Gulab Jamun

I think that words will get short when we start to describe gulab jamuns. These round sweet balls instantly melt in your mouth giving you the utmost pleasure which no other sweet is capable of. But at the same time these are so sweet that many people avoid having it. Even in my family there are both gulab jamun haters as well as lovers.

It has been long since I made anything sinful but I had to bend down to my kiddos demand and made these for her. Earlier I made gulab jamuns on special occasions using the ready to make packets, I had been terrified that gulab jamuns made from scratch may melt while frying or may turn out like meteors but there are some really talented bloggers out there who take cooking to a new dimension by simplifying even most complicated recipes , one such blogger is Sangee of Spicy Treats, she had posted the gulab jamun recipe using milk powder some time back and I was bowled over seeing the ease to make these. But then somehow never got around to make these, then again saw these in Divya's space and bookmarked the recipe.

The entire process takes less than an hour from start to finish, and the resulting gulab jamuns are soft and juicy. Though I would like to post a word of caution....eat in moderation else you would surely end up with self induced diabetic coma :)

Ingredients:

For the balls :

Milk Powder - 1 Cup

All Purpose Flour - 1/2 Cup

Baking Soda - 1/2 Tsp

Ghee - 2 Tbsp

Milk - To knead the dough

Sugar Candy - Few to stuff inside the balls (optional)

Oil or Ghee for deep frying

Pistachios - For Garnishing

For Sugar Syrup :

Sugar - 2 Cups

Water - 2 Cups

Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure :

• Take milk powder, flour, soda in a bowl. Mix well and add melted ghee. Rub the ghee in the flour to resemble bread crumbs texture. 
• Add milk little by little and knead for couple of minutes to make a smooth and non sticky dough.
• Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.
• In the meanwhile make sugar syrup by mixing sugar and water in a wide bowl and keep for boiling . Let the syrup come to rolling boil and then simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add in the cardamom powder and switch off the gas.
• Now take the dough and form small marbled sized balls. Take one sugar candy and stuff it in between each ball and make a smooth round ball without crack, but remember not to put much pressure when making the balls.
• Once all the balls are made keep oil or ghee in a small frying pan for heating. When the oil gets heated up start frying gulab jamuns in small quantities, as they will get little bigger in size while frying. Also fry in low heat to ensure even browning. keep on rotating the balls while they get fried.
• When the gulab jamuns become dark brown in colour take them off heat and dunk in warm sugar syrup. The jamuns will soak syrup and will become soft and spongy.
• Serve warm or cold garnished with slivered pistachios.

Check the notes at bottom of the post.

Notes:

• I halved the quantity of the ingredients and got around 15 gulab jamuns.
• In the original recipe milk mawa powder was used but I used ordinary milk powder, milk mawa powder will give you even more smoother and richer jamuns.
• If you do not mind the extra calories fry the jamuns in ghee for richer taste.
• The sugar candy will melt when the jamuns are fried, thus creating a hollow center.

Aata Halwa / Wheat Flour And Almonds Pudding

Last two weeks when my kiddo was at home each day seemed to be very short, our mornings started late and the day was spent  playing with her, evening also disappeared fast while she enjoyed cycling and I chatted with some friends. But now when her school has resumed and she is away from me for almost 8 hours , it seems like eternity waiting for her. I really miss her so much, the time seems to have stopped, though now I have plenty of time for myself, I really miss being troubled by her all day.

My baby has transformed into this small girl who no longer misses her mom, but enjoys her school and likes to spend time with her new friends. She has joined new school and I had been worried as how she will adjust in new atmosphere, find the way to her classroom in the huge campus and board the right bus, you know how capable we mothers are to burden ourselves with unwanted thoughts. But to my surprise after coming back from school she proudly told me how easily she herself went to class and even explored a little bit of her new campus. It's really surprising as to how independent she has become.

And to celebrate this I made her favourite Aata halwa. She got really happy and I was really very proud of her.

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour (Aata) - 1 Cup
Almonds- 3 Tbsp ( Roughly Chopped)
Clarified Butter (Ghee)- 1/2 Cup
Sugar- 1 Cup
Water- 2 Cups
Cardamom Powder- 1/4 Tsp

Procedure:

• Combine water and sugar together in a pan. Boil and keep aside.
• In a heavy bottom skillet add in ghee, once ghee heats up add in whole wheat flour.
• Roast the flour on a low flame by stirring continuously till the flour turns almost brown, this will take around 20 minutes. Take care to stir continuously else the flour may burn.
• Now add in almonds and mix nicely.
• Pour the water and sugar mixture in the flour mix and stir vigorously, so that no lumps are formed. 
• Add in cardamom powder and mix.
• Now at this stage the halwa will come together like a ball.
• Switch off the gas.

Enjoy the halwa / pudding warm.

Guest Post~Sweet & Healthy Ground Rice Balls "Aggala" From Farwin Of Love And Other Spices

This is the first guest post at "Vegetarian Tastebuds"and I cannot be more happy that it comes from a wonderful friend Farwin Simaak, the creator of yummilicious blog "Love And Other Spices". In this virtual food blogging world we make many friends whom we know via their blogs, with some we connect in facebook , with some we engage in chats but there are only few with whom we get to meet and talk.


 Farwin is one such dear friend whom I met here in Dubai, she is a lovely person, talented blogger and above all a super mom of twin boys. She clicks beautiful pictures which are a treat for the eyes and also makes superb dishes. Farwin hails from Sri Lanka and we can see glimpse of her beautiful country in the food she cooks. Have a look at her Srilankan Milk Toffee With Nuts, Mint Custard Pudding and Coconut Roti & Sambal... you can see how unique these dishes are and her presentation is simply beautiful. 

Before few days we were chatting over phone and I asked her to write a guest post for me, she being such a sweetheart did not even think twice and immediately said yes. I was very thrilled as she is the first ever guest I invited at my space. I requested Farwin to make any traditional Srilankan dish for me, and when she sent me her mail with these Sweet & Healthy Ground Rice Balls called "Aggala" in local language, I was super thrilled to see her beautiful post with gorgeous pictures. Thanks a bunch Farwin for being such a sweetheart and providing me with a lovely guest post. 

Please welcome Farwin and do not forget to check her Facebook page and follow her on twitter. 

It's no myth that blogosphere has so many wonderful things to offer.Recipes that has amazing and an uncommon list of ingredients to the mouthwatering and saliva drooping food photos,you name it,you got it all. The most wonderful thing that offers, according to me is the hand of friendship. Isn't it amazing to find a friend who has the same tastes,similar opinions towards life and above all, blogs to discuss about ? We could go on for hours chatting. I met Raji online through the Fooderati Arabia and met in person at one of the foodie tours around Dubai. We clicked off immediately. She is this warm,friendly,down to earth person. And we have some meet ups planned and I'm sure we're going to enjoy it. Raji,thanks for giving me this opportunity. Apologize for the delay in submitting the blog post even though you wanted it some times back.

I planned to do a snack well known to me while I was growing up. It's called "Aggala" in local language. Actually I'm not quite sure how to call it in English.It's made with roasted  and ground rice,coconut and jaggery. I was thinking of calling it "Rice balls". But that would be similar to  rice balls dipped in various sauces found in Oriental cooking.This is something entirely different. Energy balls ? Sure they will give you loads of energy with all the coconut and jaggery content along with nuts. And it can definitely pass the healthy food test. I think I would settle on "Sweet and Healthy Ground Rice Balls".

According to Sinhalese folk lore, this snack was carried by travelers on a long journey to satisfy their hunger cravings and for energy needs. Back at home mom would prepare these for tea. This is also a popular snack when visitors arrive on a short notice. For us lankans,rice,coconut and jaggery are staples. If we are short on jaggery or coconut,a quick run to the grocery store a couple of blocks away is all we got to do. We never used to serve biscuits or shop bought goodies,it's always homemade snacks like this with tea for visitors. I still remember a distant aunt of mine who is famous for "Aggala" . For some reason,she never got bored of making these. Whenever we visit her,we are sure to find these along with"Aval" a snack made with flattened rice, with tea.

This snack is a breeze to make apart for roasting the rice. White raw rice is normally used for this,but I happen to have some brown basmati rice waiting to be used. I used  Kithul or black Jaggery. I didn't use any sugar. Use sugar if you are after some intense sweetness. Hope you'll like this simple and satisfying snack.

Here's the recipe.

1 cup rice

1 cup grated fresh coconut

125g jaggery (shaved or grated)

finely chopped nuts

pich of salt

sugar(optional)

water about 1/4 cup

desiccated coconut to garnish

Wash the rice under running water twice or thrice or until the water runs clear. Once it's fully drained,keep it aside.

Heat a heavy bottom skillet and add the rice.Roast the rice,stirring continuously for about 10 minutes until you hear the rice pop. Roast till the rice turns light brown in color. Make sure to keep the the flame, low to medium lest you burn the rice.

Transfer the rice off from fire to a bowl, and let it warm. When it's warm enough to handle,grind the rice on a food processor.Not very fine,though. It's ok to have a few grainy pieces.

Mix the flour with a pinch of salt,coconut and jaggery. Add water bit by bit and mix until it forms a mass. Add the chopped nuts.

Wet your palms with water,take a piece of the dough and roll it into a ball. Add more water if you feel the dough is breaking apart or not coming together.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

You can garnish with dessicated coconut and extra chopped nuts.

Linking this to Sensible Vegetarian's Cook Eat Healthy Desserts originally founded by Raven.

Malai Laddoo/ Cottage Cheese Sweet - Think Pink

Before few days I got an invite from Arva of I live in a frying pan to join the Fooderati Arabia group...can't tell you how excited I was. I immediately accepted the invite and was happy to be a part of the group consisting of talented bloggers from UAE...these guys have wonderful blogs and I was amazed at how active they were in the group. They meet regularly, organize many monthly events, outings and they are a great support group. 

Through this group I came to know about Breast Cancer Awareness event. October is Breast Cancer awareness month and I am contributing by making a pink post. For people residing in Dubai~ our two fellow FIA members Rajani And Lin are donating 10% of their sales to the Safe & Sound- Breast Cancer Awareness Programme. Visit them at their FB page to know more.

Do support the breast cancer campaign by liking Safe & Sound.

Ingredients: 

Cottage Cheese( Paneer)- 250 grams

Condensed Milk- 3/4 Cup

Cardamom Powder- A pinch

Beetroot Purée- 1 tsp ( or few drops of red food colour)

Clarified Butter( ghee)- 2 tsp

Procedure:

• Grate and mash the cottage cheese.
• In a non stick pan add in the clarified butter along with cottage cheese and condensed milk and cook on low heat.
• When the mixture starts thickening and leaving the sides of pan add in the cardamom powder and turn of the heat.
• Transfer the mixture in a plate and divide it in two parts.
• In one part add in the beetroot purée/ food colour and mix it nicely. The mixture will turn pink in colour.
• Once the mixture cools take out a portion out of  the white part and roll it in a small marble size round and keep aside. 
• Then take the pink colour dough and take out a big portion out of it. Roll it in a little big round and then with thumb make an impression in the centre, keep the white coloured small marble inside it and then seal all the sides and make a round ball.
• Repeat the process with other balls as well.
• I made some with white centre and some with pink centre.

This is how the laddoos looked from inside.

These are best when served fresh but  can also be kept in refrigerator for 2 days.

Do check out what our other FIA members have posted for this event-

The Pink Ribbon - According To Dina
Pink Ribbon Salad- Life in the food lane
Strawberry & Fig Tartlet- Eaternal Zest
Raspberry Melting Moments/ Orange Blossom Fig Torte- La Me`re Culinaire
Super Foods And Cancer- Irina Savva
Chicken Curry Spring Rolls- Ginger & Scotch
Going Pink- Devina Divecha

Mysore Pak/ Gram Flour Fudge

Mysore Pak aka Gram Flour Fudge is a sinfully rich sweet with only three ingredients...a bite of it will make you crave for more and more...and if eaten without moderation it is sure to make us pull out fat pants from the closet. I was wondering about its name origin...and there came Wikipedia at my rescue. Mysore pak seems to be originated in the kitchen of royal palace of Mysore and hence got it's name.

Mysore Pak is of two kinds...one is a bit hard with crumbly texture and the other has soft and smooth texture and just melts in the mouth. Our family is fond of the softer one so I made this. I saw this recipe in Sharmi's space and immediately bookmarked it. Thanks for this wonderful recipe Sharmi...it's just so perfect.

Ingredients: ( Recipe Source- Sharmispassions)

Besan/ Gram Flour- 1 Cup

Ghee/ Clarified Butter- 1 Cup ( 3/4 Cup in flour and 1/4 Cup while stirring)

Sugar- 1 Cup

Water- 1/4 Cup

Procedure:

• Roast the gram flour in a non stick pan with 1 tsp of ghee. Roast in low heat by continuous stirring till the raw smell of flour disappears. 
• Sieve the flour so that there are no lumps.
• In a bowl put the flour and add the 3/4 Cup of ghee. Mix well without any lumps. Keep the paste aside for 15 minutes.
• Grease a plate with ghee and keep aside.
• Meanwhile mix together sugar and water in a non stick pan and keep on medium heat with occasional stirring till single thread consistency is achieved. 
• Keep the remaining 1/4 Cup of ghee to heat in low flame. 
• Now reduce the gas flame to low and add the flour paste slowly by slowly in the sugar syrup while continuously stirring it with another hand.
• Now start adding to it the hot 1/4th Cup of ghee slowly by slowly in intervals. Keep stirring.
• Slowly the mixture will start leaving the sides and it will start coming together without sticking to the pan.
• At this stage pour the mixture in the greased plate. It will spread itself smoothly.
• When little cool cut it into desired shapes.

Oats And Carrot Kheer

Happy Dussehra....celebrate the festival with this heart friendly but at the same time delicious kheer. My family enjoyed this kheer a lot and it's not very time consuming to make. 

I have used only saffron and cardamom for the flavouring. Nuts can be added to make the kheer more rich and flavourful.

Ingredients:

Milk- 3 Cups ( I have used half cream milk)

Carrot- 1 medium (grated)

Oats- 2 tbsp

Sugar- 4 tbsp( or more)

Saffron- A pinch soaked in a tbsp of warm milk

Cardamom Powder- A pinch

Procedure:

• Dry roast the oats for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside.
• Boil the milk in a pan and add the grated carrots.
• Once the carrots get cooked add in the oats.
• Continue boiling and keep stirring in between.
• The oats will cook in around 5 minutes. 
• Once the oats have cooked add in the sugar and soaked saffron. Boil for another 5 minutes and add in the cardamom powder.
• Remove from heat and serve hot.

Sending this kheer to Diwali Special-Sweets & Savouries, Serve it- Festival Potluck, Diwali Sweet Recipes- Festival recipes-Indian sweet recipes, Diwali- Festival of Lights, My Diwali My Way

Also sending this to Pari's Only-Sweets and Dessert event hosted by Gayathri.

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.

Steamed Semolina and Carrot Cake

This is the time of the year when I pack my bags and anxiously count the days to go to India and meet my family.  Though I visit India every year but still each time its the same experience...nostalgic. And it's the same for them also...my parents, brother and my in- laws all anxiously wait for us to arrive and spend some days with their beloved grand child. My daughter will be spoilt with all the love, affection and how to forget..so many gifts as well. After coming back it becomes a great task for me to arrange her cupboard with the goodies she gets from her thathas, paatis and maama.

And before going  I have to do multitude of tasks...shopping, packing and cleaning my pantry, cupboards etc, and again I am finding myself short of time. I am also not able to feed my blog baby regularly and the cooking is also minimal in my kitchen, just using up what all is left in my pantry and still trying to eat healthy.

I had some semolina left and I was looking for some different way to use it up...just a bit fed up of eating upma....have to say~sorry dear upma but I need a change. I came across this recipe in Anjali's blog and was instantly hooked on it. I made very few changes to the original recipe and within 30 minutes I had  delicious slices of healthy and sweet steamed semolina and carrot cake...absolutely ~ guilt free.

Ingredients:

Semolina- 1/2 Cup
Carrot - 1 medium ( Grated)
Yoghurt- 1/2 Cup
Milk- 2 Tbsp
Sugar- 1/3 Cup or little more
Baking Powder- 1/2 Tsp
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 Tsp
Almonds- Chopped 7-8
Ghee- 1 Tsp to grease the dish

Procedure:

• Grease a round dish with 1 tsp ghee to steam the cake and keep aside.
• Dry roast semolina in low heat till slight golden brown in colour. Set aside to cool.
• In another big bowl combine all the ingredients and whisk till the sugar dissolves.
• Transfer the batter to the greased dish and steam on high in a pressure cooker ( without the whistle) for 20-25 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Once cool invert the cake onto a plate, and serve by cutting in slices.

Linking this to Ayeesha's Any One Can Cook Series- 23
Priya and Aipi's Every Tuesday- Bookmark event

Mango Vermicelli Halwa

With mango season in full bloom I am getting to see many wonderful mango related posts in the blogosphere. And how long could I have stayed away from making a mango based sweet. My daughter liked this a lot and I am sure I will be making this again for few more times till the mangoes keep arriving.

Ingredients:

Vermicelli- 1 Cup

Mango Pulp- 1/2 Cup( I used fresh Alphonso mango pulp)

Milk- 1 1/4 Cup

Granulated Sugar- 1/4 Cup- 1/3 Cup( depending on sweetness required)

Ghee- 3 tsp divided

Almonds- To Garnish

Procedure:

• Heat a skillet/ kadhai and add 1 tsp of ghee. Add the vermicelli and roast till golden brown. Take out on a plate and keep aside.
• In same kadhai add milk and keep for boiling. Once milk comes to boil add the roasted vermicelli and cook covered till vermicelli cooks completely.
• Add the mango pulp and sugar and cook until sugar dissolves.
• Add the remaining 2 tsp of ghee and cook for some more time.
• Garnish with almonds. 

Serve hot.

Green Peas Kheer And An Ode To All Mothers

" Most of all other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world "

Kate Douglas Wiggin

On mother's day we all remember our mother who has been selfless, compassionate and our best pal...with whom we can share everything and always lean on. I came across this article in Chicken Soup for women's soul and wanted to share it with all you wonderful mothers.

Help Wanted- The Ideal Mother

A job description for the kind of mother who would be an ideal mother for a baby might read like-

Wanted- Easygoing, relaxed, loving type to care for infant. Should enjoy rocking, cuddling, be able to hold baby patiently for 20 minutes feeding every three to four hours without fidgeting. Light sleeper, early riser. No degree necessary. Must take all shifts, seven day week. No vacation unless can arrange own mother as temporary substitute. No opportunity to advance.

A year and half later job description would read like-

Wanted- Athlete in top condition to safeguard tireless toddler. Needs quick reflexes, boundless energy, infinite patience. Knowledge of first aid essential. Must be able to drive, cook, phone, work despite constant distractions. Workday 15 hours. No coffee or lunch breaks unless child naps. Would consider paediatric nurse with Olympic background.

In another 18 months same mother should be able to meet these qualifications-

Position open- Expert in early childhood education to provide stimulating, loving, creative, individualized learning environment for preschooler. Should have experience in art, music, recreation, be able to speak one foreign language. Training in Linguistics, psychology and Montessori desirable. Two hours off five days a week and when nursery school is in session and child is well.

Between 6-12 years these qualifications has to be met-

Good Opportunity- For expert in recreation, camping, Indian arts, all sports. Should be able to referee. Must be willing to be den mother, room mother, block mother. Public relation skills essential. Should be able to deal effectively with teachers, PTA officers, other parents. Knowledge of sex education, new math required. Must have no objections to mud, insect collections, pets, neighbour's kids.

For 13-14 these requirements must be met-

Job Available- For specialist in adolescent psychology, with experience in large quantity cooking. Tolerance is chief requirement. Slight hearing loss helpful or must provide own ear plugs. Must be unflappable. Should be able to sense when presence is embarrassing to child and disappear.

After 18 years as a working mother, a woman is qualified for only one more job-

Urgently Needed- Financier to provide money, clothes, music, wheel to collegian. No advice necessary. Position may last indefinitely. Ample time left to take income- producing work.

So to my mom and all the mother's out there wishing a very Happy Mother's Day. We are perfect candidates for all the positions mentioned above...enjoy the day and treat yourself for we all are special.

Sharing today a sweet kheer made with green peas..unique and special .

Ingredients:

Green Peas- 1/2 Cup (I used frozen)

Whole Milk- 3 Cup

Sugar- 1/4 Cup

Ghee- 2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder- 1/4 tsp
Cashew nuts- Roasted For Garnishing

Procedure:

Boil the green peas till soft. Drain and cool. Once cool grind the peas in mixie fine and keep aside.

In one vessel keep the milk for boiling. Reduce till the milk thickens a bit. In another pan heat ghee and roast the ground green peas till raw smell reduces. Add in the thickened milk and add sugar. Stir and boil for sometime. Add in sugar and keep stirring till the kheer thickens a bit. No need to boil the kheer for long as the kheer will thicken once cool. Switch off the gas and add cardamom powder. Add in cashew nuts. Serve either hot or cool..both ways it tastes great.

Sending this kheer to MLLA# 35 brainchild of Susan and hosted by kannada Cuisine

Chocolate and Pistachio Slices

This is a recipe which I had kept since quite some time but it was hiding inside my diary and was long forgotten. Yesterday while I was going through my diary, this recipe paper fell out and my daughter got hold of it. The paper was wrapper of of nestle's condensed milk. When my daughter saw the recipe picture she told mummy you should be making this...this looks so yummy. And as I had all the required ingredients I decided to make this.

The chocolate and pistachio slices were very good. Crispy in the bottom with gooey middle and crunchy on the top from the pistachios.

(Recipe Source: Nestle)

Ingredients:

For the crust-

Plain Digestive/Marie biscuits- 200gms crumbled

Unsalted Butter- 150gms melted

For the topping-

Sweetened Condensed Milk- 1 tin(395 gms)

Butter- 50 gms

Brown Sugar- 50 gms

Cooking Chocolate- 200gms (chopped)

Pistachios- 1/2 cup( chopped)

Procedure:

• For the crust combine biscuits and butter then press the dough into a rectangular cake tin and bake in a pre heated oven at 190 degrees C for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• Place butter, sugar, condensed milk in a non stick saucepan. Cook with stirring over low heat for 5-6 minutes or until the caramel is light golden colour and thick.
• Remove from heat and pour the caramel over the crust in the tin. Set aside to cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate in microwave and stir in the pistachios. Spread the melted chocolate over the caramel topping and allow to set completely in the refrigerator.
• Cut into desired shapes to serve.
  
  

Sending these to Priya and Aipi's Bookmarked Event- Every Tuesday

And also to Hearth and Soul Blog Hop co hosted by Kankana

Vattayappam for ICC

This month Srivalli challenged us to make a unique dish from Kerala known as Vatteppam or Vattayappam. Initially I thought of skipping this challenge as I was really taken aback by seeing the long recipe, but after reading the recipe for 2-3 times and seeing comments from fellow bloggers who already made this..I decided to give this a try. And after seeing and tasting the end result I was really happy that I tried this.

Thanks to Srivalli who gave this wonderful challenge and also to Shn whose recipe we followed.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice- 1 Cup (soaked for 6 to 8 hours)

Cooked Rice- 2 tbsp

Grated fresh Coconut- 3/4th cup

Thari Kurukku (Porridge)- 4 tbsp

Instant Dry Yeast- 1/4 tsp

Sugar- 3/4th Cup

Cardamom- 1tsp

Cashewnuts- Broken and Roasted in ghee

Raisins- Puffed in ghee

Procedure:

• Grind the soaked rice in a mixer adding very little water and when it is little coarse remove 2 tbsp of it for making thari kurukku.
• After removing 2 tbsp of coarse paste add grated fresh coconut to the remaining paste and grind it till fine consistency is achieved. Use very little water to grind the paste.
• Add the cooked rice to the batter and grind again. Set aside with the jar to cool.
• To make thari kurukku- In a pan combine the 2tbsp of coarse paste with 1/2 cup of water and cook it on medium flame stirring continuously till it reaches a thick porridge consistency. Switch off the gas and keep the paste aside.
• Add 4 tbsp of this thari kurukku mixture to the ground batter and grind again in the mixer.
• Add the instant dry yeast to this mixture and pulse 2-3 times for everything to blend well.
• Transfer the final batter to a big steel utensil and allow to ferment for 6 hours or overnight.
• When the batter is fermented add 3/4 th cup of sugar and mix gently. Keep to rest for 2 hours.
• Before steaming add the cardamom powder and mix in nuts in the batter.
• Pour the batter in a greased round cake tin and keep it in the pressure cooker filled with water without whistle to steam for 30 minutes or till done.
• After removing the cake tin from the pressure cooker allow the vatteppam to cool completely before taking it out.

• Transfer it to a serving plate and cut in wedges. Serve and enjoy.

Nutella Rice Pudding

Nutella is my family favourite... we can never say no to this delicious spread. So I made this delicious rice pudding which gets ready in very less time and tastes yummilicious.

Ingredients:

Whole Milk- 1 Cup

Condensed Milk- 2 tbsp

Fresh Cream- 1 tbsp + little more for topping

Sugar- 2 or 3 tbsp

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder- 1 tbsp

Nutella- 2 tbsp

Cooked Rice- 1 Cup

Cardamom Powder- 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Combine everything except rice and cardamom powder and bring to boil. Once a boil comes then add the cooked rice and continue to cook till most of the milk is absorbed and a thick consistency is achieved. Add cardamom powder and mix well then switch off the gas.

Serve with a dollop of fresh cream.

Sending this to Pari's- ONLY Original Recipe event hosted by Nivedita of Nivedita's Kitchen.

Torview's Food Palette Series- Brown event.

Gujiya - Sweet Treat for Holi

होली आई , होली आई,

रंग बिरंगी होली आई ,

धूम मचाती होली आई ,
घर घर में खुशियाँ लायी ,
बच्चों की यह टोली आई ,
हाथ में पिचकारी लायी ,
रंग गुलाल उडाती आई ,
होली आई होली आई !!!

This is the poem which we used to read in our books in school. The colourful holi brings lots of happiness in everybody's heart and home. The festival is a delight for the kids who love to play with lots of colours and water. A big bucket of coloured water will be kept ready and no one will be spared. It's a day to take blessings of the elders as well.

And how can we forget all the special treats for holi...poori, malpua, thandai and gujiya. So today I am going to share gujiya recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Crust-

APF- 2 Cups
Salt- A PinchGhee - 2 tbsp (Hot)


For the Filling-

Mawa- 300 gms
Dessicated Coconut - 1/2 Cup
Powdered Sugar- 1 Cup
Semolina- 1 tbsp
Poppy Seeds- 1 tbspCashew Nuts- 1/2 Cup ( Coarsely powder in mixer)
Almonds- 1/2 Cup ( Coarsely powder in mixer)
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp

Milk - 2 tbsp to seal the dough

Oil/ Ghee to fry

Procedure-

• Prepare the dough for outer crust by mixing APF, Salt and Ghee. Knead by adding warm water little by little till the dough is soft and smooth. Set aside by covering the dough for 15 minutes.


• Prepare the filling by roasting mawa, till the raw smell goes and golden brown colour is achieved. Set aside to cool.


• Once the mawa is cooled add the semolina, coconut, powdered sugar, powdered nuts, poppy seeds, cardamom powder. Mix everything nicely.
• Take a small portion of the dough and roll it in a thin round of about 5-6 cms diameter and place the thin puri in the gujiya mould and place about 1-1 1/2 tbsp of the filling in the centre.


• Dip finger in the milk and apply it on the edges of the mould to seal it and close the mould ensuring that there is no filling coming in the sealed edges.


• Make all the gujiyas like wise.


• Heat oil in a deep kadhai/ wok and fry the gujiya's in low to medium heat till the crust turns light golden brown from outside. Take out and drain on an absorbent paper. Once cooled store the gujiya's in air tight container.

Enjoy flaky and sweet gujiya's with your friends and family and wishing everybody "Happy Holi'

Suruttai Poli for Indian Cooking Challenge

This month Srivalli challenged us to make Suruttai Poli which is a traditional Tamil Nadu dish originating from Southern States of Tamil Nadu. I had never heard about nor seen this dish so it was a real challenge to attempt this one. But I am happy that I did attempt this challenge and was able to bring out a delicious outcome out of this.

Thanks to Nithya and her mother for suggesting this dish. Since I was making this for first time I followed the recipe to the T.

Ingredients:

For the Filling -

Chutney Daal/ Pottu Kadlai/ Roasted Gram - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup

Cashews - 20 -25 broken in very small pieces

Fresh Scrapped Coconut - 1 tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp

Powdered Sugar - little for dusting

For the Appalams-

APF - 1 Cup

Salt - A Pinch

Oil - For Deep Frying

Procedure-

• Mix APF, salt and knead into a stiff dough by adding water little by little. Set aside the dough to rest for half an hour.
• Meanwhile make the filling by grinding roasted gram and sugar together. Heat ghee and fry the chopped cashews, as soon as they turn golden add the grated coconut and immediately turn off the gas.
• Mix all the ingredients of the filling together. Keep aside the prepared filling.
• Take small balls out of the dough and roll them in very thin applam like circles. Spread these in paper and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in kadhai and deep fry the applam till its just cooked and is still flexible. The applams should not fluff up like pooris. Immediately take out of the oil and spread the filling inside and roll it tight keeping the seem side facing down.
• The real challenge is spread the filling and roll the polis fast as they will turn crisp and will start breaking once cool.

I dusted the polis with powdered sugar as it was shown in Pavithra's post.

Flaxseed, Oats, Dates and Nuts Ladoo

Lately I have been seeing many innovative dishes in the blogosphere made of healthy ingredients...and I am always spellbound and speechless by seeing fellow bloggers creativity. Before coming in the blogosphere I never thought of cooking with healthy ingredients like flax seeds, oats and dates etc. To me the use of oats was limited to gooey porridge and dates packs were simply munched on and they used to vanish in no time. But now after seeing all the yummy and innovative dishes I too thought of making something with healthy ingredients and hence made these laddoos.

The laddoos turned out even more good than I had expected. Now I will be making these more often.

During my last supermarket trip I got these wonderful Tunisian dates which looked very good and were very soft, moist and sweet. So these dates were put to good use in these laddoos.

I also used makhana or fox nut in the laddoos. These fox nuts added a special crunch to the laddoos.

Ingredients:

Oats- 1 cup

Flax seeds- 2 tbsp

Peanuts- 1/4 cup

Dates- 15- 18

Almond meal- 2 tbsp

Cashews, Almonds, Pistachios- 1/4 cup mixed( all chopped)

Makhana- 1/4 cup

Powdered Sugar- 1/4 cup( increase or decrease according to the sweetness of the dates)

Cardamom Powder- 1/4 tsp

Milk- 2 tbsp

Ghee- 3 tbsp( divided)

Procedure:

• Dry roast oats for 5 minutes and cool down.
• Powder oats and flaxseeds together. Keep aside.
• Dry roast peanuts and remove skin when cooled. Grind nicely and mix with oats and flaxseed powder.
• Remove seeds of dates and grind it with 2 tbsp or little more of milk into a thick paste.
• Break each fox nut( makhana) in small pieces and roast all in 2 tsp of ghee till light golden in colour and crunchy in texture.
• Roast mixed nuts also in a part of ghee.
• Combine oats, flaxseed and peanuts mixture with almond meal, dates paste, makhana, nuts, cardamom powder and powdered sugar. Mix everything well.
• Heat remaining ghee and add in the mixture. Now make lemon sized small balls out of it. Add little more hot ghee if required.
• I got around 15 small lemon sized laddoos with this proportion.

After being photographed this loner went straight in my mouth to satisfy my craving.

Sending this to :

Akila's Dish name starts with F event.

CWS- Flax seeds event of Priya Suresh hosted by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan recipes.

Torview Toronto's Food Palette series- Brown event.