Manupu / Murukku - Diwali Savory

Murukku is one of the favorite to all and for me also. It is very simple yet very delicious snack. It’s very common and popular savory snack which are prepared in their traditional method. In my childhood days my mom used to prepare this murukku for diwali and I carved for it especially the aravekadu murukku (half fried murukku) hmmm…it is simply adorable. Let’s go for the recipe…

Ingredients :

Rice flour - 3 cup
Roasted gram / pottukadalai powder - 1 cup
Water – 3 cup
Oil – 2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Hing – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Method:

• Powdered the roasted gram into fine powder and sieve it.
• In a heavy bottom pan, boil water by adding salt, sesame seeds and oil 1 tbsp.
• Once it starts boiling add the rice flour and mix well without forming any lumps and switch off the flame.
• Cover the pan and set aside for 30 minutes.






• Now add the roasted gram powder and hing to the rice flour mixture and sprinkle some water to it and knead well by adding 1 tbsp of oil until smooth dough.
• Make sure it has the right consistency to pass through the murukku pressure and use the single hole for preparing
• murukku.
• Now heat the oil for deep frying.






• Grease some oil in the murukku maker and fill the dough into it.
• Draw the circles and drop into the hot oil and deep fry until they are golden brown in colour.





• Drain them in a paper towel to remove excess oil, let them cool.Store it in an air tight container.

Crispy and tasty homemade murukku is ready…

Enjoy munching with your choice of pickle.

Krishna Jayanthi Celebration

Krishna Janmashtami also known as Krishnashtami, Gokulashtami, Ashtami Rohini, Srikrishna Jayanti, Sree Jayanthi or sometimes merely as Janmashtami, is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu. The actual day of celebration can be on two different days as the star 'Rohini' and Ashtami may not be on the same day. This occurs between August and September on the Christian calendar.

It is a occasion to celebrate with children’s in the family, and dress them like up lord Krishna and marks their foot path from door to pooja room, symbolizing the Child God Krishna walking into the home / family. The best part is the joy on this festival day is achieved by sharing the rituals and naivedhyam with the family / friends.

Happy Krishna Jayanthi / Gokulashtami to all my blog readers, friends and relatives.Here i prepared for naivedhyam Peanut Balls, Sweet Aval, Tamarind Poha and Kara Seedai.

Peanut Balls :

Ingredients:
Roasted Peanuts - 1 cup
Grated Jaggery – 3/4 cup

Method:

• Grind the peanuts into coarsely. Now add the grated jaggery to it and run again for once. Mix well and Shape into round balls.

Sweet Aval/Poha:

Ingredients:

Aval (poha/rice flakes) - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Milk – ¼ cup
Cardamom – 1 no
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Cashews – few

Method:

• Wash Aval/poha in water and leave for 2 minutes then drain the water. Now add milk to it and keep it aside.
• In a pan, heat a tsp of ghee and add the broken cashews. Once they turn golden brown remove from flame and keep it aside.
• Now in a pan take jaggery and adequate water to immerse it. Once the jaggery melts and becomes thick (a sticky consistancy.) Simmer the stove and adds the poha into the jaggery and mix well until the aval/poha observe the jiggery water.
• Now add the cashews, coconut, ghee and powdered cardamom to it and mix well.

Yummy and tempting Sweet aval/poha is ready for naivedhyam.

Tamarind Poha/ Kara Attukulu:

Ingredients:
Aval /Poha - 1 cup (I used thin rice flakes)
Tamarind pulp – 1 tbsp
Jaggery – 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Green Chilies - 3
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Salt for taste
Curry Leaves
Coriander leaves
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Wash the rice flaks in water and leave for 2 minutes. Then strain it well to remove all excess water and keep it aside. Now add turmeric powder, jaggery, and tamarind pulp, salt and mix well.
• Now take 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and season with mustard, urad dhal, channa dhal , 3 green chilies and curry leaves, asafoetida a pinch.
• When they start to splutter add the soaked rice flaks and mix well.
• Let it cook for 5 minutes on a medium flame and remove from the flame.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Tamarind Poha is ready for naivedhyam.

Kara Seedai:

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad dhal flour -2tbsp (roasted and powdered)
Water - 1 cup
Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Salt for taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Mix sesame seed, cumin seed, salt, asafetida, red chili powder, urad dhal flour and rice flour and mix well and keep it aside.
• Now boil water by adding a table spoon of oil, once starts to boil simmer the flame and add the rice flour mixture to it for 10 minutes( don’t mix).
• Turn off the heat and Stir well without any lumps form.
• Keep the bowl closed and set aside for 1 hour. Again knead the dough well by adding some oil and divide the dough into peanut size balls and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Heat oil for deep frying and drop the dough balls into the hot oil until they are golden brown in color and the bubbles settle.
• Remove from the oil and allow it to cool down and store in an airtight container.

Crunchy kara seedai is ready for Naivedhyam.

Tips:

• For making Sweet poha and Tamarind poha you can use both thick and thin rice flakes.
• While using thick rice flakes you have to soak them in water for 2 hours and have to follow the preparations as said.
• Using thin rice flakes is easy and quick to do the dish wont consume time and it will be very tasty too.

Wish you all a very happy Krishna Jayanthi :)

Masala Obbattu / Poli

After a week’s gap, here I am to introduce a recipe “Masala poli”. Yep, I heard your question. Poli a.k.a. obbattu, a traditional Maharastrian dish, basically done with sweet base. Obbattu / Poli are prepared at special and festival occasions, our ancestral origin is from Andra Pradesh, where on the day of Ugadhi (Telugu New Year) festival Sweet based obbattu / poli is famous. The meal course is incomplete without this.

This masala obbattu or poli can be made for a heavy evening snack. When I first tasted this, it was interesting with unpredictable taste. Making Obbattu is difficult in terms of making it with a prefect round shape. Practice makes perfect, so try and get to be perfect. Hard to prepare but at the end we get a tasty obbattu.

Ingredients :

Maida- 1 1/4 cup
Salt - a pinch
Cooking soda - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsp

For Filling :

Potato - 2 medium
Green chilli - 2
Ginger - 1’’ finely chopped
Onion - 1 medium
Chilli powder - ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few

Method :

• Take Maida, salt and cooking soda in a bowl and mix well adding adequate water to it and make a smooth dough. It should be a little softer than chapatti dough.
• Now add 2 tbsp of cooking oil on top of the dough and cover it with a plate. Keep it aside for 3 hours.
• Pressure Cook the potato and peel the skin and mash up well.
• In a pan heat oil and add finely chopped ginger, curry leaves and green chilly sauté for 2 minutes. Then add chopped onions and sauté till golden brown.
• Then add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Mix well till it blends together. Then add the smashed potato to it and mix well.
• Finally garnish with coriander leaves.
• Once done, let it cool for a while and then roll out small balls of the filling. Divide into equal sized portions and keep aside.
• Take a plastic coated paper / Banana leaf and grease thoroughly on one side with oil.
• Now take a small portion of the maida mixture and patted by hand into a mid-sized circle.
• A small amount of stuffing is placed at the center of this dough, which is wrapped around the stuffing to make a ball.
• This ball is then rolled carefully using a rolling pin or your fingers tip to flatten it well into a large, thin circular disc shape.
• In a hot tava carefully lift the poli on it and roast until both sides are done and get a fragrant aroma released.

Masala Obbattu is ready to eat. :)

I pleased to submit this recipe for a cooking contest for “LGSS” – Lets Go Stuff Series on the theme of Potato @ Vatsala’s blog – Show and Tell. (http://showandtell-vatsala.blogspot.com/)

Tips:

• You could choose your own mix to make the stuffing.
• If the Obbattu / Poli batter is in excess, you could mix well with any pickle (my choice is mango pickle). Now flatten the mix and tava it like chapatti. This goes well as a side dish with tomato rasam.

Granola Bar

Imagine a health snack that fills stomach and can stand the hungry for long hours, introducing Granola Bars. Easy to prepare and yummy in taste. The best part is Granola Bars will also fit in your breakfast menu list. Basically the ingredients are very healthy and less in cholesterol i.e., oats, nuts, seeds and cornflakes etc.

It’s a combo of fibre, fruits and nuts which have a rich in vitamins and oats contain antioxidants which promotes for a good health. So it is a good choice for your daily intake.

Ingredients :

Oats - 1 cup
Corn flakes - ½ cup
Almonds - 5 finely chopped
cashew - 5 finely chopped
Peanuts - 2 tbsp
Seasme seed - 1 tbsp
Pumpkin seed - 2tbsp
Sunflower seeds - 2 tbsp
Black Raisins - 1 tbsp
Dates - 4 nos
Honey - ½ cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt a pinch

Method :

• Dry roast oats, corn flakes, chopped nuts, dry fruits and seeds in a pan for 10 minutes till they turns slightly browning and keep aside.
  
• Allow them to cool for some time.


• In a sauce pan add butter heat it and add honey, sugar and mix it on a medium flame until sugar starts melts and bubble up. Switch off the stove.


• Now immediately add the roasted oats and other ingredients to the prepared syrup and a pinch of salt and mix well until the mixture is coated with syrup.


• That’s it, transfer the mix to a butter sheet and spread it evenly using a wooden ladle to ½ inch thickness and cover the top with another butter sheet and press them to smooth.





• Allow them to cool for 10 minutes then cut them into desired shape.


• Once the granola bars comes to room temperature store them in airtight container and enjoy it.

Crunchy Granola bars are ready to eat. Have a break with granola bars.... :)

Tips:

1. Even can use white sugar instead of brown sugar.
2. You can use dry fruits and nuts of your choice like walnuts, cranberries, muesli etc., to make tastier.
3. Don't over roast the ingredients and it will spoil the taste.

Mangalore Bonda / Thayir Bonda

Bonda are a common South Indian snack that has various forms / varieties. Usually Hot Bondas are ideal for winter evening snack, having said that it can be taken in any season. The name Thayir / Yogurt Bonda is because, Yogurt is the main ingredient. More over this is ideal way to consume the excess curd. This delicious tea time snack doesn't consume much of oil and can be prepared quickly & easily with simple ingredients.

Ingredients :

Maida - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 1/4 cup
Sour Curd - 1 cup
Onions - 2 small ( finely chopped )
Coconut Pieces - 1 tbsp (cut into small pieces )
Green chillies - 8 (make it as paste)
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few finely chopped
Channa dal - 2 tsp
Moong dal - 2 tsp
Cooking Soda - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Cooking Oil

Method :

• Soak the channa dal & moong dal in water for 30 minutes & keep it aside.


• Now mix maida, rice flour, chopped onions, green chilli paste, coriander leaves, curry leaves, coconut pieces with soaked channa dal & moong dal, salt and add curd little by little and mix it to make soft dough. Do not knead the dough too much, like a thick batter without any lumps.


• At finally add cooking soda a pinch and mix it well.


• Keep it aside for 10 minutes. Now the dough is ready.


• In a Non-stick pan heat oil and drop small balls of this dough into the oil and deep fry until it turns golden brown

Yummy Mangalore bonda is ready to eat. :) Serve hot with ketchup or chutney as per your taste.

This is one of my favourite, the reason is its really crispy on the outer layer but with soft & spicy inner, the coconut chunks add more taste. This bonda also can be tired after being soaked in sambar and rasam.