DIWALI LEHYAM

We make lots of sweets and savories during Diwali.   But the most important dish is the Diwali Lehyam.   My mother in law is very particular about this.  After wearing new clothes, she will give us a small lemon sized ball of lehyam.   It is made with ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain, cardamom jaggery, pepper corns ghee etc.   It is good for digestion hence it is  there always in our fridge.

She used to make this during monsoon season  and store in fridge as we get fresh tender ginger.  It is good if you have any digestive problem, gas, stomach ache etc.

So enjoy lot of sweets and savouries and enjoy the lehyam too.  If you have not made this, you can try this with little quantity.

Latha Srinivasan of Akshus kitchen had asked for the ingredients after seeing the video on You Tube.  I am sharing this recipe for her too.

diwali lehyam 1   diwali lehyam 2  watch youtube

CROSTINI WITH CHERRY TOMATOES & MOZZARELLA, BAKED GARLIC TOAST l Cakes/bakes

Crostini means " little toasts" in Italian are an appetizer consisting of small slices of grilled or toasted bread and toppings.  The toppings included a variety of different cheeses, meats, vegetables or may be presented simply with a brush of olive oil and herbs or a sauce.  Crostini are typically made using French or Italian baguettes and are often served with wine. What I made is minced garlic mixed with butter applied in baguettes and baked.

5 CUP BURFI

5 Cup burfi is the speciality of my Mother in law. She is very fond of cooking and makes lots of items within no time.  This burfi was made by her once and I took the same to office and shared with my colleague Mrs. Vaidehi Kothari.  Now after a long period may be around 8-10 years, she remembered this recipe and asked me to post the same in the blog or send it to her for preparing the same for this Diwali.   Actually speaking, i had totally forgotten about this recipe.

Somehow I found my old book and also checked with my aunty how to make this and made it today.  Tell you it is a very delicious dish can be made within no time.

5 cup burfi is made with milk, besan, ghee, coconut, sugar and a very simple and easy sweet dish.   If you wish you can garnish with chopped dry fruits too.  You need not worry while preparing this item like the Mysore Pak.

Vaidehi, this one for you.   Thanks for reminding me of this recipe.

 Wish You all a Very happy diwali.

KARANJI, KARCHIKAI, KAJJIKAYALU

I have recently posted the recipe of Shakar para or Shankar pali it is called for Diwali.  This is another recipe which is made during diwali by Maharashtrians, Kannadigas and Andhrites.  Karanji  in Marathi, Karchikai in Kannada & Kajjikayalu in Andhra, is a dish made with Maida in half circle shape  with some filling inside.  The filling can be made in two ways.  I made  this during 90s and afterwards have not bothered to make it as you need minimum 3 people to make it if you are making in  large quantities.

Since I wanted to post the same in the blog for Diwali, I made an attempt to make it and it was real success.

watch the You tube to get an idea  8P2mF4-Ocrc
qnD-Z0O-FUU

SHAKAR PARA, SHANKAR PALI,

When  all bloggers and websites will be busy posting the ribbon pakoda, mysore pak, thenkuzhal, boondi, mixture etc. etc.  I am posting a different item here.

Shakar para or Shankar pali is a Maharashtrian dish specially made for Diwali.   It is a semi sweet fried dish can be served as snack too along with a cup of tea or coffee.    It is made out of Maida, Powdered Sugar and ghee.

Though I am too late to post the recipe for this festival, you need not worry as it can be prepared very easily.

RAVA PAK, RAVA CAKE

Varieties of sweets and savories are made during any festival, specially for Diwali.  A really different kind of  sweet dish for this year's Diwali is here for you.  It is very simple and easy to make.  Rava cake, rava pak you can name it anything is made with rava, milk, sugar and ghee.  Is bored of making the usual mysore pak, this sweet is an alternate one for you.  

SUVA BHAJIA, DILL LEAVES BHAJIA, BHAJIYA , SHEPU CHE BHAJIA

Dill is relaxant, fortifying (strength giving), diuretic (increases urination helping removal of toxic substances from the body), carminative (helps removal of gases), anti spasmodic (prevents cramps), anti flatulent, stimulates lactation (galactagogue) and endocrinal secretions, enhances libido due to presence of Arginine and last but not the least, it ensures bone and dental health being a good source of calcium. Dill is also very rich in minerals, vitamin C and flavonoids.  It is known as Suva, and Shepu in Marathi. 

Suva  or Dill  is a leafy vegetable which is very good for health.  It has got the medicinal properties as mentioned above.    Suva Bhajiya  is made  along with moongdal, onion and little bit spice to satisfy your taste bud.  I have  already posted shepuche vade, dill leaves dosa.  

Suva bhajia

SUVA BHAJIA KADHI, DILL LEAVES BHAJIA KADHI, KADHI, SHEPU BHAJIA KADHI

Suva bhajia kadhi is made with suva bhajia and  butter milk.  It is very tasty with pulao, plain rice.  I like any kind of kadhi with pulao and plain rice.  Since suva bhaji is not consumed by my family members, I tried the bhajia and everyone liked it.   You may also see the posts of dill leaf dosa, shepuche vade on  my blog.

Suva bhajiya kadhi

KAJU KATLI, CASHEW BARFI

Whenever you make an item for the first time, must start with small quantity.  I tried making kaju katli with very less quantity of cashews and ended up in a mess.  I had to call my friend who is  an expert in all the work who taught me how to make kaju katli.  Kaju katli or kaju barfi is a very simple and easy to make sweet dish if you have the patience and willingness to learn anything and everything.

Kaju Katli is made out of kaju, sugar and little bit of cardamom powder and is very yummy.  when you can make it at home, why to run to the shop for buying it.  try with this small quantity and win the heart of everyone at home.




Let us see the recipe now:

RAVA LADOO

Rava Ladoo or semolina ladoo or suji ladoo you can call it.  I never made this in my life time till today as somehow i did not bother to try it out.  Today, one of my cousin is coming to invite us for his only Son's wedding, I thought of trying my hand out.  Otherwise also, for this Diwali, I had planned to make the same.  So why not make a trial today.  To tell you, it was really nice and came out well even though it was my first attempt.

Rava ladoo is made with fine semolina, you can use the upma rava also( but must grind to a fine powder after roasting)  with sugar, ghee.  Since I am making it for the first time, i tried with only 1 cup of semolina and the end product was awesome.

BURGER

Burger is one of the fast food liked by kids and adults.  But for weight watchers, you cannot afford to fill the same with lot of cheese and other rich items in it.  Here is a burger made with kabuli chana, hung curd, onion with vegetables and for cheese lovers with cheese.

CHOCO MILK SHAKE

Cold drinks - when it is very hot  a nice cold drink is  very soothing to the throat.  Everyone runs to the fridge as soon as they come from out to check in the fridge anything is kept. Either butter milk or fruit juice or milk shake.  Children are very fond of drinking cold items from the fridge and my daughter tries to do something or the other whenever she feel like doing.  Here is a nice cold milk shake for you which she is sharing.

Choco milk shake is made with cold milk, velchi banana (small banana), sugar and cocoa powder.  There was a packet of cocoa powder which she had purchased to make cake which she used in making this.  You can also use kellogs chocos in place of cocoa powder.

KABULI CHANA CHUNDAL, KABULI CHANA SUNDAL

Sundals are prepared with green gram or black chana or any other dried grams.  This is specially made during Navrathri festival.  For normal days also you can prepare this and have it as a snack with a dash of lime, chopped onion, tomatoes etc.

SAMOSA (TAMARIND POHA SAMOSA)

Samosa  is a fried or baked  pastry with a savory filling, such as spiced  potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, ground lamb, ground beef or ground chicken. Its size and consistency may vary, but typically, it is distinctly triangular. Samosas are often accompanied by sweet chutney or green chutney or sauce.   

Since so many days I wanted to try samosas at home but really did not take the pain to do so.  But made an attempt to prepare this when I had some left out Brown Chana Sundal with me prepared during Navrathri, and the tamarind poha which my neighbour gave me as Prasadam.  Since I do not want to waste the both the dishes, I tried on the samosa and it was really awesome.

MALAI PEDA

Happy Dassera to all the viewers of my blog.

Today is Dassera and I wanted to make some sweets other than the normal payasam or kheer.  Few years back I had made this peda and faintly remembered how to make it.  It is made with milk, sugar  and corn flour,  and the preparation is somewhat similar to Pal theratipal. paal-theratipal-palgova.html.  the only difference is corn flour is used and continuously stirred in malai peda.

Anyway, sweets in any form either it is peda or theratipal, everyone loves it.

BLACK URAD CHUNDAL, BLACK URAD SUNDAL, SUNDAL RECIPES

You can make varieties of sundals.  Another variety is with whole black urad.  It is very nutritious and is recommended for diabetics.   Black urad is  very popular in the Punjabi cuisine of India and Pakistan where it is known as "sabit maash" an ingredient of dal makhani. In Tamil it is known as "ulunthu" in Telugu as "minumulu", in Kannada as "Uddina Bele", and in Oriya as "Biri Dali" and in Malayalam "uzhunnu".

Spinach Paneer Kofta in potato case

Every day evening it is a big question mark in front of me what to make in the evening as accompaniment  for Chapati.  Thought of making Shaam Savera but did not have enough Spinach with me.  I had little paneer, so thought of making Spinach Paneer Kofta  with tomato gravy.  The final product was very very tasty as all the members in my family enjoyed it though it was bit oily.  (koftas were fried)

TUVAL DAL NE BAATH, TUVAR PULAO, TUVAR DAL PULAO, PULAO

                                                       

During winter season, you get fresh tuvar.  The taste of this is awesome.  You can either use fresh tuvar or tuvar dal for making this rice.  Garma garam pulao with raita or salad, papad,pickle,  it is really  yummy.  So why are you waiting? Let us begin to cook.

VARI TANDULACHI UPMA, CHAMA ARI UPMA, SANWA UPMA, UPWAS KA UPMA

Upma is normally made with suji (semolina) or lapsi or rice rava.  It can be made plain or with some vegetables but for upwas, these items are not used by some people.  Most of the  people use Vari Tandul, Chama arisi, sama chaval, sanva it is known as.  Since just plain upma will not be much tastier, i have used ratalu along with it.  Let us see the recipe now.

POTLI PUFF AND MINI PUFF

Potli puff is made with Wheat flour and vegetables and baked it.  You can also deep fry them but immediately you have to serve as it tend to become soggy.  If it is made in maida, it will be crispy like samosas but I do not want to use maida  and fried item, hence  I baked.  The end product was really nice.

VEGETABLE BIRYANI

VEGETABLE BIRYANI can be made very easily if you have got vegetables like carrots, beans,green watana, onion,  cabbage etc.  It is an easy way to  make the children all the vegetables.

DAL MAKHANI

Dal makhani is a staple food originating from the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. The dish differs from other popular Punjabi dal dishes, such as dal tadka.  In  that the primary ingredients in dal makhani are whole black lentil (urad) and red kidney beans(rajma), rather than red lentil (masoor).  

Whole urad like other whole lentils and pulses are good source of protein and dietary fibre.
" They are low in fat and rich in B complex vitamins, calcium and potassium
Let us  see the recipe now:

RAW BANANA CUTLET, BANANA CUTLET, KACHE KELE KI CUTLET, VAZHAKKAI CUTLET, VAZHAKKA CUTLET

I have posted a lots of sweets recipe for the past one week and it is time to post something savory. When you are on fast, you have to eat something without onion, lasoon etc.  must be scraching the head what to make ?  Here is another upwas recipe with raw banana, sabudana, singhare ka atta alias water chestnut flour or bhajni flour.

 Raw banana is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin B6.  

Let us have a look at the recipe now:

SHAKARKANDI BARFI, SWEET POTATO BARFI, RATALU BARFI, MADHURAKIZHANGU BARFI

Sweet potatoes are available plenty now since the Festival Navarathri started and all are busy buying this because they are fasting.  This is used for upwas recipe and I made  barfi with  sweet potato, sugar, desiccated coconut.  Here is the recipe for you.

SWEET POTATO LADDU, SHAKARKANDI LADDU, RATALI LADDU, MADHURAKIZHANGU LADDU, SARKARAVALLI KIZHANGU LADDU

Sweet potato laddu is very easy to make.  Now the Navrathri festival is going on, you can give it for Prasad or for fasting people also can have this.

PAAL THERATIPAL, PALGOVA

Paal therttipal or Palgova is made with milk and sugar.  It is an easy preparation and would be loved by everyone.  It is just reducing the milk with sugar. that is all.

BEATEN RICE CHIVDA, AVAL CHIVDA, POHA CHIVDA

Beaten rice  chivda or aval or poha it is called is easy to make if you keep the ingredients handy.  It is a nice snack, less oil and anyone can eat with tea/coffee.  Poha is dry roasted and some groundnuts and pottukadala or chuntney dal is added to this.

UKKARAI, OKKARAI SWEET CHANA DAL PUTTU, PUTTU

Ukkarai is another form of sweet puttu but made with chana dal and jaggery.  This dish is also prepared for neivedyam during Navrathri, Diwali etc.  You will agree with me if you want to eat something, any time you can make it.  Here we go with the recipe of this.

RICE PUTTU (SWEET VERSION), VELLA PUTTU

Rice Puttu or Vella puttu is made with rice powder, jaggery, coconut etc.  It is a famous sweet dish made in every household of Tamilians during Navrathri festival specially on Tuesday or Friday.  People arrange the Kolu/dolls in nine steps decorated specially for this with Idol of Durga, Lakshmi  & Saraswati, Dasavataram, Chettiyar bommai, fruits, vegetables made out of mud/clay and painted.  It is a lovely scene you must see in one of the Tamilians house.   It is also made when a girl child attains puberty, there is a small function for which this sweet is made.  It is a tedious process but the final product is really tasty.

SHAKARKANDI VADE, SWEET POTATO VADA, MADHURAKIZHANGU VADA

I am presenting yet another Upwas recipe for you made out of sweet potato.  I have already posted Shakarkandi kheer and spicy shakarkandi.  This vada  I have made with little variation.  Once I had been to Parle  with my friend for some work on that day my friend was fasting.  Hence we went to a restaurant where they sell specially the varieties on fast day.

We happened to eat farali potato stuffed with sabudana.  Instead of Potato, I used sweet potato and it was a wonder ful dish which my daughter and her friend really enjoyed.

SHAKARKANDI KHEER, SWEET POTATO KHEEER, SWEET POTATO PAYASAM, MADHURAKIZHANGU PAYASAM

Shakarkandi means sweet potato.  Sweet potato is one of the items which is used during upwas or fast on any festival or on normal fasting days.  various dishes can be made with this and enjoy.  I have already posted  Spicy Shakarkandi.

Everyone will be searching for recipes of Upwas, here is a sweet dish for you.

Now the turn for posting this sweet kheer.  Sweet potato kheer is made with sweet potato, milk and little sugar.  Now Navrathri is starting from Saturday, you enjoy this sweet dish and make the family also happy.

SPICY SHAKARKANDI, SWEET POTAO SUBZI, RATALU SUBZI

Spicy shakarkandi is made out of sweet potato, ratalu, sarkaravalli kizhangu, madhura kizhangu it is known as.  Now Navrathri is only two days ahead, all must be searching for some upwas ka recipe.  This one is perfect for your taste bud during upwas. Also a sweet dish for you 

It is a simple recipe made out of sweet potato with some spice.

spicy shakarkandi
\

GUAVA HALVA, PERU HALVA, KOYYAPAZHAM HALVA, AMRUD HALVA

Guava is another tropical fruit rich in nutrition. With its unique flavor, taste, and health-promoting qualities, the fruit easily fits in the new functional foods category, often called “super-fruits.”

The fruit can be had either raw or ripe with the mixture of little salt and red chilli powder. We can make guaga cheese out of this, a famous sweet dish of Goa which I have already posted.  guava-cheese-amrud-cheese-perakka.html.  we can also make guava soup

Now I am presenting the halva made with guava, milk and sugar  which is very delicious and tasty.  

Guava halva

TIPS

1)  While making Lady's finger/okra/bhindi/vendakkaya/vendakka subzi  or any subzi which are having the sticky nature - add a spoonful of suji/semolina/rava - the subzi will not be sticky.

2)  Before cutting raw banana, apply salt in your hand  and on the knife - the stain will not stick to your hand

NEI APPAM, SWEET APPAM,

Nei appam is the favourite dish of my husband. My father used to make such lovely appam for marriages and all, we can see the honeycomb type texture in it and lasts for a longer period than what we make normally.  My sister in law Uma is also expert in making soft appams.  My husband always praise her appams and whenever she makes it, a share used to reach our home for him.

Nei appam is made with rice, jaggery and coconut bits, if you like.  It is a delicious sweet variety any time, anyone can have it and can make instantly too provided you have rice powder with you.

It is made for most of the festival specially for Karthigai deepam.

BLACK SESAME SEED LADDU, ELLURUNDAI

Black seasame laddo, tilachi laddu, ellurundai is made with black and white sesame seeds.  here i have made with black sesame seeds.  It can be made with coarsely ground peanuts, almonds, roasted and crushed  oats etc.  Basically, it is made during sankrant, shradh etc.  Seasome seeds are said to be  hot hence keep the body warm.

Sesame seed laddu