Diwali wishes and Paramannam (rice pudding)

WE WISH YOU

A

VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS, VIBRANT & COLOURFUL

DIWALI.............

MAY ALL YOUR WISHES BE COME TRUE....

Paramannam or rice payasam is the most common prasadam in andhra.In my house mom used to make this for every festival as this is the most favourite dessert.Paramannam can be done with both sugar and jaggery but i prefer jaggery.This sweet can be eaten both warm or cold.

Ingredients:-

Raw Rice washed and drained 2 cups
Grated jaggery 1/2 cup
Milk 1 liter
Green cardamom 2 (crushed)
Fried cashewnuts and raisins for garnish
1 tbsp ghee(clarified butter)for frying cashewnuts and raisins

Method:-

Soak rice for 1 hour.

Drain water from the rice after one hour and add milk.

Cook till the rice is soft and if needed add little water or milk.

Mean while fry cashewnuts and raisins in the ghee.

Once the rice is cooked and is soft switch off the stove and add grated jaggery,cashewnuts and raisins.

Mix throughly and cover it until served.

PS:-After adding jaggery don't cook payasam,if cooked it will split.

The prasadams i made today.

My laxmi poja.

Bellam Kommulu (sweet muruku) -- Diwali special

Ingredients:-

Channa flour (chanaga pindi) 1 kg
Rice flour 1 cup
Jaggery (bellam) 500 gms
Elachi 2 (powdered)
Ghee 250 gms
Oil for deep frying



Method:-

Mix channa flour and rice flour thoroughly.Warm ghee and add it to the channa flour.Make a soft dough by adding little water.
Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.

Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.



Take the big holes Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls.
Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly in the oil or press over a paper or plate and gently slide it down into the hot oil.


Press muruku in the hot oil.Let it cook for 1 min and turn it.Once the bubbles in the oil reduces,then the muruku is done,mostly it will be in light brown colour.Remove it from the hot oil and press muruku with the left over dough.



In a another big vessel take jaggery,elachi and little water.Boil until thick,to check whether the syrup is done or not,take a small plate with little water,add the a tsp syrup and when touched with finger if it forms a ball than the syrup is done.Keep it down on the floor.

Break the muruku into small pcs and add it to the syrup.Don't mix it with spoon or ladle,just hold the bowl with cloth on both the sides and turn the vessel so that all the muruku is coated with the jaggery syrup.Remove and let it cool.Store in a air tight container.It taste best after one day.



This muruku i made it for the first time and it tasted quite well.But one major disaster was averted.Usually i press the muruku directly into the hot oil.Some how my instinct told me not to do, so i pressed few on a plate and transferred them into the hot oil.After finishing two batches when i tried to press another one on the plate the muruku press spring and the handle came off with much pressure that the top lid of the muruku pressing machine came off,had it been on the hot oil i would have got burn injuries and my baby was also present in the kitchen.Later i didn't had courage to make anything with the left dough.So i want to tell my readers/friends to be careful in using muruku pressing machine.The below picture says everything.
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Have a wonderful and SAFE Diwali.

Jantikalu or Murukulu for Indian Cooking Challenge

I am very fortunate to have got included in the cooking challenge and i thank srivalli for accepting me in the challenge.This is 4th challenge and since the beginning i had my own doubts whether i deserve to be in the challenge.After i made this muruku all my doubts are cleared,muruku came out so well just like what we get to eat from swahagruha back home.I can't wait to make this for my mom and sisters.

Thanks so much valli for including me in the challenge.You have given the recipe so well that the muruku came out well and the taste is awesome,it got over within a day.My kids had that for breakfast,lunch and evening snacks.Only thing i altered is that i didn't take raw rice,as i found it difficult to grind the raw rice into fine powder.Now the recipe

Ingredients:-


Rice flour 3 cups (raw rice 4 cups given by valli)
Udad dal 1 cup
Water 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
Asafetida/ Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 75 gms

How to prepare:

Wash and drain the rice. Shade dry the Rice for 1/2 hr. Dry roast the Urad dal to light brown. Allow it to cool.
If you are using more quantity, you can get it ground in rice mil, else use your mixie to grind both Rice and Urad dal.

First grind rice into a fine flour, keep it aside. then grind the urad dal to fine powder.

In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well.

Add cumin, Sesame seeds and asafetida powder to the flour, mix well.And finally add the butter.

Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture.

Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.

Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.

Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls.

Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper and gently slide it down the hot oil.

Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that its cooked. Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container.

Thank you srivalli for this wonderful recipe.

This is my entry to the cooking challenge started by srivalli.

Happy Dussehra and its delicacies

Happy Vijaydashmi to friends and the readers.I miss the festival atmosphere back home and i dont feel like doing it here but as my kids are small i want them to know what is a festival,what we do on that day,what parasadams we offer to the god and goddess.I remember this day my dad used to do puja for his scooter and mom's tvs and put a big marigold garlands on the both the vehicle.Inspite of having a car here we can't do puja for the car.I made vada,nimakaya pulihora (lemon rice) and booralu.Before the festival day i made murukulu and kajikayalu.Vada/Garelu recipe is here,Borralu/purnalu recipe is here

Nimakaya Pulihora (Lemon rice)

Ingredients:-

Rice 2 cups
Salt as per taste
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Juice of 2 lemon

For seasoning

Channa dal few
Udat dal few
Rai few
Red chilly 2
Curry leaves few
Peanuts
Salt as per taste
Asafoetida

Oil 5 tbsp

Method:-

Cook rice.Add turmeric powder and mix thoroughly.
Heat oil,fry peanuts and keep aside.

In the same oil add all the seasoning and when they splutter,add it to the cooked rice.
Add peanuts,salt and mix thoroughly.Lastly add lemon juice slowly to the rice and mix properly.

Kajjikayalu and murukulu recipe will follow in my next post.

Vinayaka Chavathi

I never did Vinayaka chavathi alone and this is my first vinayaka chavathi which i did i alone without the guidance of my mom or my m-law.Last year i was fortunate to celebrate the festival with my mom who did puja and read ganesh story.After coming here to gulf i never got holidays on our festivals and there is no public holidays for our festivals.So i always used to go to work and my m-law who was staying with me used to do puja and in the evening i used to eat the delicacies.My friend sandhya gave me the sholkas to do the puja and mom told me how to make the delicacies.

Called up mom and took the recipe of undralu and kudumulu and made pasham which my m-law used to make it.That came out well but i am not sure of the measurement hence i wont be writing the recipe of pasham.

My girls

Undrallu

Ingredients:-


Rice flour 1 cup
Channa dal 2 tbsp (soaked for one hour)
Salt a pinch
Oil 1 tbsp
Water for making dough


Method:-


Make a hard dough with riceflour,channa dal,salt,oil and water.Make desired size balls and steam the way idles are steamed for 7-8 minutes.

Sweet version of undrallu


Ingredients:-



Rice flour 1 cup
Jaggery 1/4 cup
Water for making dough



Method:-


Make a hard dough with rice flour,jaggery and water.Make small size balls and steam the way idles are steamed for 7-8 minutes.


On the day of the festival we are supposed to see nine ganesh.In Hyderabad each and every lane ganesh idol are worshipped and we all used to visit nine ganesh.Now here i hardly know anyone who celebrate the festival,today i will blog hop and see ganesheshas in the other blogs.

Happy Ugadi and its Delicacies

Happy ugadi to you all.

Ugadi pachaidi,garulu,pulihora and purnalu are the traditional dish done on the ugadi day.My mom used to make other dishes as well but i didn't get much time to do all.

All these i learnt it from my mother.I miss the festive atmosphere back home.Early morning we used to get up put a big rangoli(mugu) in front of the house.Wear new clothes and go to grannies and uncles house and eat the delicacies cooked by granny.This country i hardly have anyone celebrating this festival.Anyways i and my kids had a good time.My elder kid has helped me a lot today.She kept her kid sister busy so that she doesn't disturb me.

Ugadi Pachadi

Ingredients:-

Raw mango 1cup(finely chopped)
Neem tree flowers 1 tbsp

Jaggery (grated) 1 cup
Honey 1 tbsp
Tamarind paste 3 -4 tbsp
Red chilli pwd pinch
Salt to taste

Method:-

Mix all the ingredients and added little water.Few don't add water,but i prefer watery.

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Garulu/Vada

Ingredients:

Urad dal (black gram dal,minappappu) 1 1/2 cup

Ginger 2"

Green chillies 3

Coriander leaves finely chopped

Pudina leaves finely chopped

Onion 1 (finely chopped)

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method:-

1. Soak whole black gram dal for 5-6 hours (i soaked over night)
2. Strain the water from the dal and grind to a paste with ginger,green chillies and salt.Avoid adding water.
3. Then add chopped onions,coriander leaves and pudina leaves and mix well.Heat oil in a deep frying vessel and the oil should be very hot.
4. Wet a plastic sheet with little water and take a lemon sized balls and flatten it on the sheet and make a hole in the center so that vada cooks evenly.
5. Slowly drop the vada in the oil and cook till golden colour and serve hot.

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Purnalu

Ingredients:-

Udat dal 1 cup

Rice 3 tbsp

Toor dal 1 cup

Jaggery 1 1/2 cup

Elachi 2

Salt a pinch

Oil for deep frying

Method:-

1. Soak udat dal and rice overnight
2. Grind udat dal and rice to a fine paste and the consistency should be like a bajji batter.Add little salt to the batter
3. Pressure cook toor dal until soft.
4. Add jaggery (crushed) and cook till the mixture is completely dried.Add elachi.
5. Make small lemon sized balls and dip it in the batter.
6. Leave purnalu in the oil and fry till golden colour.And take it on a tissue.

Jaggery can be adjusted according to the taste.

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Pulihora/Tamarind Rice

Ingredients:-

Rice

Salt as per taste

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Tamarind 1/3 cup (pulp)

For seasoning

Channa dal few

Udat dal few

Rai few

Red chilly 2

Curry leaves few

Peanuts roasted

Sesame seeds(nuvulu) 4 tbsp (roasted and powdered)

Green chillies (slited)

Salt as per taste

Ginger 1"

Asafoetida

Oil 5 tbsp

Method:-

1. Cook rice.Add turmeric powder and mix thoroughly.
2. Heat oil add all the seasoning except peanuts and sesame seeds.
3. Add tamarind pulp and salt and cook till the raw smell of tamarind disappears.
4. Lastly just before taking the pulp from the stove add sesame seeds powder and roasted peanuts.the pulp should be thick but flowing paste.
5. Pour this pulp on the rice how much you require and mix thoroughly.

This Tamarind pulp can be stored in the refrigerator for long and can be used when required.I usually store this for 10-15 days.

Have a great day.................................