Modak

Modhaka/Kozhakkattai/Kudumu

Modaks have been an integral part of Vinayak Chatuthi as these are Lord Ganesha's favorite. Modak looks like momo's and are stuffed with a mixture of coconut and jaggery. There are two types: Fried modak and Steamed modak, but still the stuffing will be the same for both of them. Here I have shared the recipe of Fried modak. The procedure of preparing this is very simple, you just need to master the method of sealing the modaks.

Ingredients: 1cup maida(all purpose flour)
                    1tbsp chiroti rava
                    a pinch of cooking soda
                    1cup grated coconut
                    1cup grated jaggery
                    2tbsp poppy seeds(khus-khus)
                    1tsp cardamom powder
                    1/4cup chopped dry fruits(cashew/raisins/almonds)
                    1tbsp ghee
                    oil for deep frying

Method:
1)In a bowl add maida, chiroti rava, cooking soda and knead into smooth dough like poori's by adding      required water. Allow it to rest for 15mins.
2)In a pan heat ghee and roast all the dry fruits until they turn golden brown and keep aside.
3)In that same pan cook together coconut, jaggery and poppy seeds till the jaggery melts completely  
   and the mixture comes together. Add cardamom powder, fried dry fruits and mix well.
4)Make small lemon sized balls out of the dough and roll them into small poori's. Now place a
   spoonful of coconut mixture in the centre of the poori and fold together the edges to form the shape
   of the modak, repeat the same for all the modak's.
5)Deep fry all the modak's one by one till they turn golden brown and crisp. You can store this in an air    tight container for a week.

See Also:Sweet Kadubu
                Karjikai
                Rava laddu
               

Rava Laddu

Rava Laddu/Semolina Laddu/Sooji Laddu

Rava Laddu is an delicious and an quick sweet which can be prepared by beginners also. My mother-in-law usually prepares this along with besan laddu and sweet kadubu for Vinyaka Chaturthi. This is an mouth watering combination of semolina-coconut-milk-cashew nuts. Its perfect to make when time is short but you still want an special desert, especially when you are making last minute preparations.

Ingredients: 1cup rava/semolina/sooji
                    3/4cup grated coconut
                    3/4cup powdered sugar
                    1/4cup milk
                    1/4cup chopped cashew
                    2tbsp ghee
                    1tsp cardamom powder

Method: 1)Heat a tbsp of ghee and roast the rava in medium flame till it turns golden brown. Allow it to                   cool.
              2)Heat a tbsp of ghee and roast the chopped cashew until it turns golden brown, now add
                 coconut and fry for a minute.
              3)Add powdered sugar, rava and mix well. Put off the flame and add milk till it reaches the
                 consistency of preparing laddus.
              4)Allow it to cool little and when you can bear the heat, divide the mixture into equal portions                   and make laddus out of them. You can store this in an air tight container for 2-3days.
                 
See Also: Sweet Kadubu
                Karjikai
                Sweet Pongal
                Gulab Jamun

Sweet Kadubu

Hoornada Kadubu/Karida Kadubu/Kari Kudumulu

Vinayak Chaturthi is just an week away and I'm sure in most of the houses the preparations might have already started. I'm going to post few recipes that are prepared to offer as prasad on this day. One such traditional recipe is of Kadubu which is prepared in all the houses of Karnataka during Gowri-Ganesha festival. This is said to be the favorite of Lord Ganesha and usually we offer 11 or 21 of them.

Ingredients:

For Dough: 1cup maida flour
                    1/4cup chiroti rava
                    1/4tsp turmeric powder
                    a pinch of cooking soda

For Hoorna(stuffing): 1cup toordal
                                   1cup crushed jaggery
                                   1tsp cardamom powder
oil for deep frying

Method: 1)In a bowl mix all the ingredients mentioned under dough, add water as required and knead
                 the mixture into a smooth dough. It should be as soft as poori dough. Keep it covered for
                 15mins.
              2)Take a big vessel in that cook toordal by adding 4cups water for 15-20mins i.e, till it gets
                  half cooked. You should be able to smash it with your fingers.
              3)Now drain off all the water completely(dont discard the water as it can be used to prepare
                  rasam or the very famous obattu saru). Add grated jaggery to the dal. Slowly the jaggery
                  will start melting and we will get a thick mixture of dal and jaggery. Add cardamom powder
                  at this point and mix well. Let this mixture get cooled.
              4)Grind the above mixture into a smooth hoorna(poornam) using an wet grinder(you
                  can also use blender/mixer). Divide this hoorna into small lemon sized oval balls, flatten
                  them a little and keep aside.
              5)Now divide the dough into small lemon sized balls and roll them into small pooris. Wet the                     edges of the poori slightly with little water, place the flattened hoorna in the centre and fold
                  it to form half moon shape. Repeat the same for all the pooris and deep fry them in the hot
                  oil until it becomes golden brown and crisp.

See Also: Karjikai
                Sweet pongal/Sakkarai pongal
                Gulab jamun
             
                 

Sweet coconut chutney

Sweet coconut chutney is a type of chutney made using coconut and sugar. It is an best side dish along with neer dosa, appam, plain dosa, jackfruit dosa, banana dosa, coconut dosa and even chapatis. It is very simple and can be prepared in few minutes. kids will love this and will finish their dosa without any fuss.

Ingredients: 1cup grated coconut
                    1/2cup sugar
                    1/4tsp cardamom powder
                    1tsp ghee

Method: 1)heat an non stick pan, add coconut, sugar, ghee, cardamom powder and fry in a low flame
                  till the sugar melts. add water if u feel chutney is getting dry.
              2)add chopped ripe bananas and dry fruits to enhance the taste.

Tip: this can be used as filling for modaks, gujiya, sweet kadubu and karjikai.

See also:Karjikai
              Neer Dosa
              Appam
  

Sweet Pongal(sakkarai pongal)

Wishing everyone a very happy Makar Sankranti and Thai Pongal.

Makar Sankranti, Thai Pongal is a thanksgiving or harvest festival celebrated in South India at the end harvest season. Pongal means boiling over or spilling over. Pongal, ritually consumed on this day is an combination o fRice and lentil cooked along with the milk, jaggery, nuts and ghee in the new clay pots at sun rise. Here is the recipe for sweet pongal.

Ingredients: 3cups rice
                  1cup moong dal
                  2cups milk
                  2cups powdered jaggery
                  1/2cup cashew and raisin
                  1/4cup grated dry coconut
                  1/4cup banana chopped into small pieces
                  1/2cup ghee
                  1tsp cardamom powder

Method: 1)Roast cashew and raisins in ghee and keep aside.
              2)In a cooker add 1tbsp of ghee, moong dal and roast the moong dal till it turns slightly red.
              3)add rice, water(1:2 proportion) to the cooker and cook for 3whistels.
              4)after it gets cooled smash the rice and moong dal mixture.
              5)add jaggery, milk, coconut, banana, cardamom powder, cashew, raisins, remaining ghee and
                 cook till the ghee separates.
              6)serve hot or chilled.

  

Gulab jamun

Gulab jamun doesnt require any introduction. gulab jamuns are popular all over india. liked by almost everybody, these are sweet softballs with delightful aroma and luscious taste.this diwali indulge in these delecious deserts. time to say yes for sweets, without any guilt.

Ingredients:

For jamuns: 2cups unsweetened khoya
                   5-6tsp all purpose flour(maida)
                   1/4tsp cardamom powder
                   ghee or oil for deep frying

For sugar syrup:1cup sugar
                         1cup water
                         1tsp cardamom powder
                         a few saffron strands

Method: 1)in a bowl, combine the khoya, maida and cardamom powder and mix well. knead to a firm dough
                 without using any water.
              2)divide the dough into small, equal lemon sized smalls. these should not have cracks on the surface
                 as otherwise the gulab jamuns  will crack while frying. refrigerate for 10-15min.
              3)deep fry in ghee or oil, over low flame until they turn golden brown in color.keep aside.
              4)in a bowl heat sugar and water till the sugar gets dissolved. add cardamom powder and saffron
                 strands. mix well.
              5)add all the fried balls in the hot sugar syrup. mix well and keep it covered for 30min.
              6)garnish with dry fruits and saffron. serve hot.
                        
                 

Karjikai

Happy diwali everyone! Diwali the festival of lights is synonymus with lights, crackers and loads and loads of sweets as well. this festival brings backs to me, very sweet memories of childhood. my mom always used to make varieties of sweets during diwali and one of them was karjikai. i always used to feel that its very difficult to prepare this one but trust me, once u start making it is really very simple. so here is the recipe.

 

Ingredients: 

For dough: 1 cup maida(all purpose flour)

                 1/4 cup chiroti rava

                 2tsp butter or ghee

                 water as required

                 oil for deep frying

For stuffing: 1 cup grated coconut(wet or dry according to your wish)

                   1cup sugar

                   1/2 cup mixed dry fruits(cashew, raisins, badam, pista)                   

                   5-6tsp poppy seeds

                   3-4tsp cardammom powder

Method: 1)mix maida, chiroti rava and butter in a bowl. knead it to form a smooth dough by adding water 

                 as required. allow it to rest for 10min.

              2)heat a non-stick pan add all the ingredients of the stuffing, mix well for 2-3min in low flame. 

                 allow the mixture to cool.

              3)divide the dough into small lemon sized balls.

              4)roll out each ball into a thin poori using the rolling pin.

              5)spoon in the stuffing on one half of the poori and fold along the center. seal the ends with some 

                 water or milk to get karjikai shape. repeat the same for all the balls.

              6)heat oil in a pan. add all the stuffed karjikai's one by one to the hot oil and fry them until they turn

                 golden brown in color.

              7)cool the fried karjikai and store them in an air tight container.