Churma Ladoo / Chapathi Ladoo

I made these ladoos for karthigai deepam. This is a famous dish in Gujarat / Rajasthan where it is offered as Prasad during prayers. The original recipe is sinfully gheeful J. The wheat flour dough is made into slightly flat balls and deep fried in ghee and then powdered to make ladoos. I tried this healthier version which is equally delicious. This low fat version can be made using leftover chapatis too.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup

Salt – a pinch

Powdered jaggery – ¼ cup

Ghee – 2 tbsp

Raisins – 7-8 nos

Cardamom powder – a pinch

Water / Milk – as required (to knead the dough)

Cooking Method:

        Take the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add warm water/milk and knead to make a hard dough. Keep it covered for half an hour. Now divide the dough into small balls and roll them into thick chapathis. Place them on a griddle and roast both the sides in low flame till it becomes hard. Once all the chapathis are done, cool them and powder them finely.

         Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the raisins. Now add the jaggery and once it melts, add the powdered chapathis and cardamom powder, mix well and switch off. Once warm, make ladoos and store in an airtight container.

Cook’s Note:

1. If you find it difficult to form the ladoos, adding some melted ghee or warm milk will help to bind the ladoos well.

Sending entry to Only - Diwali Treats hosted by nivedhanam originally by Pari

 

Badam Katli / Almond Fudge

 

                 My friend Sara, who lives around 9000 miles away from me, sent these yummy treats for diwali via watsapp J. The very sight of the neatly cut katlis made me drool. Tried it out asap and it was yummm... Thank you dear sar !

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Almonds – 1 cup

Sugar – 1 cup

Milk – ¼ cup

Ghee – 4 tbsp

Cooking Method:

          Soak the almonds overnight and peel the skin. Grind the almonds alongwith sugar and milk. Grease a tray with ghee and keep aside. Heat a nonstick pan and add the ground paste. Keep stirring. Add the remaining ghee in between. At one stage, the almond mixture will thicken and start leaving the pan.

       Switch off the stove and pour the fudge into the greased tray and spread it out. Press the top surface with a greased spatula. Cut into desired shape once warm. Let it cool completely and store in an airtight container.

This entry is sent to Kid's delight-festive treats hosted @ nivedhanam originally created by Valli of spiceyourlife.

 

Mini Rasgullas - with natural colouring

              I was reading an article on natural food colors just before making these mini rasgullas for diwali. The following natural ingredients were mentioned in that.

Yellow – Saffron, Turmeric

Pink – Beetroots

Purple – Purple cabbage

Green – Spinach

As I had beets and turmeric powder at hand, tested yellow and pink colors with the rasgullas and it turned out good.

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 litre

Curd – ½ cup

Ice cubes – 12 nos
Water -3 cups
Sugar – 2 cups
Elachi powder – a pinch
Nuts – For garnish

Method:

Boil the milk well and cool it. Once cooled remove the cream layer formed on the top of the milk. Heat the milk again. Once it is hot, simmer the flame and add the curd gradually. Keep stirring till the whey separates completely. Now switch off the stove. Add the ice cubes and mix well.

Tie the cloth to the sink tap and hang it for an hour without disturbing. After that, take the channa(crumbly paneer) and kneed it for 10-15 mins gently till it forms a smooth dough.
Pour the water in a wide pressure cooker, add the sugar & cardamom powder to it and bring it to a rolling boil. In the meantime, roll the channa into small equal sized balls. I got some 20 balls.

Once the sugar syrup has come to a boil, add the channa balls to it and close the pressure cooker. Cook in a medium flame till one whistle. After that, simmer the flame and cook for another 5 mins and switch off the stove.

Wait till the pressure is released and open the lid. The rasgullas would have doubled in size. Let it cool, refrigerate, garnish with nuts and serve chilled J

Cook’s Note:

1.Kneading the channa is an important process. It helps to make nice, firm rasgullas.

2. Once the rasgullas are cooked, you can remove them and just cook the syrup for one more whistle and then add the rasgullas if you prefer the syrup to be of  a thicker consistency.

This entry goes to Only - Diwali treats hosted @ Nivedhanam and created by Pari. 



 

 

Paneer Rajma Masala

The first time I bought rajma, I didn’t have any idea about it and I got it just for the looks. It really LOOKED delicious J. After coming home, I searched the web and got some recipes. After cooking it ‘n’ number of times, I have developed my own version. The whole house will be fillied with a yummy aroma whenever I cook it. Do check it out for yourself !

Ingredients:

Rajma – 1 cup

Paneer cubes – 1 cup
Fine chopped onion – ¼ cup
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tspn
Kasoori methi – 2 tbsp
Coiander leaves – for garnish
Salt – to taste
Oil – 2 tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tspn
To sauté & grind:
Onion – 2
Tomatoes – 3
Red chillies – 4
Coriander seeds – 2 tspn
Saunf – 2 tspn
Cloves – 2
Cardamom pods – 2
Cinnamon – ¼ inch
Mace / Jathipathri – 1 small piece
Star Anise / Annasi mokku – 1
Caper / Marathi mokku – 1 small piece
Black stone Flower / Kalpasi – 1

Cooking Method:

Soak the rajma in water overnight. Pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles. Keep aside.

Chop the onion and tomatoes. Heat 1 tspn oil in a pan and sauté all the whole spice(cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, black stone flower, caper, mace) alongwith coriander seeds, saunf and red chillies. Add the onion and fry till transparent. Switch off the stove once the tomatoes turn mushy. Cool and grind to a fine paste.

 Heat the remaining oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they crackle add the ginger garlic paste and sauté till raw smell is gone. Add the fine chopped onion and fry till golden brown.

Now add the ground paste and sauté for five minutes. Now add the cooked rajma and paneer. Add a cup of water and simmer the stove till the gravy thickens.

 Switch off the stove, add the coriander leaves and kasuri methi, mix well.

Cook’s Note:

1. The pressure cooking time will vary depending on the rajma variety.
2. You can adjust the number of chillies according to your taste.

Linking this to motions and emotions party , sidedish mela of cookingforallseasons.

Rava Ladoo / Semolina Balls

My mom makes these ladoos for all the festivals and happy occasions at home. When I was a kid, I used to scoop out spoon after spoon even before the ladoos are rolled. After all, some has to check the taste, right? J.

Ingredients:

Semolina – 4 cups
Sugar – 4 cups
Water – 3 & ½ cups
Cardomom pods – 6-7
Cashews – 10 -12
Raisins – 10 – 12
Ghee – 1 & ¼ cups
Milk – 6 tbsp

Cooking Method:

Heat ¼ cup ghee and fry the cashews & raisins till golden brown. Now add the semolina and roast for nearly five minutes. Keep this aside.

Now add the sugar and water to a heavy bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Boil till it turns to a syrup consistency. Switch off the flame and add the semolina mixture gradually to the sugar syrup. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. Crush the cardamom pods and add it to the mixture.

Once done, add the remaining ghee and leave it undisturbed for 3-4 hours. Now, boil the milk, add it to the mixture, mix well and roll into balls. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Cook’s Note:

1. Semolina tends to burn easily. Take care while roasting it.
2. Keeping it undisturbed helps the semolina to soak in sugar syrup and ghee, which results in super soft ladoos.
3. To test the sugar syrup consistency, if you take it in a ladle and drop from a height, the last few drops will be sticky and drop like oil/syrup.

Linking this to nupur's navratri recipes event, motions & emotions party event, cusine delight's festive treats of original Spotlight event page, spicing your life's kids delight, Dish it out – Sugar and Butter and Vardhini’s page, spicy foood's birthday party

 

 

Easy Tomato Chutney

This is a quick and easy chutney. Goes well with idli, dosa, chapathi and pongal.

 

Ingredients:

Tomato – 2 (Big)

Shallots – 6 to 7
Garlic Pods – 5 to 6
Green Chilly – 1
Curry leaves – a few
Ginger - a small piece
Salt – to taste
Sambar Powder – ½ tspn
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Asafoetida – a pinch
Mustard seeds – ¼ tspn
Coriander seeds – ¼ tspn
Cumin seeds – ¼ tspn
Oil – ½ tspn
Coriander Leaves – to Garnish
 
Method:
 

Fine chop the chilly, ginger,shallots and garlic. Cut the tomatoes into big chunks. Heat the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once it crackles, add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, shallots, garlic, ginger, chilly, curry leaves and asafoetida. Saute till the shallots turn a bit transparent. Now add the tomatoes, salt and sambar powder. Mash the tomatoes with a ladle now & then. Once cooked, remove from flame, garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Cook's Note :

1. I used homemade sambar powder. You can use store bought ones also.
2. If sambar powder is not available you can use chilly powder also. But sambar powder enhances the taste.

Linking to cookingforallseason's sidedish mela.

Thayir Nellikkai / Gooseberries pickled in spicy curd

          Last week, I landed on this recipe while browsing for something else. The sight of the gooseberries steeped in thick curd was so very tempting that it sent me for berry shopping the same evening. I made it the next day and it was an instant hit at home.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Gooseberries – 6

Curd – ¾ cup

Chilli Powder – ½ tbsp

Salt – ½ tbsp

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Asafoetida – a pinch

Mustard seeds – a pinch

Sesame oil – ¾ tbsp

 To powder:

Mustard seeds – ½ tbsp

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tbsp

 

Method:

 

Wash and wipe the gooseberries dry. Make small incisions in the berry without cutting them into separate pieces.

 Heat, the sesame oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add mustard seeds. Once it crackle, add the slit berries and asafetida. Add half the amount of salt, stir well and cook covered in low flame. Stir in between to avoid burning. The berries will release juice and cook in its own steam.

When the berries are slightly cooked, add the remaining salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Stir well for a couple of minutes and switch off the flame.

Whip the curd nicely and add to the berries once they are completely cooled. Add the mustard & fenugreek powder and mix well. Store in a clean dry jar. I relished it with dosas.

 

Note :

1. Use a heavy bottomed pan only. Else the berries will get burnt easily(Experience….Sigh L)
2. Allow the berries to marinate in the spicy curd for a day before using.