Masal Vada/Paruppu Vadai

Masal Vadai or Paruppu Vadai is a very common dish in South India and prepared  for many festivals.

Ingredients:

1. Channa Dal  1 cup.
2. Green Chillies 1 
3. Red Dried Chillies 2
4. Ginger 1 small bit
5. Curry leaves a few
6. Coriander leaves cut finely a Table spoon
7. Little pudina (mint leaves) finely chopped. ( optional)
8. Asafoetida  'hing' very little.
9. Grated Coconut 1 table spoon (optional)
10. 1 small onion (optional)
11. salt to taste  ( 1 teaspoon.) 

Method.
Soak the Channa Dal in water for an hour. Strain the water and  Grind in a mixer,  Channa Dal, green chillies, red chillies , ginger  to  coarse paste. It is important that the batter is coarse.

do not add water while grinding.
Take out the batter, add coconut, hing , curry leaves, cut coriander cut pudina  , salt and onions (cut into small pieces).  mix thoroughly.  (If done for any festival onion is not added, but to just munch with tea onions give a very nice taste .)

Keep a 'kadai' or a frying pan on the stove add oil.  let the oil get heated.
To test oil just put a little small ball of batter into the oil and if it comes up immediately the oil is just ready to deep fry.
take out a small ball and flatten it in your hands into a round shape and put it carefully in oil.  For one time 6 to 8 vadas can be deep fried together depending on the quantity of oil in the pan.
Turn it and once it is golden brown in color remove and keep it on a kitchen tissue so that extra oil on the masal vadai will be taken away by the tissue.  This is best eaten hot but tastes quite good even afterwards. 

Rava Kesari

This is also called Sojji in Tamil,  Sheera in Marathi  Kesari Bath in Kannada.

This is a sweet which can be made  very fast and in a jiffy.  If you get unexpected guests and has to serve them some sweets (as is (was)  the tradition in India ) this was one sweet made  quickly.

This was also part of  Tamilian culture of making this   'Sojji'    along with a savory called 'Bajji'  when a prospective Groom visited the house of the Bride to   'see'   the Girl which was called as 'ponnu pakkarathu'

Ingredients:

1. Rava or Semolina  1 small cup
2. Sugar 1and 1/2 cups to 2 Cups (same size as you measured the Rava)
3. Ghee 1/4 Cup or little less than that
4. Water 2 cups.
5. Dried grapes (kismis) Cashew nuts   both of these few pieces.
6. Permitted food Colour Orange very little 
7. Few strands of kesar (saffron or Kumkuma poo)
8. Elachi or Cardamom Powder 1 tea spoon.

Method.

Fry the Cashew nuts (light golden brown) and kismis in little ghee and keep aside.

Fry the Rava in a thick bottomed vessel with a Teaspoon of Ghee till light brown. Boil water in a separate stove and add the boiling water to the fried Rava.  Add the water slowly and keep stirring so that there are no lumps of Rava  in the Vessel.  Keep stirring for some time till the Rava is cooked and add the sugar and the  color mixed in a little milk and also the Kesar mixed in little milk.   (Colour need not be added, but  only  Kesar without orange colour  will give a lighter tinge to the Rava Kesari )

Add Ghee bit by bit and keep stirring.   when the whole mixture evenly comes to boil with a good texture without lumps add elachi powder and the fried cashew nuts and kismis.  switch off the stove. and serve the Rava Kesari hot.

Slight Variation:

Instead of Water, Milk can be used   (half milk half water or completely Milk) to make  Rava Kesari.

One Ripe Banana can be mashed and added after the milk is added and Rava cooked. Sugar can be reduced a little.  The Banana, Milk , Kesari is made without adding any colour (not even Kesar) for the 'Satyanaryana Pooja' and it is given as prasad and is white in Colour.

Pinappple pieces  (cut into very  small pieces) can be fried a little  bit in ghee and added after adding the Water/Milk. Then This becomes the Pineapple pudding.  For this Kesar and Colour can be added.