Coconut almond and cashew burfi

Ingredients 
Dry coconut powder - 1 cup
Almond and cashew mixed together - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Elachi powder - 1 tsp
Butter - 1/4 cup


Preparation Method
Soak the almond and cashew in hotwater for about 10 mins.
Peel off the skin from the almonds if you prefer to keep your burfi white.
Grind the cashews and almonds with milk into a fine mixture.
To make the sugar syrup add the sugar and water together in a wide pan.
Always remember that the sugar to water ratio is 2:1.
Once it reaches the one string consistence(A single string when stretched between two fingers) add the coonut powder and the cashew and almond paste. Add half of the butter at this stage.
Keep stirring continously and you can see that the ingredients would come well together and doesnt stick to the pan. You can see that the bubbles in the mixture are blooming up like a flower and this is the right consistency when the burfi would be neither too hard nor too soft. It would melt into your mouth with a bite. Now add the remaining ghee and give a final stir.
Add this mixture to a wide pan greased with butter and spread it out to the desired thickness.
Once it cools down a little cut shapes with the help of a knife. Once it cools down completely cut them out into individual pieces. Refrigerate them to stay fresh for a long time.

Dood Peda

Dood peda is the most easiest and tastiest sweet I know... I love pedas and tried them out for this diwali. They turned out really well... The spirit that goes into making these sweets during the festive season is wonderful...

Ingredients 
Khowa - 2 cups(I brought them from the store)
Sugar - 1 cup
Butter - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Sliced almonds - To garnish
Elachi powder - 1tsp

Preparation Method
Heat  butter in a pan and add milk to this.
Grate the khowa and add this after the butter and milk get mixed well.
Add the elachi powder and keep stirring until the mixture absorbs all the milk and becomes dry.
Add sugar and keep stirring for about 5 mins until the whole dough comes together. 
If you keep it in the heat for more time the sugar would solidify and the pedas would turn out hard.
Now cool this mixture and make them into small balls. Flatten them and draw lines with a knife(if you wish) and garnish them with almonds. Refrigerate them to stay fresh.
If you are not able to make balls with the peda mixture you can microwave it for another 2-3 mins. Allow it to cool . You should be able to make the pedas now...

Mixture

Mixture always reminds me of diwali. I bet you can never find a south indian sweet meat shop without this item ..I remember my mom making mixture in a big thooku(traditional box) a week before diwali. I would eat them as soon as I come from school. I would be waiting for my mom to finish the sweets . I would be the first to taste them. I miss all those sweets and kaaram made by my mom. Now I try to make them as she would so that I could pass on the tradition to my little daughter. This time she was waiting for me to finish them and ofcourse she tasted them and said Mommy It is yummy... She made my day.. Now let me go to the recipe.......

Ingredients

Gram flour(Besan)- 3 cups 

Rice flour - half a cup

Chilli powder- as per your taste

Curry leaves- few 

Raw peanuts- 1/2 cup  

Roasted chana(pottukadalai)- 1/2 cup  

Rice flakes (Aval)- 1/4 cup 

Salt- to taste 

Oil- to deep fry

Preparation 

My mixture consists of Boondi, Ompodi, Kaarasevai and Ribbon murukku. I would give the detailed method to make each of these. 

To make boondi 

Mix besan with water. The consistency should be similar to dosa batter. Add a pinch of salt and chilli powder to this. Now heat the oil and keep it in medium. Now use a wide spatula with holes to make the boondi. Keep the spatula on the top of the oil and  pour the batter on the top of the spatula . Now the batter would seep in and you can see tiny little boondi falling into the oil. Take them when they are crisp and keep it aside. 

 

To make Ompodi, Kaarasevai and Ribbon murukku I have used the same dough. Its just that the different shapes give them a different taste. 

For the dough add 2 cups of besan flour and 1/4 cup of rice flour. Add 2-3 tbsp of the hot oil . Add chilli powder and salt as per your taste. Now add water and make it into a dough. Use the murukku press and the relevant shapes to make ompodi, kaarasevai and ribbon.  After you make the ompodi and ribbon crush them  into medium pieces. I have used the murukku mould for making the karasev and then crushed it.

Now fry the peanuts and chana dal in the oil and keep them aside. Fry the riceflakes and curry leaves too.

Mix everything together. Add a little bit of salt, chilli powder and a pinch of sugar and toss it well. 

Misture is ready... Have a fabulous diwali...

Poondu(Garlic) kuzhambu

There are so many versions of poondu kuzhambu but this version of mine has only garlic added to it and no onions or tomatoes. If you are lazy to cut onions and tomatoes you can make this as this recipe calls for only garlic. This gravy can be refrigerated for more than a month. It would stay fresh as we don't add onions or tomatoes to it. If you would like to have a handy thokku or gravy to go with idlis ,dosas or rice you can make them and refrigerate them. I make this for my husband especially when I leave to India. It tastes so good with rice and potato curry.

Ingredients 
Garlic - 10 cloves
Curry leaves - A handful
Tamarind - 1 goose berry size (If you are using tamarind paste - 2 tbsp)
Oil - 4 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2 - 3 
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Hing - A pinch
Sambar Powder/Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Pepper cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp


Preparation Method
Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds and urad dal and let it splutter. Now add the red chillies, curry leaves,hing and  garlic and fry them well. You can smash the garlic to add more flavor and taste.

Once the rawness of the garlic goes off add the turmeric powder, tamarind paste, sambar powder and salt.
Allow it to boil for about 15-20 minutes. You can see that the gravy would have reduced to almost half its size. Now add the pepper and cumin powder and let it boil for about 2-3 minutes.If you want it even more thicker let it boil for a few more minutes.

Garlic kozambu is ready to serve. I usually add a tbsp of Gingelly oil to this to make it even more tastier. Moreover Gingelly oil balances the heat in our body because of the garlic. This gravy is extemely tasty and easy to make too.

Surakkai pattani kootu(Bottlegourd/Lauki mutter dal)

The thing that bottle gourd was one of the earliest vegetables cultivated by man makes me treat this real special. It has been known for its medicinal value and hence is being widely used in traditional healing. I love to use this often in my kitchen. Using mutter in this recipe gives it an extra punch. I combine lentils with vegetables just to boost the protein intake. This healthy recipe can be eaten either with rotis or hot rice.

Ingredients
Surakkai(lauki) - 1 medium size
Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Pattani(Mutter)-1/2 cup
Onion - 1 medium size
Tomato - 1 medium size
Garlic - 2 - 3 cloves
Curry leaves- A handful
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds(Sombu)- 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Chilli powder or Sambar powder- 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tbsp

Preparation Method
Cut the Bottle gourd into medium size pieces and pressure cook it along with the dal and mutter. Add the turmeric powder while you pressure cook it.

Now heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, fennel seeds , red chillies and the curry leaves. Add the garlic and onion and fry them well.

Add the tomatoes along with the cooked dal. Add chilli powder and salt.

Let it boil for about 7-10 minutes. Dal is ready to serve.If you like it to be more spicy you can use bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon while doing the tadka.

Aval Almond Payasam(Almond poha kheer)

Aval(Poha) always reminds me of Lord Krisha as it was his favorite.This payasam is made especially on Krisna Jayanthi. Everytime I make something out of aval I keep it first before Krishna even before I taste it. Making a payasam/kheer with aval is so easy that you can make it in a few minutes. It tastes so good no wonder Lord krishna liked it. I ran out of cashew nuts and hence I used Almonds and infact I liked it. Aval and almond rhymes well too...This is a very traditional recipe and I love trying traditional recipes which have a great story attached to it ....

Ingredients 
Aval/Poha - 1 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Almonds - 5-6
Raisins- 4-5
Elachi powder- 1/2 tsp
Milk - 2 cups


Preparation Method
Add 1 tbsp of ghee and fry the almonds(I prefer to break them into half) and raisins. Keep them aside.
In the same pan add the remaining ghee and roast the Aval. Now add the milk and let the aval cook.
Add the elachi powder and once the aval is cooked add the sugar.
Let it cook for 4-5 minutes. Now garnish it with almonds and raisins and payasam is ready for your feast...

Pudalangai poricha kootu(Snake gourd dal)

Pudalangai poricha kootu is a wonderful way to cook snake gourd. One thing I like about this vegetable is that it is so easy to cut. When you are done with cutting the vegetables almost half the cooking is done. This kootu is very tasty and extremely easy to make.I use a lot of coriander seeds in my cooking. Add it to any dish it would make it so tasty. Apart from the taste aspect it aides in digestion too. I am a big fan of coriander seeds and use it wherever I can. Make a nice spicy curry with this and have it with hot rice I bet you wont regret it.

Ingredients
Snake gourd - 1 medium size
Moong dal(pasi paruppu) - 1 cup
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds(jeera) - 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup(If you are using the dessicated one)
Curry leaves - 5-6
Green chillies- 2 -3(add more if you want it spicy)
Hing - a pinch
Salt - As required


Preparation method
Cut the snake gourd into medium size pieces and pressure cook it with the moong dal,turmeric powder and chana dal.(For 1 cup of dal and medium size snake gourd you can add 2 1/2 cups of water
 In the mean while dry roast only the coriander seeds and grind it finely along with the cumin seeds,coconut and green chillies.

Now heat oil in a pan and  add the mustard seeds and the urad dal.Add the curry leaves and the hing.
Add the cooked dal mixture to this and required amount of salt.
Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add the ground paste and let it boil for about 5-7 minutes.
Thats it... Pudalangai poricha kootu is ready.. It really tastes good without any garlic or onion added to it..
The original tanjore recipe doesn't have garlic or onion added to it. But if you would prefer to have them in your version you can add them too....