Yellow Pumpkin spicy gravy / Kuzhambu

Take ¼ kg yellow pumpkin (parangi), peel the skin. Chop into 1 inch pieces. Take 1 big onion, remove skin and root; chop into long fine pieces. In a kadai, pour a 5ml of coconut/refined oil, drop a spoon of mustard seed; add a spoon powder of fenugreek, pepper, jeeragam and chilly powder. Drop a green chilly that is vertically split with curry leaves. Add salt as required. After sauting, pour chopped onion and fry for 2 minutes, now add chopped pumpkin pieces in to kadai, fry for 5 minutes until cooked. Take gooseberry size of tamarind and soak in 250 ml of water. (You can also use the tamarind paste that is readily available). Pour the filtered tamarind juice in the kadai now, add a pinch of asafoetida. Allow it to boil, now pour a teaspoon of corn flour paste into it for thickening. Now add a pinch of jaggery for taste. After it has thickened, finally add a spoon of roasted sesame powder for aroma and transfer to serving bowl.

Rava Laddu / Suji Sweet balls

Take 400 gms suji (Rava), 50 gms chenna dal (odacha kadalai), dry roast them in kadai. Take 300 gms of sugar. Pour the two ingredients in mixie and grind coarse for few seconds. Pour the mixture in a bowl and let it cool. In the mean time, take 100 gms of vanaspathi or ghee, melt it, fry cashewnuts, resins and pour it into the bowl. Add a spoon of cardamom powder and roasted clove. Now mix the rava/sugar,melted ghee well with fingers and hand press into firm balls. Store in air tight container. Shelf life is more. If the ghee level is not enough, you will not be able to make balls. Even if it is done it loosens and breaks. Some conservative people reduce ghee level and instead sprinkle milk, grated copra and make into balls. Though taste is good, shelf life is less. You have to eat within a day else fungus layer forms.

Kozhukattai and modhakam

கொழுக்கட்டை /மோதகம்

Ingredients: Rice base flour (மேல் மாவு)preparation Raw rice 1 cup. Soak in water for 1 hour. Grind nicely for Dosa batter level. If too thicky then add little water. Add pinch of salt. Take kadai. Add 1/2 to 1 tumbler water, boil. keep low flame. Add 2-3 teaspoon of oil, pour the batter slowly in boiling water and mix well without lump. Now the mix rolls into a ball without sticking to kadai. Wet your hands, knead the flour ball. Keep it aside and cover with a wet cloth. Coconut poornam: தேங்காய் பூரணம் Take 1 cup of grated coconut. jaggery 1/4 cup. Cardamaom pinch. Take kadai. Pour all these and keep stirring on low flame. Once coconut absorbs water from jaggery, it forms well. keep it aside. Sesame poornam: எள்ளு பூர்ணம் Take 1/2 cup cleaned sesame (black/white) and 25 gms jaggery. Put it in mixie and grind into powder. Spicy dhal poornam : பருப்பு பூர்ணம் 1 cup Bengal gram. Soak in water. Add green or red chilly, curry leaf, ginger piece for taste. After 1 hour, grind it well, add salt and pinch of asafoetida. Take kadai, add 1-2 teaspoon of oil, heat it. Add mustard seed to season (thalippu). Keep stirring on low flame, the dhal mix now loosens as 'usili stage' and vecomes non-sticky. Keep it aside. Method: Take a small ball of base flour. Touch finers in oil and flatten it to a diya (agal) cup. Now take any of the above poornam, stuff into the cup and press the edges well. Steam the pieces for 5 minutes, serve after cooling. If the base flour ball is not covered with wet cloth, on steaming, it will crack and poornam spills out. Have different shapes of creativity as semicircle, triangle or coconut shape for the cups to distinguish the variety of poornam in it. Else you will not know what is stuffed inside.

Kanji powder

கஞ்சி மாவு Ingredients: Raagi (கேழ்வரகு)- 1 kg, Millet (கம்பு)- 200 gm, Samba Wheat (சம்பா கோதுமை) - 200 gm, Green gram (பயறு) - 200 gm, Roasted Chenna gram (ஒடச்சகடலை) - 100 gm, Sago (ஜவ்வரிசி) - 50 gm, Barley(பார்லி) - 25 gm, roasted groundnut (வேர்கடலை) - 50 gm, Boiled rice (புழுங்கல் அரிசி) - 100 gm. Method: Raagi will have much of sand. Wash, rinse in water two/three times completely. Spread it on cloth towel to dry. Clean all other items also. Separately dry roast one by one for 2/3 minutes and set aside. Pour the items on a plate to cool. Take it to flour mill and grind as flour. (Some people allow Ragi to sprout overnight and then roast. This method is also okay. See that it is not over roasted). Preparation with Kanji mavu:

Gruel கஞ்சி: (For 1 person) Take 1 table spoon of flour, pour water, mix into paste without lump. Add half tumbler water to it and heat. Within two minutes, the consistency thickens and reaches the kanji stage. Add half tumbler milk, required sugar. (Add crushed cardamon powder for taste, if required). For those in diet, instead of milk & sugar add buttermilk & salt.

Sweet Balls: கேழ்வரகு உருண்டை Take 1 cup of kanji powder, add 1/4 cup sugar, cardamom powder, tablespoon of grated coconut. Mix it and now sprinkle milk to roll it into balls.

Ragi Dosa கேழ்வரகு தோசை : Take 1 cup of kanji powder, add salt, little buttermilk. Make into dosa batter consistency. If it's loose, add 1/2 cup of rice flour. To this add finely chopped green chilly, onion, coriander leaves. Mix well and pour on hot dosa pan. Have chutney, sambar or idly podi for side dish.