Diwali Recipes Series

1. Diwali Special: 5 Halva Recipes
2. Celebrate with Diwali Sweet Recipes
3. Video: Make Gulab Jamoon (Indian Sweet) this Diwali
4. 3 Special Diwali Snacks Recipes

Diwali is all about Sweets isn’t it? I thought so too. But snacks and spicy eats are also an important accompaniment along with those Mithais. Except Om Pudi (which is a South India variety of Bhujia Sev), 2 of the other recipes are easier to make. Try them out and let me know how they turned out. If you want to know how to make delicious Deepavali sweets and Halvas, check them out here:

• Diwali Sweets
• rent a car bulgariaHalvas Recipes for Deepavali

Three Snack Recipes are featured here:

1. How to make Om Pudi 2. Masala Papad 3. A different snack in Pepper Chips

If you want to share your own Deepavali recipes, use this easy form here to send in your recipes which will be posted in this blog.

Diwali Recipes Series

1. Diwali Special: 5 Halva Recipes
2. Celebrate with Diwali Sweet Recipes
3. Video: Make Gulab Jamoon (Indian Sweet) this Diwali
4. 3 Special Diwali Snacks Recipes

Diwali is here, Yay! More than the crackers, it’s time for a fun get-together with family and friends and lots of Sweets, of course.

Deepavali (festival of lights) is when the whole of India and Indian communities abroad, is decked with bright lights, mad-shopping and colors everywhere.

Starting with Ganesha Chaturthi and Dasara, Diwali ends the Hindu festival season in a grand scale and then sets the atmosphere later for Christmas and New year.

Ok, coming to the food part; Deepavali is also the time to gorge on sweets and tons of them! Here is a small collection of 5 types of Halwa (Halva) Recipes. (Photo by: Xanada)

These have been adapted from a Tamil magazine and collated by my sister Harini.Find links to other Halva and Sweet Recipes for this festival at the end of this article.

Submit your favorite Diwali Recipes and it’ll be published in Indian Food Kitchen Blog immediately

Halwa Recipes follow below:

Almonds or Badam Halwa

Ingredients

• Milk, Sugar- 1 cup each
• Almonds or Badam- ½ cup
• Ghee- ½ cup

How to make

1. Soak the almonds in water overnight and blanch it.
2. (Blanching is soaking and removing the peels of the almond.
3. Remove the outer skin and grind into smooth paste using milk for grinding.
4. Mix little water to sugar and heat it in a heavy bottomed kadai or oan or vessel till it is dissolved and once when one string consistency is reached.
5. Add badam or almond paste and cook till it becomes thick.
6. When the halwa sticks to bottom, Add ghee little by little and cook till halwa consistency is reached.

Milk Halwa

Ingredients

• Milk- 2 litre
• Ghee- 1 tablespoon
• Powdered Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 2 ½ cup
• Lemon Salt- ¼ teaspoon

How to make

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and boil milk till it reduces to three fourth of its consistency.
2. Add sugar, and lemon salt and cook for another few minutes.
3. Fry cashewnuts in ghee and add to the halwa.
4. Add little more ghee if necessary.
5. When halwa consistency is reached , remove from fire.

Dates Halva

Ingredients

• Seedless Dates- 1 cup
• Sugar- 1 cup
• Ghee- 1 cup
• Milk- ½ cup
• Almonds
• cashews - little

Method

1. Soak the dates in hot water, for about 1 hour and grind it along with milk.
2. Heat a heavy bottomed pan, Add Sugar with little water
3. When it reaches one string consistency, add the grinded date paste, cashews, almonds, and saffron.
4. Keep stirring till it becomes little thick.
5. When the halwa sticks to bottom, Add ghee little by little and cook till halwa consistency is reached.
6. Decorate with Cashews or almonds.

Instant Halva

Ingredients

• Wheat Flour- 1 cup
• Sugar- 1 cup
• Ghee- 1 cup
• Milk- 1 cup
• Cashews- 1 tablespoon
• Almonds- 1  tablespoon
• Cardamom Powder- ½ teaspoon

How to make

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pan, Add half cup ghee and wheat flour.
2. Fry till the raw smell goes.
3. Then add milk to it and keep stirring continuously until it becomes thick.
4. Then add sugar, remaining ghee and keep stirring till it reaches halwa consistency.
5. Then add cashews and almonds and remove from fire.

Mixed Milk Halwa

Ingredients

• Wheat Milk- 1 cup
• Coconut Milk- 1 cup
• Buffalo/Cow Milk- 1 cup
• Sugar- 3 cups
• Cardamom powder- ½ tsp
• Chopped Cashews and almonds - 2 tsp

How to make

1. Heat a pan, Add sugar with little water( 1 cup ). Stir until dissolved.
2. Then now, add all 3 types of milk to it and keep stirring till it reaches halwa consistency
3. Then add cardamom powder, chopped cashews and almonds and remove from fire.
4. When adding the milk in the sugar syrup, It will stick but it melts quickly if you keep stirring.

Submit your favorite Diwali Recipes and it’ll be published in Indian Food Kitchen Blog immediately

Halwas and Laddoos Recipes from Indian Food Kitchen

Indian Sweets Recipes

Besan Halvafrom Raji’s Kitchen

Godhi (Wheat) Halwafrom Chitra Amma’s Kitchen

Rasam is, according to me, the simplest gravy / curry dish you can make. For bachelors / spouses who are made to cook / those starting out in Indian cooking etc, Rasam is a good starter dish. You can use it to eat it with rice or have it as a soup.

Simplest among Rasams is Tomato Rasam. I went searching around for videos and I found this one on Videojug.com. VideoJug videos are great in that they show thier videos in a step-by-step manner in which they explain to do things.

In this video, the chef  takes you through a simple method to make Tomato Rasam.

You can check out a collection of Rasam recipes and also Soup recipes at the main website.

The video is right below this (Note: A broadband or a fast internet connection is recommended to watch this video)

This Rasam doesn’t make use of Tamarind Juice which is a common ingredient. You can sme tamarind extract just before you get the Rasam to boil.

Video: How to make Tomato Rasam

Useful Links (websites / blogs)

Collection of various Rasam Recipes from Indian Food Kitchen

Coconut Milk Rasam Recipe - Sagari from Indian Home Food

Garlic (Poondu) Rasam - Rasam variety from Tamil Nadu - from Chitra Amma’s Kitchen

Orange Rasam - Not your usual Rasam by Meera

I found the following video on Youtube.com which shows the recipe for making Modak or the Modagam (called in Tamil Nadu). Modak is a variation of the South Indian Kozhakattai or the Karnataka Kadubu by its shape. Modaks are usually round while Kozhakattais are lengthier.

Modaks are usually made in Maharashtra and other North Indian states (I don’t know which other). You could use the same method shown in the video to make Kozhukkattais as well by just changing the shape of the dough.

In the video, the Modaks are made using a Microwave. However, you can also use a pressure cooker by referring to the recipes from the previous post.

Note: This video is not produced by anyone from this blog. I have added this video from another website (with permission) to help you in your cooking. Original recipe by Sudha Kulkarni from Aais Kitchen

Recipe video follows below:

 

Links:

Kozhakattai, Kadubu and Modak recipes

More Recipes for Ganesha Chathurthi festival

Update: Download these Kozhukattai recipes as a PDF file (Right click on the link and click “save target as..” in your browser. You will need Adobe PDF reader to view this file. Print or read at your convenience and try these recipes.

Oh I promised something sweet right? Ganesha Chaturthi (Vinayaka Chaturthi) festival is round the corner and it’s time for delicious Kozhukattai’s again.

Kozhakattai is a sweet rice dumpling dish prepared on special occasions in South India and on Ganesha festival it is a must on the menu.

Also known as Kadubu in Karnataka ; there are other variations to Kozhukattai - Modak in North Indian states and Modagam in Tamil Nadu. Modak is round-shaped while the delicious Kozhukattai is in the shape of a snail

Tradition has it that Ganesha’s favorite food was the Modak and therefore these sweets along with other dishes are offered to Him during the festival.

Like all children (and children at heart), Sweets during any festival are the fastest eaten and I confess that my home, I’m the first to finish off the Kozhukattais.

Whether you’re a fan of Indian sweets or want to make the perfect Kozhukattais, there are 5 recipes below. Included is the sweet version with coconut and sesame fillings, a vegetable version and a Payasam (Kheer). All varieties of Kozhukattais usually have a central filling (sweet or spicy). The sweet filling is called Puranam in Tamil.

These recipes from my mother, have been tested and adapted from the Tamil magazine ‘Aval Vigadan’ and a book from South Indian professional cook, Mrs Mallika Badrinath; my thanks to them as well.

Share your recipes for Ganesha Chathurti using this form in the main site or leave your feedback.

Kozhukattai (Sweet) / Kadubu / Modak

For the rice covering:

• Rice flour - 1 cup
• Water - 1 1/4 cup
• For the coconut filling:
• Freshly grated coconut - 1 cup
• Grated white jaggery - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - a little
• Roasted Gram Powder - 1 tablespoon

How to make / Method

Preparing the coconut filling / Puranam:

2. Grate white portion of fresh coconut.
3. Put the grated coconut in a mixer and run it with a dry grinding blade for fine & even grinding.
4. Mix grated jaggery to this and heat it in a pan, stirring regularly till the jaggery melts completely.
5. When the mixture becomes thick, add roasted Dhal Powder and cardamom powder.
6. Remove from the fire and allow it to cool before using it in the Kozhukattai.

Preparing rice covering:

2. Heat water in a heavy Kadai with salt and oil
3. When it starts to boil, reduce the flame and pour the rice flour in the center in a heap.
4. Insert a ladle (spoon) and close the Kadai with a lid leaving a little gap where you have placed the ladle.
5. Cook in reduced flame for about 10 minutes
6. Switch off the stove and then quickly stir the dough taking care to avoid forming lumps.
7. Allow the dough the become lukewarm.
8. Knead the dough well using a little water for help (Sprinkle on the dough if necessary)
9. Apply oil to your hands and take out a small amount of dough in your hands (amount just less than that of Pooris)
10. Make lemon sized balls out of the dough.
11. Using your thumb and forefingers, flatten the edges first and gradually shape it like a cup while carefully turning and pressing with equal pressure on all sides.
12. Keep a little coconut filling inside and fold it to seal well, pressing down to form a plait-like design.
13. Arrange a few of these on a greased Idli plate and steam them in a pressure cooker or Idli vessel for 7 to 10 minutes.
14. Serve hot with other dishes on Ganesha Chaturthi or enjoy it seperately

Note:

For making modak (modagam), instead of the shaped described in step 10, make it into a rounded shape and then style the edges like a plait.

Sesame (Till Seeds) Kozhukattai

Ingredients

• White Sesame Seeds - 1 cup
• Grated Jaggery - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - a little

Method

2. Dry roast the sesame seeds until it puffs up and turns golden. Roast about 1/4 cup at a time
3. Pound the seeds well until it is mashed and forms a powder.
4. Add jaggery and pound together with the sesame seeds till it is properly mixed.
5. Add a little cardamom powder at the end.
6. Use this a filling with the Kozhukattais prepared with rice flour

Note:

Use the same ingredients and method for making the rice covering given in the Kozhukattai) recipe above

Rice and Sugar Kozhakattai

Note:

Prepare the rice flour dough (covering) as given in the Sweet Kozhakattai recipe.

Ingredients

• Grated Coconut - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder - a little

How to make / Method

2. Mix rice flour, coconut (grated), sugar and cardamom. Sprinkle some water and make a smooth dough
3. Make small balls from this dough and make a shape like that of a modak (modagam). Using your fingers press in the center till a circular shape is formed. Shape the edges like a plait
4. Arrange these in a greased plate (Idli plate) and steam in a pressure cooker or Idli vessel for 7 to 10 minutes
5. Serve hot

(Photo: Kozhakattai and Sweet Pooranam filling seen above)

Vegetable Kozhakattai

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4
• Carrot - 1
• Beetroot - 1
• Cabbage - 50 grams
• Beans - 50 grams
• Cauliflower - 1 small
• Ginger - 1 piece
• Onions - 2
• Green Chillies - 8 small
• Lemon - a small one
• Oil - 1 tablespoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Urad Dhal - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste
• Curry Leaves - a few
• Coriander leaves - a small bunch

How to make / Method:

2. Wash all the vegetables
3. Chop them into small pieces
4. Steam all the vegetables
5. Heat oil in a pan. Put mustard seeds, Urad dhal, Green chillies, ginger, onions, coriander leaves and fry for a little while.
6. Then add the steamed vegetables, salt & fry them for 5 minutes.
7. Add lemon juice and mix well. The vegetable filling is now ready.
8. Make rice flour Kozhukattais like the one given in the Sweet Kozhukattai recipe
9. Keep a little vegetable filling inside and fold it to seal well.
10. Arrange on a greased plate and cook in a steam pressure cooker for about 7 to 10 minutes
11. Serve hot.

Milk Kozhukattai Payasam

Note

: prepare the rice flour dough as given in the sweet Kozhukattai recipe. Do not make the shape like that for Sweet Kozhukattai.

Ingredients

• Milk - 1/2 literSugar - 1 1/ cup
• Cardamom powder - a little
• Fried Cashewnuts - 10
• Ghee - 4 teaspoon

How to make / Method

2. Make small balls with the rice flour dough, steam it in a greased plated for 7 to 10 minutes (if you haven’t already done so).
3. Bring the milk to a boil and add sugar to it
4. When the sugar dissolves completely, add steamed Kozhukattai balls and caradamom powder.
5. Add fried cashewnut pieces
6. Serve hot with lunch

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Update: Download these Kozhukattai recipes as a PDF file (Right click on the link and click “save target as..” in your browser. You will need Adobe PDF reader to view this file. Print or read at your convenience and try these recipes.

5 more recipes for Ganesha Chaturthi and other festivals

History and tradition of Ganesha festival

Try these recipes for this Ganesha festival or any other forthcoming festival and impress everyone with your special cooking skills

Share your recipes for Ganesha Chaturthi using this form in the main site or leave your feedback.

You can either use left over Idlis or even make fresh Idlis for this purpose. There is a recipe for making Idli at our main site.

Recipe follow below

Though I have a few more mango recipes to share, this time I found a video on how to cut a mango for eating or preparing dishes. Generally I have seen many people in India eat mangoes as is (that is without cutting it).

I found it too messy and prefer to cut it into many pieces. One other advantage is that you get to see the beautiful color of the mango cut into various slices and since there will be many slices and dices of the mango you get to eat more.

In this video, the chef from Mango.org, shows you how to cut mangoes the right way. He uses three mangoes as examples - each with a different variety of cutting.

Enjoy more mango slicing and dicing with this helpful video. It follows below.

Previously I had posted how to make mango Shrikarni . Mango Milkshake is just an extension of mango shrikarni with a little bit more milk. My mom wanted to combine both recipes and call it a 2-in-1 mango shrikarni and milkshake.However I was greedy and asked her to prepare both of them separately.

Though any mango can be used, it is preferable that a sweet variety is used. Here we have used Malgova mangoes (which are cheaper and you get more pulp).

Mango Milkshake with some chocolates and a large Malgova Mango

Recipe follows below.

Mango Milkshake

Ingredients:

• Mangoes - 4 medium sized or 2 large ones
• Milk - 2 glasses
• Ice Cubes - 5 to 6
• Sugar - a cup
• Salt - a pinch

Method:

1. Remove the skin of the mangoes and mash them into a pulp.
2. Add the sugar, salt and the milk
3. In a mixer, beat this mixture along with ice cubes
4. Serve in tall glasses.

If you have Mango recipes to share, please use this page on our website to submit your contributions. They will be published on this blog or in the main Indian Food Kitchen website.

Shrikarni is one of my favorite mango dishes; my mother usually prepares this as a side-dish for Chapattis. Mango is one of my favorites and I get Shrikarni till the end of mango season.

The advantage with Shrikarni is that even if the mangoes are over-ripe or just-ripe, you can easily get the pulp put of it. North Karnataka is famous for its Shrikarni and they have this as a side-dish for Rotis.

If you’re searching for a simple, quick and easy side-dish for your Chapathi and Rotis, make this recipe. This can also be served chilled as a juice if you don’t want it as a side-dish.

Mango Shrikarni alongside mangoes and cookbooks

The recipe follows next.

Mango Shrikarni

Ingredients:

• Mangoes - 4 medium sized (should be moderately sweet)
• Sugar - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - a pinch
• Milk 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Peel skin of mangoes. Your hand, mash them into a pulp in a bowl
2. To this, add sugar, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of milk
3. Mix well. The thickness should be a little more than that of Mango Juice and a little less than that of Mango milkshake

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Other Mango Recipes from this blog

Mango and Kesar Ice-cream

Video: Mango and Strawberry Milkshake

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Indian Rotis and Chappatis (from IndianFoodKitchen.Com)

Links to other sites:

A site dedicated to mango recipes

Indian Mango recipes from HubPages

Latest Update: I have added a text recipe of this video. Check below the video

In this video, the chef (courtesy: www.videojug.com) shows how you can combine Apples, Beet roots and Carrots to make this refreshing drink for summer.
How To Make An ABC Juice

How To Make An ABC Juice

Text Recipe - How to make ABC Juice

Ingredients

• 3 apples
• 3 beetroot
• 3 carrots

Method

1. Cut all of the fruits and vegetables into pieces. Make sure that they can fit through your juicer.
2. Add each piece, one by one, and get all of the liquid out as much as possible. You can do it in bunches or groups of vegetable/fruit.
3. Take the liquid from your fruit and vegetables and serve it into a glass.

Note

• The reason this recipe is called “ABC” is because of the ingredients. However, you can substitute other fruits and vegetables using the same letters.

References:

• VideoJug - Original source of information, shared with permission
• Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual.

Links:

Healthy Fruit Juices (from Healthrecipes.com)

Natural Juice Recipes (from About.com)

Vegetable Juice Recipes (from Veggie Cook)