Oats Sweet Puttu

Ingredients:
Oats - 1 cup (quick cooking)
Jaggery - 1/4 cup (powdered)
Coconut grated - 1/4 cup
Cardamom seeds - from 2 cardamoms

Method:
Dry roast the oats in medium-low flame for 4-5 minutes.
Cool. ;)
Make them powder.
Add jaggery, coconut and cardamom seeds and powder them.
Now sweet puttu is ready.
You can also serve with cashews and almonds.

Sent off to Srivalli's "Kids' Delight" event Yasmeen's "Health Nut Challenge 2: Guilt-free snacks" event and Srilekha's "EFM: Oats Series" event.

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Punjabi Rajma Curry

This dish doesn't require chopping but only grinding and boiling. I got this recipe from Nita Mehta's book.

Ingredients:
Rajma or red kidney beans - 1.5 cups
Chana dal - 1 tbsp.
Onions - 2
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 8 flakes
Tomato puree - from 3 tomatoes
Bay leaf - 1
Black Cardamom - 1 (only seeds needed)
Cloves - 2
Turmeric powder - quarter tsp.
Coriander powder - 3 tsp.
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp.
Garam Masala - half tsp.
Curd - half cup (beaten well)
Coriander - 2 tbsp.
Salt
Oil

Method:
Soak rajma and chana dal overnight.
Pressure cook rajma and chana dal with little salt.
Grind onion, ginger and garlic to a paste.
Heat oil in a kadai and add bay leaf, black cardamom seeds and clove.
Add onion paste and fry till it changes to golden brown.
Reduce heat and add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, amchur & garam masala.
Stir these ingridients for a few minutes.
Add tomato puree and cook till tomatoes turn dry and oil separates (in medium-flame).
Reduce heat and add beaten curd ( I forgot to add) and stir continuously till the masala turns red again and oil separates.
Strain and add the rajmas keeping the water aside.
Stir-fry on medium-flame for 2-3 minutes, mashing occasionally (I didn't mash).
Add the water of the rajma and required salt and let it cook for 5 minutes.
Remove from fire and add coriander leaves.
Serve with chapathis or boiled rice.

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Jangiris

Jangiri is an authentic south-Indian sweet. It's made with urad dal and soaked in sugar syrup. The shape didn't come well as I'm not a professional expert cook..........

Ingredients:

Urad dal - 1 cup

Orange colour - as you wish...

Oil (for deep frying)

For syrup:

Sugar - 2 cups

Water - 1 cup

Cardamom pods - 6

Rose Essence - few drops

Saffron strands - a pinch


Method:

Soak the urad dal for half an hour.

Grind them in a wet grinder into a smooth, fluffy and thick batter.

Add water little by little while grinding (It took me totally 45 minutes to do this).

In a bowl of water, if you add a drop of the batter, it should float up confirming that it is of the right consistency.

Add this stage add the orange colour and let it get mixed well.

After this is over, remove the batter from the grinder.

For piping the batter, use a sturdy icing pipe with round nozzle not more than 5 mm diameter.

OR Take a thick cotton 1x1 foot: punch a hole 3 mm diameter in the centre of the cloth.

Button-stitch it to strengthen the opening either by machine or hand.

Make a syrup by boiling 2 cups of sugar in a cup of water in a deep-sauce pan.

When it reaches one-string consistency, switch off the heat and add split cardamom pods, rose essence and saffron strands.

Leave a heavy ladle for dunking fried jangiris in syrup.

Heat oil in a frying pan on an adjoining burner on a medium flame.

When the oil is hot, make jangiris one at a time, directly over the oil.

Put half-cup batter in your piping cotton and gather it from 4 corners and hold it like a piping bag.

Pipe over the hot oil and inch above the surface of the oil.

A quick 2 rings of spiralling circle closely adjoining each other, continue piping small circles in one continuous thread over the rich formed by the spiral and finish when the small circles cover the entire ridge.

Break off by stopping the piping.

Move the jangiri away and pipe 2-3 more.

Fry on both sides crispy or soggy as you want.

Remove them from the frying pan with a skewer and dunk them in the syrup one at a time.

The jangiris tend to float and don't let it happen.

With a heavy syrup ladle hold it down.

After 2 minutes, they will be well soaked and ready for draining and laying out on serving tray.

Enjoy the jangiris!

Note:

-I never soaked urad dal more than 30 minutes.

-When you drop little batter in a bowl of water, it should float up.

-When you grind the urad dal in wet grinder, it will take 45-60 minutes.

-When you pipe the jangiris in the hot oil, it will try to move away so be careful and don't stop the piping till you finish it.

-Always dunk the jangiris immediately in the syrup after frying them.

-The syrup should be warm.

-Don't fry the jangiris too crispy.

Sent off to Shanthi Krishna Kumar's "Dussehra, Dhanteras & Deepavali" event, Priya's Feast's "Diwali 2009 contest" event and Sireesha's "Sweet series" event.

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Ribbon Pakoda

Ribbon pakoda is a very easy & delicious snack to make. One can make it in minutes. It's a favourite snack and it's recommended for those people who love to eat crunchy-munchy stuff.

Ingredients:
Bengal gram flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 2 pinches
Turmeric powder - 2 pinches
Salt
Oil (for deep frying)

Method:
In a bowl add butter, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder & asafoetida powder and mix well.
Add the rice flour , bengal gram flour and mix.
Now add water little by little and make into a smooth dough.
Now add this dough in a murukku presser and press directly in the hot oil.
Remove when both the sides are cooked.
Cool and store them in an air-tight container.

Sent off to Srivalli's "Kids' Delight" event Shanthi Krishna Kumar's "Dussehra, Dhanteras & Deepavali" event.

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Capsicum Ring

The mildly flavoured capsicum is used extensively as a spice, medicine and as vegetable. Capsicum known as chili, jalapeno, pepper is also famous for its health and nutritional values. Rich with vitamins A & C, capsaicin, beta carotene, capsicum has been used traditionally for treating diverse ailments right from impotency to liver disease. Capsicum helps in burning calories. It is an important souce of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Capsaicin is belived to prevent pain transmission from skin to spinal cord by scientists. Eating capsicums can provide protection from cancer and prevent blood clotting. In a study it has been found that capsaicin content in capsicum is effective in fighting off food-borne bacterial diseases.
Source: naturecure.ygoy.com

Ingredients:
Capsicums - 2 (large, sliced into rings)
I used red and yellow capsicums
Chaat masala - to sprinkle
Oil (for deep frying)

For the Batter:
Maida - 1/2 cup
Corn flour - 1/2 cup
Ginger-green chilli paste - 1tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Sugar - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Chilled water - to make batter

Method:
Sieve the flours.
Mix all the ingredients with chilled water into smooth paste except oil.
Heat the 1 tbsp oil and add to the batter. This will make the ring crispier and crunchy.
Now dip the capscium rings in the batter and gently slide into the hot oil.
Fry till the rings are golden brown on both sides.
Remove from heat.
Sprinkle chaat masala on top and serve with hot chutney or ketchup.
Recipe Source: My recipe collection

Sent off to Srivalli's "Kids' Delights".

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Boondi Laddu

Boondi laddu is our family's most favourite laddu. Every once in a year I make these for festivals.

Ingredients:

Bengal Gram flour - 2 cup

Rice flour - 1 tsp

Cooking soda - a pinch

Sugar - 1.5 cup

Water - 1 cup

Kesari powder (Saffron colour) - 1/2 tsp

Sugar candy cubes (Kalkandu) - 1 tbsp (optional)

Cashewnuts - 10 (broken)

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 2 pinches

Cooking camphor - a pinch

Oil (for deep frying)

Method:

Sift the bengal gram flour, rice flour & cooking soda.

Add enough water to make a batter.

It should be in a dosa batter consistency (not too watery or too thick).

Heat oil for deep frying in a deep wide kadai.

Place the boondi laddle (jaarini karandi) above the kadai and pour a cup of batter and shake.

Drops of batter should fall in the hot oil.

The boondi should come up immediately in oil and it should be half cooked.

When you press the boondi between your fingers it should be soft (it should not be crispy and breakable). Proceed with the remaining batter.

Meanwhile in another burner in a thick pan, add the sugar and water to prepare the sugar syrup.

When the sugar syrup reaches one string consistency remove from heat and add the cardamom powder and kesari powder. Mix well.

Now add the boondi, ghee roasted cashews, ghee & cooking camphor and mix well.
Keep aside till it becomes warm.

Add the sugar candy cubes and mix.

Make them into medium size balls. You should work very fast before this mixture becomes cool.

The sugar crystallizes when it cools.

Enjoy the beautiful and tasty laddus!

Note:

1. For making laddus it's good to have another person for help.

2. When the sugar crystallizes, sprinkle little warm milk and make balls.

3. If you feel that you have lot of boondi and little syrup, don't worry about it. Just add the required boondis to the syrup and retain the remaining boondis and vice-versa.

4. Adding colour and sugar candy is optional. Add sugar candy when the mixture is warm.

5. If you add raisins, it should be consumed within 2 days. :)

6. You can also add saffron strings and cloves.

Sent off to Saraswathi Iyer's " sweets & Savouries " event & Shanthi Krishna Kumar's

"Dussehra , Dhanteras & Deepavali " event.

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