Arasanikai Poriyal, Yellow Pumpkin Poriyal

Recipe for Arasanikai Poriyal. An everyday south Indian Yellow Pumpkin Stir-Fry recipe made with sauteed pumpkins and coconut. Recipe with step by step pictures.

Arasanikai or Yellow Pumpkin is my husband’s favorite veggie at home and this is a very simple everyday stir-fry recipe that can be put together in minutes. https://www.instagram.com/p/BdwQ6_GgYIh/?taken-by=kannammacooks Here is how to do Arasanikai Poriyal. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the chopped onions and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add in the chopped pumpkin. I remove the skin off of the pumpkin as it can be a little fibrous. In some households, if the pumpkin is young, they do cook the pumpkins along with the skin. Its a personal preference. But if its a mature pumpkin, the skin will be hard and fibrous. So do not use the skin of a mature pumpkin.

Add in half a cup of water. Add in a teaspoon of sambar powder and salt. At home, we also add half a teaspoon of jaggery. We like the little sweetness of the jaggery in pumpkin.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a medium flame for about 6-7 minutes. Pumpkin cooks very fast. It will become mushy if its overcooked. So do not add too much water.

Use a spatula to cut the pumpkin piece into half to check if its tender. If the pumpkin is not tender, add few tablespoons of water and cook for a minute or two more. Once the pumpkin is cooked and tender, add in the fresh shredded coconut and remove from heat.

Serve hot with rice.

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (Indian gingely oil)
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 500 grams yellow pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon sambar powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon jaggery
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the chopped onions and saute for a couple of minutes.
2. Add in the chopped pumpkin.
3. Add in half a cup of water. Add in a teaspoon of sambar powder, jaggery and salt.
4. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a medium flame for about 6-7 minutes.
5. Once the pumpkin is cooked and tender, add in the fresh shredded coconut and remove from heat.
6. Serve hot with rice

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Category: Side Dish
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (Indian gingely oil)
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 500 grams yellow pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon sambar powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon jaggery
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the chopped onions and saute for a couple of minutes.
2. Add in the chopped pumpkin.
3. Add in half a cup of water. Add in a teaspoon of sambar powder, jaggery and salt.
4. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a medium flame for about 6-7 minutes.
5. Once the pumpkin is cooked and tender, add in the fresh shredded coconut and remove from heat.
6. Serve hot with rice

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Category: Side Dish
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/arasanikai-poriyal/

Thalapakatti Style Mutton Biryani Recipe – Recipe for Mutton Biryani made Dindigul Thalapakatti style. Tamilnadu Dindigul style biryani. Recipe with step by step pictures.

One of the most popular recipes in the site is the Chicken Biryani Thalapakatti Style Recipe that I had posted years back. I had got many requests asking to make it with Mutton. This is a recipe that my mom had saved from a magazine cut out years back. Here is the recipe for mutton biryani recipe preparation.

Here is a video of how to make Thalapakatti Style Mutton Biryani Recipe

Here are recipes you might be interested. Mutton Recipes Biryani Recipes

The rice for making Thalapakatti Style Mutton Biryani Recipe Thalapakatti style biryani has a very nice flavor that is so different from all the other biriyani. It is made with seeraga samba rice. Seeraga Samba biriyani has to be the pride of Tamilnadu. Seeraga samba is a very aromatic rice. The grain of the rice is very tiny and it gets its name for its resemblance to Cumin seeds, also called as Seeragam/Jeera in Tamil. It has a very distinct taste, fluffs up well when cooked and south Indian biriyani’s are made with this rice. Samba rice is grown for a longer duration than other types of rice. Seeraga samba rice is the most important ingredient for this biryani. Before starting to cook, wash and soak the rice for at-least half an hour.

Masala Paste for making Thalapakatti Style Mutton Biryani Recipe Here is what you will need.

Grind all the ingredients listed under masala paste with half a cup of water to a very smooth paste. Set aside.

Cooking the meat / mutton for Thalapakatti Style Mutton Biryani Recipe Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and add in the Thalappakatti Biriyani Masala paste. Add in the mutton to the pan. For biryani, always use mutton with bone. Bone has a lot of flavour.

Add in two cups of water and add in the salt.

Add in the plain yogurt (curd) and red chilli powder.

Mix well and cook the mutton in the masala for 20 minutes on a medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles in the cooker. Just cook for 20 minutes and remove the cooker from heat and wait for the pressure to settle.

Open the cooker and see if the mutton pieces are cooked well. Cook for 2-3 whistles more if the meat is hard. Set aside.

Remove the cooked meat to a bowl and roughly measure how much liquid is left behind.

Mine had about 1.5 cups of liquid. Just measure roughly. It need not be accurate. Note: My mutton was very hard and I had to cook for an extra 15 minutes. Due to the extra cooking, the mutton stock was a little less. Usually, you will have a little more stock. Do not worry about the amount of stock.

Measurements used – 1 cup rice = 250 ml We are using 2 cups rice. We require 2 times water to the quantity of rice. So we need to add 4 cups water. There was already 1.5 cups gravy that we measured before. So I added 2.5 cups water to the gravy mixture in a pan. Add in the chopped coriander leaves and the mint leaves. Let the mixture come to a boil.

Add back the meat and let it come to a boil again. Check for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary. Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan.

Wait for it to boil. Add in the lime juice.

Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for the first three to four minutes on medium flame.

Open the lid. Gently mix once from the bottom, cover the lid again and simmer for 10 minutes on very low flame.

After that time, open the lid and mix well. The rice will be three fourth cooked. Cook for a couple of minutes more.

Switch off the flame and close the pan with a lid. Do not disturb for the next 20 minutes. The rice will get swollen and absorb all the left out moisture. This time is very important. Do not rush.

After the rest, Enjoy Thalappakatti Biriyani!

• Measurements used – 1 cup rice = 250 ml

For the Masala

• 5 Green Chillies
• 2 pieces two inch cinnamon sticks
• 3 cardamom
• 3 cloves
• ⅛ th of a nutmeg (Jaadhikai) (Do not use too much)
• 1 small piece Mace (Jaadhi Pathiri)
• 2 inch piece ginger
• 12 cloves Garlic
• 10 shallots (small onions) ( 100 grams )

Main Ingredients

• 500 ml Seeraga Samba Rice
• 500 grams Mutton with bone

Other Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon Ghee
• 3 tablespoon Sunflower Oil
• ½ teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
• ½ cup curd
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 hand full Mint Leaves ( 1/3 cup chopped)
• 1 hand full Coriander Leaves (( 1/3 cup chopped))
• 1/2 of lime , juiced

1. Before starting to cook, wash and soak the rice for at-least half an hour.
2. Grind all the ingredients listed under masala paste with half a cup of water. Set aside.
3. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and add in the Thalappakatti Biriyani Masala paste. Add in the mutton to the pan.
4. Add in two cups of water and add in the salt.
5. Add in the plain yogurt (curd) and red chilli powder.
6. Mix well and cook the mutton in the masala for 20 minutes on a medium flame. Remove the cooker from heat and wait for the pressure to settle.
7. Remove the cooked meat to a bowl and roughly measure how much liquid is left behind.
8. Mine had about 1.5 cups of liquid. Just measure roughly. It need not be accurate.
9. We require 2 times water to the quantity of rice. So we need to add 4 cups water. There was already 1.5 cups gravy that we measured before. So I added 2.5 cups water to the mixture. Add in the chopped coriander leaves and the mint leaves. Let the mixture come to a boil.
10. Add back the meat and let it come to a boil again. Check for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary. Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan.
11. Wait for it to boil. Add in the lime juice.
12. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for the first four minutes on medium flame.
13. Open the lid. Gently mix once from the bottom, cover the lid again and simmer for 10 minutes on very low flame.
14. After that time, open the lid and mix well. The rice will be three fourth cooked. Cook for a couple of minutes more.
15. Switch off the flame and close the pan with a lid. Do not disturb for the next 20 minutes. The rice will get swollen and absorb all the left out moisture. This time is very important. Do not rush.
16. After the rest, Enjoy Thalappakatti Biriyani!

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu