THE CHEF and HER KITCHEN

Monday, November 11, 2013

Saffron Rice | Saffron Pulao(Pulav) Recipe | Pulao Varieties

Saffron is the one of the most expensive spices available. It adds a delicate sweet fragrance to any recipe.It is my most favorite spice and so I ensure that I stock it in my pantry.Unlike other spices, we don't add saffron in large quantities;a tiny pinch of saffron is more than sufficient to make your dish fragrant and colorful.You can spoil a dish, if you add them in more quantity,so adding required portion is also equally important.

Mostly Saffron is used in sweet varieties and some kind of rich pulaos and biryanis.You need to crush them slightly and soak them in warm milk for sometime so that it can release its beautiful color and is then added to any kheer/biryani variety.Alternatively, you can crush them to a powder in mortar and pestle and add.I prefer to use the first option, as I like the look of beautiful saffron strands in my kheer/biryanis.

Indian Cuisine has lots of Rice and Pulao varieties from various parts of the country.However I prefer the spicier versions or mildly spicy pulaos over the sweetened ones,but again it depends on the side dish you prefer.Saffron pulao is a similar version to Kashmiri Pulao but the former is the slightly spicier version where as the latter is mildly sweetened and loaded with dry fruits and sometimes fruits.
On our daily basis, we usually prefer mildly spiced Indian gravies to go with rotis or pulaos.Saffron Rice is mildly spiced and hence you can pair it with spicy or mildly spiced gravies and dal varieties like Mirchi Ka Salan , Mixed Vegetable Kurma, Matar Paneer, Paneer Makhani, Vegetables Makhani, Dal Fry, Dal Makhani, Rajma Masala and Creamy Lobia.

Saffron Rice | Saffron Pulao(Pulav) Recipe:

Serves 2

Prep time:10 mins | Cooking time:30 mins | Total time:40 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Rice | Pulav - Main Course

Ingredients:

1 heaped cup Basmati Rice

12-15 Cashew nuts

8-10 Mint leaves(optional)

1/8 tsp Turmeric powder(optional)

12-15 Saffron strands

3/4" Cinnamon

3-4 Cloves

2-3 Green Cardamom

1-2 Bay leaves

1 tsp Shahi jeera (black cumin seeds)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Ghee
Caramelized onions,to garnish(optional)

Method:

Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 10 mins.Do not wash more than twice as it looses its fragrance.
Crush the saffron strands slightly in hand and soak them in a tbsp of warm milk for 10-15 mins.
Heat oil and ghee in a thick kadai/pan(or cooker) and fry cashew nuts until they turn golden in color and remove them and keep aside.In the same oil add shahi jeera and let them crackle.
Add cloves,green cardamom,cinnamon and bay leaves and fry them for a minute.Slighly open the cardamom pods before adding so that they do not splutter.
Add drained basmati rice and turmeric powder and fry well for a couple of minutes until its dry,do this step carefully as the rice might get broken.
Add saffron strands soaked in milk to it.
Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil and add salt and mint leaves and cover it and let it simmer for 12-15 mins until done.If you are preparing it in cooker,pressure cook for 1 whistle and simmer it for 5-7 mins.
When the pressure drops,leave it for 10 mins and then gently fluff it up using a fork and add fried cashew nuts and mix.
Garnish with fried onions(optional) and cashew nuts.

Serve it hot with any mild gravy like Paneer Makhani,Vegetables Makhani or dals like Dal Fry,Dal Makhani ,Creamy Lobia and raitha, papad. I served it with Matar Paneer.

Notes:

Mint leaves are optional in the recipe.I usually add it if I have them otherwise I ignore adding them.
This is a mild spiced rice recipe which pairs well with any spicy curry.
You can add vegetables like carrots,peas,potatoes,beans,capsicum and make vegetable pulao following the same recipe.
The addition of ghee enhances the flavor of rice and pulaos,hence do not skip it.
You can even add 1/2 cup milk and reduce the water by 1/2 cup in the recipe.
You can even add fried raisins for a slight sweet variation of this pulao.You can pair with rich gravies with Navratan Kurma,Paneer Butter Masala,Malai Kofta,Shahi paneer etc.
To caramelize onions fry thinly sliced onions in a tbsp of oil or ghee for few mins.Add a tsp of sugar to it and fry until it turns golden brown in color.You can even deep fry onion slices until golden brown and crisp.

Idli Milagai Podi | Idli Podi Recipe | Homemade Chutney Powder

Apart from Chutneys and Sambar,Idli podi makes a nice accompaniment for south Indian breakfast items like Idli and Dosa.In general Idli podi or Karapodi is to be mixed with a liberal quantity of ghee which makes it more tasty to relish with idli. I have already posted the famous Andhra Nalla karam podi and also Tamilnadu style Milagai podi using Whole black gram. Today's version is almost like Milagai podi(with black gram) and uses white urad instead of the whole black variety.

Check out various Chutney Pudis for Idli/Dosa:

Idly Podi / Milagai Podi:

shelf life:2-3 months

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Urad dal

1/2 cup Chana dal

10 Guntur Red chillies

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida (Hing), use the rock variety
Salt to taste

1 tsp Oil

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai and add urad dal and chana dal and fry them separately until they turn golden brown and keep them aside and let them cool.
In the same pan add red chillies and asafoetida and fry them until they turn crisp.Remove them and keep them aside.
Now add sesame seeds and roast them until they pop up and remove it and keep aside.
Grind all the above ingredients with enough salt to a coarse powder.
Spread the mixture on a plate and once it is cooled pour into the air tight container and store it for a couple of months.

Serve it with Idli /Dosa. Mix the powder with a liberal quantity of ghee or sesame oil while serving.

Notes:

You can replace plain urad dal with the whole black urad for a healthier version.
You can add 2-3 garlic pods in the last round of grinding the powder.It adds a nice flavor,however it is optional.
Addition of a fat pinch of hing also enhances the flavor of this podi,so do not miss it.
You can also add some byadige red chillies for a deeper red color powder.

Technorati Tags: idli milagai podi, how to make idli podi, milagai podi recipe, idli podi recipe, spicy idli chili powder recipe,side dish for idli and dosa, south indian

Pindi Chole | Rawalpindi Chana Recipe

I prepare Chole or Rajma at-least once a week and if I run out of them, I end up with options like Lobia, black peas etc.TH prefers black chickpeas over the white one, as he likes the nutty taste of the black chickpeas; hence the black chickpeas get featured at our place more than the kabuli chana does.Though my ideal option for chickpeas would be the Punjabi Chole version,but it is quite boring to prepare the chole in the same way hence I always look out for various options.You can prepare chickpeas in various forms like Pindi Chole, Kadai Chole, Chana masala(with coconut), Kala chana masala, Punjabi Chole, Methi Chana, Chana Palak, Kadala curry etc. This post is on the preparation of Pindi Chole recipe. I will post the other varieties later.

Pindi Chole or Rawalpindi Chana emerged from the name of Rawalpindi, a place in Pakistan. Pindi Chole is prepared in a different way from the usual chole recipe. In Pindi chana there is no onion and tomato used and it is totally prepared with the spices and is made dry unlike the regular chole.The addition of freshly pound spices and dried anardana powder along with amchur adds a nice tang to the recipe.I have adapted the recipe from SK's site but I toned down the spices and masalas to suit our taste buds.Pindi chana is a great combination with parathas or pooris/bhaturas. Serve it along with onions,green chillies on the side and add lemon juice to the chole; this combination will elevate the taste to a different level.

Pindi Chole | Rawalpindi Chana Masala Recipe:

Serves 2-3

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins | Total time: 25 mins + 25 mins of chole cooking time

Cuisine: North Indian | Category: Side Dish - Main Course

Ingredients:

to cook chole:

1 cup white Chickpeas(Kabuli Chana)

1 Tea bag

1 Biryani leaf

1" Cinnamon + 2 Cloves

Spice mix:

1 tbsp Coriander powder

3/4 tsp Red chili powder

1/2 tsp Homemade Garam masala

1 tsp Amchur(dried mango) powder

to roast and grind:

1 tbsp Cumin seeds

2 tsp Anardana(dried Pomegranate seeds)

other ingredients:

2-3 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1-2 Green Chilies,roughly chopped

1 tbsp Coriander leaves,to garnish

to serve:

Onion,finely chopped

1 Green Chilli,finely chopped(optional)

Lemon wedges

Method:

Wash and soak chickpeas for 7-8 hrs or overnight. Drain the water and rinse it again and add fresh water (2-3 cups) and add biryani leaf, tea bag, cinnamon, cloves and salt and pressure cook for 1 whistle and simmer it for 20-25 mins.Once the pressure drops, fish out the spices and tea bag and drain and reserve the cooked water.
Dry roast cumin seeds until they are dark brown in color and remove it aside,do not burn them.In the same pan dry roast anardana and keep it aside.Once they come to room temperature grind to them a powder,slightly coarse is fine.
Meanwhile mix red chili powder, coriander powder and amchur powder and keep it ready.
Heat oil in a deep curved pan and add ginger-garlic paste and cut green chilies and fry for a minute until they loose their raw smell.
Reduce the flame and quickly add mixed masala of red chili powder,coriander powder and amchur powder and fry for half a minute.Be careful and make sure you do not burn the masala.
Add 1/4 cup of reserved cooked water to it and let it boil until the oil floats.Add the boiled and drained chickpeas and enough salt(remember we added salt while cooking chickpeas as well) to it and cook until the water evaporates.
Add garam masala, roasted cumin and anardana powder to it and mix well and cover it and cook for 3-4 mins.If you want you can add a tbsp of water and cook if the chole is very dry.
Garnish with coriander.

Serve it hot with Poori/Naan/Phulka/Bhatura with chopped onions,green chillies and lemon wedges. Mix the chopped onions and green chillies and add lemon juice to the pindi chana before eating.

Notes:

You can prepare this with black chickpeas.I usually prefer black chickpeas over the white ones.
If you like you can add a chopped tomato along with the garam masala and other spices at the end as the original recipe suggested.
It tastes nice when it is made spicy but you can adjust the spices according to your wish.Instead of chopping the green chillies,you can add slit green chilies in the recipe.
I used home made Garam masala and Ginger Garlic paste, if you are using store bought ones increase them to 1 tsp garam masala and 1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste in the recipe.
If you want you can add 1 tsp Chole masala along with the other spices in the recipe.

Technorati Tags: pindi chana recipe, rawalpindi chole, pindi chole recipe, dry chole recipe, different chole varieties, side dish for rotis, restaurant style pindi chana recipe

Raw Onion Chutney | Ulli Karam for Idli and Dosa

How many of you like raw Onions? I am sure that there would be a mixed bunch of people who likes it and who do not like it. I like to eat a slice or two of raw onions along with rice for my lunch or in salads. Raw onions taste best with podi varieties and pacchadi varieties when mixed with rice, it is a must to add raw onions to the pacchadi varieties like Chintakaya Pacchadi , Gongura Pacchadi etc. My MIL makes this Ulli Karam to go with Idli and Dosa varieties but she makes sure that she has another accompaniment option like sambar or any other chutney variety along with Ulli karam. The reason being simple is this is a raw chutney strongly flavored with raw onions and hence you need another accompaniment to go with to nullify the strong taste of onions. The key taste for this chutney is in the way it is ground, it tastes nice when prepared chunky instead of smooth paste.This chutney tastes best when it is made super spicy and also one needs to add liberal amount of sesame oil or melted ghee to it. You can even spread this chutney in dosa once it is done, it tastes delicious too.

I have posted another version of raw onion chutney - Erra Karam long back which is slightly different from this version, you should even try Erra karam dosa too which good reviews from many of my readers.If you do not like the flavor of raw onions, you should try my other version of Onion chutney with dry coconut, it tastes really fabulous.

Check out other chutney varieties for Breakfast items:

Raw Onion Chutney | Ullipaya Karam Recipe:

Serves 2-3

Total Prep time:10 mins | Cooking time: NIL

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Chutney for Idli/Dosa - Accompaniments

Ingredients:

20-25 small Shallots or 2 Onions

4-5 Green Chillies

1/2 cup tightly packed Coriander leaves

1 tsp Tamarind Pulp

Salt to taste

1-2 tbsp Sesame Oil/ melted Ghee

Method:

Cut the ends of shallots and soak them in a bowl of water for 10 mins. This will make the process of peeling the skin of onions easier. Peel the skins and keep them ready, if the shallots are big cut them into 2-3 pieces. If you are using large onions peel and cut them into chunks roughly.

Wash and remove the hard stems of coriander and roughly chop the coriander and green chillies.
In a blender add shallots, chopped green chillies, coriander, tamarind pulp and salt and pulse it in whipper mode to get a coarse chutney. Do not grind it longer, just pulse it until you get chunky chutney as shown. You do not require any water, if required add a tbsp of water while grinding.

Remove the chutney to a bowl and add sesame oil or melted ghee and mix it nicely.

Serve it with Idli and Dosa varieties along with Sambar. You can even spread this chutney in the dosa once it is done, it tastes delicious too!!

Notes:

Shallots are preferred over onions for this recipe. If you do not have shallots you can use onions instead.
This chutney tastes best when made it spicy, so adjust the spiciness as required.
As this is raw onion chutney the flavor of onions is strong and it can be subsided slightly by the addition of liberal amount of sesame oil and ghee.However I suggest you to serve it along with Sambar or any other chutney.
You can replace green chillies with soaked red chillies or red chili powder in the recipe and you can add the tempering of mustard seeds to it at the end.
You can add few curry leaves(4-5 leaves) while grinding which adds a different flavor to the chutney.But do not add more curry leaves.

Technorati Tags: raw onion chutney, shallots chutney, how to make raw onion chutney, ullipaya karam, ulli karam,pacchi karam, side dish for idli and dosa, chutney varieties, easy chutney recipes for breakfast varieties, andhra recipes, south indian chutney recipes, no coconut chutney recipes for idli and dosa

Fruit Custard | Fruit Salad with Custard Recipe | Eggless Desserts Recipes

Fruit Salad with Custard is one of the most easiest desserts and also is my favorite too. At my place my mom always used to make this to use the left over fruits from the festivals. As one can prepare this fruit custard ahead, you can prepare this dessert even for get together or parties for a large crowd. Fruit Custard tastes best with vanilla ice cream but you can also serve it with whipped cream. If you are interested you can also check Fruit Salad(with out Custard) also called as Fruit Chaat or Cut Fruits here.

Basically you can use any fruits to make fruit custard but make sure you use fruits like bananas, apples, citrus fruits like orange or mosambi, pomegranate or grapes as base. During the mango season do not miss adding mangoes, they elevates the taste of fruit custard to a different level. You can even add chikoo, tinned pine apple(not the raw ones) if you like, but I do not add them as I am not a fan of these fruits. But I would definitely suggest you to avoid fruits like water melon, musk melon , pear in the fruit custard as the taste and texture of these fruits does not suit it in my opinion, but if you like those fruits you can add, no hard rules!!

Check out other interesting Eggless Desserts/Pudding recipes in my blog here:

Try this Fruit Custard for Diwali if you are planning a Diwali Party.

As Diwali is just few days away, Check out for a wide variety of options for Diwali here:

Fruit Salad with Custard Recipe:

Serves 3-4

Prep time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins | Total time: 30 mins + cooling time

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Desserts

Ingredients:

to make Custard:

500 ml whole cream milk

3 tbsp custard powder (I used vanilla flavour)

1/4 cup Sugar or 3-4 tbsp. Condensed Milk

fruits needed:

1 ripen Mango(in season)

1 Orange or Sweet lime or both

2 large or 3 medium Bananas

2 Apples

1 Pomegranate or 1/2 cup seedless Grapes or both

1/4 tsp Lemon juice, optional(to avoid the discoloration of fruits)

dry fruits:

8-10 Cashew nuts, finely chopped

8-10 Almonds, thinly chopped

to serve/garnish:

2 tbsp. chopped cashew nuts or almonds

Glazed cherries(optional)

sweetened Whipped cream or Vanilla Ice cream, to serve

Method:

Reserve 1/4 cup of milk and bring the remaining portion of milk to boil.
Meanwhile mix custard powder with 1/4 cup of milk nicely and add this to the boiling milk stirring continuously to avoid the formation of lumps or prepare the custard as per the instructions given on the pack. The custard should coat the back side of the spoon and should be able to draw a line, if the line does not get disturbed means the custard is ready and cooked. Add the sugar and mix it nicely until it melts. If you are adding condensed milk you can add it once it is cooled. Cool the custard completely and refrigerate it until its usage. Custard would become fairly thick once it cools down, but do not bother once you mix the fruits it will become slightly runny as it sits or you can even thin it up a bit by adding some milk.
Cut the fruits starting with the citrus varieties like orange or sweet lime and pomegranate or grapes and then add lemon juice(if adding) to it and mix. Now proceed with cutting other fruits like mangoes, apples by peeling the skin and remove the seed and cut into medium size cubes.
At the end cut the bananas into half circles and add to the remaining fruits and mix nicely.
Add the fruits and chopped nuts to the cooled custard and give a good stir. Refrigerate it for 2 hrs.

Serve it cold garnished with dry fruits or cherry on top with sweetened Whipped cream or Vanilla Ice cream.

Notes:

Cut the citrus fruits like orange/mosambi, grapes, Pomegranate first and then chop banana and apple so that the later ones do not loose their colour.
If you mix the fruits with custard much ahead there are chances that it might get watery, So plan in such a way that you mix the fruits with custard just 2-3 hrs before serving or 4-5 hrs max. But you can prepare the vanilla custard much ahead, even a day before you can prepare and keep it ready.
While serving if you find the fruit custard very thick you can add some milk and mix it to the consistency you need.
The quantity of sugar I mentioned is just right enough for enough sweetness as even the fruits lend their own sweetness when we bite. If you want it more sweeter you can add 2-3 tbsp. of more sugar.
If you want to make it rich you can mix 3-4 tbsp. of whipped cream in the cooled custard and mix well.
You can add fruits like sapota (chikoo), strawberries in season, tinned pine apple pieces to fruit custard. But try to avoid fruits like pear, watermelon, muskmelon as they change the taste of fruit custard.
The addition of nuts like cashew nuts and almonds adds a nice bite to fruit custard, do not avoid it.

Technorati Tags: fruit custard, how to make fruit salad with custard, how to make custard for fruit custard, fruit salad recipe, eggless fruit custard recipe, eggless desserts recipes, eggless pudidngs, mixed fruit custard recipe, easy fruit custard recipe, indian dessert recipes

Diwali Dinner Menu | Diwali Party Menu Ideas

Diwali is nearing by and many of you would be planning to host a mega dinner party for Diwali. Planning a dinner menu is always exciting for me and I had helped in fixing the menus for many of my friends and family. Though the planning is fun , it is bit painful to execute it. I usually plan my menu 2-3 days ahead and finish off the preparation work and desserts the previous day so that I can finish off the cooking easily on the day of party. I am sharing a few menu plans with various themes - North Indian, South Indian and Continental Menu options which are suitable for Diwali party so that it would be helpful to you in easy planning!!

As Diwali is just few days away, Check out for a wide variety of options for Diwali here:

Menu 1: Theme : NORTH INDIAN LUNCH/DINNER

Appetizers/Extras: (select atleast one from each category)

others: deep fried spicy papads,fryums

Mains: (select atleast one from each category)

dry/semi dry curry: Aloo Jeera | Aloo gobi | Kadai Paneer | Paneer Jalfrezi

vegetable gravies: Dum Aloo | Sabz Makhani | Methi Matar Malai | Stuffed Capsicum

Desserts: (select at least one from each category)

Menu 3: Theme : CONTINENTAL MENU

Appetizers: (select at least 1-2 varieties from each category)

finger food: Italian Canapes | Hummus with Pita chips | Garlic Bread Exotica

Mains: (select atleast 3-4 varieties using all options)

Desserts: (select atleast one from each category)

As Diwali is just few days away, Check out for a wide variety of options for Diwali here:

Technorati Tags: diwali party ideas. diwali party menu, diwali dinner menu, diwali menu, deepavali special lunch ideas, deepavali menu, special party menu, indian party menu ideas, party planning, party recipes, diwali dinner, dinner party menu ideas

7 Easy Ladoo recipes for Diwali | Laddu Varieties

'Ladoos' or 'Laddus' are the most easiest sweets recipes one can prepare as one does not need to bother about the sugar or jaggery consistency while preparing ladoo varieties , though few ladoos like Boondi Ladoo are an exception. There are various varieties of ladoos and the most popular ones are Rava Ladoo, Besan Ladoo, Boondi Ladoo, Motichoor Ladoo, Coconut Ladoo, Dry fruits Ladoo etc. I have compiled this post with the most easy ladoo recipes and would love to post more ladoo recipes in future.

As Diwali is just few days away, Check out for a wide variety of options for Diwali here:

1. Moong Dal Ladoo | Pesara Sunnundalu - This Ladoo is prepared with powdered roasted moong dal and sugar with a mix of ghee and fried nuts. This is a very simple yet delicious Ladoo. You can prepare the roasted moong dal flour ahead and store it in refrigerator and use it when required.

Moong Dal Ladoo

2. Kobbari Louse | Coconut Ladoo | Nariyal Ladoo - This is the best way to use if you have lots of coconuts during festive season. It just needs 4 ingredients and can be prepared quickly under 30 mins.

Coconut Ladoo

3. Marmarala Laddu | Puffed Rice Ladoo - This ladoo is definitely a treat for kids as well as adults. Crisp Puffed rice is mixed with jiggery syrup and is mildly flavoured with cardamom powder which adds a nice taste to it. This is definitely a Kid's favourite.

Puffed Rice Ladoo

4. Dry Fruits Ladoo - A Sweet can't be more healthier or nutritious than this ladoo. It does not have any sweetener as the dates and figs acts as a sweetener and is loaded with lots of healthy dry fruits. It is definitely a better way to sneak dry fruits in your kid's diet.

Dry fruits Ladoo

5. Minapa Sunnunda | Roasted Urad dal Ladoo - This is a very famous Andhra sweet which is usually prepared with urad dal and jaggery or sugar. I have used whole black lentils which is more nutritious compared to the white urad dal and makes it more healthy. Do give a try this recipe, its delicious!!

Minapa Sunnundalu

6. Oats and Dry fruits Ladoo - This was an experiment I did which turned out delicious and is also the best way to sneak oats in your diet. This is again a low calorie healthy ladoo to try this Diwali.

Oats and Dry Fruits Ladoo

7. Chocolate Coconut Ladoo - It is a simple twist which I gave to the regular Coconut Ladoo. The cocoa complemented the coconut very well in the recipe. If you are looking to try something different, try this one!!

Choco Coconut Ladoo

Also Check out for a wide variety of options for Diwali here:

Technorati Tags: ladoo recipes, easy laddu recipes, diwali sweets, sweets recipes, ladoo varieties,s outh indian laddu recipes,d iwali recipes, diwali recipes2013

Marmarala Ladoo is one among those few sweets I used to enjoy as a kid and we used to call it as 'Borugula Undalu'. I used to like mildly sweetened sweets like Rasgollas, Puffed rice ladoo etc. I used to even squeeze out most of the syrup from the rasagollas and used to prefer to eat it that way.But now I am not the same person any more what ever I used to hate before I would not mind eating them, might be our preferences change according to the times.

Coming back to today's recipe Puffed rice ladoo is prepared by mixing the puffed rice in jaggery syrup and rolled into big ladoos out of it. Puffed rice is known as maramaralu or borugulu in Telugu and pori in Tamil. It is usually prepared for Karthika(Karthigai) deepam but I do not mind preparing it any time of the year as it is one of the easiest and low fat sweets which tastes great. It is usually a kid's favorite, do give them a try for your kids if you have not prepared them before and I am sure that they will love it. You can try this fat free low calorie Puffed Rice Ladoo for Diwali too it simple, easy and healthy.

Also check out other storable sweet varieties in my blog:

Marmarala Laddu | Karthigai Pori Urundai Recipe:

Yields: 12-15 ladoos | Shelf life: 2-3 weeks

Prep time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins | Total time: 30 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Sweets

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups Puffed Rice(Maramaralu, Murmur, Pori)

1/2 cup grated good quality Jaggery (preferably chikki variety)

1-2 Cardamom pods, powdered

Water as required(roughly 1/3 cup)

Ghee, to grease your hands

Method:

Clean puffed rice to remove mud or stones in that if any.

Pour just enough water to cover the jaggery and heat it in a kadai till it melts completely.
Strain though a fine sieve to remove dirt.

Rinse the kadai and pour back the jaggery solution and add cardamom powder and boil briskly until it reaches SOFT BALL consistency.You should keep a bowl of water handy to check the consistency, drop a small amount of syrup in cold water, if rolled with the fingers the syrup should form a small bowl and it should be soft in texture. It is very important to get this consistency otherwise you cannot make balls(ladoos) out of it. If you cross this stage your ladoos will become hard and if you switch it off before you would not be able to make ladoos with it.So it is important to achieve soft ball consistency as mentioned.
Once this consistency is reached you can reduce the flame and add the puffed rice and mix it quickly until the syrup holds the puffed rice. If you feel that the mixture can hold more puffed rice,please feel free to add another 1/4 cup -1 /2 cup of puffed rice.
Switch off the flame and leave it aside for 2-3 mins until you can handle to make ladoos with that mixture.

Grease your hands with ghee and take a big portion of mixture and make it into a large ladoo of an medium orange sized one.Usually you can not prepare the shape exactly in the first go. So I usually make the balls out of it in a rough shape and once everything is done I again press them tightly to get a perfect round shaped ladoo. The syrup might get hardened in the later stages which makes it difficult to make ladoos, you can put the kadai back on fire and warm it a bit and proceed with making ladoos again.
Let them cool and they will harden a bit and hold its shape.

Store them in an air tight container.

Notes:

The key point to prepare this ladoo is in the process of the syrup. It is very important to achieve SOFT BALL consistency in the recipe, so follow the process bit carefully to avoid nay mishaps.
You can add 2-3 tbsp of fried gram(roasted gram/chutney dal) and also 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped dry coconut pieces along with puffed rice in the recipe. I usually do not add as I like them plain with puffed rice.
You keep another 1/2-1 cup of puffed rice handy just in case if you need to add more while preparing it.
I use chikki variety of jaggery to prepare this as it makes the syrup nicely and also tastes nice. You can use any good quality jaggery for the same.

Technorati Tags: pori urundai for karthigai deepam, maramarala ladoo, pori urundai recipe, borugula laddu, pakam maramarala ladoo, how to make pori urundai, puffed rice recipe, karthika deepam recipes, karthigai deepam recipes, easy sweets recipes, kids recipes

Subscribe to My Blog

Recipes by Region

Browse by Ingredients

Followers

Mango Pickle Recipes

Payasam|Kheer Recipes

Special Categories

Festival Recipes

Translate

My Family Recipes-Special Series

Monday, November 11, 2013

Saffron Rice | Saffron Pulao(Pulav) Recipe | Pulao Varieties

Friday, November 8, 2013

Idli Milagai Podi | Idli Podi Recipe | Homemade Chutney Powder

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Pindi Chole | Rawalpindi Chana Recipe

Monday, November 4, 2013

Raw Onion Chutney | Ulli Karam for Idli and Dosa

Friday, November 1, 2013

Fruit Custard | Fruit Salad with Custard Recipe | Eggless Desserts Recipes

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Diwali Dinner Menu | Diwali Party Menu Ideas

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

7 Easy Ladoo recipes for Diwali | Laddu Varieties

Karthigai Pori Urundai | Maramarala Laddu | Puffed Rice Ladoo | Kathigai Deepam Recipes

Search For a Recipe

FOLLOW ME ON FB

let's connect

Contact Me:

Pick up from MENU

Recipe Categories

Blog Archive