Bottle Gourd(Anapakaya/Lauki) Halwa With Honey

Spring festival Holi is on it's way bringing colors and happiness. All the trees going to ware new leaves. Colorful and beautiful butterflies will be busy with the blooming flowers. Bees will be busy in searching sweet honey. Birds will sing looking all this........

Holi is an spring festival. People will chase and color each other with dry colors and with colored water. It is celebrated mostly in North India. Let's celebrate Holi with this delicious sweet....

Ingredients:

• Bottle gourd - 1, medium
• Milk - 1 cup
• Honey - 1/2 cup or to taste
• Sugar - 3 tbsp (optional, if u want more sweet)
• Ghee - 2 tbsp
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Almond - 10
• Food Color - Green (optional, i am not using it)

Preparation:

• Peel the skin and grate the bottle gourd. I am using 2 cups of grated bottle gourd.
• Chop almonds.

Let's prepare Halwa

• Heat ghee in a pan, add chopped almond and fry. (if u want u can dishout almonds)
• Add grated bottle gourd and fry for 10 minutes.
• Add milk and cook on slow flame with lid on for 15 minutes.
• Add honey, sugar and cardamom powder. Halwa will become loss.
• Cook halwa until it gets together.
• Garnish with almonds and serve.

Note:

• Cooking milk for long time will give taste of khoya.

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Madatha Kaja

                         

Madatha Kaja is a traditional sweet of Coastal Andhra. Madatha means folding in Telugu Language. This sweet will have folding's and crispy outside and juicy inside.   

 These days my 3 yr old kid asking me, to prepare kaja. Whenever she tells her dad, "Amma kaja chestadi", i remember the day, i fell in love with this beautiful, mouthwatering sweet. I finished my 7th grade and for summer holidays i went to Karnataka to my aunt's house. I felt like i am in a different world surrounded with nature. Mountains, river with very sweet and clear water, as we can see a coin if we drop in the river, greenery everywhere and animals. Banjara women, i saw them for the first time,they are very beautiful with their mirror worked costumes and silver jewelry.
                          
  One day my aunt  told me that she will prepare kaja and i am very surprised to hear that, wondering how she will prepare kaja at home. At that time for me, kaja is a store bought sweet, no one can make that at home. With my anxiety i went into kitchen and started watching her and in half a hour she prepared kaja. That  was the day, i fell in love with my "sweet" kaja. 
With few ingredients we can make this sweet and it tasty very good when it is fresh and hot. We can also store them in a air tight container for up to a month.  

Prepare dough with all purpose flour and rest it for 20 minutes and divide into
three equal parts and roll them into thin chapatis.

Apply ghee and rice flour to a chapati and place another on top of it and repeat
with the remaining one and roll as shown.

Cut the roll and press it gently as shown and deep fry them on low heat.

Make little thick sugar syrup(no need to reach string consistency) and soak
fried kaja in syrup for 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup ( If want more sweet add up to 1 cup)
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Water - 4 to 5 tbsp (For syrup)
• Water for making dough - More or less 1/2 cup
• Oil to deep fry
• Ghee - 3 Tsp
• Rice flour - 1 Tbsp

Preparation:

• Mix all purpose flour and 2 tsp ghee in a bowl.
• Add water little by little and make flour into soft dough and keep aside for 20 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and roll them into large thin chapatis by dusting with little rice flour.
• Then apply ghee on top of one chapati and sprinkle some rice flour and spread it all over the chapati and place another chapati on it and repeat the same process and place another chapati.  By applying ghee and rice flour we get layers. ( We can also mix ghee and rice flour in a bowl and apply that paste on chapati)
• Now roll the chapati stack and cut the roll into small pieces.
• Noe gently press each roll and  deep fry them in oil on medium to low heat till kaja's turn golden brown. (Cook on low to medium otherwise inside will be raw)
• While start preparing kaja, take sugar and water in a pan and boil till the syrup thickens but not reach string consistency. While adding kaja's syrup may thicken and crystallize, add little water and boil again. Syrup must be warm while adding kaja.
• Soak the fried kaja's in sugar syrup for 10 minutes.
• Serve them hot or store in air thigh container.

                      

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Bobbatlu/Bakshalu/Puran Poli

Bobbattu/Bakshalu/Puran poli is a traditional sweet and prepared in many states of India. It is a sweet filled bread and known as Bobbattu or Bakshalu in Telugu, Holige or Obbattu in Kannada, Boil in Tamil and Puran Poli in Marathi. Filling will be made with chana dal or moong dal and sugar or jaggery will be used as sweetener and cardamom or fennel seed powder is used to flavor the filling. Grated Coconut can be used in making filling along with dal but it is optional. Traditionally all purpose flour will be used to make the dough, but wheat flour can also be used to make dough. Some will use half all purpose flour and half wheat flour to make the dough. Making bobbatlu is time taking but this sweet worth it.

Let's see how to make bobbatlu:

Soak and cook chana dal

Take Jaggery and little water in a vessel and cook till jaggery dissolves and to a boil
add cardamom powder 

Add cooked dal and cook till it comes together

Grind the cooked dal mixture and keep aside.

Mix semolina and all purpose flour and make into soft dough, apply oil and keep aside for
1 hour and make balls out of filling and dough. Filling balls must be little big

Make as shown in the image and fold the dough and press into small puri 

Yield : 9 to 10 (May vary depending on size)
Ingredients For Filling (Poornam):

• Senagapappu/Chana dal - 1 cup
• Grated Bellam/Jaggery or Sugar - 1 1/4 cup (Jaggery taste good)
• Ellachi/Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Ingredients For Making Dough:

• Maida/All purpose flour - 1.5 cup
• Rava/Semolina - 1 Tbsp
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Salt - pinch
• Water as needed (up to 1/2 cup)

Preparing Poornam:

• Wash and soak senagapappu/chana dal up to 2 hours.
• Cook the soaked dal in 2 cups water for 3 whistles or cook in a thick bottomed vessel until the dal is done. (If cooking in a vessel add more water)
• Strain the water and keep the dal aside.
• Add jaggery or sugar or half jaggery and half sugar and 1/4 cup water and cook till jaggery dissolves and comes to a boil (No need to get string consistency), then add cooked dal and cook till the dal thickens by stirring and add cardamom powder. 
• Let it cool and grind the dal to paste and keep aside. It thickens after sometime.                                                                        OR
• Grind the cooked dal into paste and add it the dissolved jaggery mixture and cook till it thickens by stirring and add cardamom powder and keep aside until cools. It thicken more after cooling. Don't leave the poornam on stove alone, it may burn. We have to stir continuously while thickening.
• Make balls out of the poornam.

Preparing Dough:

• Mix semolina and little water and add all poupose flour, salt to semolina mixture and make it into soft dough by adding little water at a time and apply oil. (Dough must be soft like puri dough)
• Keep aside for 1 to 2 hours by soaking in 1/4 cup oil. (If don't want to use so much oil apply little oil to the dough.
• Make balls out of dough. Dough balls must be little smaller than poornam balls.

Preparing Bobbatlu:

• Take the dough ball and make it into small puri with hand by applying oil.
• Place poornam in the middle and close it with the dough.
• Apply oil to a plastic sheet and place the dough filled with poornam and press it gentle with hand by applying oil and make it into thin chapati.
• Heat a griddle and cook the bobbatu on both sides by adding little ghee or oil. (Ghee adds flavor)

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Rava/Semolina Payasam

Lot of travels and special occasions made me very busy this month.  Yesterday is very special day for me and want to make a dessert, but very tired with traveling. When I am thinking what dessert to do and digging my mind I found  one recipe. Not only me but for any Indian when they want to make simple and easy dessert, the recipe that strike in the mind is kheer which is known as Payasam in Telugu. Payasam is very easy to prepare, whether it is made with Vermicelli or Rava/Semolina or Broken Wheat or Veggies like Bottle gourd, carrot or Fruits like apple. 

I went to kitchen as I want to make vermicelli payasam, but found that I am out of vermicelli so made Rava Payasam.

Serves : 4 to 5
Ingredients:

• Rava/Semolina - 3 Tbsp
• Milk - 4 cups (I am using 2% milk, if using whole milk add 3 cups milk and 1 cup water)
• Sugar - 1/4 cup or to taste
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cashews and Raisins - 2 tbsp
• Ghee - 1 Tbsp

Methods:

• Heat  ghee in a pan, roast cashews and raisins and keep them aside.
• To the same pan add rava/semolina and roast until golden color on medium heat stirring continuously.
• Add milk slowly without forming lumps by stirring.
• Cook for 5 minutes and add sugar and cardamom powder and cook until sugar dissolves.
• Garnish with cashews and raisins and serve.

 

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Kajjikayalu/Andhra Sweet Dumplings

Diwali/Dipavali is festival of lights. Dipa means lamp or light and Avali means row or series. On that day, houses will be cleaned and decorated with lights and pray Goddess Lakshmi and burst crackers and distribute sweets. There are many stories for celebrating Diwali.
As per Ramayana the Great Hindu Epic, People of Ayodhya celebrated the return of Lord Rama along with Sita to Ayodhya after 14 years living in the forest as Diwali by lighting the diyas and busting crackers.

As per Mahabhrata another Great Hindu Epic, People of Hastinapura celebrated the return of Pandavas, their mother and wife to Hastinapura, who was defeated by their brothers, the Kauravas in a dice game and in exile for 13 years.

Other story about Diwali, on that day Goddess Lakshmi was rose up from ocean while Gods and Demons are churned the ocean to get Amrita, which makes Gods and Demons immortal. Many divine objects came up while churning the ocean. Lord Vishnu married Goddess Lakshmi on that day which is celebrated as Diwali.

Another story is Lord Vishnu killed Demon Narakasura and rescued many women, the day before Diwali which is celebrated as Nraka Chaturdashi. The people of heaven and earth celebrated the former day as Diwali.

Another story is, Satyabhama, wife of Lord Krishna, attacked the demon Narakasura, son of Goddess Bhudevi, while Lord Krishna was injured by Narakasura and killed him and rescued many women. Before Narakasura's death, he requested a boon from Satyabhama, that everyone should celebrate his death with colorful lights. So this day is celebrated as 'Naraka Chaturdashi' - the day before Diwali and the former day as Diwali.

Kajjikayalu is an traditional Andhra sweet. It is a sweet dumpling made with maida and stuffed with coconut and sugar. There are different stuffing like coconut-khoya, coconut-rava..... Kajjikayalu are similar to Gujia, a North Indian sweet, made with rava or maida stuffed with khoya.  


Yield - 36-40
Ingredients:

• All purpose flour/Miada  - 3 cups
• Grated Coconut - 2 cups (Fresh or Dry. I am using fresh)
• Putnala pappu powder/Roasted gram - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp ot to taste
• Ghee - 5 tsp

Preparation:

• Add salt and 3 tsp ghee to all purpose flour/maida and mix well. Add water to maida and make into dough. Dough shouldn't be too soft.  Cover and keep it aside while preparing stuffing.

Preparing Stuffing:

• We can also use sooji/Rava  instead of putnala pappu/roasted gram.
• Can also use poppy seeds/Gasagasalu. If you like them to add dry roast the poppy seeds and remove from the pan.
• Now add 2 tsp ghee and roast the coconut till golden brown. If using fresh coconut, it will take little bit long to roast then dry coconut.
• Add sugar to the hot coconut so that it will melt or add sugar powder and roasted gram/putnala pappu powder and cardamom powder.

Making Kajjikayalu:

• Divide the dough into lemon size balls and cover. Take one ball and roll and place 2 to 3 tablespoon filling in the middle depending on the size of your rolled dough and close it carefully and press the ends and pinch the ends as shown in the picture.

• In a skillet heat oil for deep fry and fry the 3 to 4 kajjikayalu at a time on medium heat till they turn brown. Oil must be hot enough. 

• Cool and store them in air tight container up to 1 month.

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