Happy halloween!

Chakkuli

Ingredients
Rice powder - 3 cups
Urad dal 1 cup
Butter 1 stick
salt
Cumin seeds 2 tsp

Oil for deep frying

Method:
dry roast the urad Dal until it turnslight brown.cool and powder.

In a mixing bowl add powdered urad dal,salt,cumin seeds,rice powder and melted butter. Prepare a soft dough adding enough water. The dough should be bound together and not crumbly.

Now fill it into the chakkuli press and make chakkulies over wax paper .

Heat oil and when the temperature is appropriate drop the chakkuli and fry till they turn brown and crisp.

Note: Typically, this Rao family strongly disagrees storing of awesomely made crisp fried snacks and I never had to worry about storing since they are finished off on the same day....but, Chakkuli can be stored in an airtight container for a couple weeks.

Valval / Avial

Ingredients:
Sour curds 1/2 cup
Curry leaves 1 sprigs
3 tbsp Coconut Oil
Salt

for the masala:
1 cup cup of dessicated Coconut
5-6 Green chillies
1 tsp Cummin seeds

Mixed vegetables : Ashgourd,drumsticks,potato,carrots, beans, yam, plantain,etc.

Method:
Grind together the ingredients to make a fine paste, adding very little water.
Cook all the vegetables with salt and 2 slit green chillies.When cooked, add the masala and boil. Add curds and stir, take off heat.
Temper with mustard seeds, green chillies and curry leaves and mix well. Do not heat.
Serve hot with rice.

Happy Diwali 09!

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khoya and Almond burfi

12 0z Khoya
(comes in a 12 oz slab)
1 cup grated coconut ( 1/2 a packet)
1 cup powdered almonds
1/4 cup rava
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp ghee

For syrup:
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water

1/2 cup almonds, crushed
( also,about 25 whole almonds for garnish)
10 cashew, crushed


Mix grated khoya, coconut, almond powder, rava, cardamom and fry them lightly with ghee on a low heat untill u smell the aroma and get close to the color of almond skin.

Separately, prepare one-string syrup by dissolving sugar in the water.

Now stir the coconut mixture into the syrup. keep stirring till the mixture binds into a ball and most of the liquid is evaporated.( took me abt 10 Min's)

Grease the plate with ghee, transfer the prepared mixture and pat evenly (use ghee smeared spatula to deal with the stickiness).

While still warm (not hot) cut it in diamond shape. Place a whole almond for the garnish.

Ekpanne thamboli

Its the 2nd year anniversary to my blog! Yay!
Surprisingly I don't have a sweet dish to put up but I do have a nutritious, memory booster, tastiest thamboli among my favourites.
Ekpanne a k a one leaf , vandelega in kannada, Brahmi in Sanskrit and Thimare in tulu.... tastes very good for health and taste in chutney form and as thamboli ...but we completely disregard the health benifts and eat it just for its taste....just like any other amchi family. I haven't tried it any other way other than chutney or thamboli and I believe these are the only ways of consumption common to everyone back home. I miss this here in the U.S and should remember to have this during my visit to IND in summer, when it grows like crazy in our farm.
This is an uncooked gravy. Refrigerate to preserve the flavor.
Ingredients:
Ekpanne leaves about 1 cup
green chilles 6
Coconut 1/2 cup
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
ghee
tamarind paste 1/2 tsp

Method:
Heat ghee and fry the jera with ekpanne leaves till they wilt, roast coconut.Grind it with all the above ingredients.
Serve with rice.

Aloo Gobhi

Ingredients
Cauliflower, about 1 lbs
potato 2 large, boiled, cubed
green chillies 5, finely chopped
ginger-garlic paste 2 tsp
garam masala 1tsp
dhaniya powder 1/2 tsp
jeera 1/2 tsp crushed
chili powder 1 tsp
bay leaves 3
hing and salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish

Heat oil and season with crushed jeera, hing, ginger garlic paste and turmeric, add cauliflower and saute till it softens without adding any water. when cooked halfway, add rest of the ingredients, salt and potatoes. cook on low flame, stirring it often so as to prevent it from sticking. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Varan

A very simple seasonless dal.

Ingredients
1 cup toor dal
turmeric powder
salt
hing
1teaspoon ghee

Method

Pressure cook toor dal & mash and add the required quantity of water to desired consistency..
Add ghee, turmeric powder and hing to the dal and boil well.
Serve with white rice and vaingan-batata bhaji.

Gajar halwa

Ingredients
Carrots 2lbs
Milk 2 cups
Raisins 10
Condensed milk 1 cup
Sugar,according to sweetness you
Almond- 2 tbsp
cashew nuts- 2 tbsp
pistachio-1 tbsp
Ghee- 2tsp

Method
Grate the carrots. Add the grated carrots in a kadai with the milk. Keep stirring till the carrots cook well and the milk is totally absorbed. Then add the condensed milk and keep stirring till you get a thick consistency. Add sugar only if necessary , considering the amount of condensed milk in it. keep stirring till the halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan, add ghee and garnish with pistachio, cashew nuts, crushed almonds and raisins.

Udid Methi

Yes, this dish is named after just these two ingredients even though it has more than 10. This one is among my favourite dish that is prepared by my M I L, who happens to be a great cook according to me, my hubby and my cousins( other delicious preparations are sungat pannaupkari, visonu fry,varan,surnoli and pulao).

Ingredients:
Coconut 1/2 cup
brinjal 4
drumsticks pcs about 1cup
methi seeds 1/4 tsp
Coriander seeds 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Jaggery 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Red chillis 5-6
Curry leaves 4-5
Oil 1 tsp
Salt

Method:
Heat oil and fry coriander seeds, Urad dal, methi seeds, red chillies. Grind with jaggrey, tamarind and coconut to a fine paste.
Heat oil and season with mustard seeds, when they splutter add curry leaves and 2 broken red chillies add vegetables and 1/2 cup water, cook for 10 mins. Add ground masala, salt and Cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve hot with rice.