Kajjaya

It’s COVID 19 lockdown time, where I got a chance to remind myself by preparing traditional dishes which my mother was cooking. So here is Kajjaya, which is one of the best sweet which we prepare during Deepavali.

Here is the recipe, I used Ghee to deep fry which enrich the taste.

Preparation time: 20mins

Cooking time: 30mins

Number of medium sized kajjaya: 15

Ingredients: 

2 cups Sona masoori Rice

1.5 cups crushed Jaggery

500ml Ghee to deep fry

Water

Procedure: 

1. Soak rice for minimum of 5 hours.
2. Sieve and remove the water.
3. Without allowing rice to dry, put in mixer, make fine powder and sieve.
4. See to that the powdered rice should not dry.
5. Put a kadai on the stove to heat, add jaggery with just 20ml of water and keep on stirring.
6. Until the boiling jaggery bubbles (if you put few drops of jaggery in to water in another small bowl, the jaggery should stand straight without dissolving in water).
7. Immediately add the powdered rice flour mix very well.
8. Remove the kadai from the stove and mix well.
9. Let the mixture cool down.
10. Make the mixture like lemon sized balls, press and flatten them and put in kadai with hot ghee.
11. Deep fry in hot ghee in medium flame, fry into golden brown, later remove from ghee.
12. Let them cool, delicious kajjaya is ready to eat.

Boondi Ladoo

After preparing khara boondi I got confidence of doing any new recipe with boondi. Even I got a chance too in my daughter’s school they asked parents to send Boondi Ladoo for Deepavali, so I thought why not I can give a try. So here is the recipe below surely you can also do it. I am very happy that I am sending Ladoo’s for my little one which I prepared myself.

Ingredients:

250gms Bengal gram flour (Kadale hittu)

350gms Sugar

3 tsp Ghee

1 pinch Cooking Soda

½ tsp Cardamom powder

25gms Cashew (chopped into small pieces)

25gms Dry grapes

10 cloves

Water

Oil for Deep fry

Method:

1.     Take a vessel add sugar and water to immerse it. Boil this till it gives you 2 string consistency. Then your sugar syrup will be ready. (Don’t prepare this very much before as your boondi will be frying you can keep this sugar syrup preparation simultaneously).

2.     Fry cashew, dry grapes and cloves in a tsp of ghee and keep aside.

3.     Take a bowl, sieve Bengal gram flour with cooking soda then add 2 tsp of ghee, required amount of water, consistency should be quite thin compare to idly batter.

4.     Heat oil for deep fry, take the boondi ladle hold higher on the hot oil, pour the boondi batter in the ladle slowly, so the batter freely fall into oil as droplets. (if the boondi came with tails then your batter is thick slightly add little water and try again, if the batter becomes very thin then your boondi will become flat, so as per this adjust the consistency)

5.     Fry the boondi till it cooks, not to fry more as it turns crisp.

6.     Take them out into a big bowl, repeat the same for rest of the batter.

7.     Now into the same bowl add fried cashew dry grapes cardamom powder and cloves then add the sugar syrup and mix well by pressing the boondi by your palm.

8.     The mixture will be hot, make your palms wet, take a lump of mixture in your palm and press them and make as a ball.

9.     Repeat the same for rest of the boondi.

10.  Tasty Boondi Ladoo’s are ready to bite.

Khara Mixture

In my mother in law’s home, Krishna Janmastami is one of the grand festival. For that day will prepare many fries, hots and sweets. All this cooking starts almost a week before the festival. Khara Mixture is one the variety, I saw this first time when she was preparing next time I myself tried it and succeeded.

Khara:

3tsp Salt

5tsp Red chilly powder

1 ½ tsp Asafoetida (Hing)

Mix all the ingredients and keep aside.

Khara Bhondi:

250 gms Bengal gram flour (Kadale hittu)

50 gms Rice flour

2 tsp Ghee

1 pinch Cooking Soda

Method:

1.     Take a bowl mix all the above ingredients add required amount of water, the consistency should be like idly batter.

2.     Heat the oil for deep fry, take the bhondi ladle hold on the hot oil, pour the bhondi batter in the ladle slowly, so the batter freely fall into oil as droplets.

3.     Fry the bhondi till crisp and take them out, repeat the same for rest of the batter.

4.     Now sprinkle the prepared Khara on it and pour in to a big bowl.

Om Podi:

250 gms Bengal gram flour (Kadale hittu)

50 gms Rice flour

2 tsp Ghee

1tsp Ajwain powder

Method:

1.     Take a bowl mix all the above ingredients add required amount of water and mix like smooth ata dough.

2.     Put the dough into mould with sev plate (very small holes) and press into hot oil.

3.     Fry in low flame till it becomes crisp, take away to a plate.

4.     Repeat the same for rest of the Dough.

5.     Now spinkle the prepared Khara over it, crush and pour into same bhondi big bowl.

Ribbon Pakoda:

250 gms Bengal gram flour (Kadale hittu)

50 gms Rice flour

2 tsp Ghee

Method:

1.     Take a bowl mix all the above ingredients add required amount of water, the consistency should be smooth ata dough.

2.     Put the dough into mould with ribbon plate and press into hot oil.

3.     Fry in low flame till it becomes crisp, take away to a plate.

4.     Repeat the same for rest of the Dough.

5.     Now spinkle the prepared Khara over it, crush and pour into same big bowl.

Thenethollu:

250 gms Bengal gram flour (Kadale hittu)

50 gms Rice flour

2 tsp Ghee

Method:

1.     Take a bowl mix all the above ingredients add required amount of water and make like smooth ata dough.

2.     Put the dough into mould with thenethollu plate (bigger than sev holes) and press into hot oil.

3.     Fry in low flame till it becomes crisp, take away to a plate.

4.     Repeat the same for rest of the Dough.

5.     Now spinkle the prepared Khara over it, crush and pour into same big bowl.

Remaining Ingredients:

 250 gms Flattened Rice (Gatti Avalakki)

 400 gms Ground Nut

 1 bunch Curry Leaves

 1 inch Chopped Dry coconut

1.     Deep Fry all the above ingredients separately and take out in a bowl.

2.     Add 250 gms of Fried Gram into the same bowl.

3.     Sprinkle the prepared Khara over it, mix well and pour into the same big bowl.

Now mix well all the prepared mixture contents om podi, ribbon, thenethollu, flattened rice, ground nut, dry coconut, fried gram and curry leaves.

Now Khara Mixture is ready to serve, we have to save in air tight container and can be preserve for a month.

Badam Burfi

I learnt this from my mother-in-law, the best thing is once I prepared this after that she always allows me to prepare, hope she liked my style of preparing. Recently I prepared for Krishna janmastami as my hubby likes very much to distribute prasadam, similarly he distributed to few of his colleagues in which one of his colleague asked me to post the recipe so that she wants to give a try for it, hence the recipe. No one will say no for Badam burfi, its rich delicious and can’t stop for single piece.

Preparation time: 30mins

Cooking time: 20mins

Number of Badam burfi’s: 25

  

Ingredients:

200gms Badam (Almonds)

325gms Sugar

150gms Ghee

200ml Milk

Procedure:

1.     Soak Almonds in boiled water, then peel the skin of almonds (as we will peel skin of Avarekalu) and keep aside.

2.     Ground peeled almonds with milk into fine paste (add milk little little while grinding, the resulted consistency should be thick dosa batter).

3.     Take a thick bottom kadai add the ground paste, sugar and 75gms of ghee, mix well.

4.     Keep the same kadai on stove in a medium flame.

5.     Go on stirring it, don’t ever stop because it will turn brown very easily (While stirring it may splutter so be careful do on low flame).

6.     Add the rest ghee and continue stirring till the batter consistency turns as single lump.

7.     Take a plate grease with ghee, shift the prepared badam lump on the plate, spread evenly.

8.     Let it set leave for 5 mins, then cut it into your desired shapes.

9.     Yummy Badam Burfi is ready to eat.

Bread Aloo Cutlet

In winter season, every evening feels like to have something hot hot and spicy, so now a days I am preparing different types of cutlets at home. This is my first choice as I had one loaf of brown bread at home which has to be used with in a day. Hence I used more bread and less potatoes here. As these cutlets are shallow fried intake of oil is not as deep fries. Preparation of these cutlets is very simple, with in 15 mins you can have your cutlets to eat.

Preparation time: 10mins

Cooking time: 10mins

Number of medium sized cutlets: 15

Ingredients: 

8 Brown bread slices

2 Potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)

4 Green chillies (finely chopped)

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp Coriander powder

½ tsp Aamchur (dry mango) powder

5 tsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped)

1 tsp Basin

250ml warm Milk

5 tsp vegetable Oil

Salt

Water

Procedure:

1. Dip a bread slice in warm milk immediately squeeze the milk and keep in a bowl, do the same for all bread slices.
2. To the same bowl add mashed potatoes, green chillies, garam masala, coriander powder, aamchur, coriander leaves, and required amount of salt, mix well.
3. Divide the mixture in to lemon sized balls and keep aside.
4. In a small bowl add basin and little water, mix well without any lumps, consistency should be like thin batter.
5. Keep a tava to heat, throw a tsp of oil over it.
6. Take prepared ball, press lightly as cutlet and dip in basin batter and put on tava (at a time you can prepare 4-5 cutlets on tava), follow the same for all balls.
7. Fry on both the sides till it turns golden brown in low flame (sprinkle the oil if required).
8. Hot Hot spicy Bread Cutlets are ready to eat with chutney or tomato sauce.

Fruit Cassata Cake

It was my in-laws marriage anniversary, we went out previous day night and reached home late but i thought of preparing something special for the next day, immediately I remembered eggless cake mix at home, so using that I prepared cake, but never thought of preparing Cassata. As my husband is the best cook he suggested to try for cassata using the same cake, then i used just fruit salad, strawberry ice cream and the plain spongy cake. It was so tasty that i did not expected so much likes from my loved ones.

Ingredients:   

For Cake:

350gms Eggless cake mix

1tsp Baking powder

20ml Vegetable oil

1 tsp Ghee

½ tsp Strawberry essence

3gms Cake gel

25ml Water

For Fruit Salad:

1 cup finely chopped Mango

1 cup finely chopped Banana

½ cup finely chopped Kiwi

3 tsp Custard powder

25 Dry grapes

15 finely chopped Cashew

3 tsp Honey

200ml Milk

150ml Sugar

For Cassata:

500gms Strawberry Icecream

15 chopped Cherries

Procedure: 

Cake:

1. Take a bowl add water, cake gel and whip for a minute in low speed.
2. Add cake mix, baking powder and whip in high speed for 5 minutes.
3. Later add oil, strawberry essence and whip for a minute.
4. Transfer this into a greased (apply ghee constantly inside the pan) cake pan.
5. Preheat oven at 200 degrees for 15 mins then bake at 170 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, it takes 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Later allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes then unmold and cool completely.
7. Spongy cake is ready.

Fruit Salad:

1. Take a kadai, add milk, custard powder and sugar, mix well without any lumps.
2. Keep the kadai to heat on low flame, go on stirring as it easily burns.
3. As it forms as thick gel, remove the kadai from heat, let it cool.
4. Take a bowl add all the chopped fruits, dry grapes, cashew, honey, cooled custard mix and mix well.

You can use any fruits as per your taste.

Cassata:

1. Take a round shaped (steel or air tight) box, slice the sponge cake and make as lower layer of 2 cm thickness, pat well.
2. Spread 1 ½ cm thickness of strawberry ice cream on it.
3. Then spread 2 cm thickness of fruit salad, throw chopped cherries over it.
4. Refrigerate for 6 hours.
5. Later cut into your desired shape and serve chilled tasty Fruit Cassata cake.