SNC challenge

Goli baje/ Mangalore bhajji/ Goli bajje – A mangalorean spl

November 1, 2013 By

SNC Challenge -13

Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete the 14th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil space You Too Can Cook .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively will challenge the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 4– Janurary month’s challenge
North team Host ” me ” (Manjula bharath) from “Desi fiesta” – Rajasthani mini ghevar topped with kesar rabdi
South team Host Ramya from ” Lemon Kurry” – Vada curry

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 5 – February month’s challenge

North team’s host Sanoli from Sanoli’s recipes- Green pea kachori with dum aloo
South teams’s host Tamil from Tamil’s kitchen- paal kozhukattai

Challenge 6 – March month’s challenge

North team’s host Kirti Choudhary Kardam from Flavour’s from my kitchen- Chana Dal Halwa/Barfi
click here
South team’s host Sawsthi from Indian healthy recipes – Vegetable Hyderbadi Biryani click here

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 7 – April Month’s challenge

North team’s host Hetal from Gjurati zaika- Khandvi click here

South team’s host Shama from Easy2cookrecipes – Palm jaggery aapam click here

Winner
South Team

Challenge 8 – May Month’s challenge

North team’s host Nabanita das from Esho-besho aahare – Dokar dalna .
South team’s host Roha from Hyderbadi cuisine – Kurbani ka meetha.

Winner
South Team

Challange 9- June Month’s challenge

North team’s host Chandrani Banerjee from cuisine delights – Channar jelebi
South team’s host Priya suresh from Priya’s verstile recipes 🙂

Winner
North Team

Challenge 10 – July Month’s challenge

North Team’s Host ” Me 🙂 ” – Rajasthani Thali

South Teams Host sowmya of Nivedhanam- Vendayakeerai Parupu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu

Challenge 11- August Month’s Challenge

North Team’s Host Divya pramil of You too can cook Indian food (Founder of SNC) – Pasiparrupu payasam
South Team’s Host Shruti dhingra of shruti’s Rasoi- Kesar pista kulfi

Challenge 12 – September Month’s challenge

North Team’s Host Viji of Viruthudhu unna vaanga – Ellu Kozhukattai
South Team’s Host Minnie Gupta of The lady 8 Home – Falooda

Challenge 13 – October Month – SNC 1 st b’day – celebration spl challenge

Challenge 14 – Nov month

North Team’s Host +Priya Suresh of Priya’s versatile recipe – Goli baje
South Team’s Host +Nupur UK-Rasoi of UK rasoi- Litti choka

After the celebration this Months North teams Host is My fav chef in blogging world +Priya Suresh of “Priya’s versatile recipes “. She had challenged a very very deliicous and esy to make tea time snack which was very very delicious. I have heard a friend tryin maida bhaji but this was the first time I tried it . They are so simple to make and I loved it a lot . Thanks to priya aks for sharing this delicious recipe .

The weather so pleasant and what better than a bowl full of hot bhajji’s to munch . These Goli baje are a famous mangalorean dish which can be served as a tea time snack.As we do medu vada in tamil nadu this similar to that bhaji but there is no soaking or grinding needed. A very simple and easy to make deep fried snack which is so delicious and a wonderful snack to munch in a rainy day.Lets Move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup All purpose flour/Maida
1/4 cup Gram flour/Besan/Chickpeas flour
1/2 cup Curd
1/4 cup Water
Few coriander leaves (chopped)
2 tbsp Coconut pieces
2 tbsp Chopped Onion
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 nos Green Chillies (finely chopped)
1/4 tsp Sugar ( Optional)
1/4 tsp Baking soda
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method

In a bowl take both the flours, add the curd, baking soda,salt and slowly whisk to form a thick paste.
Add water slowly and make a batter, batter should not be too thick or too runny.
If you are able to see the batter fall slowly from the ladle , your batter is prefect. It should be like a medu vada batter .
Cover it and keep it in a warm place overnight or keep it in a warm place for 1 hour.
Now add the chopped onion ,coriander leaves, ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies,cumin seeds and mix well.
Now add the coconut pieces (don’t use grated coconut or dessicated coconut), mix well.
Heat oil for deep frying the goli baje, drop a tsp or if you like big bhajji you can add 1 tbsp of batter to the hot oil,continue the same process. Don’t overcrowd fry them in batches..
Fry on both sides until the bajjis turns golden brown.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or ketchup.

Tips

Originally there is no onion garlic added , you can skip if you don’t like. But it gives the baje a very delicious taste.

Sending to cooks joy

SNC turns 1 – Virtual party !!

November 1, 2013 By

Am so happy to celebrate this delightful journey of SNC till now has been so lovely . Thanks to +Divya Pramil of “You too can cook “ who is the brainchild of this group and very very kind hearted person . This is group is a very very close to my heart as this was the first group I joined when I was new to blogging . Divya welcomed me with so much of warmth that i got attached to this Group . Yes South VS North Challenge turns 1 year as you all will be knowing we are celebrating we all members of SNC are celebrating SNC ‘s first birthday virtually by revisiting the memories we have gone thru for this one year. I was so excited to see our Nort team and south team members recipes and I had bookmarked some try it but +Divya Pramil has given me a wonderful opportunity to revisit the old challenges and enjoy 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful thought divya .

Till now we have challenge 24 recipes in which I missed my first challenge and so thought making the first challenges but I couldn’t stop myself from try the other recipes which I had book marked . I wanted to bring all the recipes from SNC but time was not good to be wish I could get more 24 hours in day I would have completed all the recipes which I left 🙂 .Any ways I bought 5 recipes for this virtual party to celebrate our SNC’s first b’day :

Bhelpuri – Chaat
Mysore pak- Sweet
Gulab jamun – Sweet
Peas kachori with dum aloo – Snack
Litti Chokha
Khandvi – Farsan
Falooda – Drink

I enjoyed all the 5 a lot and thanks to the members who shared these delicious recipes . Now Coming to celebration recipes as it is Diwali tomorrow this post is also dedicated to all the readers to wish the a happy and prosperous Diwali .

HaPPy Diwali

Now lets Move to the 5 recipes I got today for celebrating SNC b’day and diwali 🙂

Bhel puri

Recipe source : shruti Rasoi

Ingredients

1 cup puffed rice
1/4 cup sev
4-5 papdi (fried )
2 tbsp fried peanuts
1 carrot ( grated )
1 boiled potato
Puri ( Pani puri one ) – 2- 3 No ( crush a little)
1/4 cup Chopped veggies (onion,tomato,cucumber)
2 tbsp Meethi chutney ( tamarind and dates chutney)
2 tbsp Green chutney
Lemon juice
Salt to taste
A pinch Black salt

For garnishing

Fresh coriander leaves
Raw mango (peeled and finely chopped)
Nylon Sev

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix gently till all the ingredients are well coated with the chutneys.
Divide the portion into two equal parts in the serving plates.
Garnish with raw mango, sev and fresh chopped coriander.
Serve immediately.

Tips

Make them only when you are ready to serve them else it will turn soggy .

Mysore pak

Recipe source : Divya’s Culinary Journey

Ingredients

Besan/ Gram flour, 1/2 cup
Oil, 1/4 cup
Sugar,1 cup
Water,1/2 cup
Ghee,1/2 cup or less

Method

Prepare a square or rectangular tray by greasing it with ghee and keep it aside.
Mix oil and Besan in a bowl .
In a non stick pan mix sugar and water, Boil them to get the required one thread consistency of syrup. Test it in between your thumb and fore finger , a thin long string is formed up to 1 inch which means it has attained one string.
Then add the besan mixture to the syrup and keep stirring.
Add ghee little by little and keep stirring with other hand mean while . At any stage don’t stop stirring .
You have to keep stirring till the mixture changes in texture and starts leaving the edges. There is light change in color too.
Pour this into the prepared pan. It hardens immediately.
Grease the knife with ghee and cut them to the desired shape. When it is still warm turn the plate and remove them.
Store them in the air tight container and enjoy.

Tips

Keep on string the the mixture once you add besan and do not leave them to stand.
As stirring, keep adding the ghee with the other hand till you get the desired consistency, not necessary you have to add all the 1/2 cup though. so it is approximate measure.
Grease the pan in which you are setting your mysore pak as the mysore pak sets immediately once it attains the consistency.
Slice it to required shape while it is still warm.

Gulab jamun

Recipe source : Thou Shalt cook

Ingredients

1/2 cup Milk Powder

1 tbsp Ghee

1/4 cup Maida

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup Milk

Oil/ghee to fry

Few drops of rose water [Optional]

1 tbsp Pistachio and almonds chopped finely

A pinch of Cardamom powder

For syrup

1 1/2 cup Sugar

1 /2 cup…Water

Method

Sift the milk powder, maida and baking powder.
To this, add the ghee and mix well. Now add the Milk , add little by little and make soft dough of it not necessary that you have to use all the 1/4 cup Milk it might take less.
Bring the dough together and with a palm greased with ghee make a balls and place on a plate.
Meanwhile, in a pan, make the sugar syrup. Bring the sugar and water to the boil. Make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Add the rose essence and cardamom pd. Keep it aside.
Make small balls out of the dough. In a wok heat the oil fry the gulab jamun balls.
Once the oil is ready simmer and drop the ball one by one into the oil.
Fry them till they are nice and brown from all sides.
Remove them from oil with perforated ladle and drop them hot on warm sugar syrup.
Garnish them with chopped nuts .

Tips

Constant attention is necessary while frying the gulab jamun balls.
The sugar syrup is required to be just a sticky consistency .

Green Peas kachori with dum aloo

Recipe source : sonali’s Kitchen

Ingredients

For Filling:

1 Cup Green Peas

2 Green Chillies

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Ginger garlic paste

1/4 tsp red chilli pd

1 tsp Cumin pd

1 tbsp Clarified Butter (ghee)

Salt to taste

For Kachoris Crust:

2 Cup All Purpose Flour (maida)

Salt to taste

5 tbsps Oil + Oil for Deep Frying

Method

For filling:

Grind green peas along with 2 green chillies. Add few drops of water while grinding.
Grind peas to make a coarse paste, not very smooth. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp clarified butter in a pan or wok. Add asafoetida in it.
Now add ground green peas in it. Fold for a minute.
Put ginger garlic paste in it. Mix nicely.
Now add cumin powder, red chilli pd and salt in it.
Keep stirring continuously and let all the excess water evaporates from the pounded green peas mixture.
When the mixture is almost getting dry, remove it from heat. Filling is ready now, keep it aside.

For kachori crust:

Combine all purpose flour (maida), salt and 5 tbsps oil in a large bowl.
Knead it nicely by adding little water in it to make a smooth dough.
Now divide them into equal parts and roll them into balls from the dough . Also divide the green filling in 25 equal parts.
Grease a rolling board with 2-3 drops of oil. Place a flour ball on it.
Flat it with a rolling pin to make a circle.
Place a portion of green peas filling on the middle of the flour circle.
Carefully seal it from all edges. Close it well.
Make a round ball again.
Stuff other flour balls with fillings same way like this.
With a rolling pin flatten a stuffed ball 4″ wide pressing very gently and give a shape into a kachori. Be careful, filling should not come out.
Flatten all stuffed balls and give a shape into kachoris.
Heat enough oil in a wok/ kadai for deep frying, till smoky. Simmer the stove Add kachori in it and fr them till golden brown. Flip when one side is golden, fry both sides till it done. Drain oil and keep aside.
Continue the process for remaining kachoris.

Dum Aloo

Ingredients

10 – 12 No’s Baby Potatoes

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds

1 Bay leaf

Handful of Green Peas

3-4 Green Chillies (chopped)

1 large Tomato (chopped)

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

2 tsps Ginger paste

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Red Chilli powder

1/2 tsp freshly grounded Garam Masala

2 tbsps finely chopped Coriander Leaves (cilantro)

3/4 cup Sour Curd / Plain Yogurt (thick)

4 tbsps Oil

Salt to taste

Method

Wash baby potatoes nicely. Drain water from it.
Pressure cook potatoes, till it is tender or boil them in microwave.
Peel the skin off from the potatoes and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok/ kadai . Add potato, fry till it turn into golden. Drain oil, keep fried potatoes aside.
Temper with bay leaf, asafoetida, cumin seeds and fennel seeds in the same oil. Saute for 30-40 seconds.
Now add green peas in it. Fry for 2 minutes.
Add chopped tomato and green chillies in it. Mix well.
Put all dry spices, ginger paste and salt in it. Fold nicely for another 4-5 minutes till oil separates from spices.
Add sugar and fried potatoes in it. Mix well for another 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Add sour curd now. Fold for another 2 minutes, followed by adding 1/2 cup water in it.
Cook for another 4 minutes.
Add coriander leaves and switch off the heat now.
Serve hot Green Peas Kachori with spicy luscious Dum Aloo.

Falooda

Recipe source : The Lady 8 Home

Ingredients

1 /2 cups Evaporated Milk

1 cup Milk (warm milk)

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp Saffron

1/4 tsp Almond extract / rose essence

2 Nos Almonds (sliced)

2 Nos Pistachios (sliced)

Few Cashew (chopped)

4 – 5 tbsp Rose Sryup

1/4 cup Falooda sev ( boiled in water)

1/2 cup Basil seeds / Chia seeds

Few scoops Vanilla ice cream or Malai Kulfi

Method

Heat the evaporated milk add sugar and saffron and stir well till the sugar dissolves.
Add the cooked falooda sev to it and cool them in refrigerator .
Meanwhile soak the Chia seeds in a cup of water, It will take about an hour to double its size.

To Assemble

In two tall glasses, pour the noodles soaked Milk .
Drizzle rose syrup on it .
Top it with 2 tbsp of basil/ chia seeds.
Pour in the chilled milk into the glass.
Top it again with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Garnish it with the chopped nuts and cherry.

Khandvi

Recipe source : ( Adapted from Gujarati Zaika)

Ingredients

Besan / garam flour – 1 cup

Curd/ yogurt – 1 cup

Water – 2 cup

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Sesame seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Green chilli – 2 NO (chopped)

Coriander leaves – for garnish

Grated Coconut – 1 tbsp

Method

In a bowl mix besan, curd and water . Mix well without any lumps .
In a heavy bottomed pan Pour this mixture and in a low flame cook the mixture stiring constantly .
It will take about 5 – 10 mins to thicken and leaves the sides of the pan .
Don’t cook too longer till the mixture is too thick they should just start leaving the corner of the pan .
Now in an ungreased plate spread the mixtue as much thin as possible.
After they cool down cut them in to length wise stirps.
Roll the stirps gently .
For tempering heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, Sesame seeds, curry leaves after they splutter remove from flame and top them on the rolled khandvi’s.
Garnish them with chopped coriander and grated coconut.

Litti chokha

Recipe Source : Uk Rasoi

For Litti Dough

4 cups Wheat flour
1 tsp Ajwain(carom seeds)
4 tbsp Ghee
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 3/4 tsp
almost 2 cups warm water – you may not need all of it, depends on the quality of flour

For stuffing

1 cup Sattu ( I used store bought)
Ginger – 1 inch long piece
2-4 Green chillies
1/2 cup Green coriander leaves – finely chopped
1 tsp Jeera(cumin seeds)
1 tsp Ajwain(carom seeds)
2 tbsp Mustard oil
2 tbsp Pickle spiceLemon – juice of 1 lemon – almost 1 tbsp
Salt – add to taste

For Chokha

4-6 potatoes, boiled and peeled
5-6 large cloves of garlic
1 large onion, chopped small2 medium sized tomatoes
2-4 Green chillies
1/2 tsp Red chilli pd
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp Green coriander leaves
Salt – add to taste – almost 1 tsp
Mustard oil / Olive oil – 1 to 2 tsp

Method

Sieve the flour and add all the ingredients, knead it into a not too soft dough with the help of warm water. Cover the dough and keep aside for 30 minutes.

For Stuffing

Take out Sattu in a mixing bowl, add in all the spices and grated ginger, green chillies, coriander, lemon juice, and mix well. If it seems too dry, add a tbsp of water to it. the texture should be crumbly, but not runny at all. Keep aside.

For Litti

Divide the dough in to equal parts roll them and with the help of your fingers expand the pieces 2-3 inches in diameter. you may simply roll it like a small chapathi, but dont apply any extra flour to it.
Place 1- 2 tsp Pitthi / Sattu filling on it, wrap up the dough piece and close from all sides. Pinch the extra dough from top, press with your palms to flatten it a bit.
Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Place all the balls on a baking dish and bake them for 30-40 minutes.
Flip the side half way through, you may have to do it 2-3 times in between to get the even cooking done.

For chokha

Peel the boiled potatoes and mash them coarsely with hands or masher. Keep aside.
Now roast garlic and tomatoes on either the gas flame ( like I did, see the pictures below ) or simply in an oven. On the flame, it will take around 12-15 minutes on medium flame. And in an oven, it takes around 20-25 minutes but the later of course is hassle free
Allow them to cool, peel the skins, keep them in a bowl and mash with a spoon. Add in the spices, salt, oil and mix properly.
Add in mashed potatoes, just mix everything gently with hands. Chokha is ready to be served.

For Serving :

Put Chokha in a bowl, dip hot Litti in melted Ghee and serve with green coriander chutney.
Litti can also be broken at the centre and then ghee can be poured on top, this way it reaches the stuffing too and pitthi gets a bit damp. I adopt this way to serve, since I love the aroma of ghee mixed with Sattu.

Thanks you so much to all the member of SNC for sharing so many delicious recipes 🙂 . And a very happy diwali to all my readers 🙂 Hope all enjoyed this virtual treat from our SNC group !! 🙂

Linking it to priya’s versatile recipes

Ellu Poorna Kozhukattai / Til Seeds Modak / Sweet Sesame Filling Dumplings

September 2, 2013 By

SNC Challenge -12

Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete the 10th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil space You Too Can Cook .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively will challenge the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 5 – February month’s challenge

North team’s host Sanoli from Sanoli’s recipes- Green pea kachori with dum aloo
South teams’s host Tamil from Tamil’s kitchen- paal kozhukattai

Challenge 6 – March month’s challenge

North team’s host Kirti Choudhary Kardam from Flavour’s from my kitchen- Chana Dal Halwa/Barfi

South team’s host Sawsthi from Indian healthy recipes – Vegetable Hyderbadi Biryani

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 7 – April Month’s challenge

North team’s host Hetal from Gjurati zaika- Khandvi

South team’s host Shama from Easy2cookrecipes – Palm jaggery aapam

Winner
South Team

Challenge 8 – May Month’s challenge

North team’s host Nabanita das from Esho-besho aahare – Dokar dalna .
South team’s host Roha from Hyderbadi cuisine – Kurbani ka meetha.

Winner
South Team

Challange 9- June Month’s challenge

North team’s host Chandrani Banerjee from cuisine delights – Channar jelebi
South team’s host Priya suresh from Priya’s verstile recipes 🙂

Winner
North Team

Challenge 10 – July Month’s challenge

North Team’s Host ” Me 🙂 ” – Rajasthani Thali

South Teams Host sowmya of Nivedhanam- Vendayakeerai Parupu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu

Challenge 11- August Month’s Challenge

North Team’s Host Divya pramil of You too can cook Indian food (Founder of SNC) – Pasiparrupu payasam
South Team’s Host Shruti dhingra of shruti’s Rasoi- Kesar pista kulfi

Challenge 12 – September Month’s challenge

North Team’s Host Viji of Viruthudhu unna vaanga – Ellu Kozhukattai
South Team’s Host Minnie Gupta of The lady 8 Home

So this Month’s yummy challenge is been hosted by my dear friend Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj and am so glad i tried this delicious Ellu kozhukattai 🙂 I haven’t made kozhukattai this was my first attempt and we fell in love these deliicous and healthy dumpling.Thank you so much for this delicious challenge viji 🙂 We totally enjoyed these yummy kozhukattai’s 🙂

Kozhukattai’s is a popular Indian sweet dumpling made from rice flour, grated coconut and jaggery, and is similar to Modak made in northern parts of India. This dish is popularly associated with Lord Ganesh and Ganesh Chaturti celebrations in South India. This so very traditional dish from south India. Usually these kozhukkatai’s are made with home made rice flour but i did the easier way of using store bought rice flour as this was my first attempt. I would love to try them with home made rice flour next time . Lets move the delicious recipe from my south team pal 🙂

INGREDIENTS

For Sesame Filling

Black Sesame seeds – ¼ Cup
Jaggery pd – 1/3 Cup
Grated Coconut – ¼ Cup
Cardamom Powder – ¼ Tsp

For Outer Layer

Rice flour – 1 Cup
Salt – ¼ Cup
Oil – 1 Tsp
Water – 1 Cup or more as needed to form a smooth and very soft dough.

METHOD

Preparation of Sesame Filling

Heat a pan and dry roast the sesame seeds till it leaves out nice aroma and cool it completely and grind it in to coarse powder.
Powder the jaggery (1/3 Cup) if its in big size or break into small pieces , I used the powered jaggery ,In a pan take this jaggery and add 1 Tbsp of water to it Cook it till the jaggery is melted completely and then switch off the flame.
Immediately, filter the syrup to another bowl using tea sieve, then add grated coconut to it and again keep it in low flame, it will start boiling stir it continuously.
When it forms frothy in top add powdered sesame seeds and cardamom powder mix it well then switch off the flame when it starts rolling and becomes a mass .

Transfer this filling a bowl .

Preparation of Outer layer

In a bowl put the rice flour.
Boil 1 Cup of water with salt and oil, when it’s boiling well switch off the flame.
Water depends on the quality of rice flour you are using so adjust it it form a very very soft and smooth dough.
Add boiled water little by little to the rice flour and knead it using wooden ladle, cover it with damp cloth for 5 minutes.
Now it will be warm dough, and knead it well by oil greased hand.

Shaping and Steaming the Modak / kozhukatai

Take equal parts of the dough in to lemon size balls
Grease your hands with oil, then tap the dough on you palm and make a circle shape.
Keep the filling in the center and fold it lifting one side to other and seal the edges either by pressing them nicely with your finger or use a fork and press them in the edges.
You can also take the lemon size balls make bowl and fill the fillings and then seal them .

After shaping them, place in the idli plate (grease the plates before placing) or steam plate and steam it for 7-10 minutes. It will look transparent after cooked.
Serve them warm !!

NOTE

You can also use homemade rice flour or else you can use store bought rice flour too.
You can also replace the black sesame with white.
Water for kneading the dough depends on the quality of rice flour you are using so make sure you add water lil by lil while kneading.

Thank you so much viji we totally loved these kozhukattai’s 🙂 and thanks again you made me do these yummilicious sweet dumpling. We enjoyed them a lot!! And these are prefect for ganesh pooja which is not far 🙂 lovely challenge viji 🙂 Completing this months challenge successfully 🙂

Chettinadu Pakoda Kozhambu

June 19, 2013 By

SNC Challenge -7

Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete the 7th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil space You Too Can Cook .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively will challenge the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 5 – February month’s challenge

North team’s host Sanoli from Sanoli’s recipes- Green pea kachori with dum aloo
South teams’s host Tamil from Tamil’s kitchen- paal kozhukattai

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 7 – April Month’s challenge

North team’s host Hetal from Gjurati zaika- Khandvi click here

South team’s host Shama from Easy2cookrecipes – Palm jaggery aapam click here

Challenge 8 – May Month’s challenge

North team’s host Nabanita das from Esho-besho aahare – Dokar dalna .
South team’s host Roha from Hyderbadi cuisine – Kurbani ka meetha.

Challange 9- June Month’s

North team’s host Chandrani Banerjee from cuisine delights – Channar jelebi Click here
South team’s host Priya suresh from Priya’s verstile recipes 🙂 Click here

This months SNC challange for North team is delicious”Chettinadu Pakoda Kozhambu” Which i loved to make :). Thanks to +Priya Suresh aks for this delicious kozhambu recipe i loved this a lot :)..

The Chettinadu cuisine is one of South India’s best known cuisines of Tamil Nadu . Apart from standard and traditional food items, Chettinad cuisine is renowned for its unusual snacks and munchy items that are lip-smacking good. Some of the popular Chettinad dishes are Kandarappam, Ukkarai, Pal Paniyaram, Thenkuzhal, Karupatti Paniyaram – Remember we made this for our April months challange , Kavanarisi, and Seepu Seedai, Chettinadu kozhambu varities. We are going to see one such delicious kozhambu from this cuisine :)..

Lets Move on to the recipe..

(Recipe Source : Priya’s verstile recipes)

Ingredients

For Pakodas

1/2 cup – Channadal/Kadala paruppu
3 nos – Dry red chillies
1tsp – Fennel seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

For Gravy

2nos – Onions (chopped finely)
2nos – Tomatoes (chopped finely)
6nos – Garlic pods (chopped)
2nos – Green chillies (slit opened
1tbsp – Coriander powder
1tsp- Red chilly powder
Oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves (chopped)

For seasoning:
1inch – Cinnamon stick
2nos- Cloves
2nos – Green cardamoms
2nos – Bay leaves
1tsp – Fennel seeds
Few curry leaves

To grind

1tsp – Poppy seeds
4tbsp – Grated coconut
6nos – Cashew nuts
1tbsp – Roasted channadal/Dalia/Pottukadalai

Note : Grind all the ingredients given under the list ‘to grind’ as fine paste with enough water.

Method

For Pakodas

Soak the channa dal for two – three hours.
Take the soaked dals,dry red chillies,fennel seeds,salt together and grind as bit coarse paste with bit water.
Heat oil for frying, once the oil is hot.
Take a golf sized ball of grounded mixture and pinch gently a small quantity of this mixture as shapeless pakodas and drop into the hot oil and fry.
Fry the pakodas until they turns golden brown.
Drain the excess of oil with a paper towel and keep aside.

For Gravy :

Heat enough oil in a kadai, add the spices given under ‘for seasoning’ and fry until they turns brown.
Add the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes,chopped garlic,slit opened green chillies and saute until the veggies gets well cooked.
Now add the grounded paste to the cooking veggies,cook in simmer for 2 minutes in simmer.
Add 5cups of water, red chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt, give a stir and cook in medium flame.
Close the kadai, cook for 5 more minutes, keep the gravy watery.

To serve :

Add the water if needed, once you add pakodas, they tends to absorb the gravy and finally no gravy will be left once the pakodas gets well cooked in gravy.So keep the gravy enough watery.

Note :

Once the oil gets separated slightly from the gravy, add the pakodas immediately to the gravy.
Don’t stir the gravy after adding the pakodas, bring boil the gravy once and switch off the stove.
Finally add the chopped coriander leaves to the gravy, give a stir.
Serve hot with rice and papads.

Sweet Appam (Made with molasses and yeast )

May 1, 2013 By

SNC Challenge -7

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 5 – February month’s challenge

North team’s host Sanoli from Sanoli’s recipes- Green pea kachori with dum aloo
South teams’s host Tamil from Tamil’s kitchen- paal kozhukattai

Challenge 7 – April Month’s challenge

North team’s host Hetal from Gjurati zaika- Khandvi click here

South team’s host Shama from Easy2cookrecipes – Palm jaggery aapam click here

This time i was held up with lots of work so did n’t get time at all so am very late this time :(. This months challange is hosted by shama of Easy2cook recipes When i first saw the recipe i felt its going to very delicious but didn’t get proper time to try them. I was searching for the palm jaggery so that i can try the original recipe but didn’t get them. After asking shama she gave so many tips to make these Sweet appams. I was planning to make the original recipe and use molasses and make them for variation from the beginning but as i didn’t get palm jaggery i had to go with this recipe. This even tasted delicious and i loved them 🙂
Thanks to shama for this yummy recipe and i haven’t tried appam before so this was a new experiment in my kitchen . Now lets Move on to the recipe for “Sweet Appam”.

Ingredients

1 cup Parboiled rice / idli rice
1 cups raw rice (chawal)
1/2 cup cooked rice (chawal)
1/2 cup molasses (adjust to your taste buds)
2 tsp sugar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp yeast
Ghee or any other refined for greasing and cooking

Method

Wash and soak both the rice for 2 to 3 hours. Drain.
Combine the soaked rice, cooked rice with little water and blend in a mixer till smooth.

Add the sugar and yeast to the little lukewarm and mix well. Keep it aside for 5- 10 mins or till becomes frothy .

Add it to the rice mixture and mix well (the batter should be of dropping consistency). Cover and keep aside for 5-6 hours.

Heat an appam kadhai or a deep non-stick tawa and grease it lightly with oil.
Pour a ladle full of the batter into it and slowly rotate the kadhai in a circular motion so that a thin layer forms on sides.

Cover and cook for a minute, remove the appam when the middle fluffy part is cooked.

Repeat for the remaining batter to make more appams.
Serve hot as is or with some banana slices .

Tips

If you don’t have a appa kadai then you either do it in a dosa tawa or a non-stick kadai( i used a non stick kadai)
You can add 2 tsp urad dhal for making it more fluffy skiping the yeast.
I added yeast so that it makes the batter ferment sooner.
If you ferment the batter over nite you will have a fully appam ready to make. so its better to frement the batter.
You can also use jaggery in this recipe by making a thick jaggery syrup and adding to the batter instead of molasses.
Use a skewer to lift the sides of appam and then lift it with your hand.

Sending to @Tangyminds.

Sending Mj delights

Sending to virundhu unna vaanga

Saidapette vadakari/ vada curry N variations

January 23, 2013 By manjulabharathkumar@gmail.com

Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete the 4th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil space You Too Can Cook .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively will challenge the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 4– Janurary month’s challenge

North team Host ” me ” (Manjula bharath) from “Desi fiesta” – Rajasthani mini ghevar topped with kesar rabdi click here

South team Host Ramya from ” Lemon Kurry” – Vada curry click here

I was so happy to receive 3 precious awards for last months challenge – Medu vada . I have to thank december months host for north team sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” for the lovely challenge and also for nominating me for the awards.. thank u so much sherin :). I am also thankful to divya pramil for these lovely awards thank u so much divya 🙂

These are the awards i received for my Madras donuts/Medu vada post click here

I felt like am crowned for miss india or universe he he 😛 thanks again divya 🙂

Now coming to this months challenge .. I was so very excited to host this month challenge, challenging my south team pal’s with one of my favorite traditional dessert and am double excited to finish this months challenge given to north team . One of my favorite side dish which i love a lot . Thanks Ramya for the super duper delicious challenge 🙂 This months challenge for north team is “Vadakari”.

It is the tasty, crispy, aromatic popular side dish of Tamil Nadu and all over south India. Bengal gram is soaked and prepared like masala vadai. It is then crushed in a masala gravy. The method for making vada karai may vary in each home.

Now i have to say this why i have prefixed vadakari with saidapet. Saidapet is where i belong to in chennai . One of the oldest hotel in saidapet is MARI HOTEL where Vadakari is very famous and will be available at all time .There used to be so much of rush in this hotel for their delicious finger licking vadakari.. Remembering my childhood days how my bro and i used fight for vadakari we got from the hotel.. we just liked to eat it as such and it was so yummm… Mari hotel located centrally in saidapet is famous for Vadakari and there after they started calling the dish as saidapet vadakari 🙂

I was so excited to try a dish which was famous in my home town and one of my fav side dish for idli and dosa. This dish is known with variations as Vadakari/Vada Kari/Vadai Curry.

Ingredients

For Batter :
Bengal gram – 1 cup
Onion – 1 no
Green chilli – 2 no
Fennel seeds – ½ tea spoon
Ginger small piece – 1inch (chopped)
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt to taste

For gravy :
Onion-1 no
Tomato – 1 no
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tea spoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ tea spoon
Garam masala powder –½ tea spoon
Coconut milk – ½ cup (optional)
Mint and coriander leaves – few strings
Salt – as per taste
Oil – for deep frying and seasoning

For seasoning
Cinnamon sticks – 2 no
Bay leaf – 1 no
Cloves – 5 no
Fennel seeds – ½ tea spoon (this is the must ingredient bcoz the main flavour of an authentic vada kari comes from this flavorful ingredient )
Mustard – ½ tea spoon
Curry leaves – few

Today we are going to see 3 methods of making vada for vadakari.. Vada’s for vadakari can be made in 3 ways :

Frying method (i.e.. making masal vadai)
Steaming method
Adai method (Adai is nothing but a type of dosa or south indian crepe )

Method:

Batter preparation (vada/adai/steam vadas) :

Soak channa dal for 3-4 hours.
After 3-4 hours drain channa dal completely and add it in two batches and grind coarsely. Not too smooth not very coarse too. One or two channa dal can be whole.

Mix finely chopped onion,chopped green chillies, chopped ginger,fennel seeds, salt and curry leaves.

Frying Method :

Check my masala vadai post for frying the vada’s Click here

Scramble the vada and keep it a side.

For Steaming Vada batter (Steaming method:):

Form the batter into disk shapes(or small dumplings) and steam it in an idly cooker.

Once the vadas are done, set it aside and let it cool and scramble them.

Adai method:

Heat a dosa pan and make thick adai’s(about 2 inch thickness) use your hands to spread them on tawa (take care while spreading the batter as the tawa in hot) and add little oil on the sides.

Keep the heat in medium and allow it to cook well, until browned on both sides(as shown in picture above).
Cool it and scramble it into tiny pieces and keep a side.

To proceed -Gravy

Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds,fennel seeds, curry leaves and let it splutter.
Add cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and stir for a second.
Add onions, green chillies, ginger garlic paste,tomato and saute well till the raw smell goes.
Now add garam masala , turmeric powder and chilly powder.(increase/decrease chilly powder according to your taste)
Add 5 cups of water and cook for a few minutes.Add more water if necessary.

Add the scrambled fried vadas/steamed vadas/adai to the curry.
Now add the coconut milk, cover and cook for a minute.
The channa dhal mixture will soak up all the liquid. Add chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and stir well. Vadakari is ready to serve!!!

Vadakari(Fried vadas)

Vadakari (Steamed vada)

Tips

Vada’s will absorb some water from vadakari gravy . Quantity of water to be added, can be varied accordingly.
Adding coconut milk is optional. It makes the dish creamy and rich in taste
You can also use ginger garlic paste instead of chopped ginger.
Adjust the amount of water to the gravy according to the consistency needed i.e., reduce the amount of water for a thicker consistency. I usually like the thick vadakari than making them thin.
Do not skip the coriander leaves, it is a must for this dish.

Serving options:

You can serve vadakari with Idiyappam, hot piping idli or dosa’s, and also with poori’s. My daughter likes different shaped dosa’s so i made flower shaped dosa for her 🙂

Variations 1:

Use equal measures of channa dhal and thoor dhal combination or just thoor dhal to make the Adais/ vada. These also turns out very well with slightly different taste.

Variation 2:

Channa Masala Vadakari

Ingredients

Masal vadai – 4-5 (click here for masal vadai recipe)

Boiled Channa/chickpea – 1 cup
Tomato onion puree 1 cup
Cashew, dhani/coriander seeds and coconut paste- 3 tbsp (1tbsp each to make a paste)
Red chilli pd 1 tsp
Turmeric pd 1/4 tsp
Cloves- 2 no
Cardamon – 2 no
Bay leaf- 1 no
Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp

Method :

Make masal vadai’s you can even use leftover vada’s. In a deep pan heat oil. add cloves,bay leaf, cardamon, fennel seeds, tomato onion paste and saute . Then add dhania, coconut and cashew paste,salt and cook till the raw smell goes off.
Add red chilli pd, turmeric pd mix well and add the boiled channa . Let the mixture boil for a while and at last add crushed masala vadai in the gravy and cook till the vadai combine well in the gravy .
Channa masala vadakari is ready to serve with poori, idli, dosa, idiyappam or even roti or paratha.

My family and i enjoyed all three versions of vadakari and especially my hubby loved the variation of vadakari with channa masala 🙂 This was another yummy and delicious challenge from south team !!! Completing the first challenge for this new year and waiting for more such delicious and interesting challenges from the glorious South team!!! 🙂

Rajasthani mini Ghevar topped with kesar rabdi

January 6, 2013 By manjulabharathkumar@gmail.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 TO SNC !!!

SNC CHALLENGE -4

Welcoming south team for my Chweet challenge to them !!

Hello everyone !!! Am really very happy happy to host this months challenge 🙂 Thank’s a ton to divya pramil who gave me a chance to show case and introduce my traditional Rajasthani Dessert to south team and to represent north team..yupiiee its “Dessert” … As you all know there is an event going on Divya pramil’s space YOU TOO CAN COOK .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from northern and southern parts of India .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here for more info about this event ..

Now lets move to this months challenge.. This months challenge for south team will be A honeycomb shaped delicacy made using plain flour and ghee that has originated in Rajasthan- “Ghevar”. But to make it a bit easier am challenging the team with a mini ghevar topped with rabdi .

Taddda here comes my ghevar topped with rabdi …

Ghevars are usually and traditionally large in size about 8″ or 10″ round shaped but now a days you can also find them in square shapes. They are sold either sweetened with syrup or served topped with sweet rabdi (i.e. thickened milk). Lakshmi Mishtaan Bhandar in Jaipur is famous for their “melt in the mouth” Paneer ghevars and many other sweet shops in Rajasthan also specialise in the same. Ghevars are made and sold as a traditional dish for some special festivals. They are generally prepared in January for Makar Sankranti ( or you call them pongal), in March-April for Gangaur and in July-August for the Teej festival ( in some parts they celebrate karwa choth ) . But you can enjoy these at any time of the year by just following the recipe given below.So obviously pongal or makar sankranti is nearing so this will be the perfect sweet for the occasion..

People living in India are fortunate enough to enjoy ghevar at any time . But , those who are living in abroad and missing ghevar Like me , here is the recipe for them..I tried it manytimes before it can make it to blog.

I know many of them out there haven’t even heard of this dessert and don’t know how it will taste… they are crispy and when hot syrup is added to this crispy delight it is soft from inside but doesn’t looses is crispy texture . ..

Process of making traditional ghevar

To make a delicious ghevar, the ingredients needed are flour, clarified butter, sugar, almonds, pistachios, saffron, cardamom powder, and yellow food color. For making the batter, flour is mixed with water and clarified butter. The food color is also added and the batter is put in a cylinder with heated clarified butter. The process is repeated and a round cake is made which is called ghevar. Sweet sugar syrup is made and ghevar is dipped in it. Soaked saffron is put on it and it is garnished with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Also, for the preparation of ghevar, a special skittle is required. It should be flat surfaced with 8-9 inches of breadth and 12 inches of height. It is tough to prepare this dish in an ordinary skittle and this one is the only recommended.

Ghevars are gifted to the newly married girls during Teej and Gangaur as a ritual. The gifting of sweets is called Sanjara or Shagun and is one of the traditional rituals of Rajasthan.

ok now without any further ado lets move on to the recipee..

There are two ways and set of ingredients to prepare the batter for ghevar .. you can follow either one which ever you feel is easy..I made them both the ways and both were equally good to to form and mesh textured ghevar .. Texture is the key for this delight you have to get the texture correct to enjoy this dessert .. so every step should be done with lots of patience ..(Adapted from nisha madulika.com)

Ingredients For ghevar:

Method 1 (Batter):

Maida (All Purpose Flour) : 5 tbsp
Water: as required to make a thin batter I used abt 3/4 cup approx
Ghee/ Clarified Butter: 2 1/2 tsp
Cardamon a pinch (optional)

Method 2 (Batter):

Maida – 1 n 1/2 cup
Ghee/ clarified- 2 Tbsp
Milk-1/4 cup (shd be in room temperature)
Water-3/4 cup if required you can add more to make a thin batter
Cardamon a pinch (optional)

For frying :

Ghee or refined oil or olive oil

For syrup:

Sugar: 1 1/2 cup
Water: 1 cup
Saffron strands few

Ingredients for Kesar Rabdi

whole milk – 3 cups
sweetened condensed milk – 1 can
cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp, (crushed, if powder not available) pistachios – 2 tsp, crushed
saffron strands – 1/2 tsp

For garnishing

Shopped almonds and pistachios
Silver Varak (optional)
Saffron strands few

Method of preparing Ghevar :

Preparing Batter (Method 1):

Sift the flour, and keep it aside.
Take ghee and sifted flour in a large bowl and mix them well.
Add maida to it slowly, and keep mixing softly till they nice ans fluffy in texture,. in this stage if you want to add color to your ghevar’s you can soak the saffron strand in water or milk and add to the batter. I did add the saffron stands soaked in the milk .

Now add water to this dough gradually, and not in one shot. Pour in a little water and mix with the dough; be careful that there are no lumps formed. Keep on adding water slowly, and make a smooth, lump free batter.

Preparing Batter (Method 2):

Take milk and ghee and mix (whip) nicely for 2-3 minutes.
Now, add sifted maida and mix well till there are no lumps.
Add water little by little and mix it well into a smooth consistency. If you take in a spoon and try to drop on a plate, it should be thin (check my pics for consistency )

Note : Use warm water to make batter so that it is easy to form a smooth batter without any lumps and easily pour able. If its cold weather then heat the water in microwave for 1 min .

Frying Ghevar:

Frying process is same for both the methods of batter preparation .

Take a round deep and flat bottomed vessel ( I used a vessel as shown in the pic .. Use a cylindrical vessel ) and fill more than half of it with ghee. Heat it on high flame till the ghee gets really hot. Check the correct temperature by dropping a small portion of the batter and see if it immediately comes up, and doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Once the ghee is optimally hot (don’t over heat the ghee otherwise your ghevar will start burning) , take the batter ( I used a loti and ladle as shown or you can use a glass or a spoon with a sharp edge), and pour it in the middle of the vessel in a thin stream from 1 foot height. You could actually increase or stretch the height as much as you can; greater the height, better the texture. I stretch out my hand fully over the vessel to reach the best height I can before I pour in the batter.

Note : you are working with oil or ghee so be sure that you on your exhaust fan or open your windows 🙂 .If your oil or ghee is too very hot its going to splatter out..

As soon as the batter touches the hot ghee, bubbles start to appear. Be sure that the ghee bubbles do not start jumping out of the vessel. If you see that the bubbles are getting high enough, stop pouring for a while, and continue later.

After the first spoon or after pouring quarter part of the batter , wait for a few seconds till the bubbles settle, and then pour the second spoonful . Repeat this for 3-4 times if you want to increase the size of your ghevar I poured only 2 spoon full to make mini ghevar . This actually depends on the size of the vessel; the bigger the size, more are the number of spoons or the number of times you have to pour the batter required.
If the ghee or oil is not hot enough, the batter will start sticking to the bottom, so keep the flame on medium to high depending on the temperature required. That is while pouring it should be in low if the oil or ghee is very hot and while cooking it should be low..
When you pour in the batter, you’ll see that the batter starts scattering and collects near the sides in a circular fashion. As you keep increasing the batter, the disc starts taking its correct shape. In the meanwhile, if the batter sticks in the middle after pouring, use a skewer to detach that. Keep on increasing the center space by using that skewer after the batter has settled. After 2-3 pourings this is completely your choice on how thick enough you want your ghevar be i am making a mini ghevar so i just poured two ladle full of batter, a complete disc will be formed.

Let this disc go golden brown on medium flame.
Once it is properly fried, take it out very carefully by inserting that thin skewer in the middle hole of the disc and lifting the whole ghevar with it.

These are saffron colored ghevar …

Keep the ghevar slightly tilted on a plate to remove excess ghee.

Still if you have any doubts while frying you can watch nisha madhulika mam’s ghevar cooking video click here

Sugar syrup Preparation

Every body are confused with the sugar syrup consistency so i thought of explaining with detailed instruction…

For preparing syrup, take 1 and a half cups sugar and 1 cup water in a pan. Bring them to boil with occasional stirring. After the boil, heat it on low flame for 5-6 minutes till you get a one-string consistency.
Now for checking one string consistency – stir the syrup with a spoon and then lift the spoon up – lift a tiny amount of the syrup with your forefinger and press the forefinger to your thumb. Now gradually separate the thumb and the forefinger – if the sugar syrup is of ‘one string’ consistency, you should be able to see a single string between your thumb and forefinger.

Now spoon the hot syrup on top of the ghevar if you are making a thicker ghevar you even dip them in the sugar syrup . Do not keep the ghevar in the syrup for long, as it will make them very soggy and wet.

Note : Sugar syrup must be topped on the ghevar even if your are going to top the ghevar with rabdi atleast in small quantity bcoz It gives the extra flavor to the ghevar..

Again keep them tilted in a plate to remove excess syrup.
Let them dry in open air for about 1 hour or more.
Now you can store them in closed containers and refrigerate for further use.
If you wish, you could garnish the ghevars with sliced almonds and pistachios.

Method for preparing Kesar Rabdi:

You can prepare Ghevar ahead..
Apply some ghee or butter on a pan and grease it well with this ghee/butter.This avoids burning of the milk.
Now heat the milk on low heat while stirring frequently.
Get the milk reduced to half of its original quantity. Now add the cardamom powder, saffron strands and 1 tsp of crushed pistachios, mix them well.

Add the condensed milk to this mixture and bring it to a boil. Don’t forget to stir constantly and scraping the sides.
After the milk is of thick consistency then off the stove.

Your delicious rabri or malai is ready, let it cool naturally then top the rabri or malai on top of crispy ghevar.

Note : Top the ghevar with rabdi only when you are ready to serve.

Tips:

Dry ghevar’s without syrup can easily be stored for 15 days. When you want to have them, dip them in the hot syrup an hour back and serve then. As our ghevar’s are mini once you just have to top the hot syrup on the ghevar and not dip they might break if you dip.

While making the batter, if lumps still go stubborn and trouble you, simply use a blender/mixer for getting the smooth consistency. Be careful not to blend it for a long time else the ghee would separate; just 1 round of mixing is enough to break the lumps.
If you find the batter sticking to the bottom, do not panic; take a break, put the flame on high, and try after 1 minute. I’m sure the trick will work.
Pour the batter in very thin streams, almost like pouring drops.
Keep the height for pouring at its max.
Do not overdo pouring. Begin with 1-2 spoons and gradually increase if you go successful.
After topping them with hot syrup, keep them for some time; do not just be ready to jump over and eat, else you’ll find them a bit harder.
You can also garnish the Ghevar with fresh khoya.

Nutritional Value Of Ghevars

Ghevars are a rich source of calories. The fat content is also high in this sweet Indian delicacy. People who want to lose weight or are suffering from diabetes should not over indulge in this sweet snack. To decrease the fat content and calorie count, clarified butter should be used less or you can use olive oil which i did and it can be made with sugar free.

Variations Of Ghevars

A ghevar recipe is very popular during the festive seasons. On Raksha bandhan, people love to enjoy this delicacy in paneer ghevar form. It is garnished with grated khoya. Desi ghee and mava ghevars are usually made during the celebrations of Teej festival as i said before.

Ghevar cake

Ghevar cake is a Indian dessert a very good alternative for people who prefer egg-less cake and do not wish to resort to milk cake.
Ghevar cake was made in a master chef challenge and the innovation done in it was ghevar was frosted with cake frosting and topped with fruits . I have topped the ghevar cake with some strawberries and pista…

North teams challenge is being hosted by ramya of Lemon curry she have challenged us with an very popular south indian sidedish-

“VADAKARI”..yumm so delicious challenge from her… click here to see North team’s challenge

Am so happy to share an authentic dessert with you all , I know this is not so easy one but i have tried to make it a bit easy i hope .. This is one of the unique dessert of rajasthan which is not so easily available at abroad and many people are unaware of this delicacy so tats the only motto of me challenging south team with this rajasthani mithayi :).. so am all set to look for your yummy looking ghevar’s .. i’ll be always in your support south team dearies..

Giving my blog a sweet start this new year !!!!

Once again thanks to SNC group for being a great support 🙂

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous NEW YEAR 2013!!!

Sending Mj delights

Madras Donuts ( Medu vada)

December 2, 2012 By manjulabharathkumar@gmail.com

Hello everyone !!! This will be my second challenge in SNC and am super excited .. As you all know there is an event going on Divya pramils space YOU TOO CAN COOK .. The event is all abt two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team will challenge the opposite team members and opposing teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from north and southern part of India .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now

Challenge 1- october month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2- November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
yet to be announced- fingers crossed 😛 Its like waiting for exam results ….uffff

and now

Challenge 3- December months challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav click here
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada click here

Last challenge we made Adhirasam which was really tasty sweet.. It was tricky but tasty too 🙂 good thing is that this time we have a ” stater” challenge n not a sweet again …cheers north team !!! 🙂

As am from north team i had to prepare medu vada which is one of my favorite . Thanks to sherin for such an awesome recipe ..I loved to have sambhar idli and sambhar vada back in chennai , but didn’t think aboutt trying them on my own from scratch.. This is the first time i tried medu vada at home and wowwy zowwy it was much better than we get in restuarent .. i enjoyed while making this medu vada … especially when i shaped them .. it was so much fun for me and a big thanks to my hubby for waiting patiently till i took my pics :)..

Medu vada is a traditional favorite of south india that features not just in everyday cuisine but is also an indispensable part of the menu on festivals and puja days. Let look for the ingredients and method to prepare this delicious stater …

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal (split black lentils)
5 to 6 black peppercorns (crushed)
8 to 10 curry leaves (kadi patta)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp roughly chopped ginger
1 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1 tbsp Rice ( optinal – if u like your medu vada a little crispier then do add )
Asafoetida a pinch
salt to taste
oil for deep-frying (I used olive oil )

For Serving
coconut chutney
sambhar
Rasam

Method

Soak urad dal and rice for 2 hour at least . Drain water and keep aside (I drained the water completely and then sprinkle little by little while grinding in a blender , doing so you can be sure of the quantity of water).Now grind it to a fluffy textured batter sprinkling water now and then. Don’t add much water as the batter will become runny.NOTE:Grind the batter with just enough water to make a soft but not watery dough – as it is the consistency of the batter that determines how soft and shapely the vadas turn out, and of course how many compliments you reap! after all, ‘medu’ means soft, and the wadas must live up to the name..

Once the batter is ready, add chopped onions, jeera, pepper, curry leaves, chillies,asafoetida and required salt to the batter, mix well and keep aside. NOTE- don’t add salt will grinding as your batter will go runny …

The batter should be thick.Heat oil in a kadai. Take a aluminium foil or cling rap or banana leaf slightly greased with a drop of oil. Wet your right hand, then make a small ball out of the batter and pat it on the banana leaf . Now make a hole in the middle and carefully transfer it to the kadai -This needs a lot of practice .. I felt using hand is more comfortable than using a banana leaf or foil .. so used my hands to make the shape..

You can also make use of Donut maker which is available in the market for perfect shape

Making vada Shapes using donut maker:

Fill the donut maker with batter. Hold it over the hot oil . Now with your thumb push down the lever/knob and the hole at the bottom of the donut maker opens to let the batter out. Keep your thumb pressed down for as long as you need – this depends on how big you want your vadas. The longer you hold the lever down, more batter comes out and vada becomes bigger. Hold the lever down for a short time to make smaller vada’s.

Pic Courtesy : Google

Fry the vadai in medium flame, turn over to other side once it becomes firm. Take out and drain it in a tissue once it becomes golden brown on both sides.

NOTE

If you are grinding the dal in mixie or blender just like I did, the use pulse .
For more quantity always use grinder else the heat generated while grinding in the mixie will not make the vada’s fluffy.
Always grind the batter smoothly into a fine paste, the batter should resemble like a butter cream icing, else the vada’s will become hard and rubbery.Avoid adding excess water while grinding.
If by any chance the batter turns runny just add a tbsp of rice flour.
Check oil temperature before dropping the dumpling, sometimes if oil is too hot it might burn the vadai’s.
Getting the perfect shape requires a little practice.. .But the basic trick is to wet the hands liberally and then hold the vadas to make the shape.
Always add the salt after grinding it will make your batter runny if added while grinding ..
Make the vada’s as soon as the batter is made, as they might absorb too much oil if left to ferment. Also, don’t forget the hole in the center which is what makes it medu wadas..
Next important thing is fluffing up the batter. Beat the batter well with hand to incorporate air and make the batter fluffy. The fluffy batter gives softer vada. To test the fluffiness of batter, drop a portion of batter in a bowl of water and observe the batter. If the batter sinks then it is not fluffy enough and beat the batter for some time and test it .

Variations

Things we can do with leftover vada’s

Thayir vada or dahi vada

The hot deep fried vada’s are first dipped in water and then transferred to thick beaten yogurt. For best results, the vada’s have to be soaked for at least a couple of hours before serving. To add more flavor, it can be topped with coriander or mint leaves, chili powder, crushed black pepper, chaat masala, cumin, shredded coconut, green chilis or boondi. Sweeter curd is preferred for making this chaat .A combination of coriander and tamarind chutneys are often used for garnishing ..

Sambhar vadai

In a serving plate arrange a the medu vada’s and top them with piping hot sambhar … Garnish them with some chopped onion and ompodi.. You can make the vada soft by dipping in the water and then topping them with sambhar and then they are ready to go..

Rasam vadai

In a bowl same as sambhar vadai Immerse the vadai in piping hot rasam..

Payasam vadai

You can even dip them in payasam and have sounds weird but it will taste good

Sweet medu vadai

Some people have these medu vada with banana, sugar and dizzle ghee on it..

Variation -Cabbage Medu Vada

I made this yummy cabbage medu vada by just substituting cabbage instead of onion .. They really tasted good and for people who don’t have onion you can substitute these vada’s with cabbage….

My hubby was delighted to have such an yummy medu vada 🙂 Thanks SNC ( Divya pramil) for tis opportunity ..completing this months challenge successfully 🙂 and now .Looking forward for more such yummy recipes from south team for next months challenge …

Adhirasam Recipe

November 14, 2012 By manjulabharathkumar@gmail.com

I am glad to be a part of SNC hosted by our friend Divya pramil from YOU TOO CAN COOK.. This is my first challenge recipe really exicited to take part in this challenge as it is learning experience for each and every blogger including me . am proud to be in north team and it is gud for me bcoz i can learn all south indian dishes with the help of our south indian team friends 🙂 This months challenge from south indian team is “Adhirasam” by yashodha from YASHODHA’S KITCHEN ..As i was born n bought up at chennai , TN i knew this sweet and have tasted it so many times. Our neighbors used to share this sweet on any festival or occasion’s but did n’t get a chance to try this sweet on my own 🙂

Adhirasam is an south indian delight made generally for any festive or occasion .. This is a tricky sweet to make but looks really easy ..Not everybody get this sweet correct but if you follow certain tips keenly you will surely get the perfect adhirasams . I got certain tips from my neighbors back in India called them specially to know the exact recipe .. I took lot of time to research than in preparing adhirasam to get a perfect adhirasam and i hope i got it correct, now i leave tat to snc team to decide 🙂 . Lets see for the ingredients and method 🙂

Ingredients

Raw Rice: 2 cups ( i used sona masoori )
Jaggery : 1 cup (powdered)
Water : 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder : 1 tsp
Ghee : 1-2 tsp
sesame seeds or til – 1/4 tsp
Oil for Frying
one ladle curd (optional)
milk 4-5 tsp (optional)

Method

Soak the raw rice for 30 minutes. After Which drain the rice and spread it in a clean cloth or tissue paper for about 10- 15 minutes.
Once you know the rice is dry ( not too dry but with little moist) and the excess water content is absorbed from the rice then it’s ready to grind.
Now I a mixie grind he rice to a very fine powder.
Sift this ground rice mixture and keep it aside.
In a wide pan add jaggery and 1/2 cup of water. Once the jaggery powder is dissolved completely, remove from heat and strain the water.
Now boil jaggery water and keep stirring it in til it comes to a thick consistency.
Keep stirring it until the jaggery comes to soft ball consistency. This means when we take a drop of jaggery syrup and pour it in water, it should not dissolve rather we should be able to make a ball out of it. It should not be hard as well. This is the right consistency. When you allow the syrup more than the soft ball consistency, then the adhirasam will become hard. If the syrup is taken before the soft ball consistency, then the adhirasam will break while frying. You should be very careful at this stage.
Once you get the right consistency just remove from heat immediately and pour it into the rice flour, ghee and also add the cardamom powder.
NOTE : Add the flour into the syrup by batches and stir continously to avoid lump formation n also to maintain the consistency of the dough which should be soft . Don’t add all the flour in one go .
Mix everything together to form a soft dough.
It can stay for 1 to 2 day at room temperature by naturally fermenting the dough for 24 hours and the result will be soft adhirasams .
The next day, heat required amount of oil in a heavy bottomed pan.. Don’t fill your kadai full of oil bcoz if your adhirasam breaks it spreads into the oil .. so add oil only required amount in which your adhirasam immerses .
Make a small ball of the adhirasam mixture and place it in a oil greased plastic paper or aluminium foil or even banana leaf and flatten the dough in to circle using fingers. NOTE: Flatten the dough little thick so that u get soft adhirasams. If adhirasam’s are too thin then they become too crispy.
Deep fry the adhirasam till it becomes golden color. Don’t put more than two adhirasam in the oil for frying . I fried one at a time and pressed excess oil by squeezing it with a flat bottomed bowl .
Repeat the above steps for the rest of the mixture.

My adhirasam’s turned out really yummmy and my hubby liked it so much 🙂 I had no adhirasam left for next day.. It took me long to post as i was busy with Diwali preparations .. oh yeah “Happy Diwali to all my readers” .

Tips

If the dough is very sticky or too loose and you are unable to make balls, then add a little wheat flour to it to get the right consistency.Don’t add more rice flour bcoz it may become hard n very crispy.
If the dough is too tight, then add little more jaggery syrup or little milk to it.

After completing this long process i thought why not should i try the same recipe with other flours like wheat or ragi or barley !!!! so i experimented making adhirasam using barley flour .. This time i used store bought barley flour .. I just followed the same recipe and added 3 – 4 tsp of rice flour (home made rice flour which i had in extra ) to it ..woowi zoowie my experiment was a great success.. I made barley adhirasam a healthy version of adhirasam which was really soft and should be consumed warm, it will taste much better when have warm adhirasam’s .. Once again thanking Yashodha for her lovely recipe which inspired me to try something different 🙂

Barley Adhirasam

This is a twist in adhirasam …