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...