MODAKAM/KOZHAKATTAI - Vinayaka chaturthi special

Modakam/Kozhakattai.. is believed to be Vinayaka's favorite food, which begets him the modakapriya (the one who likes modak) in Sanskrit and this reminds me my favorite carnatic song.. Mudakaratha Modakam Sada Vimukthi Sadhakam.

kozhakattai is special to me .. I remember the first time i fell in love with kozhakattai is when my paati (grandma) prepared it for me :-) 

Ingredients

Rice flour/kozhakattai flour	1 cup
Water	1 & 1/4 cup
Sesame oil	1 tablespoon
Salt	a pinch
Jagerry	1/2 cup
Coconut (Scrapped)	3/4 cup
Elachi powder	a pinch
Ghee	1/4 tablepoon

Lets make the outer part of modak

• Boil the water by adding sesame oil and salt.
• keep the flame to medium when the water is boiling .. now add the flour to this and stir continuously until there is no lumps and switch off the flame
• Roll it with your hands to form a nice dough when it i warm
• Cover and keep aide

Lets make coconut poornam 

• Add the scrapped coconut , jaggery and ghee in a pan and stir it continuously.
• After 2-3 minutes this will  form a thick mixture.
• Just add 1 tsp of rice flour to this and mix well, If you feel that this is slightly loose, 
• Add elachi powder and mix well. Switch off the flame.
• Make small lemon size balls of poornam once it is cooled.

• The outer part can either be done by using hand or can use molds
  
• place the poornam inside the dough and close it neatly (can use sesame oil if sticky)

• Grease an idli pan, and place all the modakams/kozhukattais and steam it untill it is done.

BOONDI LADOO / MOTICHUR LADDU

BOONDI LADOO / MOTICHUR LADDU

Boondi Ladoo usually made for Vinayaka chaturthi/Diwali ... Chotta Bheem love ladoos :-) 
This ladoo is made out of Besan powder and sugar syrup. The ideal way to do boondi is using JARINI (jarini is ladle type specially made for boondi making) dont worry ... You can also make boondi with our usual ladle used for deep frying (having tiny holes). 

Ingredients

BESAN FLOUR	1 cup
SUGAR	1 AND 1/2 CUP
WATER(TO MAKE SUGAR SYRUP)	3/4th Cup
CARDAMOM POWDER	A PINCH
GHEE	1 Table spoon
COOKING SODA(BI CARBONATE OF SODA)	A pinch (mutard size)
OIL	As needed for deep frying
CASHEW NUTS	5 nos
Raisins -	1/2 Table spoon
CLOVES	2 nos
Edible camphor  (Optional)	a very tiny pinch
Food colour (Optional )	A pinch

1st bhoondi batter need to be prepared 

• Take a bowl, Add besan flour 
• Add the cooking soda
• Mix the besan with water like dosa batter consistency without any lumps.
• Keep this mixure aside

• Take a pan and Fry the cashew nuts, raisins, and cloves in a tsp of ghee and keep it aside.
• For sugar syrup making : mix the sugar with the given amount of water  in a heavy bottomed vessel.
• keep stirring slowly ..sugar will eventually get dissolved in the heat
• Now stop stirring and boil the sugar till this reach one string consistency.
• One String consistency : take a little sugar syrup between your thumb and point finger and now extend the point finger slowly from the thumb. if you see one string forming ..then your syrup is perfect.
• Now take a pan to deep fry boondi.
• To check whether the boondi mixture is right in consistency , 
• Take a spoon and with the back of the spoon mix the batter well and just hold it on the top of the hot oil.
• If this forms a nice round ball then the consistency if perfect, else it gives a tail you need to add little extra water. Add 1 tblsp and check again.
• If this forms a very thin roundels then the water is more, just add one tblsp of besan to this and check again.
• Now the batter is PERFECT for boondis.

• Pour a ladle of batter to the boondi ladle
• When it is half fried take it out from the oil and trasfer it to the sugar syrup
• Keep deep frying untill you finish the required bhoondi
• Now add fried cahew nuts, raisins and cloves and add elachi powder to the boondi sugar mixture.
• Mix this well and now the bhoondi ladoo mixure is ready 
• When the mixture is luke warm make ladoo balls of desired sizes and enjoy tasty ladooooooos.

AVIYAL - Palakkad special recipe

AVIYAL - Mixed vegetable salad (Indian Style)

Avial is one of my favorite and like to have it with Adai ... very healthy and delicious !!!. 

Ingredients

Ash gourd	1 Medium size/100 gms
Carrot	1 Medium size/100 gms
Drumstick	1 nos
Potato	2 MS
Beans	8-10 nos
Raw plantain	3/4 th
Elephant foot yam	100 gms
white Pumpkin	100 gms
Grated coconut - 1 cup	1 cup
Cumin seeds /Jeera	1 Spoon
Green chilli	As needed
Curd	3/4th cup lightly sour
Curry Leaves	few
Coconut oil	2-3 tsp

• Wash and cut all vegetables lengthwise into equal sizes
• Grind Scraped Coconut and green chillies into fine paste using very little water
• Take a Kadai, add the ashgourd, raw plantains and yam at the bottom as these veggies take little longer time to cook and then add the other veggies. 
• Add salt to taste. 
• Add about cup of water (just a little ) and cook covered until the vegetables are just half done. 
• They should not get mushy. 
• Add the ground paste and mix gently and cover untill the vegetables are fully cooked.
• Now leave the cooked veggies aside untill it gets cooled down a bit 
• Add 1 cup sour curd and mix gently
• Add curry leaves and drizzle the coconut oil

Tips

• Any vegetable can be added like brinjal, green peas, Cluster beans...
• Vegetables should not be over cooked, It should just look like steamed vegetables.
• Turmeric can be added if you need avial to look yellow in color.
  
  
  

MASALA GROUNDNUT

Masala groundnut ...Yum yum .. We all at home love this snack and whenever we buy we used to finish this on the same day. Especially my daughters favorite.

Recipe for MASALA GROUNDNUT is here:

Ingredients

Raw groundnut	1 CUP
Besan powder	3 TSBLP
Rice flour	2 TBLSP
Red chilli powder	1/2 TSP
Ghee	1/2 TSP
Water	1-2 TBSLP
Salt	TO TASTE
Asafotida	1 pinch
Oil	deep fry

• Wash the groundnuts nicely and drain water completely.
• Take a bowl add the besan flour, rice flour, chilli powder, salt, and mix thoroughly.
• add just few drops of water and ghee to make it into a thick mixture.
• Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.
• Sprinkle small quantity of groundnut mix in oil once the oil is heated.
• When the sizzle sound of the oil lessens take out the groundnut from the flame
• Masala groundnut is ready !! Enjoy your snack :-)

Tips

• Ghee is added to give more crispiness and to retain that too.
• Do not make the mixture loose by adding more water, mixture should stick to the groundnut
• You can make groundnut flavors like adding.. Garlic … Chat powder..Garam masala..
• No artificial colors added
• This snack can be made with whole groundnut with skin or without skin (peel the skin)