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.

Dosa Milagai Podi

Dosa Milagai podi is a dry powder of dhals and red chilli and serves as a side dish for Idli/Dosa.It is mixed with gingelly oil and served.

Ingredients:

channa dhal(Kadala Paruppu)	½ cup
Urad dhal whole(Ulutham Paruppu)	½ cup
Red chilli(see note below)	1 cup
White sesame seeds	1 tblsp
Asafoetida	1 tsp
Jaggery	1 small piece
Salt	1 tsp

Method:

• Heat a Kadai and fry both the dhals,sesame seeds till golden in colour.Transfer to a plate to cool.
• Fry the asafoetida powder slightly in the same kadai and add to the dhal.
• Now add 1 tsp oil,add red chilli and fry them.Allow to cool. 
• First grind the red chilli in a mixie to a fine powder.Now add the fried dhal,jaggery and grind till you get a slightly coarse powder. 
• Finally add salt and pulse for a minute.Store in an airtight container.

Note:

• I usually measure red chilli(comes to around 20 chillies approximately),take around 8 chillies and replace them with kashmiri chilli to get a nice colour.
• Adding little jaggery won't give any sweet taste to the powder,skip if you don't prefer.
• I have given the approximate quantity of salt,increase/decrease a little depending on the hotness of the chilli used.

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.

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a popular Indian fast food and as the name suggests,soft buns(Pav) is served with a Bhaji(Vegetables cooked in a tomato base).I have tried with different combination of vegetables and this is my friend's recipe which is tasty and easy to make too.

Ingredients:

Potato	2
Vegetables(cauliflower,capsicum and green peas)	1 cup
Onion	1
Tomato	2
Ginger garlic paste	1 tsp
Pav bhaji masala	1 tblsp
Oil	2 tsp
Butter	1 tsp
Coriander leaves chopped	as needed
Salt	as needed

Method:

• Pressure cook Potato and the vegetables.
• Mash them roughly and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan,add onions and fry for a minute.Add ginger-garlic paste and fry well till the raw smell goes off and the onions turn translucent.
• Add finely chopped tomatoes and fry well till they turn mushy.
• Add Pav bhaji masala,salt and fry well.
• Add the boiled and mashed vegetables and add water to get desired bhaji consistency.
• Simmer for 10 mins in low flame till the vegetables blend well with the masala mixture.
• Finally add butter and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

To Serve:

• Cut each pav bun horizontally into two.
• Heat a tawa,add some butter and toast the buns.
• Serve the buns with bhaji and finely chopped onion and lemon slice.

Note:

• You can add a tblsp of tomato paste(store bought) while sauting the tomatoes to get a rich red colour.(I din't add this time)
• The bhaji consistency can be a little thinner than shown in the picture.Adjust water accordingly.I have also not mashed the vegetables completely,but you can mash it completely as per your preference.
• The star ingredient is Pav bhaji masala and I  have used store bought masala.If you want a spicier version,add some red chilli powder while adding pav bhaji masala.