Here is the collection of Karthigai deepam recipes with video in this post. Thirukarthiagai/Karthigai Deepam is one of the most important festival of lights in South India especially in Tamil nadu. It usually falls on Tamil month Karthigai ( pournami day) when the moon is in line with the six star constellation called Karthigai. It is celebrated in a very grand manner in Tiruvannamalai where they lit Annamalai deepam on the hill and and it is believed that Lord Shiva's jothi will be visible on this day. Lord Muruga took the form of six babies in a lake called "Saravana Poigai". On this day, all his six forms were united by Parvathi(his mother) and this way, he had six faces. Special poojas are performed to Lord Muruga.
Karthigai deepam 2023 i.e this year it falls on 26th November (on Sunday). The idea behind this festival is to keep away bad things from life and welcome the good and holy things of life. On this day, we clean the house and draw rangoli ( kolam ) in front of pooja room & house entrance. We light oil lamps all over the house in the evening and we make some Karthigai deepam special recipes like nei appam, Pori urundai/Nel pori urundai, aval pori, Maavilakku for neivedyam and my MIL also makes kara appam along with these stuffs to finish our dinner.
My mom makes a special karthigai deepam kozhukattai and rice flour lamp for the well being of family members. Here I have shared the links for all neivedyam recipes of karthigai deepam with a video recipe for making pori urundai. All are very easy to make and even beginners can give them a try. I have also planned to share few more recipes from tomorrow. Hope you will like these recipes and try it.
I wish you all a very happy Karthigai Deepam. Lets see the collection below.
Click the below picture for Karthigai deepam pooja procedure
Usually we make instant sweet appam with wheat flour / godhumai maavu inippu appam / wheat appam with banana for Ganesh Chaturthi, Gokulashtami, Diwali and Karthigai deepam. It can be made with or without paniyaram pan. Being a calorie conscious women, I always make sweet appam in paniyaram pan to reduce oil consumption. But yesterday I purposefully tried this deep fried version to post in my blog. I made it with wheat flour, banana and jaggery asking the recipe from my MIL. It was awesome. I couldn’t resist myself stopping with one or two.
My MIL usually make this instant appam using maida, banana and sugar for our guests as evening snacks. It comes out super soft, spongy and fluffy. We make this instant wheat flour appam on Ganesh chaturthi evening and offer Lord Ganesh. If you have the practice of offering appam for Vinayagar chaturthi, do try this one. U will love its softness and taste. Ok, lets see how to make this sweet appam recipe using wheat flour, banana and jaggery with step by step pictures and video ! I have shown 2 methods in video - Deep fried appam without paniyaram pan and appam in paniyaram pan.
Wheat flour appam recipe
Sweet appam recipe using wheat flour, jaggery for Ganesh chaturthi, Karthigai deepam and Gokulashtami
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Sweet
Serves:7 nos
Prep time:5 Minutes
Cook time:5 Minutes
Total time:10 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Fully Ripe banana - 1 no ( You can use yelakki/poovazhai or rasthali banana)
Grated jaggery - 1/2 cup ( add 2 tbsp for more sweetness)
Rice flour - 1.5 tbsp
Cooking soda - a big pinch
Salt - a pinch
Cardamom seeds - 2 no ( crushed)
Cooking oil - to deep fry
Water - as needed
HOW TO MAKE SWEET APPAM - METHOD
In a wide bowl,take all the ingredients except oil and water. Mash the ripen banana and add to the flour. Add the required water and make a thick batter.The consistency of batter should be like thick idli batter. It should be pourable.
Heat oil for deep frying. Use less oil to get a nice round shape. Take a small curved ladle and pour a ladleful full of batter. Make one or two at a time. Appam should rise slowly from the bottom to top. This is the correct heating point. It helps the appam to cook evenly. If the oil is very hot, appam will brown outside and it doesn’t get cooked inside. So keep the oil at right heating point. First check with a drop of batter and proceed further. Pour a small ladle of batter and splash the oil over the top of appam while it cooks.
As soon as the color of appam turns golden brown, flip it and cook the other side till golden brown. Remove & drain in a tissue paper.
You can also make this appam using paniyaram pan to use less oil. Please watch the video. I have shown in detail.
Sweet appam is ready to serve.Enjoy !
Note
For variations,u can add maida and sugar instead of wheat flour and jaggery.
U can also make spicy version by adding finely chopped onions, ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves & green chillies along with hing. It tastes great.
Do not add more cooking soda. Less than a pinch would be enough. Adding more soda makes the appam absorb more oil. Sometimes appam disintegrates in oil if Soda goes more.
Banana gives a super soft, spongy texture to the appam. Never skip it.
It stays soft and good for hours. So yoou can make them in advance too.
Make this super soft and delicious appam & offer GOD !
As u all know,Paal kozhukattai is an yummy Chettinad dessert recipe.It is loved by all irrespective of ages.I should have made this post for Gokulashtami but I din’t.Now I am posting this easy paal kozhukattai recipe for my Bachelor friend , Jayagopal.He wanted to make it for potluck party in his office this week.So he told me share this recipe as soon as possible.This is not the authentic chettinad version though.I must learn that and post here soon. Actually I had planned to post some Ganesh chathurthi recipes as the festival is around. But then I thought, this is also a variety of kozhukattai which we can make easily and offer Lord Ganesh. So I prepared this easy paal kolukattai version using milk, coconut milk powder and sugar as Vinayagr chathurthi special recipe. It was tasting great. I had already shared my MIL’s Paal kohukattai recipe with jaggery which is Sendhil’s most favourite recipe. But I love this version more than that .So I usually make it more often for myself and Raksha as evening snack or dessert for your guests.Special thanks to my friend Jayagopal, otherwise i would not have done this post even now .Ok,Lets see how to make this yummy and easy paal kozhukattai recipe.
Easy paal kozhukattai recipe
Easy paal kozhukattai recipe using coconut milk powder,milk and sugar
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Sweets
Serves:2 persons
Prep time:10 Minutes
Cook time:15 Minutes
Total time:25 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
Store bought rice flour - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup + 2-3 tbsp (for dough)
Gingely oil – a drop
Salt – a pinch
Sugar – 2 tbsp
Boiled milk – 1/2 cup
Coconut milk powder - 1.5 tbsp or thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Cardamom seeds - 1 no (crushed)
Saffron threads - few
METHOD
In a wide bowl , take the rice flour.Add a pinch of salt ,mix well & set aside.
Boil water adding a drop of gingely oil.when the water starts to boil,initially u can see some small bubbles on the bottom and sides of vessel.After few minutes,water will start to roll boil with big bubbles.Switch off the flame as soon as water starts to roll boil with big bubbles.
Add the boiled water to the rice flour little by little and mix well.Rice flour may not take all the water.Stop adding water as soon as u get a non-sticky dough.If u feel the dough is dry,add little more hot water.Make sure the dough is not sticky.Knead the dough when it is warm.Make small balls of seedai size by greasing your fingers.Cover it till use.
Now boil water in idli pot or in a kadai.Grease the idli plate with oil and spread the balls.If u are using kadai,keep the balls in a small plate.Place a small wide bowl and keep the plate over the bowl.Cover the kadai and cook for 5 – 10 minutes.
In the mean time,mix 1.5 tbsp of coconut milk powder in 1/2 cup of boiled n cooled milk without any lumps.To this add sugar, saffron thread and cardamom powder.Stir well.
Allow it to boil for 2 minutes in medium flame.Milk will thicken slightly.To this, add the cooked rice balls and boil for few seconds.
Remove and serve warm or cold.
Note
U can cook the rice balls directly in milk instead of cooking in idli pot.In that case,use 1/2 cup of milk + 1/2 cup of water.Cook till rice balls float on top.Now mix 1 tbsp of coconut milk powder in 1/4 cup of milk and add to the cooked rice balls.Boil for a minute and switch off the flame.Add cardamom powder & few saffron threads. Mix well and serve !
I cooked the rice balls in idli plate to ensure proper & easy cooking.Also balls won’t break or dissolve.
The consistency of dough is important for getting soft rice balls. No problem even if u make the dough little sticky.U can grease ur hands with oil and make balls.But if u make the dough hard and dry,u will never get soft balls.so please add water carefully.
If u don't have coconut milk powder in hand,use 1/2 cup of grated coconut.Grind & take thick coconut milk adding 1/2 cup of water.Add to the milk at the end.Give a boil in low flame & switch off.
Maa vilakku / Rice flour Lamp in English is an edible lamp made using rice flour, jaggery, honey and ghee. Maavilakku is a must and should neivedyam recipe in all our households for Karthigai deepam and Aadi month to offer Amman. My mom and mil makes different naivedyam recipes to God for karthigai deepam but offering maavilakku maavu is a common practice for both of them. Not only for Karthigai deepam , we make it during tamil month Aadi, Thai and Purattasi sani. Actually maavilakku maavu has to be made by mixing jaggery with home made processed wet rice flour.
My MIL follows this procedure. But my mom makes it very simple using store bought rice flour. It can be done in minutes. Though I follow my MIL’s procedure, I thought of sharing my mom’s easy version with simple decoration in my blog. I have shared some tips and tricks from my mom to make a perfectly shaped maavilakku without losing its shape. For people who are not able to soak and grind the raw rice, this version would be useful. Do try this easy maavilakku maavu recipe with step by step pictures and video. Let me know your feedback.
I wish you all a very happy karthigai deepam, enjoy the festival of lights.
Store bought rice flour/ arisi maavu/ idiyappam flour - 1/2 cup
Grated jaggery – 1/2 cup
Ghee – 2 to 3 tbsp (6 tsp, unmelted,thick ghee)
Honey - 1/2 tbsp ( 1.5 tsp)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
To make lamp
Thread/thirinool - 1 no
Ghee - 2 tsp(melted)
Kumkum and turmeric - little
METHOD
Take the rice flour and grated jaggery in a mixie jar. Pulse it 3-4 times. Do not grind continuously. But make sure, they are mixed well without any lumps. ( I got this tip from sharmi’s blog, thank you sharmi .) As the rice flour is dry, it will absorb all the water from jaggery.
Remove in a plate. Make a dent and add the thick, unmelted ghee.(The key here is if you use melted ghee, you can shape it easily but later on as the ghee hardens, maavilakku will also become hard. So if you use unmelted ghee, maavilakku will stay soft without losing its shape and taste). Initially add 1 tbsp and mix well. Again add 1/2 tbsp more, mix well. Add 1.5 tsp honey and mix well. Try to make a ball. Roll it tight between two hands. If it cracks, seal it with fingers. As you roll tight, jaggery will melt because of the heat of your hands and it will make a smooth ball.
Make a smooth ball without cracks. Make a small dent in the center using your pointer finger for pouring ghee. Seal with fingers if any crack appears.( I used overall 2 tbsp unmelted ghee)
Apply turmeric and kumkum on all the sides. Put the thread and lit the lamp. Keep a flower nearby and offer to God.
Note
Maavilakku stays good for a week in room temperature. I have seen people keeping it for months by freezing it. When you freeze the dough, bring it to room temperature before u consume.
My mom never use water or milk to make the dough as it reduces the shelf life. But if you are concerned about adding ghee OR if you can consume it immediately, you can add water or milk to make the dough.
You can add more honey if you want to reduce ghee. But reduce the quantity of jaggery accordingly.
Using unmelted, paste like ghee is more important for maavilakku to hold its shape for long time.
If you add more jaggery, it may leave water and maa vilakku will lose its shape.
For making home made wet rice flour, wash and soak the raw rice/maavu arisi for 30 minutes. Drain the water and spread it on a paper for few minutes. Remove and powder it nicely. Sieve the flour and proceed as mentioned above.
To see the step by step pictures, please click this link. Remember if you are using homemade rice flour, quantity of jaggery and ghee used would be less.
Enjoy maavilakku with chopped coconut pieces. Tastes heavenly !
In Tamil nadu, Pori urundai is a must try recipe for Karthigai deepam. Last year I posted Pori urundai recipe with poha/aval for karthigai deepam. This year I wanted to make pori urundai using puffed rice. We call it as arisi pori in Tamil.
As I don’t get nel pori here, I used arisi pori / Puffed rice. Procedure for making pori urundai is similar. It may be aval , nel or arisi. So I wanted to share this recipe in my space with step by step pictures and a video. Hope it will be useful for beginners.
As my MIL usually says, the ratio of pori and jaggery is 8:1 based on the sweetness of jaggery. You can follow 6:1 too. I follow the same every year and it comes out very well. Over to recipe with a picture and my latest video recipe !
Pori urundai recipe for Karthigai deepam
Pori urundai recipe using arisi pori/puffed rice for karthigai deepam
Dry roast sesame seeds in a kadai till it crackles.
Measure 3 cups of puffed rice ( 4 cups for less sweet) and take in a bowl. Add the roasted sesame seeds to it. Chop coconut into small pieces. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Roast coconut pieces till it turns golden in color. Add to the measured puffed rice.
In a wide kadai , take the grated jaggery. Add water to it. Make sure jaggery should be immersed completely. I used 1/4 cup of water for 1/2 cup of jaggery. Measure the puffed rice and keep it ready. Keep ready a small plate with water. Melt the jaggery completely and strain it to remove impurities. No need to boil the syrup. After straining the syrup, wash the kadai and then heat it again adding the strained syrup.
Boil the syrup till it becomes frothy and thick. Take the syrup in the ladle and drop it. The syrup will drop slowly and the last drop will make a string. This is an indication of reaching the correct consistency. At this time , simmer the flame and pour little syrup in a plate of water. Try to gather all the syrup and remove it. It will be non-sticky and you’ll be able to make a ball but firm in shape. Ball should hold its shape but not too hard. It is called as uruttu padham in Tamil. This is the right stage. Switch off the flame.
Suppose if you miss this stage, add little water to the syrup and boil again. Check the consistency and proceed. ( some people make hard ball consistency too. i.e you should make a ball and if you drop the ball in a plate, it should make a tung sound. But you should roll the balls as soon as you mix with the syrup because syrup will thicken very quickly).
Add the puffed rice mixture along with roasted sesame seeds, coconut pieces, fried gram dal immediately. Mix well. All should be done within few seconds. Take care.
Mix the puffed rice well in the syrup till the bottom of kadai. All the puffed rice should be coated well with the syrup. Grease your hands with rice flour or ghee and make balls tightly when the mixture is slightly warm. If the mixture cools down, you can't shape it. So do it fast. U’ll be able to make a perfect round.
If you are a beginner, you cannot handle the heat of balls. So make balls roughly and arrange in a plate. Then roll it tightly when the mixture becomes warm. I usually follow this for aval pori urundai.
If the mixture cools down before making balls, heat the kadai slightly in low flame. The syrup will melt and helps you to make balls. Make round balls. Give a setting time of 10 minutes and enjoy ! U can store these balls and use it for 2 weeks. If the mixture cools down, you can't shape it. So do it fast.
Note
Jaggery consistency is very important here. Please have a look after the jaggery syrup becomes frothy. It takes hardly 2-3 minutes in high flame to reach the consistency.
Make balls when the mixture is with bearable heat. When it cools down, you can’t make it. So you have to reheat again in low flame for few seconds.
Adding coconut bits, sesame seeds and fried gram dal are optional. I have seen my neighbours making pori urundai without all these. But we add sesame seeds for sure as we keep it for neivedyam.
Wish you all a very happy karthigai deepam. Enjoy the festival of lights with pori urundai!
.So I usually make it more often for myself and Raksha as evening snack or dessert for your guests.Special thanks to my friend Jayagopal, otherwise i would not have done this post even now 
.Ok,Lets see how to make this yummy and easy paal kozhukattai recipe.
