Pidi Kozhukattai - Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipe

My mom used to make this pidi kozhukattai often. It is very easy to prepare and is very healthy too. She used to prepare using both jaggery-coconut and sugar-coconut combination. Have given the recipe for both.

For Jaggery-Coconut kozhukattai
 
Ingredients

Kozhukattai flour/rice flour -1/2 cup
Jaggery-1/4 cup or little more than that (adjust as per your sweet preference)
Grated coconut -1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Salt - a pinch (to enhance the sweetness)
Ghee/clarified butter -1 tsp

Method

Sift the flour twice and transfer to a wide bowl. Add the grated coconut, cardamom powder, salt and ghee and give a nice mix. Set aside.

In a pan, dissolve jaggery in 1/4 cup  of water over low heat. (The quantity of water will differ according to the quality of rice flour. It will vary from 1:1.5 ratio). Filter it to remove impurities.

Add this jaggery syrup to the rice flour mixture mixing well with a spoon or spatula constantly.  Allow to cool down a bit if it is too hot. When it is still warm, knead to a smooth dough. Divide into equal balls of small size and then make oval shapes out of the mixture. Keep it on your palm and press it to get the desired shape. Grease your fingers with ghee if you want a very smooth appearance. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough. Steam cook for 10-15 minutes or until done.

Sugar-Coconut Kozhukattai version

Ingredients

Kozhukattai flour/rice flour -1/2 cup
Sugar -1/4 cup (adjust as per your sweet preference)
Grated coconut -1/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup or a little more than that
Salt - a pinch (to enhance the sweetness)

Method

Sift the flour twice and transfer it to a bowl. Add sugar, grated coconut and salt and mix well. Set aside.

In a vessel boil the water, turn off the flame and pour this boiling water to the rice flour mixture. Simultaneously mix with a spoon or spatula. Allow to cool down a bit if it is too hot. 

When it is still warm, knead to a smooth dough. Divide into equal balls of small size and then make oval shapes out of the mixture. Keep it on your palm and press it to get the desired shape. Grease your fingers with ghee if you want a very smooth appearance. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough. Steam cook for 10-15 minutes or until done.

 Note
* After the dough is ready keep covered to avoid drying. Also cover the shaped kozhukattais too.
* After steaming, if you feel the kozhukattai is not cooked fully inside. Steam for few more minutes. It may need a minimum of 10 minutes for the kozhukattais to be fully cooked.

Kozhukattai Recipe - Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipe - Vella Kozhukattai (Sweet Kozhukattai)

Kozhukattai is a delicious sweet prepared and offered for Lord Ganesha on the Ganesh Chathurthi day. We can make many different varieties of kozhukattai like pidi kozhukattai, poorna kozhukattai etc. All these years I have only prepared pidi kozhukattai and poorna kozhukattai with just coconut and sugar stuffing. That is how my mom used to make it. But traditionally jaggery and coconut filling will be used. This year I opted for the traditional method. I made couple of attempts and got them perfect. Hence sharing the recipe here.

Ingredients

For the outer covering

Idiyappam/kozhukattai flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup or little more than that
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Jaggery-Coconut filling

Shredded coconut - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup (add more or less as per your sweet preference)
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method

Let's prepare the filling first:
Add coconut and jaggery in a skillet. In low heat, saute until the jaggery melts and the mixture thickens. Add the cardamom to the mix and toss well.

Do not cook until string consistency, else the stuffing will become hard. If it does not thicken well, add a little rice flour and cook further for few seconds until it thickens. Allow to cool down a bit, when it is still warm, take a small piece of this filling (if it is sticky, grease your palms with ghee) and make a small ball. Do the same for the remaining filling.

Prepare dough for the outer cover
Sift the flour twice and take it in a wide bowl. Add salt and a tsp of oil and mix well. Add the water in a sauce pan and bring it to boil. Switch off the flame and add this boiling water to the rice flour. Using a spoon mix well. The dough should come together as for chapathi dough except that this will be sticky.

If you find the dough dry, add drops of hot water until it comes together. If the dough is too sticky or if you feel you have added more water, sprinkle more flour and try kneading. It is always preferable to go with less water and then add if needed more.

Now make the kozhukattais

Allow to sit for few minutes if it is too hot to handle. Have a bowl of oil and warm water near by for shaping the outer cover.

When the dough is still warm, take gooseberry sized ball out of the dough and using oil and water make small cup and add pooranam or filling in the middle. Very slowly brings the ends together over the top of the filling, until you seal the edges. Pinch off the excess dough.

Repeat the same process with the rest of the dough and steam cook for 10-15 minutes. You know if they are done by looking at its color. It will be shiny and changed in color.  Do not overcook, else the kozhukattais will turn rubbery/broken.

Vegetable Salna - Parotta Salna

Happy to write my 100th post, Veg Salna :-) Hot Parottas and spicy Salna or Chalna is the best combo. Nothing can beat this pair.  During our college days we used to get parottas on all weekends from a nearby shop. The magical aroma would fill the entire street, me and my friends are a die hard fan of those parottas and yummilicious Salna. The best way as for me to eat is to dung them in salna for some time and eat after some time :-) Mouth watering isn't it? Try this out, I hope you will like it too. This goes well with parotta, idly and dosas as well.

Ingredients

Onion - 1 sliced
Green Chilli - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Vegetables of your choice ( carrot , beans , peas, potato etc.) – 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil - 2-3 tsps
Coriander leaves - for garnish

To grind 

Oil – 2 tsp
Cinnamon – 1 small stick
Cloves – 2-3  nos
Cardamom – 1 seed
Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp 
Ginger - 1 inch piece, cut into small pieces
Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves, cut into small pieces
Big onion – 1, sliced
Tomato – 2 nos, sliced
Mint leaves - 10
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Jeera powder – 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Cashews – 3 nos (optional)

Method

In a pan, add 2-3 tsp of oil, add fennel seeds and fry for few seconds. Then add the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and fry until a nice aroma rises. Then add the ginger and garlic and saute for 2 mins.

Then add the sliced  onion and fry until they turn transparent. Then add the cut tomatoes, mint leaves and all spice powders ( red chilli powder, turmeric, jeera and coriander powder) and mix well. Cook until tomatoes turn mushy. Then add the grated coconut and cashews. Switch off the flame and allow to cool down. Once cooled grind to a smooth paste adding little bit of water if necessary.

Cut the vegetables into small pieces. Heat a pressure cooker, add 2-3 tsp of oil and add the fennel seeds. Saute and then add the green chilli and sliced onions. Cook until onion turn transparent.

Then add the cut vegetables and fry for couple of minutes. Now add the ground masala paste, required amount of salt. Add enough water and pressure cook in high flame for 1 whistle and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the flame and allow the pressure to subside. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with hot parottas or as a side dish for idly/dosas.

Seedai - How to make Seedai - Krishna Jayanthi Recipes

Seedai is another traditional dish for Krishna Jayanthi neivedhyam. Though I like seedai the most I haven't tried preparing this at home. Last year I tried maida seedai following the recipe from Rakskitchen. It was bit hard. This is the first time I tried making uppu seedai. I did lot of blogging for gathering the details. I would say the end result is ok. Some flavor was missing. I guess I varied with the ratio of rice flour and urad dal flour. Gonna try this couple of more times and will update this page for sure. Now to the recipe that I followed.

Ingredients

Rice flour - 1 cup
Urad dal flour - 1 tbsp
Unsalted butter - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds or cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed (1 tumbler of water is what I used, approximately 120 ml)

Method

•  Sieve the rice flour and urad dal flour couple of times and transfer to a wide bowl. Now add butter, sesame seeds/cumin seeds, asafoetida, chilli powder and salt. Mix well.
• Now add the water little by little and knead to a soft dough. Do not add too much of water. 
• Make tiny balls (Goligundu sized balls) and place these balls in a newspaper or clean cloth and allow to sit for 10 mins. 
• Meanwhile heat oil for frying. Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small amount of dough, if the dough rises immediately then that is the correct temperature. 
• Take the dough balls and fry them in batches. Do not overload the oil with more seedai. Fry them in medium flame until golden brown. Once done, remove from oil and drain in a paper towel or newspaper. Repeat the same for all seedais.

Bursting of seedai.

In all the recipes that I have referred there was a word of caution about bursting of seedais. For that reason do not make smooth balls or do not roll the balls too tightly. There should always be escape for the air bubbles. If they gets trapped in, the seedais will burst. Also, drying the balls in a cloth or paper towel is very important as this will absorb any excess moisture.

Murukku - How to prepare Murukku

My mom and sister are experts in making this murukku. It used to be crisp and very flavorful. VJ is a very big fan of this murukku. I have made this 3-4 times so far, they used to turn out well. But I used to call my sister every now and then and ask plenty of doubts each time I make them :-) So now I am gonna share each and every single detail I have gathered so far and hence from next time hope I will not have to call her :-)

Ingredients

Rice flour - 1 cup
Urad dal flour - 1/4 cup
Unsalted butter - 2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Sesame seeds or cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed (1 tumbler of water is what I used)
Oil - for deep frying

Method

• Sieve the rice flour and urad dal flour couple of times. Take the flours in a wide bowl, add butter, asafoetida, sesame seeds or cumin seeds and salt. Mix well.
• Now add the water little by little and knead a soft pliable dough. The dough should not be too hard or too sticky. Else the murukku will be hard or drink plenty of oil.
• Heat oil in a kadai simultaneously. Fill the murukku press with the dough, squeeze in circular motion onto to the back of the ladle or in a polythene sheet or zip lock cover and then transfer it to the hot oil. You can also squeeze directly into the oil, but be cautious in that case. I used to do this way as I feel that's less time consuming as I make bigger size murukku's. 
• Check if the oil is hot enough, just drop a small piece of murukku dough in the oil, if it raises to the surface immediately, it is an indication that the oil is hot. Now start making murukku's.
• Make sure the flame is in medium high when you squeeze in the dough. Fry until golden brown, remove and drain it in a paper or drainer. The bubbling sound or the ssshhh sound should subside, that is the indication for the doneness of the murukku.

Aval Laddu/Poha Laddu - Krishna Jayanthi Recipes

This is the first time I am preparing Aval Laddu. When I was looking for some simple and less time consuming recipes for Krishna Jayanthi I came through this recipe in RaksKitchen. The process is all same as we make Besan Laddu. So I did a trial today and it came out well, except for the perfect shapes. I used little less ghee than the specified amount, that can be the reason. Otherwise the laddu's are too good.

Ingredients

Aval/Poha/Flattened Rice - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Cashews - few, broken to small pieces
Raisinns - few

Method

• Spread the poha in a plate and check for any dust or impurities. After removing them, heat a pan and dry roast the poha until golden brown. Allow to cool and then grind it to a fine powder in a mixer. Also powder the sugar in the mixie.
• Heat ghee and fry the cashews until golden brown then add the raisins and fry until they become fluffy.
• In a wide bowl add the powdered poha, sugar, cardamom powder, fried cashews, raisins and the ghee. Mix well and make laddus out of it. If required grease your hands with ghee for getting perfect shaped laddus.

Aval Payasam/Poha Kheer - Krishna Jayanthi Recipes

This year Krishna Jayanthi is only few days away. In my mom's place we don't follow much rituals or pooja. But its completely the opposite with VJ's family, they will do pooja for Lord Krishna by offering lots of sweets and neivedhyams. So I am trying to gear up for this year. Aval or Poha is one of Krishna's favorite. And hence people will offer aval in any form. Aval Payasam is one way of offering aval to Lord Krishna. It is very easy and less time consuming when compared to other payasams. I made it for the first time for last year's Krishna Jayanthi and it turned out very well. Have prepared this couple of times after that and I am planning to make this year too along with few more Krishna Jayanthi recipes.

Ingredients

Aval/Poha - 1 cup
Boiled Milk - 4 cups approximately
Sugar - 1/3 cup (adjust as per your sweet preference)
Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 (or)
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Saffron threads - 3 or 4 (optional)
Cashews - 10, broken into small pieces
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tsp

Method

• Soak saffron threads in a tbsp of warm milk and set aside
• Add a tsp of ghee in a pan and fry the cashews until golden brown. Remove the cashews and set aside. Reserve some for garnishing if you wish. Then in the same pan add the raisins and fry until they fluff up. Remove them and now add the poha and roast until it slightly changes color. Do not allow it to turn brown. 
• Now to this add 3 cups of boiled milk and stir well. Allow the poha to cook in this milk. The poha should turn soft. Meantime if the milk is fully absorbed add one more cup of milk along with the raisins, cashews and cardamom powder/whole cardamoms. Add the sugar and the saffron dissolved milk too.
• Stir until the sugar dissolves. Finally add one more tsp of ghee. This is totally optional but will enhance the flavor of the kheer. Garnish with the roasted cashews. Enjoy it hot or warm or even chilled. I like to have it cold, tastes very delicious!!

Vegetable Biryani In Pressure Cooker

Making Vegetable Biryani in pressure cooker is a very easy and quick method on any busy or lazy day. Biryani doesn't always need many ingredients and a lengthy process. My Veg Dum Biryani is one such which needs plenty of time in hand. This version of pressure cooking biryani is so simple and can be made in a jiffy. And it tastes equally good too. Here I did not use basmati rice as I was running short of it in my pantry. You can use your regular rice or basamti rice, but make sure the rice is cooked just right. Now to the recipe!

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Mixed Vegetables - 1 cup (Carrots, french beans, cauliflower, potato, peas, capsicum, broccoli etc.)
Onion - 1
Green chilli - 2
Coriander leaves - handful
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Biriyani masala - 1 tbsp
Water - 1 1/2 to 2 cups (adjust depending on the quality of your rice)
Fennel seeds/Sombu - 1 tsp
Cloves - 2 or 3
Cinnamon Stick - 2 inch piece
Bay leaf - 1
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 or 2 tsp (optional)

To Grind 

Mint leaves - 10
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic - 3 or 4 pods

Method

1. Wash the rice well and soak for 20 mins. Meantime chop the vegetables and grind the mint leaves along with ginger and garlic. 
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker along with the ghee, if using. Add the fennel seeds, followed by cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Saute for few seconds. Add the green chillies and then add the onions and saute until they turn transparent.
3. Now add the ground mint and ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell of the ginger and garlic goes off. Now add the cut vegetables and mix well until the mint paste coats the vegetables well. Then add the chopped coriander leaves, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, biriyani masala and required amount of salt. Mix well. 
4. Drain the water from the soaked rice. Add this rice along with the vegetables and saute for couple of minutes. Then add 2 cups of water, check and adjust the salt. Close the cooker lid and cook for 1 whistle in high flame and then for 5 minutes in simmer.
5. Allow the  pressure to subside. Open the lid, fluff it up with a fork and enjoy with onion raita.