Sugar Pongal

Ingredients

Raw Rice          1/2 kg (2 1/2 cups)
Moong Dal        200 gm (1 cup)
Jaggery             400 gm
Cardamom        4 pieces
Cashew Nut      10 pieces
Dry grapes        10 pieces
Ghee                50 gm

Cooking Steps

• Powder the jaggery and keep it aside.
• Powder the cardamom and keep it aside.
• Heat the ghee in a pan, roast cashew and dry grapes till it turns golden brown and keep it aside.
• Mix rice and Moong dal together and wash it couple of times in water.
• Add 6 cups of water and little bit of salt.
• Cook the mixture in the pressure cooker.
• Switch off the pressure cooker after 3 whistles and let it cool for 10 minutes.
• Open the pressure cooker and heat it again with the fire at silm level in the stove.
• Add the powdered jaggery to the rice mixture in the cooker and mix it well.
• Add the roasted mixture and cardamom to the Pongal in the pressure pan and mix it.
• Switch off the stove and serve the sugar ponga (chakara pongal) hot.

Mutton or Lamb Biryani

Ingredients 

• 1kg Mutton
• 1kg Basmati Rice
• 800gm Onion
• 400gm Tomato
• 150gm Ginger & Garlic paste
• 200gm Vegetable or Sunflower oil
• 50gm Ghee (or Butter)
• 25 Green Chilli
• Rules is 5 chillies per 200g of meat
• 3 chillies for cooking mutton
• 2 chilles for biryani
• 1 bunch Mint leaves
• Garam masala
• 2 Small cinnamon stick
• 4 Cardamon 
• 4 Marathi Mogu
• 1 Clove

Cooking Steps

Precook Mutton

1. Add some oil to the pan and fry 15 chillies till it turns colour
2. Finely grind the chillies after it is cooled down
3. Add the mutton and chilli together in a pressure cooker
4. Add 3/4 water w.r.t meat
5. Boil the mixture in pressure cooker for 5 whistles (just 2 whistles for lamb)

Biryani

1. Add oil to the pan and fry garam masala.
2. Add 10 chillies and chopped onions and fry until the onion turns brown.
3. Add chopped tomatos and fry until it mashes well with onions.
4. Add pre-cooked mutton, salt and chilli power and stir well.
5. Add ginger garlic paste
6. Fry the mix until the oil oozes out and separates from the gravy
7. Add water in 1:1.5 ratio.
• Thats 1.5 water for every cup of rice.
• Use the soup from the pressure cooker first 
8. Add required salt, taste and adjust as necessary
9. Add rice, reduce the flame and cover the pan with lid.
10. Stop the flame when the water has fully evaporated.

Rava Upma

Rava upma is one of the simplest recipes, takes only 15 mins and leaves less stuff to clean. It used to be my go-to meal.

Rava is called semolina in the rest of the world. Semolina comes in three forms fine coarse, medium corse and coarse and for upma coarse or medium coarse would be good.

Ingredients 

• 1 Vegetable Oil 
• 1 Cup rava 
• 2 Cups water
• 3 Chilli
• 1 Onion
• 3 Garlic cloves + small piece of ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon each : Mustard seeds + Cumin Seeds + Urid Dhal (Ulutham parrupu) 
• 5 Curry Leaves - Karuvepplai

Cooking Steps

1. Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pan and fry rava until it starts changing colour from white to light golden brown. 
• Keep the flame low so that heat spreads evenly on rava
• Keep stirring the pan to avoid over frying 
• Once done keep the fried rava in a separate bowl.
2. Chop onions into thin long pieces (or to your preference).
3. Add 2 tablespoon oil into the pan and fry mustard + Cumin Seeds + Urid Dhal
4. Add chopped onions, chilli, garlic and ginger and fry until it turns golden brown
5. Add two cups of water and wait until it comes to boil. 
1. It can be little bit less than 2 cups but never exceed it.
6. Add a teaspoon of salt and adjust it for your liking.
7. Turn the flame down.
8. Add fried rava by slowly while stirring the water.
9. Stir well and cover the pan with lid and leave it for 10 mins or until the waters fully evaporates.
10. Once done mix it again and your dish is ready to be served.

Fish Curry

Ingredients

• Fish (Recommended - Seabass)
• 1 Big Onion
• 2 Tomatoes
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• 10 Curry Leaves
• 1 small lemon sized tamarind
• 4 teaspoons home chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt
• little Vadavam (Optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

Cooking Steps

1. Prepare tamarind mixture
• Dissolve tamarind in 4 cups of luke warm water
• Filter the tamarind water using filter
• Add chilli powder, turmeric and salt and mix it well.
• Taste the mixture and adjust the salt
2. Add 4 tablespoon oil into the pan
3. Add a little vadavam to the pan (Alternative mustard seeds)
4. Add chopped onions and fry until it turns golden brown
5. Add finely chopped tomatoes, garlic and curry leaves
6. Wait till the tomato cooks
7. Pour the mixture into the pan with onions and tomatoes
8. Boil everything till it turns into a thick sauce
9. Add fish to the pan and cook it for 10 mins
10. Try not to stir too much as it breaks the fish.
11. After 10 mins the fish curry will be ready to be served.