Sunday, October 19, 2014

Green Chili Pottukadalai Murukku


Ingredients:
Rice Flour - 5 cups
Pottukadalai /Roasted Chana Dalia  - 1 cup, powdered
Green Chili Paste* - 2 1/2 tsps
Salt - as per taste
Lemon Juice - 2 1/2 tsps
Water - required for making dough
Oil - for deep frying

*Use fresh green chilies to make a paste. Adjust according to your spice level.




Method:
Mix the rice flour, pottu kadalai powder and salt. Divide the mixture into 5 equal portions. Heat the oil in a kadai for deep frying. Once the oil is hot enough for deep frying, add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice, 1/2 tsp green chili paste and sprinkle water to make a stiff dough to the first portion of the mixture. Make out enough balls from the dough, put in the murukku press. Squeeze out the murukku over a greased plate and drop them gently into the hot oil, fry on both sides until the oil stops bubbling and the murukku turn golden in color. Drain in a paper towel and cool completely. 
Once the first portion is done, do the same to the remaining four portions and deep fry the murukkus till golden brown. Cool completely and store the murukkus in a airtight container.

NOTE: When making in large batches do not add the lemon juice to the entire dough. It will make the murukku brown without being fried properly. Add the lemon juice little by little to the portion you are using to press. 





Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Apple Halwa


Ingredients:
Apple* - 3 big, peeled, chopped and pureed
Sugar** - 1 cup + 1 tsp
Cardamom - a pinch
Orange Food Color - a pinch soaked in a tsp of milk
Cashews - 1 tbspn, chopped
Ghee - 4 tbspns

*You can either grate it or make puree, approximately 3 cups puree
**Adjust according to the sweetness of the apple. Mine was too sweet



Method:
Heat 1 tbspn of ghee in a non stick kadai. Fry the cashews till golden brown and keep it aside. In the same pan add the remaining ghee and add in the apple puree. Fry it on medium flame until the water content in the puree is evaporated and the puree becomes slightly thick, it will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Now add sugar to the puree and mix well. Keep stirring the mixture and add the food color soaked in the milk. Stir until the halwa leaves the sides of the kadai and until the mixture looks glossy. Now add the cardamom powder and the fried cashews. Finally mix everything well and transfer it to a greased bowl. 
Apple Halwa is ready to serve :) :) You can serve as it is or cut into squares.


Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Rava and Coconut Ladoo/Rava and Coconut Laddu


Yields 19 Balls
Ingredients:
Rava (coarse) - 1 cup (250 ml cup)
Coconut - 1 cup, scrapped
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashews - 2 tbspns. chopped
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp, powdered
Ghee - 2 tsps
Milk - 1/4 cup + 2 tbspns

Method:
Add the ghee in a pan and roast the cashews on low heat until golden brown. Keep it separate. In the same pan roast the rava until you get a nice aroma ( until it starts turning golden brown ). Remove the rava from the pan and keep it aside. In the same pan add the scrapped coconut and fry for few minutes approximately 2-3 minutes. Now add the rava to the toasted coconut and mix it until the mixture is well blended. Now add the sugar and mix it well with the rava, coconut mixture. Add the roasted cashews. Mix everything well for a minute or until the sugar starts to melt. Switch off the stove. Let it cool approximately for 2-3 minutes. Now add the milk little by little until you are able to hold the mixture and shape into balls. Make equal sized balls of the mixture. If you are not able to shape into balls, heat the mixture for a minute and sprinkle some more milk. 
Let the balls cool completely. Store them into air tight containers.