Lentil Soup or Ulava Charu or Lentil Rasam

To make rasam powder

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp urad daal
1 tsp chana daal
2 red dry chillies

Dry roast all ingredients for rasam powder and grind into powder using coffee blender. Keep aside.

1 cup lentils (ulavalu/horse gram)
6 cups water (more if necessary)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1/4 tsp turmeric

Seasoning:

1 tsp mustard seeds
4 or 5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp urad daal
2 dry red chillies
3 cloves garlic (crushed)

Boil lentils in water with turmeric until lentils are cooked. Add more water if necessary. Let cool. Blend lentils into paste using a spatula or if you are using a blender make sure paste does not become too fine. Fry all seasoning ingredients except garlic in oil until mustard cracks. Add garlic after mustard cracks. Add the seasoning mix to lentil paste. Mix well. Add salt, tamarind paste and 1 tbsp rasam powder and mix thoroughly and let this liquid boil. Turn it off after boiling point.

Garam Masala Powder

6 Coriander seeds
10 cardamoms
2 tsps whole black peppers
3 tsps cumin seed
3 or 4 one " sticks of cinnamon
14 cloves

Grind all ingredients to smooth powder.

Samosa

For Stuffing:

4 potatoes
1 cup peas
2 big onions
1 green chilly
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp amchoor powder (mango powder)
1 pinch turmeric
1 " ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala powder (check for recipe in powders category)
Oil for frying

Seasoning:

1 tsp mustard
1 tsp urad daal

For samosa wraps:

You could buy ready made samosa wraps in Indian grocery stores but you could also make home made wrappers.

2 Cups all purpose flour
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup water

Mix above ingredients to make thick dough like you make for poori. Keep aside for 1 hr.

Cook potatoes in water, peel skin off and smash them. In a pan add oil and seasoning ingredients. When mustard cracks add onions and chillies. When onions turn brown add peas and rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Add smashed potatoes. Stir well and keep aside.

Make small ball out of all purpose flour mixture. Using a rolling pin press the ball to make circle with a dimes width. Cut the circle to half. Put a spoon full of stuffing in the center of half circle. Fold wrap to make a triangle shape and close the edges pressing hard. You could use wet hands for closing the edges. Like this repeat procedure to make as many samosa's as you make with the dough. Deep fry one at a time in oil until golden brown.  

Ribbon Muruku

1 Cup gram flour (besan)
2 cup rice flour
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp cumin powder
1 " ginger
4 green chillies
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup water

Blend ginger and green chillies with water and squeeze out juice. Repeat this procedure until squeeze all the juice and then throw out pulp. Mix cumin powder salt and flours and knead with butter. Add ginger and chilli juice and water. Make dough. Prepare chakkli and press with slit to shape ribbon muruku. Fill with dough and press into hot oil skillet until golden brown. Drain and remove. Cool and store in air tight container.

Hot Boondi

2 Cups gram flour (besan)
3/4 Cup rice flour
1 1/3 - 1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp salt
1 pinch baking powder
Oil for frying
few curry leaves

Sift the flours with baking soda. Add the rest of the ingredients except curry leaves. Mix with water. Heat oil on medium heat. Hold the strainer or spoon with holes above the oil in the skillet. Take a large spoon full of mixture and pour into the small holed spoon and spread gently. Small portions of the dough drops into the oil to make round droplets of boondi. Remove the spoon from above the oil as soon as the skillet is 3/4th full of boondi. Stir and fry until golden brown. Drain in a slotted spoon and remove. Prepare all the dough in the same manner. Be sure to stir gently with the spoon and not fast to avoid the boondi from falling in clusters instead of small droplets. Fry curry leaves in little oil, then smash leaves and mix with boondi.

Snack Mixture

1/2 Cup peanuts
1/3 cup chana daal
1 cup broken rice sticks (atukulu/poha)
1 cup rice crispies (murmaralu/mummra)
1 cup boondi (optional)
1 cup vamu pusa (optional)
few curry leaves
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic paste
1 tsp amchoor powder (dry mango powder)
1 tsp ghee (melted unsalted butter)

Soak chana daal in water for an hr and drain. Heat oil in a skillet on medium high heat and fry chana daal to light brown. Set aside on paper towel. Fry rice sticks until fluffed. Fry peanuts for a couple of mins. Fry curry leaves for 30 secs. Mix along with garlic paste, ghee, amchoor powder with the rest of the ingredients.

Vamupusa

2 Cups gram flour (besan)
1 cup rice flour
1/4 stick butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ajwain seeds (vamu seeds) coarsely ground
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 1/2 cups water

Mix butter with salt, ajwain seeds, chilli powder and flours. Knead until smooth with water. Place dough in chukli press using small holes mould. Fry until golden brown. Cool and store in a tight container.

Star Biscuit or Muruku

3 Cups rice flour
1 cup urad daal or moong daal
1 3/4 tea spoon salt
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
oil for frying

Cook urad daal in pressure cooker and when it is cooked blend it into a paste. Keep it aside. Add 3 cups rice flour to this urad daal paste and add salt, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida, chilli powder and make it into batter. The batter should be thick enough to make it into balls. Take a muruku container or a cookie press. Put batter into it and squeeze it in hot oil to fry them to golden brown.

Note: Another name for muruku press is chakli press.Muruku container is avaliable in Indian grocery store. Muruku can be made in different shapes available along with the container.  

Rice Biscuits or Pappu chekkalu

3 Cups rice flour
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chana daal
1/2 cup peanuts
1/8 tsp asafoetida
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp cumin
Chopped curry leaves (optional)

To 3 cups of rice flour add 1/2 stick butter, asafoetida, cumin, chilli powder, chopped curry leaves and mix it thoroughly. Seak chala daal for 1/2 hr. Peel peanuts and fry them until golden brown. Add fried peanuts and soaked and drained chana daal to rice flour mixture. Add water and mix it thoroughly to make it into thick dough. Dough should be thick enough to be made into balls. Take a plastic wrap and spread on the cutting board or any flat surface. Take rice flour balls and press it with your hands to make thin wafers. Remove the wafer carefully and deep fry in oil until golden brown. The balls can be flattened one at a time by hand as you fry.

Vegetable Cutlet

For curry:

1/3 cup finely chopped onions
2 green chillies
1 1/4 cup frozen carrots and peas
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
2 1/2 tbsp oil
3 cloves
1 cardamom
1 1" piece cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp mustard
1 pinch turmeric
1 1/2 cooked and smashed potatoes
1 cup water
Salt to taste

For coating:

1/4 cup gram flour or besan
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup bread crumbs
oil for frying

Chop green chillies finely. Heat oil and season with cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and mustard seeds. Add onion and green chillies. Saut until the onions turn brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and the vegetables. Add salt and stir fry until the vegetables are cooked. Boil the water and salt in a sauce pan. Add smashed potato and stir. Add the mixture to the vegetables and stir. Remove the bay leaf and the whole spices. Take a small portion of the mixture and flatten it to make it round or oval shaped patty. Prepare the rest of the mixture the same way. Pour the bread crumbs in a small bowl. Mix salt, besan and water. Dip each cutlet in gram flour mixture and roll in bread crumbs. Heat oil in a skillet or Pan to 400 deg Ft. Fry 3-4 cutlets until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve warm. Do not fry too many at a time as they might fall apart if the oil is not hot. 

Cottage cheese pakoda

8 oz Cottage cheese
1 cup all purpose flour
2 med onions
2 green chillies
1 tsp salt
chopped coriander leaves (optional)
1tsp corn starch
oil for frying
1/2 tsp cumin
1 pinch baking soda

Finely chop green chillies and onions. Mix cheese, flour, salt, corn starch and cumin seeds thoroughly. Add a tbsp of water if necessary. Add chopped ingredients. Heat oil and take small portions of dough and fry the pakodas in oil until golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

Pakoda

2 cups gram flour or besan
1 cup rice flour
3 med onions
4 green chillies
1" ginger chopped
1 clove garlic
few coriander leaves
few curry leaves
11/2 tsp salt
1 pinch baking soda
3 tbsp hot oil

Masala powder:

2 tsp coriander seeds
4 cloves
1 cardamom
1 1" cinnamon stick

Grind all masala ingredients to powder. Slice onions and green chillies. Blend garlic and ginger to paste. Add all ingredients to gram flour and rice flour. Mix thoroughly with hot oil. Make a stiff dough. Drop chestnut size portions of dough into oil and fry until golden brown. Serve Hot.

Peanut Chutney

1 Cup raw peanuts
3 green chillies or 3 dry red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp tamarind (juice)
1 small onion blended coarsely
1 tbsp oil
few coriander leaves

Fry chillies, cumin seeds and peanuts until golden brown. Make sure the peanuts are roasted enough or else you get a raw taste. Let cool. Blend with tamarind, salt, coriander leaves and with little water until smooth. Add blended onion at the end. 

Coconut Chutney

1/2 coconut grated
1/4 cup urad daal
2 green chillies
2 red dry chillies
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tbsp oil
1 tsp tamarind (juice)
1 garlic clove
few coriander leaves
1 small onion optional

Fry daal, chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds in oil until golden brown. Let cool. Grind all ingredients into chutney. Add little water if necessary. Blend into coarse paste. 

Yogurt (Dahi) Vada

1 Cup urad daal
1 Green Chilli
1" Ginger
Salt to taste
Yogurt Masala:

6 Cups yogurt
2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 green chillies
1" ginger
2 tsp toor daal
1 tsp rice
few coriander leaves
1 tsp urad daal
1 tsp mustard
1 dry red chilli
few curry leaves
1/4 tsp asofoetida (hing)
3 tbsp oil

Soak urad daal for 2 hrs and blend it with 1 chilli, ginger and salt, to make it into paste. On a pan, add 3 tbsp oil and add mustard, urad daal, red chilli, curry leaves, asofoetida and fry until mustard cracks. Mix this to yogurt. Add turmeric and salt to yogurt. Soak toor daal and rice with little water and blend it with 1" ginger, chillies and add this to yogurt mixture. Yogurt masala is ready.

Make patties out of urad daal paste and deep fry in oil. Dip vada in water for a sec. and squeeze out excess water by pressing it and add it to yogurt masala. Like this as many patties as you can make out of urad daal paste and add them to yogurt masala. Add finely chopped coriander leaves to yogurt.

Yogurt Vada or Dahi Vada is ready.

Spinach Vadai

1 Cup urad daal

1 big onion chopped

1" ginger chopped

2 green chillies

1 bunch spinach finely chopped

salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

 

Soak the urad daal in water for 2  hrs. and drain. Grind the daal in the food processor or blender, with as little water as possible into a coarse paste. Add the salt, chopped spinach, chopped onions, ginger and green chillies. Take little lemon size dough and put it on a damp cloth and press it flat.  Take it out of the cloth and drop it into the hot oil. Fry till the vadai's are golden brown. Take it out and drain on the paper towel. 

Masala Vadai

1 Cup chana daal
2 - 3 big onions
2 green chillies
2" ginger
2 garlic cloves
3 cloves
2 1 " peas cinnamon
salt ti taste
few coriander leaves
oil for frying

Soak chana daal for an hr. Keep 3 tbsp's soaked chana daal seperate. Blend rest of the daal with green chillies, ginger garlic, cloves, cinnamon and salt. DO NOT ADD WATER TO BLEND. Make it into thick dough. Add 3 tbsp chana daal (soaked), sliced onions and cut coriander leaves.  Make it like patties and deep fry in oil until golden brown. 

Carrot Vadai

1 Cup urad daal
1 cup chana daal
2 cups grated carrots
2 medium onions chopped
3 green chillies
1" ginger
salt to taste
oil for frying

Soak urad daal and chana daal for 3 hrs. Drain and grind the daals with green chillies, ginger and salt to make smooth paste. Mix with grated carrots and chopped onions. Heat oil in a pan. Make patties with a hole in the center and fry them in oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve warm with mint or coconut chutney.

Plain urad dhal vadai or veg. vadai

1 Cup urad daal
1 big onion chopped
1" ginger chopped
2 green chillies
salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Soak the urad daal for 11/2  hrs. and drain. Grind the daal in the food processor or blender, with as little water as possible into a smooth paste. Add the salt, chopped onions, ginger and green chillies. Take little lemon size dough and put it on a damp cloth and press it flat and make hole in the middle. (You can use zip-loc cover or any plastic wrap instead of cloth as well) Take it out of the cloth and drop it into the hot oil. Fry till the vadai's are golden brown. Take it out and drain on the paper towel. This vadai goes well with sambar.

Note: You can use 1/2 cup shredded cabbage or carrots or 1/2 cup green peas with the onions. 

Split pea vadai

1 Cup yellow split peas
1 big onion chopped
2 green chillies
2 red chillies
1" ginger chopped
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
few coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Soak split peas for 3 hrs. Drain and grind with green chillies, red chillies, ginger, salt and asafoetida into a coarse paste. Mix with chopped onion and coriander leaves. Heat oil in a deep fryer. Take small portion of the mixture,  make a small patty and deep fry until golden brown. Makes 25 Vadai(s).

Note: Use 1/2 Cup chopped fresh spinach or use thawed well squeezed frozen chopped spinach for spinach masala vadai.

Bonda with Mashed Potatoes / Aloo Bonda

4 Potatoes
1 Onion
1/4 cup sweat peas
3 green chillies
1 tea spoon lemon juice
1" ginger
1 garlic clove
1 pinch turmeric
1 1/4 tea spoon salt
8 tsp oil
1 cup gram flour
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp urad daal
coriander leaves few

Boil potatoes, peel skin off and smash them. Blend ginger garlic into paste. Slice onions and chillies. In a frying pan add 8 tea spoons oil, add mustard and urad daal. When mustard starts to crack, add onions, chillies, ginger  garlic paste and turmeric powder. When onions turn brown, add smashed potatoes, peas and mix it well. Add salt, fry it for 5 mins and add lemon juice and finely chopped fresh coriander leaves. Make this potato curry into round balls with hand. Keep it aside.

Mix gram flour with little water, salt and baking soda and make it like batter. Dip potato round balls in the batter and deep fry in oil until golden brown. Potata/Aloo Bonda is ready. 

Bajji

1 Cup gram flour (besan)
1/4 cup rice flour
2 piches baking soda
1" ginger
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
oil for frying

Blend ginger garlic and cumin into fine paste. Add water to gram flour and make it as a batter. Add salt, chilli powder and ginger garlic paste to it.

Onion, Bell Pepper, Zucchini, Potatoes, Egg plant. Cauliflower and fresh spinach leaves

Dip any of the above vegetable pieces in batter and deep fry in oil until golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

Zucchini Puffs

2 lbs zucchini
1 tbsp salt
1 med onion
2-4 green chillies
5 big garlic cloves
1 2" ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
1 egg
1/2 cup all purpose flour
oil for deep frying

Grate zucchini with skin in a 2 qt. bowl. Add salt and set aside for 30 mins. Cut onion and green chilli finely. Crush garlic and ginger. Squeeze out all the water from zucchini. Mix in rest of the ingredients except oil. If necessary add little more salt.  Heat the oil. Using a table spoon (tbsp), drop spoon full of zucchini mixture in hot oil and deep fry until puffs are golden brown. Serve hot.

Spicy Peanuts

3 Cups raw peanuts
1 cup gram flour or besan
1 tsp rice flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp fennel seed powder
1/2 tsp salt
oil for deep frying
2 tbsp cold water (just enough to wet gram flour)

Mix peanuts and all the ingredients. Sprinkle the water just enough to hold the peanuts and flour together. If you pour more water it will be sticky to work with. If you see any lumps, separate each batter coated peanut. Let it stand for 10 mins. Then deep fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Chilly Biscuits

2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup shortening
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
few curry leaves
3 tbsp yogurt
1/4 cup chopped corriander leaves
3 green chillies chopped
1" ginger chopped

Mix the flour with all the ingredients and little water with into a soft dough. Roll on a counter top and cut into diamond shaped pieces and bake at 350 deg. F for 15 min or deep fry the pieces. Drain on paper towel and store. 

Puri or Wheat Puffs

2 Cups Wheat Flour or 1 Cup each of regular whole wheat and all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
appx. 1/4 cup water
Oil for frying

Add Oil to the flour and mix until it appears like coarse meal. Add water to form a soft but not sticky dough. Kneed dough for 5 mins and let it rest covered for about 15-30 mins.  Divide the dough into 16-18 pcs. portions and make round balls. Flatten the balls slightly and on floored surface roll into thin rounds to the thickness of a penny. Place the rolled puris in a single layer on a news paper or a wax paper. Cover it with another paper until it is ready to fry. Heat oil in a skillet or wok until hot, about 375 to 400 degrees. Add one puri at a time to the oil. Gently apply pressure on the puri with a slotted spoon and let it rise to the surface. It starts puffing up at this point. Gently press the unpuffed portion into the oil to let it puff up evenly. Turn the puri to other side and fry for one more min to light brown in color. remove from oil and place on a platter with paper towels. Serve warm with Potato curry.

Moong Daal Dosa

1 Cup Moong Daal
1/4 Cup Rice
1 chopped onion
3 green chillies
1" Ginger
1/4 tsp Cumin

Soak the rice and the daal for 1/2 hr. Grind rice, daal, green chillies, ginger into smooth dough with little water. Add 1/4 tsp salt and mix it thoroughly. Take a flat frying pan and when the pan is hot, pour this mix and make it like a pan cake. You can make it as thin as you like (Unlike a pan cake). Sprinkle finely chopped onions on this dosa, turn it around for 1 more min. As soon as you sprinkle onions, add 1/2 to 1 tsp oil and let it fry to golden brown. Turn the dosa to other side and fry for 1 min. Remove and serve.

Stuffed Paratha

3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Salt
3 tsp Ghee (Melted unsalted butter)
Water for Kneading
1/2 tsp for Frying

For stuffing:

4 - 5 medium potatoes,
1 tsp cumin seeds,
1 tsp ground coriander powder
1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves
1 chopped onion
1 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Mix whole wheat flour, salt, ghee with enough water to make a smooth dough. Keep aside.

Boil the potatoes and mash. Fry onions, cumin seeds. Add coriander powder, salt, coriander leaves and lemon juice. Keep aside. Divide dough and the potato filling into 12 equal balls. Make a flat circle of about 5" and place a potato filling in the center (of this 5 " wheat dough ball). Bring the sides of the dough over the following and close it. Press lightly and roll the paratha with the rolling pin carefully. repeat the same with the rest of the dough. Heat the griddle or the fry pan over medium heat. Place the stuffed paratha on the pan and cook till it is golden brown. Repeat the same pattern of frying for the rest parathas. Serve with Tomato chutney or any other chutney. 

Dosa

1 Cup Urad daal
3 Cups Rice flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp toor daal
1/4 tsp Methi seeds (Fenu greek)

Soak urad daal, toor daal and methi seeds in water for 2 hrs. Keep it aside. Add 3 cups warm water to rice flour and mix it well to make thick batter. Blend Urad daal, toor daal, methi seeds mixture with little water using a blender. Make it into a fine paste. Add rice flour batter into blended paste, add salt and mix it thoroughly. Let it stay overnight. Next morning Dosa batter should be slightly fermented. Use a flat non stick pan, grease the pan, pour some batter and spread like how to make a pan cake or a thin waffer. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp oil around the dosa. When it is slightly brown, turn it around for 1 more minute. Take dosa from the pan and serve it hot. Like this, you can make as many dosas as you like. Dosa goes vey well with sambar, peanut chutney, chala daal chutney and coconut chutney.

Note: Save some dosa batter for the next day. When it ferments more add 1/2 cup all purpose flour, add 1/2 tea spoon salt, 1 med sized onion sliced, 2 green chillies sliced, 1" ginger chopped and mix the above ingredients with dosa mixture. Take one tea spoon of mustard and fry it dry in a pan and add it to dosa mixture and mix it well. take a pan and pour some oil, when oil is hot, make balls with spoon or hand and deep fry in oil. This is called either puli bongaram or gunta ponganam.

Note: You can use the same recipe and if you do not add all purpose flour and just add 1/2 tsp cumin along with other ingredients mentioned above and make it like dosa, it is called uthappam.

Idli Karam Powder

1/2 Cup Chana Daal
1/4 Cup Urad daal
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin seeds
5 dry red chillies

Fry these ingredients with little oil and powder this using coffee blender. Add 11/2 tea spoon salt and 1 tsp coconut powder and mix well. Powder should not be too fine. Keep in a closed container and use it as a dip for Idli or Dosa.

Corn Meal or Rice Ravva Idli

1 Cup Urad Daal
2 Cups While Corn Meal
1/2 tsp Salt

Soak Urad Daal for 2 hrs. Soak corn meal separately for an hr. Blend Ural daal very soft. Squeeze water away from corn meal and add it to softly blended urad daal. Add 1/2 tsp salt and mix it thoroughly. Keep the mixture over night. (It should be slightly fermented the next morning when you are ready to make idli). Pour the mixture into well greased idli plates and stream. Cook for 7 or 8 mins. Makes about 16 idlis. Serve with Chutney.

Note: Instead of corn meal, you can use rice ravva and make rice ravva idli.

Rava Idli

1 ½                        Cups cream of wheat
2                            Cups plain yogurt
½ tsp                      mustard seeds
1 tsp                       urad daal
1 or 2                     green chilli sliced
½ tsp                      baking soda
½ “                         ginger sliced
1 tsp                       cumin seeds
few                         curry leaves
10                          cashew nuts broken
3 tsp                       oil for sautéing

Heat oil in a fry pan, saute mustard seeds, urad daal, cashew nut pieces, and cumin seeds until golden brown. Add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and fry for 2 mins.Then add cream of wheat and fry for about 5mins on medium heat.In another pan mix yogurt with salt.Add the sauted cream of wheat into the yogurt and mix well.Add 1/2 tsp baking soda and mix,Keep the mixture aside for 1/2 hr. Pour the cream of wheat mixture into well greased idli plates and steam. Cook for 7 or 8 mins. Makes about 16 idlis. Serve with or without Chutney.

Rava Uthappam

1/2      Cup cream of wheat
1/2      Cup all purpose flour
1/2      Cup rice flour
1         Cup plain yogurt
1"        Ginger
1         Green Chilly
1 tsp    Salt
1/4 tsp Cumin
1          Onion
1          Cup Water

Chop ginger and chillies finely. Mix all the ingredients together to form a liquidy mixture. Keep it aside for 2 hrs. Heat the griddle until water sizzles when sprinkled. Using a ladleful of the mixture spread into thin crepe of water. Fold the center when golden brown. Serve hot.

Pongal

2           Cups rice
3/4        Cup Moong Daal
7           Cups Water
1 tsp      Cumin
2"          ginger
1 tsp      whole black pepper crushed ( not too fine)
10 - 15  cashew nuts
1/2         Stick butter
1 tsp       Salt

Add 7 Cups water to rice and moong daal. Put it on the stove. When water starts to biol, lower the heat and cook it. Cook the rice. Take a pan and add 1/2 stick butter and when butter starts to melt add cumin, grated ginger, crushed pepper and cashew nuts. Saute it for 3 to 5 minutes. Add this to cooked rice and mix it well. Add salt now and mix it. Pongal is ready.

Cream of Wheat Uppuma

1            Cup cream of wheat
1            medium onion sliced
2            Green chillies sliced
1"           ginger sliced
1/2 tsp    urad daal
1/2 tsp    mustard
1/2 tsp    chana daal
1/4 tsp    salt (add more to taste if you need)
4 tsps      oil
few          curry leaves
few          cashew nuts

Heat oil in sause pan. Add mustard, urad daal, channa daal, cashew nuts. When mustard starts to crack add onion, curry leaves, green chilles, ginger. When onion becomes soft add cream of wheat and mix it thoroughly. Saute it for one minute.Add 2 Cups of water and salt and turn down the flame to low heat. After 5 or 10 mins, when it is cooked add lemon juice and serve.

Note: You can add peas or and vegetables you like to make it as vegetable Uppuma. 

Rice Ravva Uppuma

2              Cups beaten rice ( rice ravva)
1              Medium onion chopped
2              Green chillies chopped
1"             ginger
1/4 tsp      cumin
1/4 tsp      mustard seeds
1/4 tsp      urad daal
1 tsp         lemon juice or more to taste
few springs of curry leaves
salt to taste (1/2 tsp)
1               medium potato pealed and diced into small cubes
5               cups water

Wash beaten rice and drain. Heat oil in a sause pan. Add mustard, urad daal, cumin. When mustard cracks add onion, green chilli, chopped ginger, curry leaves, cashew nuts ( as many as you like) and saute for 2-3 minutes. when onion become soft add diced potatoes and saute it until potatoes become golden brown. Add 5 cups of water and add salt to it. When water starts to boil add 2 cups rice ravva and mix it thoroughly. Lower the flame to sim and cook it for 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and mix. Remove from stove and serve hot.

Note: Use medium high flame while sauteing onions and potatoes.