Rice Kheer (Pudding/ Payasam)

Dear Friends, Wishing you all and your loved ones a very Happy Diwali.  Hope you are all having a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating Diwali. Deepavali called Festival of Lights has had been my favorite festival while growing up in India. The excitement would begin even before the festival actually started. As compared to the other festivals this had fun, excitement right from the get go. First off we get the much needed holidays from school/college, then we get to wear new clothes, indulge on varieties of goodies, light up fire crackers, light some beautiful diyas(lamps), meet with…

Hayagreeva (Chana Daal Jaggery Dessert)

My plan for Ganesh Chaturthi/Chavthi pooja was to prepare the usual kadabu as a sweet offering to the Lord. Kadabu in Kannada also called as “Ukadiche modak” in Marathi is prepared by first stuffing sweet coconut mixture in a rice flour covering and then steamed to create a unique tasting decadent dish. This requires lots of fresh shredded coconut but is considered to be Ganapathi’s favorite dish. So we got coconuts from the Grocery, some for the pooja and one to prepare the dish. But much to our dismay discovered that the coconut had gone bad. We usually pride ourselves…

Cucumber Kosambari / Taushe Koshimbir

Kosambari is a typical and traditional saladin Karnataka. It is prepared during major festivals, auspicious occasions, and marriages and even offered as ‘prasada’ in temples. This is also called as Koshimbir in Konkani and Maharashtra and is very easy to prepare. Kosumbari does not involve any cooking, it is basically a mix of soaked lentil and raw vegetable of choice (cucumber or carrot or both) with right seasoning.  It is very high in protein and also has a cooling effect on the body because of Moong Daal and Cucumber.   Kosambari tends to become runny if kept for a long…