Besan ladoo

I really like besan and Rava ladoo more than regular big boondi ladoo. I do like the motichur ladoos though :). This is a simple recipe I use to make these at home.


Ingredients:
Besan/ Chickpea Flour - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Powdered Sugar - 3/4 to 1 cup
Cardamom - 3 to 4

You can make powdered sugar in the coffee mill / blender at home. Add the cardamom after removing the shell and powder along with the sugar until the sugar is fine.

Dry roast besan in a saute pan for five minutes. Add the ghee to the power and saute until the ghee melts and the besan starts to brown. This will get rid of the raw taste of besan. Remove from heat and cool until it is comfortable to handle the mix add the powdered sugar and combine well. Then take small fistfuls of the mix and shape in balls to the size of your like.

I like these plain, but if you want you can add slivered pistachios, or raisins or fried cashews to garnish or add to the mixture before you roll the mix into balls.

The ladoos will harden once it cools.

Thayir Sadam / Yogurt Rice / Thayir Choru

Thayir Sadam - This dish needs no introduction, almost every family in the south as a simple variation to this lip smacking dish. So here's the version that I cook at my home.


Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice or any long grain rice - 2 cups cooked and cooled
Yogurt- 1 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 8 to 10
Asafoetida - a pinch
Green Thai chili - 2 sliced
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - a few chopped

Optional:
Green grapes
Milk

In a mixing bowl combine rice and yogurt and salt, mash some of the rice. If the yogurt is too sour add milk. In a saute pan heat oil on low to medium heat and then add the mustard seeds. Once the seeds splutter add urad dal, chana dal then the green chilies, ginger, curry leaves and asafoetida. After a minute or two pour this blend over the rice and mix weel. Add the grapes if you want at this point and combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled based on your preference. If you think the yogurt rice is too thick then add some more yogurt and milk just before serving. Adjust salt.


Serve with pickles or when I have it at lunch I have it with poriyals like Okra, Kovakkai, potatoes etc. Any poriyal will go well this rice.

Besan / Chickpea Flour Pancakes and Parathas

I was wondering what to cook for lunch, I was not in the mood for rice or the regular roti and yet wanted something that was easy for me to make. I remembered having heavenly Pudla (Bihari/ Gujurati besan pancakes) a long time ago and thought maybe I should try that. Pudla is simply put a spicy chickpea flour pancake. So here is a mishmash of the recipe based mainly on Madhur Jaffery's Pudla recipe, I liked the idea of peas in Pudla. I have added, modified - you can say basically killed her recipe to make two versions of the same mix. I can't call the recipe authentic Pudla, so I am sticking to the generic name of Besan Pancakes and Parathas. These are the measurements I used.

Ingredients:
Chickpea Flour/ Besan - 1 1/4 cup
Shelled Green peas - 1/2 cup (I used frozen)
Red Pearl Onion - 1 to 2 finely chopped
Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 2 pinches
Chili Powder 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 tsp
Coriander Leaves - a fistful finely chopped
Oil

Microwave bowl of 1 cup of water and peas for 6 minutes. In another mixing bowl combine the 1 cup of Besan, turmeric powder, chili powder, cumin powder, coriander leaves, salt, ginger garlic paste, chopped onion. Once the peas are done, mash them in the same bowl with the water and then transfer just the mashed peas to the mixing bowl.Combine well and then separate the mix in two bowls. One will be used for the pancake and the other will be used for the parathas.

So in the bowl you want to make pancake batter add the rest of the water from the bowl that the peas were cooked in. Then add 1 more cup of plain water and make a loose batter. Let the batter sit for at least 1/2 hr.

In the bowl that you want to make the parathas dough knead in the wheat flour and the rest of the Besan you had saved earlier little by little. You won't need to add any more water as the peas would have made it soggy enough. Knead the dough well and add 1 tsp of oil, knead once more and leave it to rest for 15 minutes.


For the pancakes..
On a flat griddle with a handle over a medium-high heat, drizzle in a little oil. When the griddle is hot, pour in a ladle of the besan batter, tilt the griddle around to spread the batter, to let it cook for 2 minutes. They should be golden underneath and start crisping on the edges. Drizzle the uncooked side with another drop of oil before flipping and cooking for a further 2 minutes. Remove and serve hot. You can have it as is or with a side of yogurt and pickles.


For the parathas..
Divide the dough into balls the size of golf balls. Dust the balls first with a little wheat flour and then apply oil to roll them out using a rolling pin into 4" diameter discs. You would need the oil to make sure the dough don't stick nor become too dry from the flour.Heat a tawa or a non stick pan on medium to high, and place the paratha carefully in it. Turn it after 3 - 4 minutes when you see the underside slightly browning. Add 2 to 3 drops of oil on the flipped side and flip it back again. Then add couple more drops of oil on the other side. Remove from heat when both the sides are golden and well cooked. This should only take up to 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately with plain yogurt and pickles.

For both the pancake and the paratha don't worry too much about the shape, they taste great just the same. If you are adamant about the shape use a cutter for the paratha to get the size or shape you want. I used the Appam chatti( a small shallow wok - see pic) uncovered for pancakes to make it thin and crispy. Either way these two dishes are simply delicious.

My entry for JFI:Chickpea

Mango-Saffron Shake

I firmly believe that more the mango drips as you squeeze and direct it to your mouth the tastier it is! You just can't beat the taste or the feeling of being totally involved in the process of relishing a mango as the juices flow down your throat, never mind you might end up needing to have a shower after the indulgence.
Anyway, I love mangoes but it been years since I have been so mesmerized by mangoes.

It frankly doesn't matter to me how I eat the mango, I love it as is, sweet, sour or spicy, in a dish or as pickles...any day is a good mango day.Well, I bought some mangoes last weekend thinking they were sweet and since the first one I tried was not very sweet, I thought I will wait for it to get ripe and sweeten (you see my mind had already fantasized about the non existent sweetness), but that doesn't seems to happen. So I decided to make some shake adding sugar to sweeten it. Here is the result.

This recipe also goes perfectly for sunshinemom's 'Food In Colors - Yellow' event.

Ingredients:
Mango - 1 large
Milk - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 5 tsp
Saffron - few strands
Ginger Powder / Chukku podi- 2 tsp
Grated Nutmeg - a pinch

The recipe itself is very simple. In a blender add chopped mango slices. Add milk, you can add low fat or full, I used full. You can also use portion of water instead of milk but you might be giving up on the richness of the drink. Again if you want you can also add ice cubes in the blender along with the rest, if you want it .
chilled. Add more or less milk according to the thickness of the drink you desire. Add sugar, increase or reduce according to the sweetness of the mango, mine wasn't very sweet. Add a couple of saffron strands, ginger powder and blend until smooth. You can leave it a little chunky if you like bits of mango in your drink.
Once done pour into glasses and garnish with the remain strands of saffron and the grated nutmeg.