Sweet Boondi

I Prepared Sweet Boondi for Diwali and am quite happy to try this sweet.Once you get the right consistency of the batter,the process of making boondi is quite easy.The prepared boondis are put in a sugar syrup and seasoned with cashews,raisins and spices. 

                  Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous Diwali

Ingredients:

For the Boondi
Bengal gram flour/Besan(Kadalai maavu)	1 cup
Rice flour	1 tsp
Baking soda	a tiny pinch
Turmeric powder	a generous pinch
Oil	For deep frying
Cashews,raisins	2 tblsp each
Cloves	4-5
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Saffron strands	3-4
For the Sugar syrup
Sugar	1 cup
Water	1/4 -1/2 cup

Method:

• Take the Bengal gram flour,rice flour in a bowl.Add the baking soda and turmeric powder and mix well. 
• Add water little by little to get a thick consistency batter which is slightly thicker than bajji batter.
• Prepare sugar syrup by taking sugar and water needed to immerse the sugar in a pan.Stir till the sugar dissolves completely.Once it reaches one string consistency,switch off the flame.
• Take two ladles,one for making boondi and other for draining the boondis from oil.
• Heat Oil in a kadai,now dip the back of a spoon in the batter and drop in the oil.If it forms round boondis then the consistency is correct.
• keep the boondi ladle few inches above the oil,take a small ladle of batter and pour it on the boondi ladle and start rubbing in circular motion.Boondis will drip over the oil.
• Cook till the "shh" sound ceases.Don't cook till it becomes too crisp.Drain the boondis and transfer to the prepared sugar syrup.
• Wash the ladle used for making boondi after each batch and wipe with a clean cloth and proceed making the next batch.
• Finish the same process till all the batter is used up.
• After some time the syrup will be completely absorbed by the boondis.
• Heat little ghee in a pan, fry broken cashews and raisins.
• Powder the cloves coarsely and fry them in ghee.
• Add the nuts, cloves,cardamom powder,crushed saffron.You can also add a very tiny pinch of Edible camphor(Pachai karpooram).Mix well.Sweet Boondi is ready to serve.

Note:

• Batter consistency is important in boondi preparation.I used little turmeric powder to get a little colour instead of yellow food colour.
• If the batter is very thick,you get tail shaped boondis.so add little water and proceed.
• If the batter is thin,you get flat shaped boondis and add little gram flour to get the right consistency.
• You can slightly heat the sugar syrup for few minutes if it gets hardened in the process.But don't over heat it.

Kalkandu Pongal

I wanted to try this Kalkandu Pongal and made it on a Navaratri day for Neivedhyam.It tastes different from the sakkarai pongal using jaggery.Lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

Raw rice	1 cup
Yellow moong dal(Pasiparuupu)	1 tblsp
Kalkandu + sugar(see note below)	1 ½ cups
Milk	2 cups
Water	2 cups
Ghee	6 tblsp
Evaporated milk (see note below)	¼ cup
Cashew nut and raisins	as needed
Saffron	a pinch
Nutmeg powder(optional)	a pinch
Cardamom powder	a pinch

Method:

• Fry raw rice and moong dal in a pan till it turns light brown. 
• Take the rice in a tall vessel,add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of milk and pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.Mash them with a ladle and keep aside.
• Heat a pan,add little ghee and roast cashews and raisins and keep aside.
• In the same pan add the kalkandu,sugar and little water and stir so that the kalkandu melts.Boil till it becomes sticky.Now add the cooked rice and mix well.
• The mixture will become watery,add the evaporated milk and mix well.Add ghee little by little and stir till the pongal thickens and is non sticky.Add the saffron,nutmeg and cardamom powders and mix well.Finally add the roasted cashews and raisins and drizzle 1 tblsp ghee on top.

Note:

• I have used 3/4 cup of kalkandu and 3/4 cup of granulated white sugar and you can make it with kalkandu alone too.
• If you don't want to use evaporated milk,use regular full fat milk instead.

Black Forest Trifle

I had some chocolate cake and wanted to make it interesting and made this Black forest trifle.It is a versatile dish,you can mix and match the ingredients and make your own trifle.Lets see how to make this easy and yummy dessert.

Ingredients:

 Chocolate cake cut into squares or rounds  -  10 slices (For 5 individual   servings)

 Heavy whipping cream- 200 ml

 Chocolate sauce or Chocolate Ganache -  as needed (You can use any store bought chocolate syrup like hershey's chocolate syrup)

 Glazed cherries cut into small pieces - as needed

 Cashewnut cut into small bits- as needed (optional)

Method:

• Take 1/4 cup of water and add 1 tblsp sugar and boil till sugar dissolves.Allow to cool.
• Whip the heavy cream and once soft peak forms add 2 - 3 tblsp Icing sugar and few drops of vanilla essence and whip further till stiff peaks form.keep aside.
• Take a serving glass/bowl and place a slice of chocolate cake.Sprinkle little sugar syrup over the cake.Top the cake with whipped cream and add some chocolate sauce followed by finely chopped cherries and nuts.
• Repeat with another layer of cake and finish with whipped cream layer.If you prefer you can add chocolate shavings on the topmost layer.Since I din't had chocolate,I just added some Chocolate sauce and made marble effect.I decorated it with fresh cherries(This is optional).
• Refrigerate for atleast 1 or 2 hours before serving.

Poli

Poli (Kadalai Paruppu Poli/Puran Poli) is a traditional and popular sweet which we usually prepare for Bhogi and Tamil New year.The stuffing is made of cooked channa dhal and jaggery mixture and the outer covering is made using All purpose flour.

Ingredients:

For the outer cover:
Maida(All purpose flour)	1 ¼ cup
Turmeric powder	A pinch
Salt	A pinch
Gingelly oil	1 tblsp
For the stuffing:
Channa dhal(Bengal gram dhal/Kadalai paruppu)	1 cup
Jaggery	1 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder	1 tsp

Method:

• Take Maida,turmeric powder,salt,gingelly oil in a mixing bowl and mix well.Add water slowly to make a slightly loose dough(Less stiff than chapathi dough).Cover and keep aside for 2 hrs.
• Take channa dhal in a vessel,add water to immerse the dhal and pressure cook.
• Once the pressure releases,drain them well and allow to cool.
• Take the jaggery in a pan,add little water and wait till the jaggery completely dissolves.Now strain them using a metal strainer and keep aside.
• Grind the drained channa dhal to a fine mixture.
• Heat the pan with the strained jaggery liquid and let it boil well for about 3-4 mins.Reduce the flame to low and add the ground channa dhal and mix well with the jaggery mixture.If any small lumps form,mash well using a ladle.Add the cardamom powder and cook in low flame till the mixture comes together and is not sticky.
• Cool and make balls of the dhal mixture.
• Make small balls of the maida mixture too.
• Take a Plantain leaf or aluminium foil,grease it with gingelly oil and place the maida ball and spread it to a small circle using fingers.Place a ball of stuffing at the center and cover it with the maida circle(just as we do for stuffed paratha).
• Gently flatten the ball using the hands to a small circle .
• Heat a tawa, grease it with oil and carefully invert the aluminium foil and slowly peel off the poli and transfer to the tawa.Cook on both sides using little oil or ghee till light brown spots appear on both the sides.
• Drizzle some ghee on the top and serve.

Note:

• Smear oil liberally on your hands to flatten the poli easily.You can use sunflower oil in place of Gingelly oil.I like to use aluminium foil to flatten the poli as its very easy to transfer the poli to the tawa.
• Make the outer covering(maida) ball smaller than the stuffing size.

Sakkarai Pongal

Sakkarai pongal (Sweet Pongal) is a traditional dish prepared for the Pongal festival.The rice with moong dhal is cooked in milk and jaggery and garnished with roasted cashews.

Ingredients:

Raw rice	1 cup
Moong dhal	2-3 tblsp
Jaggery(see note below)	1½ cups
Milk	1 ½ cups
Ghee	3 tblsp
Nutmeg powder(Jadhikkai)	a generous pinch
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Cashewnut	As needed

Method:

• Roast moong dhal in a pan till you get a nice aroma.
• Rinse rice well,add the moong dhal,milk and 2 1/2 cups water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.
• Take the jaggery in a pan and add little water and dissolve it well.Filter it once to remove any impurities.
• Once the rice is cooked,mash it well with a ladle and keep aside.
• Now take the jaggery syrup in a pan and let it boil for 4-5 mins in medium flame.Add the cooked rice,mix well and cook in low flame for few minutes till rice is mixed well with the jaggery.Fry the cashews,nutmeg powder in ghee and add it to the pongal.
• Finally add ghee,cardamom powder and cook for few minutes.Sakkarai Pongal is ready to serve.

Note:

• I made the jaggery syrup in the traditional Vengala Paanai and then proceed with the rest of the recipe.you can do it in a regular pan itself.
• Add jaggery according to the quality/variety you are using.You need 1 cup of jaggery for 1 cup raw rice,but I prefer to add little extra.Also the colour of the Pongal depends on the colour of the jaggery used.
• If you find the pongal too thick after adding rice to jaggery syrup,add little water to get desired consistency.

Gulab Jamun

This is a special post to me ...yes its my 50th post :-).I wish to thank everyone who have encouraged me and also today is my Dad's Birthday.I am sending these Gulab Jamuns as a virtual treat and wishing him many more Happy returns of this day.
           Coming to the recipe,I had many misses when making Gulab Jamuns using the ready made mix.Though everyone say its so simple,somehow I missed either in the frying part or making over-sticky sugar syrup and so on.Then I decided to try it from the scratch and there were so many recipes using milk powder,Khoa/mawa when I searched in the net.I picked up this recipe from here as I wanted to try with simple,easily available ingredients and the video was so helpful.I got perfect Gulab Jamuns and I am hooked to this recipe now.I have made it a couple of times to see whether I get consistent result each time before posting here and if you follow the recipe exactly you will definitely get Soft,tasty Gulab Jamuns.

Ingredients:

Milk powder	½ cup
Maida	2 tblsp
Baking soda	¼ tsp
Ghee	1 tblsp
Yogurt	2 tblsp
Oil	For deep frying
For the Sugar Syrup
Sugar	1  cup
Water	1 ¼ cup
Rose essence	1 tsp

Method:

• Take a bowl and add all the dry ingredients and mix well.Add ghee and mix well.Now add yogurt 1 tblsp at a time and mix well.You will get a slightly sticky dough.Cover and keep aside for 5 mins.
• After 5 mins,You can easily handle the dough to make Jamuns.Grease little ghee to your hands and make small balls of the dough.The main thing to note here is to make the balls smooth without any cracks.
• Heat a kadai with oil.
• Take a pan ,add sugar and water and once the sugar dissolves let it come to a rolling boil,now reduce the flame to the lowest and switch off after 5 mins.Add rose essence and mix well.
• Once the oil is heated,test by dropping a small ball of Jamun,Once dropped it should sit at the bottom for few seconds and then slowly come up.
• This is the right temperature,slowly add 4 to 5 jamuns in one batch and fry them evenly to light golden colour.
• Drain them on paper towels.
• While you fry the second batch,drop the first batch of jamuns to the sugar syrup(slightly warm it up by keeping in low flame) and continue with the rest of the Jamuns.Give a minimum standing time of 1 or 2 hrs before serving.

Note:

• Frying the Jamuns in the correct temperature ensures its cooked well properly and evenly.If you fry them at high temperature,the outside browns too fast and inside will be undercooked and it will not yield soft jamuns.
• You can start making the Sugar syrup just before frying the first batch. Once it comes to a rolling boil,simmer for 4-5 mins and switch off.
• The original recipe uses 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water for the sugar syrup but I have reduced here as I preferred that way.
• Again when dropping the fried jamuns to the syrup,heat the syrup to the lowest flame.The main thing to note is the syrup should be hot for the jamuns to absorb it nicely.
• The above quantity yields 10 to 15 Jamuns.
• I have used full fat milk powder here.
• The good thing is you can easily scale it to half and do a small batch and moreover this is totally free from any preservative.

Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli is one of our favourite sweets and I made this for Diwali and posting for Day 3 of Blogging Marathon #22. I noted it down from a TV show and have tried it a couple of times before.The katli will be ready so fast and its easy if you keep all the things,rolling pin etc ready. 

              "Wish you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali"

Ingredients:

Cashewnut	1 cup
Sugar powdered	½ cup+2 tblsp
Rose essence	½ tsp

Method:

• Grind cashewnut to a fine powder using a mixie.Transfer to a bowl.
• Powder sugar and transfer it to a pan.
• Add little water till the sugar is just immersed.
• Boil till you get one string consistency.Add rose essence ,mix well and immediately transfer to the bowl containing cashew powder.
• Mix well with a ladle.Once its warm enough to handle with your hands,grease little ghee and knead it well.You will get a smooth ball .
• Place this ball in between parchment sheets and roll to desired thickness using rolling pin.
• Cut into diamonds and serve.

Note:

• While grinding the cashews grind it at a stretch,don't stop many times in between.
• The sugar syrup consistency is important to get the right texture.
• Kneading it well is also important.
• If the mixture is dry and it breaks while kneading,add very little milk, knead again and proceed.(I used few drops of milk as mine was bit dry)
• But when you use milk the shelf life is less and its better to refrigerate and consume it quickly.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#22.

Sending this to Vardhini's Diwali Bash.

Badam Cake

I prepared Badam cake for day 2 of Blogging Marathon #22 under Diwali Special.The main thing to note while making this cake is the final consistency and I got the right texture.

Ingredients:

Almonds	1 cup
Sugar	2 cups
Ghee	½ cup
Saffron	few strands
Milk	as needed

Method:

• Soak Almonds in hot water for 5-6 hrs.I usually soak it overnight.
• Peel off the skin and grind the almonds and milk(around 3/4 cup) to a fine paste.
• Heat a pan,add the sugar and little water enough to immerse the sugar.Stir till sugar is dissolved.
• Grease a plate with ghee and keep it ready.Soak saffron in little warm milk.
• Boil till the sugar syrup reaches one string consistency.(If you press little syrup between your thumb and index fingers,it should form a single thread)
• Now add the ground almond paste,saffron milk and mix well.
• Stir continuously.Once it starts thickening add ghee little by little and stir well.
• Once the mixture starts leaving the sides and you get a froth like texture, immediately pour on the greased plate and level the top using a flat base.
• After 4-5 mins draw lines to make pieces and remove after some time.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#22.

Sending this to Vardhini's Diwali Bash.

Carrot Halwa

For the second week of Blogging Marathon #22 ,I am posting under 'Diwali Special' theme.I prepared Carrot Halwa and served to the guests who visited us and they relished it.You can make it so easily using this pressure cooker method.Lets quickly move on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Carrot grated	6 cups
Sugar	1 ¾ cup
Evaporated milk(see note below)	1 tin
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Ghee	3 tblsp
Cashewnut	As needed

Method:

• Take a pressure cooker/pan,add 1tblsp ghee and fry the grated carrots for 2-3 mins till it slightly change in colour.
• Add the evaporated milk and pressure cook for 1 whistle.
• Once the pressure releases,open and add the sugar and mix well.
• Stir continuosly till it starts thickening,now add cardamom powder,cashews roasted in ghee and the remaining ghee and cook for 4-5 mins till it thickens and reaches the desired halwa consistency.

Note:

• I have used Evaporated milk and not condensed milk.If Evaporated milk is not available use full fat milk.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#22.