Harvested in hearty morsels
It's Sankranti and Pongal and chefs give you the best of seasonal fare to celebrate the festival.
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2017-01-12 19:39 GMT
Holige
Ingredients:
- Channa dal 1 cup
- Jaggery 1-½ cup
- Cardamom 1 tsp
- Maida 1-½ cup
- Turmeric a pinch
- Oil, 1 tsp
- Salt a pinch
Method:
- Cook channa dal in a pressure cooker. Drain all the water.
- Cook dal mixed with jaggery for 10 minutes.
- Grind without using water.
- Add cardamom and mix well with hand, to get a smooth mixture.
- Mix maida with turmeric, salt. Add water, oil and make dough.
- Cover and keep aside for an hour.
- Take a ball of dough and spread with hand.
- Keep a ball of chana mixture, and cover with dough and seal ends.
- Apply oil to a plastic paper or banana leaf, keep the ready ball on it, and roll like a chapati.
- Fry on a hot tawa till it is golden brown in colour.
- Serve hot with ghee.
Tarkari Saagu
Ingredients:
- Vegetable cubes, 3 cups (potatoes, beans, green peas and carrots)
- Onion 300 gm
- Tomato 150 gm
- Garlic (chopped) 50 gm
- Green chilli 15 gm
- Oil 75 ml
For the Paste
- Coconut 2
- Roasted channa dal 1 tbsp
- Cinnamon 2 sticks
- Clove 2 gm
- Cardamom 3 gm
- Ginger 15 gm
- Green chilli 50 gm
- Coriander seeds 50 gm
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric powder 5 gm
- Coriander 200 gm
For the Tadka
- Oil 1 tbsp
- Mustard 5 gm
- Curry leaves 1 sprig
Method:
- Dry roast the masala ingredients and make a fine paste, keep aside.
- Par boil the vegetables with turmeric powder, salt and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, allow spluttering, add curry leaves, chopped onion and sauté well for eight to 10 minutes, now add tomato and cook for another few minutes.
- Add ground paste to this mixture and boil gravy well, add par boiled vegetables and cook for another eight to 10 minutes.
- Check seasoning and make a tempering with mustard and curry leaves, and mix well. Remove from fire and garnish with coriander. Serve hot.
Badnekai Gojju
Ingredients:
- Small purple brinjal 1/2 kg
- Onions (chopped) 2 nos
- Oil 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
- Tamarind, lemon size
- Turmeric ½ tsp
- Curry leaves 1 sprig
- Salt to taste
- Coriander leaves for garnish
- Jaggery 1 tsp
Ingredients for Roast:
- Red chillies 10-12 nos
- Coriander seeds 3 tsp
- Urad dal 2 tsp
- White sesame seeds 1 tsp
- Channa dal 2 tsp
- Cinnamon 1 piece
- Coconut grated 1/2 cup
Method:
- Wash and cut brinjals length-wise into medium size pieces, and immerse in a bowl of water.
- Boil a lemon size tamarind ball in a cup water for 10 minutes. After it cools down, squeeze tamarind and remove the pulp. Strain and keep the tamarind water aside.
- Heat one tsp oil in a pan, add coriander seeds, urad dal, channa dal, sesame seeds, cinnamon, dry red chillies. Fry till they turn light brown, add grated coconut. Sauté for a few minutes on low flame.
- Remove from heat, and grind into fine powder and keep aside.
- Heat remaining oil in the same pan, add mustard seeds, when they pop, add chopped onions, fry till light brown.
- Add brinjal, fry until light brown, add turmeric and curry leaves.
- Now, add salt, tamarind juice, jaggery, ground masala powder and a cup water.
- Bring to a boil, and cook for 10-15 minutes until the gojju thickens.
- Garnish with coriander leaves.
Recipes courtesy Naren Thimmaiah, executive chef, The Gateway Hotel
Sarkkari Pongal (Sweet Pongal)
Ingredients:
- Raw rice 500 gm
- Yellow moong dal 250 gm
- Jaggery 500 gm
- Ghee 200 gm
- Cashewnut 50 gm
- Milk 500 ml
- Raisins 20 gm
- Chopped fresh coconut 50 gm
- Green cardamom powder 1 gm
Method:
- Heat 500 ml of water in another pot and add grated jaggery and simmer till it forms an even syrup, set aside.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, broil moong dal and rice till a pleasant aroma emanates from the roasting process.
- Add milk and water to the broiled rice and lentil, and cook till soft.
- Add jaggery syrup to the cooking rice, simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
- Heat half the ghee in a tempering pan and fry coconut till golden brown.
- In the same pan, add more ghee and fry cashew and raisins, mix in the rice mixture.
- Finish pongal with a sprinkle of cardamom powder and stir in evenly.
- Garnish with a few fried cashewnuts and raisins.
Recipe courtesy Leela Palace, executive chef Mir Zafar Ali
Khara Pongal
Ingredients:
- Raw rice 110 gm
- Split yellow moong dal 70 gm
- Cashewnut 15 gm
- Salt 5 gm
- Oil 5 gm
- Ghee 5 gm
- Ginger chopped 5 gm
- Jeera seeds 5 gm
- Whole black pepper 5 gm
- Curry leaves 10 gm
Method:
- Dry roast moong dal and rice separately in a heavy bottomed pan.
- Fry cashewnuts in a tsp ghee, keep aside.
- Pressure cook rice and dal with water and salt for four to five whistles, making sure it’s not too mushy.
- Heat oil and ghee, add ginger, pepper, jeera and curry leaves. Add into the dal mixture.
- Add cashewnuts and mix well.
- Serve it hot with sambar or coconut chutney.
Recipe courtesy Movenpick Hotel & Spa Chef De Partie Rajesh, Demi