Showing posts with label INDIAN FESTIVAL RECIPES. Show all posts

August 30, 2021

Aval Puttu Recipe | Poha Puttu - Sweet Poha | Gokulashtami Recipes

Aval puttu / Poha jaggery puttu is one of the easy and yummy neivedyam recipes you can prepare for Gokulashtami, Navarathri and other occasions at home. I learnt this recipe from my MIL. She used to make it often for our Friday Thiru vilakku poojai.

Last week I made this for my pooja asking the recipe and procedure from her. Actually my MIL told me to add powdered jaggery to the powdered and soaked poha directly. But I made jaggery syrup and strained it as it had some impurities. If your jaggery is clean, you can powder and add it as such.

Friends, do try this easy Aval puttu / Poha puttu for Gokulashtami festival and enjoy.

Aval puttu / Poha puttu recipe

Aval puttu / Poha puttu recipe for Gokulashtami and Navarathri festivals.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 250ml

Thick or thin poha - 1 cup
Powdered jaggery - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 2 (Crushed)
Hot Water - as needed
Salt - a pinch
Cashew nuts - few
Ghee - 1 tbsp

HOW TO MAKE AVAL PUTTU

Dry roast aval / poha for 5 minutes in medium flame till crispy.
Remove and powder it coarsely. Wash and keep it aside.
Add little hot water to make the poha soft. Cover it for 10 minutes
Poha becomes soft and crumbly in few minutes.
Boil jaggery and melt it. Strain the syrup and boil till frothy and thick.
Add the syrup to the soaked poha. Mix well.
Add cardamom powder, grated coconut and mix well.
Lastly roast the cashews in ghee till golden in color.
Add to the aval puttu and offer as prasadam to Lord Krishna for Gokulashtami !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Heat a kadai and dry roast the aval / poha for few minutes in medium flame. Roast till it becomes crispy. You can use thin or thick poha.

Remove and cool down. Grind to a coarse powder and add little hot water to it. ( Say 1/2 to 3/4 cup). Cover and sit for 10 minutes. Poha absorbs all the water and it becomes soft, crumbly.
In the mean time, boil the jaggery adding 1/4 cup water and melt it. Strain the syrup and boil again till syrup becomes frothy and slightly thick.

Add the syrup to the soaked aval and mix well. It will look mushy initially but it becomes crumbly and fluffy after some time.

Lastly add the crushed cardamom,grated coconut and mix gently. Roast cashews in ghee and add to the poha mix.

Mix well and offer as prasadam to Lord Krishna. You can also make this neivedyam for Navarathri along with some sundal varieties.

Note

For variations, you can add powdered jaggery to the soaked poha if its clean.
For thin poha, just follow the same procedure but do not add all the syrup at once. Add gradually till poha absorbs it because thin poha doesn’t take all the syrup.

Delicious Aval Puttu recipe is ready to relish !

Technorati Tags: aval puttu,aval puttu recipe,poha puttu,poha puttu recipe,gokulashtami recipes

August 13, 2021

Akki Tambittu | Akki Hittina Thambittu | Karnataka Rice thambittu recipe

Nagara Panchami and Maha Shivaratri is one of the most popular festivals in Karnataka. Every year during Nag Panchami and Shivaratri, my neighbor used to pass this akki tambittu recipe as pooja prasadam. We all love it. I wanted to get the recipe from her and blog it for long time. Due to this pandemic situation, we are not able to get this prasadam from her for the past two years.

This year, I got the recipe from her and made it in my kitchen. I also offered this laddu / unde as prasad for my Thursday Guru pooja. My neighbor makes it big in size but I made it small as per my family’s liking. Friends, this tambittu is a super healthy ladoo recipe with all the goodness of jaggery, roasted rice, roasted gram, sesame seeds, peanuts, poppy seeds and desiccated coconut. You can give it to your kids snacks box as well.

Apart from this akki thambittu recipe, people also make Chigali ladoo/ sesame seeds laddu, hurigadale tambittu on this occasion. Soon I will try to share those recipes here.

Now lets see how to make Karnataka special akki tambittu recipe with step by step pictures. Prepare this special recipe for Nagara Panchami festival tomorrow and enjoy !

Akki thambittu recipe / Akki tambittu recipe

Akki thambittu recipe / Akki tambittu recipe for Nagara panchami and Maha Shivaratri festival prasada.

Cuisine: Karnataka

Category: Sweet

Serves: 8

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 250ml

Raw rice / Sona masoori rice - 1/2 cup
Grated jaggery - 1/2 cup (Use 3/4 cup for more sweetness)
Roasted gram dal / Hurigadale - 1/4 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Khus khus /Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Desiccated coconut - 2 tbsp (Grated)
Water – 1/3 cup

HOW TO MAKE AKKI THAMBITTU RECIPE

Heat a kadai and dry roast the rice till puffy. Transfer to a plate.
Dry roast sesame seeds and poppy seeds till they splutter.
Add roasted gram dal and roast for a minute. Reserve half and transfer to the rice plate.
Dry roast peanuts till skin crackles. Remove the skin and keep aside.
Dry roast coconut and set aside.
Grind the rice, sesame seeds, roasted gram dal mixture to a fine powder.
Transfer to a plate. Grind peanuts coarsely and add to the plate.
Now add the roasted coconut, cardamom powder, reserved poppy+sesame seeds+gram dal and ghee. Mix well.
Melt jaggery adding water and boil till frothy. Let it cool down. Filter it and add to the rice mixture.
Mix evenly and make balls. Karnataka Akki thambittu is ready !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Heat a kadai and roast the rice in low to medium flame till puffy. Remove in a plate.

Dry roast sesame seeds and poppy seeds till it starts to splutter. Add the roasted gram dal and roast for a minute. Switch off the flame.

Reserve half of this mixture in a plate and add the remaining in the rice plate. Cool down and grind to a fine powder.

Transfer to a plate. Dry roast desiccated or fresh coconut for few minutes and add to the rice flour plate.

Dry roast peanuts till its skin crackles. Cool down and remove the skin. Grind coarsely.

Add the powdered peanuts to the rice flour mixture. Add cardamom powder, ghee and the reserved poppy seeds, sesame seeds and roasted gram dal. Combine and mix everything well.
Take jaggery in a kadai. Add water to cover it. Boil and melt the jaggery. Boil for few minutes in medium flame till it becomes frothy and slightly thick. No need to look for any consistency. But make sure, jaggery syrup is not too thick. Thambittu will become hard to bite after it sets. So keep the syrup slightly thick like oil. Let it cool down completely.
Now filter the syrup and add to the rice flour mixture. Mix well to coat the rice flour. No problem if the mixture looks wet and loose. Shape ladoo and arrange in a plate.
This ladoo becomes hard after its set in few hours. So make sure the ladoo is soft to handle while shaping.

Note

For variations, you can skip grinding sesame seeds and poppy seeds. You can add the roasted ones as such.
You can skip desiccated coconut or use fresh coconut instead. In that case, roast the fresh coconut till its dry.

Try this easy, healthy akki thambittu recipe for festivals and enjoy !

Technorati Tags: akki thambittu,akki thambittu recipe,thambittu,thambittu recipe,akki tambittu,rice flour ladoo,Karnataka thambittu,nagara panchami recipes,maha shivaratri recipes

February 8, 2021

Instant pot rice kheer / Indian rice pudding in Instant pot

Rice kheer / rice pudding (arisi payasam in Tamil) was the very first recipe I tried in my instant pot for Thursday Guru pooja prasad. Rice kheer is a creamy Indian dessert recipe that is prepared for festivals and special occasions at home. The ease of this recipe has made me prepare this dish almost every week Thursday or Friday poojai. All we have to do is to just add in roasted basmati rice, water, milk, sugar, cardamom powder and few saffron threads. Cook in pressure cooker mode in instant pot for just 12 minutes and your creamy rice kheer is done ! It tastes more like restaurant style rice kheer.

Before making this rice kheer in instant pot, I referred so many recipes for perfect measurement, procedure and cooking time. Most of the recipes called for cooking rice in milk (in porridge mode or pressure cook mode) and then add sugar or condensed milk, flavoring ingredients like cardamom, saffron, nuts etc. But I wanted a recipe like one pot one shot just like my pressure cooker semiya payasam.

When I was discussing about this with my friend Shalini, she suggested me to try this method. She has been doing making rice kheer in instant pot for the potluck, get togethers and weekend party following this procedure. Its a hassle free and easiest method to make this yummy Indian dessert even in the last minute. You can serve 10 people easily with just 1 cup of rice.

In Instant pot rice kheer, most of the people complain about curdling of milk or rice sticking to the bottom of instant pot or kheer getting burnt in the bottom. Don’t worry, this method doesn’t disappoint you in any way. Addition of water is the key here. You will get a rich, super creamy, thick and yummy rice kheer all the time.

I have used basmati rice, sugar and milk in this recipe. You can use raw rice, condensed milk or soy milk, Almond milk, coconut milk( for Vegan options) instead. You can also use evaporated milk.

Friends, do try this easy and creamy rice kheer in instant pot. You will love it and make it more often like me. Lets see how to make Indian rice pudding / rice kheer in instant pot with step by step pictures.

Instant pot rice kheer / rice pudding in Instant pot

Rice kheer / Rice pudding - Rich and creamy Indian dessert recipe using Instant pot

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 6

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 25 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup =250ml

Basmati rice - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Milk - 4 to 5 cups
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron – 3 pinches
Cashew nuts - 10
Ghee - 2 tbsp

HOW TO MAKE RICE KHEER IN INSTANT POT

Grind basmati rice coarsely. Wash and set aside.
Switch on Instant pot. Press SAUTE mode. Add 1 tbsp ghee.
Roast cashews till golden and remove in a plate.
Add the rice and roast for a minute. Firstly add water, mix well.
Then add milk, sugar, cardamom powder, saffron threads. Mix well.
Press CANCEL. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the time to 12 minutes in normal pressure.
Make sure pressure valve is in SEALING position. Let the pressure release NATURALLY (NPR). Open the cooker and mash the rice well.
Add more milk and sugar if needed.
Add roasted cashews. Mix well and serve hot. Enjoy !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Take basmati rice and grind coarsely using pulse button in mixie. Wash it well and set aside.
Wash the instant pot vessel and the inner ring portion of the lid thoroughly. Dry it completely. This helps to prevent curdling of kheer.

Switch on the instant pot and press SAUTE button. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in the instant pot base vessel. Add cashew nuts and roast it till golden in color. Remove in a plate.

Add washed rice and roast for a minute. Add water (DO NOT SKIP WATER) and mix well. Add boiled milk (at roon temperature), sugar, cardamom powder and saffron threads. Mix well to scrape the rice sticking to the bottom of the vessel.

Now press CANCEL button and press PRESSURE COOK button. Set the timer to 12 minutes in NORMAL pressure. Close the instant pot lid and keep the pressure valve in SEALING position.

After 12 minutes, instant pot goes to warm mode and pressure releases. Let the pressure release naturally (NPR). Open the lid after the pressure button drops down. Mix well. Do not release the pressure forcefully. Milk will be splashed everywhere and make a mess. I removed it after 40 minutes. Kheer would be well cooked and looks thick. Mix well and check for taste and consistency. Add more milk and sugar if needed. I used 1/2 cup more milk. So totally I used 4.5 cups milk. Lastly add roasted cashewnuts. Mix well and serve hot.

Note

Wash the instant pot vessel, lid and dry it properly before cooking . It helps to avoid curdling of kheer.
Do not skip water. It helps to avoid the kheer burning in the bottom.
Make sure your scrape the bottom of vessel to avoid the rice sticking to the vessel and getting burnt.
You can also use PORRIDGE Mode in instant pot but it takes longer time to cook.
You can make the kheer thick or thin as per your wish.
For variations, you can use condensed milk instead of sugar.
Do not use JAGGERY. Kheer will curdle. If you want to use jaggery, make a thin syrup. Add it only after cooking the rice in milk and water.
You can also make vermicelli kheer in the same way. You can set the cooking time even lesser as it cooks quickly.
Do not try to quick release because hot milk spills from the vent.

Try this easy, yummy rice kheer in instant pot. You will love it !

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November 9, 2020

How to celebrate Diwali at home in Tamil nadu - Diwali celebration ideas

Diwali or Deepavali (in Tamil) is one of the biggest Hindu festivals celebrated across India. It is one of the most important festivals of the year. I have been sharing the celebration procedures of various Hindu festivals in my blog. But somehow I missed posting on how to celebrate Diwali at home. This is purely Tamil nadu / Tamilians style celebration and that too my family’s way of Diwali celebration at my home. This year 2023, Diwali festival is on 12th November, Sunday in Tamil nadu.

Diwali festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness. So Diwali is called the Festival of Lights.

Diwali falls in the month of 'Kartik' in Hindu calendar. It is the celebration of returning of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Diwali is also the day on which Lord Krishna had defeated demon Narakasura.

Unlike other Hindu festivals, there is no hard and fast rules for Diwali celebration. It would be a fun-filled festival. Even though this festival is important to Hindus, it is also enjoyed and celebrated by non-hindus as well. Diwali celebration includes lighting Diya and LED lights across the house, decoration with flowers, rangoli, shopping dresses, fireworks/ crackers, puja (prayers), exchanging gifts, enjoying grand food and relish Diwali special sweets & snacks.

On this day, we light candles and decorate our homes with Rangoli. We burn firecrackers, eat lots of sweets, snacks and share them with our friends and neighbors. Diwali is the most loved festival, and we enjoy it very much. I have shared some of our last year's Diwali celebration images below. Hope you will get some ideas with it !

Ingredients for Diwali celebration :

New dresses for the family members
Crackers (optional, avoid using to celebrate Eco friendly Diwali)
Sesame oil, Shikakai powder, turmeric powder, mehandi powder or paste.
Banana leaf
Coconut
Betel leaf and nut
Banana
Turmeric and kumkum
Lamps, oil and wicks
Varieties of sweets and snacks
Idli rice, urad dal to make idli batter

Diwali Pre – Preparation :

For us, Diwali preparation begins with purchase of new dresses for the family. We purchase Diwali dresses one month before the festival. Diwali shopping would be a big excitement for all of us. We buy dresses for my in-laws & ourselves and in turn they buy dresses or silver articles for us as Diwali gift.

We don’t have the practice of doing grand decorations for Diwali instead my daughter loves to paint some clay lamps/ diya and we light it in our house entrance around the rangoli. She also puts mehandi for me and herself.

Next to Diwali shopping comes the Diwali recipes preparation. As a food blogger, I start to make Diwali recipes 15 days before the festival to blog the sweets and snacks recipes. But my MIL starts the preparation one week before Diwali. She makes a big batch of thenkuzhal, ribbon pakoda, kara sev and maida chips/ namakpara for snacks. These snacks are must in our house.

For sweets, usually my MIL makes Badushah, maida burfi, badam burfi, wheat halwa and boondhi ladoo. Once I go to Salem, I make some kaju katli and gulab jamun as the last minute sweets. Overall minimum one variety of halwa, burfi, ladoo, gulab jamun and some milk sweets or cashew sweets will be in the diwali menu.

We reserve few pieces of sweet and snacks in separate boxes to keep them for naivedyam on Diwali day and we consume the rest.

Finally, we purchase crackers a week before Diwali. But recent years, we stopped buying them. We just buy sparklers and one packet of crackers for keeping in neivedyam.

Coming to our house Diwali celebration procedures :

In some places, Diwali is a five days festival. But for us, its a 2 days festival. Every year, we go to Salem 2 days before Diwali and love to celebrate it with my in-laws. On Diwali day, I also visit my parents as both my parents and in-laws are at Salem. So its a double treat for me.

On the eve of Diwali, we burn crackers till 8.30 night and then we start to prepare suzhiyan, adhirasam which is a must do for Diwali in my home. We stack it in a box. We wash & decorate the diyas/ lamps and other pooja items, decorate them with turmeric, kumkum dots. Sweep the house and draw rangoli / color kolam in house entrance and in pooja room.

In a big plate, we arrange all the new dress by keeping turmeric & kumkum in a corner of the dress and keep everything ready in pooja room. We also keep a small packet of crackers safely in one corner to keep it for neivedyam. By the time, we finish all these works, it will be around 10.30-11 PM. You can do all these activities in the day time as well.

On Diwali day morning, we ladies wake up early around 4 AM, brush the teeth and wash the face. My MIL ( eldest lady) lights the lamp and keep a small bowl of sesame oil/ nalla ennai & shikakai powder, turmeric powder and mehandi / marudhani in pooja room. In 2 plates, we keep a set of betel leaves, nuts, 2 banana and one unbroken coconut. The elder( my FIL) in our home apply little oil in the forehead for all of us and keep a pinch of shikai powder on our head for sastram. Then we take bath and wear some old clothes first.

We ladies enter the kitchen and start to make vada, bajji, idli & sambar for breakfast. In the mean time, my FIL keep flowers for all the idols and keep the pooja room ready. After making all neivedyam recipes, we keep the dresses in 2 different plates, keep some crackers in front of the God as shown in the picture above. We place 2 banana leaves (one for veetu theivam and another one for magamaayi) in front of the God and serve the reserved sweets and snacks along with idli smeared with ghee, vada, suzhiyan and adhirasam. No need to keep sambar if you add onion. Break the coconut that is kept in the thamboolam plate and get ready for main pooja.

This is my MIL’s practice but my mom offers all sweets & snacks along with bajji, idli and vada in front of our pooja room in common to all the God. I heard most of the people worship Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on this day. Finally, it depends on our tradition. We don't chant any slokhas or sthothrams or keep kalasam on this day. You can recite some Lakshmi slokhas if you like.

Usually, we do the pooja before 6 am. The eldest person (my FIL) in the family do the pooja by showing dhoop, dheep and give dresses to everyone. Dresses are given to the younger ones in the family and then goes according to the age. We wear the new dress and start to burn crackers.

After burning crackers for an hour, we have breakfast (Idli sambar) along with diwali sweets & savouries in banana leaf. In the above pictures, I have shared our last year’s Diwali sweets, snacks and breakfast.

After breakfast, myself and my MIL pack the sweets and snacks for our neighbors and friends, distribute them. That’s all. All our works will be over with this . Then we have a relaxing day by watching all the special programs in TV & enjoy the whole day without cooking.

Every body will have the sweets, snacks, vadai, suzhiyan & adhirasam as food for the whole day. We don’t prepare lunch on Diwali day instead we give the sweets, snacks, vada or bajji if they feel hungry or make tea / coffee / juice if needed.

On Diwali day evening, we wear new dresses and we burst all the remaining crackers with family and friends and finish the celebration. We make idli sambar for dinner or some curd rice to keep it light and simple. This is how we celebrate our Diwali.

On diwali night or the next day morning, we consume a small gooseberry sized diwali legiyam for better digestion.

Please find all our diwali recipes collection if you are interested.

Disclaimer : All these details shared above are based on my family’s celebration procedure. Please consult with your elders and alter it as per your tradition and practice.

November 2, 2020

35 Diwali Snacks Recipes | South Indian Dry Snacks For Diwali

In this post, I have shared the collection of simple, easy and top South Indian Diwali snacks / deepavali dry snacks like murukku recipes, mixture recipes, ribbon pakoda, kara sev, kara boondi, thattai, Tirunelveli special snack thukkada, mixture biscuit, maida biscuit etc which is commonly prepared in Tamilnadu and in most of our houses for Diwali. I have shared this snacks list under one page for quick reference. Hope you find it useful.

This year I am planning to make Madras mixture/ South Indian mixture recipe. I will include that as soon as I post in my blog. Ok friends, do try these easy snacks for this Diwali and have a fun-filled celebration. I am sure these snacks would be loved by everyone including children/kids.

Ok, Lets see the list of easy Indian Diwali snacks below. I have also shared some Diwali day neivedyam recipes like Idli, vada, bajji, sambar and chutney for your reference. Last but not the least, 2 diwali special legiyam recipes to enhance the digestion.

HERE is my full collection of Diwali Recipes with celebration procedures !

Also check out my murukku varieties post .