Mothagam

Ingredients

• Raw rice - 1 cup
• Green gram dhal - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery - 1 cup
• Coconut grated - 1 1/2 cup
• Ghee - 3 to 5 tb sp
• Water - 3 cups
• Cardamom - 3 to 4 pods

Method

Wash, pick and dry the raw rice. (pachai arisi).
Run it in a blender like sooji.
Dry roast the green gram dhal and run it in a blender to the consistency of sooji.
Make a syrup with the jaggery and very little water.
In a kadai heat ghee, roast the rice and dhal.
Side by side heat water, when the rice and dhal is roasted add the watre and stir well. (like upma).
When the rice and dhal is cooked add the grated coconut, jaggery syrup, elachi powder and stir for a minute. If needed add more ghee.
Make balls out of this not so smooth but a bit rough, and steam cook it in a idly maker.

Note: Do not roast it too much, it will absorb all the water. Do not make the balls too smooth, it should be roughly done. Adding enough ghee improves the taste. While adding the jaggery syrup filter it so that the dirt and sand if present may be removed.

Sambar powder

Ingredients

• Red chilli - 1/2 kg
• Coriander seeds - 1 kg
• Bengal gram dhal (kadala paruppu) - 100 gm
• Red gram dhal (thoor dhal) - 100 gm
• Snuff (sombu) - 50gm
• Cumin seeds (jeeragam0 - 50 gm
• Turmeric - 25 gm
• Asafoetidea - 15 gm (preferably cubes)
• Fenugreek seeds - 50 gm
• Raw rice (pachai arisi) - 100 gm
• Black Pepper - 50 gm

Method

Sun dry the chillies so that they become crispier.
Dry roast each of the ingredients.
Grind all the ingredients together in a flour mill.
Once cooled sieve and store in an air tight container, pressing the powder tight in the container.
For daily use keep in a seperate container in small quantities.

Soya & Baby Potato Curry

Ingredients:

• Soya - 1 cup
• Baby potatoes - 250 gm
• Onion - 2
• Tomato - 2
• Ginger paste - 2 tsp
• Garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Bay leaf - 1
• Oil - 3 tbsp
• Coconut - 1/2 cup
•  Badam - 6 to 10
• Chilli powder - 
• Turmeric Powder
• Garam Masala Powder - 
• Coriander leaves - 1/2 bunch

Method:

Finely chop the onions and tomatoes.
Boil the soya in little water along with salt.
Cook the potato with salt peel and keep aside.
Grind the coconut and badham into a fine paste.
Heat oil in a  pan. Fry the bay leaf. Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute well till the raw smell goes.
Add the onions and cook well. then add the tomatoes and cook well till it reaches a gravy consistency,
add turmeric powder, chilli powder and cook till the oil starts coming out.
Add the cooked soya and potato toss well.
If needed add the water in which soya was cooked.
When the gravy boils simmer it and let it cook for a while, adjust salt and spice.
Add the ground paste.
Add a generous quantity of chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with Basmathi rice or Chapathi

Note: If the coconut is tender it will give a smooth paste u can peel the skin off for badam and add as a paste, if the coconut is not tender then grind both and squeeze the milk into the gravy.