MAKING BIYYAPURAVVA AT HOME

There are some recipes which are made only for some particular occasions. Its not that they should not be made at other times. Ugadi pachadi for ugadi , undrallu for Vinayaka chavithi falls in this category. The main naivedyam for Vinayaka for Ganesh chathurthi is Undrallu. There are two versions of undrallu, Sweet and Savory. The savory versions requires biyyapu ravva. You can easily get the ravva from any grocery store in India. But if are outside India you hardly find it in the grocery store. For those who did not find the ravva in the store, I give a procedure for making the Biyyapu ravva. You can make a whole lot of it and store it.

Soak the required amount for rice for 3 to 4 hours.
Now drain all the water and let the rice dry on a kitchen towel.

 Let it dry for at least 5 to 6 hours. If there is moisture you will not get perfect ravva.
If you wish to put it in hot sun, let it dry for 2 hours.
Transfer the rice into a mixie jar, pulse for 5-6 times. Don't run the mixer in normal mode.
Sieve with a fine sieve to remove the rice powder.

JEEDIPAPPU UPMA

One of the easiest breakfast recipes is upma. Simple and easy to make upma when combined with kaju makes it even more delicious. Jeedipappu upma as it is called is very famous in Andhra.

INGREDIENTS

Suji                                  2 cups
Cashews                          1/4 cup
Chana and urad dals        2 Tsp
Mustard seeds                  1 Tsp
Water                               4 cups
Milk                                 1/2 cup
Ghee                                2 Tsp
Oil                                   4 Tsp
Chilies                             3 finely chopped
Curry leaves                    10 finely chopped
Salt                                  to taste

PROCEDURE

Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add the cashews.
Immediately add the chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds.
When the dals and cashews turn golden brown add curry leaves, chillies.
Now add the boiling water and milk. (by using boiling water you save time and moreover the cashews don't become soggy and soft)
Now add the salt.
By mixing continuously add the suji. See that no lumps are formed.
Once the suji absorbed all the water, decrease the flame, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
By this time the upma will be well cooked and oil will start to come on the top.
This is when you can switch off the flame and serve the delicious jeedipappu upma.

TIPS

Don't add any veggies or ginger which will dominate kaju.
Milk gives an added taste, you can also skip milk.
If you are not calorie conscious add more of ghee and eliminate oil.

POM POM FLOWERS

I made these pom-poms  for decoration on my son's first birthday. A bunch of tissue papers with your own color choice makes these large pom poms in minutes. Low cost and satisfaction of making on your own are on your way. Give them a try.