Diwali 2014 ~ Kaju Katli

This post is a tad bit late but hoping that all the readers had a very Happy Diwali. This Diwali was indeed special as my parents are here with us. After long time I and mom caught up on long afternoon chats. We end up churning a lot of delicacies together, not that any one is complaining. This Diwali,we made a lot of delicacies. We made Phenori(Chirote), Rava Laddoo, Kodbale (South Indian rice flour snack), Spicy tukdi(Spicy namak pare) and Kaju Katli.

Kaju Katli is one of our family favourite. I got inspired by a group on FB called Epicurean Delights and decided to give this sweet a try. I noted a lot of recipes and googled few recipes and finally decided on a step by step recipe from Rak's Kitchen. The result was perfect and loved by everyone in family. Thank you Rak's Anand for this wonderful recipe. I am noting it here for my future reference. Please click this link for a step by step recipe.
Here is what's needed:
1 cup Cashew nut (at room temperature)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Water
1 tbsp Milk
Ghee for greasing
Procedure:
1) Powder cashewnuts in a mixer grinder until fine. I did it in two parts to avoid over crowding.
2) In a non stick pan, heat water and add sugar to it. Let the sugar dissolve completely and when it forms almost a single thread consistency add in the cashew powder. Turn the heat to low and keep stirring continuously. When  the mixture starts to get dry and starts to leave the sides or if a small piece is taken and rolled between your palms it should form a small smooth ball. Take it out on a clean counter or wide plate.
3) When the dough is still warm start kneading.Apply little ghee to make the kneading easy. Knead gently so that the grainy texture turns to smooth. If you feel the mixture is very dry add milk and knead gently to avoid cashew releasing oils. When it is smooth enough with the help of rolling pin roll it out into desired thickness and when slightly cool cut in to diamond shapes shapes.

Diwali Special

I am sure everyone must have enjoyed a lot this Diwali. I wanted to make this post right before Diwali but due to some issue with connectivity and lack of time I was unable to do so. Anyways my warm wishes to everyone.

We had a good time this Diwali. Visiting friends, bursting fire crackers everything made it so special.

Thanks to the wonderful bloggers I tried my hand at making Chakkuli's (Murukku), Sev etc. It seemed so simple and tasty that I will not have to look out for store brought one's here after.

From Surpiya's Home spices blog I tried Kashi halwa (Wintermelon/Ash gourd halwa) and Chakkuli. Both were a big hit. Thank you Supriya :). I made Sev using Chakali blog. I have bookmarked a lot of dishes from this site. Do visit the sites for the original recipe. Sorry for the poor picture of halwa as we clicked it at the last moment before leaving for the party :)

Diwali Sweets~ Shankarpali & Malpuri

As Promised I am posting the recipes of the sweets that we made during Diwali. We had made Mysore Pak, Shankarpali and Malpuri. For Shakarpali we followed Vaishali's recipe with no changes and the end result was really good. Everyone loved it. Thanks Vaishali for your wonderful recipe with step by step pictures. It was impossible to mess it up :) Click here to view her recipe

Malpuri is a traditional sweet prepared with maida, Sugar and buttermilk. This is one of my favourite sweet but we had never made it at home. My dad usually buys these from TajMahal Cafe. This was usually made in the morning. When I was learning to drive dad used to take me for a drive on sunday mornings by 5. We used to go for a long drive and at around 6:30 we would reach the market buy fresh vegetables and then go to TajMahal Cafe. Dad would usually buy either Jelebi or Malpuri that are made fresh in the morning. It was great to eat them hot and fresh.

When Smitha, my dear friend suggested that we try our hands at making malpuri both of us were not sure as we had not seen anyone make malpuri. But that did not prevent us from trying it. I made a google search but did not get satisfying recipe. Then we looked upon Our GSB cooking Bible "Oota Upahara" by Jaya V. Shenoy and decided to follow the recipe. We did not get the texture perfect as in Hotels. Though there were crisped edges what we missed was the fluffed up centre. But then the taste was really good and both of us were glad. Well we can always improve!

Here is what's needed:

1 1/2 cup Maida

1 cup Buttermilk

3/4 cup Sugar (Our's was mildly sweet add more if you like it to be sweeter)

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

Ghee to fry

Procedure:

1) In a large bowl mix Maida +  Buttermilk + Sugar well. It should be slightly thicker than dosa batter consistency. If not add little water. Let it sit for 3 hours.

2) After 3 hours add Cardamom powder and mix it well. 

3) Heat Ghee in a Kadai. When hot add one tbsp of the batter as if spreading the dosa on tawa. Bring heat to medium. Flip the Malpuri in ghee. Keep it pressed with the spatula and fry until the sides are crisp.

4) After you remove the malpuri from Ghee, press it with another spatula to remove the excess ghee. Let it drain on paper towel. Store once cooled completely.

P.S: Do not leave it without pressing with spatula when it is in Hot ghee. Else it puffs up completely like Puri and the sides do not get crisp. Even the batter needs to be spread  as if it is dosa, Initially we just scooped the mixture and it came out like Puri all puffed up. It was then Smitha suggested that we spread it like dosa and keep it pressed. It worked and we got nice Malpuri's. We fried it one at a time so it was time consuming. But the end result was worth the time we spent. I never expected that it was so easy to make :)

I am sending this over to Srivalli who is hosting JFI-Nov 08.

I am sending this over to Sunshinemom who is hosting FIC Brown.

Mysore Pak

1st October is Independence day in China. So all the offices including banks have a week long off. We have decided to stay at home this time as all the places will be crowded. Even the temperature is going down and its getting colder and colder. I wanted to make some sweet as its my hubby's birthday tomo and Dasara too is round the corner. So decided on making Mysore pak. I had seen them on Shilpa's blog and even drooled ver her pic. I have followed her recipe totally. Though I did not get the texture as perfect as her's. The taste was really good, the melt in the mouth kind. I wanted the honeycomb like structure but looks like I poured it into greased plate before the actual time. I am going to make it again and keep it for longer time. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks Shilpa     

I am sending these over to Pallavi who is hosting Yummy Festival Feast - Diwali and also over to Srivalli who is hosting JFI - Nov'08 Festival Treats!

Update: Made them again for Deepavali and the result was better :)