Cornmeal Porridge

Cornmeal porridge is a simple healthy Jamaican recipe that I tried for breakfast today. Eating cereals every day has become the most preferred first meal for its ease of preparation and nutrient richness;  porridge is the next common dish and cornmeal porridge offers another good choice in this category. My husband liked this though I personally felt that it tasted bit like a baby food - smooth and sweet.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: Nil

Cooking Time:  10 min

Ingredients:

1.       Cornmeal – 1 cup

2.      Milk – 2 cups

3.      Water – 2 cups

4.      Salt – 1 pinch

5.      Sweetened condensed milk -  4 tbsp (can be replaced with sugar)

6.      Nutmeg grated – 1 pinch

7.      Cinnamon powder – 1 pinch

8.     Vanilla essence – 4 drops

Method:

Step 1: Mix cornmeal with water and bring it to boil with a pinch of salt.

Step 2: Add milk and boil in simmer by stirring continuously.

Step 3: Spoon in the condensed milk or sugar and mix well.

Step 4: Sprinkle nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder and drop in vanilla essence; mix well and turn off heat.

Step 5: Serve hot garnished with cinnamon powder.

TIPS:

* I had used the corn puttu flour that I had at home. A coarse cornmeal is generally flavorful.

Fresh Pigeon Peas (Tur Beans) Gravy

I had bought some tur-beans (fresh tur dal) l from Bangalore when I visited my sister last time. I peeled them and froze them but forgot it for a couple of months; yesterday I tried this simple gravy to pack for lunch along with phulkas. I prepared pulpy gravy that suited the beans very well. He said it tasted like green peas subji; maybe we can try some more green peas-recipes with this beans.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1.      Fresh peeled tur dal – 1 ½ cups

2.    Tomato – 3

3.    Onion – 2

4.    Green chili – 1

5.     Ginger – 1“ piece

6.    Garlic – 3 cloves

7.     Oil – 1 tbsp

8.    Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

9.    Red chili powder – 1 tsp

10.Garam masala – ½ tsp

11.  Coriander powder – ½ tsp

12. Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1: Chop one onion and one tomato; grind together two tomatoes, one onion, green chili, ginger & garlic into a fine paste.

Step 2: Heat oil in a pan, splutter cumin seeds and sauté chopped onion and then tomato until soft.

Step 3: Add and sauté the ground paste in it until the oil separates.

Step 4: Put the dry masala powders and fry for a minute; pour two cups of water and let it come to a boil.

Step 5: Add the tur dal, enough salt and mix well; cook covered in simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 6: Open the lid, check if dal is cooked, adjust salt and spices and cook it open for 2 minutes and then turn of stove.

Step 7: Serve garnished with coriander or fresh cream to accompany phulkas or rice.

Ragi Putma

The name sounds weird  huh?! But ‘Ragi Putma’ seems to me a more appropriate name because ragi puttu is made and then converted into upma in this recipe making it Puttu+Upuma=Putma. I’ve heard of and had ragi upma in the past, all of which included lots and lots of oil and were tough in texture (I don’t mind the chewiness part though). I loved the taste of it but for the oil because it almost gets cooked in oil; so I always kept exploring on options for a less-oil ragi upma. Yesterday, I happened to search for steamed upma and to my surprise hit many blogs that used steaming approach for ragi upma (which is why I’m not able to quote one). This is definitely worth a try for everyone who like and don’t like ragi. It came out very soft and delicious.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time:  10 min

Cooking Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

1.       Ragi flour – 2 cups

2.       Coconut – 2  tbsp

3.       Salt to taste

4.       Oil – ½ tbsp

5.       Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

6.       Urad dal – ½ tbsp.

7.       Bengal gram – ½ tbsp.

8.       Dry chilies – 2

9.       Asafoetida – 1 pinch

10.   Curry Leaves – 1 sprig

11.   Onion – 1

12.   Garlic – 4 cloves

Method:

Step 1: Mix warm salted water to ragi flour and rub it to get moist puttu mix and cook puttu by filling it between coconut gratings. (Elaborate explanation on puttu making can be seen from the post ‘Puttu With Kadalai Curry’)

Step 2: When the steamed puttu has cooled down, crush it to get a course powder.

Step 3: Heat oil in a kadai: splutter mustard, fry Bengal gram & urad dal, sprinkle asafoetida, thrown in torn curry leaves & dry chilies and sauté the finely chopped onion & garlic in it till soft and slightly brown.

Step 4: Sprinkle some salt and add the crushed puttu and toss well. Turn off heat.

Step 5: Serve hot and eat it plain or with curds if you like.

TIPS:

* I prepared two batches: Served the first batch with ghee, sugar & banana and prepared upma with the other batch; that creates a balance in the palate.

*Leftover puttu can be made into upma.

*If serving for old people and kids, you can avoid frying dals in tadka leaving it a very soft diet.