Paanagam

Paanagam is a cooling drink that is had during summers and my grandma used to tell that this was, in the olden served as welcome drink during a wedding ceremony called ‘samandham kalandhal’ which is when the families agree upon an alliance and step forward. It is very simple to make and quite refreshing.

Ingredients:

1.       Jaggery – 1 cup

2.       Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

3.       Dry ginger powder – 1 tsp

4.       Lemon – 1

5.       Salt – 1 pinch

6.       Tulsi – 10-15 leaves

7.       Water – 1 litre

Method:

Step 1:  Dissolve jaggery in water and filter to remove debris in it.

Step 2:  Now add salt, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, juice of a lemon, crushed tulsi leaves and mix well

Step 3: Refrigerate and serve chilled. Avoid adding ice cubes as it may dilute the taste.

Yoghurt Tikki

It was the first ever time we had invited people for lunch at home and our invitees turned out to be babu anna and family. It was a quite a thrilling experience for both us to prepare proper lunch for some eight people including us. I planned for an elaborate menu with every possible course I knew but skipped some due to lack of time. Yoghurt tikki was the starter I chose that day and our guests seemed to like it. I made a mistake when I prepared but given a bettered version here.

Ingredients:

1.          Paneer – 1 cup grated

2.          Yoghurt (Hung curds) – 1 cup

3.          Onion – ½ cup finely chopped

4.          Ginger – 1 tsp finely grated

5.          Salt as per taste

6.          Cumin powder – ½ tsp

7.          Green chillies paste – ½ tbsp

8.          Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp finely chopped

9.          Oats powdered–  5 to 8 tbsp

10.     Butter – 1 tbsp

11.     Oil for shallow frying

Method:

Step 1: In a deep tawa heat butter and sauté chopped onion and ginger

Step 2: Mix crumbled panner, yoghurt, onion-ginger, salt, cumin powder, green chili paste, coriander and make a soft dough.

Step 3: Divide the dough into lemon sized portions and pat each of them in your palm into tikkis. Place it on the plate spread with powdered oats and flip to cover on both sides. Repeat for all tikkis.

Step 4: In the tawa,  add some oil and shallow fry the tikkis until both sides are brown and crusty. Yoghurt tikkis are crispy on the outside and soft inside.

Step 5: Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

Yoghurt Shrikand

These days we hear a lot about yogurt desserts replacing ice-creams for the health reason. Not only are they healthy but these are also relatively easy to prepare at home, in fact even instantly or an hour before serving unlike ice creams or kulfis.

Ingredients:

1.       Curd – 2 cups (Yogurt if available)

2.       Sugar – 4 tbsp

3.       Fruit of your choice – ½ cup chopped (Mango and strawberry are my favorites)

4.       Chopped fruits to garnish

Method:

Step 1: If you are using curds, drain it in a muslin cloth; tie and hang it in the sink faucet for 1 hour or more.

Step 2: Powder the sugar if you are using sugar granules in a mixer and then in the same jar add chopped fruits and puree it, now scoop in the hung curds or the homemade yoghurt and whip one last time.

Step 3: Divide in the serving bowls and chill it.

Step 4: Garnish with pomegranate beads before serving.

TIPS:

·         There is a lot of room for creativity with this dessert. You can just play with available and favorite flavours.
·         I have also tried with paneer and some milk instead of yogurt.