Susiyam

How many love this crispy outside, soft sweet stuffing inside vadais??

You can prepare this very easily at home. Over to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Raw rice              - 3/4 cup

Urad dal              - 3/4 cup
Channa dal         - 1 cup

Jaggery                - 1 cup
Cardamom          - 4 or 5
Ghee                     - 1 tbsp
Salt                        - As required
Oil                          - for frying

This recipe yields around 25 to 30 susiyam

You can click here for the video on how to make susiyam

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice and urad dal together for an hour. Crumble jaggery into pieces . Crush cardamom.

Grind rice and urad dal together adding little water. The batter should be thick so that it covers stuffing well. So be little careful while grinding batter. Add salt to the batter .

Boil chana dal. I used to cook for a whistle in high flame and then in low flame for ten minutes.

Take crumbled Jagger in a pan. Add  little water (around 1/4 cup) to it. Boil in medium flame. Once jaggery is all melted , switch off the flame and filter jaggery .This is done to remove impurities in jaggery.

Take boiled Channa dal and jaggery extract in a heavy bottomed pan .cook in medium flame till the stuffing thickens. Keep on smashing the stuffing in berween. When its half done, add crushed cardamom. You can also use 1/4 TSP cardamom powder instead.

Let the stuffing cool. The stuffing will become more thick once its cooled down completely. Make small balls out of stuffing.

Heat oil in a kadai. When it's hot, take stuffing, dip it in batter and deep fry on both sides .

Your susiyam is ready. Happy cooking..

Notes :

If you are left with batter alone, you can add chopped onion, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, salt to it and make kaara Vadai

No need to ferment the batter .

Pulungal Arisi Puttu (Parboiled Rice Puttu)

What is special there for Sivarathri?? I have prepared this Pulungal Arisi puttu to cherish the occasion.  This is our hometown, Virudhunagar special puttu. 

In our customs we used to also prepare Boiled Sweet potato (Cheeni kizhangu) and Boiled Field Beans (Mochai) on this day.  Happy Sivarathri!!! 

Yields : Around 12 small size puttu

Preparation time : 15 minutes + Time for making rice flour

Ingredients:

Pulungal Arisi          - 1 cup (Parboiled Rice)
Sugar                        - 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut        - 3/4 cup

Procedure:

• Wash well and soak Parboiled rice in water for 15 minutes. After that drain excess water and hang soaked rice in a muslin cloth for about 2 hours. This is done to absorb excess water from rice.
• Get the rice powdered from a Flour mill or alternatively you may also use Mixer-Grinder to grind the flour at home. I have used only a mixer-grinder to make the flour. Also make sure you grind the rice little coarsely.  
• You have to start making this puttu instantly after grinding the rice when the flour is little hot. 
• Take a wide plate. Add hot flour, sugar and grated coconut to it. Mix everything well. (The hot flour will help to melt sugar and to shape puttu as we like).
• I have used a bottom of a small box for making this shape. You may use kuzhikarandi ( a laddle which is deep) or orange juicer top. Shape as you like.
• Steam it in Idli plates for 10 minutes. Your tasty puttu is ready!!

Rava Maida Paniyaram

This Rava- Maida Paniyaram is also an important delicacy from our native. It has been our tradition to prepare this paniyaram in all the important occasions. You can prepare this paniyaram in a jiffy and you just three basic ingredients for this paniyaram. The recipe follows..

Yields: Around 20 Paniyaram

Ingredients:

Rava          - 1 cup
Maida         - 1 cup
Sugar         - 1 cup
Oil             - For frying

Procedure:

• Take a bowl. Add Rava, Maida and sugar to it. Mix everything well. Add water in small instances and make a thick batter. Add very little water just enough to form the batter, or else batter will spread when you add it to oil and paniyaram will absorb oil too. 
• Heat oil in a frying pan. When oil is really hot, take batter in small laddle (Preferably one deep laddle which is called as Kuzhi karandi in tamil) and add it to the hot oil. Paniyaram will start floating in oil in some time. When its cooked on one side, flip it to other side. 
• See to that you add another laddle of batter to oil only after the  paniyaram which you added before starts floating in the oil or else both will stick to each other. 
• Drain excess oil and enjoy your paniyaram!!

Pori Urundai (Puffed rice balls)

Today's recipe is Pori Urundai which is auspiciously prepared on the occasion of Karthigai Deepam. You will need just 15 minutes for this recipe. Give a try to this Pori urundai tomorrow and celebrate the festival!!

Yields: Around 15 Pori Urundai
Ingredients:

Puffed rice  - 2 cups (Pori)
Jaggery        - 1/4 cup (Vellam)
Water           - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

• Take Jaggery in a sauce pan. Add 2 tbsp of water to it. Allow it boil. When all the jaggery dissolves, filter it. This is done to remove impurities.

• Add jaggery extract to the pan. boil it in medium flame till it reaches hard round ball consistency. To check the consistency, add few drops of jaggery extract to a bowl of water. If you can form a hard ball out of the extract, it clearly says that jaggery extract has reached needed consistency. 

• Now switch off the flame and then add pori to it. Mix everything well.

• Grease your hands if needed and start making balls out of the pori, when its still hot. You will not be able to make balls after it cools off. Enjoy your Pori Urundai!!

Diwali Recipes

For your easy reference,  I have added added many recipes of sweets, savories, vadai and payasam to prepare and cherish on Diwali in a single post which follows.. Wish you all a Happy and Safe Diwali!!

Sweets:

Athirasam 

Boondi Laddu

Rasagulla

Kadalai Parupu Pooranam Poli

Jalebi

Sweet Pongal

Savories:

Ribbon Pakoda

Ragi Muruku

Kodubale

Kai Muruku

Kaarasevu

Maida Kaara Chips

Vadai:

Moongdal Vadai

Vengaya Vadai

Kara Vadai

Parupu Vadai

Urad Dal Bonda

Pakoda:

Mixed Vegetable Pakoda

Cabbage Pakoda

Payasam:

Arisi Payasam

Moongdal Payasam

Jalebi

Traditionally Jalebi batter needs to be fermented for about 24 hours. We are simplifying the process, by adding yeast to it and hence jalebis can prepared instantly. And i prepared as small jalebis for my kid. The tasty recipe follows...

Yields: Around 8 mini Jalebi

Ingredients:

Maida                     - 1/2 cup
Corn Flour              - 1/2 tbsp
Lemon Food color  - a pinch
Sugar                       - 1 cup
Instant yeast            - 1 tsp
Yogurt                     - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Take a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of  lukewarm water to it. Add also 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of instant yeast to it. Mix everything well and keep it aside for 10 minutes. The water should be only warm. It shouldn't be neither too hot or cold.  
• Take another bowl. Add maida, corn flour and lemon food color to it. Mix it well.
• After 10 minutes, you can see that the yeast has foamed. Now add foamed yeast mix to dry ingredients in small instances. Add also yogurt and mix everything well together. Cover the pan with a lid and set it aside for an hour.
• In mean time, take a sauce pan. Add 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of water to it. Cook in high flame, till sugar dissolves and after that reduce the flame to low and cook till it reaches one thread consistency. To check one string consistency ,touch sugar syrup between your thumb and fore finger. When you extend both your fingers, you could see it form a string in between. That is the needed consistency.
• After an hour, add enough water and make a watery batter. The batter should be in free flow consistency. For making jalebi, you can use either sauce bottle or zip lock bag. If you are using sauce bottle, add batter to it and use it as such. If you are using zip lock bag, add batter  to bag and close it. Make a tiny hole at the end and use it.
• Heat oil in a pan. The oil heat should be moderate. Now add batter to hot oil in circular motions so as to make jalebi. If the oil heat is low,  jalebis won't  get the needed spiral shape, instead they will become flat. If the oil heat is more, your jalebis will get broken. So see to that oil heat is as needed. 
• Your jalebis will get cooked in very less time. Now add cooked jalebis directly to sugar syrup and take it out immediately. You can also add saffron strands to increase the flavor and taste. Enjoy your Jalebis hot!!

Maida Kaara Chips (Diamond Chips)

This is the chips which my ayamma (Grandma) used to prepare. When i was studying college if someone visits me from our native, she always used to send a big pack full of this chips/crisps. Back at our hostel, we would be eagerly waiting for her chips. Why don't you prepare this tasty diamond chips for this Diwali. You can prepare it in just 20 minutes. Over to the recipe..

Preparation Time : 30 minutes
Ingredients:

Maida             - 2 cups
Butter             - 2 tbsp
Salt                 - As required
Chili Powder  - 2 tsp
Oil                   - for deep frying

To Grind :

Cumin Seeds  - 1 tsp (Seeragam)
Garlic Pods    - 4 to 6
Curry Leaves - few

Procedure:

• Grind everything under 'To Grind' adding very little water. Take a bowl. Add maida, salt, chili powder, butter and ground paste to it. Mix everything well. Add little water in small instances and start kneading the dough. Knead the tough tight. You can also replace Butter with hot oil.
• Take a lemon size ball and roll out the dough with the help of oil. Roll out the dough as thin as possible. Cut it into diamond shape with the help of either the cutter or knife. 

• Heat oil in a pan. Add cut chips to hot oil and fry on both sides. Drain excess oil and enjoy your Diamond Chips

Athirasam

This is the recipe which i learnt from my Mother In Law.. You have to prepare Athirasam dough at least a day in advance. The dough can stay up to two days even if it is left outside. So take your own time and enjoy athirasam when ever needed. The recipe follows..

Yields : Around 12 Athirasam

Ingredients:

Raw Rice         - 1.5 cups (Pacharisi)
Jaggery            - 1 cup (Vellam)
Cardamom       - 4 (Elakkai)
Sesame Seeds  - 1 tsp (Ellu)
Oil                    - for frying

Procedure:

• Wash and soak raw rice for an hour. Drain excess water and hang it in a Muslin cloth for an hour. This is done to absorb excess water from rice. Grind it to a powder along with cardamom. You can use even Mixer-Grinder to grind the rice. Sieve the flour well. Your rice flour for making athirasam is ready.
• Take s sauce pan. Add jaggery and enough water just to soak jaggery to it. Heat it till jaggery melts and after that filter it. This will help to remove impurities from jaggery.  Heat it again  in medium flame till it reaches soft ball consistency. Soft ball consistency is nothing but, when you drop little jaggery extract to a bowl of water, it shouldn't disperse. Instead you should be able to form a loose ball out of it with your fingers.  You can check for the consistency every now and then. Switch off the flame after jaggery has reached required consistency.
• Take a bowl. Add prepared rice flour and sesame seeds to it. Now add jaggery extract in small instances and start mixing with the flour. Your athirasam dough will be wet only. When we take it out to prepare athirasam the next day, the dough would be perfect. It would have absorbed all the water. Now add little oil to the top of the dough and cover it with a cling wrap and keep it in an air tight box.
• After 24 hours, take a small lemon size ball and press it in an greased plastic sheets. Put a hole in the center of athirasam. Always press the dough thick. 
• Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, slowly transfer it to the hot oil. Take it out after it has been cooked on both sides. Athirasam will always absorb lot of oil. So drain well excess oil and enjoy your athirasam!!!

Kaara Sevu

Kaara Sevu is one of our native special snacks. We used to add also crushed black pepper to increase the taste and it can be prepared easily in just 30 minutes. The recipe follows..

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Gram Flour         - 1.5 cups (Kadalai Maavu)
Rice Flour           - 1 cup
Salt                      - As required
Chili Powder       - 1 tsp
Black Pepper       - 8 to 10
Garlic Pods          - 3
Cumin Seeds        - 1/2 tsp
Oil                        - for frying

Procedure:

• Sieve Gram flour and Rice flour together. Crush Black pepper. Grind garlic pods and cumin seeds adding little water. 
• Take a bowl. Add sieved flour, ground paste, crushed black pepper, salt and chili powder to it. Mix everything well. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and add it to the bowl.
• Start kneading the dough adding little water. Be careful while adding water to the flour. The dough should be little tight only. If you ended up adding little more water add only gram flour and not rice flour.
• Heat oil in  a pan. Take a muruku press with 3 round holes plate. Add dough to it and  start pressing in hot oil. Take it out, when its done on both the sides and drain excess oil. Break kaara sevu into pieces and enjoy!!!

Rasagulla

Rasagullas at home?? Yes!! you can prepare it instantly. You will need just 3 ingredients and you can prepare it in an hour. Give a try to Rasagullas this Diwali, and surprise your dear ones.. The recipe follows..

Yields : Around 8 Rasagulla

Preparation Time : 1 hour

Ingredients:

High  Fat Milk        - 500 ml
Sugar                       - 1.5 cups
Water                       - 5 cups
Lemon Juice            - 1.5 tbsp

Procedure:

• Boil milk. After it boils, switch off the flame ,add lemon juice to it and mix well. You can see milk start curdling. Let it sit for 10 minutes and after that strain curdled milk. The lemon juice specified would be enough for making the milk curdle. But if the milk dint curdle yet add some more lemon juice. Transfer the curd to a cloth which can absorb water.. here in my case i have used a cotton cloth.Squeeze out water, Tie the knot and hang on to a high place. leave it for 30 minutes.
• You needn't hang paneer for a longer time for making rasagullas. The paneer should be little wet only. Keep on kneading paneer, until all of it joins together. It took 15 minutes for me to achieve the required consistency. Kneading paneer plays an important role in this recipe. If you didn't knead paneer well, chances are there that rasagullas will get broken when it boils in sugar syrup.
• After kneading well, make small balls out of kneaded paneer.

• Take a heavy bottomed pan. Add 1.5 cups of sugar and 5 cups of water to it. You can increase the sugar quantity according to your taste. You can taste sugar syrup and conclude on the amount of sugar needed.Cook it in high flame. You will see sugar has dissolved and when the sugar syrup boils, add paneer balls to it. Cover with a lid and cook in medium flame for about 15 minutes. The sugar syrup should always be boiling. Keep on stirring in between in 5 minutes interval. 
• After 15 minutes, you can see your rasagullas are ready. It should have doubled the size. You will be left out with lot of sugar syrup. Use it for any other sweets. Adding lot of water to sugar syrup is mandatory since you are cooking rasagullas directly in sugar syrup, otherwise you will end up with rasagullas sticked to the bottom of pan.   Transfer rasagullas along with enough sugar syrup to a bowl and let it sit for atleast 6 hours. It wold have soaked well after 6 hours. Enjoy your Rasagullas!!

Kai Muruku Prepared with Muruku Press

I would like to confess a thing about this recipe. Traditionally it is prepared without Muruku press and using just hands. Since i couldn't do it, i used star shaped nozzle and prepared this muruku. This muruku stands unique in two things. 1. It is prepared with Par-boiled rice 2. And instead of preparing muruku with flour, rice is soaked and ground to a batter and it is used to prepare muruku.

Over to the crunchiest and tastiest muruku recipe..

Yields : Around 20 muruku

Preparation Time : 30 minutes + Soaking Time

Ingredients:

Par Boiled Rice             - 1 cup (Pulungal Arisi)
Urad Dal Flour              - 1/4 cup
Butter                             - 2 tbsp
Sesame Seeds                 - 1 tsp (Ellu)
Salt                                 - As required
Oil                                  - For deep frying

Procedure:

• Soak Parboiled rice for 2 hours and after that grind it to a smooth batter adding very little water. See to that you add very little water, just enough to grind rice or else it will be difficult to press muruku.
• To prepare Urad Dal Flour, dry roast urad dal till it leaves nice aroma and after that grind it to a powder. Sieve the flour. Your urad dal flour is ready now. Make a note that we are adding 1/4 cup of Urad dal flour and not urad dal.
• Take a bowl. Add ground parboiled rice batter, Urad dal flour, salt, sesame seeds and butter to it. Start kneading the dough till it reaches tight consistency like below.

• If you have added more water while grinding rice, the dough consistency will be little watery. In such case, you can place the dough in a cloth for some time, so that cloth will absorb excess water. If the dough is very much tight, it will be difficult for you to press. In such case you can add little water to loosen the dough.
• Take a  muruku press. Place little dough in it and start pressing it on a greased sheet. pressing it in a greased plastic sheet helps to transfer muruku easily to hot oil.

• Heat oil in a pan. When its hot, slowly transfer pressed muruku to it. Fry it in medium flame, till muruku is cooked completely and it turned crispier. Drain oil and enjoy your muruku. If you are preparing it in correct consitency, muruku won't absorb oil at all.. Your crunchy, munchy muruku is ready!!

Boondi Laddu

Rather than telling the recipe for making Boondi laddu, I can very well say the reasons why your laddu fails. I could make perfect laddus only in my third attempt. These are the reasons because of what my laddu had failed out earlier.

1. The First and foremost thing to be taken care is Sugar syrup consistency. Just add enough amount of water and cook till it reaches one string consistency.  If you keep on cooking still after reaching one string consistency, sugar will start crystallizing. If you stop cooking sugar syrup  before reaching  its consistency, Boondi will become soggy and you won't be able to shape it out.
2. You needn't cook Boondi for a longer time. Take it out immediately as soon as you add it to oil and oil should be really hot, when you add boondi to it.
3. Always buy Gram flour only when needed. Laddus made with fresh and new gram flour always taste good.

Just take care of above things. You will be able to make super delcious laddus in just 20 minutes. Over to the recipe..

Yields : Around 8 medium size laddu

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Gram Flour             - 1/2 cup (Kadalai Maavu)

Sugar                       - 1/2 cup

Baking Soda            - a pinch

Food Color              - a pinch

Cashew Nuts           - few

Raisins                    - few

Cardamom Powder - a pinch

Oil                           - for frying

Ghee                       - 2 tbsp  

Procedure:

• Take a bowl. Add Gram flour, Baking soda and food color to it. i didn't add any food color. You can add if you wish. Add water to bowl in small instances and start preparing the batter. The batter should be of Dosa batter consitency i.e it should be free flowing. Heat oil in a frying pan. A special Boondi ladle is available for making laddus. You can use either that or any other ladle with holes. Place boondi ladle above hot oil. Add small amount of boondi batter to the laddle and tap it so that boondi falls down in oil. If the batter is too watery, boondi will absorb much oil.  Take boondis immediately as soon as you add it to oil or else it will turn crispier. It will get cooked in some seconds itself.  Drain excess oil from boondis and keep it aside. In the same oil fry Cashew nuts, raisins and add it to boondi. You can also use ghee instead of oil for frying boondis.
• Take a sauce pan. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to it. Add also 1/4 cup of water  and cardamom powder to it.  Cook sugar syrup in high flame till sugar dissolves and after that cook in medium flame till it reaches one string consistency. To check one string consistency, touch sugar syrup between your thumb and fore finger. When you extend both your fingers, you could see it form a string in between. Thats the needed consistency. Let the sugar syrup cool for 2 minutes and after that add ghee, boondi to sugar syrup. Mix everything well and after that take it out in a plate.
• Let boondis cool for 2 minutes. Start making laddus when boondi is still hot itself. Grease your palms with ghee and start making laddus. Take little boondi in your palm and shape it out to a ball. Let it cool for 30 minutes. Your Boondi laddu is ready to eat by now. Enjoy your laddus!!!

Saraswathi Poojai Celebration

How did your today's celebrations went on? We prepared Pineapple Kesari and White Chickpeas sundal today. I have added pineapple kesari recipe in this post.. The recipe follows..

Pineapple Kesari:

Recipe For : 4

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Rava                             - 1.5 cups (Sooji)
Chopped Pineapple      - 1 cup
Brown Sugar                - 2.5 cups
Food color                    - a pinch
Water                            - 5.5 cups
Cashews & Raisins       - As required
Ghee                              - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

• Dry roast rava till it leaves nice aroma and after that take it out in a plate.
• Chop Pineapple into medium size chunks.
• Take a heavy bottomed pan. Add 5.5 cups of water to it.  Add cut pineapple chunks and cook in a medium flame till pineapple is cooked and its soft. After that increase the flame. Add food color to water.
• When the water boils add roasted rava to it in small instances. Make sure no lumps are formed.
• When the water is fully absorbed by rava, add brown sugar to it.  You can also replace brown sugar with usual white sugar.
• Mix sugar well with rava and switch off the flame.
• Roast Cashews and Raisins in ghee and add it to kesari.
• Your delicious pineapple kesari is ready..

Thengai Mangai Pattani Sundal (Coconut - Raw Mango White Peas Sundal)

Which sundal are you going to prepare for tomorrow's pooja??  Today's recipe is Thengai - Mangai Pattani sundal which you can prepare for tomorrow.. Over to the recipe..

Recipe For :4

Preparation Time : 20 minutes +soaking time

Ingredients:

White Peas                - 1 cup (Vellai Pattani)
Grated Raw Mango   - 1/4 cup (Mangai)
Grated Coconut         - 1/4 cup (Thengai)
Grated Carrot             - 1/4 cup
Big Onion                  - 1
Mustard Seeds           - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida                  - a pinch (Hing/Perungayam)
Salt                             - As required
Curry Leaves              - few
Oil                               - 2 tsp

To Dry Roast And Powder:

Dry Red Chili    - 4
Coriander Seeds - 1/2 tsp (Malli)
Channa Dal        - 1/2 tsp (Kadalai Parupu)

Procedure:

• Soak White peas in enough water for 5 hours. If you forgot to soak it earlier you can also soak white peas in hot water for 2 hours.  Boil white peas after soaking. I used to cook it for 1 whistle in high flame and will cook it for 15 more minutes in low flame.
• Dry roast and powder everything under ' To Dry Roast And Powder'. This powder can be used with any sundal. It increases sundal's taste.
• Grate carrot, coconut and raw mango. Chop finely Big onion.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to it. When they splutter add asafoetida.
• Add also chopped onion and curry leaves.
• Saute it for a minute and then add cooked peas.
• Add enough salt and ground powder. Mix everything well and switch off the flame.
• Add grated carrot, raw mango  and coconut to the sundal. Mix well and serve sundal immediately.
• Your delicious Thengai - Mangai pattani sundal is ready.

Kadalai Paruppu Pooranam Poli (Channa Dal Poli)

Bringing you delicious Kadalai Paruppu Pooranam Poli (Channa Dal Poli) recipe today in this festive season.. You can also prepare this poli, with just Gingely oil to make it much more healthier. The recipe follows..

Yields : Around 10 Poli

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour       - 1 cup (Maida)
Rava                           - 1 tsp (Sooji)
Rice Flour                   - 1 tsp 
Salt                             - a pinch
Channa Dal                - 1/4 cup (Kadalai Parupu)
Jaggery                       - 1/4 cup
Cardamom Powder     - a pinch
Ghee                            - 2 tbsp
Gingely Oil                   - 4 tbsp

Procedure:

• Boil Channa Dal for 5 whistles. Add jaggery and cardamom powder to boiled channa dal and cook in low flame so that jaggery melts. Switch off the flame after the stuffing reaches thick consistency. Let the stuffing cool. After it cools down completely, stuffing will get more thick.
• Take a bowl. Add All purpose flour, rava , rice flour and salt to it. Add water in small instances and start kneading the dough. The dough should be little sticky only so that we can expand it easily. Add 2 tbsp of gingely oil to the dough.. Make sure dough is covered fully with oil. Close the bowl with a cling wrap and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours.

• Take a small lemon sized ball. Place it on a greased plastic sheet. Expand it with your palm.

• After stuffing  cools down, make small balls out of it.

• Place the stuffing on expanded dough.

• Close the dough and expand it again with your palms.  Always use oil for expanding poli.

• Heat a dosai pan. When its hot, place poli on it. Add Ghee+Gingely oil to it. When its cooked on one side, slightly turn it to other side. Serve the poli after it is cooked on both the sides.
• You can prepare the poli with Ghee alone. You can also prepare poli with Gingely oil alone.
• Enjoy delicious poli!!!