THE CHEF and HER KITCHEN

Monday, September 14, 2015

Til ka Ladoo | Nuvvula Undalu | Chimili | Sesame Laddu

Ladoos are a favorite to Ganapati Bappa and if you don't want to prepare an elaborate recipe for the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival, why not try this simple Til ka Ladoo which hardly takes half an hour to prepare this ladoo.You can check out various recipes like Kudumulu, Undrallu, Kozhukattai, Holige, Karanji, Ladoo,few more sweets and savory recipes here for Ganesh Chaturthi festival.For the complete Ganesh Chaturthi recipe collection, CLICK HERE.
'Til ka Ladoo' which is called as 'Nuvvula Undalu' or 'Chimili' in Andhra Pradesh is a simple laddu recipe which requires just two ingredients - sesame seeds and jaggery. The sesame seeds are roasted and ground together with jaggery and is shaped into small ladoos. There is another variation for this laddu where the sesame seeds are mixed with jaggery syrup and is formed into small ladoos which is extremely popular in Maharashtra and is prepared during festivals like Sankranti and Ganesh Chaturthi.

My mom prepares this mixture(sesame seeds- jaggery) along with Groundnut - Jaggery mixture and use them as a filling for Kudumulu/Modak during Ganesh Chaturthi or to pair with Ottu Shavige (String Hoppers/Idiyappam) or as a filling for Obbattu(Holige), but my mom does not make that mixtures into ladoos. We used to finish half of these mixtures in the form of powder before she uses it for the other stuff and hence when ever she prepares, she prepares them in a large quantity.I prefer the groundnut version more than the sesame seed mixture as I like the taste of groundnuts more.

Also check out other Ladoo recipes in my blog here:

Roasted Sesame Laddu | Chimili | Til ka Ladoo Recipe:

Yields 10-12 ladoos

Prep time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 5 mins | Total time: 20 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Sweets

Ingredients:

1 cup Sesame seeds(white variety)

3/4 cup Jaggery,grated

Method:

Dry roast sesame seeds little at a time till they turn slightly golden brown.Sesame seeds pop up while roasting and hence dry roast it in a deep pan.
Grind the sesame seeds in whipper mode and add grated jaggery half the way and pulse it again in whipper mode till it forms a moist mass.Do not run the mixture for long in the mixie, it will become a paste otherwise.
Make small balls out of the mixture and arrange the ladoos in a wide air tight container.

Store them under room temperature.You can store them for 10-15 days.

Notes:

You can even use black colored sesame seeds instead of the white variety.
You can adjust the quantity of jaggery to suit your taste buds.In case if you find it less sweeter after you grind it you can add bit more and grind again.
You can use this filling for Kudumulu/Modak which we prepare during Ganesh Chaturthi or to pair with Ottu Shavige (String Hoppers/Idiyappam) or as a filling for Obbattu(Holige).

Til Poli | Ellu Holige | Nuvvula Bobbatlu | Sesame Holige

Holige is one of the most favorite sweets in our family and gets featured quite often either on a festival day or we get to eat it when we attend family functions.There are various varieties of Holige and the most popular among them is Pappu Obbattu(Bele Holige) which is our typical community special as the stuffing is made up of toor dal and jaggery and also Coconut Holige. Pappu Obbattu(Bele Holige) has shorter shelf life and has to be consumed in 2-3 days where as Coconut Holige has longer shelf and can be stored upto a week.

Ellu Holige and Shenga Holige(Groundnut Holige) are North Karnataka specialties and they can also be stored up to a week. These holiges are slightly crispy and soft to bite when they are hot but becomes slightly hard when sits for long, but if you reheat the holige on tawa it turns soft. Try this Ellu Holige recipe for the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival.The filling can be prepared even on the previous day so that it would be easy for you to prepare holiges on the festival day.

In Maharasthra Tilgul Poli is prepared during Sankranti, but that version is slightly different as they use a combination of ingredients like groundnuts,sesame seeds,besan,dry coconut and jaggery for filling which tastes delicious and I would post that version some time later.

Check out other Holige Recipes here:

Sesame Holige | Ellu Holige | Til Poli Recipe
Yields: 9-10 Polis

Prep time: 30 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 1hr + 1 hr resting time

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Sweets/Festival Sweets

Ingredients:

Ghee/oil, to fry poli/holige

for outer layer/dough:

1 cup Maida or Chiroti rava

a pinch of Salt

1 1/2 tsp ghee, melted

1/3 cup Oil, to soak the dough

Water, to mix the dough

for filling:

1 1/4 cup Sesame seeds

1 cup grated Jaggery

Method:

for outer layer/Dough:

Mix flour(maida) or chiroti rawa with a pinch of salt and ghee and add water to it and knead in to a very smooth dough. The consistency of the dough should be very loose than the regular roti dough, this is the most important step otherwise you will not get softer polis.You can add a pinch of turmeric powder to the dough if you want.
Now using your fist hit the dough for few mins to get the softer dough or lift the dough and drop it hard into the bowl and repeat it until the dough becomes very smooth.
Now place this dough in a deep vessel and pour oil over it until the dough is completely soaked in oil. Let the dough rest for a minimum of 1 hr and upto 2 hrs. Drain the excess oil and use it for other purpose.

for the filling:

Dry roast sesame seeds until they turn slightly brown and starts to pop up in the pan.
Grind roasted sesame seeds to a powder in the mixie and then add grated jaggery to it and run it again to get a uniform mixture. The mixture might become sticky which is fine.
Store it in air tight container.Make this on the previous day itself to ease up the process on the festival day.

to prepare Ellu Poli:

Cut the holige paper into a round and place it on the rolling stone which we use to roll rotis. Grease holige paper or banana leaf with oil.
Pinch a small amla sized dough(the amount of dough should be half the quantity of the filling you take) and flatten it a bit using your hands as shown in the pics and place one ball of filling and seal it properly from all the edges like how we do for parathas. Now flatten it slowly with hands to get 5" diameter circle. Alternatively you can roll it like parathas like how we do in between two greased transparent sheets. Adapt the method which ever is convenient for you

.
Now place the holige paper along with the poli(with poli facing down the tawa)on a hot tawa over the low flame.
Let it sit for 20-30 seconds and now peel the holige paper gently scraping it along the edges using a spatula. See the pics to get a clear understanding of it.
Now fry it on both sides applying ghee until light golden in color. Pour the ghee over it, do not try to spread ghee over the poli while frying it. Do not fry it for long time, it will make the polis bit hard so quickly remove it from stove when you get to see the brown patches on it.
Repeat the process for making all polis, smear the holige paper liberally with oil and follow the same procedure.

Serve the Ellu holige warm or hot with melted ghee.

Notes:

These holiges can be stored upto a week.They turn slightly crispy and hard when it cools down, you can reheat them on tawa before serving for soft holiges.
You can replace sesame seeds with groundnuts and follow the recipe to make palli obbattu,even it tastes delicious.
You can add 1/4 tsp cardamom powder to the sesame filling, but I prefer without it.

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Kathal Dum Masala | Raw Jackfruit Masala Gravy

Raw Jackfruit is one vegetable with which I have not experimented much in my kitchen as the cleaning process of jackfruit is quite messy and is a very tedious task. Whenever we go to Bangalore my parents make sure to get fresh ripen Jackfruits and cut them at home.The taste of these freshly cut ripen jackfruit is so sweet and juicy that I don't keep the count of how many pieces I am having.Even after distributing to relatives and friends we still had lots of jackfruit pieces left with us and hence we had experimented quite a few dishes with the ripen jackfruit like halwa,ice cream and a couple of more dishes and they have turned out absolutely delicious.I could not take the photos then but during my next visit I would definitely click the pictures to share it in my space.

Now coming to the today's recipe , when my parents visited me recently I had asked them to help me in cleaning the raw jackfruit so that I can dish out a couple of recipes with it.This gravy is one among them and the rest I would share some time later.As the curry is cooked in low heat by using Dum process the gravy tastes absolutely delicious.The texture of Jackfruit is slightly meaty and is a treat for all the vegetarains and also the raw jackfruit absorbs the masalas nicely.I had prepared this curry in a similar way like how I prepare the gravy for Biryanis and so this gravy can be used for layering the Kathal Dum Biryani,you can follow my Chole Dum Biryani and use this gravy for layering instead of chole.

Check out few other exotic gravy recipes in my blog:

Babycorn Kurma
Kashmiri Dahi Baingan
Matar Paneer
Matar Mushroom Masala | Dhingri Matar
Mirchi Ka Salan - Hyderabadi Special
Mushroom Chettinadu | Chettinad Mushroom Masala
Paneer Butter Masala - Restaurant style!!
Paneer Makhani/Paneer Makhanwala
Raw Banana Kofta Curry | Kacche Kele ka Kofta Sabzi
Shahi Paneer - Restaurant style
Stuffed Capsicum in rich gravy

Kathal Dum Masala | Raw Jackfruit Gravy:

Serves 3-4

Prep time: 30 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 1 hr

Cuisine: North Indian | Category: Side dish

Ingredients:

500 gms Raw tender Jackfruit

1/2 cup frozen Green Peas

2 Tomatoes

2 Onions

1" Ginger

5-6 Garlic cloves

1 cup thick fresh curd,nicely beaten(keep at room temperature)

1/2 tsp Homemade Garam masala

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

1 1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Red chili powder

2 tbsp Coriander leaves,chopped

Salt to taste

3 tbsp Oil

Spices to temper:

2 Green Cardamoms,slightly crushed

1 Green chili,Slit

1/2" Cinnamon

1 Mace flower(Javithri)

3-4 Cloves

1/2 tsp Shajeera/Black Cumin seeds

1 Bayleaf

Method:

Spread paper on the platform or on the floor.Apply oil to your palms,knife and chopping board and cut jackfruit into two halves.Then cut each half into small portions and remove the green thick skin part and also the center thick stalk.Cut the remaining portion into 1" or 1/2" cubes and immediately immerse those pieces in a bowl of water.You can add 2 tbsp buttermilk to the water as it helps in retaining the color of the jackfruit pieces.
Chop one onion finely and roughly chop the other onion for pureeing.
Grind ginger,garlic and one onion to a fine paste and remove the mixture and keep it aside.In the same mixer grind the tomatoes to a fine puree and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker and crackle shajeera and add all the spices - bayleaf, cinnamon, mace,cardamom, cloves and green chilli and fry them for a minute.
Add the finely chopped onion and fry until it turns slightly brown in color.
Add the ground puree of ginger-garlic-onion paste and fry it until the raw smell goes away.
Now add tomato puree and fry until the oil leaves the edges.
Add all the masalas - red chili powder, turmeric powder,coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and salt and fry well for a couple of minutes.
Now add the raw jackfruit pieces and frozen peas and fry for 3-4 mins and add 1-1.5 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
Once the pressure drops mix the nicely beaten curd into the gravy and boil it on low flame for 3-4 mins by stirring it continuously and cover it with a tight lid(you can even seal the edges of the lid with the soft roti dough) and cook for 8-10 mins on a very low flame.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve it hot with Rotis/Naans/Kulcha/Pulavs/Biryani.

Notes:

You can use the same gravy for layering for Kathal Dum Biriyani.Follow the same process as my Chole Dum Biryani and use this gravy for layering instead of chole.
If you like it more masaledar add few more masalas according to your palate.

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Janmashtami Recipes | Gokulashtami Recipes | Krishna Jayanthi Recipes 2015

Sri Krishna Janmashtami also known as Krishnashtami | Gokulashtami is on September 5th which is on saturday.I am posting my collection of Janmashtami recipes by updating with new recipes which would be useful for the festival preparations. Every region prepares different varieties for Krishna Jayanthi while many prepare only poha(atukulu) based items as it is the most favourite food of Lord Krishna. You can prepare various savoury snacks and sweets ahead of the festival and offer it as Naivedyam to Krishna and on the festival day you can prepare items like Atukula upma, Atukula Payasam, Gojju Avalakki, Kobbari Atukulu, Mosaru Avalakki or Atukula Dosa along with home made butter.