Ingredients

• 1 cup rava/soji
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 medium sized onion
• 1 small tomato
• 3 tablespoons ghee/oil
• 2-3 chopped green chilies
• 1/5 cup green peas
• Approx. 1 inch finely cut ginger
• 1 table spoon udad dal
• 4-5 curry leaves
• Coriander to garnish
• Lemon to taste

Method

Heat one tablespoon of ghee/oil in a skillet. Add rava to it and fry on low flame until it is a very light brown. This stage is very important as a rightly fried rava sets the stage for a delicious and ‘khamanga’ Upama. Apparently it also reduces the chances of acidity after eating if you are prone to acidity/pitta caused by rava. Once it is light brown set aside the rava and heat 2 tablespoons of ghee/oil in a skillet. Add chillies, ginger, curry leaves, udad dal and jeera to it. The add the chopped onion and fry till it is a light pink and seems transparent. Now add the chopped tomato and let it cook for a minute. Do not overcook the tomatoes as it would tun into a paste and give the dish a red color. We want to see tomato pieces at the end.

Now it is time to add the water and milk to the skillet. Some people use only water, but I like to use some milk to give it that rich texture. You can now add salt to taste. It is better to add salt at this stage so that it mixes well. Once the mixture is about to boil add the peas. As peas are very easy to cook adding them at such a late stage helps them stay green. When the mixture starts boiling add the rava and stir such that no lumps remain. You should be very careful here as some boiling rava might jump out at your hand as you stir. You could use a lid for shielding yourself. So stir the rava well removing lumps till all the water is dried up. Add the coriander and let it stay on low flame with the lid on. Turn off the gas after about a minute, squeeze some lemon for additional taste and enjoy!

As I have a huge sweet-tooth, it was an obvious choice for me to inaugurate this blog with a ‘wadi’ that is simple, delicious and nutritious – the Beet and Carrot Wadi!

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups grated carrot
3 1/2 cups grated beetroot
1 mashed potato
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ghee
A few green cardamoms seeds

Method

Take two teaspoons of ghee in a skillet. Put in the cardamom seeds once the ghee is hot. Then add the grated coconut and stir it till the coconut is a very light brown. Add the grated carrots and beet to the skillet and stir till they appear to be shrinking. Pour in the condensed milk, whole milk, and sugar and mix it well. Due to the inherent sweetness of the beet and carrots this recipe requires very little sugar as compared to many other sweets. You can further reduce the quantity of sugar from the suggested 1 1/4 cup to one cup according to taste. When stirring make sure that the mixture does not stick to the pan. The burnt smell can spoil the smell and flavor of the wadi. After about 8-10 minutes add the mashed potato and mix it well. The potato is necessary to hold the mixture together. The mixture will now appear to be almost liquid and requires to be cooked until it is just about dry. The consistency of the mixture should be only a little dryer than the regular ‘halwa’. During the entire process do not use a lid as it will slow down the evaporation process.

Now take a baking tray and grease it with ghee or oil. Then transfer the mixture to it and flatten it out evenly. Set it to cool. Once the wadi is completely cooled off and appears dry, cut it into squares and serve.