Kitchen-Kollections

Happy Deepawali

Here is a quick coconut sweet recipe!

Coconut Sweet

Ingredients

1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sugar
1 cup rava
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup nuts – cashewnuts, kismis, pistachio
1/2 cup milk
ghee

Method

Take a pan and add little ghee and fry rava till it becomes golden brown. Add coconut and fry again for a while. Add sugar and mix well till it melts. Now add milk, nuts and cardamom powder and mix well. Now transfer the whole mixture into a flat plate and spread and let it cool. Cut it into squares and enjoy!!

Lakshmi Puja

Lakshmi was the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and took refuge in the ocean of milk when the gods were sent into exile. Lakshmi was reborn during the Churning of the Ocean. As soon as the gods saw Lakshmi, they all fell in love with her beauty. Shiva claimed Lakshmi as his wife, but since he had already taken the Moon, her hand was given to Vishnu, whom Lakshmi herself preferred.

Lakshmi is the goddess of light, beauty, good fortune and wealth. While Laxmi is generally worshiped to achieve success, she does not reside long with anyone who is lazy or desire her only as wealth.

Steps of Lakshmi Pooja

Spread a new cloth on a raised platform: Place a handful of grains in the center and, on this, place a kalash (pitcher) made of gold, silver, copper, or terracotta. Fill three-fourth of the kalash with water and place a betel nut, a flower, a coin, and some rice grains in it. Arrange five kinds of leaves or mango leaves in the kalash . Place a small dish on the kalash and fill it with rice grains. Draw a lotus with turmeric powder ( haldi ) over the rice grains and place the idol of goddess Lakshmi over it, along with coins.

Place the idol of Ganesha: In front of the kalash, on the right (South-West direction), place the idol of Ganesha. Also place ink and books related to your business or occupation on the platform. Light a lamp and begin the puja by offering haldi, kumkum, and flowers to the platform on which the kalash is placed. Then offer haldi, kumkum, and flowers to the water that is to be used for the puja. Invoke the river goddesses to be part of this water.

Invoke goddess: Lakshmi by reciting the Vedic mantras addressed to her. One can also recite the mantras mentioned in the Puranas or simply take some flowers in your hands, close your eyes, and think of goddess Lakshmi being showered with gold coins by two elephants standing on either side of Her and chant Her name. Then offer the flowers to the idol.

Place the idol of Lakshmi: Place the idol of Lakshmi in a plate and bathe it with water, panchamrit (a mixture of milk, curd, ghee or clarified butter, honey, and sugar) and then with water containing some gold ornament or a pearl. Wipe the idol clean and place it back on the kalash. Alternately, you can just sprinkle water and panchamrit on the idol with a flower.

Offerings: Offer sandal paste, saffron paste, perfume ( itr ), haldi, kumkum, abeer, and gulal to the goddess. Offer a garland of cotton beads to the goddess. Offer flowers, especially the marigold flowers and leaves of Bel (wood apple tree). Light an incense stick and dhoop. Make an offering of sweets, coconut, fruits, and tambul. Make an offering of puffed rice and batasha. Pour some puffed rice, batasha, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds over the idol.

Aarti: Finally, perform the aarti for goddess Lakshmi. Always remember that She abhors loud noise. So the aarti should be accompanied only by a small bell. Do not clap hands, as is the practice when performing aarti for other gods. A peaceful and sublime atmosphere should prevail during the pujan.

Its festival time and a time to indulge into tempting sweets. I miss the usual shor sharaba of my favourite shopping street..sarojini nagar..in south delhi. The entire market is decorated and almost every evening its jampacked with..people going here and there…shopping and eating at the same time! Then there is our good old green park which is quite famous for its sweets..specially Kaju burfi. Hyderabad is famous for its biryani and wide variety of sweets. One of them is double ka meetha. Traditionally, lot of ghee is used in making indian sweets, but I have limited the amount of ghee this time…

This my entry to Bayleaf Bread Mania event…

Ingredients

White bread 5 slices
milk 1 cup
sugar 1cup
cashew nuts 10 gms
kismis 10gms
Almonds 10gms
Pistachios 10gma
cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
ghee 1 tsp
water 1/2cup

Method

• Take the slices of bread and roast them in the toaster.
• Take a pan put sugar and add 1/2 cup of water and make a single string syrup.
• Fry cashewnuts,almonds, pistachios and kismis in ghee  on low heat and keep aside.
• Arrange the toasted bread slices in a dish.
• Pour the sugar syrup over the breads so that it is evenly coated with the syrup.
• Pour the milk in the same manner. Top it with fried nuts. Serve hot.

Navaratri, Durga Puja & Dusshera

Every year during the lunar month of Ashwin or Kartik (September-October), Hindus observe ten days of ceremonies, rituals, fasts and feasts in honor of the supreme mother goddess. It begins with the fast of “Navaratri”, and ends with the festivities of “Dusshera” and “Vijayadashami.”

Goddess Durga
This festival is devoted solely to the Mother Goddess — known variously as Durga, Bhavani, Amba, Chandika, Gauri, Parvati, Mahishasuramardini — and her other manifestations. The name “Durga” means “inaccessible”, and she is the personification of the active side of the divine “shakti” energy of Lord Shiva. In fact, she represents the furious powers of all the male gods, and is the ferocious protector of the righteous, and destroyer of the evil. Durga is usually portrayed as riding a lion, and carrying weapons in her many arms.

In my hometown, kanaka durga devi temple is very famous and equally powerful. The abode of Kanaka Durga, goddess of power, riches and benevolence, is the presiding deity of the city. The temple is set on the Indrakiladri hill. The deity in the Kanaka Durga temple is regarded as Swayambhu or self-manifested, hence is considered very powerful.

The beauty of this temple is seen to be believed. The temple is situated on a hill on the banks of the Krishna river. The origin or installation of Kanaka – durga Devi at Vijayawada is unknown. She is said to be Swayambu or selfmanifest.

Mother Kanakadurgeswari seated atop the Indrakilaparvatha at Vijayawada is the supreme Goddess of Andhra Pradesh, attracting lakhs of tourists since time immemorial. This temple occupies a covetable place in the scriptures; for several of the Sivalilas and Saktimahimas were enacted on and around it, making the region a place of unparalleled spiritual eminence of everlasting significance.

I learnt gulab jamun recipe from my aunt when i was a little girl. It took her almost 2 hrs to make 25 gulab jamuns..i was amazed and surprised at her patience. But when i tasted those delicious perfect rounded gulab jamun..i understood. One needs to perfect the art of making round balls! haha jokes apart I love making and eating gulab jamuns. It took me 4 years (i was still in school then) to perfect the art of making round balls. I used to make it for my mother because she had a sweet tooth..hmm..probably she ate too many and ended up having diabetes. Since then i stopped making them…and now almost after 10 yrs I tried again..so here it is the good old recipe of Gulab Jamun.

Ingredients

MTR gulab jamun mix or any gulab jamun mix you get in indian grocery shop

Cardomam seeds – 1 tsp

Sugar – 2 cups

water – 1 cup

Ghee – 2 tbsp

Oil

Method

1. Make a smooth dough with half cup of water and make sure the dough is really really smooth. You can use ghee to smoothen it. After it becomes soft, leave it for at least 10 minutes. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.

2. First of all, you need to make the syrup first. Mix 2 cups of sugar in 1 cup of water and heat it. Keep stirring it so that the sugar dissolves properly. Heat it for at least 20 min. Add cardamom powder or kesar if you have and lower the heat.

3. Take a deep pan and pour oil into it. Heat it on high for a while and then keep it on medium heat. Put in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them here and there.  After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides. If the balls break that means the dough was not smooth enough. So make sure the mix is smooth.

4. As soon as you take the gulab jamuns from oil, put them in the syrup. Keep stirring them. After a while the gulab jamuns will soak completely in the syrup and thats it..gulab jamun is ready to be gobbled up!!

Semiya payasam is a traditional indian sweet made up of rice/vermicelli cooked in milk. It has rich and creamy texture. The sweet smell of cardamom enhances the taste. In india, it is quite common dish during festival days. Here is the recipe..

Ingredients:
1 cup roasted vermicelli 
2 cups milk
1/5 tspoon saffron stands (mixed in warm milk)
1/4 cup cashewnuts (roasted in ghee)
cardammom powder
1 cup Sugar

Method:

Heat milk in a thick bottomed pan and let it boil on medium heat. Once it boils over then switch it to medium low heat till it reduces to half. Keep stirring till at regular intervals.

Add the soaked saffron and sugar to the milk and let it cook for another 4-5 min. Add roasted vermicelli and chopped cashewnuts to milk and let it cook for another 4-5 min. Keep stirring it so that no lumps are formed. Serve it hot!