October 17, 2017

Cornflakes Mixture Without Oil – Kellogg's Corn Flakes Mixture / Chivda

Cornflakes mixture using Kellogg’s corn flakes. It is made without deep frying in oil. Recently my daughter Raksha tasted this cornflakes chivda in her friend’s house. She told me to try it for Diwali. I asked her friend’s mom for the recipe and tried it today. Its a very easy, quick and healthy snack as it has very less oil. Kids & adults would love this for sure.Its quiet additive !

Many of us buy corn flakes cereals (Kelloggs or Kwality brand) for breakfast. If you have it in hand, you can make this corn flakes mixture in the next 10 minutes. You can pack this for your kids snack box or for their teatime after coming back from school. It can be stored for 2 to 3 days without losing its crispness. Friends, diwali is incomplete without mixture recipe. If you have not done any mixture recipe, you can try it now. Try this easy, low calorie Kellog’s corn flakes mixture at home and surprise your family.Check out the video recipe below.

Cornflakes mixture

Low calorie cornflakes mixture recipe using Kellogg's Cornflakes with less oil!

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks

Serves: 4.5 cups

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Kellogg's corn flakes - 2 cups (Original, plain flavor)
Roasted peanuts – 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - few
Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp (broken, optional)

To temper

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 /2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( add 1.5 tsp for more spiciness)
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Salt - as needed
Chat masala – 1/4 tsp(optional)
Sugar – 1/4 tsp
Dry grapes/Raisins – 1 tbsp (optional, add if your kids like it)

METHOD

In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and cumin seeds. Add roasted peanuts, curry leaves and mix well.

Lower the flame completely and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and sugar. Mix well.

Lastly add the cornflakes and mix well in low flame till its coated with chilli ppowder. Check for taste and add 1/2 tsp more chilli powder at this stage, mix well and switch off the flame.

Store in a box after the mixture cools down. Stays crispy and good for 2-3 days when stored in an air tight box.

Note

Do not use raw corn flakes for this recipe. You should deep fry it or microwave before making mixture.
I used Kellogg’s brand corn flakes cereals,original flavor.
Adjust the quantity of chilli powder as per taste. But keep the flame low while adding chilli powder else it will burn.
For variations, you can add raisins and cashews. Saute raisins till it bulges. I din’t use as my daughter doesn’t like it.
You can also add little chaat masala for more flavor.

Try this easy, yummy, low calorie corn flakes mixture for this Diwali & kids lunch box. !

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October 16, 2017

Dry Jamun Recipe With Ready Mix– Dry Gulab Jamun Using MTR mix

Dry jamun recipe with MTR ready mix. Last year I made a detailed post on how to prepare gulab jamun with instant mix. Gulab jamun is considered to be the last minute sweet to me for diwali. As its preparation is very easy using readymade mix, I always make it one day before Diwali. This year I wanted to try dry jamun for a change.

Dry jamoon is our family favorite sweet we buy from Adayar Anandha Bhavan. This year I bought ORKAY Gulab jamun mix in addition to MTR mix as well. It is also equally good but my choice is for MTR because of its softness.

Dry jamun recipe is very similar to our basic gulab jamun recipe except the soaking time. Usually dry jamoon needs less soaking hours. Some people like to have gulab jamun without sugar syrup. For them , Dry gulab jamun is the ideal choice. It tastes mildly sweet but still juicy with all the syrup in it. Ok, lets see how to prepare dry gulab jamun using mtr mix with step by step recipe. I hope this recipe works for Gits, Aachi, GRB. Bambino and other brands too.

Dry Gulab jamun recipe with ready mix

How to make Gulab jamun using readymade mix, Instant, store bought MTR mix

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 20 nos

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 45 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml

Gulab jamun mix - 150gms/ 1.5 cups
Boiled Milk at room temperature - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp ( + 1 tsp)
Cooking oil - to deep fry

For sugar syrup

Sugar - 3 cups
Water - 3 cups
Cardamom powder or rose essence - 1 tsp
Saffron threads – few
Chopped nuts – to garnish

Please watch this video for clear understanding !

METHOD

Read the instructions given on the pack. In MTR mix, its mentioned to add 1 part of water for 4 parts of mix. 400gms of sugar for 150 gms mix packet. So i followed the recipe accordingly.
Take sugar and water in a wide bowl and mix well. Keep aside, let it dissolve. In the mean time, take the gulab jamun mix in a wide plate. I used my thambalam/ big round plate. Usually I make chapati dough and other dough in my thambalam as its spacious and convenient to mix well. If the mix has more lumps, sieve it once. Break the lumps with your fingers while sieving. Do not discard the residue. Add it to the ready mix and mix well again. I got around 1.5 cups of powder. If you are using ORKAY mix, do not sieve the mix. Just break the lumps with your hands.
Now add the milk or water little by little and gather all the flour with your fingers. The mixture will become wet and very sticky. Do not worry. Gulab jamun will come out soft if the dough is sticky. I used 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp + 1 tsp milk. So add milk carefully at the end. If you add more milk, jamun will flatten and break. Do not knead the dough using your palm.Mixing should be done only with your fingers. Cover the dough with a plate or invert a bowl. Let it rest for 15 minutes to 1 hour.
In the mean time, heat sugar + water and melt it. Add saffron threads, cardamom or rose essence. Boil the syrup for 10 minutes in medium flame till the syrup turns slightly sticky to touch, glossy & resembles oil in consistency. Keep aside. Let the syrup becomes warm.
After 30 minutes, take the dough.It will be soft to touch.Do not knead it. Grease your palm with ghee. Make a big gooseberry sized ball by rolling the dough between your palm. Give gentle pressure and roll it continuously for 30 seconds to make it smooth and crack free. As the dough is sticky, jamun balls will not get cracks. If you feel there are cracks, just roll it tight. Cracks will disappear. I made around 20 balls.

Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated , put a pinch of dough in the oil. If it rises to the top slowly, oil heat is perfect. Now stir the oil with a ladle in the corners. When the oil starts to rotate, drop the jamun balls. I cooked 4 per batch. Stir the oil continuously without touching the gulab jamun. You will find jamun rotate with oil and turns bigger in size. The color of jamun balls change slowly and it cooks uniformly. Once it turns golden brown, remove it in a tissue paper. Do not fry for long time. Jamun will become hard and it will not absorb the syrup. After frying, open & check if its cooked well. Leave the cooked jamun for 2-3 minutes in tissue paper and then drop in the sugar syrup. (If you feel difficult to stir the oil, just keep the flame low, add the balls, flip every now and then till jamun turns golden. Then remove it).

If the sugar syrup becomes cold, heat till it becomes medium hot. i.e vapor should start to come from the syrup slightly. Deep fry all the balls in batches, drain in the tissue and drop in the syrup. Let the balls soak in syrup for one hour. It will soak well and almost double in size. Remove and arrange in a bowl. You can serve it as such or coat the balls in dry coconut powder or sugar powder. I felt sugar coating is tastier. Transfer the gulab jamun to a box and store it for 2 to 3 days.No need to refrigerate.

Enjoy !

Tips

Adding milk for making the dough helps to give soft jamun. You can use water as well. My friend Swarna adds just a tsp of milk in the beginning and add then water to make the dough.
Dough should be really sticky to get soft Gulab jamun. If you have added more milk by mistake, don’t panic. Just cover the dough with a lid and let it rest for an hour.Grease your hands and make smooth balls.If it comes out without cracks, then proceed and deep fry only one ball for a trial. If it disperses in oil, then add a tsp of maida, mix well and make another ball. Test it and proceed further. But adding more milk flatten the jamun. So please be careful while adding milk.
Jamun balls should be crack free. Roll it for 30 seconds continuously.This helps to seal the cracks while rolling. Do not press it too hard while rolling, but give gentle pressure.
Deep fry the balls only at low temperature else balls will get browned quickly without cooking inside.
Gulab jamun balls will disperse in oil or cracks more if the oil temperature is too low. So Check the temperature before you drop the balls.
Similarly cracks will form if the jamun balls become dry.so keep it covered all the time till you finish the procedure.
Sugar syrup should not be too hot while you drop the jamun. It should be medium hot or warm. Similarly Gulab jamun should not be too cold.
Gulab jamun will flatten if you add more milk. It will also flatten if the sugar syrup is less. Make sure the sugar syrup is enough for all the balls to absorb and dunk in completely.
If the quantity of sugar syrup is less, then jamun will not turn soft and double in size.

Try this easy, mildly sweet dry jamun for a change. You will love it !

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October 11, 2017

Bombay Karachi Halwa Recipe – Chewy Corn Flour Halwa Recipe With Video

Long back I had shared a version of easy Bombay Karachi halwa / corn flour halwa as a beginners sweet. It tastes soft and slides in mouth. But recently I came across this chewy Bombay Karachi Halwa also known as Jelly halwa using the same ingredients but slightly different in procedure. The basic difference between soft halwa and chewy halwa (rubbery halwa) lies in the cooking time. Usually we remove the halwa as soon as it starts to release the ghee.

For chewy halwa, we need to cook for more time even after it released the ghee. So this halwa takes some extra cooking time when compared with the easy corn flour halwa. Even though mine was not so rubbery, it was chewy and hard when compared with the soft version. However we make it, this is a no fail recipe.Tastes great and its a must have sweet for Diwali.

Any beginner can dare to try this recipe as it doesn’t need any sugar syrup consistency. Just mixing and continuous stirring is the only job here. Corn flour, sugar, cardamom powder and ghee are the major ingredients. To make this chewy Bombay halwa recipe, I watched some Sindhi halwa recipes and Classic masala hut video in Youtube for the ingredients and measurements. It came out really well as I wished.

Actually I have divided the halwa mixture into two parts and tried it to know the difference in taste between soft halwa and chewy halwa. So I have made orange colored halwa with soft texture and the yellow ones tastes slightly chewy. So this is a two in one recipe. You can try any based on your liking.

Its my long time dream to make Kerala Kozhikode halwa. After trying this recipe, I have got some ideas on how to make it. I hope I will try that soon. So now lets see how to make this most popular and delicious Bombay Karachi halwa recipe with step by step pictures and video ! I clicked the cover picture by arranging different colored halwa after getting tempted by some halwa pictures in Google.

Lets see how to make Bombay Halwa recipe with step by step pictures and video !

Do check out my version of soft n easy to cook corn flour halwa !

Bombay Karachi Halwa Recipe - Corn Flour Halwa

How to make Bombay Karachi Halwa

Author: Chitra Ganapathy

Cuisine:North Indian
Category: Halwa recipes
Yields: 15 Pieces
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 550 Min

Ingredients (1 cup - 250ml)

Corn flour OR Corn starch - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups (to dilute cornflour)
Sugar - 2.5 cups
Water - 1 cup (to melt sugar)
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp + Water - 1/2 tsp
Food color - Orange Red & Yellow
Ghee - 3/4 cup OR Ghee - 1/2 cup + Refined oil - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Chopped nuts - a handful (I used cashews, badam and melon seeds)

How to make the recipe

In a wide bowl, dilute corn flour adding water.
In a kadai, dry roast nuts for a minute, remove in a plate.
Add sugar & water, melt it.
When the sugar syrup starts to boil,add corn flour mixture.
Stir till it thickens.Add ghee at regular intervals.
Mix till halwa starts to release ghee.Add cardamom powder, nuts and food color.Mix well.
Remove in a greased plate, cut after it cools down. Enjoy !
To make chewy corn flour halwa, you need to cook for another 20 minutes till ghee oozes out completely.!
Remove in a greased plate, cut after it cools down. Enjoy !

Bombay Karachi halwa Recipe - Step by step photos

In a wide bowl, mix 1 cup of corn flour & 2 cups of water.Beat well to make it lumps free. It should resemble milk.Set aside.
In a good non-stick kadai, dry roast chopped cashews, badam and whole melon seeds for 2 minutes. Remove in a plate.Keep it aside.
In the same kadai, add 2.5 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water. Mix well in medium flame till sugar is melted completely. Add 1 tsp lemon juice and mix well.
When the sugar syrup comes to boil, add diluted corn flour by mixing it well because all the corn flour would be settled in the bottom of bowl.So mix well before adding to sugar syrup.
Keep the flame medium high and start mixing with a ladle. In 5 to 10 minutes,corn flour becomes a thick paste.
Reduce the flame to medium and start adding 1 tbsp ghee. Add 1 tbsp ghee and mix well. After all the ghee is absorbed by the halwa, add 1 tbsp ghee again.As you cook, halwa becomes pale yellow in color.
Halwa becomes glossy, leaves the pan completely and starts to rotate with the ladle.
At this stage, add cardamom powder and roasted nuts.Continue stirring and add 1 tbsp ghee.
At one stage, halwa starts to release ghee in the sides. If you want soft halwa, you can remove at this stage to a greased bowl or bowl lined with butter paper.
I divided the halwa mixture into two parts to make both soft halwa and chewy halwa.I added orange food color to one. Mixed well and pour the mixture to the greased bowl.To serve as scoop of halwa in a bowl, you can serve it immediately before setting.
To make pieces, allow the halwa to cool down for 2 hours and then cut into pieces using a sharp knife.
I added yellow food color to another half of halwa mixture to make chewy halwa. For chewy halwa, you need to stir for another 20 to 30 minutes in medium to high flame till ghee comes out completely and halwa turns stretchy.The more time you cook, the more chewy and hard halwa would be. Mine was not so rubbery but it was chewy and hard when compared with soft version.
Actually I wanted to make both soft halwa and chewy halwa.So I divided the halwa mixture into two.Added yellow and orange food color to them. Mixed well and transferred orange colored halwa to the greased bowl and allowed to set it.
I cooked the yellow halwa for another 20 minutes adding 2 tbsp more ghee. All the ghee oozed out in the corner and middle of halwa. Drop some halwa in a plate and try to stretch it.If it stretches, halwa is ready. Then transfer to a greased bowl and allow it to set for 3 to 4 hours till its cooled down completely. It would be better if you set the halwa in an aluminium tray or bowl that is used for cakes because aluminum helps to withstand heat for long time and halwa becomes hard and chewy. Invert the halwa bowl onto a plate after its cooled down completely. Cut into pieces and enjoy. This halwa can be stored for one week without refrigeration.But keep in an air tight box.

Notes

Do not reduce the quantity of sugar and ghee.If you want, you can add more cooking oil and less ghee.
To make chewy halwa, you have to stir for long time till the halwa become stretchy.
You can add food color in the corn flour water or sugar syrup too. But I wanted to add 2 colors.So I cooked it without adding color and added at the end.
To make soft halwa, you have to remove it when it starts to release ghee in the sides of pan.

Try this easy, yummy Bombay halwa for this Diwali and Enjoy !

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October 9, 2017

17 Murukku Recipes – Murukku Varieties - South Indian Murukku Recipes

Diwali is fast approaching. Murukku recipes is a must & should snack for South Indians during diwali. So I have made a collection of 15+ Indian murukku varieties for easy reference. Murukku / Chakli is a crunchy, deep fried Indian snack made with rice flour and urad dal flour. Most of the Tamil people used to grind murukku maavu during Diwali to make thenkuzhal and mullu murukku as these two are the most common types.

In this list, I have shared different types of murukku recipes that includes our traditional thenkuzhal murukku, mullu mururkku @ magizhampoo with coconut milk, Instant chakli / Instant murukku recipe with besan flour (Karnataka style), Some flavored murkku recipes like Butter murukku, Garlic murukku, Potato murukku, Lemon murukku , Ragi chakli , Karnataka style kodubale etc. Tirunelveli Manoharam and Achu murrukku / Kerala achappam known as rose cookies that is commonly made during Christmas are some of the sweet murukku varieties. Apart from them, I have shared an interesting sweet murukku podi recipe especially for kids and toothless elders which my mom used to make with leftover mullu murukku or thenkuzhal when I was young.

I am yet to try some more murukku recipes like pottukadalai murukku, wheat flour murukku and thengai paal murukku. I will try to share some of them before Diwali and include them in this list.
Lets see the list of 15+ different types of South Indian murukku recipes. Please click on the pictures to see the respective recipes. All these recipes are with step by step pictures and some recipes have video as well. Do try any of these murukku varieties based on your liking and share your feedback with me.