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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Menthi Sankati / Venthaya Kali / Fenugreek & Rice Balls

Winters are depressing, while Mother Nature laughs at us with loads of snow and chilly wind gusts, requiring every single soul to pack each and every part of the body; letting nothing exposed, turning a beautiful girl into a pile of yarn and fleece. Among all these there is a thing that keeps one warm and wanting winters to come - yeah the NFL and of all the Superbowl... Pretty much nearing the end of the NFL season, what I realized was; one - the patriots were nowhere close and two - to ease the tension we had munched on loads of crap!!! Both are painful, and the loads of crap naturally does one thing increase the BMI and ultimately eat well to be well...

mmm, so I thought why not start with breakfast which reminded me of the recipe that my MIL taught me... She knows that I always fall back on Fenugreek to keep my body cool and hence she made Menthi Sankati - in Telugu; for breakfast while she was visiting us... I asked her how could one take so much sweet in the morning, she smiled and said "well you have cereals, muffins, pancakes etc which is just nothing but sweet in the morning while Menthi Sankati is healthy, try it once and if you dont like then let go of it". That sounded so agreeable, but things changed I simply liked it, now to the recipe...



Ingredients:

Par Boiled Rice - 1 cup (Idly Rice)
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/8 cup
Sugarcane - 3/4 cup
Sesame Oil - 3 tbsps
Water as required

Method:

1. Wash and soak Rice nd Fenugreek Seeds Separately in enough Water for about 3-4 hrs or overnight.
2. Grind the Fenugreek Seeds with some Water, then add Rice and make a fine paste. If you have added more Water to the dough dont worry the cooking definitely needs more Water.
3. Take 2 cups of Water and heat it with Sugarcane once dissolved let it cool and filter removing the sediments off.
4. In a deep non stick pan heat 2 tbsps of Oil and pour the Rice dough and keep stirring it with an wooden spatula not letting any lumps to form, keep the flame on low or medium.



5. In about 2 mins the dough will start to thicken add the Sugarcane Water + 1 1/2 cups of Water little by little, while stirring all the time.
6. Now put down the flame and you can rest your arms, but ensure no lumps are formed.
7. In about 10-15 mins the dough will leave the corners of the vessel and form a ball, do not stop stirring continue until you are able to turn the ball upside down it might take another 15-20 mins, cook on low flame.
8. Once the entire ball becomes glossy add the remaining 1 tbsp of Oil and mix well and remove from flame.
9. When warm make them into desired shapes like balls or you can have it like halwa (Indian Sweet).

Serve with: Sesame Oil & Sugarcane

P.S.:

1. Since 1/8 cup of Fenugreek Seeds are used the kali/sankati will give a slight Fenugreek taste and smell. But it helps a great deal in reducing the body heat.
2. Cooking in a mud vessel will enhance the flavor and aroma.


I am sending my Menthi Sankati to:

Silpa's APS - Rice Event



SE's Cooking With Seeds

62 comments:

Deepti said...

That sounds a healthy breakfast ...Never tried before...Thanks 4 sharing

Deepti said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Priya Suresh said...

First time am hearing about this dish, such a healthy kali, looks beautiful...thanks for sharing Ramya..

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Interesting.....never made this.

Preety said...

i am big fan all those recipes that calls for few ingredients but tastes delicious..this is one of them..love it

Rachana said...

wow!!! looks really good and interesting! I have never had this before...thanks for sharing the recipe:)

Cham said...

A new breakfast with a very few ingred! Looks tasty those balls!

Preeti Kashyap said...

completely new to me. Looks super yumm. Bookmarked!

Sowmya said...

this is completely new to me...sounds yummy n healthy...nice presentation dear..

Perspectivemedley said...

Wow.. nice healthy recipe!.. looks very nice:). and beautifully presented:)... and nice introduction :)

Vrinda said...

Never heard of this dish,sounds r8 with fenugreek,nice rice balls

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Hi Ramya. This dish intrigues me. Sounds rather tasty. I'd never heard of fenugreek seeds so I looked it up. Did you know that they are also used as an aphrodisiac Cool, huh?

Unknown said...

Healthy one....adding sugarcane and sesame oil is new to me we use jaggery syrup!

Swathi said...

Ramya,
Kali is new dish to me. Adding sugar cane and sesame oil is new one to me.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

healthy wonderful one...

Laavanya said...

This is a very new and interesting dish. I, like u prefer savoury breakfasts too though something sweet once in a while is fine.

Suparna said...

hi Ramya,
The pics are so beautiful..it's hard to believe this one is a methi dish. Looks absolutely yummy, thanks for sharing an interesting healthy recipe.
TC

Gita Jaishankar said...

You have snow over there? it has been crazy for the last few days here :( I agree with your MIL...these are much healthier than the sugar-laden cereals and other breakfast items sold over here with added preservatives too...looks great Ramya...Can I substitute the sugarcane with jaggery?

Sujatha said...

I'm tired of winter too and looking forward to spring..

A new and healthy recipe.. Can't believe its made of methi!

ARUNA said...

Very interesting dish Ramya, they look so cute.....will try them whenevr i get a chance!!!!

jayasree said...

Healthy kali. This is something new to me. Looks very delicious too.

chef and her kitchen said...

That is quite a different one dear...lovely tiny balls...wish to grab some now..

Parita said...

This is very different and unique dish Ramya, did u use whole sugarcane pieces?

Aruna Manikandan said...

Sounds new to me and healthy too.

Thanks for visiting my blog...
U have a cute blog with wonderful recipes.
Love to follow your blog

ArunaManikandan

Sushma Mallya said...

Very unique one,but sounds good and looks delicious..

Padhu Sankar said...

Sounds very interesting .Nice pics.

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious entry dear...lovely

Nandinis food said...

Wow! I like the cute spherical shape and it's sweet & healthy!

SE said...

that sure is a healthy breakfast indeed..i know they give these laddus to new mothers !!! thanks for sending it for the event !

Pari Vasisht said...

hi. This looks so healthy. I am saving it. thanx.

Urmi said...

Very nice and interesting recipe. Looks delicious and tempting. Wonderful presentation.

Sharmila said...

These are so new and look so good! Must try. :-)

Vineetha Sush said...

A fresh healthy recipe...very new to me...

Sum Raj said...

woo this is new to me..looks soo cute.

Sarah Naveen said...

nice click ..looks super yummy!!!!!

Namitha said...

Interesting recipe...presentation is awesome :-)

suvaiyaana suvai said...

healthy recipe!!

Kalai said...

Hi Ramya, thanks for visiting my blog! you have a wonderful blog here with a good collections of varied recipes and definitely hilarious write up! Sure will come back!
& I loved ur food-styling and presentation. Good work!

Uma said...

looks so delicious :)

Raks said...

This is very new to me! Thanks for sharing that!

Shri said...

Great looking dish!!Wow!I have never heard of this before but they look like snowballs!!

Aparna said...

luks fabulous..thanks for sharing..:)

gtyuk said...

that's a delicious new breakfast idea you're giving me!! sounds nutritious, filling and very new!!!

Unknown said...

Interesting it's very new to me healthy too perfect entry.

Purnima said...

Wow..this is yet another delectable n new health stuff frm u! Tks for sharing. Bookmarked!(Do try out the simple moz-om when u r too hungry n out of time, doncha 4get to tell me!;) :D )

Tina said...

Sounds new and interesting....

Reshmi said...

never heard about such kind of dish...its sounds new n intersting coz its pretty click is tempting too...will try it for sure..thanks for sharing this recipe...

Sowjanya@Ruchikacooks said...

Good point, if we can dunk a donut why not something healthy. It sounds interesting and with the medicinal properties of methi, it is good too.

We have something called kali in tamil, ragi balls but not sweet. Will try it for a weekend brkfast, may be with jaggery.

Thanks for the wishes Ramya.

Anjum said...

Very healthy and unique.Have to try it out.!

Madhavi said...

This is new for me, very nice recipe thanks for sharing!!

Usha said...

Very unique and healthy recipe, sounds yum ! Lovely pictures..

Myvegfare said...

Never heard of this dish, I would like to give it a go but I do not know where I can find sugarcane juice!!, you know this is good one for nursing mothers, they give methi dosas & sugar cane juice is used in making Lehyam, I know that methi cools down the body but sugar cane juice gives heat to the body, it also helps in producing milk!!. I think btwn them both they manage the body temprature!! :). I loved this!!

Unknown said...

Very healthy and looks fantastic.

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

healthy one and never heard of this, Thanks for sharing

FoodLovers said...

healthy one ramya .. looks gr8 dear

Fathima said...

Wow the rice balls looks yum yum... following u now...

Yasmeen said...

Delicious breakfast treat ,my compliments to your dear MIL for the great recipe :D

Mangala Bhat said...

This is absolutely new to me ..Looks too good ..That serving try is beautiful! nice one!

Sashi said...

I never heard of it. Looks healthy !!!

Hayley said...

nEVER HEARD IT..LOOKS REALLY TEMPTING..

Kiran said...

Hi Ramya,
Came across this recipe of yours when I was looking at Cooking with Seeds Round up#1.This really looks very yummy and healthy.I am Kiran and I am a new blogger.Visit me sometime and let me know your comments.My blog http://kiranjay.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

this sounds like a really healthy delicious breakfast....thanks for sharing!
btw I love ur blog..u write so beautifully!

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