon juice and mix well.
• Don’t add lemon juice when heat is on. If you do so, the lemon gives bitter taste.

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