Pori Urundai

Karthigai Deepam is an auspicious festival celebrated in south India. During this festival, oil lamps are lit in rows around our homes. Traditionally, Pori urundai (Puffed rice ball) is prepared during Karthigai Deepam. This Crunchy pori (puffed rice) in jaggery makes this occasion even more special!!

Ingredients - Yields 16 to18

• Pori / Puffed rice - 4 cups
• Jaggery - 1 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp
• Rice flour for dusting

Method

• Heat a pan with 1/2 cup of water and add jaggery

• Melt jaggery and filter to remove impurities
• In the same pan add filtered jaggery water, cardamom powder and ginger powder
• Bring it to boil
• Take little water in a small bowl and add few drops of boiling jaggery to check for right consistency
• Jaggery should not dissolve in water, you must be able to make a hard ball out of it
• I used a candy thermometer - until it reaches hard ball stage

• At this stage remove the pan and mix the jaggery to the pori
• Dust your hands with rice flour and quickly make balls out of it

Notes - The consistency of the jaggery is very important. Make balls when it is warm otherwise the pori will stick to your hands.

Nutritional Information

• Pori / Puffed rice is less in calories
• Each pori urundai = 50 calories approximately

Aval / Poha Payasam

Sri Krishna Jayanthi or Gokulashtami is the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna and is celebrated all over India. I prepared aval payasam as an offering for Lord Krishna. It is a very healthy & easy to make recipe.

Ingredients - Serves 4

• Aval / Poha - 3/4 cup
• Brown sugar/ Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 2 cups + 1/2 cup
• Broken cashew nuts - 2 tblsp
• Raisins - 1 tblsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Grated coconut - 2 tblsp
• Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method

• Heat the pan with ghee and fry aval and grated coconut to light brown colour - remove & keep it aside

• In the same pan heat the remaining ghee and fry cashew nuts and raisins to nice golden brown - remove and keep it aside

• Boil the milk in the pan and simmer it for 5 - 10 minutes or until the milk slightly thickens up

• Now add sugar, cardamom powder and mix well
• Now add fried aval and coconut to  the boiling milk 
• Cook the aval in the milk for 10 to 15 minutes until it is done

• Add fried cashew nuts & raisins - Stir thoroughly & switch off the flame
• Serve hot or cold

Note - Aval absorbs the milk so add 1/2 cup of milk before serving.

Nutritional Information

• Poha is low in sodium, fat and cholesterol. It is easily digestible
• Poha controls blood pressure and lowers the risk of heart diseases
• Per serving = 275 calories approximately

Raw Mango Sweet Chutney

Raw mango chutney is prepared during South Indian Tamil New Year Festival. This chutney has a sweet, tangy and sour taste

Ingredients - Serves - 4

• Chopped raw mango - 1cup
• Brown sugar / Jaggery - 3/4 cup
• Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Ghee / oil - 1 tbsp

Method

• Scrap the skin off the mangoes
• Chop it into medium sized pieces
• Heat the pan with oil / ghee add mustard seeds when it pops add chopped mangoes
• Cook the mangoes in little water until soft not mushy
• Now add brown sugar and grated coconut
• Allow it to boil till it becomes little thick 
• Delicious mango chutney is ready to serve

Note - If you use jaggery - heat jaggery in 1/4 cup of water and filter it to remove any dirt.

Nutritional Information

• Raw mangoes are rich in B Vitamins that are beneficial to maintain good health
• It is also rich in Vitamin C which is essential for strengthening immune system
• It is also rich in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Potassium
• Per serving = 250 calories approximately