Kadalai Urundai – Peanut Candy Balls
Kadalai Urundai is an Indian version of peanut candy. You can make this with both jaggery or sugar. This one is with sugar which is my personal favorite. It is very easy to make with the readily available ingredients from your pantry. All it requires is some patience and attention while preparing. We prepare this sweet for festivals such as Karthigai Deepam and other special occasions. You can either make it as balls or as square shape burfis (chikki). You can find this peanut candy in almost all the Indian grocery stores. If you like the fresh ones like me then get ready to make some tasty peanut chikkis. I followed the steps from mykitchenstove (my sister’s blog) and it came out perfectly. Preparation time: 45 minutes Yield: 20 balls Ingredients: Roasted peanuts – 2 cups (without skin) Sugar – 1 cup...
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Semiya Kesari – Vermicelli Kesari
Kesari also known as Sheera or Sooji Halwa is a delicious Indian dessert made with semolina or vermicelli and sugar. We generally make it is as an offering (prasad) to God or for special occasions. This Kesari is made with vermecelli and it will be a nice variation if you always use sooji. Kids will also love it. Since it takes only a few minutes to make this you don’t have to plan ahead. You can make it for an unexpected guest or surprise your kids when they come back from school. It reminds me of my childhood days when my mom surprises with different kind of sweets and snacks…:) Also check out our recipe for Rava Kesari. Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 5 to 6 Ingredients: Semiya (vermicelli) – 1.5 cups Water – 2 1/4 cups Sugar...
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Vegetable Bonda
Vegetable Bonda is a popular snack made with mixed vegetables which is then dipped in a gram flour (besan) batter and fried in oil. It is more like Aloo Bonda but with a lot of other vegetables in it. You can serve it as an evening snack with a cup of tea or as an appetizer. Serve it with coconut chutney. Preparation time: 75 minutes Yield: 16 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Potatoes – 2 or 3 (big) Mixed vegetables – 2 cups (peas, carrots, beetroot, beans, cauliflower) Medium size onion – 1 Green chilies – 3 Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Finely chopped ginger – 1 tbsp Chili powder – 1/2 tsp Oil – 1 tbsp Chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) – 1/4 cup Salt to taste Oil for frying For Batter: Besan (gram...
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Paruppu Payasam
Paruppu Payasam is a delicious Indian dessert made with lentils, coconut milk, milk and jaggery. It is made during festivals and special occasions. I usually make it just with milk but this time as per my sister’s advice I also added some coconut milk which made this a lot of more richer and delicious. Try to use the thick or the first milk extracted from the coconut. For more details about how to extract coconut milk, read “How to extract coconut milk“. Preparation time: 40 minutes No of servings: 5 Ingredients: Moong Dal – 1/2 cup Chana dal – 2 tbsp Jaggery – 1/4 cup Milk – 3/4 cup Fresh coconut milk – 1 cup Ghee or clarified butter – 1 and 1/2 tsp Cashew nut – 1 tbsp Cardamom – 2 pods A few saffron strands Method of Preparation:...
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Nutty Kheer
I named it as Nutty Kheer because it contains all the essential nuts that is used in Indian cooking, almonds, pistachios, cashew nut and chironji. If you have never heard about Chironji before, they are tiny seeds or nuts from a bush called Buchanania lanzan. They are used in Indian cooking for making curries or desserts. They look like lentils but have a flavor of almonds. It is called “Sara Paruppu” in tamil. This easy and flavorful dessert kheer can be made in advance which saves a lot of time when you have a party or a get-together in your house. If you do not have condensed milk, you can double the volume of milk, reduce it to half or 3/4th and add sugar followed by the nuts. I made this for serving my guests during Navratri and it is...
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Peanut Mango Sundal
Sundal is a healthy snack prepared from different kind of lentils or legume which is boiled and seasoned with Indian spices. Peanut Mango Sundal is one of the popular sundal and I made it today as “Navratri neivedhyam”. Adding mango is an option. You can leave it out and follow the rest of the procedure to make plain peanut sundal. But the addition of fresh mango will give a kick to each bite and I just love it. Try this easy recipe for an evening snack or for your kids snack pack (you can reduce the spice in that case). Ingredients: Peanuts (verkadalai ) – 3/4 cup Finely chopped raw mango – 1/2 cup Oil – 2 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp A pinch of asafoetida A few curry leaves (4 to 5) Dry...
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Channa Dal Sundal
Sundal is a healthy snack prepared from different kind of lentils or legume which is boiled and seasoned with Indian spices. It is easy to make and nutritious. Generally we prepare this as an offering to God called ”neivedhyam”. It is Navratri time and we make different type of sundal almost everyday for 9 days. Today I am sharing the recipe for chana dal sundal which is one of my favorite. I cooked the soaked chana dal in microwave but you can also boil it on stove top or pressure cook it. If you are using pressure cooker make sure the dal is whole and not mashed. Keep checking for more upcoming Navratri special recipes. Ingredients: Channa dal (kadalai paruppu) – 3/4 cup Oil -1 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp Dry red chili...
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Chickpea Masala Sundal
Different variety of Sundals are made during Navratri days. Each day there is a different variety of sundals are made for Neivedyam and it’s distributed to the friends and family who are invited to see the Golu. I adapted this recipe from a friend. She made this sundal for her Golu last year. I’ve made this recipe a couple of times and it makes for a great evening snack with some hot tea. If you have Golu in your home and you are out of ideas for how to make different types of sundal, try this recipe. It definitely tastes delicious and it will be a sooper dooper hit. Try this recipe and let me know how it turned out for you. Preparation Time : 30 minutes No oF servings : 4-5 Spice Level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients: Chick pea/Chole :...
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Navratri/Golu Festival and Recipes
Wish you all a Happy Navratri!!! Navaratri or Navratri is a renowned festival celebrated by Hindus in the month of October. Navaratri means “nine nights”. This festival is celebrated for nine nights and 10 days consisting of ceremonies, rituals, fasts and feasts. The festival is dedicated to Durga, the mother goddess who also represents power. Durga annihilated the demon Mahishasura after a relentless battle lasting nine days and nights. The 10th day being Vijayadashami or Dasara meaning Victory celebrated for the destruction of evil. Navaratri is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. During this period Goddess Durga, Lakshmi and Sarawathi are worshiped for noble virtue and strength, wealth, wisdom/knowledge. Growing up in the Southern India, I have always known the way we celebrate there. But my friends from different parts of India, have described their way of...
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Vatana Sundal / Whole Dried White Peas Curry
Whenever we go to beach in India, we never miss this peas masala sundal.My husband asked for this beach style sundal for a long time. I tried this sundal once by trial and error method and it came out so well. We felt like having the same beach style pattani sundal. So I tried again with proper proportion of masalas and it came out so perfect.Here is the recipe.. Time of Preparation : 30 minutes No of Servings : 4 Spice level : 4 out of 5 Ingredients: Whole Dried White Peas – 1 cup Onions – 1 cup (finely chopped) Tomatoes – 1 cup (finely chopped) Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste – 2 tsp Green chillies – 2 Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp Sambar Powder – 1 tsp Rasam Powder – 1/2 tsp Coriander powder...
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Medhu Vadai
Medhu Vadai or Vada is a traditional South Indian food. They are crispy outside, soft and airy inside. Generally served with sambar and chutney as a side or dunked in a yogurt sauce or sambar or rasam and served as dahi vada (curd vada), sambar vada and rasam vada respectively . Vada is generally served with Ven Pongal and idli which completes a typical South Indian breakfast. The main ingredient of this dish is whole urad dal, black gram without skin which is very nutritious. Vadas are preferably eaten freshly fried. It is one of the common food you can find in street carts as well as in restaurants. It makes me nostalgic when I think about those days when we used to buy vada and bajji from street vendors. I still continue to enjoy it whenever I visit India. Nothing can beat that taste....
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Black Chickpeas Masala Sundal / Kala Channa Masala Sundal
I cooked Breakfast Korma yesterday and the chickpeas which I used was there. My mother-in-law gave the idea of making this Masala sundal and I made the sundal for the evening snack. It was really tasty :). Time of Preparation : 15 minutes Spice level : 4 No of Servings – 2 to 3 Ingredients: Black chickpeas / Kala Channa (boiled) – 2 cups Onion (finely chopped) – 1/2 cup Oil – 2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Split urad dal – 2 tsp Red chillies – 2 Asafoetida – a pinch Curry leaves – a few Coriander leaves – a few Salt – to taste Masala to Grind: Coconut – 1/2 cup Green Chillies – 4 (according to spice level) Garlic – 2 cloves Ginger – 1 tsp Fennel seeds – 2 tsp Method of Preparation: Soak...
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Chickpeas Sundal / Kondai Kadalai Sundal
Navarathri is a festival that is celebrated for nine days. In this festival we will arrange different idols on steps called Golu. On these nine days we will make different sundal on each day. Generally the procedure for making any sundal is same. Here is the recipe for the chickpeas sundal. Time of Preparation : 20 minutes Spice level : 3 No of Servings : 2 Ingredients: Chickpeas – 1/2 cup Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp Salt – to taste For Seasoning: Oil – 2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Urad dal – 2 tbsp Asafoetida – a pinch Green chillies – 2 (finely chopped) Red chillies – 2 Curry leaves – a few Coconut – 1 tbsp (shredded) Method of Preparation: Soak the chickpeas for 6 to 7 hrs or soak them in hot water for 2...
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Coconut and Rice Kheer – Thengai Arisi Payasam
Kheer or Payasam is an Indian dessert made for festivals and special occasions. Coconut and Rice kheer is popular in South India and I love this kheer just for the combination of rice and coconut cooked in milk. To sweeten this dish, we can add either sugar or jaggery. I prefer sugar to jaggery for this payasam. Finally enhanced with the flavor of cardamom and fried cashew nut. It is a bit time consuming but very simple procedure. Try this and let me know how it turns out. Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours No. of servings: 6 t0 7 Ingredients: Basmati rice – 4 tbsp Shredded coconut – 1/2 cup Milk – 8 cups Sugar – 3/4 cup Cardamom pods – 4 Broken cashew nut – 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter) – 1 tsp Method of Preparation: Soak...
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Lemon Rice
Lemon rice is one of the popular rice dishes in South India. It is easy to make and perfect for a quick lunch or lunch box. When you make lemon rice use cooked and cooled rice. Hot rice will tend to break while mixing. You can prepare this dish as neivedhyam for any pooja or auspicious day. Serve this dish with potato chips, potato fry, papad or just any pickle. Preparation time: 15 minutes No. of servings: 2 Spice level: 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Lemon juice from one big lemon Cooked white rice – 2 cups Oil – 2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp White lentil or Urad dal – 1 tsp Channa dal or Split gram – 1 tbsp Peanuts – 2 tbsp Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Curry leaves – 5 to 6 Green chillies...
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Pattani Sundal-Green Peas Sundal
In South India, if there is one thing Navrathri days will bring to mind is the delicious varieties of sundals made and shared with visitors 9 days of Golu will see different variations and recipes of sundal (gram) served hot.. They are rich in protein and makes a great evening snack on any day. This variety of sundal is one of my favorites my mom used to make this when I was in school and served it when I got back from school. And the other specialty of this sundal is it’s so popular in beach, if you have been to Marina beach or the Elliott’s beach in chennai, you’d find this selling fast with some fresh onions and raw mango slivers. Ah.. I still remember those golden days with my friends we used to go to beach to...
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