Jalebi / Jhangri

While I may not be sweet-toothed, I am surrounded by many who are and times I too feel like treating my sweet taste budz. This diwali, I chose to make Jalebis - those yellow, thin, crispy ones. And then there are those Jangris - those orange, bit thicker, softer ones. 

Jalebis are made using all purpose flour, will have a slight tangy taste, and the flour is fermented overnight before preparation. Jangris are made using uradh dhal and fried gram dhal flour, and is neither tangy nor fermented.

Wonder why I started with mentioning both that's because my dish was a hybrid of both named as "JalJangebis" ;)

I used Uradh Dhal and rice flour - ideally output should have been jangri. But given the shape, color and crispiness it was like jalebis -- end of it all, this hybrid sweet "jaljangebis" was also a roaring success :)

Ingredients:

• Uradh dal - 2 cups
• Raw Rice - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 500 gms (as per your taste you can add or reduce this)
• Oil - To Fry
• Lemon yellow - 1/2 tspn food color (this will give the light yellowish orangish shade) 
• Saffron - some use this 

Method

To make the flour:

1. Soak uradh dal and raw rice for an hour. Grind both separately to a smooth batter till they become frothy. Consistency should be that of dosa flour
2. Mix them and allow it to rest for 30 mts

To make the sugar syrup:

1. In a non stick pan, add sugar and 1-1.5 cups of water. Cook it on medium flame
2. Add 2 tspn of milk to remove any froth due to sugar (you can remove the froth as it floats up)
3. The sugar syrup starts condensing and should be One String. Switch off the flame.
4. Add a lemon wedge to retain the consistency of the sugar syrup and disable any crystalization later.
5. Sugar Syrup should be left on the gas to retain the heat 

To make the jaljangebis / jangris:

1. In a kadai, heat oil. You can test the readiness by dropping a small ball of the batter inside. It should pop up immediately.
2. Fill the jalebi maker with the batter. Alternatively, you can use a cloth or a milk cover with a small hole on one of its corner and make them.
3. Make the desired shape... jangris and jalebis differ in shape but whichever comes easier for you go for it
4. Allow it to fry to golden brown on both sides by turning them
5. Remove from fire ensuring no excess oil and dip it directly into the sugar syrup. Ensure sugar syrup is warm to hot when you dip it
6. Allow it to stay each side for 1.5 mts and remove it to a vessel (overall 3 mts).
7. As it cools down, you can pack it in air-tight container.

Rava kesari (Semolina Sweet)

While all known to me will vouch for my preference for spicy food (spice-toothed ;), times I do feel like having something sweet. O ya, not to forget all those sweet-toothed lovelies around me!

So, after a real long time, I started my experimentation with making a very simple sweet dish "Semolina / Rava Kesari".

Ingredients

• Semolina / Sooji / Rava : 2 cups
• Sugar                              : 1.25 - 1.5 cups 
• Ghee                               : 4-5 tbs (1 cup)
• Cashew                           : 10 pieces (broken)
• Raisins                            : 10 pieces
• Kesari Color (food color) : a few pinch (as dark as you prefer, this gives the orange tinge)
• Water                               : 3 cups (or more as required to boil semolina)
• Cardamom powder          : 2 pieces of cardamom powdered

Method:

1. Dry roast semolina / sooji in a kadai till it starts turning slightly brown. Remove to a steel plate or bowl 
2. To this, add a tbspn of ghee and roast the cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown. 
3. To this, add the dry roasted semolina. Add one or two tspn of ghee and roast this to golden brown
4. In parallel to steps 2 and 3, bring the water to boil in a separate container. To this, add the Kesari color powder. 
5. Add the hot water slowly to the semolina mix with continuous stirring to ensure no lumps are formed. Semolina should dissolve smoothly in the water and form a juicy mix
6. To this, add sugar and stir it well. 
7. Close the kadai and allow it to cook in a low flame (we could also switch off the fire and cook it for a few minutes. Then, light the stove and cook it on low flame)
8. Cook till semolina is well cooked and starts leaving the sides of the kadai 
9. Add cardamom powder, and top it with some ghee
10. Remove from fire and serve hot

Note: From my attempt, I realized a few things to improvise:

• Can use a little more water to make the kesari a bit juicy than dry
• Can powder the roasted semolina to give it a better texture
• Add more sugar if you are sweet-toothed
• Add more color to have a good orange tinge

Try having some hot kesari with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It tastes yummmm :)

White Pumpkin Halwa

White Pumpkin, which is typically used to make dishes such as sambhar, gravy using coconut and curd, soups, raita, are also used to make some interesting sweet dishes. These include the popular Petha (its like a sugary candy), kheer, and halwa.

I tried to make the popular "Kasi Halwa", which is a halwa cooked using white pumpkin with sugar. This is a famous dish served in Kasi (a place down south) and in marriages. This is my first attempt...

Ingredients:

• White Pumpkin : 2 cups grated
• Sugar : 1 cup (some add equivalent to the quantity of the grated pumpkin... choose as per your taste)
• Milk : 1 cup
• Ghee: 2-3 tspn
• Saffron : a few strands (optional) in luke warm milk (a tspn)
• Cardomom : 2-3
• Raisins: 10

Method:

1. Wash, peel the white pumpkin and grate it. It will leave lots of water. 
2. In a kadai, add the grated pumpkin either with the water or without. I cooked it with water (Some add a spoon or two of ghee before adding the pumpkin)
3. After the water is absorbed, add milk and allow the pumpkin to cook further
4. Milk will be absorbed and the pumpkin will reach a cooked consistency. Then, add sugar and ghee
5. Add saffron to give the light yellow color. Typically, Kesar powder is added or the food color (orange) but I didn't.
6. To this add the raisins (some fry and add; but I added it as is)
7. The ghee will separate. Halwa when taken in a spoon will fall smoothly - that is the consistency
8. Remove from fire and serve hot (Or you can refrigerate & serve with ice creams)

End Result: Halwa came off well but for the fact that I ended up using a bit more sugar than needed. But some like it this sweet. 

Fig & Date Cake / Halwa

Dry fruits & Nuts prove to be a healthy and tasty ingredient for any many of your sweet dishes, baking, etc. I tried an interesting sweet dish suggested by great chefs like Tarladalal & Sanjeev Kapoor using Figs & Dates as the main ingredient. Turned out to be a healthy yet tasty sweet dish & the key being it doesn't require Sugar (unless you want to make it more sweety; even then you probably can try using jaggery rather than sugar)

Ingredients:

Figs : 12-15

Dates: 12-15 (seedless)

Almonds: 15

Cashew: 12

Pistachio: 12

Raisins: 5-10 (optional)

Desiccated Coconut: 2-3 tbspn (optional)

Ghee - 1/4 cup 

Method:

1. Soak figs & dates separately in a bowl of hot water for 10-15 mts
2. Drain and make a puree using very less water (Separately & ensure dates are de-seeded)
3. Chop almonds, cashews, raisins, and pistachios. You can chop them or coarse grind it in a mixer 
4. In a pan, add the ghee. To it add the fig and dates puree. Stir well and cook in medium heat till the moisture is gone (10 mts ~)
5. Then add the chopped ingredients. Continue to stir and cook for another ~ 10 mts. 
6. Add the desiccated coconut and stir. Cook for another couple of minutes. As the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan, remove from fire.
7. In a tray or glass vessel grease some ghee. Remove the mixture from fire and pour it into the tray.
8. Spread evenly and allow it to cool (about an hour)
9. Cut it into desired pieces and serve 

Happy since it was approved by my 'Aman', a 7 yr old :)

Alternate Method:

1. Chop the dates & figs very finely (1 cup). In a pan, add a tbspn of butter / ghee. Then add 1 tbspn of condensed milk
2. To this, add the chopped ingredients and fry them for 2 mts
3. In another kadai, I fried the remaining dry fruits & nuts (cut into fine pieces), 2 tspn of desiccated coconut in a spoon of ghee
4. After 2 mts (Step 2), remove from fire. Add the fried ingredients. Add 1-2 spoon of powdered sugar (if rqd).
5. Allow it to cool a bit & make it to the desired shape. Easy to make them as ladoos.

Gujiya : Sweet Dumplings, North Indian Style

Gujiya is a widely consumed snack from North India, most predominantly made during 'Holi' celebrations. But this is such a simple yet delicious dish & so easy to make that we can have it any time! I have always wanted to try these @ home and finally here I am!

I had last posted on Dumplings : Indian style. Gujiya is exactly similar to that but for the base ingredients used. Let me share what makes a Gujiya and allow you to try it on your own :)

Ingredients:

For the cover

• Refined Flour (Maida) : 1 cup
• Sooji (Semolina / Rav): 2-3 tspn 
• Ghee:  3 tbspn
• Oil:  For Frying

For the stuffing

• Khoya (Mawa) : 2/3 cup grated  (Click khyoa @ home recipe)
• Sugar : 1 -1.5 cups (powdered)
• Raisins : 15-20
• Cashew : 15
• Almond: 10
• Any other dry fruits of your preference like Fig
• Cardomom Powder: 1/4 tspn
• Coconut: 2 tbspn (Desiccated or if fresh, grate & fry it till brown)
• Water: 1/4 cup (cold water)

Home-made Khoya (Mawa)

Method:

To make the dough for the Cover: Sift the flour and add it in a vessel. To this, add ghee and with fingertips mix it to make it like breadcrumbs

To this mix, add the water and knead it to a smooth dough (don't beat it much). Cover it with a damp cloth and leave it aside for a while.

To make the stuffing: 

1. If you are using fresh grated coconut (instead of desiccated), then first fry them to golden brown and keep aside.
2. In a non-stick pan, add the khoya (mawa). Saute it for 2-3 mts and remove it from fire. To this, add all dry fruits and coconut. Mix it and then add the powdered sugar. Mix it to make the final stuffing.

To make gujiya:

• Make small balls of the dough. 
• Spread each one to a poori-size. After you make 4-5 of these start filling them and frying. (Don't make all of them and allow them to dry in the air)
• Place the stuffing on one side of the poori. Moisten the edges of the poori with water. 
• Now, cover the stuffing with the remaining half of the poori to a half-moon shaped gujiya (Alternatively, you can use the mould available in market). Ensure the edges are firmly closed

• In a deep frying pan, heat oil. Ensure the oil is not very hot. Should be medium hot to fry gujiyas. Fry each till golden brown.
• Place them on a plate with tissues because they are deep fried in oil. Cool them & store them in air-tight container.

[Thanks to @Chef Sanjeev Kapoor for this recipe]

Rava Laddu : Suji ka Ladoo

Its in the air! Yup, the onset of the Festive Season in India has begun... Along with celebrations, its time to treat your taste budz and tummy with very minimal or no restrictions whatsoever :) What better reason for me to try my hands at attempting some sweet dishes; and ofcourse, I was inspired by @ Riddhika Ram's 2 sweet dishes that I happened to taste recently. But as a novice, I would like to begin with the basics; some easy to make but commonly liked and available sweet dishes. Though I am not such a fan for sweet dishes, I do want to learn these to treat those sweet toothed people in my life!

Beginning with the most simple and easy to make Rava Laddu or Suji ka Laddu. Flat 15-20 mts and the dish is ready.

Ingredients:

• Rava / Suji / Semolina : 1 cup
• Sugar: 1 cup (3/4 cup, if lesser sweet)
• Ghee:  1/4 cup
• Cardomom powder : 1-2 pinch
• Cashew nuts : A handful (I would like to add other dry fruits like badam / dry grapes etc)

Method:

1. In a tava, add 1 tbspn of ghee. As it melts, make small pieces of the cashew nuts and roast them till golden brown
2. Keep the fried cashews aside. In the same left over ghee, if any, roast the Rava / Suji. You can also dry roast them. I prefer to roast them till golden brown (approx 10 mts on medium flame)
3. Allow the roasted rava / suji to cool for 5 mts
4. Make a powder of the Cardomoms 
5. In a mixer, add the cardomom (if not powdered smoothly), roasted suji, and sugar. Grind them just a little less fine (max coarse as possible so that it neither bites too much nor its too soft that it becomes sticky)
6. Add the powdered mix in a big bowl. 
7. Melt the remaining ghee.
8. Add the ghee slowly to the powdered mix. Make a mix and start making the ladus when the mix is hot. 
9. Yummy ladus are ready to be tasted

Tip:

• You can sprinkle a little warm milk if you are not able to make the ladus easily - this is something that I read but never tried

What went wrong:

• During my first attempt, I didn't roast the suji enough. So, it had the raw feel when the ladus were made
• I included Dried Grapes & Badam. While badam will go well, at times dried grapes may not synch in because it could be sour at times. Many may not like that flavor in rava ladu.

Dumplings : Indian Style

Dumpling is a dish similar to the well-known Chinese dumplings or momos. In India, this is a dish made of primarily the Rice flour and varied styles such as sweet (alias Modaks), salted, fried etc. Its considered to be the favorite dish of Lord Ganesha and is made to celebrate his birthday (Ganesh Chaturthi). It is famously known as "Kozhukatai" in South India.

While I've tried making the sweet kozhukatai also known as Modak, this year I also tried to make the salted kozhukatai. Good start with all liking what they got to taste! This is joined effort of mine & aunt (sangee's mom) based on recipes read on the web :)

Sweet Kozhukatai / Modaks

Salt Kozhukatai 

Kozhukatai Flour 

Ingredients:

1. Rice Powder: 3 cups (for both sweet & Salt kozhukatai) - You can buy the readily available rice powder or soak raw rice in water for about an hour, drain, ensure all water is absorbed via a cloth, and powder it in a mixer. Seive it to get the nice powder.
2. Oil : Preferably Coconut oil - 2 tspn
3. Salt : 1/4 tspn
4. Water: 2.5 cups (same measuring cup as the one used for the powder)
5. Milk : 0.5 cup

Preparation:

1. In a pan, add water and heat it along with salt, oil, & milk.
2. As the water starts to boil, add the rice powder slowly & stirring constantly
3. As soon as the powder is mixed with the water, remove it from fire
4. Mix it with hand to make it into a smooth dough. Sprinkle water and a bit of oil to mix it smoothly. If its too watery, add more of rice powder.
5. Leave the dough covered with a cloth for a few minutes

Sweet Kozhukatai 

Stuffing Ingredients:

1. Coconut : grated 1 cup
2. Jaggery : grated 3/4 cup 
3. Cardomom powder : 1/4 tspn (2-3 pieces powdered)
4. Oil or Ghee : 2 tspn
5. Water : 1/2 cup or lesser to just dissolve the jaggery

Preparation:

1. In a pan, add water and the jaggery
2. When it dissolves completely, filter it to remove any sand or other particles
3. Add it back to the pan and allow it to start boiling
4. To this add the coconut, ghee, and cardomom powder continuosly stirring it
5. When it reaches a consistency like a ball with not sticking on to the pan, remove from fire

Salt Kozhukatai 

Stuffing Ingredients:

1. Uradh dhal (Uzhutamparupu): 1/2 cup soaked in water for 2-3 hours
2. Green Chillies: 2-3 (based on the spice level)
3. Salt : per taste
4. Curry leaves: 4-5 pieces
5. Oil : 2 tspn
6. Mustard seeds: 1/2 tspn
7. Coconut (optional) : 1-2 tspn
8. Asafotedia (hing) : a pinch

Preparation:

1. Grind the soaked & drained dhal with green chillie, salt & curry leaves. Ensure its coarse & don't use much water. Sprinkle water (if rqd) and grind
2. Take this mix, make it to into medium-sized balls & steam it (you can use idli plates by applying a bit of oil) - for 5-7 mts
3. Remove & break the cooked balls
4. In a pan, add oil. When its hot, add the mustard seeds. As they splutter, add this steamed mix along with hing and coconut.
5. Cook them for 2-3 mts & remove from fire.

Making the Kozhukatai (both sweet / salt)

1. Take a lemon-sized dough in hand, apply a bit of oil, and make it into a cup shape (shd be thin on the sides & deep in the middle)
2. At the center, place a lemon-sized sweet / salt stuffing
3. Close the cup into the desired shape - could be a round or horizontal or any other shape you can think of. Ensure the stuffing is fully covered & there is a balance between the dough & stuffing proportion.
4. Once all made, take the idli plates, apply a bit of oil / ghee in each plate & place these kozhukatais. 
5. Steam them for 5-7 mts. When done they appear transparent (you can just touch water and touch the kozhukatais by the fingers. If its not sticky its done)
6. Serve them hot

We get those kozhukatai makers (shown below) which will ease your job. Just ensure you apply oil before placing the dough inside it.

Enjoy delicious & healthy kozhukatais! These make for a good evening snack as well. These are 2 basic varieties. Soon planning to try on some more & will share. Till then, eat healthy & enjoy life!

Beetroot Halwa : For the sweet-toothed

** Moved from my earlier blog **

Hey sweet-toothed people, here is a recipe for a halwa from my kitchen. If I can do it, so can you all :) Try it & share feedback:

Ingredients: Quantity mentioned below are my measure... But you can choose based on your headcount & taste.

1. Beetroot - 1 cup grated 
2. Milk - 2 cups
3. Dates - 4 soaked & make a watery paste of it.
4. Sugar - 1 cup (per your taste)
5. Ghee - 4-5 tsp (1/4 cup kinds)
6. Cardomom - 2-4 pounded
7. Dry fruits - Raisins, Cashew (as you need to season)

Method:

1. In a pan, heat some ghee. To it add the grated beetroot and saute it for a few minutes (till little bit of raw smell goes off and beetroot softens a bit). 
2. To this, add milk; Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the pan. Cover the pan & allow the beetroot to cook.
3. When the above mix thickens, add sugar. 
4. Cook till the sugar dissolves and starts to leave the sides - would like strings when you stir. The mixture will start to thicken further.
5. In parallel, fry cashew, raisins in ghee (alternatively, you can add them dry).
6. Cook till you get a semi thick consistency. The ghee will be absorbed and the sugar strings will start appearing. As it cools down later, it will thicken further; So, remember to remove it from fire when in a little loosen state - to avoid making 'beetroot bar' instead of 'beetroot halwa' ;)
7. Season the halwa with the fried dry fruits. Add cardamom powder at the end.

         Tasty halwa is ready to be served. I included dates to make it a little bit more healthier & tastier :)

 Note: You can follow the same procedure and make yummy Carrot halwa too... but preferably using the 'red carrots' rather the orange ones.

Posted 14th June 2011 by Sri