Skanda Sashti Recipes – Panakam, Thinnai Appam,Kandarappam,Rava Kesari,Sakkarai Pongal / Sarkarai Pongal, Rava Semiya Paayasam
The Skanda sashti is a 6 day festival. It starts on the prathamai after Diwali and ends on the 6th day after soorasamharam.
Panagam Recipe
Prep time – under 15 mins
Serves -1
Ingredients needed
- Jaggery -1/4 cup
- Water – 1 1/4 cup
- Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
- Sukku podi /Dry ginger powder – 1/2 tsp
- Cardamon powder – a pinch
Method
Soak jaggery in 1 1/4 cup water for 15 minutes. Filter it to remove impurities.
Add lemon juice, dry ginger powder, cardamom powder and mix well.
Serve chilled.
Thinai Appam or karuppatti appam
Ingredients
- karuppatti ( a form of jaggery ) – 100 gm
- Thinai maavu ( foxtail millet flour ) – 100 gm
- Cardamom powder – a little
- Ghee – 100 gm
- Coconut ( grated ) – 4 tsp
Method
- Powder karuppatti.
- Mix it with thinai, cardamom powder, coconut and water to make a thick batter.
- Heat ghee in a kuzhipaniyaram pan.
- Add a spoonful of batter and when the appam is cooked, remove it from the pan.
Kandarappam
Ingredients
- Raw rice-1 cup
- Par boiled rice (idly rice)-1 cup
- Urudh dhal- 1/4 cup
- Peeled broken green dhal-1 table spoon
- Thoor dhal-1 table spoon
- Bengal gram-1 table spoon
- Jaggery -1 ½ cup
- Grated coconut-(1/2 cocunut)
- Elachi (yelakkai) -6
Procedure
Soak the rice and dhal for 1 hour. Put it in the grinder and grind for 10 minutes. Now add the grated coconut and grind to a smooth paste. Finally add the jaggery and the powdered elachi and grind till the jaggery nicely mixes.
The batter should be in the consistency of dosa batter. Keep the kadai in the stove .Pour the required amount of oil. Once the oil gets heated, keep the flame in sim and using a small spatula, slowly pour 1 spatulla of batter into the oil and wait for a second when the appam raises slowly pour the heated oil on top of the appam 2 or 3 times with the help of a spoon. This will enable the appam to be cooked fast and also to get a curled border (we usually call it as ‘karai katturathu’ in Tamil).Then turn the side, wait for a minute and remove from the kadai.It will not take much time to cook. So don’t wait till it turn brown.
Rava Kesari
Also known as sojji in Tamilnadu, ksheera in marathi and kesari bath in Karnataka and sooji ka halva in UP.
- Rava (semolina): 1 cup
- sugar: 1.5-2 cups
- cashewnuts: 10-12
- raisins: 15-20
- ghee: 4 tbsp or more
- orange food color (kesari): a pinch
- saffron: a pinch (optional)
- cloves: 3-4 (optional)
Method
Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a thick bottomed pan, fry the broken cashews and raisins (and optional cloves) and keep aside. Add another tbsp of ghee and fry the rava to a light pink color and keep aside. Heat 3 cups of water in the same pan, add the coloring and the saffron when it comes to a boil. Add the rava slowly, constantly stirring, and mix well. Allow the rava to be cooked at medium heat. The rava has to cook well. When it is fully cooked, add the sugar and stir well. When the sugar is fully dissolved, add the remaining ghee. Keep stirring until the rava starts leaving the sides of the pan. Garnish with the fried cashews and raisins and cardamom powder.
Sakkarai Pongal / Sarkarai Pongal
Ingredients
- 2 litres Milk
- 1 1/2 cups Newly harvested Rice
- 1/4 cup Moong Dal
- 15 no. Cashewnuts
- 10 no. Almonds
- 30 no. Kishmis
- 1/4 level teaspoon Nutrieg Powder
- 1 1/2 cup Jaggery (grated)
- 1/4 teaspoon Saffron (crushed)
- 1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 2 tablespoons ghee
Method
- Chop almonds and cashewnuts.
- Clean kishmis.
- Pour milk in the earthen pot called ‘Pongapani’ and place it on fire.
- When the milk starts boiling add rice and dal, after washing. As soon as the rice and dal are cooked to softness, add jaggery and ghee.
- Let cook on medium fire for some time and then put in almond and cashewnut bits, saffron, nutrieg and cardamom powders.
- Now, add the kishmis.
- Bring to one or two good boils.
Rava Semiya Paayasam
Ingredients
Rava – 1/2 cup
Semiya – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Milk – 4 cups
Water – 2 cups
Condensed Milk – 2 tsp
For Garnish
Roasted Cashews and Raisins
Ghee – 1 tsp
How to make the Payasam
- Heat a non stick pan with ghee, roast the nuts and keep it aside.
- Roast the semiya and then rava. Add milk and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 – 7 mins. Add water and bring to boil.
- When rava and semiya is cooked, add sugar and bring to boil. Finally add the roasted nuts.
Notes:
If you add Rava much later, it won’t soak up all the milk. If this gets thicken, add milk, microwave and serve.
Else you can serve as thick pudding.
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