Recipe world: Festival Special recipes

Showing posts with label Festival Special recipes. Show all posts

Kaayi Unde or Kaayunde is one of my favourite sweet snacks from childhood. As the name indicates, the main ingredients in this sweet dish are coconut and jaggery. To make it more tastier, nuts like toasted groundnuts or cashews can also be added.

Here is the recipe of Kaayi Unde for you all!

Time required: 30 minutes
Difficulty level: Medium
Serves: 28 balls

Ingredients:

Fresh grated coconut - 3 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup (either powder or liquid)
Roasted groundnuts - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Recipe Instructions:

Take the toasted groundnuts, peel off the skin and pulse them in the mixie or food processor into small chunks.
Combine fresh grated coconut and jaggery in a wide pan, keep mixing it on medium flame.
Slowly, the water content in the coconut releases and the jaggery combines well with the coconut. If the mixture looks too dry, you can add 1 - 2 tablespoon of water to make it moist.
Keep mixing the mixture for around 20 minutes, till you see the mixture starts thickening and starts to leave the sides of the pan. Take a small bit of the mixture and check whether you are able to form a ball.
Turn off the flame, add the groundnuts and cardamom powder. Mix everything well.
Once the mixture is lukewarm, grease your palm with a few drops of ghee / oil, take small portions of the mixture and shape them into balls.
Store these chewy sweet balls in an air tight container and enjoy them anytime!

Tips:

You can add cashew-nuts instead of groundnuts.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ

I rarely prepare deep fried items at home. Dishes like Poori, Bajji, Bonda are always tempting. But as far as possible, we want to avoid eating food thats too oily. But I can't avoid making Chaklis when there's huge demand from my daughter!

Months back, I had eaten Chakli at one of my Aunt's home. They were so tasty and I was surprised to hear that she had used Curd for making those Chaklis! Then one fine day, again on daughter's demand, I tried Chaklis using my own selection of ingredients along with curd. They turned out so crunchy and yum! This recipe looks very handy and easy for me now. Here is my easy peasy Chakli recipe for you all..

Preparation time: 2 hours

Difficulty level: Medium

Yield: 60 challis (varies depending on the size)

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 4 cups
Roasted bengal gram dal / Pottu Kadalai - 1/2 cup
Butter - lemon size
Salt - for taste
Sugar - 1 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp or to taste
Carom seeds / Ajwain - 1 tsp
Till seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Water (approx) - 2 1/4 cup

Method:

Combine roasted bengal gram dal, carom seeds, till seeds and cumin seeds and make a fine powder.
Mix it with rice flour, salt, sugar and red chilli powder in a large bowl.
Add heated butter to the flour mixture and mix it well with your hands.
To this, add 1/2 cup of curd and mix well.
Add water little by little and make a soft, non sticky dough like chapathi dough.
Fill the prepared dough in Chakli Press (Chakli Maker). Press the dough and make them into spiral shapes.
Heat the oil in a wide pan and deep fry these spirals till they turn crispy.
Enjoy crispy, delicious Chaklis anytime!

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Hi everybody,

I am here with a new recipe after long time. Life has made me busy with the arrival of our second baby. Taking care of two naughty kids is not an easy task. But I'm not exhausted, I'm enjoying this phase of life with them :)

Well, this is the recipe of Chakli which my Mom prepared during her stay with us. My daughter is a big fan of Chakli and this was made on her demand. Try this melt in mouth Chakli and I'm sure you will love it!

Preparation time: 2 hours

Soaking time: 2 - 3 hours

Difficulty level: Difficult

Yield: 60 Chaklis (depending on the size)

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 big cup full (1 cup = 175 gms)
Roasted rice flour - 3 1/2 cup (approx)
Till seeds - 4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Carom seeds - 2 tbsp
Butter - lemon size
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Water for grinding

Method:

Wash the rice 2 times and soak it in water for 2-3 hours.
Drain the soaked rice and grind it along with till seeds, cumin seeds and carom seeds into fine paste. Add water as required. Consistency should be like the Dosa batter.
Add 2 1/2 tsp salt and 2 cups of water to the prepared batter and mix well.
Transfer the batter to a thick bottomed vessel and keep stirring on medium flame for few minutes. Add lemon size butter while heating up the batter.
When the batter thickens, add around 3 1/2 cups (or as needed) of roasted rice flour and mix it when its still hot.
Knead the dough well and prepare a soft, non sticky dough ball. Keep the dough covered with a wet cloth and take out small portions as needed.
Fill the dough in a Chakli press and make them into spirals.
Deep fry in hot oil and crispy Chaklis are ready to eat!

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Dosa is one of the most common breakfast item in South India. South Indian people are good at making varieties of dosas. In rural places like my native, they prepare dosas using different vegetables which are available locally. Colocasia Stems Dosa or Kesuvina Dantina Dose is one such dosas which will be prepared mainly after the rainy season has started when plenty of colocasia plants are grown in the backyard. Colocasia Dosa is the main dish for Gangashtami festival, which will be celebrated at my native place.

Here in Australia, sometimes we will get colocasia plants in the farmers markets. When we buy them, I would love to prepare my native style dishes using them. One of them is Colocasia Stems Dosa or Kesuvina Dantina Dose. Do try this sweet dosa and enjoy eating them with butter!

Time required: 15 minutes

Soaking/fermentation time: 4 - 5 hours

Difficulty level: Medium

Yield: 10 - 11 dosas

Ingredients:

Rice - 3 cups (1 cup = 110 gm)
Colocasia Stems chopped into medium size pieces - 7 to 8 cups
Jaggery - 1/2 cup or for sweetness
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the rice and soak it in water for 2 - 3 hours.
Transfer the chopped Colocasia Stems into a vessel. Add salt and jaggery for taste and cook it covered on low flame till soft. Don't add any water, the water content in the Colocasia Stems will be sufficient to cook them.
Once the cooked mixture cools down, mix it with drained rice and grind them into fine paste. No need to add any water while making the batter coz the cooked mixture will be watery which helps to make a smooth batter.
Allow the batter to set for 1 - 2 hours before making dosas.
Heat the dosa pan. Pour a ladle full of batter and gently spread it into a semi-thick circle. Pour few drops of oil and cook it on both the sides.
Enjoy them hot with some butter on the top!

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Besan Ladoo is one among those famous sweets which are prepared during special occasions in India. In my home, we three are huge fans of these delicious sweet balls. Being made of besan flour along with generous amount of ghee, sugar, dry fruit and nuts, its good for health too.
Below is the recipe of Besan Ladoo, try them and enjoy with your loved ones!

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 Ladoos
Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Besan flour / Gram flour - 2 cups (1 cup= 125 gm)
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee / clarified butter - 3/4 cup minus 1 tbsp
Cardamom / Elachi powder - 1 tsp (See Tips)
Raisins - 15
Broken cashews - 2 tbsp

Method:

Combine besan flour and ghee in a heavy bottom pan and keep stirring it on low flame till nice aroma comes.
When the flour is toasted half - way, add raisins and broken cashews and continue toasting. Otherwise, you can toast them separately with few drops of ghee and mix with the flour after its toasted.
Take the sugar and make a fine powder out of it.
Allow the toasted flour to cool down for a while till it becomes lukewarm. Add powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Mix it well.
Make equal sized balls from the mixture. Store them in an air tight container.

Tips:

If you add more ghee to this recipe, mixture will become very soft and the ladoos won't hold the shape. In such cases, you can refrigerate the ladoos for around 15 - 20 minutes immediately after preparing them.
If cardamom powder is not there, mix the cardamom seeds along with sugar while powdering it.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Makara Sankranti is one of the famous festivals which is celebrated by Hindus. January is the month when different agricultural crops are ready for harvest. Makara Sankranti is known as the festival of harvests. In different parts of India, this festival is celebrated with different names like Pongal, Bogi Pallu, etc.

At my native, we prepare 'Sankranti Kalu', tiny balls of sugar syrup which will have sesame seeds inside. Being kids, we were enjoying eating them during those days. All the people in the household along with friends and relatives enjoy eating them with other festive specials. This festival will end up with a sweet note - 'Eat sweet and talk sweetly'!

Most of the people prefer buying Sankranti Kalu from the shops since preparing them at home is a hectic job. At my moms place, they usually prepare Sankranti Kalu at least in small quantity for offering to the God. Me too prepared it at home this time for my Kiddo :)

Preparation time: 4 hours approx

Difficulty level: difficult

Yield - 1 small bowl full

Ingredients:

White sesame seeds / Till seeds - 4 tsp
Sugar - 3 cups (1 cup = 110 gm)
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Milk - 4 tbsp
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Muslin cloth
Food colors - optional

Method:

Combine sugar and water in a vessel and bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling, add 2 tbsp of milk and 1/2 tsp lime juice to it. This is to remove any impurities in it.
After boiling it for 3 - 4 minutes, it curdles and you can see a white layer on the top of syrup. Filter the syrup using a muslin cloth. Repeat this step one more time.
When the sugar syrup reaches one string consistency, turn off the flame and allow it to cool. Now, purified sugar syrup is ready to use.
While making Sankranti Kalu, if the sugar syrup gets thick at any stage, add a little water and heat it to attain one string consistency again.
Take a wide pan and allow to heat it on low flame. Add 4 tsp sesame seeds and 3 drops of sugar syrup. Keep mixing it nicely with your fingertips and take care not to burn the hands. Try to keep the seeds separately; Make sure that sesame seeds not sticking to one another by the time the sugar syrup coating is dried.
Whenever you feel like the pan is hot, take the pan out of the stove top and keep mixing the sesame seeds continuously till its warm enough. Put it back on the stove top again and continue the process.
Once the sugar syrup on the sesame seeds is completely dried, add 3 - 4 drops of again and keep mixing them continuously. Repeat this process till they reach the size of coriander seeds.
If adding colors, add a pinch / drop of food color to 1/2 tsp of sugar syrup and mix it. Add 3- 4 drops of this colored syrup to a small quantity of Sankranti Kaalu and mix it on the stove top till its dried. Do it one more time so that the color will be coated nicely. You can add different colors like this.

Tips:

Fennel seeds / Saunf or groundnuts will also taste good when they are coated with sugar syrup in the above way. I have 2 batches here, one with sesame seeds and another with fennel seeds and have mixed both of them.
Preparing Sankranti Kalu at one stretch is very hard. If the sugar syrup is ready, you can invest 1hour daily and finish doing it within 4 - 5 days.
Natural colors like turmeric, beetroot juice, saffron, etc.are good to use instead of artificial food colors.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Mysore Pak is one among those famous Indian sweets which are prepared during festivals and special occasions. With the nice aroma and flavor of ghee, this sweet tastes divine and just melts in your mouth!

Mysore Pak is my favorite sweet ever and of course, this is the first sweet recipe I learnt! My Aunt is an expert in preparing Mysore Pak. She uses fresh home made ghee for preparing this sweet and everybody at home loves to have this delicious sweet. Preparing Mysore Pak is not that difficult, but experience makes you perfect! You need to know the right time and consistency to take out the mixture from the flame. And freshness of the ingredients i.e., ghee and gram flour / besan flour also matters a lot.

Mysore Pak can be prepared using Dalda/Vanaspati or other oils also, instead of ghee. I prefer using half - ghee and half - sunflower oil. Try this Mysore Pak recipe at your home and let me know your feedback!

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Yield: 45 small pieces

Difficulty level: Difficult

Ingredients:

Besan flour / chickpea flour / gram flour - 1 cup (1 cup = 100 gm approx)
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Ghee / clarified butter - 1 cup
Sunflower oil - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch
Cooking soda - a pinch
Water - 3/4th cup + 3 tbsp

Method:

Combine sugar and water and bring to boil. By the time it reaches two string consistency, we need to roast the besan flour.
Take 1/2 cup of ghee in a wide pan. Add besan flour and roast it on low flame till nice aroma comes. Add a pinch of salt once its done.
Heat the oil and the remaining ghee separately and keep ready.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 2 string consistency, add it to the roasted besan flour and mix well. Keep mixing it continuously on medium flame.
Add 2 - 3 table spoons of oil at a time to the flour mixture. Once the oil is absorbed in the mixture, add 2 - 3 tbsp of oil again. Repeat it till all the oil gets over. Then repeat the same thing with ghee.
At one stage, the mixture starts leaving the oil from the sides or bubbles start coming up and the mixture starts leaving the ladle.
Quickly add a pinch of cooking soda, mix it nicely and turn off the flame.
Pour the mixture onto a wide plate and allow to set down.
After 3 - 4 minutes when the mixture becomes slightly hard, cut it into desired shapes using a knife. Allow it to cool completely.
Separate the pieces after its completely cool. Enjoy the home made Mysore Pak with your family!

Tips:

If you wont like to use any oil, can use 2 cups of ghee instead.
If the quality of besan flour is not good, you may not be able to get the perfect Mysore Pak sometimes.
Make sure that the ghee and oil will be slightly hot while preparing this sweet. It will give a nice crispy texture to the Mysore Pak.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Ash gourd, also known as winter melon or white pumpkin, is used for preparing various dishes in Indian cuisine. Apart from regular dishes like Sambar, Majjige Huli, Palya and so on, delicious sweets like Petha and Halwa can also be prepared with this vegetable. Ash gourd is a good source of various nutrients like iron and calcium. Due to its nutritional facts, I love to use it in my cooking frequently.

Kashi Halwa is a well known sweet dish prepared using Ash Gourd. Its a traditional sweet in Indian cuisine, I had tried it this time with slight variation. It was delicious and my family liked this sweet. I am sharing the recipe of Kashi Hawa / Ash Gourd Halwa here..try it and enjoy with your family!

Time required: 30 - 35 minutes

Servings: 6

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Grated ash gourd (after squeezing the water content) - 1 cup (1 cup = 300 gm approx)
Khova - 100 gm (yield from 1/2 ltr milk)
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup or to taste
Ghee / clarified butter - 1/4 cup
Chiroti rava - 1/4 cup
Salt - pinch
Elachi / Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Saffron strands (optional) - 10 to 12
Broken cashews - 3 tbsp

Method:

Pressure cook the ash gourd for 2 whistles on medium flame.
Melt the ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Fold in the chiroti rava and roast it till aromatic.
To this, add the cooked ash gourd and saute it for 2 - 3 minutes.
Add sugar, saffron strands, pinch of salt to the mixture. Cook it on low flame till it becomes thick.
Add Khova and cook it for 5 more minutes and switch off the flame and add the cardamom powder.
Roast the cashew pieces in 1 tsp ghee till golden brown and mix it with Halwa.
Thats all, delicious Halwa is ready to serve!

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Kesari, Shira or Sheera is a popular sweet dish in South India. It is one of the most common sweets prepared in festivals, marriages and other occasions. Also, its one of the easy n rich treats for the unexpected guests! Main ingredient for this dish is Semolina / Sooji Rava. I had posted the Kesari / Shira recipe long back. Pineapple Kesari is a variation of that recipe, with added pineapple and of course, more flavorful!

We had bought pineapple few days back for preparing Pineapple Jam. The fruits were large enough and juicy. There was a quarter piece left after preparing the jam and I used the same for making this Pineapple Kesari. Try this yummy Pineapple Kesari / Sheera and enjoy with your family :)

Time required: 35 - 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Medium semolina / Sooji rava - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 cups

Salt - big pinch

Ghee / clarified butter - 2/3 cup

Hot water - 2 1/2 cup

Grated pineapple (including the juice) - 1/2 cup

Broken cashews - 3 to 4 tbsp
Raisins - few (as needed)

Cardamom / Elachi powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat the ghee / clarified butter in a heavy bottom pan. Add the semolina and roast it on low flame for 8 - 10 minutes or till you hear a nice aroma of roasted semolina.
Meanwhile, bring the water to boil and let it be ready by the time semolina is roasted.
Add 2 1/2 cup water and a big pinch of salt to the roasted semolina and mix it nicely. Close the lid and cook it for 7 - 8 minutes. Stir it occasionally.
Once all the water is evaporated and the rava is cooked, add 2 cups of sugar. Mix it, close the lid partially and cook for 8 - 10 minutes on low flame.
Roast the broken cashews in 1 tsp of ghee. Add it to the Kesari mixture.
Finally, add the grated pineapple and mix it well. Cook it for 5 more minutes and turn off the flame.
Serve it hot along with some spicy snacks. Kesari and Kharabath / Uppittu is a well known combo!

Tips:
I usually great the pineapple and use it for this Kesari. Alternatively, you can chop the pineapple into small chunks, puree the same and use it for this sweet.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

Carrot Halwa also called as Gajar Ka Halwa, is a delicious sweet prepared on festivals and such special occasions in India. Being prepared using healthy and rich ingredients like carrot, milk, sugar, Khoya, Ghee, dried fruits and nuts, it tastes delicious!

Carrot Halwa is one of our family favorite sweets. My daughter is not crazy about eating the sweets..but she loves to have this Halwa anytime! Since its made of all healthy ingredients, its good for kiddos health as well. Adding of khova is not a must for this Halwa, but it increases the taste. I had tried adding some quantity of paneer when I had a small quantity of Khoya with me. It was truly delicious and nobody could make it out that I had replaced some quantity of Khova with Paneer!
There are different versions of preparing Carrot Halwa and here is the one which I usually follow. Hope you like this recipe :)

Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hour

Servings: 10 - 12

Difficulty level: Difficult

Ingredients:

Carrot - 1 kg
Sugar - 800gm (adjust according to taste)
Salt - a big pinch
Milk - 1/2 litre
Ghee / clarified butter - 6 tbsp
Khova / Khoya - yield from 1 litre milk (or around 200 gm)
Cardamom powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Raisins, Almonds and Pista - handful

Method:

Wash the carrots cleanly and grate them using a vegetable grater.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add the grated carrots and saute them for 5 minutes or till the raw smell is gone.
Add half litre of milk to the carrot mixture and cook it partially covered. Stir it regularly.
When the carrot mixture is cooked and the milk is almost evaporated, add sugar and pinch of salt.
You can notice the mixture becoming watery after adding the sugar. Continue cooking on medium flame, it will thicken after some time.
When the mixture becomes thick, add the Khova and mix it nicely. Cook it for 10 - 12 minutes and turn off the flame.
Finally add the cardamom powder and mix well.
Garnish with ghee roasted raisins, and pieces of almonds and pista.
Serve it warm or cold.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Deepavali or Diwali is one of the important festivals we celebrate at home. We had a wonderful festival this time with our daughter darling. This was the second Deepavali for her. Even though we celebrated other Hindu festivals like Nagara Panchami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navarathri, etc. she enjoyed the Deepavali celebration more than other festivals. Decorating the home, wearing the new clothes, enjoying the delicious food, lighting the candles, all these made her so happy. The next day after the festival, I just asked her how was the festival. She told, 'It was very nice, we will celebrate it today also'!! Ha Ha! Somehow I was able to convince her that we will celebrate it later :)

Maida Halwa is one of the sweet delicacies from India which is perfect for festivals and such occasions. It tastes very similar to Wheat Halwa which will be prepared at my Mom's place for every Diwali. Preparing Wheat Halwa is bit difficult as well as time consuming task. Whole wheat need to be soaked for 2 days in water, then need to be cleaned and ground into fine paste, later it needs filtering..keep stirring the batter on the stove top for at-least an hour..uff! such a lengthy and stressful job it is.

We were really happy to find a substitute for lengthy procedure of preparing the Wheat Halwa. My sister was going through a recipe collection sometime back and she found this Maida Halwa recipe interesting. We all loved this Maida Halwa which tasted the same as Wheat Halwa. Then onwards, this recipe has become very popular in our family circle.

This year, Maida Halwa was one of my special preparations for the Diwali festival. We enjoyed the festival of lights with all the sweet and savory preparations at home. Preparing this Halwa is bit stressful, but you feel really its worth preparing when you taste it!

Time required: 35 - 40 minutes

Yield: Around 33 pieces depending on the size

Level of difficulty: Difficult

Ingredients:

Maida / All purpose flour - 1 large cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Pinch of salt
Water - 1 3/4 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup or little more
Broken cashew pieces - 2 tbsp
Raisins - 2 to 3 tbsp
Saffron strands - 1/2 tsp (or 3/4 tsp cardamom powder)

Method:

Soak the saffron strands in 2 tbsp of hot water.
Take maida in a mixing bowl, add around 1 1/4 cup of water gradually. Prepare the batter without any lumps. Consistency of the batter is the same as dosa batter.
Roast the cashew pieces and raisins in ghee and keep aside.
Take a heavy bottom pan, pour the sugar and add 1/2 cup of water. Bring it to boil.
Once the syrup reaches 2 string consistency, add the maida batter and keep stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
Add the saffron strands (and also the water), pinch of salt and ghee and stir it continuously on low or medium flame.
When the mixture thickens, you feel it really hard to stir the mixture well. Once the mixture starts leaving the edges, take a spoon full of mixture out and make it cool. If you are able to form a ball and its not sticking to the hands, thats the right consistency.
Stir in the roasted cashews and raisins and mix it well.
Spread the mixture on a greased plate (or plates) evenly and allow to cool.
Cut it into desired shapes once its cool. That's all, delicious Maida Halwa is ready to enjoy!

Tips:

I have used 1/2 cup of ghee here. Little more ghee can be added if you would like to. Adding more ghee will make it even more delicious.
As far as possible, try to consume it fresh. It will be good for 3 - 4 days if kept outside. If kept in refrigerator, taste of Halwa will change a bit.