Sharkara Upperi / Sharkara Varatti

This is a sweet snack famous in Kerala and another inevitable part of a Kerala Sadya.

Ingredients

• 5 raw green plaintains (Nenthran kaai)
• 1 1/2 cups jaggery
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp Dry Ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
• Oil to Deep fry
• 1 tbsp roasted Rice flour 
• 1 tbsp Sugar (Optional)

Method

1. Peel the Raw Bananas and soak them in water mixed with turmeric for around 10 min and then pat them dry.
2. Cut each of banana into half lengthwise and then into small pieces of 1/4" thickness.
3. Heat oil in a wok and carefully drop the pieces into the oil. Fry the pieces in batches till they are crisp and remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
4. Take a big pan and add the jaggery with 1/2 cup water and allow the mixture to boil. To check if it has reached the desired consistency, add a drop of the jaggery mixture in a bowl of cold water. You should be able to make a small ball from it without it melting into the water.
5. Add the cardamom and ginger powder and stir well. Then simmer the stove and add the fried banana pieces into it with continuous stirring. Once the chips are covered with jaggery, switch off and add the rice flour and sugar and mix well.
6. Transfer the mixture into a wide plate and allow it to cool completely. Once cooled, transfer it to an air tight container and enjoy!!

Easy Apple Pie

It is Apple picking time!!! My daughter picked a few apples from the orchard when she went for apple picking from school and gave it to me to make apple pie. So I hunted for an easy recipe and came across this one. I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit our taste and it turned out a big hit at home!

Ingredients
No Roll Pastry 
1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Ghee
2 tbsp Milk

Pie Filling
3 Apples grated
1/2 cup Sugar (Adjust to taste)
A pinch of Cinnamon powder (Optional)
A pinch of Cardamom powder
2 tbsp Butter

Topping
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar or Brown Sugar
1 cup All Purpose Flour

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the Pastry and press the dough into a greased pie pan with your fingers to line the bottom and sides of the pan.
2. Mix the ingredients for the Pie Filling and pour it into the crust prepared.
3. Mix the ingredients for the topping and sprinkle them on top of the pie to cover the pie.
4. Bake the Pie at 350F for around 20 min or till the crust turns a golden brown.
5. Yummy Apple Pie is ready to be served!!

Homemade Chocolates

My mom always made these for our birthdays and we all used to love it because we can get to eat more. Now as a mom, I would still prefer giving these chocolates to my daughter than the store bought ones as it is made without artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup or any other preservatives. This is a simple recipe that takes less than 10 min to make and you can use your creativity to make a variety of chocolates.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk powder
• 2 tsp Cocoa powder (Adjust to taste)
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar (Adjust to taste)
• 1/4 cup chopped dry fruits & nuts like Cashews, Almonds & Raisins (Optional)

Flax Seed Burfi

This is a very tasty and healthy burfi from Manjula's Kitchen. It is super easy to make and will be instantly liked by all. You can indulge into it without feeling guilty!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup golden flax seed powder or meal
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground walnut
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground cashews
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Jawarsi Payasam

Happy New Year to all out there!! Entering into the New Year with this sweet recipe. Jawarsi Payasam or Sabudana Kheer is a favourite among kids especially.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp Ghee
• 1/2 cup Jawarsi (Sabudana)
• 2 cups Sugar
• 5 cups Milk
• 1 tbsp broken Cashews
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• A pinch of Saffron (Optional)

Method

1. Heat a deep bottomed pan and add the ghee and fry the cashews and keep aside.
2. In the same pan, add the Jawarsi and fry it till it starts spluttering and turns white.
3. Now add Milk and place the stove on medium flame. Cook the Jawarsi for around 20 min or till the Jawarsi becomes transparent.
4. Add the Sugar, saffron and cardamom powder and allow the mixture to boil for a few more minutes. Switch off and serve after garnishing the payasam with the fried cashews.

 

Jangiri

Jangiri is everybody's favorite and especially in Tamil Nadu. It was always thought to be difficult to make at home and generally made by the experienced cooks at the weddings. But actually it is not very complicated at all. This Diwali, lets make Jangiri and surprise our families. After checking out a lot of recipes, I zeroed in on this one. I used the ketchup bottle to squeeze out the jangiri.

Ingredients

For Jangiri

• 1 cup Urad Dhal
• A pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Rice Flour
• 1/2 tsp Food Colour
• Oil for deep frying

For Sugar Syrup

• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Water
• A pinch of Cardamom Powder

Laddu

Laddu is a must have in our house for Diwali. My grandma and mom are experts in Laddu and here is the recipe for you to enjoy on Diwali!

Ingredients

For the Boondis

• 3 cups Gram flour (Besan)
• A pinch of yellow food colour and a pinch of kesar food colour
• 2 tbsp broken cashews and 2 tbsp Raisins fried in 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 tbsp small sugar candy in the shape of diamonds (diamond Kalkandu)
• Oil to fry

For the Sugar Syrup

• 3 cups Sugar
• 1 cup Water

Utensils required: Big Perforated spoon with round holes for making the boondis, laddle and a perforated spoon to remove the boondis from oil.

Cashew Burfi

This is a very easy recipe from my mom that lets you make yummy cashew burfi in only a few minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Cashew Powder (Powder the raw Cashew nuts in a mixer)
• 1/3 cup Ghee
• 1/3 cup Milk Powder
• 1 cup Sugar (Adjust to Taste)

Vella Cheedai

This is another of Lord Krishna's favorite that is made on Krishna Jayanthi. This is an easy and a no fail  recipe from my mom. Many people complain that the cheedai dissolves in oil or bursts in oil but me or my mom have never experienced that with this recipe. So enjoy it with Krishna!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Rice Flour (I use Nirapara brand)
• 1/4 cup Urad dal Flour (Store bought)
• 2 tsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Sesame seeds
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• 1 1/2 cups Jaggery
• 2 cups of water
• Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Sieve and dry roast the Rice flour and Urad dal flour. (Frying gives less chance of the cheedai bursting in oil.)
2. Heat water and melt the jaggery in it and filter it. Allow the filtered jaggery mixture to boil and add the roasted rice and dal flour, ghee, sesame seeds and cardamom powder. Mix well to form a dough.
3. Once it cools down a bit, mix the dough with your hands and if it feels too dry add hot water little by little till you are able to get a smooth pliable dough.
4. Make small smooth balls of the dough and deep fry them on medium heat.
5. Once cooled, store them in an air tight container.

Suggestions / Notes

1. If the jaggery is too much, the Cheedai will dissolve in water. But this recipe will not fail you.
2. The ingredients used and the place made should be very clean as even little impurities in the dough will cause it to burst.

Chakkarai Appam

This Appam is my favourite and for every function or festival at home my mom makes this and this is a must in my house for Krishna Jayanthi. This is my grandmother's recipe that will never fail you.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Rava
• 1 cup Maida (All Purpose Flour)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• Pinch of Cardamom
• Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients except oil, in a bowl and keep aside for 3-4 hours.
2. Heat Oil in a kadai. Add a small drop of the batter in the oil and if it sizzles up immediately then it means the oil is ready. 
3. Using a tablespoon, pour the batter in the oil to make the appams. Cook the Appams on medium flame only, otherwise they wouldn't get cooked.
4. Flip them when they turn brown and remove them using a slotted spoon once they are completely browned on all sides.
5. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel and store them in an air tight container once they cool down completely.

Akkaravadisal

"Inno Thiru Aadi Pooram, yemakkaka anno ingu Andaal avadharithaal. 
Kunnaadha vaazhwaana vaikuntha vaan bogam thannai igazhnthu Azhwaar thirumagalaaraai"


Today being Thiru Aadi Pooram (Andaal's birthday), this is the special prasadam made for this day. This is an Iyengar speciality and the recipe is from my mom.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Raw Rice 
• 1/4 cup Moong Dal
• 1 1/2 cups Jaggery (Adjust to taste)
• 6 cups Milk
• A handful of Cashews (broken to bits)
• A handful of Almonds (broken to bits)
• 2 tbsp Ghee
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• A pinch of Saffron strands (optional)

Method

1. In a pan, heat 1 tsp ghee and fry the cashews and almonds till they turn golden brown. Keep aside.
2. Fry the moong dal and rice in the same pan till they turn a light golden brown.
3. In a cooker vessel, add the rice dal mixture and 5 cups of milk and place it in a cooker and cook it for 5-6 whistles.
4. Melt the jaggery in a small vessel and filter the jaggery. Add this jaggery to a thick bottomed vessel along with the cooked rice dal mixture, remaining ghee, remaining milk, cardamom powder and saffron.
5. Simmer and cook for a few minutes till the mixture reaches the desired (semi solid) consistency.
6. Garnish the Akkaravadisal with the fried cashews and almonds.

Aadi Paal

This is a payasam made of coconut milk and jaggery and is a must have on the Aadi pandigai (the first day of the tamil month of Aadi.). This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Coconut Milk 
• 1 cup powdered Jaggery
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• A pinch of Saffron (Optional)
• A handful of Cashews broken to bits
• A handful of Raisins
• A handful of Almonds broken to bits
• 1 tsp Ghee

Method

1. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed vessel. Add the cashews, raisins and almonds and roast them till they turn a golden brown and keep these aside.
2. Add around 1/4 cup water to the jaggery and microwave it on high for 3 min till the jaggery melts. Strain it and add to the hard bottomed vessel and heat on medium high till the jaggery liquid thickens and froths up.
3. Reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk extract, cardamom powder and saffron. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes.
4. Add the roasted nuts and raisins and serve!

Rava Kesari

This is another of my mother's recipe who is an expert in Rava Kesari. This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Rava
• 1 cup Ghee
• 2 cups Sugar (Adjust to taste)
• 2 cups Water
• A pinch of Cardamom
• A pinch of Orange-Red Food Colouring (Optional)
• 1/2 cup Raisins & Chopped nuts (Cashews/Almonds)

Method

1. Heat 1 tsp Ghee and roast the raisins and the nuts till they turn golden brown and keep aside.
2. Now roast the Rava in the same pan till it turns golden brown and keep aside.
3. Add water to the pan and bring it to a boil. Simmer the stove and add the roasted rava slowly and mix well so as to not form any lumps. Cook the rava till it is done.
4. Add the Sugar and mix well. Then add the remaining ghee and mix well till all the lumps are removed.
5. Add the cardamom and the food colouring and mix again.
6. Switch off the stove and garnish the Kesari with the roasted raisins and nuts.

Dilkush

My husband loves Dilkush and today being his birthday I made a Vanilla cake as that is his favorite but also wanted to make something special and I made this and surprised him! He misses this delicacy that is mainly a product of Kerala bakeries and so I made this today to take him back to his childhood days! I adapted this recipe from Erivum Puliyumm. Made a few modifications to the ingredients and the quantities to make it eggless and suit my taste. My husband and daughter loved this a lot!

Ingredients

• 2 cups All purpose flour
• 1/2 pkt or 1 1/2 tsp Active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup Warm Milk (Around 115F)
• 4 tbsp Oil (preferably Olive oil)
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp Butter (melted at room temperature)

for filling

• 3/4 cup Shredded Coconut 
• 4 tbsp Raisins
• 2 tbsp tutty fruity
• 2 tbsp Cashew nuts
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• A pinch of Cardamom powder 

Method

1. In a small bowl, add the warm milk and stir in the sugar and yeast into it and mix well. Keep it aside for 5 min or till it froths up.
2. In a big bowl add the flour, salt, oil and the yeast mixture and knead it into a smooth dough.
3. Grease the sides of a bowl with a little oil and place the dough in it and flip it till the dough is also coated with oil. Cover the bowl and keep aside in a warm place for 1-2 hours till it almost doubles its size.
4. Now prepare the filling by mixing coconut, sugar, tutty fruity, raisins, cashews and cardamom powder.
5. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll each with a rolling pin by dipping in flour lightly. 
6. Roll one part of the dough into a circle of diameter 8'' and 1/2" thickness.
7. Spread the filling into the circle leaving 1/2-1" space at the outer border and keep aside.
8. Roll out another ball in the same way of diameter 9''and 1/2'' thickness. Cover it on top of the filling one and tuck the sides under the first one such that it properly covers the sides. Apply water to seal the tucked edges.
9. Leave aside to rise for 20-30 minutes. 
10. Preheat the oven to 375F.
11. Apply the melted butter generously on top of the dilkush and place it on a cookie sheet in a oven for 15-20 minutes or till done.
12. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes and Serve with tea!!

Suggestions/ Notes

1. The Dilkush can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Sending this to The Kerala Kitchen hosted at Erivum Puliyumm


 

Strawberry Cake

We went Strawberry picking in a nearby Farm and got a lot of fresh Strawberries. So I had to think of a way to use them and decided to make a Strawberry cake as it is my sister's birthday too. The original recipe was for cupcakes but I made a round cake and decorated it with fresh Strawberries. We celebrated her birthday with this cake while she is celebrating with her family in Blore. Happy Birthday Divya!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup All Purpose flour
• 1 1/2  tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 3/4 cup Milk powder
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 cup Strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup (slightly) hot Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• A few drops of lemon juice plus 2 tsp sugar for the strawberries

Method

  1) Wash and slice the strawberries. Mix in the lemon juice and the sugar and keep aside for about 15 minutes. This helps to bring out the flavour of the strawberries.

  2) In the meanwhile, preheat the oven at 350F and line a cake tin with Parchment paper and grease the sides with butter.

  3) In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and the vanilla with a hand blender or with a wire whisk, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the sugar and the milk powder and beat until soft. Add the baking powder and baking soda and stir in half the flour, add half the milk and beat until soft, for about 2 minutes. Put in the remaining flour and milk and beat again until soft for 2 minutes. Mix in the strawberries with their juices.

  4) Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or till done (until a skewer comes clean).

  5) Allow the cake to completely cool down while you prepare the strawberry cream frosting. (If the cake is hot the frosting will melt and not stay.)

  6) Apply the frosting on the sides and top using the back of the spoon / basting brush and decorate it with some fresh sliced strawberries.

Suggestions / Notes

1. I would suggest you keep the leftovers of the cake (if any) in the refrigerator as it may not keep well outside for more than a day since we have used fresh fruits here.

Sathu Maavu Urundai / Healthy Rounds

This is a very healthy snack that can be prepared within a minute or two. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to make this for me using just the sprouted and roasted Ragi flour. But nowadays you get many health drink mix (Sathu maavu for Kanji) readily available in the stores. The Health mix is basically a powder made from sprouted and roasted multi grains and nuts flavoured with cardamom. I generally use the Manna brand of Health mix which is readily available in powder form, from the Indian stores. Alternately you may also make the Health mix at home for which I shall post the recipe soon. Since most of the kids generally don't like to drink the porridge made with the health mix, this snack is a very nice way to get them to eat it. And not only kids even the grown ups will enjoy them.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp  Health Mix
• 2 tbsp Organic Cane Sugar/ Powdered Jaggery
• 3-4 tsp Ghee

Method

1. Take the health mix in a bowl and add the organic sugar/ jaggery.
2. Add the ghee little by little and mix to form a dough.
3. Make small balls of the dough and serve the tasty and healthy snack.

Suggestions/ Notes

1. You may use only sprouted and roasted Ragi flour if you don't have the Health mix readily available.
2. The measures of the ingredients are only a suggestion. You may add more or less to adjust to your taste.
3. Use only ghee for this recipe as butter will not taste as good.

No-Bake Biscuit Brownie

This is a fabulous recipe with no cooking involved and with only very simple ingredients. This recipe adapted from edible garden makes around 15 small brownies.

Ingredients

• 22 Marie biscuits
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup roasted nut of choice (I used chopped Almonds)
• 1 tsp sugar (Adjust to taste)
• 7oz/ 200gm condensed milk

Method

1. Break the biscuits and crush them by hand or with a pestle. Alternately you may coarsely grind it in a blender.
2. Add the cocoa powder and sugar to it and mix well.
3. Add the nuts and the condensed milk and mix well to form into a dough.
4. Grease a baking tray with butter or line it with parchment paper and transfer the mixture to it.
5. It will be sticky, so press firmly and level it with clean wet fingers and refrigerate it for around 4 - 5 hours or overnight.
6. Slice the brownie into cubes with a knife and serve!

Vanilla Sponge Cake

I made this cake for my friend's birthday and everyone loved it. The recipe for this cake is from Sharmis Passions. I followed the recipe to the word, except increased the sugar and it came out awesome. So I made this again and again and my husband could just not have enough of it!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup thick plain Yogurt
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 cup Cooking oil
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp Milk (just for brushing the top)

Method

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

2) Cream sugar and curd until sugar completely dissolves. Add baking powder and baking soda to the creamed mixture and mix well. 

3) Now add vanilla essence,cooking oil and mix well. Add the All purpose Flour and blend it with the wet ingredients. Beat well with a whisk until creamy and thick.

4) Grease the cake tin or loaf pan and pour the batter to it and bake in the preheated oven at 350F and bake it for 25-30 min or till a fork inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Just brush the top of the cake with 1 tbsp milk, 10 min before the ending time to get a nice polishing glaze.

5) Allow the cake to cool down for 10 min before taking it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely for around 30 min before frosting the cake.
6) In the meantime, I made the Vanilla frosting doubling the quantity given in the recipe to frost the entire cake.
7) Using a basting brush or the back of a spatula, apply the vanilla frosting to cover the entire cake. Make it a smooth finish.
8) Refrigerate the cake for 10 min so that the initial layer of the icing is a little solidified. Out of my experience I found that it is easier to decorate the cake this way.
9) Take it out from the refrigerator and decorate the cake in the way you would like it. I had some chocolate frosting left with me, so I used that to draw the borders and write on the cake. Then I added the sprinkles to make it colourful.

Suggestions/ Notes

1. Don't doubt on using Yogurt as the taste of yogurt will not at all be noticed in the cake. (Actually my family still doesn't know this secret ingredient but they all love the cake.) 

Unniappam

Unniappam or Nei Appam is a sweet made on most of the festivals and important functions at home. In Tamil or Malayali feasts this is a must have dish.

Ingredients  

• 2 cups Raw rice flour or soak idli rice for 4-5 hrs and grind it in a mixer to form a batter
• 2 small ripe bananas
• 1 cup Jaggery
• A pinch of Cardamon powder
• Oil or ghee- For deep frying  

Method

1. Melt the jaggery in little water(around 1/2 - 3/4 cup) and strain to remove any impurities.
2. Mix the rice flour, mashed banana, cardamom powder, fried coconut bits, melted jaggery and salt together to form a thick batter. (Its best to use a blender for mixing.)
3. If the batter is too thick add little water or milk. Consistency should be similar to that of an idli batter.
4. Heat the unniyappam pan (Paniyaram pan) and fill it with oil.
5. When the oil gets hot, fill  3/4th of each depression with the batter and fry them at medium heat, uncovered. When one side is cooked, flip over using a fork and fry until golden brown on both sides.
6. Remove and drain onto a tissue paper. Serve warm.

Suggestions/ Notes

1. If you dont have a Unniappam pan, you may heat the oil in a wok and drop the batter with a spoon. The taste is the same but the colour and shape is good if you use the pan.

 

Ada Pradaman

This is a Kerala delicacy served in most of the Sadhyas. This is a payasam or pudding made of rice Ada and jaggery.

Ingredients

• 1 packet Rice ada / rice flakes (200gm)
• 500gm Jaggery (Adjust to taste)
• 2 Cans Coconut milk (Alternately extract the coconut milk from 3 coconuts)
• 1/4 cup Cashews, raisins, fried coconut slices
• A pinch of Cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp Ghee

Method

1. Wash the ada and cook it in boiling water for around 15 - 20 min or until it becomes soft but firm. Strain and rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking.
2. Melt the jaggery in 2 cups of water and strain it.
3. Heat the ghee in a deep pan. Fry the raisins, cashews and coconut slices and keep aside.
4. Now add the ada and saute in ghee for 3-4 min adding more ghee if required at medium heat.
5. Add the melted jaggery and simmer stirring occasionally.
6. Add 1 can of coconut milk and allow it to simmer till it thickens.
7. Now add the other can of coconut milk and add the cardamom powder. Mix well, cook for a few min at low heat and switch off.
8. Garnish with the fried cashews, coconut slices and raisins and Serve hot or cold.