Badam Halwa / Almond Halwa

Badam Halwa / Almond Halwa is a very rich sweet which is generally made in marriages or during special occasions. Halwa in general is made with the nutty paste, ghee and sugar syrup. Taste of any Halwa would be delicious if its slightly warmed before eating. A pinch of saffron strands would definitely enhance the taste of this rich halwa and also its flavour. Though it takes good amount of preparation time, the final output is really worthy for that time. My sister gave me a tip to fasten the process. With her experience, she told me that the almond paste made with water takes lesser time to get cooked and come to the Halwa consistency than the paste made with milk and water. Amount of ghee to this Halwa is not more if its added at the end of the process. So, I can confidently say that the process can never go wrong and also its not eating so much ghee. So happily we can enjoy few spoons of Almond Halwa during this festival time.

Ingredients

Almonds - 2 Cups

Sugar - 1 Cup

Ghee - 3-4 tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Yellow / Kesar Orange food colour - 1 pinch

Saffron - A pinch in luke warm water.

Method

Blanching Almonds

Soak the Almonds in water overnight and peel the skin off the almonds the next day. This is the regular method which we generally follow for blanching. You can also soak them in warm water or hot water and peel their skin off after few hours. Follow any method whichever is simpler and easier for you.

Making Almond Paste

Grind the blanched almonds using a mixer grinder to a fine, smooth paste by adding little water. I don't add milk while grinding the almonds at all. Keep the almond paste ready.

Making Sugar Syrup

In a thick bottomed vessel, add 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of water and make a thick sugar syrup. Add a pinch of food colour to the sugar syrup.

Making Saffron Syrup

In a small cup, add 2 tsp of hot milk and add a pinch of saffron strands. Leave them for few minutes. Then you would see the saffron strands melted and the colour of the milk would have turned kesar yellow/orange. Keep this syrup ready.

Halwa Preparation

• Transfer the Almond paste into a thick non-stick kadai / round pan. Cook the paste by closing the lid for sometime and stir the paste constantly.
• Add the sugar syrup into the paste and mix them well. Stir the mix continuously so that the almond paste thickens and come to the Halwa consistency. This would take some good amount of time. So, patiently stir the mixture in the kadai. You can fasten the process by closing the lid and cooking them on a low flame. This would thicken the paste to some level and then stir the mix again by opening the lid for sometime.
• Add the powdered Cardamom powder and the saffron syrup into the Halwa Mix.
• Check the consistency of the Almond Halwa now. If its almost closer to the Halwa consistency, add 3 tbsp of ghee into the Halwa. Stir them again for sometime and finally the Almond Halwa would come in shape with good aroma and taste.
• Switch off the flame. Transfer the Halwa into a suitable container and sprinkle some fried cashew nuts if required. Also, you can sprinkle few saffron strands just before serving...

Variations

Instead of cooking and stirring the Halwa mix in the stove, you can microwave the Halwa mix and fasten the process too.

Curd Rice / Perugannam / Dhadhojanam

Without curd rice at the end, any good meal is not complete totally..In South India, curd rice is mostly eaten at the end in any regular meals or in any special occasion thalis. With a side of a spicy pickle, it concludes the meal with greater satisfaction. Taste of the curd rice totally depends on the curd culture, sourness and the rice texture. To me, preparing curd rice is a special art as I have tasted the best curd rice as well as the worst curd rice in my life. I am just writing down the method I follow for making our traditional Dadhojanam ( curd rice ).

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1 Cup

Salt - To Taste

Pomegranate Seeds - 2 tbsp

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

Fresh Curd - 2 -3 cups.

Milk - As required. ( Optional ).

Grated Ginger - 2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 3 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Mina Pappu - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 2

Green Chillies - 2 Small

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Method

• Cook the rice in the pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles. Let the cooked rice be well cooked but not pasty. Open the rice vessel after its cooked and transfer the rice into a big mixing bowl or vessel.
• Finish the tempering by adding all the ingredients and pour them over the cooked rice.
• Add grated ginger, little coriander leaves, salt into the mixing bowl. Mix everything nicely and slightly mash the rice while mixing. Now the rice would be loaded with the flavours of Hing, Ginger and other ingredients.
• Now slowly add the fresh curd into the mixing bowl and and mix it thoroughly with the rice. Keep adding curd to the rice till you get the desired consistency.
• Add little milk to the curd rice if the curd is little sour. Garnish with remaining coriander leaves and now the curd rice is ready with lots of freshness, flavour and taste.

Tips

• Don't cook the rice like how we make for Puliogare. The rice should be well cooked and little mashy.
• Try to add fresh curd only if you are going to eat the curd rice immediately. If you are making it for lunch, then try to use as much luke warm milk while mixing and add 2 tbsp of curd only and keep it. During lunch, it will be all set and the curd rice wont be sour at all. Of course, little sourness would give a good punch to the curd rice.

Variations

• You can add grated carrots, finely cut onions, cucumbers into the curd rice if you wish.
• Also, you can add tiny pieces of cashew nuts as well.

Happy Diwali



Omapodi, Paramannam ( Sweet Pongal ), Madras Mixture, Rasamalai, Kova kajjikaya, Badam Halwa, Andhra Puliodara

Wishing you all a very Happy, Prosperous and colourful Diwali..We had a colourful blast in our Indian temple, utah with professional fireworks display, fantastic Indian music and yummy Indian Thali too...
A very special diwali in the mid of a chilling weather outside.

Hope you all would have enjoyed very well too...Soon, I will be posting my Diwali recipes in my blog...

Hot Peppers Pickle / Bajji Milagai Urgai

One of our good neighbours have given us lots of fresh, home grown, organic hot peppers. First time, I tried making Milagai Bajji and we all enjoyed the bajjis at home. But with the current load, I really wanted to consume the hot peppers in a different way, which can be preserved and be used for a longer period. Pickle would be the best option in this case. So, I made the Hot Peppers pickle which would be a delicious side pickle for rotis or rice. 

Ingredients

Hot Peppers - 6 or 7

Lime Juice - Juice of 1 lemon.

Gingelly oil or Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Fenugreek Seeds / Vendhayam - 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Method

1. Wash the Hot Peppers, wipe them with a tissue and cut into small pieces and keep them ready.
2. Roast the fenugreek seeds for a minute and grind them along with Mustard Seeds and transfer the powder into a bowl.
3. Heat the Gingelly oil and when its heated, switch off the flame. Add Hing/asafoetida to the oil. Pour the oil on top of the grounded powder in the bowl.
4. Add the Hot Pepper pieces also into the bowl along with some salt and lemon juice.
5. Mix them well and store it in an airtight container. This pickle would be ready to eat after 24 hours.
6. This tangy and spicy pickle would be a good side kick for rotis and especially for curd rice.

Tips /Variations

Don't make this pickle with old, dried hot peppers.

You can add dry red chilli powder if you want the pickle more spicy.

Madras Mixture with less oil

Mixture is one of the most common snacks made in different regions of India in their own traditional way.  Few varieties are slightly sweeter and most of the varieties are spicy only. Though I love all kinds of mixture I have tasted so far, I often prepare the Madras Mixture which is a common variety made in South India. It might look more complicated and bit oily, but its very easier to make with less oil. Also, it yields more quantity too....And I am happy to share with you all the madras mixture recipe...There's no diwali at home without the mixture. Enjoy making lots of Diwali Sweets and Snacks...and share your experience.

Method of preparation

Groundnuts   -    1 Cup

In a big kadai or big round pan, roast the groundnuts / peanuts patiently on medium heat till they get crispy and fried well. Add very little oil , may be 2 tsp of oil to the groundnuts while frying... Transfer them to a big basin / vessel where you could mix all the contents upside down well.

Cashew Nuts  -   1 Cup

On the same frying pan / kadai, add the Cashew Nuts and roast them in the same manner till they get golden brown and crunchy. Transfer them to the big basin where you transferred the groundnuts before.

Pottukadalai / Dalia - 1 Cup

Roast the Pottukadalai also in the same manner with little bit of oil. After sometime, they get roasted with a nice aroma and get more crispy. Transfer them to the big vessel on top of the Cashew nuts.

Aval / Poha / Avalakki - 1 Cup

Roast the thin Poha variety with little bit of oil on medium heat. While roasting the Aval, add some turmeric powder to them and roast it. After sometime, the aval get fried nicely and if required, add little bit of oil in the middle and fry them. After its done, transfer them to the big vessel on top of the Pottukadalai.

Curry Leaves / Karuvepillai - 1/2 Cup

Roast them in the same heated kadai with a tsp of oil and keep them separately. This needs to be added to the mixture at the end.

Boondhi  -    4 Cups

In a small frying pan / vessel keep oil for making Boondhi and Sev for the mixture and heat it. For preparing Boondhi, first make the Boondhi Maavu / batter with 2 cups of kadalai Maavu / Besan Flour, 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder, required salt, 1 tsp of red chilli powder, required amount of water. The consistency of the Boondhi batter should be like Dosa Batter. Take a Boondhi making spoon or a regular big karandi  ( spotted big spoon )  with holes in it. Wipe it with a tissue and keep it ready. Put some Boondhi Batter onto the karandi and gently shake the karandi on top of the heated oil. You could see rounds of Boondhi batter falling into the heated oil. Gently shake the Boondi karandi so that you get nice round Boondhis. Likewise, make boondhis with the rest of the Boondhi Batter too. Drain all the Boondhis separately and let them get dried for sometime. After its completely drained and cooled, transfer them to the big vessel on top of the nuts.

Thick Sev - 3 Cups

Make the Sev dough first by mixing 2 cups of Kadalai Maavu / Besan Flour, 1 tbsp of rice flour, 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder, required salt, 1/2 tsp of omam powder / ajwain powder, 1 tsp of dry red chilli powder and little water. The consistency of the Sev dough should not be very loose , should be thick like a Murukku dough. Then using the Murukku / Sevai maker, make some big thenguzhal in the heated oil. Fry the thenguzhal till they are golden brown. Complete the same procedure and finish the process. Drain all the Thenguzhals separately and break them into Sev. After its cooled and dried, transfer all the Sevs on top of the Boondhis in the big vessel.

Mixing Process

Add little salt , 2 tsp of dry red chilli powder, 1 dash of Hing / Asafoetida to the mixture.  Using a clean dry flat karandi / spoon , mix everything upside down till all of them get mixed uniformly. Finally add the fried curry leaves and mix them one more time carefully. Now the Mixture is ready for Diwali.!!!

Variations

You can increase the spice level by adding more red chilli powder to the mixture.

You can add sweet diamond shaped biscuits made with Maida to the mixture if you like some sweetness in your mixture.

You can add small sweet rice mittais into the mixture if you like.

You can add fried green peas to the mixture if you like.

Also, you can modify the dough / batter while making the Sev / Boondi according to your taste and spice level.

You can add plain Corn flakes instead of Aval.

Note

As we don't fry the Nuts in this version, its somehow made with very less oil. Only the Boondis and Sev are fried in oil. The taste of this mixture with roasted nuts is amazing.

Healthy Multigrain Bread Puttu



Since few days, I have been thinking of making something different with the big loaf of Multigrain bread remaining in the bread basket. Really bored of the regular Bread Jam, Bread Peanut butter, Bread with Nutella. Though I heard of this bread puttu from one of my friends, I never get a chance either to make it  or taste it before. I followed the regular procedure for making this puttu without a traditional puttu maker. It came out decently and it could be served with some uppuma ( with rava, semiya ) as a combo for breakfast. It will definitely be an ideal and healthy breakfast for kids. Preparation time for this puttu is also very less...So, don't get scared with the second loaf of any bread variety which you buy from the wholesale stores ( like Costco, BJs)...The second loaf can easily be consumed by making this variety too....

Ingredients

Multigrain Bread - 1 full loaf

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp

Cashew Nuts - 2 tbsp

Fresh Coconut flakes - 1/2 a cup

Sugar - Between 1/4 to 3/4th of a cup ( depending upon the sweetness of the bread )

Method

• Grind the remaining loaf of the Multigrain bread in a mixer grinder.
• Mix the bread puttu powder with the fresh coconut flakes and steam them together in a vessel for 5 -10 minutes. As I don't have the puttu maker, I steamed them by keeping the puttu vessel inside a big kadai and covered the kadai with the lid. After its steam cooked completely, keep the steamed puttu ready.
• On medium heat, add ghee into the kadai. When its heated, add the cashew nuts and fry them for few minutes till they get golden brown.
• Add the steamed puttu mix to the kadai.
• Add the cardamom powder and sugar to the puttu now.
• Mix them all well for few minutes and switch off the flame.
• Now the healthy puttu is ready with rich taste and good flavour.

Tips

Any variety of excess bread loaf can be converted into puttu form.!!! Though its a healthy option, multigrain puttu variety would be little heavy, so its difficult to eat more quantity whereas the wheat bread puttu is softer and can be eaten easily by kids.

Vankaya Ulli Karam / Brinjals in Spicy Onion Gravy / Brinjal Masala

Vankaya Ulli Karam is my mother-in-laws recipe and we all liked the dish very much. So I decided to share her recipe with my blog friends. This brinjal dish is an excellent choice for parties along with a side of Jeera Rice / Pulav. Even with rotis or plain rice, this tastes much better. The major factor which decides the taste of the dish is the age and size of the brinjals and its freshness..If  you have very fresh small brinjals, don't keep them in the fridge and postpone the preparation.Try to make the Vankaya Ulli Karam as fresh as possible.

Ingredients

Fresh small brinjals - 12 to 15.

Onion - 1 Big

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 3 tbsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 stems

For the Paste

Dry Red Chillies - 8

Groundnuts - 1 handful

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham paruppu / Mina Pappu - 1 tbsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai paruppu / Senaga pappu - 2 tbsp

Methi seeds / Vendhayam / Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Black pepper - 1 tsp

Dry Coconut Powder - 3/4th of tbsp

White Sesame Seeds - 2 tbsp

Tamarind - 1 pinch

Onion - 1 Big one shredded

Ingredients for the Gravy

Method

• Wash the Brinjals and make 4 or 6 slits from its bottom without breaking the brinjal in the middle. Let it looks like an umbrella with different slits and a handle at its top.
• Cut the brinjals in a similar way and put them in a bowl of water. Cut the onion into pieces and keep it ready for the gravy.
• Meantime, with few drops of oil, fry all the ingredients required for the gravy except onion pieces till you get a nice aroma. Then, transfer them to a mixer grinder. In the same pan, fry the cut onions and add them to the mixer grinder. Grind everything together to a fine smooth paste with little bit of water. Keep the gravy paste ready.
• Meantime, in the vessel add oil for tempering. Add Hing, mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves first.
• Then, add the cut brinjals into the kadai / vessel. Add 2 tsp of turmeric powder and cook them with little water and salt. Cover the vessel and let the brinjals cook inside.
• When the brinjals get cooked three fourth, add the gravy paste from the mixer grinder into the vessel.
• Wash the mixer grinder with some water and pour all the gravy water into the vessel.
• Add required amount of salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar and mix the brinjals with the Gravy carefully making sure that the brinjals don't get mashed too much. Try to keep the brinjals in full shape inside the gravy.
• Let everything cook completely and the oil would ooze out of the dish slowly which indicates that the vankaya ulli karam is done perfectly.

Tips

Fry the spices till you get a nice aroma before grinding them for the gravy. This makes the gravy tastier.

Avoid making this dish with green brinjals or long fatty big brinjals. Try to make with small violet brinjals only to enjoy the heavenly taste of the masala.

Coriander Pulav / Kothamalli Pulav / Kothimeera Pulav / Coriander Pulao

Freshness of coriander leaves always add taste and flavour to any food we make. This herb is not only used  for garnishing and its widely used in Indian cuisine for making different varieties of food like coriander chutney, coriander rice / pulav, coriander based gravy in many side dishes, etc., Whenever I go for vegetable shopping, I invariably pick up more coriander bunches than I require for the week. This time, I tried to make coriander pulav / kothamalli pulav for lunch. Without any side dish, we can have this tasty coriander pulav and its an ideal choice for kids too as they like this green colour pulav. Adding few potato pieces and peas to the pulav make the rice more captivating and make it more healthier too..

Ingredients

Fresh Coriander Leaves - 3 or 4 Big bunches.

Tomato - 1 medium

Green Chillies - 3 or 4

Basmati Rice - 1.5 cup

Sugar - 1 pinch

Salt - To Taste

Oil - 3 tbsp

Butter / Ghee - 2 tsp

Onion - 1 Medium

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Cinnamon Sticks - 2 big

Lavang - 5 or 6

Cardamom Seeds / Elachi - 4 or 5

Marathi Moggu - 1 big

Garlic Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Potato - 1 medium

Peas - 1 Handful

Method

• Wash the Basmati Rice and soak the rice for sometime.
• Grind the washed coriander leaves, one red tomato, green chillies in a mixer grinder and keep it ready.
• n a non-stick vessel or a flat bottomed thick vessel, add ghee or butter first. Then add oil to the pan and when the oil gets heated, add the spices to the oil. Fry them for a minute.
• Add ginger garlic paste to the vessel next. Fry them for a minute till the raw smell goes off.
• Add onions and the grounded paste and fry them for few minutes. Add the potato pieces and peas while frying. Also add the basmati rice to the oil and fry everything for a minute.
• Add water, enough salt, a pinch of sugar to the rice mix and cook them on a low flame.
• For 1 cup of rice , add 1 3/4 th of water. But it depends on the Basmati Rice type too..So, add water according to the variety you use.
• After its completely cooked, switch off the flame. Turn it upside down and garnish with few cashew nuts and coriander leaves before serving.
• This coriander pulav can be eaten with raita or any side dish of your choice.

Methi Paratha / Methi Parata / Methi Chappathi / Methi Chapati

Fenugreek leaves , methi leaves are nature's gift to mankind. Its rich in minerals like Potassium, Calcium and Iron. Fenugreek leaves have good dietary fiber and are abundant in Vitamin C and Vitamin K..They add an excellent flavour to cooking. In our small vegetable patch, we grow methi, green peppers ( capsicum ), lady's finger(okra), tomatoes, basil this year. Out of these, methi leaves grow faster and are abundant in our garden. So, I use methi leaves in most of our regular cooking at home. This time I made methi paratha, one of our favourites at home for dinner. With a side of good creamy raita, it was delicious.  There are "n" number of ersions of methi parathas and its ratio and taste would be different in every household and I am presenting you my version of methi paratha.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 4 cups

Fresh Methi leaves shredded or cut - 3 cups

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp.

Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp

Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

White sesame seeds - 3 tbsp.

Curd or Plain Yogurt - 1 Full cup

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Green chilli paste - 2 tsp

Water - Enough to make the Dough.

Oil - For frying the Methi parathas.

Method

• Wash and cut the methi leaves thoroughly. Cover it with a lid and cook the leaves in the microwave for few minutes to make them softer. Keep it ready.
• On a big basin or bowl, add all the ingredients for making the dough and add water little by little.
• Make a thick dough like poori dough and add little oil in the middle of dough preparation. Knead the dough properly in order to get good methi parathas.
• Keep the dough for few hours. When you are ready to eat, heat the tawa / pan to medium.
• Using a roti maker or using manual methods, make a medium size round parathas and keep them ready.
• When the pan is ready, cook the methi parathas one by one uniformly on both sides with little oil on its side.
• Store them in a round shaped container and enjoy the hot methi parathas with a side of raita , mango chunde or tomato pachidi / pickle of your choice.
• Methi parathas can be stored for even 4-5 days and eat and its an ideal choice for travel too...

Tips

You can make methi pooris with the leftover methi paratha dough and it tastes very good. My kids loved the methi pooris very much.

Try to make the paratha dough atleast 3-4 hours before cooking the parathas.

Paruppu Vadai / Ama Vadai / Pappu Vada / Dal Vada

Paruppu Vadais also called as Aama vadais are more commonly made during the festival days and its a South Indian speciality snack. As they are made out of different kinds of Dal / lentil, they are rich in protein. There are different versions of Dal Vadas and every variety depends on the kind of Dals and the proportion they use to make them. I used thuvar Dal ( Thuvaram paruppu / Kandhi pappu ), Channa Dal ( Kadalai Paruppu / Sena pappu ), Urad Dal ( Ulutham paruppu / Mina pappu ) and Moong Dal ( Pesara pappu / Payatham paruppu ) in my preparation.

Ingredients

Thuvar Dal - 1 Cup

Channa Dal - 1/2 Cup

Urad Dal - 1/2 Cup

Moong Dal - 1/4 Cup

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Curry leaves - 1 or 2 stems

Dry Red Chillies - 3 or 4.

Oil - For Frying

Salt - To Taste

Method

• Soak all the Dals in the water for an hour. Then, grind them coarsely with red chillies, hing and some salt. Add the crushed curry leaves into the vadai batter and mix it.
• Meantime, heat the oil in the frying pan. When the oil gets heated up, take a small ball of the vadai batter and make a small round and drop it slowly into the heated oil. Continue the process for the rest of the batter.
• Fry the vadas till they become golden brown and crispy. Drain all the vadas from the pan carefully and put them on a plate with a paper tissue on its top to soak the excess oil from the vadas.
• Now the parppu / Dal Vadas are ready for Neivedhyam.

Tips / Variations

You can add crushed coriander leaves, onion pieces into the batter too and fry them during non-festival days.

Godhumai Vazhaipazha Appam / Wheat Banana Appam

Wheat Appams, Godhumai Appams are easier to make during festival days. My mom used to make these Godhumai Appams on Saraswathi Puja day. I added a big ripe banana into the appam batter and made it. Appams tasted almost like a banana walnut muffins..

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 1.5 Cups

Rice Flour - 2 tbsp

Jaggery Syrup - 1 Cup

Elachi / Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp

Bananas - 1 big ripe banana mashed

Oil - Enough to fry the Appams

Method

1. Make a Jaggery Sryup with 1 Cup of Jaggery in a separate vessel. The Syrup should be little thick and should drop down but not too watery.
2. Meantime, in a vessel add all the ingredients for making the Appam Batter and keep it ready.
3. After the Jaggery syrup is done and cools down little bit, pour them slowly over the appam batter and mix it thoroughly without any lumps.
4. In the frying pan, add some oil and heat it. When the oil gets heated up, drop small rounds of appam batter into the oil carefully.
5. Flip them on both sides and fry them till they become golden brown in colour. Drain them all in a flat vessel with a paper tissue on it to soak the extra oil from the appams.
6. Likewise, continue the same for the rest of the batter. Mostly these appams wont drink that much oil. Arrange all the appams on a plate after they are drained completely and its ready for Neivedhyam.

Tips

Consistency of the appam batter is very important here. If the batter is little loose and thin, it drinks lot of oil. Try to make the appam batter mostly with the Jaggery Syrup itself. Still if the batter is too thick, you can add some water into it and make the batter like the Idly batter.

Variations

You can add crushed nuts like almonds, cashew nuts, pistas into the batter.

You can add few fresh coconut flakes into the batter too and try them out.

Bajji Platter

Bajjis are the mostly served snacks on Jaanavasam, the day before marriage in South India. On a snowy, wintery day, it will be an ideal choice to have some hot bajjis with a side of hot tea. Though bajjis are fried snacks and made with besan flour and are highly caloric, still they are tasty and mouth watering.....Well, my daughter has been asking me to make her favourite potato bajji since few weeks....and somehow it was not working out...Finally her dream came true..I made her more potato bajjis and few..chilli bajjis for my husband too. Believe me, its really difficult to resist our feelings and we did not care so much about our calorie counts on that day.!!!!

Ingredients

Potato - 3 or 4 Medium

Green Peppers - 3 or 4.

Besan Flour / Kadalai Maavu / Senapindi - 1 cup.

Rice Flour - 3 tbsp.

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Omum Seeds / Ajwain Seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - Enough to fry the Bajjis.

Method

• Wash and peel the skin of potatoes and slice them into thin rounds and put them in a bowl of hot water with some salt.
• Likewise, cut or slice the hot peppers as per your choice and put them into a separate bowl of hot water with little salt. I mainly did these steps to half cook the veggies inside and its easier for the kids to have them.
• In a vessel, add the besan flour, salt, required powders and make a smooth paste enough to coat the veggies with some water. Let the paste be not too watery..
• In a frying kadai, add some oil and heat it. When the oil gets heated up, dip the potato rounds into the bajji batter and drop them carefully into the heated oil one by one. While dropping the bajjis, reduce the flame to a low level and after dropping all the bajjis, increase the flame to a medium.
• When the bajjis turn golden brown on both sides, take them out and drain them on a flat plate with a paper tissue on it to soak the oil coming out of the bajjis...
• Similarly, soak the Hot peppers too into the batter and make Mirchi Bajjis and drain them out on a plate.
• Now the bajji platter is ready to eat with a side of tea.

Tips / Variations

You can make bajjis with any kind of vegetables like Brinjal, Onions, Zucchini, Raw banana, Paneer.

You can increase the quantity of chilli powder as per your spice level.

Broken Wheat Rava Kesari \ Godhuma Rava Kesari

Rava Kesari is the most common sweet as we all know. I just wanted to try out the same with the broken wheat rava. Its almost similar to the Sathyanarayana Swami pooja Prasadam. I followed the same method of preparing Kesari except that I cooked the broken wheat initially before mixing it with the Sugar Syrup. As broken wheat is highly nutritious, this Kesari is definitely a very healthy sweet for everyone. Though it takes little extra time than the normal Kesari, its worth for its benefits.

Ingredients

Broken wheat / Dalia - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup

Kesari Powder / Food Colour Powder - 1 pinch

Elachi / Cardamom Seeds / Elakai - 4 or 5

Pista Seeds - 5 or 6 crushed.

Dry Grapes / Raisins - 1 tbsp

Cashew Nuts - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Method

• Roast the Broken Wheat Rava with little ghee for couple of minutes and cook it with some water.
• Mean time, in a thick vessel, make a sugar syrup by adding Sugar and little water. Add the Kesar food colour, cardamom powder into the Syrup. Keep it ready.
• When the Broken wheat is fully cooked, then slowly add the Sugar Syrup into the kadai. Keep stirring the Kesari constantly in order to avoid any lumps.
• Add the crushed pista powder and 1 tbsp of ghee into the Kesari. Mix them well.
• Do the cooking on a medium flame. Roast the Cashew nuts and raisins with little bit of ghee and add them into the Kesari.
• Add the remaining ghee into the Kesari and mix it upside down uniformly.
• Now the Kesari is ready for Neivadhyam.

Tips / Variations

You can add more sugar and ghee according to your taste. If its for a party or festival, you can generously add more ghee to the Kesari to make it richer. If you have some saffron at home, you can add 1/2 tsp of Saffron flowers into the Kesari. This would give us a nice aroma and the taste of the Kesari would be unique.

Tamarind Rice Tamil Style \ Pulisadham \ Puliodharai

Tamarind Rice is one of the favourites in our household. I followed my mom's style while making the powder for the tamarind rice this time. She generally makes Pulikachal first and mixes the rice with the spicy, yummy Pulikachal..But I made a simple tamarind paste and made the tamarind rice with the tamarind paste and spicy powder..which is an easier method for me.Some people like to have this tamarind rice just with papads, appalams. In some household, they make Aviyal and tamarind rice as a combo..But the taste is unique in all ways.

Ingredients

Sona Masoori Rice - 2 Cups

Thick Tamarind juice - 4 Cups

Jaggery - 1 tsp

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp for tempering.

Gingelly Oil / Nalla Yennai - 3 tbsp

Hing - 1 Big Dash

Salt - To Taste

Urad Dal / Mina Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 1 tbsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 1 tbsp

Peanuts / Groundnuts / Kadalai - 2 Handful

Powder

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Vendhayam / Methi Seeds / Menthilu - 1 tsp

Black Pepper Seeds - 6 or 7 seeds

Dry Red Chillies - 5 or 6

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Method

• Cook the Sona Masoori Rice either in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles or in an electric cooker. Spread the rice over a big tray or vessel and put some oil into it just to make them separate. Let the rice cool down.
• Mean time, in a kadai, add the extracted tamarind juice of 4 cups, 2 tsp of oil, hing, 1 tsp of jaggery and make a paste like a kuzhambu without raw smell.
• For making the powder, fry the ingredients with little oil in a kadai and grind them into a fine powder. Keep it aside.
• For tempering, add Olive oil in a kadai. Add the ingredients for tempering and roast them in low flame.
• Let the channa dal, urad dal and groundnuts get roasted to golden brown.
• Transfer all the contents from the kadai on top of the rice in the tray or big vessel.
• Add the tamarind juice little by little. Add required amount of salt also and mix the tamarind rice uniformly without mashing the rice.
• Add the grounded spicy powder on the rice and mix them carefully in all directions up and down.
• Add gingelly oil into the tamarind rice too.
• Keep adding more tamarind paste and the spicy powder into the rice while mixing as required.
• After mixing all the contents thoroughly, the spicy and yummy tamarind rice is ready to eat. But its always a good idea to eat the tamarind rice at least an hour after its preparation. This is mainly for the spices, tamarind paste to blend together and settle down with the rice perfectly.
• Even on the next day, the leftover tamarind rice tastes very good. Its not required to store the leftover rice in the fridge.

Healthy Black Eye Beans Sundal \ Lobia \ Periya Vellai Karamani Sundal

Black Eye Beans are low in calories and rich in fiber which help to control cholesterol in our body. They are low in fat, low in sodium and a good source of folate, potassium, phosphorous and manganese. When combined with grains, they supply high amount of protein and it can be consumed as an alternative to animal meat. Due to its high potassium content and low sodium, it helps to reduce blood pressure also. So, to consume this highly nutrient Black eye beans, I made this healthy sundal on one of the Navarathri days..

Ingredients

Black Eyed beans / Lobhia -- 2 Cups

Oil - 1 tbsp for tempering

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Salt - To Taste

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Dry Red Chillies - 4 or 5

Green chillies - 1

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1/2 Cup

Method

Soak the Black Eyed Beans for an hour in warm water. Then, pressure cook the beans with enough water to cook it for 2-3 whistles.Drain the excess water from the vessel. In the Kadai, add the oil and start adding Hing, Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Curry leaves, Dry red chillies, green chilli and grated ginger first. When the tempering is done, then add the black eyed beans into the kadai and add enough salt and mix it thoroughly. After 2-3 minutes, add the fresh coconut flakes and switch off the flame. Mix the sundal and coconut flakes without mashing the sundal. Now the sundal is ready for Neivedhyam.

Tips / Variations

Don't overcook the beans as the sundal would become pasty.

Instead of curry leaves or if its not available, you can add fresh coriander leaves at the end for garnishing.

To make it more spicy, you can add the grounded powder of coriander seeds and dry red chillies to the sundal after tempering.

Green Cutlet - Spinach Potato Cutlet

Really got bored with the regular spinach pappu or Palak Paneer , wanted to try out something different with the Spinach..Spinach with some potatoes, peas, yellow corn powder and with some spices, the appetizer was made with less effort and time. We can even substitute this Cutlet as Spinach pattie in burger and could even be used in the preparation of Cutlet chat or a pattie in our regular Ragada Patties.

Ingredients

Potatoes Boiled - 6 or 7 Medium Sized

Frozen Peas or cooked peas - 1 Handful

Spinach finely chopped - 2 cups

Yellow Corn Flour - 2 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Jeera Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp

Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp ( optional )

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Oil - To Shallow fry the Cutlets

Method

• Cook the Potatoes, Peas and mash them and keep it ready.
• Cut the Spinach leaves and keep it ready too...
• In the kadai on medium heat, add 2 tsp of oil first. Then, add the spinach leaves and fry them till they get soggy and half cooked. Then, add all the powders and fry them for few seconds.
• Finally add the mashed potatoes, peas and the yellow corn flour. Add required amount of salt and a pinch of sugar and mix them thoroughly.
• Fry them for a minute and switch off the flame.
• After it gets cooled, take a ball size of the mix from the kadai. With little oil in hand, make a small flat pattie. Similarly make other patties too with the kadai mix and keep it ready.
• In a non stick pan or dosa pan, add little oil and shallow fry them at one shot with very less oil. Turn them both sides and fry every pattie / cutlet uniformly.
• Keep the fried cutlets on a plate and serve with a side of Tomato Ketchup.

Tips

Don't mash the potatoes and peas too much. Leave few small potato pieces so that the cutlet tastes good.

Variations

You can customize the spice level according to your taste..I prefer this to be milder as i made it for my kids.

Happy Navarathri to you all

Navarathri, a very colourful festival is getting celebrated in a very traditional way this year too...My kids even tried building their own park in this year Golu. My daughter is the proud builder of the big Park and my small son beautifully constructed his own cute Dianosar Park next to the Big Park...Every year, our Golu is slowly increasing in all dimensions, hopefully in another 5 year span, we will be able to build a classic and grand Golu with all traditional dolls.

Wish you all dear friends and bloggers a very Happy Navarathri.......