Olan - Onam Special With LAL HIT Integration / #SayNoToFoodPoisoning

The most memorable event in everyone's life is celebrating festivals with family and friends. And if we look deeper, what brings beautiful memories, is apparently the fun and food. Food is an integral part of many festivals and each festival has its own special delicacies like Thandai for Holi, Sweets and savouries for Diwali, Sweet Pongal for Pongal etc. Among all the festivals, there is only one festival which always brings me a nostalgic feeling of a grand feast. Yeah ! You guessed it right, it's the ONAM Sadya :) 

Our three years stay at the God's own country was true bliss. Apart from the gastronomic memories, it also brings me nightmares of my first day house cleaning when we shifted to kerala. Though we rented a beautiful apartment with a lovely scenery, the cockroaches gave me a challenging task as I had my 6 month old son with me. Cockroaches are a major cause of all types of infections like Food Poisoning, Typhoid, Cholera, Diarrhoea, Dysentery and other stomach related infections. They carry germs as well as bacteria from drains and contaminate food and utensils. Kids are the first ones to get such types of infections; so as a Mother, it remains my responsibility to maintain a hygienic place by eliminating these hidden pests from house. / #SayNoToFoodPoisoning

I was lucky enough to get a lovely neighbour on the very first day who helped me to get rid of the hidden cockroaches by giving LAL HIT. I was really impressed by the effectiveness of the product and was surprised by its Fresh Fragrance. The Deep Reach Nozzle is a value - add to the product as it helps reach the unreachable places like sink, cracks, under the cylinder etc where the cockroaches hide safely. According to me, LAL HIT is a user friendly, safe and completely mess-free product.

 

In a week, the ONAM celebration started in our apartment and since my cleaning was made easy, I happily invited my neighbours for a feast. Onam is a Hindu festival which is celebrated in the state of Kerala in India. Onam falls in the month of Changam, which is considered as the first month according to the Malayalam Calendar. It is a 10 day festival which is celebrated in memory of King Mahabali. The first  day of Onam is called Atham followed by Chithira, Chodhi, Vishakham, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradam and concludes with Thiruvonam. Atham and Thiruvonam are the most important among all. 

People of Kerala welcome King Mahabali with beautiful Pookkalams in front of their houses. Pookkalam or Onapookkalam is a flower arrangement which is made on the floor using several varieties of flowers. Onam Sadya is another requisite part of Thiruvonam as it reflects the spirit of the season. The Sadya is a complete vegetarian platter which is traditionally made with seasonal vegetables like yam, ash gourd, cucumber etc served on plantain leaves. The platter has a minimum of 10 varieties of dishes which predominantly includes plantain chips, shakkarameratti, injipuli, Thoran , Olan, Puliseri, Pachadi, Erisheri, Avial, Payasam, Araichivita Sambhar, Rasam, Payasam, Unniyapam and Papadam. Traditionally it is served with Matta rice which has been now replaced with a regular white rice in many restaurants.

In my today's post, I am going to share a tasty and easy onam Sadya recipe which is prepared using Ash gourd and Black eyed peas called Olan. Olan is a light and flavourful dish enriched with coconut milk. This is one of the important dishes of the Sadya menu and it is also a less spicy dish. Apart from Ash gourd, pumpkin or cucumber can also be used as its substitute. 

Ingredients :

250 gms Ash gourd, cut into small pieces

1 cup Black eyed peas, cooked

2 Green chillies,slitted

1 Tsp Cumin seeds

3 Sprigs of Curry leaves

1 cup Thin Coconut milk ( 1/4 cup Thick milk + 3/4 cup water )

3/4 cup Thick coconut milk

1/2 cup Water

1 Tsp Coconut oil

Method :

Take chopped ash guard pieces in a pan along with cumin seeds, green chillies and curry leaves.

Add salt followed by the measured thin coconut milk.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook till it gets 3/4 th cooked.

Now add the cooked black eyes peas and cook it further till the ash gourd gets completely cooked.

Now add thick coconut milk and cook in a low flame.

Once it starts boiling, switch off the flame.

Add coconut oil and one sprig of curry leaves to the prepared Olan.

Keep it aside for few minutes to bring out the flavour.

Serve hot.

Serving options :

Serve with hot rice.

Do try this delicious Olan recipe as Onam is around the corner. Also I hope that this article is useful and helped you in making you aware of the dangers around us which leads to many infections. LAL HIT is an effective solution which indeed reduces the efforts of cleaning to lead a healthy and hygienic lifestyle. Don't let insects to ruin your healthy lifestyle. Regular usage of this product as against using it only during festive days will help us to maintain a hygienic surroundings. And finally, this is worth a buy product as it gives an excellent results. / #SayNoToFoodPoisoning

For more details about the product, Click HERE !

  Happy Advance Onam wishes to all my friends :)

Butter Biscuit ( Without Baking Powder / Baking Soda )

Sharing one of my all time favourite and easy cookies using just 3 ingredients. These tasty, buttery and crispy cookies is a perfect evening snack recipe to serve along with a glass of milk. No Baking powder or baking soda is required for these cookies yet it turns out super crispy. These square shaped cookies can also be prepared into round shaped cookies by rolling the dough into round log instead of square.

Ingredients :

170 gms Butter ( I have used Amul Salted butter )
250 gms All purpose flour / Maida
140 gms Powdered Sugar

Method :

Cream butter till soft.

Add powdered sugar to the butter and cream till it turns light and fluffy.

Now add all purpose flour to the butter - sugar mixture and combine together to form a dough.

Transfer the mixture to a working board, knead and divide the mixture into half.

Take one half of the dough and form a square shaped log.

Cover the log with a cling foil and refrigerate it for 2 - 3 hours ( or overnight, if possible ).

Repeat the same for the remaining dough.

When the cookies are ready to bake, remove the square logs and slice them into 1/4 inch thickness.

Arrange the sliced cookies in a baking tray and bake it for 23 - 25 minutes at 180 degree C in a pre heated oven.

Once done, remove from the oven and cool the baked cookies on a rack.

Transfer it into an air tight container and serve.

Serving Options :

Serve with hot Milk.

Note :

If the dough is refrigerated over night, keep it out for sometime and then slice it. This helps to slice the cookies easily without losing its shape.

Muttai Kuzhipaniyaram Salna / Egg Appe Salna

Salna is one of the best combination to be served with Parotta or Chapathi. The basic gravy of salna is prepared using freshly ground coconut masala and spices. The spices, onion, tomato and coconut is sautéed and made into fine paste is further simmered to get a flavourful gravy. Though the plain gravy tastes delicious, the addition of veggies or meat or egg makes the salna more tastier. In few hotels, the beaten eggs are directly added to the simmering gravy. But in my today's recipe, I have used Appe pan to prepare muttai kuzhapaniyaram and added them to the gravy. I have used just eggs to prepare muttai kuzhamniyaram but to enhance the taste further, finely chopped onions along with coriander leaves and green chillies can also be included. This salna goes perfect with Parotta and also can be served with Idly, Dosa, Appam and Roti.

Ingredients :

5 Eggs 
2 Tbsp Oil 
1 Tsp Saunf 
2 Bay leaves
1 Onion, Finely chopped 
1 Tomato, Finely chopped 
3 Green chillies, slitted 
2 Tsp Ginger garlic paste
Few Curry leaves 
Salt to taste 

To Grind :

1 1/2 Tbsp Oil 
1/2 Tsp Saunf 
1 inch Cinnamon stick 
1 Elachi 
1 Tbsp Pepper corns 
2 Onions, chopped 
1 Tomato, chopped 
Few Mint leaves 
1/4 Cup Coconut, grated 
2 - 3 Tbsp Groundnuts / Peanuts
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder 
1 1/2 Tsp Red chilli powder 
2 Tsp Coriander powder 

Method :

Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp oil in a pan and add saunf followed by cinnamon stick, pepper corns and elachi.

Add chopped onions and saute till it turns translucent.

Add chopped tomato followed by mint leaves, coconut, groundnuts, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder.

Saute it for couple of minutes and remove from the flame.

Cool and grind into fine paste by adding the required amount of water.

Now heat 2 Tbsp oil in a pan and add saunf followed by bay leaves, green chillies and curry leaves.

Add finely chopped onion and saute it.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell of it goes off.

Now add tomato and cook until it turns soft.

Add 3- 4 tbsp water and cook it again until the tomato turns mushy.

Now add the ground masala paste followed by the required amount of salt and 11/2 - 2 cups of water.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook till the oil separates from the pan in a medium flame.

Meanwhile, beat eggs by adding salt and keep aside.

Heat Appe / Kuzhipaniyaram pan and grease the mould with a little oil.

Now pour the beaten egg in each mould and cook both the sides in a medium flame.

Once done, remove from the appe / paniyaram pan and keep aside.

Once salna gets prepared, remove from the flame and add the prepared muttai kuzhipaniyaram.

Keep it aside for few minutes to let the eggs gets soaked and then serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with Idly, Dosa, Parotta, Roti and Appam.

Pasiparupu - Semiya Payasam / Moong dal - Vermicelli Payasam

Payasam / Kheer is one of the popular and traditional sweet which is prepared mostly during festival season or on special occasions. Though there are different varieties of payasam, semiya paal payasam and parupu payasam are the most famous payasam in Tamil Nadu. In my today's recipe, I have included moong dal to the regular paal payasam to give a delicious twist and taste. Roasting Moong dal in a ghee enhances the taste and also gives a lovely aroma.

Ingredients :

1/4 Cup Moong dal 
1/2 Cup Semiya / Vermicelli 
2 Cups Milk 
1/2 Cup Sugar 
3 Tsp Ghee + 2 Tbsp Ghee
5 Cashews 
6 - 7 Raisins 
1 Elachi, crushed 

Method :

Heat 2 Tsp ghee and add semiya / vermicelli.

Roast it until it gets a light golden brown and remove from the flame.

Now add the remaining 1 tsp ghee to the same pan and add moong dal.

Roast till the aroma comes out and add 1 1/2 cups of water.

When the dal gets almost cooked, add roasted vermicelli and mix well.

Add 2 cups of Milk and cook until the semiya becomes soft.

Add the measured sugar and cook until it dissolves.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp ghee in a pan and add cashews followed by raisins and elachi.

Roast and add it to the payasam.

Serve hot or cold.

Notes :

1. Payasam will become thick when it cools down, so add extra milk before serving.

2. Apart from cashews and raisins, grated badam and melon seeds can also be added.

3. Instead of adding crushed elachi, elachi powder can also be added.

4. To make the payasam more creamy and rich, substitute sugar with Milkmaid.