BOONDI LADDOO

BOONDI LADDOO

Laddoo, I used to think is a sweet that is always bought from a shop and can be made only by experts, until my neighbour gave me some boondi laddoos made at home for Diwali. It immediately sent me into a quest on the art of laddoo making, which I discovered is not so tedious and tough as I thought it would be, the fruits of my labor were definitely sweet. Do try this at home and you will also enjoy the sweet of your labor. Yum!! Yum!!

Ingredients
Besan (Bengal gram flour ) - 1 cup
Sugar- 11/2 cups
Yellow food color- a pinch
Paccha Kalpooram – a pinch
Kalkandu (cubed sugar) : ½ tbsp
Ghee – 1tbsp
Cardomom- 5 or 6,
Cashewnuts - 10 ,
Raisins – 10
Cloves- 4
Few strands of saffron

Method
For Sugar Syrup
Make the sugar syrup by boiling 11/2 cups sugar in 11/2 cups of water (The ratio of ratio of sugar and water should be1:1). Add few strands of saffron to the syrup. (Saffron gives color to the syrup) Once the sugar gets dissolved and the syrup starts to boil. Keep stirring. and check until it comes to single thread consistency, remove from the fire. Add yellow food color or a pinch of kesari powder to this syrup. Keep aside. If you want to avoid food color, just saffron is enough, as saffron gives a faint yellow color to the syrup.

For Boondi
In a bowl, mix Besan with required amount of water, the consistency should be of the dosa batter. It should not be too watery else the boondi will be flat nor should it be too thick then the boondi will be hard and won’t soak easily.
In a wok, take oil and when the oil is hot, lower the flame of the gas and pour the batter through a spoon with holes into the oil. While pouring move the spoon in a circular manner so that the batter falls evenly in the oil and the boondis get fried and are separate. Once the boondis are fried. Take it out and drain on a paper towel, so that the oil is soaked out.

To Prepare Laddoo
Drop the boondis into the sugar syrup and mix well. Fry the cashewnuts, raisins, cloves and cardamoms in ghee and add to the mix. Add a pinch of paccha kalpooram and a tablespoon of kalkandu to the mix as well. Let the boondi soak for around an hour. Stir occassionally. Spread and allow to cool. Wait until the mixture cools down to a temperature until your hand can with stand the heat. Now make into even balls by pressing lightly with hand. Try shaping it into balls. If the boondi is still crisp try after it starts soaking.
Makes about 15 small laddoos.

GULAB JAMUN

GULAB JAMUN
This is an all time favorite in our home. Kids and adults enjoy this. When I was making this dish at home, little Anoushka(my four and a half year old daughter) was hovering around the area, She didn’t even have the patience to wait for the gulab jamuns to soak in the syrup and wanted to be the first one to taste the jamuns. She calls them Gulam Jamuns, she wanted to taste the first batch of jamuns that I put into the sugar syrup, I had to oblige so that I could continue with my work, on one hand there were jamuns waiting to be fried, thrown in to the syrup and here lil Anoushka was struggling to eat the hot jamuns, so I had to split it, blow over it and then feed her, lest she burn her mouth, with all this happening I was also clicking photos of the jamuns for the blog. My little one and my husband have been an audience to my cooking, decorating, photo clicking, editing and uploading the photos on to my blog ever since I started blogging. Infact, nowadays Anoushka asks me, " Amma are'nt you clicking photos" whenever I am cooking. But hubby dear is very happy these days, getting to try new dishes, while I am happily navigating through blogosphere.

Ingredients
Khoya - 500 gms
Plain flour - 125 gms
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp.
Milk - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 250 gms.
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp.
Saffron - a few strands
Ghee/Refined cooking oil to deep fry

Method
In a bowl, Crumble the khoya. Sieve in the flour and soda together. Mix in the cardamom powder and crushed saffron. Mix well to form a soft dough.While kneading put the milk little by little. Use only as much milk as required for kneading. Make balls of even size.
Heat the ghee/refined oil in a wok. Once hot, keep the flame of your gas low (in sim mode).Put the balls in batches, they will rise up, fry till golden brown. Remove from ghee/oil and keep it aside on a plate. Don’t put into the syrup immediately. This tip of mine helps from the gulab jamuns being very soft and soaking in too much syrup and breaking into the syrup. Once the balls are warm, put them in the syrup. Soak for 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a glass bowl. When done pour the remaining syrup over the jamuns in the glass bowl and serve it warm.

INSTANT EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A MICROWAVE

Cake is something I have always striven to make and has failed me many times, making an eggless cake is quite tricky and it has happened that although I used the right consistency my cake still turned out to be a flop, so I ended up buying the Instant Cake mix from the market whenever I felt like having a homemade cake, but here is this recipe which always turns out successful for me. It is a simple recipe, no need to buy milkmaid or thumsup/goldspot etc to add into the batter. Most of the ingredients or rather all of the ingredients are available at home. Please do try this recipe.
INSTANT EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A MICROWAVE

Ingredients
Use the same cup or bowl for all the measurements
Maida or Self Raising flour (if available) – 11/2 cups
Chocolate powder / Cocoa Powder – 1 tbsp
Vanilla Powder – 1 tsp or Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp
Powdered Sugar – 1 cup
Baking Soda – 1 tbsp
Milk – 1 Cup
Oil – 3 tbsps (Any ordinary cooking oil can be used)
Little Maragarine or Butter for greasing the glass container

Method
In a big bowl put 11/2 cups of the self raising flour. In the market you get self raising flour, that is better than using Maida as the cake will be porous and fluffy using this flour, but if it is not available you can always use Maida.

Add the Cocoa powder, Mix well, to ensure that there are no lumps in the powder. Add the Baking soda, Vanilla powder or essence and the powdered sugar (The sugar can be powdered in a mixie or you can also use a cup of Castor sugar or powdered sugar which is readily available in the market) Mix well. Now take the 3 tbsps oil and mix it with 1 cup of milk and add this to the mixed powders. Mix well. Ensure that there are no lumps. It should be a uniform mixture. It will become like a batter. Remember use the same bowl or cup for all the measurements else the recipe won’t work. Don’t mix the cake batter too much else the cake will become hard, just a light mix till it comes to the batter consistency is okay.

Now take a round/ square/ oval glass container in which you can bake the cake. Grease this container well. Pour the batter into this container and keep on high for 5-7 minutes.

Set the timer for 5 minutes and check if done, if not you can keep it for another 2 minutes. This is the best part of using a microwave, as u can always open and keep checking. Put a knife into the cake and check….If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done, but if it comes out sticky you need to cook it for some more time.

Once the cake is done. Remove it from the microwave oven and allow it to cool and then cut it into pieces and serve.

This cake can never fail. It’s a sure shot cake and can be made in 7 minutes. It’s the quickest dessert to make.

AGAR AGAR (CHINA GRASS) HALWA

AGAR AGAR HALWA

Agar Agar is very good for health. This is a very light dessert and can be prepared easily and quickly and there is no tension of the halwa consistency not being proper for it to be cut into pieces like the traditional Halwa

(Refer to the recipe of Agar Agar Jelly in my blog to know how good agar agar is for your health)
Ingredients
China Grass – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups
Cardamom Powder – 1 tsp
Ghee – for greasing the plate or containers
Chopped Pista, Cashews and Almond slivers for decoration.

Method
In a saucepan, boil 3 cups of Water, Wash the China grass in a colander to remove traces of preservatives. Add this to the boiling water, wait till it melts completely. At this point add the sugar and the cardamom powder and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once it dissolves run a test

Test : Take some cold water in a small cup and add a teaspoon of the boiling agar agar syrup to it. If it stands means its done). Switch off the flame.

Take a deep plate and grease it with ghee, Pour the concoction. Once it is completely poures garnish with the dryfruits. Allow it to come to room temperature. Cool in the refrigerator (DO NOT PLACE IN DEEP FREEZER) for about an hour and cut it into squares or diamonds after it becomes solid and enjoy.

Serving Instructions
Pour the mixture into small ice cream cups or glass bowls leave it in the vessel itself.

Place the cups/bowls in the refrigerator, in about an hour, you can eat the halwa from the cups directly.

AGAR AGAR JELLY

WHAT IS AGAR AGAR OR CHINA GRASS

Agar agar is a gelling agent made from a combination of algaes from the species gelidium. The name, agar agar, is Malaysian in origin, and the harvest of the long red and purple fronds goes back hundreds of years. The fronds are freeze dried and dehydrated naturally, producing colorless sheets which are shaped into bars. Agar is available in the traditional bars, flakes, and powder form, all of which can be used interchangeably for gelling purposes. Like the other sea vegetables, agar is a good source of iodine (100 grams agar has 160 milligrams of iodine), as well as some calcium and iron. It has no calories, and according to Paul Pitchford, promotes digestion and weight loss, treats hemorrhoids, and carries toxic and radioactive waste out of the body. It is cooling in nature, and reduces inflammations and other heat conditions as described in traditional Chinese medicine.

AGAR AGAR JELLY
Ingredients
5 g Agar Agar powder
100 g Sugar
500 g Water
1/2 tsp Almond extract / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Method
Put Agar Agar powder, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until agar dissolves. Pour this mixture onto a plate. (The jelly layer shouldn’t be very thick if you pour onto a bigger plate the liquid will spread and give u thinner slices).Allow it too cool down and then chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes until set. Cut the agar agar jelly into cubes. You can cut it into diamond or square shapes as desired.

These cubes can be added to any desserts and enjoyed.

SHAHI TUKDA (Double ka Meetha) - An Indian bread pudding

SHAHI TUKDA
Here is the recipe for Shahi Tukda, Shahi tukda is also known as "Double ka Meetha" in Hyderabad. Its basically a bread pudding. Very easy to make and totally shahi(royal), your guests will surely be impressed with your culinary skills, not knowing how easy it is to make this.

Shahi Tukda A very exotic and delicious Mughlai dessert, Shahi Tukda was a part of the royal Dastarkhan of the Mughals. Shahi Tukda is sliced bread, dipped into a gravy of treacle (sugar gravy), cream and saffron (optional).

There are 2 ways of preparing this.

1. Sugar syrup method
Recipe Ingredients-
½ cup ghee
3 cups cream of milk
3 tbsp almonds chopped
10 sliced bread
300 grams sugar
5 drops rose water
1 cup water
How To Prepare : To prepare the syrup, boil water and 100 grams of sugar together until the quantity is half. Cool it and add rose water. Keep aside.
Cut broad finger slices of the bread and deep fry them with ghee. Immediately dunk them into sugar syrup. In another pan, warm the cream gently and stir in the rest of the sugar until it is fully dissolved. Keep aside for cooling.
While serving, pour the cream over the bread slices dunked in syrup and garnish with almonds.
Another way of making this,
Boil milk, To this add sugar, cardamom powder, saffron and condensed milk, cook this milk on a low flame for 20-25 minutes till it thickens a bit.
Allow it to come to room temperature, then soak the fried bread slices in this mixture and refrigerate it. Garnish it with silver leaf and nutes, especially pistachio, green sliced pistachio looks very good as a dressing for this desert and compliments it well.
You can try whichever method is suitable to you, it tastes excellent prepared any ways.
So tantalize your taste buds.... Do try this recipe and see the reaction on the faces of your guests when you say you have prepared Shahi Tukda for dessert....they sure will be impressed.
Tip : You can use leftover bread, dont use past expiry date though.

JUNNU / KARVACH

JUNNU – AN ANDHRA SPECIALITY / KARVACH - MAHARASHTRA
Junnu is a delicacy enjoyed by the people from Andhra Pradesh. It is known as Karvach in Maharashtra. Junnu/ Karvach is usually prepared with the first milk obtained from the cow after it delivers the calf. Since everyone can’t get this milk, especially people living abroad and in big cities, there is another recipe using China Grass for preparing this dessert so you don’t miss out on the delicacy.

Ingredients
China Grass (Agar Agar) - 10 grams
Milk - 1 Litre
Sugar – 1 ½ cups
Cardmom powder – 1tsp
Coarsely Ground Pepper powder – 1tsp (optional)
Seasonal fruits can be used for decoration

Method
The china grass should be first washed well in a colander to remove traces of any preservatives.
In a saucepan, Add one litre milk and allow to boil. When milk starts boiling, Add the china grass. The China grass melts in the boiling milk in 4 to 5 minutes. Now add the sugar and stir constantly. Once the sugar and china grass have blended with the milk, Add the cardamom power and coarsely ground pepper. Stir well for a few seconds and switch off the gas. Allow the mixture to cool a little.
You can just pour onto a plate and cool in the refrigerator (DO NOT PLACE IN DEEP FREEZER) for about an hour and cut it into squares or diamonds after it becomes solid and enjoy. This tastes exactly like Junnu / Karvach.

Serving Instructions
Pour the mixture into small ice cream cups or glass bowls.
Top it up with seasonal fruits. Place the cups/bowls in the refrigerator, in about an hour, the mixture solidifies like ice-cream. After it becomes solid, it will not melt like ice-cream. It will be like a milk jelly.

Note: Pepper is optional. Please note that after it become solid, Pepper and cardamom powder form a sort of layer at the bottom.

Tip: Consume this dessert as soon as possible. You can store it in the refrigerator for 2 days. If not kept in refrigerator, consume on the same day.

BUBUR PULUT HITAM (BLACK GLUTINOUS RICE SWEET WITH COCONUT MILK)

BUBUR PULUT HITAM (BLACK GLUTINOUS RICE SWEET WITH COCONUT MILK)

Pulut Hitam is one of the desserts I was introduced to while living in Singapore.
It’s a Malay dessert and once I tried it, I thought it tasted very much like our Payasam (kheer). 

Pulut Hitam means black glutinous rice porridge. 

Black glutinous rice is available in Chinese grocery stores and in supermarts.

Ingredients
Black glutinous rice - 1 cup
Coconut milk – 1 bowl. Stir in some salt and keep in the fridge till ready to serve
Palm sugar
Salt

Method
Wash the Black glutinous rice well. In a hard bottomed vessel Add water and this rice and bring it to a boil without a lid, glutinous rice tends to becomes sticky so you need to cook it without a lid. Since it is cooked without a lid, it takes a longer time to cook. Once the rice comes to a boil, cook on a low flame (on sim). It takes about an hour. You can check the spatula with which u r stirring to see whether the rice is getting mashed or not to check whether it is done. Stir occasionally to prevent the bottom from getting burnt. Add palm sugar to taste and pinch of salt. Alternatively, you can cook this in a slow cooker for a couple of hours.

Serving Instructions
Serve hot with a few spoonfuls of thick coconut milk on top.

PAL PAYASAM

PAL PAYASAM

Category : Dessert

In Kerala : Dessert cum part of the main course

Lets talk about one of Kerala’s most famous sweet dish (dessert) the traditional payasam). Which is not only served at the beginning of the meal on the plantain leaf but also in the middle of the meal in massive quantities. Before serving the thair (yogurt) normally the payasam is served. Where the food was served traditionally in weddings and occasions the server at the weddings would pour it on the banana leaf and people used to relish this delicacy by trying their best not to allow it to cascade out of the banana leaf, it would be a scoop and a lick action….first the payasam must be deftly scooped with the hand and then licked or slurped out of it….and I have seen people enjoying it so much, although I prefer mine in a kinnam (a small bowl) as I don’t like the sweet to mix with the salted remnants of the sambhar or rasam after which course the payasam is usually served. Nor do I like the sweet remnants of the payasam stuck to my elai (plantain leaf) which will spoil the taste of my thair chadam (curd rice / yogurt rice). But I know people who would swear by how it tastes when eaten right out of a banana leaf….so slurpy and so yummy, tickling and tantalizing your taste buds.
All payasams are generally made in the Urali (a traditionally used wide mouthed flat & thick bottomed pan) and they are stirred and stirred until they get a faint pink colour.

PAL PAYASAM
Ingredients:
Milk – 1 and ½ litre
Rice - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom Powder – a teaspoon
Cashewnuts - 1 tbsp broken into slivers
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method:
Boil the one litre milk in a vessel and once boiled remove from fire.
Take the half litre milk in separate vessel. Add washed rice to the boiling milk and cook for 5 to 10 minutes stirring once in a while. If the rice gets cooked in the milk slowly, the payasam tastes better , you must cook the rice till it is soft and mashed well,
but if you want to quicken your cooking time,
Add your washed rice and half litre milk in the cooker and cook upto 2 whistles(or as per your normal rice cooking time). One this rice is cooked.
Take an Urali, add the rest of the milk i.e the boiled one litre milk and the cooked rice and milk and keep stirring constantly.
Add sugar and stir till it is dissolved. Keep stirring on a low flame till the Payasam gets a faint pink colour. Once done, remove from fire.
In a small pan. take some ghee, fry the cashewnuts, raisins and cardamom powder and pour on top of the Payasam.
Your Pal Payasam is ready.

This is a Quick recipe, as using condensed milk reduces the cooking time of the Payasam.
Ingredients
Milk -1 Litre (since we are using condensed milk, we can reduce the quantity of milk)
Condensed Milk ½ Cup
Rice -1 Cup
Sugar - 1 Cup
Cardamom Powder – a teaspoon
Cashew nuts 1 tbsp broken into slivers
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method
Cook rice in pressure cooker till 1 whistle. In an Urali, Take the milk, add the cooked rice and sugar and stir till the sugar is dissolved. Add the condensed milk. Keep stirring on a low flame till the Paysam gets a faint pink colour. Once done remove from fire.
In a small pan take some ghee, fry the cashewnuts, raisins and cardamom powder and pour on top of the Payasam.
Your Pal Payasam is ready.

Tip : Since condensed Milk is already sweet, the sugar can be reduced to ½ a cup, as many people don’t like very sweet Payasam. Also after adding the condensed milk, if you feel more sweet is required u can always add sugar and stir till it dissolves. I always recommend the taste and cook method.

ROSSOGOLLA (Cheese Dumplings in sugar syrup)

ROSSOGOLLA (Cheese Dumplings in sugar syrup)
We call these cheese dumplings in syrup as Rasgulla, but the dish is actually called Rossogolla by the Bengalis. It is said that Bengalis have a sweet tooth and sweets form a part of their daily meal. They are famous for their Rasgullas, which I am ashamed to admit, I always bought in tins. Bengali is such a sweet language that people say that when a Bengali speaks, it sounds like as if he has a Rossogulla stuffed in his mouth, so here is a tribute to all the Bengalis, bongs as they are fondly known as, Do try this at home, It tastes very good when it is fresh, but for those who are lazy you can always enjoy this sweet out of a tin.
Ingredients
Milk - 1 litre
Citric acid - 1/2 tsp.or juice of one lemon
Sugar – 1 ½ cups
Water – 4 cups
Semolina (Suji /Rava) – 1 tsp
Rose water - 2-3 drops

Method
Heat the milk and bring to boil. Cool the milk for a couple of hours. Remove the cream layer. Reheat the milk and bring to a boil. Add the citric acid dissolved in some water or alternatively squeeze the juice of a lemon. Stir slowly till the milk is fully curdled. Keep as it is for 5 minutes. When water has separated pour the whey onto a muslin cloth. Squeeze out the water, tie the muslin cloth with the whey and hang for about three hours.

Meanwhile heat the sugar and water in a wide sauce pan. Bring to a boil. To make the sugar syrup (Refer to my post on how to make sugar syrup under the Sweets section of my blog.)

Now, Strain the milk through a muslin cloth. The curdled milk is known as Chenna. This settles on top of the cloth and the water escapes through the cloth. Now wash the chenna in the cloth under cold running water. Press out the excess water and remove in a wide plate.
Take the Chenna in a dish and knead very well. Add sooji and knead again for about fifteen minutes very thoroughly if necessary using both hands.Gently knead into a soft dough. Now make small round shaped balls out of the kneaded chenna mixture.
Add the balls one by one into the sugar syrup. Reduce heat and boil for about half hour on a low flame. Allow to cool. Remove the rossogollas in a bowl one by one. Pour over the syrup. Add rose water. Serve it cool.

PARIPPU PRADHAMAN PAYASAM / SPLIT YELLOW MOONG LENTIL PAYASAM WITH COCONUT MILK

PARIPPU PRADHAMAN PAYASAM (SPLIT YELLOW MOONG LENTIL PAYASAM WITH COCONUT MILK)

Parippu Pradhaman is one of the special payasams made during festivals/ weddings etc. This is yet another Kerala special dessert.
This Payasam is also known as Cherupayar Payasam. Cherupayar is yellow moong dal or  Split Yellow moong lentil.

Parippu means Dal and Pradhaman means the first one. In South India we serve the dessert first. It marks sweet beginnings. 

This can be made with Moong dal(Split Yellow moong lentils) or Chana Dal /Kadala Parippu (Bengal gram dal) 

But my amma, uses the Yellow split lentil (yellow moong dal/ paitham paruppu/cheru payaru). This lentil is usually considered as lighter to digest than other lentils. 

It is given to young children and old people and doesn’t cause much gas. It is considered very good for health. Even when people are recovering from sicknesses Doctors advise the usage of this lentil. We can easily say that here is nutritious dessert, good for health and very tasty.

Ingredients

Split Yellow lentil (yellow moong dal/ paitham paruppu/cheru payaru) – ¾ th Cup
Soft Jaggery (Vellam/sarkkara) – 1 Cup
Fresh coconut grated without brown skin - 4 cups (for coconut milk as per note)
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Cardamom – 1 tsp
Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp
Coconut pieces sliced into thin slivers and roasted in ghee– 1 tbsp
Ginger powder (Chukku Podi) – A pinch (optional), use if you like the taste.

Method
Take Three-fourth cup of the yellow split dal (moong dal). And roast it on a slow fire, until it turns a little pink in color (mind u it mustn’t get burnt)
Wash and clean as you do usually.
Pressure cook it for one whistle until the dal becomes soft (don’t over cook it otherwise the dal will get terribly mashed. 

(If not confident about the pressure cooker u can cook it in a vessel separately)
Now, take one cup of soft Jaggery (vellam/sarkkara) in an Urali. Add water and bring the jaggery to boil. Boil mixture to one thread consistency.
Now add the cooked dal to the jaggery-mix. The cooked dal will have some water, be sure to pour it with the water as the dal water has a lot of nutritive value.
Add some more water if required and allow the mixture to simmer, so that the dal gets sweet.
Now add the coconut milk. 

Add one cup of coconut milk, in this case, add the third milk of the coconut first, allow it to boil, 

then add the second milk, again allow it to boil, and then lastly the first milk (which is the thickest milk) and boil for sometime. Remove from fire.
In a small pan. take some ghee, fry the Coconut pieces sliced into thin slivers, cashewnuts, and cardamom powder and pour on top of the Payasam.
You can also add a pinch of Ginger powder (chukku podi) for the added taste.

Serving Instructions

Enjoy this hot before or after a meal. 

TIPS

• Either you can use Ready made coconut milk or make it fresh.
• If using the fresh coconut milk 
• To make fresh Coconut milk, you have to soak 4 cups scrapped coconut (do not use the brown skin), in 2 cups boiling hot water, keep aside, covered, for 2-3 hours.
• Strain, but save water. Grind coconut to a very fine paste, add back drained water and blend again till a milky texture is got. Drain and keep this milk aside. This is the rich coconut milk or 1st milk.
• Grind the residual coconut again with 3 cups warm water, drain, and keep milk aside. This is the medium or coconut milk or 2nd milk.
• Add 2 cups warm water to the residual coconut, grind again and strain milk. Now the residue does not have much strength. This extract is the thin coconut milk or 3rd milk.
• The above procedure will produce a total of approximately 7 cups of coconut milk, of three different grades. If differently graded milk is not asked for in recipe, one may combine all the three extracts and get just one medium consistency coconut milk.
• Refrigerated it will last for 2 days, or freeze into cubes and store in freezer bags, using as required.
• If using ready made Coconut milk / coconut milk powder
• Use it as it is at the time of adding the coconut milk in the recipe. It does save you the strain of grinding, squeezing, straining the coconut pulp to get the coconut milk, which saves a lot of work, but one things' for sure nothing can beat the taste of the payasams made in the traditional manner.

VARIATIONS

• You can use Brown Sugar or Palm sugar(Karupetti) instead of jaggery

PAL ADA PRADHAMAN

PAL ADA PRADHAMAN
Ingredients:
Rice Flour -1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp.
Sugar - 1 tbsp.
Soft jaggery grated or crushed – 1 cup
Fresh coconut grated without brown skin -4 cups
(for coconut milk as per note)
Ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Banana leaf squares (approximately 6-7 inches)
Method:
Make a thick batter of Rice flour, water and 1/2 tbsp. melted ghee.
Batter should coat back of spoon when poured.
Warm leaf a bit over fire; spread a ladleful batter over it.Leave a side margin to avoid over running.
Roll and secure with twine, if required.
Place rolls in a perforated compartment of a steamer.Pour water to boil in the lower compartment, fix shut.
Put on fire; allow to cook for 10-12 minutes.
Remove from fire, cool and untie.
Peel and cut into small pieces. Your Ada is ready
Dissolve 1/2 cup water and jaggery, strain into deep vessel.
Boil mixture to one thread consistency.
Add pieces of the Ada and the first milk of the coconut milk.Cook and simmer till reduced to 3/4 in volume.
Add the second milk of the coconut milk, stir.
Add sugar, stir to dissolve, and allow to boil.
Simmer and cook, stirring frequently till thickened.
Dissolve cumin, cardamom, ginger powders in 1/2 cup thin milk.
Add to mixture, allow to simmer, till thickened.
If too thick, one may add some thin milk, and bring to a boil.
Check sweetness, every time the coconut milk is added, and adjust sugar if required.
Serve hot.
Making time: 1 hour
Makes: 10-12 servings
Shelflife: 1 day

Notes:
1. Rice flour: To make excellent pradhaman, wash, soak rice for 10 minutes, drain, and spread over a clean cloth to dry for 1 hour. Grind to a fine powder in a mill or grinder, sieve and use for the Ada's to be put in your pradhaman.
2. Coconut milk: Of different grades.
Soak 4 cups scrapped coconut (do not use the brown skin), in 2 cups boiling hot water, keep aside, covered, for 2-3 hours.
Strain, but save water. Grind coconut to a very fine paste, add back drained water and blend again till a milky texture is got. Drain and keep this milk aside. This is the rich coconut milk or 1st milk.
Grind the residual coconut again with 3 cups warm water, drain, and keep milk aside. This is the medium or coconut milk or 2nd milk.
Add 2 cups warm water to the residual coconut, grind again and strain milk. Now the residue does not have much strength. This extract is the thin coconut milk or 3rd milk.
The above procedure will produce a total of approximately 7 cups of coconut milk, of three different grades. If differently graded milk is not asked for in recipe, one may combine all the three extracts and get just one medium consistency coconut milk.
Refrigerated it will last for 2 days, or freeze into cubes and store in freezer bags, using as required.
This is the traditional method of making the Pal Ada Pradhaman.

Tip : Nowadays, we get the Ada(Rice flour strips) and Coconut milk in the market, which makes the work easier and faster. In,case you are using coconut milk from a Tetrapak then there is no first, second and third milk, but if you want to make the Pradhaman thin, take some coconut milk in a cup and pour some hot water and make it thin to add in the end, this, has to be done if the Pradhaman becomes too thick.

Hope you enjoy this sweet dish.

SUGAR SYRUP FOR SWEETS (CHAACHNI)

SUGAR SYRUP FOR SWEETS (CHAACHNI)
To make Sugar Syrup for sweets also known as “Chaachni “ in the north and “Paahu” in the South.
Take sugar and water in equal measures i.e 1:1 ratio in a deep saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Keep checking, once the first thread forms, it proceeds to thicken to the next stages very quickly.

What is the thread test?

Following is the thread test (tar) to check required consistency of syrup (chaachni)

• If no thread is formed, but there is stickiness in the syrup when tested, then it is 3/4 tar (thread). This consistency is generally used in dipping sweets like, gulab jamoon, Rasgulla(Rosogolla) boondi, jalebi, imarti, etc.
• Boil some more and when 1 thread (ek tar) forms, it is used in soaking sweets like malpua.
• On further boiling 2 threads (two tars) are obtained and this is used in sweets like burfis, mohanthal, etc. At this stage a drop of syrup dropped on a plate will form a soft ball when cooled. After this stage do no stir briskly and continuously or the sugar will recrystallize.
• Still further boiling will form 2 1/2 to 3 tars and this syrup is used to get a white coating of sugar on sweets like badusha (balushahi), shankarpakle(sweet maida biscuits), etc. At this stage when the syrup is dropped in a plate it will form a hard ball when cooled.

Tips:

• Make the sugar syrup simultaneously while making the recipe, reheating the syrup too many times will alter the texture of the resulting sweet dish. To save time, prepare the syrup on a second burner, while making the rest of the recipe. This will avoid excess wastage of time and unnecessary cooling off, of the fried flours, etc. as the recipe demands.
• When the mixture comes to a boil, add 1 tbsp milk, A thick scum is formed on the surface of syrup, it is time to strain.
• Always use a metal strainer or moist cloth to strain the hot syrup, never use plastic.