Rava Kesari

Ingredients:

1 cup sooji/semolina/upma rava
1 1/2 cups sugar (adjust to suit your taste)
2 1/2 cups water
4 tbsps melted ghee/clarified butter/neyyi
12-15 cashew nuts/kaju/jeedi pappu
15-20 raisins/khis mish
3/4 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

1. Heat a heavy-bottomed vessel, add 2 tbsps of melted ghee, add cashew nuts and raisins and toast them till golden brown. Remove them and keep aside.
2. In the same ghee, add sooji/semolina and fry till light pink approx for 6 mts. You have to constantly stir it or else it will burn. Turn off heat, add sugar and mix.
3. Add water and cook on slow flame stirring constantly. It will come together like a thick pudding. It will take approx 8-10 mts to cook on slow flame.
4. Add half of the roasted nuts and raisins and mix. Cook on low flame for another mt. Add 2 tbsps of warm ghee and mix. Turn off flame, remove onto a serving bowl.
5. Garnish with the remaining nuts and raisins and serve warm.

Royala Iguru

Ingredients:

500 gms prawns shelled, de-veined and cleaned
2 large onion finely chopped
10 curry leaves
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 green chillies slit length wise
1 tsp chilli pwd
1/3 tsp turmeric pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
½ tsp cumin pwd
1/4 tsp garam masala pwd
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add the chopped onion and green chillis and fry till transparent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
2. Add turmeric pwd, coriander pwd, cumin pwd and chilli pwd. Mix well.
3. Add the cleaned prawns, salt and mix well. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Now add 1 cup of water and cook further covered with lid for 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Add garam masala pwd and mix well. Turn off heat and garnish with chopped coriander/cilantro leaves. Serve hot with steamed white rice or chapatis/rotis.

Pongali (Pongal)

Ingredients:

1 cup raw rice
1 liter Milk
1 1/4 cup grated or powdered jaggery
5-6 cardamoms (powdered)
10-12 cashewnuts
8-10 raisins
2 tbsp ghee

Method:

1. Boil the milk
2. Wash rice and add to milk once the milk is boiled and cook at slow flame.
3. Cook jaggery in half cup of water till it dissolves completely.
4. Add the jaggery to the cooked rice after the rice is completely cooked in milk and cook on low flame for few minutes. Turn off heat.
5. Heat ghee and add the cashew nuts and raisins and fry till brown and add these along with the ghee to the sweet pongal. Now add the cardamom powder and mix well.
6. It can be served hot or cold.