Rasgulla (Step by Step Instructions)
Rasgulla is a very popular sweet in India made of freshly prepared cottage cheese. I love milk sweets a lot and Rasgulla is my all time favorite. Here is the step by step procedure for making this delicious sweet.. Time of Preparation : 1 1/2 hours No of Pieces : 12 Ingredients: Milk – 4 cups Lemon juice – 3 tbsp Ice cubes – 5 Sugar – 1 cup Water – 1 1/4 cup Cardamom powder – a pinch Method of Preparation: Boil milk in a thick non stick vessel. When it starts boiling, reduce the flame and add the lemon juice. Stir continuously till the milk curdles and the whey separates. Now turn off the heat and add the ice cubes. Keep it aside for 5 minutes. Now strain the curdled milk using a fine muslin cloth. Wash...
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Ashoka Halwa
Ashoka Halwa or Asoka Halwa is a popular dessert from Thiruvaiyaru, Thanjavur District (South part of India). When you hear the name the first thing that anyone can think of is, why is it named as Ashoka Halwa!! Sorry, even I am on the same page with you… But I can tell you, this is by far the best tasting Halwa I have ever had. My sister lives in Thiruvaiyaru and whenever I meet her I get to taste this Halwa. She knows I am fond of this sweet and she packed me some Halwa flour to make it here. If you are fond of Halwas like me, you should definitely give this a try for this Diwali. The main ingredient of this dish is split moong dal or paasi paruppu. There are different methods of preparation for this...
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Diwali Delights 2012
Diwali is known as the “festival of lights”. This year Diwali falls on Tuesday, November 13. And this year we are planning to bring you recipe videos for some of the sweets and savories that we have posted so far. Here is a list of most recent recipes added to Diwali Sweets and Savories. Malai Sandwich Badam Halwa Coconut Burfi Carrot Halwa Kalkandu Chakkarapongal Nutty Kheer Oma Podi Quinoa Payasam Double Ka Meeta Mixed Nut Brittle Ashoka Halwa Click on each picture for the corresponding recipes and find the rest at Diwali Sweets and...
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Suzhiyan (Suzhiyam) / Maida Sweet Balls
Suzhiyan is a traditional dish which we make during Diwali. It is a very simple dish in which sweet puran in is either dipped in maida or urad dal batter and deep fried. In Tamil Nadu, we generally make with Maida flour. Here is the recipe for this simple dish. Time of Preparation : 90 minutes No of Servings : 10 Ingredients: Channa Dal – 1 cup Jaggery – 1 1/4 cup Coconut (grated) – 1/2 cup Cardamom powder – a pinch For Outer Cover: Maida / All purpose flour – 1/4 cup Water – as required Salt – a pinch Method of Preparation: Soak the channa dal for 1 hour and grind it coarsely. Dry roast the grated coconut and keep it aside. Boil around 1/4 cup of water and add the crushed jaggery. When the jaggery melts...
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Malai Sandwich/Chop
It is Diwali time and on this festive occasion we prepare a lot of sweets and savories and celebrate with our family and friends. Malai Sandwich or Malai Chop is a Bengali dessert made from Paneer/Chenna/Cottage cheese. I have also prepared khoa which serves as a patty. I have used an easy and quick method to prepare khoa. First we make flattened rasgullas, slit them into two halves and make the sandwich with khoa. Enjoy making this sweet for Diwali or any occasion. Preparation time: 2 and 1/2 hours Cooking time: 12 minutes Yield: 15 to 18 sandwiches Ingredients: Freshly made Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) – 2 cups Sugar – 1 cup Water – 5 cups Cardamom pods – 4 Saffron – 5 to 6 strings Rose flavored essence – 1 tsp Food color – red and yellow For Khoa: Butter – 1 tbsp Milk – 1 cup (whole...
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Badam Halwa
Badam (Almond) Halwa is one of the most popular and delicious Indian sweets and it is made with almonds, saffron, sugar and clarified butter. Diwali is coming up in a couple of weeks and if you are wondering what dessert to make, here is the richest, delicious and scrumptious Badam Halwa recipe. Try this recipe and you will definitely love it. Just as much if not more as I did. Preparation Time : 60 minutes No of servings : 6-8 Ingredients: Badam/Almonds : 1 cup Milk : 11/2cup Ghee : 3/4 cup (Clarified Butter) Sugar : 3/4 cup Saffron : 1/4 tsp Method Of Preparation: Soak Badam/Almond overnight or till the skin peel out of almonds when you press them with your fingers. Now remove the skin from almonds and grind it in blender by adding little milk to make...
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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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Coconut Burfi
Coconut Burfi or Nariyal Burfi is a simple and yummy treat which can be made in no time. My mom makes it for Diwali (an Indian festival) ans we all love it. I have used freshly grated coconut to make this burfi. But you can substitute it with frozen coconut or dry coconut. The good thing is you can make them ahead for a party or get-together which saves a lot of time. So enjoy this little sweet treat at home and let me know how it turns out. Ingredients: Freshly grated coconut – 2 cups Sugar – 2 cups All purpose flour or maida – 3 tbsp Whole cardamom – 4 Halved cashew nut – 3 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter – 3 tsp Method of Preparation: Add sugar to a pan with a little water and bring it to...
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Happy Vinayagar Chaturthi and Ellu Urundai(Sesame Ladoos)
Happy Vinayagar Chaturthi 2012 !!! Ganesha Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 20 August and 15 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period). While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Outside India, it is celebrated...
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Ammini Kozhukkattai
Ammini Kozhukkattai is made from the left over kozhukkattai dough. I am not sure why it is called so, may be because they are mini or small…:) Whenever we make Kozhukkattai we end up with some leftover dough which is what is generally used for making Ammini Kozhukkattai and Paal Kozhukkattai. I have also used leftover kara puran (ulundhu puran) in this recipe which adds more taste. You can even add some idli podi to this dish which I learnt from Jeyashri’s Kitchen. This is a healthy dish and can be made quickly. So you can even make it on a regular day as a snack. Perfect for kids and adults. Ingredients: Kozhukkattai dough – 1 cup Oil – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – 3/4 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp 2 to 3 curry leaves A pinch of asafoetida...
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Kara Kozhukkattai for Ganesh Chaturthi
Kara Kozhukkattai also known as Uppu Kozhukkattai or Ulundhu Kozhukkatai is another version of Indian rice dumpling filled with spicy puran. The filling consists of steamed and spiced urad dal along with coconut. I know!! it does sound a little different but belive me it tastes wonderful. For a long time being a sweet addict I have never touched the spicy version (kara kozhukkattai) inspite of my mom forcing me to eat. But after I started making these, I liked it so much (not as much as the sweet though…!) What a selfish act!!! Sorry mom.. Okay! Coming back to the dish… this is one of those dishes offered to Lord Ganesh on Ganesh Chaturthi or any regular day. The spicy filling is very easy to make. You can refer my Sweet Puran Kozhukkatai for making the dough. I have...
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Fried Modak – Step By Step Instructions
Modak is a sweet dumpling which is made of rice, wheat or all purpose flour. It can be either steamed or fried. Already we have steamed versions of Modak in Spicy Tasty. Here is the recipe for Fried Modak with step by step instructions.. Time of Preparation : 40 minutes No of pieces : 8 Ingredients: Oil – For frying For Cover: All Purpose Flour – 1/2 cup Sooji / Rava – 1/4 cup Water – 1/4 cup Ghee – 2 tsp Salt – slightly less than 1/2 tsp For Stuffing: Coconut (grated) – 1/2 cup Jaggery (grated) – 1/4 cup Cardamom powder – 1 tsp Cashews – 1 tbsp (finely chopped) Raisins – 1 tbsp (chopped) Ghee – 2 tsp Method of Preparation: Mix all purpose flour, sooji and salt with ghee. Add the water slowly and mix...
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Pacharisi Idli (Raw Rice Idli) – Step by Step Instructions
I have already shared the recipe for the regular idli here which is made using par boiled rice. This is another version of idli called Pacharisi Idli ( or Raw Rice Idli) which is made with raw rice and urad dal. This idli is prepared during Ganesh Chaturthi and Varalakshmi Vratham. For those who do not know about Idli, this is South Indian’s staple food served with chutney and sambar (lentil soup). It is soft, fluffy with no spice. Therefore it is also perfect for kids. Wet grinder is used for grinding rice and lentils. The batter is allowed to ferment overnight or 8 to 10 hours and then used for making idlis. Preparation time: 20 minutes + 12 hours for soaking and fermenting Yield: 30 idlis Ingredients: Raw rice (pacharisi) – 2 cups Whole urad dal – 1 cup Methi...
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