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What's Cooking? Indian recipes
P.S. Lakshmi Rao, a retired banker, has a passion for cooking. Her friends and family enjoy her culinary delights. Lakshmi is a long time Atlanta resident.

<<What's Cooking? Main


Poha Upma


2 cups thick atukulu (poha). Pour atukulu in to colander and wash them with warm water three times. Keep it aside covered in a bowl.

POPU (tadka)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1- teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
1 teaspoon red mustard seeds
2- teaspoon chana dal
3 teaspoons urad dal
3 tablespoons cashew pieces

1 small potato peeled and cut in to small cubes
1 small carrot peeled and cut in to small cubes
½ cup cauliflower pieces
1 small onion cut in to small pieces
4 long hot green chilies cut in to thin pieces
2 inches long fresh ginger peeled and cut in to small pieces
2 long stems curry leaves removed from the stem
½ cup frozen peas
½ cup tomato pieces
¼ cup water
1- teaspoon salt or to taste
Fresh lemon juice from one lemon or more to taste (optional) 

Heat oil and ghee in a medium saucepan. Add mustard seeds and wait until they start to pop. Add chana dal, urad dal, and cashew pieces in medium low heat and fry until they become light brown.
Add potato cubes, carrot cubes, cauliflower, and fry for three minutes. Add onions, green chilies, ginger, and curry leaves. Fry for two more minutes or until onions become translucent. Add peas, tomatoes and salt and fry for two minutes, Add ¼ cup water and cover the pan for a minute. Remove the lid and add atukulu, and lemon juice. Mix slowly to incorporate flavors with a heatproof plastic spoon or spatula so that atukulu will retain their shape. Turn the heat off and keep it covered until ready to eat.



Prasadam Or Soji Halwa 



1 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
2 tablespoons cashew pieces
2 tablespoons raisins

1-tablespoon ghee
1-cup coarse rava (soji or cream of wheat)
2 cups milk or one cup milk and one cup water
1½ cups sugar
1 ripe banana mashed (place the peeled banana in a flat plate and mash it course with a fork.) 
¼ cup ghee
¼ teaspoon saffron (optional) soaked in tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon crushed cardamom powder (ilachi)

Grease a glass dish with little ghee and set aside. (8 1/2x 8 ½ or 7x11) 

Heat milk in a saucepan pan in low heat and keep it ready 

In a three-quart saucepan heat ghee in medium low heat and add cashew pieces and raisins. Fry until cashews are light brown and raisins are plump. Remove cashews and raisins from the pan in to a separate plate. Save half of the cashews and raisins for garnishing.

Clean the pan, add one tablespoon of ghee and rava. Fry in medium low heat until rava releases slight aroma for five minutes. Add hot milk to rava mixing very fast making sure not to have any lumps. You can remove the pan from heat to mix for few seconds and transfer back to the heat and add sugar and mix vigorously. Keep mixing until prasadam becomes thick and add half of the raisins, and half of the cashews, banana, ghee, saffron, and cardamom powder. Mix three minutes more or until you see ghee starts to come out to edges. Transfer prasadam in to the greaed glass dish and distribute evenly with a bottom of the greased spoon. After the prasadam cooled, cut it into small squares and garnish with saved raisins and cashews. 

Note: When ever we had Pooja in our house we always looked forward for the prasadam. Before offering prasadam to the God the priest used to peel a banana and place it on top of the prasadam. 

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