Priya Iyer

If the paste starts getting too thick, add in a bit of water – you can use the water that you cooked the dried peas in. Add in the jaggery powder (if using), red chilli powder (if using), sambar powder and garam masala. – Whole spices like fennel seeds, cinnamon, stone flower, cloves, mace, green cardamom and bay leaves are what make kurma kurma. However, if you feel the heat from the green chillies, sambar powder and garam masala is enough, you may skip the red chilli powder completely.

Lemon juice is used to add flavour to the drink, while cardamom and dry ginger powder add the ‘spice’ punch. In Tamilnadu, many households add to the drink a touch of edible camphor and some tulsi leaves. In many parts of South India, temporary kiosks are set up by the roadside on Ram Navami day, where people volunteer to distribute Panakam, Neer More and Pasi Parippu Kosambari to passersby. Adjust the quantity of lemon juice, dry ginger powder and cardamom powder as per personal taste preferences.

Do feel free to add in potatoes if you please – also, avoid asafoetida and use sendha namak in case you are making this dish while fasting. How to soak sabudana for the perfect, non-sticky khichdi Making Sabudana Khichdi requires a bit of prior preparation, in terms of soaking the sago pearls and draining them so as to get them ready to use. Many recipes suggest soaking the sabudana for 2-3 hours but, in my opinion, soaking for 6-8 hours or overnight is the best. Use a 1:1 ratio of sabudana:water for soaking – i.e. for one cup of sabudana, use exactly one cup of water for the soaking.

Over the weekend, I got home the first raw mango of the season and, of course, I had to make Kanda Kairi. To the mixing bowl, add salt, red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and jaggery powder. For best results, use a raw mango that’s not overly sour – like a Totapuri. Adjust the quantity of salt, jaggery, red chilli powder and roasted cumin powder as per personal taste preferences.