Tuesday, October 29, 2013

DRY FRUITS LADOO | EASY DIWALI SWEET RECIPES | DRY FRUITS AND NUTS LADDU

Dry fruits is one of the easiest sweet which can be done in 5 minutes and this recipe of dry fruits ladoo is made without sugar too. Interesting right!!. Yes the one of the easy sweet i made for this Diwali is Dry fruits laddu which i learnt from a friend who gave this for me during last diwali. If you are running out of time and even working ladies in the last minute if you want to make something very easy at home this dry fruits laddu is the perfect one. Even you can involve your kids in making this ladoos. Check out my Diwali collections recipes.
mixed nuts ladoo
Before going into the post, i wanted to share 2 sweet news
  1. Lokmat times a Pune based magazine in it Nashik edition has featured 2 of my recipes, Mothichoor ladoo and carrot burfi recipe Click the picture to see it.
lokmat times
  1. Nirlep India , popular brand of selling Non stick cook ware , featured my Kaju katli recipe . Please visit their facebook fanpage to see it by clicking the picture.
nirlep
Now coming to the recipe of Dry fruits ladoo:
PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES . COOKING TIME: 3 MINUTES . MAKES 14 LADOOS
INGREDIENTS:
DATES (PITTED) 20
MIXED NUTS* 1/2 CUP
GHEE 1 TSP
dry-fruits-ladoo
METHOD:
  • Take out the seeds from the dates .
  • Dry roast the *nuts ( i used walnuts, cashew nuts, badam, pumpkin seeds, and pista) for 10 minutes in a low flame without getting burnt.
dates nuts
  • In a non stick pan, add ghee and add the dates and cook for 2 minutes . Do not get it burnt. The dates will get into a goey texture.
dates dates
  • Coarsely pulse the nuts in a mixer. Add this to the dates mixture. Switch off the flame.
ladoo dry fruits ladoo
  • Grease your hands with ghee and make ladoos of your desired size.
ladoo5
  • If you want you can roll it i desiccated coconut.
  • This will stay at room temperature for 2 days and keep it in the fridge for next few days. 
dry- fruits- ladoo       Stay tuned for more Diwali recipes!!
Have a look on my DIWALI RECIPES .

Monday, October 28, 2013

BUTTER MURUKKU| WITH VIDEO|EASY DIWALI SNACKS RECIPES

butter- murukku
Butter murukku is an easy diwali snack and gives a nice flavor of pottukadalai |roasted gram in the murukku. I learnt this recipe of butter murukku from my friend . If you are a beginner in making murukku you can try out this easy murukku as it you can squeeze into bits in oil and no need to shape the murukku. Try out this easy reciep of murukku for Diwali 2013. Stay tuned for more easy and interesting diwali recipes coming in the next few days. Check out my full collection of diwali recipes 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

NAN KHATAI RECIPE | DIWALI SWEETS RECIPES | EGGLESS INDIAN COOKIES

Nan khatai or butter biscuits whatever the name we use, are totally delicious Indian cookies . I am a huge fan of these nan khatais and the we used to call this as bakery biscuits and after coming into this blogging world i came to know about this name. If you want to try out few baking goodies for this diwali and want to surprise your friends with some interesting diwali sweets then you can try out this Nan khatais. They turned out very well but the pictures didn’t turn out as i expected. even you can involve your kids in making this Diwali sweet and they will feel more happy and a nice experience for them too. I bookmarked the recipe from Shabs cusine.


 PREPARATION TIME : 20 MINUTES. COOKING TIME: 15 MINUTES MAKES:20-22 COOKIES
ALL PURPOSE FLOUR 1 CUP
GHEE(MELTED) 1/2 CUP
SUGAR 1/2 CUP
CARDAMOM 1/4 TSP
BAKING SODA 1/4 TSP
CASHEW NUTS 2 TBLSP(FINELY CHOPPED)
BADAM| PISTA FOR GARNISHING
nankhattai
METHOD:
  • In a wide bowl add the flour,baking soda and cardamom and mix well. Add the  finely chopped cashew nuts to this and mix well.
maida maida+cashew
  • In another bowl, powder the sugar and add the ghee to this and beat this well for 5 minutes till it becomes creamy.
  • Add this sugar and ghee mixture slowly to the flour and knead it into a smooth dough.
  • Leave the dough covered for 30 minutes.
ghee +sugar dough
  • Make small cookies and garnish with pista or almond in the center.
  • I used badam.
  • Pre heat the oven at 160 degree C for 5 minutes.
  • Arrange the cookies in the baking tray and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Indian cookies Nan-khattai
  • These cookies need not turn golden brown. Even if u feel they are soft when hot, after u completely cool them it will become crisp.
  • Cool them in a wire rack.
Nankhattai nankhattai
  • Be careful not to get it burnt. Even if you see cracks it is fine , no need to worry.
nankhattai
  • Even if you want to try out a cake for Diwali i have posted an Eggless Mawa(khoya) cake which i posted long back. Click the picture for recipe
mawa cake
  • These nan khatais melted in mouth and we all enjoyed it.
           

Saturday, October 26, 2013

THENGAI PAAL MURUKKU|DIWALI SNACKS RECIPES|MURUKKU WITH COCONUT MILK

Murukku is an easy snack which is made in most of the houses for diwali. Generally we make Thenkuzhal or mullu murukku for Diwali. But my sister was telling me to post this thengai paal murruku since last diwali. Since i was not sure as it will be give a mild sweet ness i didn’t try. But very recently i came to know that this Thengai paal murukku will be very flavorful and will not have any traces of sweetness. In this murukku we add only thin coconut milk. So don’t worry about the high calorie of coconut milk. It tasted super flavourful and thanks to my friend’s Mother in law for this recipe.

Thengai-pal-murukku

PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINUTES .COOKING TIME:25 MINUTES. MAKES: 15 MURUKKU

INGREDIENTS:

RICE FLOUR 1 CUP
MOONG DAL 1/4 CUP
COCONUT(SCRAPPED) 4 TBLSP
WATER 1 CUP
CUMIN SEEDS 1/4 TSP
BUTTER 1 TBLSP
SALT TO TASTE
OIL FOR DEEP FRYING

thengai-paal-murukku

METHOD:

  • Dry roast the moong dal in a pan for few minutes without getting it burnt.
  • When cool grind this into a fine powder in a mixer.
  • In a wide bowl add in the rice flour, moong dal and mix well.
moong-dal Flour
  • Now grind the coconut in a mixer by adding little water. Grind this smoothly into a fine paste.
  • After that take out the milk from this by adding the remaining water. Squeeze it in a filter to extract thin coconut milk. The total process needs 1 cup of water. Thin coconut milk is ready.
coconutmilk coconut milk
  • Knead the flour using the thin coconut milk after adding cumin seeds and soft butter.
  • Knead into a pliable soft dough without any cracks. It consumed the full coconut milk for the flour. If by any chance you feel the coconut milk is less to make the dough add water.
  • Use the mullu murukku achu for this . The single Star one.
Dough Achhu
  • Heat oil and once it becomes hot, start making murukku. you can either squeeze it directly into the oil or you can squeeze in a ladle and transfer it to the oil.
  • cook till the sizzle sound of the oil subsides.
  • Drain in a kitchen towel.
frying Coconut milk murukku
  • Repeat the same process for the entire dough.

Murukku-with-coconut milk          

Note:

  • If making in bulk , knead the dough little by little. do  not knead the entire dough in one shot.
  • the muruku will tend to turn reddish color while frying if you keep the kneaded dough for a long time.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

CARROT BURFI RECIPE | EASY DIWALI SWEETS RECIPE

carrot-burfi
After the very successful attempt of trying out the BADAM BURFI I wanted to try out the carrot burfi. To add more happiness, this carrot burfi turned out fantastically well and it took 15 minutes for me to finish making Burfi. It tasted awesome and my daughter Varsha who is a perfect taste maker, raised her thumbs on the very first bite.  If you are new for making sweets for the first time, this burfi is definitely an easy sweet to try out for this Diwali. So lets move on to the recipe of carrot burfi – Easy  Diwali Sweet. Recipe updated with Video now

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

MAKKAN PEDA RECIPE|DIWALI SWEET RECIPES |WITH INSTANT GULAB JAMUN MIX

Makkan peda is a famous sweet from North Arcot District of Tamilnadu. As it is the native town of my in laws side i have heard about this sweet a lot. Generally it is made out of Khoya, as how we make KHOYA JAMUNS and it is stuffed with nuts. But i wanted to try out this with Instant gulab jamuns mix. As i know, in many housed Gulab jamun is a compulsory one for diwali and so give it a slight variation and try out this Arcot famous Sweet Makkan peda for this Diwali.

makkan-peda

PREPARATION TIME:20 MINUTES . COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES . YIELDS: 14 PEDAS

INGREDIENTS:
GULAB JAMUN MIX 1 CUP
SUGAR 1 AND 1/2 CUP
MILK 3-4 TBLSP
BAKING SODA A PINCH
DRY FRUITS* 2-3 TBLSP
WATER FOR SUGAR SYRUP 1AND 1/2 CUPS
OIL TO DEEP FRY
GHEE 1-2 TSP
*I added pista,cashew nuts,pumpkin seeds. I finely chopped the nuts.
arcot-sweet-peda
METHOD:
  • Chop the nuts finely. Sieve the jamun mix and add the baking soda to this.
dry fruits makkan-peda
  • Use milk to knead the jamun mix into a soft dough without any cracks.
  • cover this and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
  • In a pan add the sugar and water. Heat this till the sugar dissolves.
  • When the sugar gets completely dissolved switch off the flame.
makkan-peda makkan-peda
  • Now start making jamuns. Take a small lemon sized portion of the jamun dough and grease your hands with ghee. Roll this into a smooth ball and place a hole in the center.
makkan-peda makkan peda
  • Place some chopped nuts into this and close the stuffing like how we do for modak.
makkan peda peda
  • Meanwhile heat the oil for deep frying. When it is hot, bring down the flame to low.
  • Flatten the stuffed jamun like a peda. Fry this in a very low flame and drain excess oil in a kitchen towel. The jamuns tend to expand in oil adn  even after putting in syrup. so make it bit small.
peda makkan-peda
  • Repeat the same for the rest of the dough. Keep the dough covered all the time till u make the pedas.
  • Now heat the sugar syrup again for 2 minutes.
  • Switch off the flame and soak these jamun balls in the syrup for 2 hours.
  • I forgot to click the pictures of peda in soaked syrup.
  • Serve chilled or as it as. 
  • Garnish with some nuts while serving.           makkan- peda
NOTES:
  • Always keep the jamun dough covered to avoid drying and getting cracks.
  • You can add raisins ( dry grapes) in the stuffing.
  • Always ensure that the sugar syrup is warm while adding the fried balls.

Monday, October 21, 2013

SPICY DIAMOND CUTS|DIWALI SNACKS RECIPES|SAVORY DIAMOND CUTS RECIPE

Savoury diamonds cuts | Spicy diamond cuts , generally my mom makes to put in the SOUTH INDIAN MIXTURE . But i am a great fan of this spicy diamond cuts we call as spicy biscuits, so my amma makes a separate batch of this only for me and makes another batch to add in the mixture. I like the sweet version of this diamond cuts too and i have posted a bit different version of  that sweet biscuits called as Shankarpali which i have posted last year.
savory-diamond -cuts
PREPARATION TIME : 25 MINUTES . COOKING TIME:15 MINUTES YIELDS: APPROX 1 AND 1/2 CUP
INGREDIENTS:
MAIDA | ALL PURPOSE FLOUR 1/2 CUP
RED CHILLI POWDER 1/4 TSP
CUMIN SEEDS 1/4 TSP
AJWAIN | OMAM 1/8 TSP
SALT TO TASTE
BUTTER | GHEE 1/2 TBLSP
OIL FOR DEEP FRYING
Spicy-diamond-cuts
METHOD:
  • In a wide bowl, add the flour and add in all the the ingredients except oil for deep frying.
  • Knead it into a stiff yet smooth dough  without any cracks.
maida biscuits diamond-cuts
  • Cover it and keep it aside for 15 minutes.
  • Take out a portion of dough and roll it into thin chapathis.
  • You can dust with the flour while rolling. Use maida for dusting.
  • With a sharp knife cut the rolled roti into diamonds. I used the pizza cutter.
diamond-cuts spicy-diamond cut
  • Heat the oil for deep frying. when the oil is hot, carefully take out the diamond cuts and place it in the oil.
    diamond cuts deep fry
  • Drain it in a kitchen towel and repeat the same process for the rest of the dough too.
  diamond cuts 
  • You can either add it to South Indian mixture or can be had as it is as a Tea time snack too. spicy-diamond-cuts
Note:
  1. You can crush 2  garlic pods in a mortar and pestle and add to the dough to get a nice garlicky flavour.