Badaam-Kaaju Burfi - This Year's Deepawali Sweet!

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Badaam-Kaaju Katli (Almond-Cashew cake)

 

 

First let me wish you all a very very happy Deepawali!  Tomorrow is Deepawali and I did this sweet today!  It came out well and thought I would upload the recipe so that others can also try it! It is quite easy!

Kaaju-Badaam (Cashew-Almond)

Ingredients:

1. Kaaju/Cashew paste- 1 Cup

2. Badaam/Almonds paste - 1 cup

3. Sugar- 2 cups

4. Milk - 1 cup

5. Saffron - a few strands

6. A pinch of salt

7. Ghee - 3 - 4 tbs.
 


Method: 

Soak badaam and cashew in a little warm water separately for 10 mts.  Peel the skin out of Badaams and grind them in a mixer into a coarse paste with as much as milk is needed to grind it properly.  Keep the paste in a vessel.  Now, grind the cashews with milk into a coarse paste and you can add this paste with the badaam paste.  Clean the jar with the rest of the milk and add it to the badaam cashew paste.  I am asking you to grind them separately because almonds take time to grind but cashew needs a minute or two to grind! Soak the saffron strands in a quarter cup of milk for a few minutes.  Apply a tbs. of ghee in a tray into which you are planning to pour the burfi mixture. 

Take a heavy bottomed vessel and switch on the stove! Drop a tbs. of ghee and spread it at the bottom of the vessel with a ladle.  The flame should not be high.  Add the paste into it immediately.  Add sugar into it.  Start stirring with the ladle. Add the saffron too.  Keep on stirring it so that the paste doesn't stick at the bottom.  You can increase the flame a bit but be careful. Add the rest of the ghee and continue the stirring!

First step...

After around 20 mts. the mixture will be like this.  Add a small pinch of salt. I got this consistency after 20 to 22 mts. The paste should start leaving the sides.  It should not get crystalised...then the burfi will be hard to bite! As soon as the paste starts turning with the ladle, leaving the sides, pour it into a greased plate.  Shake the tray so that the mixture fills it up evenly.  If it doesn't spread easily, do it with a fresh flat ladle (dosa ladle) with a little ghee smeared on it.  You can use that to slice the burfi later..after 5 or 10 mts.! You should do it when the burfi is hot! You can make square or diamond shaped burfis with a knife too!

Second step...

 

 

 

Third step...

Last step!

You can use any type of measure for the ingredients...small cup or big cup.  This burfi doesn't need much ghee.  You can add or reduce as per your wish.  You can reduce the sugar by quarter cup... i.e. 1 cup paste to 3/4 cup sugar. We need that much sugar so that it binds the burfi together. 

Hope my recipe is clear.  If you have got any doubt, please write to me.

Happy Deepawali to all!

Garam Masala Powder - My Version!

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Sharada, this is for you!

 

Ingredients:

Japatri

Black cardamom

Star Anise/Annasi poo

Maraati Moggu

Shahjeera

Cinnamon/Pattai/Dalchini

Ceylon Cinnamon

Bay Leaf

Stone flower (This is also optional)

Clove/Kraambu

Cardamom/Elakkai/Elaichi

Pepper/Milagu/Kaali mirch

Cumin seeds/Jeera/Jeeragam

Coriander seeds/dhania

Nutmeg/Jaadikkai/jaaikaai

1.  25 gms. Japatri
2.  10 gms. Black cardamom (optional)

3.  25 gms. Star Anise
4.  25 gms. Maraati moggu
5.  25 gms. Shahjeera
6.  10 gms. Cinnamon
7.  10 gms. Ceylon cinnamon
8.  25 gms. Bay leaf
9.  1 tbs. cloves
10. 10 Cardamom pods
11. 50 gms. Pepper
12. 10 gms. Jeera
13. 25 gms. Dhania
14. 1/2 Nutmeg/Jaadhikkaai(Optional)


Method:

Dry roast - as far as possible - one by one, at least the thick ingredient, so that it gets powdered finely in the mixer.  Yes, powder everything together and that's it! Every ingredient has got its own flavour.  So, use most of the above ingredients as much as possible.

If you think that you don't need this much powder, take 50% of the ingredients and grind.  Keep the rest of the remaining ingredients in an airtight container.

Keep the powder too, in an air-tight container.  This powder is quite strong, so 1 tsp. for 1 litre subzi is enough.  After using it once or twice, you can increase/reduce the quantity, according to your taste.

Nendrampazha sweet

 

Nendrampazha sweet

When we were school going children, my mother used to make different types of sweets, mostly with jaggery.   I remember raagi dosai, wheat flour dosai etc. with jaggery (sweet dosai!).  Nowadays, we seem to use a lot of white sugar which is not good for health.  Jaggery retains its minerals, wikipedia says and my mother used to say that it is full of iron!  I loved this sweet when I was young and love it even now!  Now, to the recipe:

Nendrampazham/Kerala banana

Vellam/Jaggery/Gud

Elakkaai/Cardamom

Kraambu/Clove

Jaadikkai/Nutmeg

Ingredients:

1. 6 Ripe Nendrampazham (slightly blackened and soft ones)

2. 1/2 cup powdered or mashed jaggery

3. 1 tbsp. Ghee

4. Cardamom, clove, nutmeg powdered together - 1/4 tsp. 

5. A pinch of salt

Method: 

Cut the ripe bananas as shown in the picture.

Take a non-stick pan, pour the ghee and spread it to the whole pan with a ladle.

Put the cut pieces of banana and heat it in a slow flame, turning them often.  Let them become slightly brown. Remember, the heat should be low. Keep it aside.

Put the jaggery with a quarter cup of water in the stove.  After it dissolves (keep stirring with a spoon), strain it in a filter (tea filter will do) so that the sand or sugarcane pieces are removed. Add the pinch of salt and 1/4 tsp. of cardamom powder (if it is with sugar, make it 1/2 tsp.). Heat it again until it is thickened to one string consistency.  Check it like this:  Take a drop of the syrup in the spoon, leave it for a second to cool, touch it in the forefinger and check with the thumb as shown in the picture below.  One string will be visible.  It should be slightly thick.  Don't burn your fingers! 

Pour the thick syrup into the roasted banana pieces and mix it with the stove on.  

Keep frying/turning the pieces for some more time, until it looks like it is in the first picture! Leave it to cool for a minute and then gobble up! I literally do it!

Cardamom powder mix:  Take 2 tbs. of cardamom, 1 tsp. of clove and a small piece of nutmeg.  Dry it (not roast, but just heat) in a pan.  Take it out and when it is not very hot, grind it in a mixer with some sugar (1 tbs.).  Store it in a tupperware/air tight SMALL container.  The flavour is more when you add the other two ingredients with cardamom!

Try this sweet and remember to tell me if you like it or if you have any doubt or if I should make any improvement in my presentation!

P.S.: If you don't have jaggery or feel lazy to do the syrup, just sprinkle 1/4 cup or less (if you are not a sweet person!), after you fry the fruit for sometime.  Keep stirring until the sugar blends with the fruit.  This is very easy!

Mangalore and Madras Rasam!

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My friend Saritha, had asked for the recipe for Rasam and I thought I will give the recipe for Mangalore rasam. Alongwith that another type of rasam, which I do at home, often which is very easy to make too!

Now, to the ingredients for Mangalore rasam powder first:

Pepper/Milagu/Kaali mirch

Curry leaves/Kariveppilai/Kadi paththa

Asofoetida/Perungaayam/Hing

Cumin Seeds/Jeeragam/Jeera

Fenugreek seeds/Vendayam/Methi

Coriander Seeds/Dhania

Bengaluru Byadige menasu/Sigappu milagaai/Laal mirch

Now, to the Check list of the ingredients for the Mangalore rasam powder:

1. 100g. Red chillies or 150 g. Byadige menasu (the second one is not hot but gives red colour for the rasam!)

2. 4 tsp. Jeera

3. 4 tsp. Methi

4. 2 cups or 100 g. Dhania

5. 1 tsp. of Pepper

6. 1/2 inch piece of Hing

7. 8-10 twigs of Curry leaves

8. 1 tsp. of Coconut oil

Method:

In a hot kadai, pour oil. Add hing first. After it gets roasted, add Chilli, Dhania and curry leaves. After everything becomes crisp, keep them in a plate. Then in the hot kadai (whatever oil is there, is enough), roast Methi first, add Jeera and pepper later. Nothing should get burnt. You can roast one by one too. Pepper should be removed from the stove as soon as you hear one pepper bursting. Otherwise, it becomes bitter.

Powder them after they cool down - warm enough to be crisp, the powder will be smooth. If the ingredients become too cold, the powder will not be smooth.

Now, the recipe for Mangalore rasam:

Ingredients:

Tamarind/Puli/Imli

Jaggery/Vellam/Gud

Checklist for ingredients:

1. One small lemon size Tamarind

2. 1 tsp. Jaggery

3. 1 Tomato (if you add more tomatoes, the tamarind should be less)

4. 1 tbs. of Salt or according to your taste

5. 2 tbs. of cooked toor daal, which is mashed nicely

6. 4 cups of water

7. Coriander leaves

For garnishing:

1. 1 tsp. coconut oil

2. 1/2 tsp. mustard

3. 1/2 tsp. Jeera

4. Curry leaves

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in warm water. I keep the tamarind in a small vessel and keep it on the cooker lid and it becomes soft to take the juice when the rice in the cooker is ready!

2. Now, take the juice out of it and pour in a medium sized vessel. The tamarind water can be about 2 cups.

3. You can grind and add or add cut pieces of tomatoes, salt, jaggery and boil for nearly 10 mts.

4. Then add the cooked toor daal and 2 tbs. of Mangalore rasam powder. Mix it well with a ladle.

5. Add more water and coriander leaves. You can add curry leaves now itself or add it while garnishing.

6. As soon as it foams on top, remove the rasam from the stove. It should not boil with bubbles, then the flavour goes.

7. Now, for garnishing...take an iron ladle (if you don't have one, take a small kadai!), add the oil, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After the mustard bursts, add curry leaves. My maami, whose rasam is famous in our family, just adds one or two tsp. of coconut oil and removes from the stove. No garnishing!

Now, for the Madras rasam:

Let me write this rasam in a short-cut method!

1 to 3 steps should be followed as written in the Mangalore rasam recipe. Add 2 tsp. of the saambaar powder and 1/2 inch piece of hing or 1/2 tsp. of hing powder also in the 3rd step (hing is not included in my saambaar powder but it is, in the Mangalore rasam powder!). Boil for 10 to 15 mts. Add 2 tbs. of cooked toor daal. Mix well. Add another 2 more cups of water and coriander leaves. Boil it till it foams on top and remove from fire and garnish!

Altogether the rasam will be around 1 ltr. Taste it, if you think that it is strong, add some more water. It should be a bit strong for mixing with rice and eating. It should be mild, for just drinking!

If you use old, dark coloured tamarind take less amount for soaking. If the tamarind is new (light in colour), take more.

Only garnishing is different for this. I always keep some rasam garnishing powder, which is done like this:

1. 1/4 cup Jeera

2. 1/4 cup or less, pepper

3. Curry leaves

Dry roast all the 3 ingredients...first jeera, then pepper... roast, after a minute add curry leaves and roast a bit more until the leaves are crisp. Powder it when it cools and store in a bottle.

For garnishing rasam, take 1 tsp. of ghee, add 1/2 tsp. of mustard and 1/4 tsp. of jeera. When it flutters, add a tsp. of the above pepper powder, mix it with a tsp. in the ladle itself and garnish immediately!

Madras rasam is ready!

I always add jaggery for tamarind based recipe. It reduces the too tangy taste of tamarind. And for most of other recipes, I add half tsp. at least of sugar. It acts like ajino-moto...blending together all the tastes!

Hope this recipe is easy to follow. If you have any doubts, feel free to ask me. I will be glad to clear the doubt!

Kaththarikkai (Brinjal) curry powder!

Roasted ingredients for Kaththarikkai Curry Powder.

This recipe is for my niece, Apparna!

We call it Kaththarikkai curry powder, but actually this is just 'curry powder'! We can use this powder in any vegetable curry...add a half tsp. with our normal chilli powder, just for giving extra flavour or add just this powder...the taste changes! For Brinjal (kaththarikkai curry), this powder is a must!

Now, to the ingredients:

Red chilli/Sigappu milagaai/Laal mirch

Curry leaves/Kariveppilai/kadi paththa

Bangal gram/Kadalai paruppu/Chana daal

Asofoetida/Perungaayam/Hing

Coriander seeds/dhania

Check list of the ingredients:

1. 100 gms. Red Chillies

2. 1/2 cup Coriander seeds

3. 1/4 cup Bengal gram

4. 6-7 twigs of curry leaves.

5. 1/2 inch piece of Hing (you just pull out a piece...half marble size... from the softened hing, it is difficult to measure it!)

6. 2 tsp. of coconut oil (you can take 1 tsp. also)

Method:

In a kadai, heat the oil and drop a half an inch piece of Hing. After it is fried, add Bengal gram, roast a bit. Then add the Coriander, Chillies and Curry leaves. Roast it until everything is crisp. Powder it, after it cools down. Your curry powder is ready!

TIP: You can add this powder with some coconut, grind it and mix it in saambaar (araiththu vitta saambaar). Less daal should be used when you add coconut.

Edited to Add: The first picture is added now (18.6.11, 3.24 pm)!