RECIPE - BREAK FAST (BUKA PUASA)

thinking of what to do for breakfast this evening? we indian muslims will break fast with thosai, idli, murthabak, prata, idiyappam (puttu mayam) and etc. chaya (tea) is a must during break fast. in my house my mom makes lovely karupatti chaya or inji chaya. and she makes nice soft puttu also. she'll use rice flour or ragi flour. in singapore we usually take this with banana, ghee & red sugar. but whenever we go kerala, puttu is served with kadala curry or nenthrapazham (banana) and ghee.
it's always nice to start the breakfast with a dessert. today i'll give you 2 dessert recipes. Abok Abok Sago & Suji Kheer are my favourite desserts:



ABOK ABOK SAGO

Ingredients
100g pearl sago
150g gula Melaka, finely grated
150g castor sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pandan juice (blend three screwpine pandan leaves with a little water and squeeze out for juice)
A few drops green food colouring
250g grated white coconut


Method

Soak sago in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Wash under running tap to get rid of excess starch. Drain well in a metal strainer. Mix sago with grated white coconut, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Divide into two portions. To one portion, add pandan juice and green food colouring to mix. Add gula Melaka to the other portion. Grease a 10cm square baking tin lightly with corn oil. Spread the green portion on the base and press down firmly. Put into a steamer and steam for 10-12 minutes. Pour the gula Melaka portion over the steamed green portion and spread evenly. Press down firmly, then steam over boiling water for 20-25 minutes. Remove the tin from the steamer and leave aside to cool completely before cutting.

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SOOJI KHEER

Ingredients

50 gms sooji
3 tblsp sugar
a pinch cardamom powder
Raisins (roasted in ghee)
Almonds (sliced & roasted in ghee)
cashew nuts (sliced & roasted in ghee)
200 ml Milk
2 tblsp ghee (or oil, the flavour is nice with ghee)

Method

Heat a fry pan on slow heat. Put the sooji (semolina) in it and dry roast it for few minutes, until it starts to change the colour. Add the ghee or oil and then mix it for 2 minutes. (the ghee can also be added in the beginning in step 2 along with sooji (semolina). But if you add the Ghee later then you can manage with less amount of ghee. Once done add the milk and mix it thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Add the sugar and mix. Add the raisins, almonds and cardomon powder. Serve hot.

Tips: It just takes 5 minutes to make this recipe and it is especially good on wintery days, it helps settle the dryness of throat, and relieves soar throat symptoms as well.

RAMADHAN - PART 2 - SAHUR (early morning meals)

SAHUR TIPS

Many of us will have rice with curry during sahur. but most of us will have heartburn, indigestion & uneasy feeling after sahur. how to avoid these uncomfortable feelings?

here are some tips:

• don't sleep immediately after eating. i know some of them who'll sleep immediately after eating & they'll wake-up later to pray subuh. pls stay awake for a while to pray subuh & sleep. or some of us will not sleep after praying subuh. we will sit & do dhikir. then we will get ready to go to work.
• eat well balanced food. avoid taking rice with curry. try eating rice with light gravy, such as rasam, sambar or soup. make it simple as possible. i'll give some nice recipes later.
• drink plenty of plain water. try not to drink coffee or tea after eating. Tea makes you pass more urine taking with it valuable mineral salts that your body would need during the day. drinking fruit juices is also good.
• take more fruits & vegetables.
• avoid fried foods.
  

the above tips are also for breaking fast in the evening.

A SOUP RECIPE

Ingredients - Quantity is up to individual
fish Balls - cut it into halves or
fish Cakes - slice it
broccoli
cauliflower
tomatoes
carrot - sliced or cut
onion - sliced
garlic - chopped
ginger - chopped
cumin - a pinch
green chilli (optional)
pepper & salt
water
oli


Method

heat up a few drops of oil in a deep saucepan or a pot. fry onion. add ginger & garlic. some may prefer ginger garlic paste. add cumin.

add the carrot. stir fry & add in water. when half cooked add the rest of the vegetables, pepper & salt.

it's a very easy recipe. you may also use other vegetables like cabbage (red cabbage, round cabbage etc.), bean sprouts, snow beans etc.

you may also remove fish cake or fish balls if you don't take them. you may use tofu as alternative or just use vegetables.

try not to add potatoes, as it will produce gas in our body. same case for carrot. but you may add small quantity of carrot for flavour.

you may also use chicken nuggets as side dish.

i'll be posting more easy recipes soon.

RAMADHAN - THE MOST SACRED MONTH OF THE MUSLIM CALENDER - PART 1

fasting month will be starting tomorrow, 13/09/2007, in singapore. we muslims will be observing fast for 1 month. more time to be spent on praying & reading quran. we are also encouraged to do more dhikir.
let's take this opportunity to do more donations to poor & the needy.

1. The month of Ramadan is a month in which the Mercy and Blessings of Allah Ta'ala descend upon us continuously.

2. The whole Qur'aan was sent down to the first sky from Lawhe Mahfooz.

3. There is the night of Qadr, which is better than 1000 months.

4. The thawaab of good deed is equal to the fardh of another month. Tthe daily bread of Muslims is increased.

5. The first ten days are of mercy, second ten days are of forgiveness and the last ten days are of being freed from Hell.

given below is the link for prayer time, closing & opening time of breakfast & tarawih @ void decks & public places:

http://www.muis.gov.sg

SALAATHULLA SALAAMULLAH click here for song

coming soon - more topics on ramadhan - fasting, prayers, tips & recipes.

IDEA STAR SINGER 2007

I've been following IDEA STAR SINGER 2007 on Asianet. this is one programme i'll never miss. they have various arounds. now it's the 'favourite music director' & 'duet' arounds.
it's nice to see that all the participants have good voice & are talented. the participants not only sing malayalam hits, they also sing hindi & tamil songs. of coz i feel very sad to see them going during elimination rounds.
the judges are M G Sree Kumar, Sharreth, Usha thithi & there's a celebrity guess. all of them are doing a good job. Ranjini Haridas, miss kerala 2000, is the host.

VARUN J THILAK - ILAIYANILA


WILLIAM ISAAC - IRUVATHU KODI



TEENU TELLENCE - YETHETHO ENNAM


MUFEEDA MAJEED - POOMAANAME

LALETTAN HITS - PON VEYILILE

SONG - PON VEYILE
MOVIE - YAATRA MOZHI
DIRECTOR - PRATHAP POTHEN
MUSIC BY MAESTRO ILAIYARAJA
SINGERS - MG SREEKUMAR & CHITRA
ACTORS - SIVAJI GANESAN & MOHANLAL

a related article: Lalettan on Sivaji Ganesan
http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/jul/27mohan.htm

PON VEYILILE

GAME - SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN

KAVARUM GAANAM - POOMAANAME

SONG - POOMAANAME
MOVIE - NIRAKKOOTHU
MUSIC BY SHYAM
SINGER - K S CHITRA
ACTORS - MAMMOOTY & SUMALATHA

ANTHA NAAL NYAABAGAM - SIRIPIL UNDAAGUM RAAGATHILE

SONG - SIRIPIL UNDAAGUM RAAGATHILE
MOVIE - ENGIRUNTHO VANTHAAL
MUSIC - MELLISAI MANNAR MSV
LYRICS - KAVIYARASAR KANNADASAN
SINGERS - TMS & P SUSHEELA
ACTORS - 'CHEVALIER' SIVAJI GANESAN & JAYALALITHA

here i would like to give some infos about jayalalitha jayaram , one of my favourite heroines of 60's, as a movie star:

among the heroines of the 60's, jayalalitha has a special place. she has a very pretty face. i also like her style of acting & dancing. She was trained in Bharata Natyam and Carnatic Music from the young age of 4. She is said to be proficient in other dance-forms such as Mohini Attam, Kathak and Manipuri as well. Jayalalitha has given hundreds of performances in Bharatha Natyam and has even sung many songs herself in her films (songs are a staple of Indian films).
Jayalalitha is also well known for her Convent English.
the convent-educated jayalalitha made her debut in an English-language film, 'Epistle' over three decades ago. She was also in the lead in 'Izzat' - her only Hindi film - opposite Dharmendra.
She with her trimmed convent – educated English accent is known as a woman of letters. she has mentioned in an interview that when she was a child, she was very fond of Hans Christian Anderson, Grimms, Enid Blyton and the Malory Towers series, and later, Denise Robins, Barbara Cartland, Mills and Boon. Later on she graduated to the heavy stuff. she has read practically all the classics. her real favourite authors are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and, among others, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel, Pearl S Buck & James Hadley Chase.

LALETTAN HITS - PARAYAATHE ARIYAATHE

Recently i watched Udayananu Tharam (Udayan is the star). i enjoyed this movie. Lalettan as director Udaya Banu, Meena as actress Madhumathi, Sreenivasan as actor Saroj Kumar, & Mukesh as Producer Baby Kuttan. Bhavana is doing a guest role as actress Gayatri.

Udayananu Tharam is about a script writer cum assistant director, Udaya Banu, struggling to become director.
Hardworking, honest and good at heart he completes the script of a movie which he plans to make a hit to fulfill his lifetime dream. Baby Kuttan, a friend cum famous producer agrees to produce Udayan's film.
Rajappan Thengumoodu ( Sreenivasan), a junior artist comes to see Udayan and requests to stay with him for a few days. He was thrown out of his previous place because he couldn't pay for his accommodation. Udayan accommodates him as he didn't have the heart to say no. Once Rajappan knew that Udayan is on to his debut film, he wants to be his hero. But Udayan refuses. The scheming Rajappan steals Udayan's script and approaches a top producer with it and insists on becoming the hero.
The film becomes a super hit and Rajappan becomes famous. When Udayan comes to know about it he is shattered but couldn't do anything much about it. Rajappan changes his name to Saroj Kumar and gets himself trained in acting and dancing by Pachalam Bhasi (Jagathy Sreekumar).
Meanwhile Madhumati (Meena), a lead actress who was groomed by Udayan walks out of her house when she can't stand the suffering from her wicked brother and father into the comforting hands of Udayan who is much older to her. Udayan has to marry her to settle all the rumours but their relationship doesn't last long and Udayan becomes totally depressed.
But again Baby Kuttan comes to his rescue and encourages Udayan to come up with another script which he promises to produce. But he wants Saroj Kumar to be the hero. Although Udayan disagrees at first, he doesn't have much choice. The movie starts off but Saroj Kumar makes life miserable for Udayan whenever possible and walks out of the film when it is almost complete. The rest of the story deals with how Udayan tries to get his life back. How Udayan completes the film is interesting.
Sreenivasan writes about real life incidents that happen in the film industry and presents them in a humorous manner. He makes a dig at everyone, not even leaving the superstars. The director has handled the script well.
Mohanlal as Udayan presents a down to earth remarkable performance unlike the larger than life characters he plays these days. But it is Sreenivasan who steals the show as the dimwit obnoxious superstar Saroj Kumar. Meena is commendable as starlet Madhumati. The rest of the cast including Mukesh, Jagathy, Salim Kumar, Bhavana gives adequate support.


here is one of my favourite lalettan song:



here is another nice song from the same movie. a cute song featuring Meena & Sreenivasan:

PUTHU PAADALGAL - KANNAAMOOCHI YENADA

Movie - Kannaamoochi Yenada
Music - Yuvan Shankar Raja
Actors - Prithviraj, Sandhya, Sathyaraj & Radhika.

Click below to listen to the song:
KANNAAMOOCHI YENADA

Click below for more info on this movie:
http://www.kannaamoochienadaa.com/sites/kannaamoochienadaa/index.html
http://www.radaan.tv/radaan.html