Rama Navami Neivedhyam - Paanagam, Neer Mor & Vada Paruppu

"श्री राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे
सहस्र नाम ततुल्लयं राम नाम वरानने"

During one of our summer trips to India, we happened to be in Bombay (in my head it is still Bombay, not Mumbai!) for Janmashtami. We have a tradition of fasting till evening and offering neivedhyam to baby Krishna after reciting the Vishnu Sahasranamam. That year, my father - in - law explained the meaning of  a few lines from the shloka. Goddess Parvati asked the Lord if there is any easier/shorter way of gaining the benefits of chanting the Sahasranama as it may be difficult to recite the whole thing everyday. To this, the Lord replies with the aforementioned lines. The essence of this shloka is that chanting "Rama" just thrice  is equivalent to reciting the thousand names of Vishnu. Such is the power of Rama.

This has been a week of celebrations and festivities on consecutive days - first was hubby's birthday - so I baked cupcakes, the next day was Tamil New Year followed by Vishu Kani, so pigged out on vadai & paayasam! Yesterday was Rama Navami, but guess what, the neivedhyam for this occassion is pretty tummy friendly!

I made paanagam - which is a cool and refreshing thirst quenching drink - sweet and sour - perfect for the rise in temperature, neer mor - which is seasoned buttermilk, again chilled but a tad spicy and finally vadaparuppu - which I guess can be called a protein rich salad ;)

Usually, neivedhyams are rich in ghee and oil - sweets and fried stuff! This is one of those rare occasions when the neivedhyam has health benefits!

Paanagam is as good as an ORS solution - move over Gatorade and electrolyte, we have our own home made version!! In fact, when consumed along with vada paruppu, it supposedly aids in digestion. For that matter, so does neer moru - it is a South Indian version of the salty lassi and is often prepared on a regular basis and served at the end of dinner. It also helps with acidity. And hey guys - its yogurt (read PROBIOTICS) - need I say more?

So, without further ado, here are the three recipes.

Soaking Time: 30 minutes            Preparation: 15 minutes          Serves:4

Ingredients:

For Paanagam:

Jaggery (Gur/vellam) - 1/4^th cup, grated
Chilled water - 4 cups

Dry Ginger Powder (Saunth/Sukku podi) - 1/4^th teaspoon

Cardamom pods  (Elaichi/Elakai) - 4

Holy Basil Leaves (Thulsi/Tulasi) - 4

Lemon - 1, juiced

For Vada Paruppu:

Moong Dal (Split Green Gram)  - 1 cup

Green Chillie - 1, small, chopped fine

Raw Mango - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Cucumber - 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

Ginger - 1/4^thinch, chopped fine

Coconut - 1 tablespoon, grated

Cilantro - for garnish, finely chopped

Lemon - ½, juiced

Asafoetida (Heeng/Perunkayam) - a pinch

Salt - to taste

For Neer Mor:

Yogurt  - 1 cup

Chilled Water - 2 cups

Green Chillies - 1, small

Ginger - 1/4^thinch

Roasted Cumin Powder (Jeera Powder) - ½ teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Cilantro - for garnish, finely chopped

For Tempering:

Oil - ½ teaspoon 

Mustard Seeds - ½ teaspoon

Curry Leaves - a few

Asafoetida (Heeng/Perunkayam) - a pinch

Method:

For Paanagam:

1. Take the jaggery in a bowl and add the chilled water to it. Stir till all the jaggery dissolves and then filter out the impurities from the jaggery.
2. Add in the dry ginger powder, cardamom pods and lemon juice, mix well and refrigerate.

For Vada Paruppu:

1. Rinse and soak the moong dal for about 30 minutes.
2. Add in all the other ingredients (raw mango, cucumber, chillies, ginger, coconut, cilantro, asafoetida, salt and lemon juice) and mix well.

For Neer Mor:

1. Take yogurt, green chillies and ginger in a blender and give it a good swirl till the yogurt is well beaten.The chillies and ginger will also be coarsely ground by then.
2. Add in water, roasted cumin powder, salt and cilantro leaves and give a quick whisk once more.
3. Heat a little oil and add in the mustard seeds.
4. Once the muster seeds crackle, add in the curry leaves and asafoetida and pour this tempering into the yogurt mixture.
5. Mix well and refrigerate.

Offer neivedhyam and enjoy the prasadam...

Tips:

You can add a bit of pachai karpooram to the paanagam if you desire.
For the neer mor, you can just blend in the  yogurt and water with a hand whisk, slit a green chillie and skip the roasted cumin powder if you wish.

Uppu Cheedai

"हाथी घोडा पालकी
जय कन्हैया लाल की "

Today being the auspicious occasion of Janmastami/Gokulashtami, I thought what better day to "get back" to my blog than this :)

My earliest memories of this festival are of my sister and me getting dressed as "gopikas" (much against our wishes I might add) and sitting  at the local park which would be decorated and crowded with the local kiddie gang dressed up in whatever the occasion called for and depicting scenes from Lord Krishna's life! I am sure we must have found it fun the first time or so, but I tell you, it got boring (and embarrassing) real fast! That was when we lived in the northern part of India

Another memory is of amma making the "Krishnar kaal" kolam - rice flour foot prints representing baby Krishna walking in from the entrance right upto the place of worship. This is a tradition I follow. When my little one was still in his baby/toddler days, I would use his feet to make the prints, later I used my hands ofcourse!

 The years spent in Mumbai hold memories of "Dahi handi" - it always amazes me to see the human pyramids formed by all these Govindas while they are splashed by water, not just by the monsoon Gods, but also by the human spectators. It sure is a thrill to see them reach out into the skies, so high, oh so high, to break the matki and collect their prize!

And then there is all the stuff we get to eat! Thats one good thing about us Hindus - I mean we have got tons of festivals to celebrate and each comes with its own set of munchies to be prepared. Our deities sure were foodies. Take Lord Krishna - he loved milk products. His affinity for butter earned him the name of "Maakhan Chor" literally translated to "Butter Thief"!

My mom used to make a lot of yummy goodies for neivedyam. Typically butter, poha, milk, sugar, fruits, appam, uppu and vella cheedai, paayasam, ribbon etc are offered. This year, I skipped the ribbon and paayasam.

So, here I am with the recipe of one of the things made on this festival - atleast by us Tam Brams - Uppu Cheedai. Well, I usually write recipes of sweets associated with a festival, this time, for a change, I thought, why not pick a savory item.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes          Makes: 40-45

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dal (Black Gram) Powder - 2 tablespoons
Hing/Asafoetida - ¼ teaspoon
Sesame Seeds (White) - 1 teaspoon
Shredded Coconut - 1 tablespoon
 Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons (melted)
 Water - to make dough
Salt - To taste
Coconut Oil - 1 teaspoon (for kneading)
Oil - For deep frying  


Method:

1. Dry roast the rice flour for a minute or so, don't let it change color.
2. Dry roast the urad dal powder till it turns a reddish tinge.
3. Sieve the flours and knead it into a dough after adding everything except the oil for deep frying.
4. Roll the dough into tiny balls, set them aside for 10 minutes, then fry them to a golden brown.

Drain them out on absorbent paper and eat - no wait, it was for neivedaym right? Offer it to Lord Krishna and then enjoy! Store the cheedais in an air tight container after they have cooled down.

Handy Tip:

Set aside the rolled cheedais for a few minutes before frying. I do this so as to prevent the oil from bursting. Uppu cheedais are notorious for spluttering hot oil everywhere, so I always keep a distance while frying them!

Rava Laddoo

Hello everybody! Am still in "Holi" mode! While part of me misses all the fun and revelry associated with this festival in India, another part says "come on, you get to celebrate multiple times, so what if its on a smaller scale"!

The thing is, Holi fell on 27th March which was a working day. So hubby & kiddo went to work and school respectively. But then the little one had a half day and then we got to go for the Easter Egg Hunt along with a photo op with the Easter Bunny in our community. This was followed by a "mini" holi celebration of sorts with a few friends. Oh wait, there was also and accident involving a pointed pencil, an Easter egg and a rushed visit to the pediatrician to get a tiny hand bandaged (don't get me started on that!), but that was forgotten in the over all excitement of the day!

And tomorrow is another get together for some more color play followed by a potluck dinner - more masti, more magic!

Now, ghujia is a staple as far as holi is concerned for me. But since I had planned on making some for the weekend celebration, I wanted to make something else on the actual festival. The time constraint led me to think of making rava laddoos. To give it a "holi" feel, I added some food color and made tiny colorful laddoos! My little one got a real kick out of popping these small balls into his mouth :)

Generally I make these bigger, without food color. I also add some coconut and cashew nuts. But I was out of coconut and had no time to run a grocery errand. Also, couldn't add the nuts as my son is allergic to them and I had neither the time nor the patience to make two separate batches, one with and one without nuts, which is what I normally do. By all means, feel free to omit the food color and include the coconut and nuts, though to be honest, I did not really miss the coconut or the cashews!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes (excluding 30 minutes cooling)       Makes: 30 approx.

Ingredients:
Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1 cup
Sugar - ½ cup
Water - ¼ cup
Saffron Essence - ¼ teaspoon
Cardamom/Elaichi Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Maida/All Purpose Flour - 1 tablespoon
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Food Color - As many as you want - a pinch of each

Method:

1. Roast semolina with ghee till it turns slightly golden brown and gives off a nice aroma.

2. Boil sugar, water and saffron essence till the sugar dissolves completely then add in the cardamom powder.

3. Gradually add in the semolina and the maida, stirring constantly till all the sugar syrup is absorbed, making sure there are no lumps. Switch off the flame, close and keep aside for about half an hour till the mixture is cooled and is relatively thicker and easier to shape into balls.

4. Separate the mixture into equal portions for the different colors, add a pinch of food color to each portion, knead and roll into smooth balls.

Voila! Colorful laddoos for a colorful festival!!

Vanilla Mint Chocolate Fudge

Last year for Diwali I had made this milk chocolate double layer barfi, the recipe for which I got from "Show Me The Curry". It was a big hit. Everyone loved it. Infact, I had sent out some sweets and savories to the teachers at my kid's school and they liked it so much that they requested me to get them some more of the same!

So, this year I was leaning towards making the same sweet again. Then I hit a snag. The original recipe calls for the use of heavy cream. It was 2'o clock at night and I was out of heavy cream. The next day was Diwali - it was too late to go to the store and it was also too late to start off on another track altogether. I was extremely tired and at my wits end. Then I thought, let me skip the heavy cream altogether along with the sugar. I replaced these two ingredients with condensed milk. Now that I had started giving the dish my own twist, I thought, why not go the whole nine yards. I replaced the chocolate chips with mint chocolate chips. I also added some vanilla essence to the plain layer of the fudge. The end result was a refreshingly different sweet dish.

Preparation & Cooking: 15 minutes plus 3-4 hours for setting     Makes: 2 dozens

Ingredients:

Condensed Milk - 1 can
Non-Fat Milk Powder - 1 packet
Cocoa Powder - 1 tablespoon
Semi-sweet Mint Chocolate Chips - ¼ cup
Unsalted Butter - ½ stick plus a little extra to grease the tray

Method:

1. Grease a rectangular tray/container in which you would like to set the sweet.
2. Take the condensed milk, nonfat milk powder, unsalted butter and vanilla essence in a microwave safe deep dish bowl.

3. Microwave it for 8 minutes, stopping and stirring after every couple of minutes.
4. Spread out half of this mixture on the greased tray and make it smooth.

5. In the remaining half of the mixture added the cocoa powder and the mint chocolate chips. Microwave it for another 5 minutes, stopping and stirring after every two minutes.

6. By now the plain Vanilla layer would have cooled and become a bit firm to touch. Pour in the chocolate mix on top of the vanilla layer, make a smooth layer and let it set for 3-4 hours.

7. Once the fudge has set properly, cut out into diamonds or squares.

A simple yet delicious dessert that is ready in a jiffy.

Sending this across to Diwali Food Fest at Anu's Healthy Kitchen
Nupur's

Kesar Pista Badam Kalakand

Happy Deepawali! We just bid goodbye to the festival of lights and what better post to publish than a sweet recipe!

I love this festival.  And I happen to be among the few people who DON'T like bursting crackers. For me all the fun is in lighting the diyas and candles and also hogging the munchies. I don't mind sparklers, flowerpots and zameen chakkars - but that is the extent of enthusiasm towards fireworks that I can bring myself to show. Even as a kid, while my sister and cousins would be bursting crackers and rockets, I would just watch from a distance.

Deepavali literally means "row of lights". This festival finds its roots in Ramayana. Deepavali is celebrated to mark the occasion of the return of Lord Rama, his brother Lakshman and wife Sita to Ayodhya after 14 years of vanvaas (exile). It also signifies the victory of good over evil as Lord Rama, with the aid of the Vanarasena (army of monkeys), defeated Ravana and saved his wife Sita.

For us Tam Brams, Diwali starts with the "Ganga Snanam". We wake up before day break, apply sesame oil heated with some peppercorns and rice and take a bath. We wear new clothes and then starts the bursting of crackers! Oh, how can I forget the "Diwali marundu/leighiyam"? As kids, me and my sister used to absolutely abhor this weird tasting concoction that you are supposed to eat to cleanse out the stomach and avoid indigestion, considering the amount of sweets and savories that are consumed during the occasion! As an adult, I am more than happy to overlook that one tradition :), so I don't make it!

Another tradition is to distribute sweets, bhakshanams (savory snacks) and gifts to friends and relatives. The responsibility of distribution usually falls on the youngsters in the family. Many were the fights that me and my sister fought in order to divide the houses that each of us would go to give the stuff prepared by amma.

And now I have come a full circle. Coz this is the only thing that gives a feel of Deepavali here in the US for me. As the kids go to school and offices are also open, I am more than happy to get decked up in a sari/salwar kameez and visit friends in the evening to exchange greetings and goodies! No more complaints amma!

We also decorate the house with fancy multicolored light bulbs and candles and diyas. This year, apart from the lights at the window, I painted a few clay diyas that I had bought and decorated them into a rangoli form on a cardboard with acrylic colors and some sequins and beads. My kiddo joined my in the diya painting and we made a fun activity of it!

I also prepared a few sweets and savories - Ribbon Pakoda, Mullu Thenkuzhal, Methi Paara, Coconut Laddoo, Kesar Pista Badam Kalakand and Vanilla Mint Chocolate Fudge. I hope the share some of the recipes on this blog over the next few days...

But ofcourse I would like the first recipe to be that of a sweet. When I was in India this year, I borrowed up a couple of recipe books from my mom. This particular recipe is adapted from the Kenstar Microwave Oven Cook Book by Sanjeev Kapoor. But ofcourse I had to put my own spin on a simple Kalakand! The end result was this yummy moist sweet that looked like Kalakand but tasted more like Sandesh!

Preparation & Cooking: 30 minutes plus 2-3 hours for setting                      Makes: 24-25 pieces

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 gallon
Cream Of Tartar - ½ teaspoon
Sugar - 1 & ½ cups
Cornstarch - 1 teaspoon
Cardamom (Elaichi) Powder - 2 teaspoons
Saffron Essence - 1 teaspoon
Rose Water - 2 teaspoons
Saffron - a few strands
Almonds - 2 tablespoons (finely powdered) plus 10 whole (for garnishing)
Pistachios - 10
Orange Food Color - ½ teaspoon (optional)

Method:

1. Coarsely powder the almonds and pistachios and set aside, this will be the garnish.
2. Microwave the milk for 10 minutes in a deep dish.
3. Add the sugar and cream of tartar and put it back in the microwave for another 10 minutes. The milk will slowly curdle. Depending on the microwave, you might need a few minutes less or more. Keep an eye on the milk and it will be ready when the milk curdles forming a variety of cottage cheese known as chenna, leaving a watery liquid behind.

4. Strain this chenna through a muslin cloth then pass it through a sieve. The original Kalakand recipe required that most if the the moisture be removed, but I let the chenna be a little moist. 
5. Mix this with the cornstarch, cardamom powder, saffron strands, almond powder, saffron essence and rose water and microwave it for another 4 minutes, stirring in between after about 2 minutes. At this stage, you could mix in the food color if you choose to use it.

6. Now, spread this out on  greased plate, garnish it with the coarsely powdered almonds and pistachios and allow it to cool and set for about a couple of hours.

7. After the mixture has set and cooled, cut it into square/diamonds using a greased butter knife.

Dig in, distribute and spread the joy!

Sending this across to Diwali Food Fest at Anu's Healthy Kitchen
Nupur's

Karadayan Nombu

When I was a kid, I had a story book with three stories in it - Savitri, Sukanya, Damayanti. I was around 7 or 8 years, but I still remember the cover page and the stories too. I can't put my finger on what it was about these strong female characters that has stayed in my mind over the years!

Today is Karadayan Nombu, and no, I am not going off track here. I am going to tie this thing to my story book - just bear with me a while.

This nombu is an important upvaas/fast based on the legend of "Sathyavan Savitri". Savitri married Sathyavan knowing that he was destined to die after a year of marriage, but she still went ahead. She fasted and offered adai to God praying for her husband's long life. She brought back her husband to life from the clutches of Yama (the God of death) through her persistence and smartness. The detailed story can be read here:

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/03/story-of-tamil-karadayan-nombu-based-on.html

 

And this was the first story in my book.

Karadayan Nombu is celebrated by a a really small percentage of people, so not many people know about it. Think of it as a Tam Bram version of Karva Chauth! Ahh! Now the light bulbs just flickered on, didn't they? Well, this ritual isn't as glamorous as its North Indian  counterpart, but the purpose is the same. We ladies pray for the long and blessed lives of our husbands (ever wondered why the menfolk don't ever seem to do anything to elongate our lives?). On this day, the ladies, clad in the traditional nine yards (just a salwar kameez for yours truly) fast until the appointed hour (which varies, have to check in the panchangam (a kind of calendar). Then we pray to goddess Kamakshi or Parvati offering Nombu Adai and butter as neivedyam along with fruits. We tie a yellow string with some flowers and a couple of pieces of turmeric  around our necks (I usually ask my hubby to do the honors :) ) Then we break the fast with the adai after reciting the words:

"Urugaada Venaiyum oru adaiyum veithen.
Oru kaalam yen kanavar yenaai vittu piriyaamal irukka vendum"

(I offer unmelted butter and adai to you. I pray that my husband and I never separate)

The Tamil version (got it off a google search!) is, I believe, something like this:

"உருகாத வெண்ணையும் ஓர் அடையும் வைத்தேன், ஒரு காலும் என் கணவர் என்னைவிட்டு பிரியாமல் இருக்க வேண்டும்".

 Now, on this day the offering is made of two kinds of adais - one is sweet (Vella Adai) and the other is savory (Kara Adai).

Vella Adai

Preparation and Cooking: 30-40 minutes (excluding soaking time)    Makes:12-14

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup

Water - 2 ½ cups

Black Eyed Beans (Karamani) - 2 tablespoons

Coconut - ¼ cup (cut into small bits)

Cardamom Powder - ¼ teaspoon

Salt - a pinch

Method:

• Soak the black eyed beans in water over night. Then pressure cook them until they soften.

• Roast the rice powder for a minute or so. I use pre-roasted idiappam flour.
• Boil the water with the jaggery till the jaggery completely dissolves in the water.

• Now add the salt, cardamom powder, the coconut pieces and the black eyed beans.

•  Stir in the rice flour a little at a time stirring continuously to avoid forming lumps.

• When the rice flour thickens into a smooth ball-like dough, leaving the sides of the pan, take it off the flame and let it cool till it is comfortable to touch with your hands.
• After cooling, pat them into smooth patties with a small hole in the center. Use wet hands to avoid sticking and breaking.

• Steam these in greased idli plates for about 10-12 minutes.

Vella adai is ready for neivedyam!

Kaara Adai 

Preparation and Cooking: 30-40 minutes (excluding soaking time)    Makes:12-14


Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups

Black Eyed Beans (Karamani) - 2 tablespoons

Coconut - ¼ cup (cut into small bits)

Salt - to taste
Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry Leaves - a few
Green chillies - 2, chopped fine
Ginger - a small bit, minced
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Oil - 1 tablespoons

Method:

• As with the vella adai, soak the black eyed beans in water over night. Then pressure cook them until they soften.

• Roast the rice powder for a minute or so. I use pre-roasted idiappam flour.
• Heat the oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, green chillies and ginger.

• When the mustard seeds splutter, add the water and bring it to a boil.

• Now add the salt, the coconut pieces and the black eyed beans.

•  Stir in the rice flour a little at a time stirring continuously to avoid forming lumps.

• When the rice flour thickens into a smooth ball-like dough, leaving the sides of the pan, take it off the flame and let it cool till it is comfortable to touch with your hands.
• After cooling, pat them into smooth patties with a small hole in the center. Use wet hands to avoid sticking and breaking.

• Steam these in greased idli plates for about 10-12 minutes.

Kaara adai is ready for neivedyam!

Happy Holi! (Ghujia)

Today is Holi, or should I say yesterday was Holi! Two occasions that really make me miss home are Diwali & Holi! Whatever we do here, it is never going to be the same as celebrating in India. Having grown up in the Northern part of India, I have had ample opportunity to make the most of this colorful festival. The streets would be rent with loud music playing from every nook and corner, mostly "रंग बरसे", "होली के दिन" and "होली रे होली"!

The first day is called "Choti Holi" and that night we would gather around a bonfire to depict the burning of "Holika". The legend is that the evil King Hiranyakashyapa ordered his sister Holika (who was immune to fire) to hold his son Prahlad on her lap and sit on a burning pyre. He wanted to kill his son because Prahlad prayed to God while his father declared himself as Supreme! But such was the devotion of Prahlad that he was untouched by the fire while Holika burnt to death! This is from "Narasimha Avatar" - one of the Dashavatars of Vishnu.

The color play is said to have originated from another Vishnu avatar - Krishna! Krishna was dark while Radha was fair, so Krishna was jealous and complained to his mom Yashoda about the same. That is when Yashoda, to pacify a crying Krishna, said that he could apply color on Radha's fair face, she would become any color that he chose to apply on her! To this day, holi is celebrated with much fanfare in Mathura and Vrindavan, where Lord Krisha lived.

I was never really fond of too much color play, but used to love drenching and getting drenched with colored water! It was so much fun to lie waiting, hiding in our balcony and pour bucket loads of water on unsuspecting passersby! Me and my sister would usually have a couple of friends over to join in the fun. The skill with which we would take turns filling water in balloons, tie them up and carry them with utmost care to throw at everyone could have put the best assembly line production system to shame! The pichkari (plastic or metallic water guns) wars were fought with all the seriousness of a real ware on the battle field! The whole house used to be a wet colorful mess - sorry amma, it's only now that I realize what a pain it is to clean!

There would be a constant stream of visitors distributing sweets, the adults would put tika on each other and the more adventurous ones would apply color all over! After all, "होली है भाई होली है, बुरा न मअनो होली है!" The kids of course would sport so much color on themselves that it is a miracle we could make out who was who! I remember, the next day at school, there used to be a competition to see who got the most color on them!

Every festival has its own specialty recipes. Holi is synonymous with thandai, bhaang and ghujias. While we kids never got to be anywhere near the bhaang, (for that matter neither did any adults in my family!) I was always tempted to experience if people really get that high and do such silly thing as depicted in the movies! Sad to say, I remain inexperienced till date :(

I really felt sorry that my kiddo had no idea about the festival. But this year, he came to know about it at his Balavihar class and he was intrigued. I thought, why not tell him all about it. So, I gathered a few of his close friends and their moms from our neighborhood, and decided to tell them all about how and why we play holi. I couldn't arrange for a full fledged color & water play. The water because winters here are not conducive to getting wet, and color because it was too short a notice for me to obtain a permit to use colors in any of the open spaces. So, we just let the kids smear a little bit of color on each other. I told them about the stories behind the origin of this festival. And made ghujias!

For me, the best part of this festival of colors was of course the ghujias! I LOVE this sweet. It is typically made for Holi. In Maharashtra, it is called karanji, and they make it for Diwali as well. You can have different kinds of fillings, the most popular ones being the mawa based filling and the coconut based filling. Here I have made mawa ghujias...

I also took the liberty of modifying the ingredients used typically and I used dumpling wrappers (found in the freezer section) instead of kneading and rolling out my own dough! Certainly made my life easier!

Preparation & Cooking: 45 minutes approx.                     Makes: 30-35

Ingredients:

For the filling:

Mawa/Khoya - 12 oz (around 2 cups)
Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 2 tablespoons
Poppy Seeds/ Khus Khus - 2 tablespoons

Sweetened Coconut flakes - ¼ cup

Raisins - 2 tablespoons

Cashews/Kaju & Walnuts/Akhrot -  2 tablespoons, chopped

Almond/Badam Powder - 1 tablespoon

Cardamom/Elaichi Powder - ¼ teaspoon

Sugar - 4 tablespoons

 For the ghujias:

Frozen Dumpling Wrappers - 30-35

Oil - for deep frying

For the sugar syrup:

Sugar - ½ cup

Water - ¼ cup

Method:

1. Roast the poppy seeds and semolina separately and set them aside.






2. Cook the mawa on a low flame for about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.




3. Remove from flame and let it cool for a few minutes. 







4. While it is still warm, add the remaining ingredients for the filling and mix thoroughly.





5. Take a dumpling wrapper, add some filling to it and wet the edges.







6. Now, fold it into half so as to form a semi-circle with the fillings sealed in it. The water helps to seal the edges firmly.


7. Do the same for the remaining wrappers and keep them covered with a moist cloth/paper towel so that they don't dry out.







8. Heat oil in a wok/pan and deep fry the ghujias on a medium flame, until they turn golden brown.







9. Remove and drain them on an absorbent paper.







10. In a separate utensil, boil the sugar and water for the syrup till they reach a one string consistency.


11. Now dip the ghujias in it one by one and lay them out to dry.

Scrumptious, crisp ghujias are ready.

Handy Tip:

• You could use fresh dough made with all purpose flour, ghee, semolina & water instead of the dumpling wrappers. Roll them out into puris and proceed from step 5.
• You could use a mould to shape the ghujias instead of making simple semi-circles. Or you could use a fork to make decorative indents on the edges.
• If you are using unsweetened coconut flakes or freshly grated coconut, you might want to increase the amount of sugar to compensate for the lack of sweetness in the coconut.

  
  
  

  Sending it across to Holi Fest at Sizzling Tastebuds.