Ven Pongal

Ingredients

• 1 cup white rice
• ½ cup yellow moong dal/mung dal (split moong dal)
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
• ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
• 1 teaspoon whole pepper corns
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 4-5 curry chopped leaves (when chopped releases extra flavor)
• 2 tablespoons halved cashew nuts
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat a pan on medium heat and roast the yellow moong dal until a lightly roasted aroma is released. Don’t let it turn brown.
2. Wash rice and mix with the roasted dal. Add 4 cups of water and salt to taste. Cook using the pressure cooker method or in a pot.
3. Place a small pan on medium heat; add the oil and roast the peppercorns for a few seconds. Add cumin seeds, ginger, curry leaves, pepper powder, asafoetida and saute for a few more seconds. Turn off heat and set aside.
4. Now heat ½ teaspoon of ghee in a small pan and roast the cashew nuts until golden and crisp.
5. Once the rice-dal mixture is cooked; add the roasted spices and the cashew nuts to the rice-dal mixture. 
6. Add the remaining ghee and mix till the spices have blended well into the rice.

Curd Rice (Thayir sadham)

Ingredients 
 

Rice (New) 3/4 cup
Fresh Curds 3 cups
Milk 1/2 cup
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Green chillies 2 nos.
Ginger 1.5 " piece
Onion 1 medium sized
Grapes 20 nos.
Pomegranate 2 to 3 spoons
Pineapple 4 spoons
Mustard 1 spoon
Red Chilli 2 Nos.
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Salt to taste
Kothumalli 3 to 4 spoons
Rose petals A few
Oil for Tempering 3 ladles

Method 
 

• Cook New rice as usual. If you do not have new rice, use old rice and pressure cook using more water than usual to ensure that the cooked grains are very soft. Hard grains of rice rob the charm of Curd rice.
• Cut chilli in thread thin slices, grate ginger, cut onion in very small pieces of 1/4 cm size, prepare fruits of choice (don't mix two fruits). Pluck Kothumalli and Rose petals .Set aside all the ingredients.
• When the rice is sufficiently cold, add fresh curds, and all the ingredients except Mustard, red chillies, Rose petals Curry leaves and Kothumalli. Mix thoroughly. Taste for salt now. 
• Take oil in a tampering Ladle and heat. Add mustard and red chillies. When mustard starts popping out, add curry leaves and immediately pour the temperings on Curd rice. Stir and mix again. 
• If you are going to serve curd rice immediately after tampering, it is not necessary to add milk. But if you are serving it after about an hour or more, add milk about ten minutes before serving. This would avoid souring of curd rice.
• Decorate the rice with Rose petals and Green Kothumalli . You must have noticed that I have not added asafoetida to tempering. Asafoetida tastes wonderful when added raw in Curd rice. Same is the case about raw onions which you have added in curd rice

Potato Rice

You need to parboil potatoes sliced as cubes first. Need to cook rice as well, be careful not to overcook rice, the grains should remain separate.

Slice oinions (1 big)

To Make as paste

4 Green Chillies
a small bunch of coriander leaves
a small bunch of mint leaves
little onions and 2 or 3 garlic pods

To grind as powder (after roasting the below till they change color)

- 3 red chillies (kaanja milagai)
- 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon of urad dal
- 1 teaspoon bengal gram dhal
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Method

• Place the kadai with little oil and add mustard seeds and seeragam first.
• Then, add sliced onions, add the potatoes and keep frying for 2 minutes. Thereafter add the paste and saut for 2 minutes...Add salt and a pinch of turmeric to this mixture.
• Then add the powdered spices and keep in low flame for 2 minutes.
• Now the masala is ready...once it is a little cold mix with rice and add little gingelly oil if it is too dry and mix thoroughly.

Tamarind Rice (Puli Sadam)

Ingredients:

Tamarind - 1
Rice - 11/2 cups
Dry chillies - 4
Gingely oil - 1 dsp
Ghee - 2 dsp
Black gram dal - 11/2 tsp
Bengal gram dal- 11/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Cashewnuts - 16
Asafoetida powder - a pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

• Soak the tamarind in one cup of water for 15 minutes and draw the pulp and strain. Cook the rice in boiled water and drain it. 
• Fry and powder, black gram dal and fenugreek and mix them with turmeric powder and asafoetida.
• Season mustard, pieces of dry chillies, bengal gram and cashew nuts in gingely oil, add tamarind water, the powdered turmeric and asafoetida and boil till thick. 
• Add enough salt and mix in the rice and the ghee.

Jeera Rice

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
water - 2 cups
jeera - 2 tsp
bay leaves - 1 number
cinamon stick - 1 number
black cinamom - 2
cashewnut - few
ghee - 2 tbs
salt - 1/4 tsp

Method :

1. wash the rice and soak in the water for 10 min.
2. take pressure cooker then pour ghee.
3. now start to add one by one,i
4. after ghee gets heated put bayleaves,cinamon stick,cinamom,jeera and cashewnut,then fry for 2 min after that
5.then dryup the rice completely then put back into the pressure cookerthen fry it for 2 min.
6.pour water finally add salt to it and then close the lid and put weight to it.
7. keep the flame very slowly.
8.after getting three whistle slowly off the stove

This can be served for 2 members.

Fried rice

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked cold rice (not over cooked )
2tsp garlic paste
2 tsp chillie paste or more if you like it hot
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 big onion chopped
1/4 cup oil
1 cup of mixed vegetables diced ( carrot, cauliflower, beans )
Or any vegetables of your choice
1 tbs of shelled peas
1/2 a potato diced and fried
1 tbs corn kernals
1/4 tsp aji-no-motto optional
salt to taste

For garnishing
1 small fresh red chillie cut in slanting slices
1 bulb onion leaves cut into small rounds
1 tbs of deep fried onion crisps.

Method:

• Put the wok on fire. pour the oil. Put in the garlic paste and stir for a minute, then add the chopped onion and stir again. 
• Add the chillie paste and continue stirring over a medium heat till the raw smell goes.
• Add in the vegetables,except the fried potatoes, and salt to taste, ( remember you have the soya sauce ) and cook for 1--2 minutes, till the vegetables are a bit tender.
• Add the rice, the fried potatoes, soya sauce, aji-no-motto (if used ) and stir fry until the rice is heated through.
• Dish out and garnish with fresh red chillies, cut onion leaves, and onion crisps.

Variations

For non-veg, you can add 1/2 cup of cooked chicken meat, or cleaned,boiled prawns.

For garnishing

1/2 an egg omlette shredded