Menapa Sunnundalu /Urad Dal Ladoos

Menapa Sunnundalu  /Urad Dal Ladoos:

Another variety of Simple and tasty sweet. The only trick to make this tasty is roast the urad dal just nice and  add enough of good quality ghee. And you are there.

The source of this recipe is from my Mom, used to make enough of these to satisfy our taste buds. But yet we used to fight for the last bit. :)

Here you go with the recipe.

Ingredients:
Urad Dal : 1 cup
Sugar : 1 cup
Cardamon Powder - 2 tspn
Ghee roasted nuts : 1/3 cup (Optional)
Ghee: 1/2 cup (or enough to bind the mixture)

Method:
1) Dry roast the urad dal till good aroma is out or slightly golden brown. (Make sure you keep stirring so that the urad dal is evenly roasted) and keep aside to cool
2) Powder sugar and urad dal separately and keep aside.
3) Now, heat the ghee to melt and make sure you don't heat it too little or too much.
4) Mix the two ground powder (Urad dal and sugar) together and add cardamon powder and the nuts into it.
5) Then, pour the hot ghee on the mixture.
6) Use a spoon and mix the ghee and incorporate all together.
7) Using you hands make lemon sized balls and they are ready to eat.

Tips:
Make sure the ghee is just nice to bind the ladoos.
Do not burn the ghee, the taste and smell will be different.
 
Cheers!
Madhavi

Kobbari Metai / Coconut Burfi

Kobbari Metai / Coconut Burfi:

This is one of my child hood favourites.With the minimal ingredients you can make a very tasty sweet.
This is one of the varieties we make during Ganesha Chaturthi. I used to love to eat them when my mom makes it. Now, after marriage, my FIL makes it even tastier. Got some expert tips from him too.after the last time I made I got the trick of making it

Here you go for the tasty soft, yet crispy, and yummy coconut burfi you need,

Ingredients:
Coconut: 1 cup
Sugar : 1 cup
Dry Nuts : 1/3 cup (optional) (roasted with little ghee)
Ghee : 1 tsp (to grease the plate)
Milk : 3 tspn
Cardamon Powder: 2 tspn

Method:
1) Take a broad kadai / pan, add sugar and coconut and give it a good mix.
2) Now, on low flame, stir them together till the sugar will start melting.
3) Now, add milk (This is to give the burfi a milky white colour) and keep stirring.
4) To this add cardamon powder and continue stirring.
5) Keep stirring till you see that the sugar has reached a stage where once cooled will get solid.
6) Now pour this mixture into a plate greased with ghee and spread it all through.
7) Take a knife and cut these into pieces into shapes and size of your choice. I cut diamonds.
8) Once cool separate the pieces and keep it in air tight container.

I made this for Vinayaka Chaturthi. And last time I made it my Son loved it. And I am sure he will this time too :)

Cheers!
Madhavi

Pongal for Prasadam | Sweet Pongal | Khara Pongal

Pongal

First of all "Wish you all a very happy Pongal"

Sankranti / Pongal Fest is approaching and I am sure we are all so excited about the new year. Needless to say, we end up enjoying numerous Pongal varieties during our visits to our friends and relatives.

MIL usually makes this as prasadam for Goddess Lakshmi Devi. And for sure we will have this as prasadam after the morning pooja on the Sankranti day.

This is one of the varieties which is a mix of Salt and sweet versions of Pongal. Very delicious and I bet there is no other recipe simpler and quicker than this. :)

Ingredients:

Rice : 1/2 cup

Moong Dal - 1/2 cup

Jeera - 1 tspn

Black Pepper - 1 tspn (Lightly crushed)

Turmeric - a pinch

Salt to taste

Water : 2 cups

To garnish

Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Ghee - 2 - 3 tspn

Method:

1) In a cooker, wash rice and dal and add all the except the ones in To garnish and let it whistle thrice.

2) Once done, mix all the ingredients well and serve hot topping it up with fresh coconut, sugar and ghee.

3) Pongal is ready to be served for Lakshmi as prasadam.

Cheers!

Madhavi

Doodh Peda | Milk Peda

Doodh Peda

Yesterday was Thursday and its the day we do detailed Aarthi for Shridi Sai Baba in the evening. So, I decided to make Doodh Peda for Him as it is one of His favourite sweet. It came out too good, and I was very happy to serve Baba with it. :)

Ingredients:
Full Cream Milk - 1 ltr (I used Fresh buffalo milk)
Sugar 2- 4 tbl spn (Optional)
Ghee - 1 tspn
Food Colour (Optional)

Method:
1) Take a heavy bottom wide pan and keep boiling milk till all the water in it evaporates.(Keep stirring the milk to avoid it from burning by sticking to the bottom on the vessel)
2) Once it starts thickening, add desired amount of sugar (Based on the natural sweetness in the milk)
3) And continue stirring till the bubbles from the milk disappears completely.
4) Now transfer into a bowl greased with ghee and once it comes to room temperature make small lemon sized balls and flatten them between your palms.
5) You can decorate it with one raisins/cashews/badam of your choice on each peda.
6) Refrigerate it for 4-5 hours for the pedas to set and retain the shape and now pedas are ready to serve.

Cheers!
Madhavi

Chakli / Murukku

Chakli / Chakralu / Murukku :

Chakli is all time favourite savoury anyone / everyone will surely love to eat. It is such a tempting snack, I would think before I taste a piece. I am too scared that I cannot stop till they are all done. (Without thinking of the after eating effect )

Stopping here, I would jump to writing the recipe.

Ingredients:
For the Murukku Powder
(You can also use ready mix if available)
Rice : 4 cups
Urad Dal - 1 cup

For making the dough
Butter : 100 grms
Sesame seeds - 3 tspn
Hing : 1/2 tspn
Salt for taste
Water enough to form a dough

For Chakli
Oil for deep frying

Method:
For making Murukku Powder
1) Wash Rice and Urad dal separately, drain water and spread it on a cloth. Let it dry in room temperature for about 30 mins.
2) Now, take small portions of urad dal and dry roast them till they turn light golden brown.
3) Similarly roast the rice, just enough to let go the moisture in it.
4) Now, mix both together and blend them into a fine powder.
For making the dough
5) Take a broad mixing bowl, and spread butter evenly all around the bowl, till you think its melting.
6) Now, add the powder to this and add sesame seeds, Hing and salt and mix all together.
7) Add water little by little and little and make it into a soft dough.
8) Now make equal portions of the dough just nice to fit into the chakli maker

Cylindrical Shapped dough portions. Ready to enter the Muruku/Chakli Maker / Press

9) Now, out of the options you get in the press use the one with single star, and put the dough into the maker and press on small plastic sheets / banana leaves / wax paper. (whichever is available) into spirals as big as you want.

10) In the meanwhile, take a deep frying pan, and heat enough oil.

11) Once hot, slowly drop the pressed chakli into the oil, and deep fry on medium flame till they turn light golden brown.



Murukku / Chakli pressed on small sheets of Plastic paper.

Pressed Chakli ready to be deep fried.

Chakli ready to be tasted.

12) Now, you can store these in air tight containers and best served with a hot cup of coffee / even along with sambar rice or rasam rice. :) Yum..

Note:
1) You need to knead the dough as much as you can. This will prevent the chakli from breaking in between while you are trying to make the spirals.
2) In case the chakli is breaking while pressing, you can use little water and make the dough a little softer (if it turned out to be hard) and knead again and press.

Cheers!
Madhavi

Kajjikai / Stuffed coconut Pastry

Kadubu/ Kajjikai / Stuffed coconut Pastry

Its a festival time and  we are all looking for making lots of sweets, savories and cakes. Here is one of a very tasty savoury, which is one of my all time favorite.

The stuffing to this pastry can be of a lot of varieties, here is my recipe with a dry coconut stuffing/filling. Here you go with the Ingredients,

Ingredients:
For the dough
Maida/All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Fine Semolina / Chiroti rava - 3/4 cup
Salt to taste
Butter - 1/4 cup or
Hot oil - 1 tbl spn
Water sufficient to mix the dough

For the filling:
Dry coconut - 1 cup (Finely grated)
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee Roasted Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tspn
and oil for deep frying


Method:

For the dough:
1) In a mixing bowl, add Butter and spread all over the bowl. (if you are using hot oil, you can skip this step and add oil on top of the dry mixture and mix well and continue with step 3.)
2) To this add maida, salt, semolina and salt and mix all the ingredients thoroughly well.
3) To this add water as needed and make it into a dough (Just like how you make for puris) and keep aside.

For the Filling
4) Now, for the filling, add dry coconut, sugar, cardamom powder and cashews mix well and keep aside.

For the Pastry
5) In a frying pan, add enough oil for deep frying and keep the flame low.
6) In the meanwhile, make small lemon sized balls and keep aside.
7) Roll each ball into small puris (Preferably make oval shaped puris) and
8) Add 1 tspn of the filling in the center of the puri and close the puri to make it into a semi - circle leaving the filling locked inside.
9) Now, lock or seal the puri to make sure the filling is secure inside and does not spill out into the oil while deep frying.
10) Repeat this to the rest of the balls. and drop these stuffed puris into the hot oil and deep fry.
11) You will have crispy stuffed coconut pastry ready to be served for any festival or even as a dessert in your parties.

Note:
1) You can store these pastries in air tight container for more than 2 weeks.
2) You can customise the filling to your taste.
      Options for the filling: You can also add semolina, crushed Dalia, Crushed poppy seeds and many more.

Enjoy!
Madhavi

Yellu Unde/ Sesame Seeds Sweet Balls

Yellu Unde/ Sesame Seeds sweet Balls

Ingredients

Sesame Seeds - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup (Finely crushed)
Dry nuts - 1/4 cup (Optional)

Method:
1) Dry roast sesame seeds and blend them into a course powder
2) Mix the powder to jaggery and mix them thoroughly, making sure to remove any lumps of jaggery.
3) Now, mix the dry nuts and make small lemon sized balls of this mixture .
4) Yellu unde is ready to be served topped with 1/2 tsp of honey if desired.

This recipe is going to Yummy Dessert 4 New Year hosted by Pranati nath. http://pran-oriya-recipies.blogspot.com/2011/12/eee.html

The event will run from 14^th dec – 14^th Jan 2012 and

Cheers!
Madhavi

Rave Unde / Semolina Sweet Balls

Sweet Semolina/Rava Unde

Ingredients:
Rave - 1 cup (Preferably chiroti/very fine semolina)
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup or as required
Coconut - 1/2 cup (Preferably dry)
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Dry fruits and nuts - 1/2 cup (or as desired) - cut into small pieces
Saffron - 5-6 strands (Optional)
Cardamon powder - 1 tsp

Method:
1) Boil milk along with the saffron strands and keep aside.
2) Take a non-stick pan, and add 2 tsp of ghee and roast the dry fruits and nuts till they turn golden brown, if you are adding raisins wait till they puff up.
3) Once done, immediately add rava/semolina and roast till it spreads good aroma and its turning golden brown. (Roast rava on low flame to avoid burning)
4) Now, add sugar and mix well and add 3 tsp of milk and coconut and mix well.
5) At this stage add cardamon powder, the remaining ghee and gently mix all the ingredients together.
6) Now, take a large mixing bowl, and pour this mixture and wait for it to cool.
7) Once the temperature is just nice for you to handle it, take small portions of rava and add 2 tsp of milk and mix the rava with the milk and make lemon sized balls (Size is up to you) and keep them in a open plate.
8) Repeat this for the rest of the mixture but adding enough milk to mould the rava into balls.

Note:
1) Using lot of milk makes moulding easy, but it gets dried late and gets hard.   
2) Use milk just nice to mould the rava into a ball.
3) Once the balls/under dry, they are dry outside and soft inside and taste really yummy.


This recipe is going to Yummy Dessert 4 New Year hosted by Pranati nath. http://pran-oriya-recipies.blogspot.com/2011/12/eee.html

Cheers!
Madhavi