tradisanal food srilanka

TRADISANAL FOOD IN
SRILANKA
Sweet Pongal Recipe -Chakkarai Pongal
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Prep Time : 15 mins
Cook Time : 20 mins
Serves: 2-3
Recipe Category: Dessert
Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
Ingredients needed
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•
•
•
•
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Raw Rice - 1/2 cup
Moong dal/pasi paruppu - 1/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup grated
Cashew nuts -2 tbsp.
Raisins -2-3 tbsp.
Cardamom - 4 pods or 1/4 tsp powder
Ghee/clarified butter -1/4 cup
Ghee -1/2 tsp (for jaggery syrup)
Preparation

Dry roast rice and dal separately until it is hot to touch. It is not
necessary to fry until it changes color.
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Pressure cook rice and dal together with 2 1/2 cups of water. Mash it
well and keep it aside. (I have used old rice. For new rice, add only 2
cups of water
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If using cardamom pods, peel and powder cardamom. Keep it aside.
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Method
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Heat 1/4 cup of water in a pan and add jaggery to it. When it dissolves,
filter it to remove impurities. Boil jaggery water with a tsp of ghee on
medium heat. Take a cup of water, add a tsp of jaggery syrup to it, if it
does not dissolve, then it is the right stage to add mashed rice and dal. (I
make it very clear - you do not have to boil the jaggery water until it
reaches sticky consistency or string consistency)
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Add mashed rice, dal mixture and cook for a few minutes until everything
gets blended well as in the picture below. Add cardamom powder at this
stageFry cashew nuts in a tsp of ghee. Remove from pan and add to the
rice dal mixture.
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Add the rest of the ghee and fry raisins until they puff up and add it to the
rice dal mixture along with ghee.
 Fry
cashew nuts in a tsp of ghee. Remove from
pan and add to the rice dal mixture.
 Add the rest of the ghee and fry raisins until they
puff up and add it to the rice dal mixture along
with ghee.
 Cook for a few minutes on low heat until
everything gets blended well. Serve hot.
 Prep
Time : 20 mins
 Boondi
Cook Time
: 50 mins
Laddu
Yields: 47 Laddus
Recipe Category: Indian Sweet-Diwali
Recipes
Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
Author:Padhu Sankar
Ingredients needed

Kadalai mavu - 1/2 kg (500 grams)
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Cooking soda - 1/4 tsp and a pinch
Lemon Yellow food color - a pinch
Ghee - 1 1/2 tbsp
Method
First you have to prepare the sugar syrup and keep it ready.
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Take a pan, add water and sugar, mix well first. Then bring it to boil.
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Add 1/4 cup of milk to it, all the impurities in sugar will come to the surface. Remove it with a ladle.
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Boil sugar syrup till you get a one string consistency.
How to find one string consistency?
1.When you pour a little sugar syrup in a cup filled with little water, it should not dissolve.
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2.When you touch it between your index finger and thumb and pull it apart, it should form a string.
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3.Or just lift the ladle from the sugar syrup and wait for a few seconds- it will form a string. (in the pic
above- the string is not clear but hold the ladle like that and see if it forms a string - that is right stage).
Switch off the flame.
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Add cardamom powder, pachai karpuram, fried cashew nuts, raisins and cloves to the sugar syrup.
For
Making boondi
I have already made a detailed post on how to make Kara boondi. The method is the same but the
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measurements are different.
Mix both bengal gram flour and rice flour, add cooking soda and a pinch of yellow color.
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Add water and make a batter. I added around 2 cups + 1/3 cup of water and it was perfect for me.
You add water little by little carefully to get the batter consistency (see picture above). It should
neither be too thin nor thick.
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Heat oil and pour a little batter on the boondi ladle and gently tap it. Tiny droplets of batter will fall
into the hot oil. Fry till golden brown. Keep aside. Note - Do not fry it too crisp as for South Indian
mixture or kara boondi. Remove it from oil a stage before that.
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Repeat the process for the rest of the batter.
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After the boondi cools a little, add half of it to the sugar syrup.
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Put the rest of the boondi in a blender and grind it a little. Take a small mixie jar and blend it little
by little only for a few seconds. (Do not make it a paste- see the second picture above)
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Now add this also to the sugar syrup. Mix both well together.
RavaLaddu
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Ingredients needed
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Rava -1 cup
Grated coconut -3/4 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Cashew nuts - 15
Raisins -15-20
Blanched almonds -10
Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp
Milk -1/4 cup and little more
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Preparation
Heat a cup of ghee and roast the rava over low heat till it
changes color to light brown and you get a nice smell of
roasted rava.
Powder sugar and keep it ready.
Method
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1.Heat another cup of ghee and fry the raisins, cashew nuts and almonds till raisins puff up and the nuts
change color slightly.
2.Then add grated coconut and roast for a few more minutes.(see 2nd pic above)
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3.Then add the roasted rava and mix well. Add sugar, cardamom powder and roast for a few more minutes.
4.Switch off the flame, add milk little by little and keep mixing it well. If you are able to make ladoos, stop
adding milk.
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When the heat is bearable, divide mixture into equal parts and make small balls out of it.
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Rava Laddos are ready. Store them in an airtight container. Since we have added milk, these ladoos can be
stored only for 2-3 days.
It was very tasty, soft and divine and just melted in our mouths.
Ulundu vadai
 WHOLE
INGREDIENTS
URAD DAL
1 AND 1/4 CUP
GREEN CHILLI
3-4 NO
SALT
AS NEEDED
ASAFOETIDA
1/4 TSP
CURRY LEAVES
FEW
CORIANDER LEAVES
FEW
GINGER
A SMALL PIECE(OPTIONAL)
SHALLOTS
10-12 NO
WATER(TO GRIND)
APPROX 1/4 CUP
OIL
FOR FRYING
METHOD

Soak the urad dal for an hour . I usually add the green chillis
while soaking.
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Drain the water completely.
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Grind the urad dal along with green chillies , asafoetida,curry
leaves, ginger(if adding) and coriander leaves.
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Normally wet grinder is most preferred for making ulundu vadai.
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While grinding the vadais do not add too much of water as we
normally add while grinding idli dosa batter.
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I just added extra curry leaves.
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Just sprinkle water. Else the vadas will drink too much of oil.
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Peel of the skin of the shallots and finely chop them.
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Pulse the onions in the mixer and add this to the grind urad dal.
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Normally my mom uses banana leaf for making the round shapes.
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Here i used a zip lock cover.
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Just before making the vadas add salt to the batter, never add while
grinding else the batter will become watery.
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While making vadais keep a cup of water in a wide vessel .
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Just wet your hands (before making each vadais) and take a medium
ball sized batter in your hand and place it in the zip lock cover.
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Just pat the batter slightly and make a hole in the center
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Heat the oil in a pan.
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The oil should be very hot.
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Just carefully place the vadais in the batter and keep the flame in medium.
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Flip it over after 2 minutes and fry till golden brown.
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If the oil is not hot the vadais will drink more oil and if it is very hot the
inside portion will not get cooked.
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Drain it in a kitchen towel.
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Repeat the same process for rest of the batter
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Enjoy hot , crispy vadais with coconut chutney and Sambar.