Multigrain Chakli/ Murukku

Each day evening at around 6:30 my brain stops working, the reason being my husband.....stop..don't take me wrong...but that's actually a fact. He comes back from office and asks me something to eat along with his cuppa...and I am always short of ideas for light and little bit healthy snacks, which can keep him filled till dinner time. 

I came across this recipe in some magazine..sorry..don't remember the name...neither the exact recipe. But finally I was able to make these delicious chaklis which can be made really easily and in no time.

And these chaklis surely pleased my husband..and I too was tension free till the chakli box was empty.

Ingredients: ( Yields around 15 chaklis)

Oats- 1/4 Cup

Raagi Flour- 1/4 Cup

Wheat Flour- 1/4 Cup

Rice Flour- 1/4 Cup

Urad Daal Flour- 2 tbsp ( Dry roast and grind the daal to a fine powder)

Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp

Green Chillies- 2

Ginger- 1 Inch piece

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp+ more for frying

Procedure:

• Grind chillies and ginger together into a fine paste. Keep aside.
• Dry roast oats in a pan for 3-4 minutes. Cool and then powder fine in a mixer.
• Mix all the flours and sieve them together.
• Add salt, cumin seeds, ginger and chilli paste to the flour.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add it in the flour.
• With required water knead the flour into a soft dough.
• Keep the dough to rest for about 1/2 an hour.
• Heat oil in a frying pan. 
• Make the shape of chaklis using the chakli maker and fry them in medium heat in the oil till they are cooked and turn dark golden brown in colour.
• Remove the chaklis from oil and drain in an absorbent paper.

Store in an airtight container and relish the murukkus. And these will also be perfect to serve the guests in the coming Diwali.

Sending these to Diwali Special- Sweets and Savouries, Diwali- Festival of Lights, My Diwali My Way.

Jalebi For Indian Cooking Challenge

For us Indians any celebration or festival is incomplete without sweets. During festivals almost all the Indian kitchens have same scene~mother's and grandmother's standing for hours, sweating profusely but still making amazing sweets to feed all the greedy tummies. Jalebi is one sweet which was never made in my home, but on many weekends my dad used to treat us with the jalebi ,samosa and poha from the famous sweet shop in town. There was  always a long queue in that shop..and the jalebi's used to vanish in no time. 

When I saw Srivalli's Indian Cooking Challenge this time, I was holidaying and could not take part, but the jalebi's were daily floating in my dreams :) So after returning I made these. The process was very simple and the result was crisp finger licking good Jalebi's.

Ingredients:

For the batter:

All Purpose Flour- 100 grams

Cornflour- 30 grams

Curd- 1 cup

Lime Juice- 1 tsp

Hot Oil- 1 tbsp

Saffron Colour- a pinch

For the sugar syrup:

Sugar- 1 Cup

Water- 1/2 Cup

Lime Juice- 1/2 tsp

Saffron- few strands

Cardamom Powder- a pinch

Oil to fry the jalebis

Procedure:

• In a bowl mix together all the ingredients of the batter. Whisk everything together so that there are no lumps. Set aside overnight for fermentation.
• Make Sugar syrup by mixing sugar and water and boil it till light syrup consistency is achieved. Add in saffron, cardamom powder and lime juice. Keep the syrup warm.
• Heat oil on medium flame.
• In a squeezy ketchup bottle transfer the batter.
• Once the oil is hot squeeze the batter directly in the hot oil in the shape of spirals. Keep the temperature of the oil medium hot.
• Once the jalebis are fried , drop the hot jalebis in warm sugar syrup. Take out the jalebis in a minute out of the syrup.
• Serve the jalebis hot.

Notes:

1. Keep the batter thick.
2. The oil should be medium hot.
3. Make thin jalebis so that they stay crisp.
4. Jalebis can be served with hot milk or rabri.