Rava / sooji Laddu

I have learned this recipe from our family friend who is an expert in making this soft and melting laddus. Also this is my sister's favourite sweet.

Rava Laddu

Ingredients:
2 cups – semolina preferably white one
2 cups – Grated coconut
1 ½ cup – Sugar
½ tsp – Cardamom powder
2 tbsp – Cashew nuts
2 tbsp – Raisins (Optional)
3 tbsp – Ghee

Ghee, Cashews,Grated Coconut, Sugar and Rava / Sooji

Roast cashews and raisins (if using) in the ghee and keep them aside
In the same ghee roast the semolina until nice aroma comes and keep it aside.

Roasted Semolina

Again in the same pan roast the grated coconut till all the moisture gets evaporated. Keep it aside.

 

Roasted coconut (Fresh)

Now add 1/2 cup of water to the sugar and slowly melt the sugar under low flame.

 Process of making sugar syrup

Once the sugar is melted add cardamom powder and increase the flame and stir the syrup continuously until we get one string consistency as shown below.

 

One string consistency

Then add the roasted semolina, cashews, raisins and coconut into the sugar syrup by stirring continuously for a minute or so and remove from the flame.

Wait until the mixture becomes warm enough to touch and start making laddus. Best practice is, smear your hands with ghee and scoop a small amount of laddu mixture into your hand using a spoon or laddle and gently form round balls by pressing all the sides.

hmmm....hmmmmm.hmmmmmm

Corriander Chutney

This is a simple raw coriander chutney. Instead of frying, I just ground all the ingredients to retain the astringent smell with the touch of seasoning.

Ingredients:

Coriander - 1 bunch

Ginger - 1 inch

Green chilli - 4-5

Tamarind - 1/2 lemon size

Salt

For Seasoning:

Urad daal - 1 tsp

Chana daal / Bengal Gram - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 1 string

Mustard and Cumin - 1 tsp

Dry Red chilli - 2

Oil - 2 tsp

Grind coriander,green chilli,ginger and tamarind into fine paste and do seasoning.

Coriander Chutney

You can substitute pickles with this spicy chutney which forms a nice treat for curd rice

Bombai chutney

 Bombai chutney

This is a famous recipe prepared in combination with Poori or Masala Dosa.

Ingredients:
Onion – 1 (Cut into small pieces)
Tomato – 1
Chick pea flour (Basin / Senagapindi) – ½ cup
Water – 3 cups
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Green chili – 2 chopped into small pieces (You can also use Chili paste)
Curry leaves (Twist and tear them into 2 pieces and the aroma doubles)
Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1 ½ tsp

Method:

Mix basin + salt with water and stir well to avoid any lumps and keep it aside.

Heat a tawa with oil and when the oil is warm enough, add green chillies, onion, mustard, cumin, curry leaves and fry for 2 min. Now add chopped tomatoes and stir again and cover it with lid for 2 minutes. Stir again and when the tomato becomes mushy add the basin mixture and stir continuously by reducing the flame. Until the raw smell goes stir occasionally. Slowly the content gets thick and leaves a nice aroma. Remove from the heat. Though it looks bit watery when it is just done, it will become thick once it became cool.

Will be a nice combination for Poori or Dosa

Note - You can also add 1 or 2  boiled and mashed potatoes at the end.

Beetroot fry with fresh coconut

This recipe looks so elegant on the table with beautiful colour. A simple recipe with minimal ingredients.

Ingredients:

Beetroot Medium size – 4
Onion Medium size - 1
Fresh Coconut Grated – ¼ cup
Salt
Cumin Powder – ½ tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Fresh Coriander, chopped – 2 tbsp
Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and peel the skin for beetroots and chop them into small pieces about 1cm cubes.
2. Chop onions same size as beetroots.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry onion for 2 minutes and add beetroot pieces along with salt.
4. Fry for a minute and add 4-5 tbsp of water and cover the lid until they are nearly done. Stirr in between.
5. Remove the lid and add the Cumin, coriander and chilli powder and fry for 3-4 minutes without covering the lid.
6. Make sure the curry should become dry now. Sprinkle the chopped coriander and fresh coconut and turn off the heat.

 Beetroot curry with Chapathi

Roasted Vermicelli Payasam

Vermicelli Payasam

I have chosen the fine roasted variety of vermicelli. This is an easy method with less ghee.

Ingredients:
Roasted Vermicelli broken into small pieces – 1 cup
Sugar – ½ cup
Evaporated milk – ½ cup
Whole milk – 2 cups
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Almonds – 5
Pistachio – 10
Saffron – 1 pinch

Almonds and Pistachio in Vermicelli's nest

Method:

Wash and soak almonds and pistachios in warm water for 30 minutes and grind them coarsely along with saffron.
Roast the vermicelli in ghee for a minute
Boil the milk along with almonds paste. When the milk reaches the boiling point add roasted vermicelli and stir momentarily. When the vermicelli becomes tender, then add sugar and stir for a while. Add the evaporated milk at the end and turn of the heat.

Chickpea curry

 Chickpea curry

Ingredients:

Set 1

Boiled chickpea – 1 tin / cup
Onion – 1 chopped into small pieces
Tomato – 1 chopped into small pieces
Chopped Coriander – 2 tbsp
Salt
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp

Set 2

Garlic cloves – 3Black Cumin – 1 tsp
Cloves – 2
Cinnamon – ½ inch
Dry coconut scraped – 3 tbsp

Method:

1. Roast Cumin, cloves and cinnamon slightly until they leaves some nice aroma. Allow it to cool and grind along with the other ingredients mentioned under Set 2 using little water and keep it aside.

2. Heat a deep pan and add 2 tbsp of oil. When it is hot add chopped onions and fry until they turn transparent. Add tomatoes and fry until they are mushy. Now add the masala paste and fry for 2 minutes or until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

3. In the mean time drain the boiled chickpea wash them thoroughly. Mash half of the chickpea coarsely and add all the chickpeas to the pan.

4. Add some water about 50 ml, stir and cover with lid. Allow the chickpeas to boil further for about 5 – 10 min and get mixed with the masala well. Stir in between.

5. Add chopped coriander, lemon juice, stir gently and remove from the fire.

You can have this curry either with rice or roti.

Chintapandu Pulihora / Tamarind Rice

This is one of the must have recipes at any South Indian family. During festive season, most of the people prepare this rice and offer it to God. We can prepare the seasoning in lumpsome amounts and preserve it in the fridge upto 3-4 weeks.

Pulihora with Pappula podi / Spicy powder

Ingredients:

2 cups - Rice

2 tbsp - Oil

1/2 tsp - Mustard

1/2 tsp - Cumin / Jeera

2 tbsp - Peanuts

1 tsp - Chana daal

1 tsp - Urad daal

5-7 - Bullet chillies (Make scars with knife)

2-3 - Dry chillies

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Tamarind - 2 lemon sizes soaked in warm water

Curry leaves

Corriander  Hand full

Salt

Jaggery - 1/2 tsp (Optional)

For spicy powder (Optional)

Garlic clove - 1

Roasted chick pea - 3 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Grind all the ingredients into powder.

Method:

Wash and soak the rice in 1 and 3/4th cup of water for 30 minutes. Cook the rice and spread it on a  wide plate and keep it aside.

Heat kadai with 3 tbsp of oil. When it is hot add the peanuts, chana daal, urad daal, dry chilli, curry leaves one after the other. When they started changing colour, add bullet chilli and turmeric and fry for a minute or two until the chilli becomes tender.

 

Squeeze the tamarind pulp and add to the above mixture along with jaggery.

Cook for few minutes until the mixture becomes thick and oil gets separated as shown below

Finally sprinkle some coriander and then add the rice and mix every thing along with 1 tbsp of the spicy powder prepared as mentioned above.