Mande

Come Diwali and all ladies get busy with cleaning of house and planning of Diwali snacks or Faral as it’s called in Marathi.

        My Aayi, who makes excellent sweets taught me this recipe, which initially looks tricky to make, but is yummy and different.

        It’s called Mande. It’s basically a puri made from maida covered with fine mixture of grated and roasted coconut, sugar and sesame seeds.

       

Ingredients

For the puri:

¼ kg Maida

2 tablespoon melted ghee

Salt to taste

Water or milk to make dough

For stuffing:

1 whole dry coconut or copra

Powder sugar according to your taste

2 tablespoon roasted til (sesame seeds)

2 teaspoon elachi powder

Oil for frying

Firstly prepare the stuffing:

1.    Finely grate the dry coconut.

2.    Dry roast it on low heat.

3.    Once cooled add sugar, roasted til and elachi powder and keep aside.

For Puri:

1.    Make dough from the ingredients of puri. Heat the ghee before adding to the dough.

2.    The dough shouldn’t be very soft or very hard. It should be normal dough like chapatti dough.

3.    Keep it aside,covered to rest for 15-20 mins.

How to assemble:

1.    Divide the dough into 20 equal balls.

2.    Roll out puris from the dough and remember to prick it with fork, as we don’t want these to puff while frying.

3.    After you have rolled out all the puris, heat the oil.

4.   Till oil get heated up, in a plate spread little bit of coconut sugar mixture.

5.    Once the oil gets hot, lower the flame and fry the 1^st puri.

6.   When the puri is fried on both sides, drain the excess oil and place it on the plate with the coconut mixture.

7.    Sprinkle some of the mixture on the puri and fold it into half.

8.   Again sprinkle some more mixture and fold into quarter.

9.This folding and sprinkling of coconut mixture has to be done immediately after frying when the puris are soft.

10. Once it gets cool, it becomes hard and crisp.

11.  Repeat this process for rest of the puris.

12. Allow it to cool and store into airtight container.

Note : 

You can add milk while making dough, but then it does stay fresh for long duration. But if water is added to dough it can stay for 10 - 15 days.

I have written and submitted this recipe for KitchenAid® India: Diwali Recipe Contest and Giveaway

Manni

          When my daughter’s school decided to hold a food festival last weekend it set me thinking “What should I make?”…

          So I decided to make Manni or rice halwa as it is called, another Manglorean sweet dish. The traditional recipe includes soaking of rice and then grinding it into a fine paste, then mixing with coconut milk and jaggery and then cooking it till it forms a lump…

           But then I decided to make the shortcut version which was taught to me by my Aayi…

          So here are the ingredients and recipe for Rice and Moongdal Halwa or sweet kichidi as it is called…

Ingredients

1 cup rice (uncooked)

1 cup yellow Moongdal

1 grated coconut (only white part)

1 ½ cup gul / jaggery

Pinch of salt

Elachi and nutmeg (jaiphal) powder

Ghee

5 cups water

1.    Wash and soak rice and dal for ½ hour.

2.    Drain the water, add 5 cups water and pressure cook till 3 whistles.

3.    In a thick bottom kadai, first melt the gul.

4.   Then add the coconut gratings, along with pinch of salt.

5.    Mix well.

6.   Then add cooked rice and dal mixture, once the gul has melted fully.

7.    Add elachi and nutmeg powder, 1 tablespoon ghee.

8.   Some add saffron for additional flavour and aroma.

9.   Keep stirring so as the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom.

10. Keep stirring till it forms a lump.

11.  Pour the mixture in to a greased plated.

12. Flatten it by tapping it with a greased end of inverted glass or cup.

13. Allow it to cool.

14. Then cut it into diamond or any required shapes and decorate it with fried cashew or kismis or serve as it is.

Enjoy it hot or cold. Both taste best.

Note :

1.    You can make variations in this by using either only rice or a mix of rice and channa dal or rice or whole green moong.

2.    If you find it hard to keep stirring to form a lump, when the rice and gul is mixed properly, close the gas and you can serve it as you serve semolina halwa in a plate.

3.    Another variation is, instead of rice use ragi or nachani flour and mix it with coconut milk and jaggery.

4.   If you are using whole moong or channa dal soak it for upto 1 hour and take upto 4-5 whistles.

Corn onion pakoda

I know all reading this recipe will curse me saying “she is posting this recipe now when rains have gone”… So first I apologize for delay… Had been busy so couldn’t upload…

          So here is a simple snack for evening tea… A little variation from usual Onion bhaji…

Ingredients

1 cup American corn

1 cup sliced onions

1 medium boiled and mashed potato

2 finely chopped green chillies

Finely chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder to taste

Oil for frying

2 tablespoon rice flour

1-2 cups besan or chickpea flour

1.    Roughly crush American corn in mixer. Don’t make a fine paste.

2.    In a bowl add the crushed corn, onion, mashed potatoes, green chillies, coriander leaves, red chilli powder, rice flour, salt to taste.

3.    Mix all ingredients very nicely. Don’t add water.

4.   Now add besan 1 tablespoon at a time to make a thick batter just like we make for onion bhajis. If required now you can add little water.

5.    After you get the required consistency, adjust salt & red chilli according to your taste.

6.     Heat the oil in a kadai.

7.    When the oil gets hot, lower the gas flame and with help of a wet spoon pour dollops of the above batter in hot oil.

8.   Fry till golden brown.

9.   Remove the pakodas and spread them over kitchen towel or tissue papers to drain excess oil.

10. Serve hot with ketchup or pudina chutney and hot piping ginger tea.

Note:

          In view of recent price hike of onions, you can omit onions for this recipe till the price of onions comes down… or you can add only 1 small finely diced onion, just to bring in the sweetness and crunchiness…

          Or else another option is, whenever you feel like having “kanda bhajiya” but price tag of onions don’t allow you, make this pakodas and satisfy your desire J

 Enjoy Cooking J

Sepu Bhaji Dosa

This  is a healthy breakfast item…

          Sepu bhaji as its commonly known also known as Dill in English is rich in Iron…It is said that eating this leafy vegetable, while a woman is lactating helps in increase of production of milk and relieves back ache which is common for new born mother…Usually it is used in making of Idlis, Dosas, Salads or Dal Wadas…

          Many people don’t like its strong smell, but I always loved its strong aroma…

          This is traditional recipe learnt from my Aayi…It is also called Sweet Dosa or methi dosa when done without addition of the Sepu leaves…  This dosa is easy to make and also best way to serve to kids who don’t like this veggie…

Ingredients

2 cups of rice

1 tablespoon methi seeds

½ cup poha

1 bunch of sepu / dill leaves

½ cup grated coconut

Jaggery / gul according to taste

Pinch of salt and haldi

1.    Wash and soak rice and methi together for 5-6 hours. Soak poha 10 min before grinding.

2.    Then drain the water and grind to fine paste along with all other ingredients.

3.    The batter shouldn’t be too thick or too thin… it should be little bit thick than normal dosa batter…

4.   Keep it aside for fermentation overnight.

5.    Next day adjust the batter consistency.

6.   Take a non stick dosa pan and heat it.

7.    When the pan is hot, lower the gas flame and pour a ladle of the fermented batter.

8.   Pour little bit of ghee over it, cover it and allow to cook.

9.   When the dosa is brown in color turn over and allow the other side to become brown.

10.  Serve hot with homemade ghee or butter.

Note:-

1.    Leftover batter can be used to make appe or small pancakes.

2.    If you don’t get the leaves, no worry, follow the recipe just omit the leaves part.

Enjoy cooking…

Rawa Cake

This recipe is from my mom’s treasure J

This is a healthy recipe for kids who hate milk, dahi & ghee… This recipe also has health benefits as it doesn’t contain maida…

Ingredients

1 cup dahi

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk (cold or at room temperature)

1 ½ cup jada rawa

½ cup melted ghee

½ tsp soda

Pinch of salt

·         Mix dahi, sugar & milk till sugar melts.

·         Add other ingredients & keep aside for 3 -4 hours.

·         Add dry fruits & kismis if you like.

·         After 4 hours pour this mixture in a greased tin.

·         Pre heat oven at 180 ‘C for 5 min

·         Bake the cake at 150 ‘C for 30 min or till knife comes out clean.

·         If you don’t have oven or OTG, don’t lose heart, you can bake in pressure cooker.

·         Pre heat cooker for 5 min without rubber (gasket) & whistle.

·         Keep an upturned vessel below; above this, keep the tin with cake mixture.

·         Cook for 40 min or till knife comes out clean on low flame.

Note: if you like you can add few drops of rose or pineapple essence.

Happy baking J

Healthy Cake..

When you say “Cake”, all one can see before their eyes is lots of maida, cream, beating of eggs till fluffy or separating of eggs, etc…But I am sure all mothers whose kids are cake lovers will definitely love this recipe…

      And yes cakes can be made from atta also…

     I got this recipe on a Marathi cookery show. What I loved in this recipe is that no maida, no beating of eggs till fluffy & with carrots & apple. I loved this recipe at once. So now its once-in-a-month, this cake is baked at our house… everyone loves it……

    When I 1^st made it everyone was shocked to learn that it was made with minimal amount of maida… you surely will love this cake…

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter

¼ cup maida

¾ cup atta

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup grated carrot

½ cup grated apple

Dry fruits  

1 tsp Elachi powder or vanilla essence

·         Beat the eggs a little.

·         Powder the sugar & then add it to the eggs along with butter.

·         Mix till sugar melts.

·         Add elachi powder or essence.

·         Sieve thrice, together maida, atta baking powder, soda & cocoa powder.

·         Add this to the egg mixture bit by bit.

·         Now add grated carrot & apple.

·         Also add dry fruits coated in maida/ atta.

·         Pre heat oven at 180`C for 5 min.

·         Pour the cake mixture in  a greased tin & bake at 180’C for 30 - 40 mins or till knife comes out clean.

Note:

•   Instead of maida, add equal amount of atta.
•   You can add choco chips on top to look like a chocolate cake.

Happy baking