Eid Celebration and Cookies

Eid Mubarak to all Muslim friends.

Besides scrumptious, yummylicious food served on Eid day, cookies, cakes and all sweet deserts are part of celebrating Eid in Malaysia,Singapore and Indonesia.  I so miss the festivity back home. The arrays of food from lontong, masak lodeh, satay, nasi minyak, ayam masak merah, serunding, and dozens of cookies and cakes is a feast to your eyes (and tummy)

In the mood of celebrating Eid, I made several cookies for my Indian friend for their Eid celebration. I made a modified version of London Almond kids savour on where instead stuffing with almond, I had it blended and roll into balls and covered with cooking chocolate and sprinkle with some chopped almonds.  This recipe is credit to my sister, Malini, she can't stand seeing the almonds wasted after the kids savour on the chocolate part and cookie throwing of the almond.

Next I made 3 types of cookies from one basic dough.  Its a recipe from https://resipicitarasawan.blogspot.com/2012/08/biskut-pistachios-delight.html

where I made pistachios, almond and also coconut cookies.  And to forget also made cornflakes cookies.

Almond Cookies

Before being baked

with almonds as deco on tray before baking.

Pistachio Cookies

பொங்கல் வாழ்த்துகள் - Ponggal Wishes

 

 

Wishing you and your family a beautiful and wonderful ponggal celebration

 

My quick version of ponggal rice.

 

Ponggal Rice

 

Ingredients

 

3/4 cup of rice

2 cups of water

a pinch of salt

2cups of fresh milk

1 cup of water

1 cup of jaggery

½ cup brown sugar 

2-3tbs ghee

a handful of cashew nuts - quarted

5 tbs of golden raisins

 

Method

 

1.  Wash and soak rice for about 10 mins.

2.  Pressure cook rice with 1.5cup of water and salt till 4-5 whistles

3.  Heat pan, melt ghee, roast cashew nuts till brown and add raisin

4.  Boil milk with water, add jaggery and brown sugar.  Stir till jiggery and brown sugar dissolves.

5.  Add the cooked rice and roasted cashew, raisins, ghee into milk and stir till mix thoroughly.

6.  Ready for serving.

 

 

 

Sathiarani

Ponggal Celebration

On January 27, 2012,  the Tamil Ladies (we call ourselves Muthu Tamarai Tamilarkal literally Muthu means pearl (after Qatar Shell GTL Pearl, Tamarai - Lotus - the name of the compound that we live and Tamilarkal means people of Tamil origin) of the compound that I live currently, celebrated ponggal instead of the usual birthday celebration for the month of January.

It was surely a long list of menus decided after careful planning by the group members - the 10 grand ladies and not to forget the beautiful colourful kolams prepared by Gayathiri, Haleema and Alagu.

It was definitely a day with full festivities with kolams, banana leave lunch, kids running around in their best dresses, ladies in sarees and jasmines adorning their hair....

Far away from homeland and yet close to all festivities..I just have to let you know the menus of the day a total of 16 dishes not including tea.

1.  Rice (5 kgs of indian rice)
2.  Ven Ponggal - spicy rice
3.  Sakkarai Ponggal - sweet rice
4.  Sambar
5.  Kara Kulambu/Puzhli Kulambu -spciy yet sourish thick curry with a few types of vegetable
6.  Vengdagai Moor Kulambu - Yogurt based gravy with ladies finger 
7.  Rasam
8.  Valagai Podimas- this is what I cook - mashed raw bananas with coconut 
9.  Potatoes with butter beans and fresh peas.
10.  Toor Dhall with Ghee - boiled dhall and mashed eaten with ghee - emmm...
11.  Beans carrot poriyal beans carrot fry
12.  Vengayam Pachadi - this is a different kind of salad kind of curry/
13.  Yogurt
14. Appalam
15.  Medu Vadai
16.  Payasam

and last not least tea to complete the menu list.  and we sure had a good time indulging these dishes on banana leaves.....

Varsha was salivating when she saw the photos of the food displayed and the banana leaf...poor girl she had to miss this as she was away on her charity run for her Nepal trip 1st week of February.

Now enjoy the pictures and click here for Valakai Masiyal

<table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/116050897537853121554/2012PonggalCelebrationAK55?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNzdy6WEra_W7wE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CJ3PxOr56ro/TyVFRslxkrE/AAAAAAAAAeA/akKQ3HFprfw/s160-c/2012PonggalCelebrationAK55.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/116050897537853121554/2012PonggalCelebrationAK55?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNzdy6WEra_W7wE&feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">2012 Ponggal Celebration AK 55</a></td></tr></table>