Maa ladoo : Roasted gram ladoo

Maa ladoo is a very simple yet drooling sweet which we make mostly for special occasions like krishna jeyanthi, deepavali etc. It can be made easily for sudden guests as it needs very less ingredients. Even begineers can make this sweet . I wanted to start new year post with some sweet recipe. Since my hubby likes this sweet and its very easy I choose to go with this yummy sweet :). Let this year be as sweet as this ladoo to all of you !! 

Maa ladoo

Cuisine: Indian Category: Sweets/desserts Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 15

Ingredients Roasted gram dhal (or) Potu kadalai 1 cup heaped Sugar 3/4 cup Ghee 4 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp (1/4 - 1/3 cup) Cardamom 4 Cashews 5 Badam (optional) 5 Raisins(optional) 8

Preparation             1.     Chop the nuts. You can break them into small pieces too. Method      1.     Sauté the potu kadalai in medium flame for few minutes till it gets warm. Cool down the dhal. In meantime grind sugar with cardamom smoothly.        2.     Sieve the powdered sugar if needed. Grind the dal to smooth powder and sieve it.         3.     Mix both the powders well. In pan heat 1 tbsp ghee and roast the nuts till golden brown. Add it to the dhal+ sugar mix.     4.     In the hot pan add 3 Tbsp ghee so that the ghee will melt utilizing the heat in the pan. Add this to the maa ladoo powder and mix well to get a crumbly dough. Now shape them to small balls.     5.     If you feel the ladoo is bit dry as shown add 1 tbsp melted ghee and shape the balls to get the glowing round ladoos! This is purely according to personal preferrance. Just a pic to show difference :).

Notes   ·     Sieving the floor is purely optional. Grind the potukadalai/sugar for a minute give some rest and again grind for a minute to get really smooth powder.       ·         For bulk preparations you can grind them in mills. Even if the floor is bit coarse that never affects the taste.      ·         I prefer adding ghee gradually. If you fry nuts in 1/4 cup ghee and add the mix will become too hot to handle. Also we may end up in adding more ghee.       ·         If you dont like much sweetness reduce 1 tbsp sugar.         ·         Sauting the dal is again optional. It helps to remove moisture but take care not to change the colour of the dal.

Stays good upto 10 days if stored in air tight container :). 

Sweet Boondhi

Sweet boondhi is a famous and easy sweet which is served in many marriages. Along with filter coffee and mixture it tastes awesome. This is a trial recipe for those who want to make boondhi ladoo! (Ok to be honest I tried to make ladoo for second time ended up with sweet boondhi). So decided to post as sweet boondhi recipe and I hope you like the post :).

Sweet Boondhi

Cuisine: Indian Category: Sweet/Dessert Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients Besan flour 1 Cup Baking soda A tiny pinch Yellow food colour A small pinch Salt A small pinch Sugar 1 cup Water 1/2 cup+ 1/4 cup Cardamom Powder A Generous pinch Saffron Few strands Edible Camphour A small piece Sugar candy 10 Cashew 6 Raisins 6 Ghee 1 teaspoon Oil For Frying Preparation     1.     Mix besan flour, salt, baking soda, salt and yellow food color. Add 1/4 cup water slowly and mix evenly to form an uniform batter without any lumps.

Method            1.     To check whether the oil is hot enough add one drop of batter and see if the boondhi rises immediately.     2.     You can make boondhis by pouring the batter through dotted spatula or the proper boondhi maker. In my case since I din have both I used applam strainer it worked well too :).     3.     Drain the boondhis in kitchen towel. Finish the batter before proceeding to next step.     4.     Add ghee to another pan and roast the raisins along with cashew. Once they become golden brown, keep them aside.    5.     Add sugar and water just enough to immerse it. Mix slowly till sugar completely dissolves.      6.     Boil the syrup till it reach one string consistency. Switch off the flame and add saffron and cardamom powder.      7.     Add the boondhis. Crush the edible camphour and add to the boondhis.     8.     Add the raisins, sugar candy and mix everything well. Once they get cool down store in air tight container and enjoy :).

Notes      ·         Boondhi batter consistency is very important. If it is too thin boondhi will fall flatso add some besan in that case.      ·         If the batter is very thick boondhis may have tails. Batter should be little thin than dosa batter that is the correct consistency.       ·         Preferably use a wide kadai to fry the boondhis.      ·         You can divide batter into three portions and add three different food color (yellow, orange, green ) to each batter to make tri color boondhis :).

   

Thayir murukku - Curd Chakli

I tasted this murukku only after my marriage. In Trichy one shop is very famous for this murukku and my hubby loves it. Whenever we used to visit trichy we buy this from that shop without fail. The shop keeper used to call it "pulippu murukku" (sour chakli) and by seeing it's color, at first assumed it is made using tomato juice. But when I talked to the shop keeper he said they use curd. This is an easy recipe and the murukku is really tasty. Do try it !!

Thayir murukku

Cuisine: Indian Category: Snacks Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients Rice flour 1 Cup Urad dhal powder 1 tablespoon Salt 1 teaspoon flat Chilli Powder 1/2 teaspoon Butter 1 tablespoon Curd 1/4 cup Asafoetida A generous pinch Oil For Frying Preparation     1.     Assemble all ingredients. Mix everything well and form a soft sticky dough. Cover the flour with moist cloth and leave it for minimum 3 hour.

Method             1.     If the flour looks stiff add some more curd and form a smooth flour.      2.     I used the thenguzhal press. Once the oil becomes hot enough press the flour in circular motion.      3.     Cook in medium flame till all the bubbles subside. Drain the excess oil using kitchen towel.      4.     Store in airtight container. I just broke the murukku into small pieces to give a "kara sev" effect :).

Notes      ·         The shop keeper said they will rest the flour overnight. Since this is my first try I decided to safe play with lesser duration.       ·         Overnight setting is recommended. I used kashmiri red chili powder. If you use ordinary chili powder taste will be same but murukku will be mild in color.     ·         Murukku may look soft once we drain. Do not panic. After they get cool down they become crispy :).