Ragi Laddu/Finger Millet Ladoo

Diwali is here and all I wanted to make this Diwali is something healthy as well as yummy .There was a pack of sprouted ragi flour in my freezer for quite sometime (I keep my flours in freezer so that it keeps fresh without any insects) and I usually make ragi dosa or ragi cookies with it.I wanted to ragi Laddus for this Diwali as these finger millets are packed with all the nutrients and also they are sprouted to add which is more nutritious and ideal for growing kids .I was curious about the taste but believe me it was more delicious than maa Laddu and my son seeing the colour thought it as chocolate Laddu and enjoyed it a lot.So Happy Diwali guys ! Enjoy your Diwali with these delicious Ragi lLddus.

Preparation time :30 mins

Makes:25 medium sized laddus 

Ingredients:

Sprouted ragi flour/ragi flour-2 cups

Sugar-1 cup

Ghee-1/4 cup or as needed to shape the laddus 

Cardamom powder-2 tsp

Assorted  chopped nuts(almond,pistachio,cashew)-3 tbsp

Procedure:

1.Dry roast ragi flour on slow flame till a nice aroma comes for around 15 mins.

2.Powder the sugar to a fine powder.Add this sugar to the roasted ragi flour and add the cardamom powder too.

3.Heat ghee and roast the nuts till they are golden brown. Add the flour and sugar mixture to the ghee and roasted nuts and mix well. Switch of the flame.

4.After mixing them well take a small amount of the mixture and press well between the palm to make laddus. 

5.Delicious and healthy ragi laddus are ready to be relished.

Tips:

*If the flour is not roasted properly then the laddus will not taste good.

*Use sufficient ghee to make balls out of the flour.

*I used sprouted ragi flour.You can also use normal ragi flour.

*You can reduce the sugar to 3/4th cup if not sweet toothed.

*These laddus tastes absolutely delicious.





Ulundu vadai /Medhu vadai recipe( Lentil Fritters)

Who doesn't like the crispy Medhu Vadai? I wanted to post this recipe for a long time but somehow it got postponed ! Though the ingredients are simple making a perfect vadai which is crispy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside is a skilled task which one can maneuver through practice. My initial vadais were either too hard or the batter was too watery and absorbed more oil. Then I asked my mom for some tips to get a perfect vadai and also took few ideas from vahchef and finally started making nice and perfect vadais.

The outcome will be great if you use a wet grinder to make the batter but for a small family of two or three ,grinding in wet grinder would be a huge amount of effort and a waste of time.So there are some points to take care when grinding in a mixer or blender and voila you can achieve the same great result from your mixie. Also make sure to use a good quality urad dal as it plays an important role in getting perfect vadais.

So please read every step in the procedure and follow them to get good vadais.

Preparation time:20 mins(+1 hour for soaking)

Makes:12 to 15 vadas

Ingredients:

Urad dal or ulundu -1 cup

Green chillies-2(based on your spice level)

Curry leaves-few

Asafetida or Hing-1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Finely chopped onion-1 no

Finely chopped coriander leaves-1 tbsp( optional) oil- to fry

Procedure:

1.Soak urad dal along with green chillies and curry leaves for an hour.i used udhayam brand urad dal.

2.After one hour drain all the water and place the ingredients in a mixer and use the pulse mode to beat the ingredients by stopping in between for few seconds.If you feel the mixture is too thick then keep sprinkling water and continue to use the pulse mode for a minute by stopping in between as told above.Then grind it in the normal mode for few seconds and stop.Then repeat it again till the dal has become a smooth and fluffy paste.The stopping in between helps in incorporating air to the batter which helps in getting us a good vada.

3.Add salt,asafoetida and onion to the mixture and stir the mixture by hand for minute.This mixing by hand is very important as it also helps in making the batter light and fluffy.

4.Take a small amount of the batter and drop in to a cup of water .The batter must float .If so, the consistency is correct.if not then keep mixing the batter by hand and try the water test again.Then take a plastic cover or banana leaf and place a small amount of batter on it.Then dip your hand in water and flatten it and pierce a hole in between .

5.Heat oil in a medium heat and drop the vadai in to  it carefully.Then grease the cover or leaf with water and repeat with the next vadai.The application of water to plastic cover or leaf helps in getting the vada out of it easily without sticking to it.

 

6.Fry till they are golden brown in colour under medium heat so that it ensured even cooking of vadas. 

7.Serve hot with coconut chutney.It tastes great just like that and hence I couldn't resist!

Tips:

• Use very little water by sprinkling as needed.Do not add at one stretch as the batter may become watery.
• Avoid onions if you do not want them.
• You can add a small piece of ginger to the urad dal before grinding.
• Instead of green chillies,you can either add whole peppercorns or pepper powder.

Carrot Kheer

Happy Tamil New Year and Happy Vishu to all my blog readers and friends.For every new year mostly I make Ambalapuzha Pal Payasam.This year I wanted a change of payasam and thought of making carrot kheer and when I told my hubby he immediately said yes as he also likes kheer.So I called my mom and asked for the recipe and finally we enjoyed a yummy carrot kheer. It tastes heavenly when chilled too.Adding evaporated milk adds creaminess to the recipe so I would recommend to add it though you can still make without it.

Ingredients:

Carrot grated-1 and 1/4 cup

Boiled Milk-5 cups

Sugar-3/4 cup

Evaporated milk or milk powder-4 h

tbsp(optional)

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Cashews-10 nos

Raisins-10

Ghee or clarified butter-2 tbsp

Chopped almonds- few for garnish

Procedure:

1.Boil the grated carrot in one cup of milk and once it is done add 5 cashews and mix well.Allow this mixture to cool.

2.Grind this mixture along with the evaporated milk or milk powder to a fine paste.You can add little milk for easy grinding.

3.Add this ground mixture to the remaining milk and simmer it.Add sugar and keep stirring for minute.

4.Once the kheer has thickened add the cardamom powder and switch off the flame.Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins.

5.Once the cashews turn golden brown add it to the kheer.

6.Serve kheer hot or cold based on your choice.

Tips:

* Increase sugar to 1 cup if you are sweet toothed.

*Use chopped almonds for garnish.

* Use evaporated milk for thickness and creaminess .

* You can use equal quantities of carrot and beetroot for this kheer .if you are using beetroot then do not increase the sugar quantity.

*This kheer can be made using sugar free also.Instead of sugar add any equivalent sugar substitute.

Neer Mor and Panakam(Panagam) /Rama Navami Festival Recipes

Rama navami is a Hindu festival,celebrating the birth of Lord Ram.It falls in the month march mostly and special poojas and prayers are held everywhere.The most common prasad offered to Lord Ram on this day are panakam(jaggery drink) ,neer mor(spiced buttermilk) and kosambari(salad with moong dal).These recipes are prepared for Rama navami because it comes in summer and these drinks keeps the body cool and refreshing a midst the intense heat.My mom prepares panakam and neer mor every year not only for ramanavami but also for tamil new year and for other bhajans or poojas held in our house.It is really very cool and soothing for our tummy.The recipe is very simple and is as follows.

For Panakam:

Preparation time:10 mins

Serves:3

Panakam/Panagam

Ingredients:

Purified water-2 cups+ 1/2 cup(for jaggery)

Jaggery(powdered)-4 tbsp

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Dry ginger powder-1 pinch

Pepper powder-1 pinch

Lemon juice -from 1/2 lemon(optional)

Procedure:

1.Heat jaggery in half cup of water till it dissolves.

2.Switch off the flame and filter the jaggery mixture and add it to the 2 cups of water in a vessel .

3.Add the cardamom powder,pepper powder,dry ginger powder to it.Squeeze lemon juice out of half a lemon and add it to the jaggery drink.Panakam is now ready to be served.Add the cardamom peels to the panakam for additional flavor.

 For neer mor:

Preparation time-10 mins

Serves:3

Neer Mor

Ingredients:

Curd/yogurt-1 cup

Water-2 cups

Chopped coriander leaves-1 tbsp

Asafetida/Hing-1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil-1 tsp

To temper:

Mustard-1 tsp

Cumin/jeera-1 tsp

Curry leaves-few

Procedure:

1.Beat the yogurt/curd well and add two cups of water to it .Add the asafetida and salt to it and mix well.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients to it and once the mustard splutters , add it to the buttermilk. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve chill.

Panakam and neer mor are ready.

Tips:

*The leaf in panakam is thulasi(holy basil) as we put a little before offering it to god.
*You can avoid lemon in panakam if you wish.

Multigrain Atta Kesari/Whole Wheat Flour Kesari/Easy Wheat Halwa

This is one recipe which I made during one of my fasts on thursdays .And this is quite healthy and easy as I have used multigrain atta( or you can use whole wheat flour also) and jaggery. Its rich in iron and fibre and could be made as an evening snack for kids.Everybody liked it as it was different from the regular kesari and due to the color of the sweet my son thought that it was chocolate halwa and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Preparation time:15 mins

Serves:2

Ingredients:

Multigrain atta/whole wheat flour-1 cup

Jaggery-3/4 cup

Ghee-1/2 cup

Nuts (cashews and almonds)-2 tbsp

Raisins-10

Cardamom powder-2 tsp

Water-1/2 cup

Procedure:

1.Heat 1/3 of the mentioned ghee in a wok and add the flour and roast well till the flour turns light brown  in colour and nice aroma arises.Take care as you don't want to burn the flour.

2.Then add the water and mix well.Keep stirring so that no lumps are formed.Add crushed jaggery to it.I mixed jaggery directly to it as my jaggery is very clean and pure.If your jaggery has impurities then dissolve the jaggery in the 1/2 cup of water mentioned in the ingredients and filter it and then add it to the flour ( instead of adding water and jaggery separately).

3.Add the next 1/3 portion of ghee and cardamom powder to this mixture and keep stirring to avoid any lumps.The mixture will absorb all the ghee and will look like a Halwa/Kesari.Now switch off the flame.

4.Now heat the final 1/3 portion of the ghee in a separate pan and add the nuts and raisins.toast till they turn golden in color and then add it to the Multigrain atta kesari .

5.Serve hot with a teaspoon of melted ghee on top.

Tips:

*You can use sugar instead of jaggery but the color may be a little different .

*Use dark coloured jaggery for rich chocolate brown colour or else still the kesari will taste awesome but the end colour might vary.

*Do not try to reduce the amount of ghee as it gives the kesari or halwa texture to this sweet.

Easy Besan Laddu(Gram flour Laddu)

Few years back I got the idea of making besan Laddu when I was stocked with a lot of gram flour in my kitchen shelf.In tambrahm day to day cuisine it is the least used ingredient(daily basis) i.e. we use it for dish like mor kuzhambhu(South Indian kadhi) and bajji or pakoras.After searching on the internet I found this recipe of besan laddu which is very simple and sounded delicious too.Even for a first timer this recipe is fail proof and can win you a lot of praise when made during Navrathri or Diwali and shared with the near and dear ones.

Makes:around 20 laddus 

Preparation time:30 mins

Ingredients:

Gram flour or besan -2 cups

Sugar-2 cups

Almonds-1/2 cup

Cardamom powder-2 tsp

Ghee-1 cup

Procedure:

1.Grind sugar,almonds and cardamom to a fine powder.( keep few almonds for garnishing).

2.Roast gram flour with 3 to 4 tsp of ghee till the gram flour turns golden brown and nice aroma arises.

3.Switch off the flame and mix the sugar mixture along with the gram flour.When it is warm add the melted ghee spoon by spoon and mix it thoroughly.

4.Take little flour inside your palm and press it hard to form a ball .If it holds the shape firmly then you can stop adding ghee. If the ball breaks then you should add more ghee spoon by spoon till you get a firm Laddu.

5.Garnish the besan laddu with few sliced almonds and serve.

Tips:

*I added ghee based on the ability to make laddu's out of besan mixture and the given quantity of ghee is the closest approximate value.

*Make laddu's when the mixture is warm and also add melted ghee.These help in getting a firm laddu.