Ven pongal ( savory pongal)

Pongal is the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu where I’m from . It is also the name of the food that is made on that day from the newly harvested rice ! The type of savory pongal made on the day is a little different that this dish. On pongal we just boil rice with salt and milk in a pot and use it as a base to eat with other accompaniments. We make a sweet pongal and a few other dishes on that day as well

Growing up we looked forward to pongal since we went to our grandparents house and hung out with all our cousins. My grandparents were farmers ( rice, coconut) so it was a particularly festive occasion! 

Ingredients 

Rice - 1 cup 

Moong dal ( dehusked split green gram )- 1/2 cup

Ginger - small piece peeled and cut into pieces 

Black peppercorn - 1.5 tsp

Cumin seed - 1.5 tsp

Salt- to taste

Ghee ( clarified butter, you can use regular butter too) 3-5 tbsp 

Cashews- 10

Curry leaf - 5

Instructions 

1. Wash the rice with water until the water is clear. Drain and set aside.

2. Dry roast the moong dal for 1-2 minutes until raw smell is gone . Don’t let it burn 

3. You can cook the rice and dal on a pot on the stove, in a pressure cooker or the easiest would be to cook it in an instant pot

4. Place the rice and dal in the instant pot container. Add 5 cups of water and pressure cook it in the instant pot for 30 minutes 

5. Once the rice and dal are cooked, use a spoon to mix it together.

6. Now take a large heavy bottomed pot and place on medium heat on the stove 

7. Add a tablespoon of ghee and roast the cashews until golden brown and set aside.

8.Add 2 more tablespoons of ghee and sauté the ginger, peppercorns, cumin , and curry leaves. ( I typically grind the peppercorns and cumin into a coarse powder and then use that mixture instead of whole spices)

9. Now add the dal and rice mixture to the pot and mix in well with the spices

10. Add salt to taste and add the roasted cashews. 

11. Add a few more tablespoons of ghee ( optional)

12. Pongal is now ready to serve 

13. You can serve it with  coconut Chutney and as an added bonus with  Madhu vada

Chipotle bowl in a crunchy tortilla shell

Rich loves the veggie Chipotle bowl. I found a recipe on Facebook on an Indian air fryer group. It was made by this kid chef and it was really good . Rich thought it tasted exactly like chipotle ! I made some changes , I did roasted fajita veggies instead of pickled ones and I did not use any chilies or hot sauce since I do not like spicy food!  I also used store bought tortilla and didn’t make it from scratch to make the bowls 

Ingredients 

Flour Tortilla - large - 1 

Shredded Mexican cheese - 1 cup 

Sour cream - 2 tbsp 

Black beans - 1 can drained 

Guacamole 

Avocado - 1 

Onion ( medium ) - 1/2 chopped finely 

Garlic - 1 clove minced 

Cilantro - a handful of leaves chopped 

Tomato - 1 chopped 

Lime juice - to taste 

Salt 

Pepper 

I made  guacamole per my recipe and set aside ( covered with plastic wrap not prevent browning )

Basically you mash all the ingredients together as shown below ! 

Pico de Gallo 

Onion - 1 

Tomato - 2

Cilantro - handful chopped 

Salt 

Pepper

Rice vinegar - 1/4 tsp ( surprising ingredient but adds to taste )

Lemon juice - splash 

1. Use a chopper ( device) to finely chop the onions and then the add in the  tomatoes to chop them finely as well 

2. Add chopped cilantro , lime juice , rice vinegar and mix well

3. Add salt and pepper to taste 

Pico de Gallo is ready - set aside 

Chipotle cilantro lime rice 

Basmati Rice - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Oil - 1  tablespoon 

Salt - to taste 

Cilantro - chopped -1 cup ( packed )

Lime- 1 small juiced 

1.Wash the rice well until water is clear 

2. Then add the rice to the instant pot 

3. Add a tablespoon of oil and mix the rice so every kernel is coated ( to prevent sticky rice ) 

4. Then add two cups of water 

5. Add 1.5 tsp of salt 

6. Close the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is sealed ( not venting) 

7. This is the cool part ! Before I used to cook the rice for 30 Minutes.  This kid chef taught me differently and his rice turned out amazingly fluffy !!! 

8. Place on pressure setting and place timer for 3 minutes !!!!!! ( not a typo )

9. Once the instant pot has warmed and cooked for 3 minutes on pressure setting, Turn it off.

10. Let the rice sit in the instant pot under pressure and  let cook for 10 minutes ( turned off)

11. Now vent the instant pot

12. Amazingly fluff rice is ready 

13. Add the cilantro , lime juice and salt to taste and mix / fluff with a fork so that it doesn’t get gooey 

Cilantro lime rice is ready !!!! 

Fajita veggies 

Bell peppers - any and all colors - julienned 

Onion - 1- thinly sliced 

Taco seasoning - 2 to 3 tbsp ( depending upon the amount of vegetables)

Oil - 2 to 3 tbsp 

Salt - to taste 

1. Place a saucepan on medium heat 

2. Add 1-2 tbsp oil and let it heat up for about 30s ( but not smoking)

3. Add the onions first and sauté wel for a few Minutes 

4. Now add in thee peppers and the taco seasoning and another tbsp oil and sauté for a few minutes until roasted 

5. Add salt to taste and mix well on the pan

Fajita veggies are now ready ! 

Finally to the air fryer part 

Air fryer tortilla bowl 

1. Use a tortilla bowl mold ( or any air fryer safe bowl)

2. Place the tortilla in the mold

3. Add some cilantro lime rice 

4. Add some black beans 

5. Add some of the fajita veggies 

6. Add the Pico de Gallo 

7. Add the shredded cheese on top 

8. Air fry the tortilla bowl at 350 F for 4 minutes 

9. Take out the tortilla bowl and let cool for a few minutes and then take the tortilla bowl out of the mold  and place on plate making sure not to break the bowl! 

10. Top with a dollop of guacamole and sour cream and shredded lettuce 

11. Chipotle rice bowl in a crunchy tortilla shell is ready to serve 

Ekadasi 21 vegetable sambar ( gravy)

Vaikunta Ekadasi is a festival that falls on the eleventh lunar day in the Tamil month of margazhi ( dec - january ). This year it fell on Christmas Day. On this day it is believed that the abode of lord Vishnu ( vaikuntam - similar to English concept of heaven) is open. People fast on this day ( eat nothing at all to perhaps just eating fruits and vegetables and avoiding grains) and it is thought to be equivalent to fasting on every ekadasi of the year ( there are many ‘regular ekadasis in a year). 

On the next day — dwadasi we usually make a nutritious and filling meal which features  this sambar made out of 21 vegetables and Dal. In addition to being nutritious it is very tasty as well. This is eaten with rice.

To read more about ekadasi click this Wikipedia 

link

This is a post on what people eat on dwadasi

A video  on all the things people eat on this day with instructions on how to make them  (in Tamil with ingredients listed in English )

Here is a video on YouTube by Gowri , the video narration is in Tamil but there is an English description written out where additional information is listed on YouTube 

dwadasi sambar YouTube video

Ingredients: 

You can use as many or as little of each vegetable ( you can substitute other vegetables as well). You can make it your own! You just need 21 vegetables.

Bottle gourd ( sorakkai) - small ( half) - remove the seeds and cut into cubes 

Ridge gourd ( peerkangai) - 1/4  take the peel off and chop into small pieces 

Okra ( vendaikai) - 3 - take the tip and top off and cut into three large pieces each 

Plantain- 1 cut the tip and top off and peel it and cut into strips 






Radish / daikon - 1/4 cup - peel and cut into small thin slices 


Butternut squash - cubed 1/4 cup

Broccoli - three florets with stems 


Asparagus - thin - 3 

Green beans cut - 1/4 cup 

Peas - a few 

Carrot - cubes - 1/4 cup 

 Spinach - handful 

Indian gooseberry - large - 1 cut into eighths 

Purple yam - a few cubes 

Green eggplant - 2 small cut into 6 to 8 pieces 

mochaikai- Lima beans - a few 

Sweet potato - cooked and cut into strips -1/2 



Medium sized Potato - boiled, peeled and cubed - 1 
Taro - 1/4 boiled, peeled and cubed 


Cabbage - strips small handful 

Tomato - 1 cubed 

Ingredients:

Cooked toor dal (split pigeon peas)- 1 cup 

Tamarind paste - a small blueberry size ( the paste is concentrated - if you use fresh tamarind then you would soak a plum sized amount in a cup of water and use the tamarind water)

Sambar powder ( sold in stores premade, but can be made from scratch if so inclined ) - 2 to 3 tsp 

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp 

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp 

Besan flour - 1 tbsp 

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp 

Salt- to taste 

Vegetable Oil - 2 tbsp 

Green chilly - 1 ( deseeded and cut into a couple of pieces )

Cilantro leaves- handful 

Coconut paste ( grind these three ingredients and set aside )

Coconut shredded - 2 tbsp

Cumin- 1/4tsp

Coriander seed - 1/4 tsp

Seasoning : 

Coconut oil / vegetable oil- 1 tbsp 

Black Mustard seeds- 1 tsp 

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Curry leaves - 5 to 6 leaves 

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Instructions : 

First cook the dal- Soak the dal in water until the water covers it. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and pinch of asafoetida and also 1 tsp of oil to it and cook it in an instant pot on the beans setting ( or cook it on the stovetop for about thirty minutes on medium to high heat until the dal is soft). Set aside 

Place a deep saucepan on the stove on medium heat. Add a tbsp of vegetable oil and let it heat up but not smoke. Add the green chilly and sauté it .Now add the cut vegetables ( daikon, okra first) and sauté it . Now add in the other vegetables and add another tbsp of oil and sauté . 

Add sambar powder and turmeric powder to the oil and sauté it very well to get the raw flavor out 

Add a tbsp or two of dal mixed well with one cup water ( to make a dilute dal water) and add this water to the vegetables and let it cook for about 10-15 min

Once vegetables are cooked add 2 cups of water and dissolve the tamarind paste in it. Now add one cup of the cooked dal and salt to the vegetables. Continue to cook until the raw tamarind smell has gone out. 

At this juncture add in the coconut paste to the sambar, mix it in and let it boil for a few minutes 

Mix the besan flour and coriander powder with some water and add this to the sambar until mixed in well. 

Add brown sugar 1 tbsp ( or to taste ) and mix it in with the sambar until it dissolves. Let the sambar cook on medium heat for a few minutes 

In a separate small pan heat up the coconut oil and add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and let it sputter , add asafoetida, curry leaves. This is the seasoning.Add the seasoning with the oil into the sambar , add cilantro leaves and now sambar is ready to serve