My Favorite City

 Coimbatore is my all time favorite city and I loved to be Coimbatorian. With its major

production in cotton, Coimbatore is known as Manchester of south India and poor man’s Ooty.  

It is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu, and also one of the leading and growing cities in

educational, commercial and in textile industry. We have 3 medical colleges, 7 universities,

many Engineering colleges, Arts colleges in and around Coimbatore that supports all the

educational constraint to become the educational heart of south India. Indeed, here are plans for

the establishment of the world class university in the city. It is also one of the leading exporters

in automobile components that meet 30% need of the entire India. It is more diverse city than

any other city in Tamil Nadu in cultural. Though, it is more diverse city and cosmopolitan, here

people of Coimbatore are sociable and what not, Coimbatorians are known for their simplicity

and hospitality.

Coimbatore is 530 KMs from Chennai, and is connected by national highway from Salem

leading to Kanyakumari. We can easily connect with the neighboring cities due to the four lane

road facility.  In Coimbatore city, you can also find well laid roads and lanes. Coimbatore has an

International Airport and is connected to all major metropolitan cities in India, and Gulf. Indian

Airlines, Jet Airways, Air Sahara, silk air and Air Deccan operate frequent flights in

Coimbatore. All the major telecom service connects the entire district of Coimbatore. With the

increasing demand for the treatment, medical facility and equipment, Coimbatore set an example

for the entire state with the world class infrastructure hospitals with well equipped instruments

and high quality doctors.

We have mountain ranges on all sides, with Niligiri Mountain in the north and pollachi

valpari hills in the east. The eastern side of the city includes majority of the urban area and the

western side has the Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Munnar ranges and to the west of the city we have

Palghat Gap, a mountain pass which connects Kerala to Tamil Nadu. Moreover, the city has

Noyyal river, Pilloor river and Athikadavu river which almost serves the water requirement of

the entire city when the rainfall is not sufficient for the need of the city. Besides these rivers we

have sweetest ever Siruvani waterfalls in the Western Ghats and multiple streams that drain the

waste water in the city. Coimbatore is blessed with beautiful, pleasant, salubrious climate

throughout the year due to mountain ranges and the cool breeze blowing through the Palghat.

And for kids we have several amusement parks in and around the city namely, Black

Thunder water theme park, Kovai Kondattam amusement park and Maharaja Theme Park and

recently for the relaxation of the people at the weekend Coimbatore is equipped with two biggest

malls in the city

Last but not least Coimbatore has numerous Hindu temples with the famous Maruthamalai hills

with the height of 500 mts in the western ghats of the Coimbatore region.

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Foxtail Millet kesari/Thinai Kesari

Foxtail Millet kesari/Thinai Kesari

Millets contain higher amounts of fiber and minerals than wheat and rice. Moreover, it also contains good quality protein with a high content of essential amino acids. It has low glycemic index and hence it produce lower blood sugar levels than wheat or rice. The presence of magnesium in millet can help to reduce the effects of heart attacks. With all the benefits of millets in mind, I am going to share my sweet recipe using millets with the all new sugar free natura.

I used foxtail millet (also known as thinai, Kavalai, Korai and Kamban Korai in Tamil ) instead of ravai. Kesari is a south Indian dish, which is known as kesari bhath by Kannadigas,  is traditionally  prepared using rava.

Ingredients Required

• Thinai  rice (or)Foxtail millet- 1/2 cup
• Water - 2 cups 
• sugar free natura (low calorie sugar substitute)- 1/2  cup
• Ghee - 2 tablespoons
• Cashew nuts - 1 tablespoon
• Raisins - 1 tablespoon
• powdered Green cardamom 
• kesari powder (orange) & salt - a pinch

Method
1) Dry roast the thinai  rice with ghee in a kadai  and cool down to room temperature.
2) Once cooled, take the thinai rice in a mixture and grind it to a medium coarse powder ( like ravai).
3) Now heat a tablespoon of ghee and roast cashews, raisins till they become golden brown.
4) Take water in a kadai and allow it to boil. Add thinai to the boiling water.
5) Slowly stir thinai in simmer flame till it is well cooked without forming lumps.
6) Add a pinch of keasri powder and salt.
7) Finally add powdered cardamom and sugar free  natura to the mixture.  Stir for few more minutes.
8) Add rasin and cashew at the end and stir it so that it gets mixed well. Allow it to cool.
Delicious kesari is ready.

Here is the recipe

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