Vijaya's Cookbook

Milk - 1 litre Vermicelli - 1cup Ghee 1 tbsp Sugar -1 cup + 2 tbsp Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp Few raisins and cashews for garnish Heat a pan and add the ghee.Roast the raisins and cashews till golden. Remove and keep aside.In the same ghee add the vermicelli and roast till golden. To make the caramel: Take a small pan and put it on low heat.Add 2 tbsp of sugar and about 1 tbsp of water.The sugar will start melting.Stir it till it melts completely and starts turning a golden color.(Do not allow it to turn dark brown as it will taste bitter)Remove from heat and keep aside.In a thick bottomed vessel take the milk and keep it to boil .Once it comes to a boil lower the heat and keep stirring for a while till it thickens slightly.Now add the roasted vermicelli and cook till it softens.Add the caramel and the sugar and keep stirring till it reaches kheer consistency.Finally add the cardamom powder and switch off flame.Garnish with cashews and raisins.

Bhindi- 200 gm grated coconut 1 cup Roasted red chillies -8 Tamarind- chana sized ball Urad dal -1 tbsp( roast in a little oil till golden brown) Mustard - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 1 sprig Wash bhindi and dry it well.Snip off the ends and cut into two length wise and then chop finely.Keep aside. Grind the coconut ,chillies ,tamarind and urad dal into a coarse paste with just a tsp of water.keep aside. In a hot nonstick pan add 2 tbsp of oil.add in the mustard and once it splutters add the curry leaves.Now tip in the chopped bhindi and fry for a while.Add the masala ,salt and mix well.Cover with a lid and cook stirring often in between.Once the bhindi is cooked switch off the flame.Goes well with rice or rotis.

Ragi - 1 cup Grated coconut- 2 tbsp Jaggery - 1 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tap Ghee - 1 tbsp Wash ragi well and soak in water for an hour. Drain off the water and grind along with coconut to a smooth paste.Add about 2 cups of water and strain to extract the milk.Add the jaggery and keep it on low heat.Keep stirring the mixture till it thickens.Add the ghee and cardamom powder ,stir and once it becomes glossy switch off flame.Spread evenly on a greased thali. Once cool cut into pieces.

Recipe 1 cup of fine rice rava ( here I have washed raw rice , dried for 1/2 hr and powdered in mixi to rava consistency.) Grind together 11/2cups of jackfruit pieces ,1 tbsp grated coconut and jaggery (adjust acc. to sweetness of jackfruit)to a smooth paste.add the rava to this along with a pinch of salt and mix well.the batter should be  thick.keep aside for 1/2 hr and then make small balls and deep fry on medium heat to golden brown.