7 Cup Cake

As Navratri approaches, i am all set in the festive mood and geared up for big time celebrations at my home. Many of you might share my views here. The festive season ignites a great amount of happiness in me and lends a new spark in my mind complete with religious fervour. So what better way to start with the festivities than making sweets for the family....

After all, sweets are synonymous with the festive season for us all...

7 Cup Cake

Taught to me by my mom, we call it 'yezhu dhinasu' cake at home. Few years ago, when readymade was not so much easily available, we used to start a month prior to diwali to make sweets and savouries at home. And on Diwali day, a customary ritual after the morning 'Ganga Snaanam' was to visit our relatives one by one and share whatever is made at our place. In return they also used to give us sweets and savouries made at their homes. All homemade, hygienic stuff and not that expensive. But nowadays, due to time constraints, working parents, nuclear families and above all the Idiot Box taking over our lives, has made us very prone to give excuses and buy readymade stuff from the well known eateries. Saravana Bhawan, Adyar Ananda Bhawan, any local market sellers and even salesmen who go door to door to take orders for Mixture, Murukku and Sweets, the most common ones being Jangiri and Badusha. But the amount of satisfaction and happiness that one gets by making these at home and receiving compliments makes up for all the efforts. So give it a try this year....

Contrary to the name, it is as simple as it can be. Try out for yourself and let me know.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Besan (Kadala Maavu)

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Ghee (at room temperature)

1 Cup Coconut (fresh and grated)

3 Cups Sugar

Method:

Combine all in a pan, cook on medium flame as it tends to burn and stick to the bottom. Cook till it starts leaving the sides of the pan. Pour into a gresed plate and cool. Cut into pieces and serve.

Simple Tomato Rice with Spicy Potato Fry

Do you always seem to have leftover rice on hand? If you've got some leftover rice that you'd rather not go to waste, here are some easy ways to turn your plain steamed leftover white or brown rice into a fabulous new meal or side dish! Read on for some uses for leftover rice.

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup Leftover rice

1 tomato big chopped

1 green chilli chopped (big)

Curry leaves

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad dal

1 tsp chana dal

1/2 tsp Haldi

5-6 Cashews (optional)

Salt to taste

2 tsp oil

1 stalk dhaniya for garnish (coriander leaves)

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, urad dal, chana dal, cashew and saute till light brown. Add curry leaves, green chilli and saute. Add tomato, salt, haldi, cook till it becomes a masala. Add rice and toss lightly. Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

Note: I have added some boiled peas to make it look colourful. Its completely up to you what all to add.

Potato Fry:

1 Potato (big cut into small pieces)

3 tsp oil

1/2 tsp haldi

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

Curry leaves

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Urad dal

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, urad dal and saute. Add curry leaves, potato, salt, haldi, red chilli powder and mix well. Cook covered till done. Serve hot.

Mixed Dal

Mixed Dal
Dal as we all know are a major source of proteins.Usually we make any one variety of dal in our homes but how about making a mixed version so as to gain maximum benefit out of it??
http://sizzlingspices.blogspot.com/2009/08/mixed-dal.html

I am sending this post to MLLA 15th helping currently hosted @ Sia's Monsoonspice an event initiated by Susan The wellseasoned cook.

Singhare ki Burfi

Singhara flour is an ingredient that is commonly used for making dishes during Navratri fasts. You can prepare many mouth watering dishes with singhara flour, such as poori, pakori and burfi. Singhara burfi is a sweet dish that you can enjoy with other meals of Navratri. All you have to do is prepare these burfis once and can enjoy them for all the nine days. Singhara burfi is also not very difficult to make and is very yummy in taste. This flour is available easily in markets during Navratras.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Singhara Flour (water chestnut flour)
2 tbsp Ghee
1/2 cup Khoya
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
Method
Stir-fry flour in ghee in a heavy pan to a light pink color over low flame
Transfer immediately to another vessel after frying. Stir-fry Khoya in the pan till there are no lumps and it is of light pink color Mix cardamom powder and flour to it.Set aside for cooling .
Make thick syrup by boiling water and sugar till it is of thicker consistency (One can check for the right consistency by putting a drop of syrup in cold water. If it forms a soft ball than it is of right consistency) .Remove the pan from flame
Mix the syrup immediately to the Khoya mixture, stirring vigorously to blend it well Grease a plate and transfer the mixture to it.Level it and let it cool
When cool and set, cut into pieces, using a sharp knife. The Burfi is ready to serve.

Poori Kurma

A common in South Indian restaurants, a dish that is liked by all. Poori with Aloo masala also called Poori Kizhangu or served with spicy Kurma, whichever way, its a aure treat.



So here goes my favourite.... a sunday brunch item....

Ingredients:
For poori:
2 cups Wheat flour
Water to knead for dough
pinch of Salt
Oil for deep frying
Knead dough and keep aside for 1/2 hour. Make pooris, deep fry and serve hot.

For Aloo Kurma
1 Potato diced
2 Onion (diced)
1 Tomato (diced)
1 Green chilli
½ tsp Ginger garlic paste
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
½ tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Coriander /dhania powder
½ tsp Salt (or to taste)
3 stks Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
1 tsp Ghee
3 tsp Oil
1 cup Fresh grated coconut
1 tsp Poppy seeds
¼ cup Water (approx)
Curry leaves
1 Bay leaf
¼ tsp Cumin seeds
¼ tsp Fennel seeds
2 Cloves
2 Cardamon
2 Cinnamon stick (small)

Method:
Grind coconut, khus khus and water to make a thick paste and keep aside. Wash and peel the potatoes, cube them and keep aside. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker, add cumin, fennel, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon and fry them for few seconds then add chopped onions and green chilli saute until golden. Now add the ginger garlic paste and fry for few seconds. Add the tomatoes along with turmeric , red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and cubed potatoes. Fry for few seconds and add 1 cup of water and pressure cook up to 2 hiss and switch off. When the steam comes to a stop completely, carefully open the cooker and add the coconut paste and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Poori.

Gud Halwa

Gud or jaggery as we call it is a great source of Iron. A sweet that we all commonly make is sweet Pongal but how about making a Halwa with it???

Read On....

Ingredients:

100 gms Semolina (Suji/Rava)

50 gms Jaggery (crushed)

50 gms mixed nuts (chopped)

3 tbsp Ghee

1 cup Milk

1 cup water

Method:

Take little ghee in a pan or kadai and roast the semolina till light brown in colour. Add milk, water, jaggery and cook till it absorbs all the liquid. Add ghee and mix till ghee is well absorbed. Garnish with nuts and serve hot.

I am sending this to Shanthi Krishnakumar's Dussehra - Diwali event ,and Sara's Corner's Sweets and Savouries event.

Tofu Peas Curry

Tofu – also known as Soya Bean Curd - has been called the perfect food. It is high in protein, low in saturated fats and a good source of calcium as well as vitamin E. It is also cholesterol free. Let’s find out more about ‘the cheese of Asia.’
Tofu is made by grinding cooked soya beans until a milk is produced. The milk is then solidified with a mineral coagulant calcium sulphate. The resulting tofu is naturally bland. It is, therefore an ideal additive to both sweet and savoury dishes. There are two basic types of tofu. Silken tofu is soft and can be utilised as an ideal additive for dressings, sauces and in dairy free versions of ice cream or cheese cake. Firm tofu, on the other hand, comes in a more solid form. It can be stir-fried, grilled, scrambled, pickled, smoked, baked or barbecued.

Ingredients:

Tofu: 200 gms

Peas : 1/2 cup fresh and shelled

Onion: 1 big chopped

Tomato: 2 medium chopped

Ginger: 1/2 inch chopped

Red Chilli Powder: 3/4 tsp - 1 tsp as per taste

Salt to taste

Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp

Garam masala: 1/2 tsp

Oil: 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Fresh coriander: for garnish

Method:

Take oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and let it sizzle. Add chopped onion, ginger and saute till light brown. Add chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and garam masala and cook till it forms a masala and the oil leaves the sides of the pan. Add peas, little water and cover and cook till peas are soft. Add crumbled tofu and mix well. Remove from heat, garnish and serve hot with rotis.