How to make Laddu

Diposting oleh adiba
Minggu, 23 Oktober 2011
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Laddu, iam not a big fan for it. but i tell you, its so fun to make and it will be enjoyed by the kids and family. My kid calls it as chotta bheem laddu. My son, just 4 and half year old, kissed my hands and told,"Thank You Amma, for making these chotta bheem laddu!". i was completely flattered on hearing that. i never thanked my mom, whenever she prepared my favourites, but these kids know very well, how to appreciate. Hubby, whenever picking up these laddus, shouts, "kanna laddu thinna aasaiyya" to my son. Iam glad that i made these laddu's for this diwali.



Laddu is one of easiest traditional sweet to make. The trick is on besan flour mixed with water. it should not be thick or watery. it should be like our dosa batter. if this is kept in mind, every other things make you way for perfect laddu. also keep washing the boondi karandi after every batch and wipe it dry with a clean cloth before starting every batch of boondi's. this will make all boondis look even.



check my video of making Boondhi Laddu.

important tip i learned: Laddu's cannot be shaped, when boondi is so hot. leave it to cool down, when the boondi mixture is just warm, start making laddu's. its so easy to shape laddu's.

i referred cilantro and jeyashri's kitchen for making these laddu.



How to make Laddu

Prep Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 40 mins  
Serves: 10
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Sweets

Ingredients:

Besan flour /  Kadalai maavu - 1 cup (8 oz)
Cooking soda - a pinch
Water - 1/2 cup (more or less)
Oil - about 2 cup's ( for deep frying boondi's)

For Sugar Syrup

Sugar -  1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup

To fry and add to the boondi mixture:

Ghee - 2 spoons (1 and half Tbs)
Cashews - 2 tsp's (broken)
Raisins - 1 tsp
Sugar Candy / kalkandu - 1 tsp (with 1/2 tsp crushed)
Clove / lavang - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 2 (crushed)
Pachai karpooram - a pinch (though i did not add)

Method:

1. Get ready with boondi ladle and other ladle's  as shown in the pic below. also have a strainer, to strain the oil from deep fried boondi. (you can also strain the boondis in a kitchen paper towel).

have a dry clean cloth for wiping the boondi ladle after every batch.


2. Heat Oil for deep frying boondi's in a wide pan, so that the frequency of making boondis will become less and make more boondi's in every single batch.

3. Simultaneously to prepare sugar syrup, in a pan, add 1 cup of sugar and 1/2  cup of water. when the sugar syrup boils, switch the flame to medium. check for single string consistency. you will get it in 5-6 minutes. the sugar syrup will be like honey. you can check single string, by  swiping little syrup on your index finger, rub it on thumb and slowly stretch, when you get single string consistency switch off the flame and close the syrup with a lid.

4. Sieve Besan flour and cooking soda together. add water and mix it thoroughly without any lumps. see to that the besan flour and water mixed to correct consistency. it should be like our dosa batter. you can check by pouring a little batter over the boondi karandi and see the boondi's are easily falling out or not. if its not ease, mix little water.


5. Take a laddle full of besan flour mix and pour over the boondi karandi placed little above the heated oil pan. see the boondi's falliing out. Fry the Boondi's exactly for 1 minute. i left the boondi's in high flame for 1/2 minute and in low flame for another 1/2 minute. remove the boondi's to a strainer.

6. Wash the boondi laddle and wipe it clean and dry and start the next batch. dont fry the boondi till they turn golden colour, we dont want crispy boondi for sweet boondi.


7. On finishing making boondi's, add the strained boondi's to warm sugar syrup and mix well.

8. Heat a small pan, add ghee and fry cashews, raisins, cloves and add to the boondi mixed with sugar syrup.

9. Add crushed cardamom and 1/2 tsp of crushed sweet rock candy(kalkandu) & 1/2 tsp uncrushed. mix all together with the boondi mixture.

10. Heat the whole Boondi mixture in the pan in slow flame, so that if  sugar crystalised melts down. just half a minute on slow flame will do. add ghee(1/2 tsp) to the mixture and close the pan with a lid.

11. Let the boondi mixture sit in the pan for 10 minutes. the whole mixture should be warm, when you are starting to shape laddu's. (just shape it, its so easy)


12. Give the laddu's a standing time of about 1 hour, so that it binds up well. store the laddu's in an air-tight container. it keeps well for about a week and more.



Notes:

Few laddu recipes ask to powder little amount of boondi and mix with boondi mixture before shaping laddu's. my boondi's were not crushable, as they were semi-cooked(thats how it should be).

Don't increase the sugar, just follow 1:1 ratio for sugar and besan flour. this yields perfect laddu's and the sugar level is very much enough.

Adding Ghee, helps the laddu to bind, so its must to add the right amount of ghee.

Using a good quality of Gram flour(besan flour) is also important. when i tried two batches, i used two different besan flours which showed difference in boondi's.

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Sweet Boondi

Diposting oleh adiba
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I have never imagined that i will be making laddu at home. Iam flying high that i have learned a traditional sweet with ease. For the past week, i was trying few traditional sweets, so laddu also became a part of my experiment. i kept asking my friends for boondhi karandi(perforated laddle) & one of our friend Anitha got her MIL's boondi karandi for me. that was a sweet gesture from her. Thanks Dear! 


I had to gain a lot of confidence to try boondi, as i remember my mom's first attempt of making laddu was a failed attempt. after referring so many blogs and mallika badrinath's sweet book, i went on to try boondi yesterday. Yesterday i discovered that, Laddu is one of easiest traditional sweet to make. The trick is on besan flour mixed with water. it should not be thick or watery, just like our dosa batter. if this is kept in mind, every other things make you way for perfect laddu. also keep washing the boondi karandi after every batch and wipe it dry with a clean cloth before starting the next batch.this will make all boondis look even.



Sweet Boondi

Prep Time: 05 mins 
Cooking Time: 20 mins  
Serves: 4
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Sweet

Ingredients:


Besan flour /  Kadalai maavu - 1 cup (8 oz)
Cooking soda - a pinch
Water - 1/2 cup (more or less)
Oil - about 2 cup's ( for deep frying boondi's)

For Sugar Syrup

Sugar -  1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup

To fry and add to the boondi mixture:

Ghee - 2 spoons
Cashews - 2 tsp's (broken)
Raisins - 1 tsp
Sugar Candy / kalkandu - 1 tsp (with 1/2 tsp crushed)
Clove / lavang - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 2 (crushed)
Pachai karpooram - a pinch (though i did not add)

Method:

1. Get ready with boondi laddle and other laddles, as shown in the pic below. also have a strainer, to strain the oil from deep fried boondi. (you can also strain the boondis in a kitchen paper towel).
have a dry clean cloth for wiping the boondi laddle after every batch.


2. Heat Oil for deep frying boondi's in a wide pan, so that the frequency of making boondis will become less and make more boondi's in every single batch.

3. Simultaneously to prepare sugar syrup, in a pan, add 1 cup of sugar and 1/2  cup of water. when the sugar syrup boils, switch the flame to medium. check for single string consistency. you will get it in 5-6 minutes. the sugar syrup will be like honey. you can check single string, by  swiping little syrup on your index finger, rub it on thumb and slowly stretch, when you get single string consistency switch off the flame and close the syrup with a lid.

4. Sieve Besan flour and cooking soda together. add water and mix it thoroughly without any lumps. see to that the besan flour and water mixed to correct consistency. it should be like our dosa batter. you can check by pouring a little batter over the boondi karandi and see the boondi's are easily falling out or not. if its not ease, mix little water.


5. Take a laddle full of besan flour mix and pour over the boondi karandi placed little above the heated oil pan. see the boondi's falliing out. just spread the laddle, like we spread the dosa batter over tava. Fry the Boondi's exactly for 1 minute. i left the boondi's in high flame for 1/2 minute and in low flame for another 1/2 minute. remove the boondi's to a strainer.

6. Wash the boondi laddle and wipe it clean and dry and start the next batch. dont fry the boondi till they turn golden colour, we dont want crispy boondi for sweet boondi.


7. On finishing making boondi's, add the strained boondi's to warm sugar syrup and mix well.

8. Heat a small pan, add ghee and fry cashews, raisins, cloves and add to the boondi mixed with sugar syrup.

9. Add crushed cardamom and 1/2 tsp of crushed sweet rock candy(kalkandu) & 1/2 tsp uncrushed. mix all together with the boondi mixture. run your fingers over the boondi and rub them to seperate boondi's sticking to easch other.

10. Close the boondi mixture with a lid for about 2 hours. ( i left it overnight, the next day morning it was so perfect.)

11. Always give atleast 2 hrs standing time for boondi's and serve. Store the boondi's in air-tight container.
it keeps well for a week and more.


To make Laddu, its just one step short, anyways will tell you in my next post with laddu pictures.

Verdict:

Its so easy to make, it turned out so tasty and perfect. hubby and kid loved very much. only point is you got to have boondi laddle and mix the besan flour with water in correct proportion.

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Kaju Pista Roll Recipe with Video | Diwali Recipes

Diposting oleh adiba
Kamis, 20 Oktober 2011
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Kaju Pista Roll, I should have made this as soon as i made my kaju katli. I dragged for two years and yesterday i finally made it. If you are going to try kaju katli, reserve some and try these rolls and other designed sweets, which i will be posting next. I referred Sanjeev Kapoor to get idea over pista filling.




4
refer this video to prepare kaju dough



refer to prepare kaju roll. scroll down for the video of kaju pista roll

Kaju pista roll



Prep Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 30 mins  
Serves: 12
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Sweets

Ingredients:

1. Cashews - 30 / 1 cup (125 gms)
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup
3. Water - just to the level of sugar immerses ( 4 tbsp)
4. Ghee - to Grease your Palms.
5. Milk - 2 or 3 tsp's

                                                      
For Pista filling:  

 Pista - 4 tbsp 
Sugar - 1/8 cup

 Roast the pista for 2 minutes in medium flame and let it cool. Grind Pista and Sugar together to a coarse powder. set aside.
(or)
Roast at 100c for 10 minutes and powder the pista along with sugar.

 - Wash and dry your mixer, without wet.
- Grind the Cashew to the powder form.

The Ratio between Cashew Powder and Sugar is 2 : 1.
Take half cup sugar(3 oz.) in a thick bottomed pan, and pour water till it get immersed (say 4 tbsp of water).

Keep checking every half minute..

  Soon after the sugar water starts to boil, have a little in a spoon and touch it with your fingers. it will be very sticky to your fingers.( pisukku patham)

Second stage is, just drop a drop of sugar syrup on a plate, and tilt the plate, sugar syrup will start flowing.

Third and required stage for Kaju Katli is Single String Consistency.

Drop a drop of sugar syrup in a bowl of water, it should get set on bottom of the bowl and when touched, it should not dissolve in water.

When the syrup attains the third stage, put the cashew powder to the syrup and keep stirring it to avoid lumps. even break the lumps if any formed.

Keep the flame Low and keep stirring for at least 3-4 minutes.

When you see bubbles coming and blowing off from the cashew burfi and the cashew burfi should all come together without sticking to the kadaai. switch off the flame and remove from the stove. (just takes 3 - 4 minutes in slow flame)

Let it cool for about 10 minutes in tha kadaai / Pan itself. Let it Cool till your palms could bear the heat for kneading.

Grease some ghee(1/4 tsp) on your palms and knead the cashew burfi dough for about a minute or 2, till they all come out to a big ball shape. (Kaju Dough is ready). 

if you want kaju katli, knead the kaju dough for 2 minutes and roll with rolling pin(like we do our chapathi's) and make slices.
Hope you can guess next post, yes it is Kaju Apple Sweet and other ideas with kaju katli dough.

 Now for Kaju Pista Roll,

 After you have made Kaju Katli, add about 2 tsp's of milk one at a time and knead the kaju katli dough, so that dough turns little flexible, you can feel the dough's flexibility stop there and make lemon sized ball's. (while kneading, the dough may release oil. dont get panic about it)

1.Take a Lemon size of Kaju Katli Dough and roll it down with the help of rolling pin in rectangle shape, about out palm size.

 2.Take a spoon full of pista-sugar filling and place it on one side of the rectangle shaped dough.

3.Slowly roll it over tight. 

4.Roll it on a board with your palms to smoothen the roll without any cracks. 

 5.Trim either corners with knife, so that the pista stuffing peeks out.

 Like wise you can make few rolls. (or)
Roll a big ball of dough in rectangle shape place the pista filling on one end of it and roll it tight. then slice them into rolls each of 3 cm length.

You can have an idea, on watching this video.(this is my first video)
it is very hard to shoot with one hand and to work with other hand.

[Do let me know, if have trouble in loading/viewing the video]

One more way, which i have guessed is, 
Separate kaju katli dough into 2 parts, one for rolling and the other part for pista filling.
For Pista filling part, mix it up with little green food colour and the pista filling made with grounded pista and sugar. knead them all together. make cylindrical shapes from half of lemon sized dough. Now pinch a small lemon sized ball from rolling part dough. roll it and place the cylindrical shaped pista filling dough at one corner and roll it over tightly.

This may look and sound tricky, but once you lay your hands on it, you can feel how easy it is to make. so try this out for this diwali for your family and friends!!

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Badam Halwa | Diwali Sweets

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 17 Oktober 2011
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Badam Halwa brings more and more beautiful memories from past. My ammumma is an expert in making these delicious badam halwa. She always prepares for my birthdays. whenever she prepares, i used to be on her side observing what she does without talking. Both my ammumma and my avva(great grand mom) wont allow me to talk while they make sweets. that way they put all their attention into it. Yes now i also expect the same and its very important to be so cautious every minute while making this halwa.


Starting this Diwali on a Sweet Note: Enjoy each day and Make it Worthy!


I love the wrapping part very much, it makes kids go crazy over the halwa. As a kid, I used to assist my grand father and grand mom in wrapping up these halwa. My son loved very much like his mom.


Coming to the halwa, you need to be very care full at two points. one is at sugar string consistency and the other one is to check whether the halwa is done or not. I have given my observations to help you. do let me know if you have any other points to look for.


                          Badam Halwa (yields 12 pieces, each of 20 gms approx)


Badam Halwa Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 25 mins  
Serves: 12
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Sweets
Ingredients:


Badam / Almond – ½ cup (4 0z)
Cashew – ¼  cup (2 oz)
Ghee – 8 tbsp’s
Lemon Yellow Food Colour – a small pinch
Saffron – few strands

For Sugar Syrup:            
  
Sugar – ¾ cup (7 oz)  (you can add 1 cup(8 oz) of sugar, if you prefer sweeter halwa)
Water – ¾ cup


Method:

Boil a cup of water, add badam to it, let it boil for 2 mins. If the badam is aged,  it floats on top, therefore you can proceed to peel its skin.


If the badam don’t float, it means they are new, so you have to give soaking time for badams  from 1-2hrs. After 2 hrs rub their skin off.


First Grind the cashews into a coarse powder, remove the grounded into a bowl and set aside.

Secondly, Grind the soaked and skinned badam into a coarse paste with little water(about 6 tbsp’s). The coarse paste should be like the one as grainy as shown in the pic above. I prefer halwa to be grainy than so smooth. this gives a nice texture to the halwa.

Now heat a thick bottomed kadaai, add ¾ sugar. ¾ water so that the sugar immerses in water. Make sugar syrup till it reaches single string consistency.

How to check single string consistency?

 Once the Sugar Syrup starts boiling, switch over to medium flame, keep on checking the syrup every 30 seconds. It may take from 3-5 minutes in medium low flame to attain the single string consistency.

Swipe a little syrup with your pointing finger, rub it with thumb and stretch the two fingers slowly, you will get a single string.

Once the Sugar Syrup reaches single string consistency, add the grounded badam and cashew to the syrup and mix well with a slotted spoon. Make sure you break the lumps formed.

Keep stirring the halwa in medium flame for about 5 -7 minutes.

In Between, the halwa gets thicker and starts sticking to the kadaai. At this stage, you can start adding ghee 1 tbsp at a time in 1 minute intervals.

Slowly the halwa stops sticking to the kadaai and when ghee is added, halwa absorbs the ghee little later.

Add lemon yellow food colour and saffron strands to the halwa and mix well.

How to test whether halwa is done or not?


Take a small pinch of halwa with your fingers. You should be able to shape the halwa into a small ball without sticking.

Once the halwa is done, remove to a bowl. Cut the Butter Paper by 20 cm X 10 cm. 
place halwa in between, fold all sides.


Since no milk is added in halwa, this keeps well for 4-5 days. store the halwa in room temperature. 

The Next day, halwa gets little firmer and it will look like,


Hope you all enjoyed my Badam halwa, guess it was a virtual treat for all, Try it out and enjoy my most loved dessert.

Thank You Ammumma!! I wish i could have done better!

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Sri Lankan Eggplant Curry ~ Brinjal Moju

Diposting oleh adiba
Minggu, 09 Oktober 2011
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As I mentioned about Sri Lankan cuisine and my latest obsession with it, here iam sharing a very popular eggplant curry from sri lanka. This is also known as Brinjal Moju. Moju means Pickle.  As the name implies, It  has to be eaten along with rice, some dal, some stir fried greens and a little eggplant moju( just like we have pickle). I also served this pickle with dosa and it was also a winnig combination.


We loved this curry very much. This curry is so spicy and sour. Vinegar adds the sourness and it complimented to the taste of curry. A little sweetness from sugar also made this curry a extra special.
So here iam taking you all on a culinary travel to Sri Lanka..


Ingredients:

Eggplant – 1 Big one or 8 small purple brinjals
Shallots / small onions – 6
Green chilli – 2
Coconut milk – ¼ cup
Oil to Deep fry the Eggplant

Turmeric  - a pinch
Chilli Powder – 2 tsp
Roasted Sri Lankan Curry Powder – 2 tsp

To Ground

3 cloves of garlic
2’ inch ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp fruit vinegar
½ cup water

To Season

Oil – 2 tsp
2’inch cinnamon
2 cloves
1 sprig  curry leaves
  
Method:

      Wash and slice the Eggplant into strips like french fries. Mix a tsp of salt and turmeric powder to the eggplant and let it marinate for about 30 mins.  Heat Oil to Deep fry and fry the eggplant strips, till they turn brown and crisper. Drain the oil from fried eggplants in a strainer.

2    Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves, curry leaves, finely chopped green chilli and finely chopped small onions. Saute them all together till the onions turn translucent.
      
            Add a bit of salt, a pinch of turmeric powder, chilly powder and roasted curry powder and mix well with the onions.
      
            Once the Onions turn almost brown along with the curry powders, add the fried eggplant to the pan and give a mix.
    
             Add Coconut Milk and salt to taste and let the mix rest in slow flame for about a minute.

        Add the Grounded Gin-Garlic-Vinegar mix to the pan and mix well. Let the whole curry simmer for about 2 minutes.

        Garnish with Curry leaves and chopped green chilly.

Serve along with Hot steamed Rice.

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Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder

Diposting oleh adiba
Jumat, 07 Oktober 2011
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If you have read Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki or Ramayanam, you will be taken a virtual tour to Sri Lanka. I always have a sense of nativity to the country and Tamil people out there.

I love exploring cuisines, my latest attraction is on Sri Lankan Cuisine. So on looking over Sri Lankan Recipes, I realized I should make the Sri Lankan curry powder to get the color and taste of the dish to be perfect.




This Curry Powder demands 13 Spice Ingredients. All to be dry roasted, till the spices are almost browned. Roasting the spices deep brown is important, as the spice powder when ground will have the brown color & nice aroma and when it is added to the curry, it changes the color and flavor of the curry.

Roast each spice separately, in medium flame till they turn brown color. You need to be care full, as it is easy to burn the spices in the process.



Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder Recipe

Prep Time: 05 mins 
Cooking Time: 10 mins  
Serves: 2
Recipe Cuisine: Srilankan
Recipe Type: Masala

Ingredients:



Cinnamon Stick – 3’ inch
Cloves – ½ tsp
Curry Leaves – 10
Coriander seeds / Dhaniya – 2 tsp
Fennel / Sombu – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Cumin – 1 tsp
Raw Rice – 1 tbsp (You can use Basmati Rice)
Fenugreek / Vendhayam – ½ tsp
Cardamom – 2
Pepper – ½ tsp
Dry Red Chilly – 3
Mustard / Kadugu – ½ tsp



Method:

First Roast the Raw Rice in a heated pan for about 3 minutes till it turns golden colour, remove the rice to a plate. Roast other spices one by one. Roast the spices till they turn almost brown. Cool the roasted spices and grind along with roasted rice into a very fine powder.

Store the Curry Powder in a dry air tight jar.

This Curry Powder keeps well for 3 months.

You can use this curry powder in Pumpkin Curry, Eggplant Moju and other Non-Vegetarian Curries.



I will post Eggplant Moju(Pickle) next, which we liked most.

Referred BBC-Food and Rice and Curry.

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