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Saturday, November 3, 2018

Spicy mixture


diwali,spicy,mixture,spicy-mixture

Diwali is not complete without making mixture. Here is an easy recipe of mixture which can be done in minutes. Even novice cooks can make this with ease.

INGREDIENTS:

Thick aval (poha) - 4 cups
Oma podi - 2 cups (crushed roughly)
Roasted peanuts - 2 tablespoons

Roasted gram (Pottukadalai) - 2 tablespoons
Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Asafoetida - a generous pinch
Curry leaves - a sprig
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

Sieve aval without any sand. Heat oil in a kadai and make Oma podi as said here. Keep aside. In the same oil, deep fry aval. Aval puffs immediately. Fry little aval at a time. Remove aval and put it in a broad bowl. Add little salt and mix gently. Crush Oma podi slightly and add to the fried aval.

Heat ghee in a pan. Add peanuts and fry until golden. Again add a spoon of ghee and fry pottukadalai until crisp. Add curry leaves and roast a bit. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and hing. Give a quick saute and add these to the fried aval, omapodi mixture. Mix everything well but gently. Spicy and crispy mixture is ready. When cool, store in an airtight container.

NOTE:
Generally, peanuts and pottukadalai are also deep fried in oil. Using ghee enhances the flavour.

Friday, November 2, 2018

Mixed nuts burfi


mixed-nuts-burfi,nuts,burfi,nuts-burfi

INGREDIENTS:

Unsalted almonds, cashews, pista, walnuts - 3 cups
(I used the whole almonds with skin. Any combination of nuts can be used.)
Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

METHOD:

Dry roast the nuts separately until slightly warm, be careful not to burn the nuts. Cool and dry grind to a coarse powder. Grease a tray and keep it ready.

In a kadai, dissolve sugar in water and make one string consistency syrup. Add nuts powder and mix well. When the mixture starts boiling, simmer the stove and stir continuously in low flame. Once it starts to thicken, add ghee and keep stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the kadai. Pour it into the greased tray. While still warm, cut into desired shape.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Ragi mudde (finger millet)

ragi,mudde,ragi kali,finger millet
ragi,mudde,ragi kali,finger millet

Ragi mudde is a nutritious healthy ball made with ragi flour and water. It is a wholesome meal and staple food in Karnataka. It is also called as 'Ragi sangati' in Andhra and 'Ragi kaLi' in Tamilnadu. 'Ragi koozh' also known as 'Aadi koozh' is popular in TamilNadu. In the Tamil month of Aadi, 'ragi koozh' is offered and distributed as 'Prasadam' in Mariamman temples. There are several health benefits of Ragi. Ragi has high fibre content and rich in calcium. It helps in increasing HDL cholesterol and lowers triglycerides. But people who have thyroid disorder, refrain from having ragi frequently.

Traditional way:

Mix a tablespoon of ragi flour in water to make a thin paste. Add water & salt into a heavy bottomed pan and when this boils add the thin paste, mix well add remaining ragi flour evenly on top of it, close the pan and cook in medium flame for 6 to 7 minutes without disturbing the flour. Then with a mudde kOlu, stir well until all the flour becomes a single mass. Switch off the flame. Cover and keep for a few minutes and when still hot, add ghee and take a portion of dough and shape into balls.

Now, to the easy way.

This recipe is the easiest way of making Ragi mudde without a mess, useful for beginners.

INGREDIENTS:

Ragi flour - 1 cup.
Water - 1 3/4 to 2 cups.
Salt - to taste ( I used 1/3tsp.)
Ghee - 2 tablespoons

METHOD:

Combine ragi flour with water and mix well without any lumps to a batter consistency. Keep aside.

Grease a plate with little ghee. Keep ready.

In a thick bottomed kadai /non-stick kadai, boil 1 1/2 cup of water alongwith salt and a teaspoon of ghee. When water starts boiling, add the the ragi batter, mix well with a wooden ladle. (Traditionally, a stick called 'Mudde kOlu' is used to stir the mix). Stir continuously until thick. Add ghee and stir and until it forms a lump and leaves the sides. Cook further until the dough becomes shiny. Cook covered in low flame for a minute and switch off the flame.

When hand-bearable hot, transfer the ragi dough to the greased plate. Smear ghee on your hands and shape to balls/mudde (tennis ball size). If the dough is hot, dip your hand in water for each ball. Alternatively, you can grease a small bowl with ghee put the required quantity of ragi dough in the bowl and rotate it which forms round balls. Serve hot with sambar. Goes well with saaru and buttermilk too.

A note on how to eat?

And a small tip in eating these muddes; Mudde will be sticky and remain on your tooth if chewed. Ragi mudde is dipped in saaru/ sambar and swallowed. i.e, A small portion of ragi mudde is 'pinched', dipped in the sambar and simply swallowed. 😋

And what if chewed? Taking it out of your teeth will be a horrible experience. Chew and find it 😉 OR pop it into your mouth, swallow, repeat. 😃

Note:
Thin ragi batter gives smooth and soft Ragi Mudde.
Use a thick wooden ladle or back of the wooden ladle for easy mixing.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

AMRITHA KALASAM RECIPE / AMRUTHA KALASAM RECIPE / AMIRTHA KALASAM RECIPE

How to make Amritha kalasam
With green gram (No coconut)

With moong dhal (With grated coconut)
'Amrutha Kalasam' is a Prasadam offered to 'Sri Garudan' to seek His blessings. It is a special offering to 'Garuthman', popular in 'Tirukkannamangai' and almost all 'Garudaazhwar' in Perumal temples. During Aadi month Swathi star which is Garudan's avathara day, this delicacy is prepared and after offering the same to Him, it is consumed as His prasadam.

In 'Tirukkannamangai Bakthavatsala Perumal' temple, people worship 'Garudan' and offer 9 yards saree with checks and 'Amritha kalasam Prasadam' and seek His blessings. It is a belief that offering it to Him and consuming them as His Prasadam will get rid of Naga dosha, insect bites, skin problems, and also to get rid of fear. It is believed that childless couple will be blessed with children, also men and women whose marriages are getting delayed due to various reasons, will soon get married . This offering is made on all Thursdays,Sundays, Swathi stars and also on Aadi Swathi, the star of Garuda.

A quick note on 'Prasadam':

'Prasadam' is the food that is offered to God. It is the practice of Hindus to offer food to God before eating it. Everything you offer on your altar becomes prasadam, the grace of the God, and is called by various names Prasadam, Bhog and Naivedhyam. The offerings can be fruits, sweets, bakshanams or anything but doing it with love and devotion is important. Bhagavath Geetha says, “Krishna accepts the offering made to Him with love”. In Iyengar households, whatever we cook is offered to 'The Supreme Lord Narayana' and it is termed as 'Kandarula pannuthal'. 
How to make Amritha kalasam
Nandambakkam Ramar temple Garuda Vahanam

Now, to the recipe:
 

INGREDIENTS:-

Green gram dhal / Moong dhal - 1 cup
Scraped coconut- 3 tablespoons (optional)
Crushed jaggery - 1 1/2 cup

Cardamom (powdered) - 2
Ghee - 1 tablespoon



METHOD: 
How to make Amritha kalasam


Soak dhal for 2 hours. Drain water and grind to a coarse paste.

Dissolve jaggery in little water and filter to remove impurities.

Heat a kadai, pour in the dissolved jaggery and allow it to boil until it diffuses its raw smell. Now add scraped coconut, cardamom powder and ground dhal and mix well without any lumps. Add ghee and saute until it binds together. When warm, make small balls and shape like 'kalasam' (coconut/modakam shape). Arrange them in idli plate and steam cook for 7 to 8 minutes. Amirtha Kalasam is ready for offering to Garudaazhwar.

Friday, February 9, 2018

PAAL ALWA RECIPE / MILK HALWA RECIPE

How-to-make-milk-halwa, How-to-make-paal-alwa
Pretty excited. My blog 'Shanthisthaligai' is Ten!! Special thanks to everyone from the bottom of my heart, for your continuous support and taking time to show your love by visiting my blog, reading, trying out recipes, mailing me and leaving comments. Love you all! 💕💕

Celebrating my blog's 10th anniversary with Paal Alwa!

Paal alwa / Milk Halwa is a simple, mouthwatering dessert/halwa. We can make it easily at home with minimum ingredients.  

INGREDIENTS:

Milk - 1 ltr.
Sugar - 2 cups
Saffron - few strands ( soak in a spoon of warm milk)
Sliced pistachios - optional
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp.
Curd - 1 tablespoon 
Ghee - 1/4 cup

METHOD: 

Boil milk. Pour milk in a heavy bottomed pan and allow it to boil it reduces to 1/3rd. Stir in between. Now add sugar, stir well. When it thickens again, add curd and stir continuously. The mixture will thicken and become grainy. Adding curd gives the grainy texture for halwa. Stir well, add ghee, cardamom powder, sliced pista. Mix well. When ghee oozes from the sides, switch off the flame. Mix well and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with saffron.