Nan Khatai -An Indian Flavoured Cookie

Only after entering the blogging field ,I came to know about these delicious cookies-Nan Khatai. Also I read that these  cookies are made during festivals like Diwali in the north part of our country.They are more Indian in flavour as we use gram flour or besan ,ghee and cardamom to make these cookies.The pistachios on top add a very nice crunch to these nan khatais .So I made these during last Diwali for the first time and everyone at home enjoyed it a lot.

Preparation time:40 mins

Makes about 25 cookies

Ingredients:

Maida or All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Whole Wheat Flour or atta- 1/2 cup
Besan Or Gram flour - 1/2 cup
Melted Ghee - 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 2 tbsp
Pistachios -few

Procedure:

1.Sift all the flours along with the baking powder and the baking soda in a bowl.Grind the cardamom pods with the sugar in a mixer to a fine powder.

2.Transfer the sugar and cardamom mixture to the flours and mix well. 

3.Chop the pistachios finely and add the melted ghee to the flour mixture and mix well .

4.Mix well and gather it to make a dough.If the dough is too dry then you can add a tsp

of milk.

5.Take a small amount of the dough and make a ball and press it slightly in the form of a cookie. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degree C .Top each cookie with few pistachios and line it on the baking tray .

6.Bake them for 18-20 mins at 180 C till it is done and bottom of the cookie is golden brown .

7.The delicious and crunchy Nan Khatais are ready to be served.After it cools down transfer the cookies to an air tight container .

Tips:

• You can make these cookies with only maida and besan alone.In that case replace whole wheat flour with maida.
•  You can add melted butter to make these but ghee adds a rich and desi flavour to the Nan Khatais .

Rose Falooda shots

A long time craving of mine has been satiated finally! Yes,I love faloodas and always wanted to try once at home. Of course I didn't have the long and slim glasses for falooda but still wanted to go ahead with it and voila -Rose Falooda Shots! The sabja seeds are a natural way too cool your body and has many medicinal properties too.This is a great way to add them to your diet. It's very simple to make and ideal to beat the summer heat!

Preparation time :30 mins 

Makes 5 shots 

Ingredients:

Full cream milk-1/2 Litre

Rose milk essence-3 drops

Sugar-5 tbsp or more if you are sweet toothed

Sabja seeds or chia seeds - 3 tbsp

Boiled vermicelli -1/2 cup

Mixed nuts-3 tbsp

Vanilla icecream -as required

Procedure :

1.Boil the milk and simmer it for ten minutes in a thick bottomed vessel.Add the sugar and stir it till it dissolves .Add the rose milk essence.Mix well and refrigerate the mixture.

2.Soak the sabja seeds in water till it turns transparent on the outside .Keep the boiled vermicelli ready too.

3.Dry roast the mixed nuts till it turns light golden in colour.

4.Now take the small glass cups ,add a spoon of soaked sabja seeds and boiled vermicelli .Then add the rose milk up-to three quarters of the glass.

5.Lastly add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and top it with roasted nuts and serve immediately .Enjoy the cool and yummy Rose Falooda Shots.

Tips:

• I didn't add jelly,you can add it if you wish.
• You can add cut fruits also to the Falooda.
• I have added only cashew and almonds.You can use pistachio ,pecans and walnut too .

Chettinad Ribbon Pakoda(Fried Rice Flour Crisps)

I am a great fan of the culinary expert Mrs.Revathi Shanmugam. My mom used to try a lot of her recipes and tells me to try it too.One such delectable and delicious recipe is this chettinad ribbon pakoda which is made of par boiled rice. I was so determined to make this dish and Diwali and successfully made it as well. It came out very crispy and tasty that it got over in 2 days.My son loves it and I too joined him in munching these awesome ribbon pakodas. Unlike the regular ribbon pakodas which are made of gram flour these pakodas are light in colour and have a unique flavour. They were too crunchy.

 Ingredients:

Par boiled rice -2 cups

Fries gram dal -1/2 cup

Sago or Javvarisi -1/4 cup

Green chilies-3 no

Hing or asafetida -1 tsp

Coconut milk thick-1/2 cup

Salt-to taste

Refined oil -to deep fry

Procedure :

1.Soak the par boiled rice for 6 hours and grind it in a wet grinder to a thick paste by adding minimum water.To this paste add the coconut milk and mix well .Dry roast the fried gram for a few minutes till nice aroma arises.Keep it aside .

2.In the same wok,add the sago and roast it till it gets slightly puffed up.

3.Powder the fried gram and sago in a mixer to a fine powder.Add it to the ground rice mixture along with asafetida or hing and salt.

4.Grind the green chillies and strain the juice to the rice paste mixture.Mix well and bring it together to a pliable dough.(adding no or little water)

5.Take a small amount of the dough and use a ribbon pakoda press to make the ribbon pakodas.

6.Heat oil in a wok and turn the heat to medium once the oil is heated.Use the press and add the pakodas to the oil and fry them till the oil sound reduces or it is cooked well.

7.Remove them oil and store it in an air tight container.Crispy and yummy Chettinad Ribbon Pakoda is ready.

Tips:

*Use very less water to grind the parboiled rice.If water content is more then we wont be able to make pakodas as the dough will be too watery.

*Roast the sago till it slightly puffs up,if not the pakodas wont be crispy.

*You can add sesame seeds for added flavour.

Karadayan Nonbu Adai(Sweet Adai)-Sweet Rice Flour Dumplings

Karadayan Nonbu or Savitri Vratham is a traditional Tamilnadu festival of fasting wherein married women will pray for the wellness and long life of their husbands. This nonbu should be done exactly in the time when tamil month 'Masi' ends and the next month 'Panguni' starts.
These adais are very easy to make,healthy and tastes very delicious too.So here I am presenting the most easy recipe for sweet adai(savory to follow soon).During my childhood days,when I celebrate this festival with my mom I used to be very excited because my mom makes these yummy and hot 
Nonbu adais(sweet and savory) topped with a dollop of butter.I absolutely loved it and even my friends liked it when I took it to college one day.From that day I used to take a batch of these adais to college on every Karadayan Nonbu.My friends relished my moms best nonbu adais.

Making time:30 mins

Makes:12-15 small adais

Ingredients:

Raw rice flour(homemade or store bought )-1 cup

Jaggery-3/4 cup(or 1 cup if you are sweet toothed )

Karamani or black eyed beans-2 tbsp

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Ghee-2 tbsp

Coconut slices -few 

Procedure :

1.Roast the karamani till you get a nice aroma and add 1 and 1/2 cups of water and boil the beans.

2.Boil the powdered jaggery in one cup of water until it dissolves.Then switch off the flame and strain the jaggery to remove the impurities .

3.Keep the rice flour ready.To the boiled beans add the coconut slices,rice flour and jaggery mixture and keep mixing it on low flame.

4.Keep on mixing till it thickens and comes around without sticking to the sides of the pan.At this stage add the cardamom powder and ghee.

5.Switch off the flame and transfer it to a plate.Grease your hands with some ghee and take a small portion of the mixture and make small patties or dumplings.

6.Steam all the patties or dumplings for 10-15 mins or till it is done.

7.Hot and delicious sweet adai is ready to served with a dollop of butter.

Tips:

*I used the store bought rice flour.You can use the homemade one also.

*If you are sweet toothed then use 1 cup of jaggery instead 3/4 th cup.

*You can soak the karamani prior to reduce the cooking time .

Ragi Cookies(Finger Millet Cookies)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my friends!Once when I went for shopping instead of getting plain Ragi flour I got sprouted and roasted Ragi flour.The moment I opened the pack the aroma made me read the label again .I just loved the smell and immediately I wanted to make cookies using this roasted Ragi flour. My son loves chocolate cookies and these cookies would be an ideal and healthy substitute (atleast I could trick him!) These cookies were crunchy and light.

Makes:around 20 cookies

Preparation time:35 mins

Ingredients:

Roasted Ragi Flour/Finger Millet Flour-1/2 cup

Whole Wheat Flour-1/2 cup

Powdered Sugar-1/2 cup

Butter-1/2 cup

Baking powder-1 tsp

Vanilla essence -1 tsp

Milk -if needed to make the dough

Procedure:

1.Sift Ragi flour,whole wheat flour and baking powder together.To this flour mixture add the butter.

2.Mix the butter well and add the powdered sugar to it.

3.Add the vanilla essence also and mix well to form a cookie dough.Add a little milk if the dough is too dry.

4.Take a small portion of the dough and make a small all and flatten it on a greased baking tray . Using fork you can create the pattern on the cookie as I did.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade and place the baking tray and bake the cookies for 15-18 mins.

6. Ragi Cookies are ready . Once they are out of the oven,they are soft but once cooled , they turn crispy. Store them in an air tight jar for up to a week.

Tips:

* You can use cardamom powder instead of vanilla essence.

*Powdered jaggery can be added instead of sugar. 

Nel Pori Urundai and Aval Pori Urundai

With the onset of karthigai ,the city buzzes with lights and ayyapan swami poojas.I am always fascinated by the Pori Urundai recipe because this was the first recipe which I tried with jaggery syrup in the soft ball consistency .my favourite one is Aval Pori Urundai as aval Pori is very crunchy .But the Nel Pori though soft has to be made on the Thirukarthigai festival as it is  a very auspicious offering to the Lotd Muruga.My mil told me that if we dry roast Nel Pori then it will be not soft as it would be otherwise .I am providing the recipe of the Nel Pori Urundai in this and the same can be followed for Aval Pori Urundai though dry roasting of Aval Pori is not necessary.

Makes :15 urundais approximately

Preparation time :45 mins

Ingredients :

Nel Pori/Aval Pori-4 cups

Jaggery-3/4 th cup ( or 1 cup of you are sweet toothed)

Chopped coconut pieces-1/4 cup

Ghee-3 tbsp

Cardamom powder-2 tsp

Dry ginger powder-1 tsp

Water -necessary to make jaggery syrup

Procedure:

1.Dry roast Nel Pori in slow flame till its gets heated up and light without changing its colour.If using aval Pori skip this step.

2.Powder the jaggery and keep it ready . 

3.In a pan add a tbsp of ghee and roast the coconut slices till it is golden brown .

4.Heat a wok and add the powdered jaggery and water just enough to soak it and dissolve the jaggery in slow heat.once dissolved switch off the flame and strain it to remove impurities .

5.add this strained jaggery mixture back to the wok and heat it till you get a syrup which thickens and reaches a soft ball consistency.

6.To identify  out soft ball consistency keep a bowl of water nearby and add a small amount of syrup into it and check whether you are able to make a soft ball out of it.this is possible when the syrup boils like the above picture .

7.Once This stage is reached add the Pori immediately and stir well immediately keeping the flame low.Add the cardamom powder ,dry ginger powder and the fried coconut pieces and switch off the flame .(Some people add a spoon of rice flour here to get firm balls or urundais ,but I didn't use it).

8.Mix everything well fast and switch off the flame .apply some ghee to your palms and take a small amount of the mixture and make small balls out of it by pressing hard.

9.Repeat the process for the rest of the mixture and make it quickly as it will be difficult to make firm balls if the mixture cools off completely .

10.The delicious Nel Pori urundais are ready  as an offering to Lord Muruga and later to us.Store them in an air tight container and stays fresh at room temperature for upto a week.

Aval Pori Urundai

The process of making Aval Pori Urundai is the same as that of the Nel Pori except that dry roasting of the pori is not necessary as it is already crispy in texture.So they can be made using the above procedure .