Kara Boondi Recipe – Spicy Boondi Recipe - Namkeen Boondi Recipe

In this post, I have shared the recipes of basic Boondi recipe along with South Indian Kara boondi recipe and North Indian style namkeen  boondi recipes with step by step photo and troubleshooting tips.

Kara boondi & oma podi are Raksha’s most favorite snacks recipes. So we used to buy them from snacks shops very often. Recently we bought a pack of colorful kara boondi from Lakshmi Sweets. We call this as muttai kara boondhi in Tamil as it looks round in shape. 

For every Diwali, I used to make oma podi. But the colorful and spicy boondi tempted me to give a try. So I prepared Kara boondi recipe at home for the first time. I have tried it thrice since yesterday. First I made boondi adding besan flour, rice flour and cooking soda just like my bajji recipe. It came out crispy, crunchy but it was oily too. So this morning, I again tried it by watching Nisha Madhulika & Vahchef’s basic boondi recipe video. The recipe was so simple with just 2 ingredients. When I tried it ,I was extremely happy with the results. It was so crunchy and not oily at all. I was very happy that I learnt how to make perfect boondi recipe without tails or flat boondi. This is an all rounder recipe. 

By following this recipe, you can make sweet boondi, boondi ladoo, South Indian kara boondi/Spicy boondi mixture ( Tamil nadu style), North Indian style namkeen boondi, boondi raita & boondi chaat as well. You can make so many yummy teatime boondi snacks. I too made it colorful like in shops. Raksha and Sendhil loved it a lot. We enjoyed it with Sambar rice & munched it during our teatime.
Now Lets see how to make boondi recipe at home along with the recipes of South Indian style Kara boondi and North Indian style Boondi namkeen with step by step pictures !!

Boondi Recipe - Kara boondi/ boondi namkeen recipe

How to make Boondi at home and prepare kara boondi and boondi namkeen with it !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks

Serves: -

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Basic boondi recipe Besan flour - 1 cup ( I used fine variety) Rice flour - 1 tbsp (optional) Cooking oil - 1.5 tsp Water - around 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp ( Approx) Salt - a pinch Food color – Green & Red ( To make colorful boondi) South Indian Kara boondi recipe Fried Boondi - 1.5 cups Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Hing/Asafetida - 1/8 tsp Salt - 2 pinches Roasted peanut and cashews - a fistful Roasted curry leaves - few North Indian Namkeen Boondi recipe Fried Boondi - 1.5 cups Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Dhania powder - 1/4 tsp Chat masala powder – 1/8 tsp Amchur powder – a big pinch Black salt – 1/8 tsp Sugar – 2 pinches Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp Roasted peanut and cashews - a fistful Roasted curry leaves - few

HOW TO MAKE KARA BOONDI

You need three ladles for making boondi. Refer the picture below. Take 1 cup of besan flour in a wide bowl. I did not use rice flour. Mix with besan if you are using it. Add some water ( Say 1/4 cup) and make a thick paste. Use a whisk and make a lump free paste. Again add 1/4 cup of water and make a smooth batter. Add a pinch of salt and cooking oil. Mix well. Batter should be slightly thinner than bajji batter consistency. Add 1-2 tbsp extra if needed. Beat the batter vigorously with a whisk for 2-3 minutes. This step is more important to make the batter smooth. Set the batter aside for 5 minutes. If you want to make colorful boondi, divide the batter into 3 parts and add green food color to one, red food color to the other one. Let the third one be plain. Heat oil in a kadai to deep fry the boondi. Take a spoon and dip the back of spoon in the batter. Hold the back of spoon at 10 cms distance from the kadai. Batter will fall in the oil and If it rises to the top immediately, oil temperature is prefect. Now check whether the boondi looks flat, with tails or a perfect round.  Based on that, you can adjust the consistency of batter. If the boondi is flat or with tails, batter is thick or oil temperature is low. So add little more water and try again. If boondi has tails, it may also be due the distance of spoon is less from oil. So hold it slightly high and try it. If the boondi is not hollow, add little more water. If the batter becomes very thin, add a tsp of gram flour, beat it well and again try it. Keep checking with the spoon until you get round boondi. Now take the batter and beat it really well. Take the slotted ladle and hold it above the oil. Distance should be around 10 cms from the kadai. Now pour half a ladle of batter to the slotted ladle.Let the batter fall as drops automatically. It shows the correct consistency. No need to spread it with another ladle or tap it. Remember to pour only the required batter for the oil you kept for deep frying. If you try to fry more boondi in less oil, it may clutter together in the middle. Batter will clutter in the middle if the heat of oil is less. As soon as you pour the batter, boondi should fall immediately, rises up and moves to the corner of kadai. It shows the right consistency and perfect temperature of oil. Flip the boondi in oil and cook till the Sshh sound stops completely. Keep the flame medium while frying. If you remove it before cooking properly, boondi will become soggy and spoils the entire snack. So please be careful while frying. Before making the next batch, wipe the slotted ladle with a cloth or tissue paper and again pour a ladleful of batter.Beat the batter every time before you deep fry. Deep dry all the boondi and keep it in a tissue. Now take a handful of raw peanuts and deep fry in oil. When it is half fried, add the broken cashews. When the cashews starts to turn golden, add the curry leaves. Fry till crispy. Remove everything and keep in a tissue paper. Mix all the 3 color boondi, fried nuts and curry leaves. For South Indian Kara boondi, take half of the cooked boondi mixture, roasted nuts, curry leaves.Add red chilli powder, hing, salt and mix well with a ladle.Do not use your hands for mixing. For North Indian style boondi namkeen, take the remaining half of the cooked boondi, roasted nuts, add red chilli powder, dhania powder, cumin powder, amchoor powder, chat masala and sugar, salt. Mix well with a ladle and Set aside. Store in an air tight box after the mixture cools down completely. It stays crispy for weeks.. Enjoy with your tea/Coffee or with sambar rice, rasam rice ! Enjoy !

Note

No need to use rice flour or cooking soda in this recipe. If you wish, you can add 1 tsp rice flour for 1 cup of besan. Adding oil is a must. The consistency of boondi batter and the distance of ladle you hold from the oil is more important to make perfect round boondi. Boondi making comes by practice and with some trial & error. You cannot make perfect  roundels every time. Some tails may be here and there but you can make 90% perfect boondi even in your first attempt if you follow the steps carefully. Do not forget to beat the batter every time before frying.

Enjoy this colorful, crunchy, spicy kara boondi with rice, tea/coffee ! Tastes yumm !!

Technorati Tags: Kara boondi recipe,how to make boondi at home,kara boondi,boondi namakeen recipe,kara boondi mixture,how to make kara boondi,how to make boondi for raita,boondi recipe,diwali recipes,Diwali snacks recipes

Continue Reading...

Tirunelveli Halwa Recipe - Wheat Flour Halwa - Godhumai Halwa - Easy Version

Tirunelveli halwa using wheat flour / Godhumai halwa with step by step photos and video. My mom & dad are basically from Tirunelveli, Tamil nadu but settled in Salem. But all our relatives are in & around Tirunelveli. Right from my childhood, we used to travel there at least once in 6 months to my thatha aachi’s house. Most of my summer vacations are spent there. My thatha used to buy the most popular Iruttukadai Halwa and Oma podi from Shanthi sweets for teatime without fail. Having tasted this Halwa for N number of times, I have never imagined myself trying it at home. 

In 2010, I watched few video recipes and tried Tirunelveli halwa recipe for the first time. Though it tasted the same like TVL halwa, I used food color to bring its brown color. At that time, I was not aware of certain tips and tricks to make a perfect Tirunelveli halwa without adding food color. And now after seeing so many websites and video recipes, I came to know its technique. So I wanted to make it again and post it in my blog for this Diwali.

Authentic Tirunelveli halwa calls for soaking and grinding Samba Godhumai ( Whole wheat grains), extracting the milk ( Godhumai paal) and fermenting it overnight. I followed this method for my earlier recipe. But this time, I simplified its procedure by combining the methods of easy wheat flour halwa recipe in Jeyashri's blog & traditional Tirunelveli halwa recipe from Dosa to pizza youtube video recipe. I altered the quantity of ingredients and changed the procedure accordingly. I made it using instant wheat flour( Godhumai maavu), used oil + Ghee to bring its texture and added caramelized sugar to bring its color naturally. Wow, You won’t believe me, it came out very close to original Tirunelveli halwa in both color & texture. There is no compromise in taste with the authentic halwa.

 Generally Thirunelveli halwa is not made into pieces.So you don’t need to look for any sugar syrup consistency. This halwa itself will show you the correct stage to remove it. So beginners can also dare to attempt this recipe at home. But the most important thing you need is “PATIENCE”. Yes, This halwa takes around one hour for preparation & cooking time but the end result will make you forget all the pain and get credits from your family members for sure. I got tempted by the pictures of Halwa kadai online website and clicked my halwa in a leaf. I am very happy to see the ghee dripping hot halwa in the picture as I wished. So here you go, the world famous Tirunelveli halwa recipe using wheat flour in an easy way with step by step photos and a detailed video tutorial just for you all.

If you are looking to try the traditional method, do check this post !

Tirunelveli halwa / Wheat flour Halwa

How to make Tirunelveli halwa with wheat flour/ Godhumai halwa

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 1/4-1/2 kg

Prep time: 120 Minutes

Cook time: 60 Minutes

Total time: 180 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Wheat flour - 1 cup ( I used Pillsburry atta) Water - To make dough + 5 cups for soaking Sugar – 2 to 2.25 cups + 1/4 cup to caramelize  Ghee – 1 cup + 1 tbsp Cooking oil - 1/3 cup  ( Use odourless oil) Cashews – few ** The quantity of oil & ghee mentioned is approximate. This halwa may take more or less. Don’t worry for adding more because we are going to collect all the fat at the end !

HOW TO MAK TIRUNELVELI HALWA - METHOD

Take 1 cup of wheat flour, add water little by little and knead a dough like chapathi dough. Let it be thick and no need to use oil or ghee while making the dough. Place the dough in a big bowl and add 5 cups of water to it.Let it soak for 2-4 hours. After 2 hours, take the dough with milk and mix it well with your hands. Dough dissolves in water and you will get white colored milk.Strain the milk through a cloth strainer and squeeze the fiber like part that comes from the wheat dough. Do not add more water.Use the soaked water to extract the milk. After taking all the milk, discard the residue.Set the milk aside. In a bowl, melt the required ghee and mix with oil. Set aside. In a wide, heavy bottomed kadai ( Non-stick kadai) , heat 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the cashews. After it turns golden brown, add the wheat milk.No need to remove the roasted cashews. Start stirring. Initially the mixture looks very watery. But If you keep stirring for 15 minutes, it becomes slightly thick. Keep the flame medium and stir it well.  If you want, you can keep the flame high to hasten this process. But stay nearby because it will burn at the bottom very soon. After it looks thick like porridge, add 2 cups (2.25 cups for more sweetness, I used 2.25) of sugar and keep mixing.  Keep the flame very low. Now you have to caramelize the sugar in the next step. Sugar Caramelization: In another gas burner, keep a small kadai and add 1 tbsp ghee. After its melted, add 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix well and caramelize it. Do the entire process in low flame because if the sugar is over caramelized, it turns bitter in taste and spoils the taste of halwa. So please be careful. Sugar will melt in ghee and its color changes to golden brown. Switch off the flame immediately and mix well in the heat. Please refer the video for clear understanding. Add the caramelized sugar to the halwa. It may splutter, so be careful while pouring it.   Again start mixing the halwa. Keep the flame medium. After the caramelized sugar is mixed well, color of the halwa will be changed to light brown.Check the taste and add more sugar if needed at this stage itself. Then add 1tbsp of melted ghee + oil and mix well.  Ghee+ oil will be absorbed by the halwa and turns glossy/shiny. Again add 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well. Continue this process at regular intervals. Color of the halwa becomes darker as it cooks. Now it resemble the original Tirunelveli halwa. Halwa will start to leave the sides and thickens. Do not remove at this point. Again add some ghee+Oil and keep mixing in low to medium flame. Never increase the flame because halwa may turn chewy. Halwa will become non-sticky and slide off the ladle. Keep adding ghee. It will be completely non-sticky, becomes soft & rotates with the ladle. Keep adding ghee + oil. Do not lose patience.  At one stage, it will stop taking ghee and starts to ooze out the ghee+ oil in the sides first.  It happens only during the last 5 minutes. Keep mixing. Now you can find ghee oozing out all over the halwa. Collect the ghee that oozes out from the halwa in a bowl. Slide the kadai slightly and take out the ghee. Flame should be low. I collected more than 3/4 of the ghee+oil I added in the halwa.  You can use this ghee for making other sweets or in your regular cooking. It won’t smell or taste sweetish. After collecting the ghee, transfer the halwa to a big bowl and allow it to become warm. Serve it hot or warm as you wish. The entire process took one hour for me. This halwa will release the ghee every time you reheat it.So you can reheat the halwa in microwave for 1 minute or keep it inside idli steamer till it gets heated. Remove the ghee from the halwa and serve hot. Don’t worry, the taste of this halwa will never be changed even after removing the ghee.  You can store this halwa in an airtight box and keep it for more than a week and enjoy. No need to refrigerate too. This halwa will be coated with frozen ghee after its cooled down. It tastes mildly chewy just like original Tirunelveli halwa. If you wish, reheat and serve every time or enjoy as it is !!

Note

If you want to follow the traditional method, wash and soak 1 cup of samba wheat for 5 hours. Grind in a mixie jar adding water and grind in batches. Strain and extract the milk. Let the milk ferment over night. The next day, remove the white layer that is formed on top of the milk. Make halwa as mentioned above. The sugar quantity I’ve mentioned gives the required sweetness to the halwa. It won’t taste too sweet as we are adding more ghee. If you like milk sweetness, add 2 cups of sugar. If you are calorie conscious, you can use ghee & oil in equal quantity OR you can use ghee alone to make super rich halwa. But in halwa kadai, they do use some oil. But never use kadalai ennai/ groundnut oil. It will spoil the flavor of halwa. You may not need to use all the ghee+ oil I’ve mentioned here. Sometimes, it may take lesser too.When the halwa starts to ooze out the ghee, stop adding it. Do not remove the halwa until ghee starts to come out. Do not mix in high flame at the end, halwa may become more chewy.

Try this simplified version of Tirunelveli halwa and do share your feedback with me

Technorati Tags: tirunelveli halwa recipe,tirunelveli halwa with wheat flour,wheat flour halwa,godhumai halwa,halwa seivathu eppadi in tamil,tirunelveli halwa iruttukadai,iruttu kadai halwa recipe,halwa recipe in tamil pdf,tirunelveli halwa recipe with wheat flour,godhumai paal halwa,godhumai halwa seivathu eppadi,godhumai halwa seivathu eppadi in tamil

Continue Reading...

Rasmalai Recipe With Readymade Rasgulla – How To Make Instant Rasmalai Under 10 Minutes

Every year during Diwali, I wanted to share some Bengali sweets.This year too, I tried Rasgolla recipe at home but it din’t turn up as I expected. It came out soft, spongy but became little bit flat after taking out from the sugar syrup. So I am planning to try it again by correcting my mistakes. I hope I could make a perfect rasgolla very soon and share it in my space. As I had storebought, readymade rasgulla at home, I wanted to make a rich dessert recipe with it. What else other than this yummy rasmalai recipe. Traditional, authentic rasmalai calls for boiling milk & sugar for hours. But this is an easy, instant recipe with just 2 major ingredients. I had some store bought condensed milk and rasagulla in hand. So I made it quickly under 10 minutes. If you have store bought or homemade left over rasagolla, you can make this rich, creamy, yummilicious Indian dessert with milk in the next few minutes. I guess milk powder also works well instead of condensed milk. Friends, Do include this easy sweet recipe in your Diwali 2016 menu and have a great celebration ! Lets see how to make this easy peasy Bengali delicacy, Rasmalai recipe at home with step by step photos !
If you wish to make condensed milk on your own, check out this link.

Also check out my 15 Easy Diwali Sweets for beginners !

Easy Rasmalai Recipe

Easy rasamali recipe under 10 minutes using milk, readymade rasgulla, condensed milk, nuts and saffron ! - Rich Indian Dessert recipe.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Dessert recipes

Serves: Serves 5

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Homemade or store bought Rasgolla - 5-6 nos Boiled full cream milk - 2 cups ( Use full fat milk) Condensed milk - 1/2 cup Chopped nuts - A handful  ( I used cashews, badam and pista) Kewra essence - few drops (optional) Crushed cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp or Rose water - few drops Saffron threads - Few

METHOD

In a wide mouthed kadai, take the boiled milk and condensed milk.Mix well and boil for 5 minutes. Keep the flame medium. Collect the milk skin( Malai) that settles in the sides of kadai and add to milk.Now check for taste and add more condensed milk if needed. Mix well and boil for a minute.In the mean time, chop the nuts and set aside. Add the chopped nuts, few saffron threads, essence & cardamom powder/ rose water. Stir well and switch off the flame. Take the rasgolla and press it gently using your hands to drain the water in it.Do not squeeze hard, it may break. Make it flat and add to the milk mixture. Refrigerate for an hour and serve ! Quick and Easy rasmalai is ready to indulge !!         Enjoy….

Note

Add more condensed milk if you have sweet tooth. Add more or lesser quantity of nuts as per your wish. If you don’t have condensed milk in hand, boil 2.5 cups of milk till it reduces to half, add the required sugar, mix well and add the essence and nuts. This is the authentic version of making rasmalai.

Try this Instant, Easy Rasmalai recipe at home and enjoy !!

Technorati Tags: Easy rasmalai recipe,rasmalai recipe,how to make rasmalai,instant rasmalai recipe,rasmalai under 10 minutes,quick rasmalai recipe,rasamalai recipe,bengali rasmalai,how to prepare rasmalai

Continue Reading...

Garlic Murukku/Poondu Murukku Recipe - Easy Murukku Varieties

Recently when I went to Salem - Tamil nadu, we visited Lakshmi sweet stall to buy some sweets and snacks for Sendhil’s friend.There I saw some interesting murukku varieties like Onion murukku, Poondu murukku, butter murukku and many more. As I had already tried butter murukku and vengaya murukku, I wanted to prepare garlic murukku at home. I browsed few recipes and came across this one. This is the first time I am trying a murukku recipe with garlic.The combination of rice flour, besan and butter worked out very well. It came out white, crispy and mildly spiced with a nice garlic flavor. Its a great teatime snack and we loved it very much.Friends, If you are looking to try a flavored murukku recipe for this Diwali, do try this easy murukku variety and enjoy with your family! Lets see how to make yummy poondu murukku ( Garlic chakli) at home with step by step photos and a video !
Do check out my Ribbon pakoda , Garlic Karasev , other murukku varieties too !

Garlic murukku / Poondu murukku recipe

How to make easy garlic murukku with rice flour, besan flour, hot oil and butter

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks

Serves: 12-15 nos

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 2 Minutes

Total time: 12 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Rice flour/Idiyappam flour - 1 cup Besan flour/Kadalai maavu - 1/3 cup Softened butter -  3/4 to 1 tbsp (Unmelted) Hot oil - 1 tsp Salt & water - as needed Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp ( optional) To grind Garlic cloves - 5 nos Red chillies - 2-3 nos ( I used 2 spicy chillies) Water – 1 tbsp ( To soak)

METHOD

Peel garlic cloves.Soak garlic and red chillies in 1tbsp water ( you can use hot water too).Let it soak for 10 minutes. Then grind it to a paste adding the soaked water.It won’t grind to a smooth paste as the quantity is less. So grind it continuously for a minute, wipe the jar and grind it till it turns smooth.Don’t worry , it looks watery after grinding. But make sure there are no garlic pieces or chilli seeds. It may block the chakli nozzle while squeezing. In a wide bowl, take the rice flour, besan flour, salt and sieve it. To this, add softened butter.Heat oil in a mini pan and add 1 tsp hot oil to the murukku mixture. Add ground garlic paste. Mix well to spread the butter and oil with the flour. Check for salt. Add more if needed. Then add water little by little and make a smooth dough. No problem if the dough is slightly sticky. Take the star mould and keep in the murukku press/Chakli press. Fill the mould with the dough and squeeze it to make a round, concentric circle. You can press the murukku in a butter paper or polythene sheet. Cover the remaining dough with a wet cloth or a plastic cover. This dough may tighten over time.So if needed, sprinkle some water, mix well and press it. Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated, drop a pinch of dough and if it rises to the top immediately, oil temperature is right. Drop 2-3 murukku in hot oil and cook both the sides till bubbles cease. Remove in a tissue paper. You can also squeeze the murukku directly in oil, cook them and break into pieces just like butter murukku. Either ways would do. In Lakshmi stall, I saw it as pieces/Thool murukku and not as whole ones. So I made a batch in that way too.  Store in an airtight box after cools down. Enjoy for weeks ! This murukku takes time to lend all its flavor. So try to consume the murukku after few hours of making. Enjoy !

Note

I am not sure about using ghee instead of butter. The color of murukku may vary. You can use red chilli powder instead of red chillies. But grinding garlic would become difficult. In that case, grind garlic as much as possible and strain it adding some water. Add the garlic water to make the dough.

Try this easy, garlic flavored murukku for this Diwali and enjoy !

Technorati Tags: garlic murukku,butter garlic murukku recipe,garlic murukku recipe,murukku with garlic,poondu murukku,poondu murukku in tamil,poondu murukku recipe,garlic murukku machine,garlic ribbon murukku,garlic chakli murukku with garlic recipe

Continue Reading...