Kajjikayalu/Sweet Somas | Diwali Recipes

Diwali means first thing comes to my mind is fire crackers and sweets. Celebrate this Diwali with this sweet dish. Crispy outside gooey inside this dish is very unique and yummy.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 cup of all purpose flour
2 tsp semolina
1tbsp oil
pinch of salt
water

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup grated coconut powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Mix flour, salt, semolina and oil. Slowly add water and make into stiff consistency dough. Knead dough for at least 5 mts and keep it aside for the dough to rest. Kneading helps to get the crispy texture.

Roast sesame seeds till it turns golden color. In a food processor/mixer process all filling ingredients into coarse powder

Take the dough and form into small lemon sized balls

roll into thin poori/flat bread consistency

place 1tbsp of filling in the center and dab the edges with water and fold in to half and seal all the edges without any gaps.
using a fork or pizza wheel or pizza wheel with a design or somas cutter cut the edges. This gives that nice design. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.

Heat oil in a wide pan. Make sure oil is not too hot. To test the heat pinch a small dough and put it in oil. if the dough comes from bottom of the pan to top then oil is ready.
Deep fry prepared somas/kajjikayalu in hot oil on medium flame.  Fry on both side till they turn golden color.
Remove from oil and drain excess oil using paper towel. Store cooled somas/kajjikayalu in a air tight container. These last for 2 weeks if you can control :)

Happy Vijayadashami !!!

Wish you all a very happy Vijayadashami with health, happiness and prosperity.

Here is the naivedhyam which I made:  Tamarind Rice (Andhra Style), Moong dal Halwa

Will post both recipes tonight. Till then Have a great rest of the day !! Enjoy the festival!!!

Spinach Roti/flat bread

Here is one more simple and easy dinner recipe for a week night.

Ingredients:

2 cups of wheat flour

1tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Ajwain/Carom seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 - 1/2 cup finely chopped spinach

salt as per taste

Oil/ghee (Optional) for shallow frying.

Preparation:

In a pan add 1/2 tsp oil and add cumin, carom seeds and chopped spinach and let it cook till spinach loses raw flavor and quickly transfer the mixture into a bowl and leave the bowl on ice bath. This will help to retain the color of spinach.
Once spinach cools down puree it to smooth paste
Mix wheat flour, salt and spinach puree and make into a soft dough. (Do not add water unless you cannot form into soft dough. If needed add water little at a time). If spinach puree is too much then increase the quantity of flour.

Cover the dough with damped cloth and keep it aside for 15 mts.

Take small piece of dough and shape into small balls.
Roll these dough balls into round shaped dusting with flour as needed.

Heat a pan/griddle and place roti on the pan.

Cook both sides of the flat bread/roti evenly by adding few drops of oil till it turns golden brown color.

Serve these rotis with curry or dal or raita. I made lentils tonight to serve with roti.

Mustard flavored Malabar Spinach Soup / (Bachhali Koora Ava Pulusu)

It's been a hectic month so far for me. Some how managed to take few pics of tonight's dinner preparations. Result of those pics is this post. Healthy and delicious Green leaf soup a.k.a Malabar Spinach soup. In my mother tongue this vegetable is called "Bachhali". Very healthy and full of nutritious leaf vegetable.  Combination of Lentils(Mudda Pappu) and soup(Bachhali Pulusu) along with hot rice is divine. 

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Bachalli(Malabar Spinach)
2 green chilies slit length wise (As per your spice level reduce the number of chilies)
pinch of turmeric
salt

mustard paste:
2tbsp mustard seeds
2tbsp sesame seeds
4 red chilies (as per spice level)
1tbsp rice
small lime sized tamarind
Soak all the ingredients in water for 10 mts. Using a food processor or blender make it into smooth paste and keep it aside.

Seasoning:
1tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1tsp oil
few curry leaves
1 red chili

Preparation:

Rinse and chop malabar spinach and cook using 1/2 cup of water along with green chilies, salt and pinch of turmeric.  Once the greens are cooked add the mustard sesame paste and 1 more cup of water and let it cook for 5 to 10 mts till the greens are cooked with spices. (Depending on the consistency add water if needed). Give a taste test and adjust the spices accordingly

Seasoning: In a separate pan heat oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies and curry leaves. Once mustard seeds starts splattering remove from heat and mix with soup

Serve with hot rice and lentils(Mudda Pappu)

Homemade Granola

Summer means vacation, planning for additional classes, good bye to gym and welcome few extra pounds :) Even though I don't like to see summer ending but have to accept the change with a smile. Here is the simple change you can do at home instead of buying granola.  Store bought granola is high in sugar, unhealthy fats and oils. Making granola at home is super easy, quick and you can control the quality,quantity of ingredients and the flavors. 

For any type of granola only 3 main ingredients. Oats, Oil and sweetener

Oats are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.  It is better to use rolled oats than instant oats. Instant oats means highly processed. So try to buy whole oats

Oil- I prefer to use vegetable or canola or sunflower oil. I keep reading about using coconut oil to be more healthy but I never tried till now. I am just little skeptical about the taste using coconut oil. Next time I will try a small batch and see how it tastes. 

Sweetener: Always use raw ingredients to make it healthy.  Most of the granola recipes call for honey. You can either use honey or maple syrup. Make sure you use Organic honey or Organic Maple syrup. You can even substitute with Agave. Always be low on sweetness. 

Use the basic ingredients and add any type of healthy ingredients as per your taste. Be creative in your flavors. 

Here is the recipe which I used today

I made two varieties today. One with nuts and another one nut free.  

Ingredients:

6 cups of rolled oats 

1/4 cup of oil 

1/3 cup of Organic Honey/Grade b Maple Syrup/ Local honey/ Agave

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp flax seeds (optional)

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 cup of chopped nuts ( I used walnuts and pecans)

1/4 cup of dried fruits ( I used cranberries and cherries)

Process:

Pre heat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit

grease two baking sheets using oil or use parchment paper

In a large bowl add oil,honey,spices and mix well

Add oats, coconut to the oil mixture and mix well either using clean hands or spatula. Make sure oats are coated well with oil mix.

At this point I made the mixture into two parts. One part I added chopped nuts and mixed well. 

Spread the mixture in the prepared pans evenly in a thin layer. Bake for 15 mts or until the mixture turns into gold color. Make sure you stir the mixture for every 5 mts or else the granola will be burnt on one side.   Once granola turns into golden color remove from oven and allow it cool stirring occasionally. (Stirring helps to keep the heat distributed evenly)

Now add dried fruits to the cool mixture.  Store the cooled granola in airtight container. 

Serve with unsweetened milk or greek yogurt.

Eggless Strawberry Ice Cream

Making ice cream at home is time consuming. But results are worth. I always wanted to make ice cream at home but always procrastinated with some excuses. Finally few weeks back opened my ice cream maker and made this yummy ice cream. But as usual I got busy with work and did not get a chance to blog. Today finally spared some time to blog about this yummy recipe.

Here is the recipe adopted from Cuisinart recipe booklet. (Original recipe calls for heavy cream. I used

whole milk instead of heavy cream)

3 cups of fresh strawberries

4 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups of sugar

3 cups of whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract 

In a small sauce pan combine sliced strawberries, lemon juice and half cup sugar and cook on medium heat for 5 to 6 mts till strawberries are soft and sugar is melted. Let the strawberries sit and macerate in juices for 2 hours. Puree the berries along with juices in a blender.

In a small pan combine milk and sugar and cook on medium heat stirring constantly till milk starts to boil. Remove from heat and let it sit till it reaches room temperature.
Once Milk and Strawberry puree comes to room temperature keep it in refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
Now as per your ice cream maker instructions prepare the freezer bowl.
Combine milk, strawberry puree and vanilla extract and pour in the freezer bowl and turn the machine on till the mixture is thick. My ice cream maker took 20 - 25 mts to thicken the mixture. The ice cream will have soft and creamy texture.  If you want firmer consistency keep it in air tight container and place in freezer for few hours. Remove from freezer and serve.

Set Dosa or Challa Pongaralu or Sponge Dosa or Poha dosa

Today's recipe is one of many varieties of dosa. This is my all time favorite dosa. Soft, spongy, little sour in taste with spicy Ginger chutney is an amazing combination for breakfast/dinner/snack. This dosa is prepared in a different way soaking ingredients in sour yogurt. Yogurt helps in fermentation and flattened rice/poha gives that soft, spongy texture to dosa. This dosa looks and feels like pan cakes. 

My mom makes best poha dosa ever. I always tried to make but every time it was not the same texture like the way my mom makes it.  Finally I am getting the right consistency for past few weeks. 

Here is the recipe. Next time when your kid asks for pan cakes try these and surprise them. I am sure they will love it.

Ingredients

3 cups of rice/parboiled rice

1 cup of poha/flattened rice

2 tbsp urad dal

3 tbsp oats (this is my variation from my moms)

1tbsp fenugreek seeds

2 cups of sour yogurt

1. Wash all ingredients and drain the water.
2. Soak ingredients in sour yogurt and add enough water till all the ingredients are fully submerged. (Approximately 1 cup of water)
3. Soak for 5 to 6 hours or overnight
4. Drain and reserve the liquid and grind to a smooth paste using the reserved liquid in a blender
5. Add salt and mix well and keep it aside for fermentation for 3 to 4 hours.
6. If you are living in cold temperatures keep the batter in oven with the lights on. If your oven doesn't have light then pre heat oven to 100 F for 5 mts and switch off the oven and keep the batter for fermentation
7. Once the batter is fermented it will double the quantity (Make sure you keep the batter in bigger container to avoid overflowing.)
8. In a pan add few drops of oil once oil is hot add two small ladles of batter and drizzle few drops of oil around the edges and cover it with lid
9. cook till the base is cooked and top is softy and spongy/airy with lot of holes. 
10. Turn and cook on the other side for 1/2 mt 
11. Serve with spicy chutney or sambar or both.

Mumbai style Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Are you tired of eating same type of food every day? It is tough to make variety for weeknight dinners. With the office work and household chores I would rather make something simple than planning for a variety. But I get bored of eating similar food for a week. Today is was one of those days , so I ended up making Mumbai street food style sandwich.

Here is the simple,easy and delicious grilled veggie sandwich

Ingredients:

Bread (Wheat or white or whole grain)
Green chutney (Coriander, mint chutney) (Recipe below)
cheese slice or grated cheese  (optional)
veggies as you like
Sandwich masala powder to sprinkle on the veggies ( you can use chaat masala if you do not have sandwich masala powder) I used store bought sandwich masala for today :)
butter

Recipe:

Spread butter on the bread slices .
Spread evenly green chutney on the buttered slices
assemble veggies and sprinkle sandwich masala powder and cover with the other slice bread (butter /chutney side down)
Press it firm and apply small amount of butter on both sides and place on the hot griddle

Cook on both sides till it turns golden color.

Remove from griddle cut diagonally and serve.

After a taking one single bite of this sandwich I will bet you will be in dream world) Crispy sandwich just melts in your mouth.

(Sandwich masala powder recipe from Tarladalal
1 tsp cloves
1/4 cup cumin seeds
 2 tsp black peppercorns
2tsp fennel seeds
 1/4 inch cinnamon
 1tsp black salt
1tsp dry mango powder

Dry roast cloves, cumin, cinnamon, fennel and cinnamon til they reach golden color.
Combine roasted ingredients along with salt and dry mango powder and using a coffee grinder grind into powder and store in a airtight container

Green chutney Recipe:

1 bunch of coriander leaves
1/2 bunch of mint leaves
5 green chilies (adjust as per your taste)
1 lemon (cut and extract juice)
salt

using a blender or food processor blend all the ingredients into smooth paste (Add water if necessary to attain smooth paste consistency). Adjust spice accordingly