Kitchen-Kollections

Ingredients

300gms. channa (yellowgram) dal
300 gms. jaggery (molasses)
1 tsp. cardamom powder
150 gms. plain flour
1 tbsp. ghee
warm water to knead dough
ghee to serve

Method

• Boil dal in plenty of water till soft but not broken.
• Drain in a colander for and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.
• Grind using a grinder till all dal is grated.
• Mash jaggery till lumps break. Mix well into dal. Put mixture in a heavy saucepan and cook till a soft lump is formed
  Take care to stir continuously, so as not to charr. Keep aside.
• Mix ghee, flour, add enough water to make a soft pliable dough.
• Take a morsel sized ball of dough, roll into a 4″ round.  Place same sized ball of filling in centre, life all round and seal. Reroll carefully to a 6″ diameter round. Roast on warm griddle till golden brown.
• Repeat other side. Take on serving plate. Apply a tsp. of ghee all over top and serve hot.

This amazing and delicious sweet called Rava Kesari was made by my dear husband. Its all about a perfect blend of rava,sugar and ghee!! It was as sweet as my new born niece!!

Ingredients

1 cup semolina or rava
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Roasted cashewnuts
1/4th cup coconut powder
1 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbs ghee

Method
1. Take a pan and add 1 tsp of ghee and fry semolina till its light golden brown in color
2. Add two cups of water and mix it well so that no lumps are formed. You can add color at this point of time. Let it cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add cardamom powder and mix
4. Add one cup sugar and mix it well. At this time, some lumps will form and keep mixing slowly. Add roasted cashewnuts.
5. Top it off with shredded coconut or coconut powder.

Sweet rava kesari is ready!!

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervor & gaiety. Lakhs of people take a dip in places like Ganga Sagar & Prayag and pray to Lord Sun. It is celebrated with pomp in southern parts of the country as Pongal, and in Punjab is celebrated as Lohri & Maghi. Gujarati’s not only look reverentially up to the sun, but also offer thousands of their colorful oblations in the form of beautiful kites all over the skyline.

Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun-God of Hindus begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere. Sun for the Hindus stands for Pratyaksha-Brahman – the manifest God, who symbolizes, the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, glorious divinity blessing one & all tirelessly. Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the proverbial Wheel of Time. The famous Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted everyday by every faithful Hindu, is directed to Sun God to bless them with intelligence & wisdom. Sun not only represents God but also stands for an embodiment of knowledge & wisdom.
In Andhra Pradesh, it is celebrated as a three-day harvest festival Pongal. It is a big event for the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugus like to call it ‘Pedda Panduga’ meaning big festival. The whole event lasts for four days, the first day Bhogi, the second day Sankranti, the third day Kanuma and the fourth day, Mukkanuma. And chakkara pongali is one of the sweets which is made on this day! So here goes the recipe.

Chakkara pongali~~ 

Ingredients
 
1 cup rice
1/2 pesara pappu (Moong daal)
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup ghee
2 cups sugar
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 tbls.cashews nut pieces
1 tbls.of raisins(kismis)
1/2 ts.cardamom powder 
 
Method

• Fry rice and pesara pappu without ghee/oil. Fry coconut pieces till brownish and keep aside. Fry cashews and kismis in 1 ts.ghee and keep aside.
• Cook rice and moong daal together in a pressure cooker pouring 2 cups milk and 2 cups water.Cook little more than the ordinary rice (4 whistles)
• After the rice is cooked properly, remove the pressue cooker lid and ddd fried coconut pieces,sugar and mix well. Start stirring otherwise it starts burning from the bottom. Keep adding ghee while stirring. 
• Add cardamom powder,raisins and cashews. Stir well and remove.
• Chakkara Pongali is ready to eat.

There is also another version of the pongali- the spicy one. Pressure cook rice and dal with four cups of water. Fry peppercorns, inguva, curry leaves, jeera and salt and add this popu in the cooked rice and dal and mix well. The spicy version is ready.

Its festival time and best time to eat kajjikayalu or gujiya. Here is the recipe

For the filling -

Ingredients

1 cup shredded cococnut
1/2 cup jaggery
1/4 cup water
2 tbs ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cups kismis

For the outer cover

Ingredients

1 cup maida
water
ghee
salt to taste

Method

Add salt and mix maida with little water and knead well. Apply some ghee on the dough and keep it aside

Take a small pan and melt jaggery in water so that it has syrup like consistency. Sprinkle cardamom powder.Add coconut and let it cook for few minutes and keep it aside.

Now make round balls of about half an inch diameter. Roll the dough into small circle and add the stuffing in the center. Now close the circle in half and twist the sides. the shape is a semi circle shape. Now deep fry it in oil and your tasty kajjikayalu are ready!

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!!

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.