Wheat Payasam (Kerala Style)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 4: Kerala Cuisine 
Day 23: W for Wheat Payasam

I went straight to Rajani's blog for today's letter. She did an A-Z Kerala Sadya recipes for one of the previous mega marathons and I knew she will have the perfect dish with the letter W. Rajani didn't disappoint me, this Wheat payasam, Kerala style with coconut milk was so decadent and delicious.

This payasam is made with cracked wheat or broken wheat, sweetened with jaggery and simmered in coconut milk. I used fine bulgur wheat and it worked just perfect for this recipe.

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Godhuma Rava Pongali

Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Festival of the month Recipes

Dish: Godhuma Rava Pongali
I have another sweet dish for the last day of this week's marathon. Sweet pongali or Shakkara pongali is traditionally made for Sankranthi. Coincidentally in Tamil Nadu, sankranthi is called pongal which is also the name of a rice & lentil based dish.

My sweet pongal slightly deviates from the traditional dish because I used godhuma rawa/ wheat rawa/ cracked wheat instead of rice. I think fine bulgur will be a good substitute for cracked wheat. Other than change in the grain everything else remains the same as the rice based version.

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Wheat Rava Dosa (Godhuma pindi-rava Dosa)

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Instant Idlis/ Dosas
Dish: Wheat Rava Dosa (Godhuma pindi-rava Dosa)

For Day 3 of BM# 34, as promised yesterday I have the healthier version of Rawa dosa . I saw this recipe on one of the Telugu cooking channels and really loved the idea of using whole-wheat flour (atta) and wheat rawa to make dosas. These dosas have been on our meal rotation for a while now and get made at least once every 2 weeks.

Keeping with the Instant idlis/ dosas theme, these dosas need a soaking time of 30 minutes. Soaking is important when working with whole grain flours and rawas because soaking gives them a chance to absorb the water and cook evenly. Grated carrots or finely chopped onions can also be added to make colorful and nutritious dosas. 

Potato curry can be used as a filling similar to masala dosas. But to make it a little more interesting and colorful, I made a quick carrot and green beans curry for the filling. This is a super filling and delicious meal when served with chutney on the side.

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Haleem/ Vegetarian Haleem Recipe

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter H
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: H for Haleem/ Vegetarian Haleem

Letter H stands for Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabadi cuisine is not only famous for its rich and spicy Biryanis and curries but also for equally rich and decadent desserts. Hyderabad's cuisine is an amalgamation of Mughlai, Turkish and Arabic along with the influence of local Telugu and Marathwada cuisines.

Utmost care is taken in choosing the spices and other ingredients for the dishes. Therefore the addition of a certain herb, spice, condiment or a combination of all these add a distinct flavor and aroma. The key ingredients are coconut, tamarind, peanuts and sesame seeds which are used extensively in main dishes. 

Even though I grew up in Hyderabad, I have no knowledge of the actual 'Hyderabadi' dishes. We were never big on eating out and there were only handful of Hyderabadi dishes that my mom would make for us like Bagara Baingan and Mirchi ka salan.

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Lapsi (Broken Wheat Halwa)

For the 3rd day under "Traditional Dishes" theme for this week's Blogging Marathon, I made Lapsi. Lapsi is made with broken wheat, ghee (clarified butter), sugar and milk (or water). From what I gather lapsi is very common in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

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