Navarathri Neivedyam VIII - Coconut milk pudding

My pantry had a can of coconut milk waiting patiently for its turn. I had brought it to be used in curries, gravies, etc, but never got around to using it. Recently while I was going through Aparna's lovely blog, I saw this pudding and had bookmarked it. Ever since I began making neivedyam on a daily basis for Navarathri, I wanted to make it and today was the day. With few changes to Aparna's recipe, I was good to go. I used Vegalicious' method of stovetop for cooking since I am not a very great fan of microwave cooking for various reasons.

The pudding resulted from a 10 minute stir on the stovetop over medium heat. It was creamy, coco-nutty and rich. It is a great to see how such few ingredients can lead to such a wonder!

Now over to Navarathri Neivedyam VIII - Coconut milk pudding

Ingredients (serves 4 since it is slightly heavy):


Thick coconut milk: 400 ml (one can, store bought)
Sugar: ¼ cup (plus one or two tbsps extra if you want it a little sweeter)
Cornstarch / cornflour: 3 tsps
Elaichi: 8 pods
Edible camphor: a pinch
Fresh coconut pieces: ¼ cup
Almonds (chopped fine): for garnish

Method:

Take about 50 ml of the coconut milk in a cup. Add the cornstarch to it and mix well. Make sure no lumps are formed.
Take the remaining coconut milk, sugar and camphor and mix in a heavy bottomed vessel.
Mix the cornstarch mixed coconut milk to it. (This step is done just to avoid formation of minor lumps)
Grind the coconut pieces and elaichi to a smooth powder.
Bring the coconut milk to a boil over medium flame stirring all the time. It will start bubbling in about 6 minutes.
Keep stirring patiently as it thickens. When you feel the right consistency has been attained, add the coconut-elaichi powder.
Mix well. Keep stirring for 2 minutes and finish.
Offer to God.
Pour in individual serving cups and refrigerate for about two hours.
Enjoy!
This pudding goes to 'Cooking for Kids - Festive Sweets/Savoury Event' hosted by Suma and created by Sharmi

Navarathri Neivedyam VII – Carrot and Chana dal Payasam

“Today should be a payasam”, I thought. I had not made one for the Navarathri yet. Again, I wanted a neivedyam which did not need any major effort from my side. I remembered the carrot and chana dal payasam by Priya, which I had bookmarked a few days back. I zoomed into the recipe. As it is, the recipe sounded very easy, and I simplified it further. I wanted carrots to dominate the payasam, hence changed the proportions of ingredients to suit my taste. The end result was a lovely thick payasam which had a deliciously creamy custardy consistency. And the colour was a beautiful brilliant orange!

Navarathri Neivedyam VII – Carrot and Chana dal Payasam

Ingredients (serves three)

Carrots (chopped): 1 cup
Chana dal (raw): 1/3 cup
Sweetened condensed milk/ Milkmaid: ¼ cup
Milk: ½ cup
Sugar: 3 tbsp
Elaichi: 5 – 6 pods, crushed
Edible camphor: one pinch
Ghee: 1 – 2 tsp
Cashews, almonds and raisins (chopped or broken): 1 tbsp each

Method:

Wash and soak the dal for atleast half an hour.
Pressure cook the dal together with the carrots adding about ¾ cup of water.
Cook it for about 5 whistles so that it gets mushy.
Once the pressure releases, cool it and grind into a fine paste.
Now, in a deep bottomed vessel, heat ghee and fry the dry fruits and keep aside.
Add the ground carrot-chanadal paste to it.
Add the milk, condensed milk, camphor, elaichi and the sugar to it.
On a medium flame, cook it and allow it come to a boil.
Switch off.
Mix the garnishing and offer to God.
Serve warm or cold and enjoy!

This bowl of payasam goes to 'Anyone can cook Series - 3' and to 'Celebrate Sweets - Kheer' events hosted by Taste of Pearl City

Navarathri Neivedyam V - Kesari Poli

'Kesari Poli' is what I preferred to name it. It is nothing but our good old rava kesari stuffed into a chapati. This is also known by the name of 'Sanjachi poli' or 'Sanjori' and has its own designated place in Maharashtrian cuisine. I understand this is mostly done with leftover Sheera or Kesari, deliberately cooked in large quantities for a puja or a ritual so that Sanjori would follow the next day.

I wanted Kesari Poli to be one of the Neivedyams for Navarathri. It is extremely easy to make. The only difference between a normal kesari and the one I used as a filling here is that I limited the amount of ghee to about two tbsp (else our kesaris have a notorious reputation of drinking cups and cups of ghee) and omitted the cashews so that rolling would be smooth. So, here we go.

Navarathri Neivedyam V - Kesari Poli

Ingredients (Makes 5 kesari polis)

For the Kesari (filling)

Rava (Suji): ½ cup
Sugar: ¾ cup (I wanted it a little sweet since it has to be sandwiched between two layers of flour)
Ghee: 2 tbsp
Water: 1 cup
Elaichi: 5- 6 pods, crushed
Edible camphor: one pinch
Raisins: 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat a heavy bottomed kadai.
Add ghee and roast the raisins till they puff up well.
Now roast the rava and fry till they turn a slight brown and a good aroma comes out.
Add the water to the rava and keep stirring vigourously so that no lumps form.
Add the camphor and the elaichi.
When the rava is well cooked, add the sugar.
Let it come together into a big mass.
Add the raisins and give it one final stir.
Finish!
Make normal chapati dough and set aside atleast for 15 minutes.
Take a big lemon sized ball and make parathas out of it.
Use ghee and roast it tossing and turning it few times.
Offer to God and enjoy!

Navarathri Neivedyam IV - Aval (Poha) Kesari

Navarathri Neivedyam IV - Aval Kesari



Ingredients (Serves two)


Poha (medium variety): 1/2 cup
Sugar: 1/3 cup (or a little less if you prefer it less sweeter)
Elaichi powder: 2 pinches
Edible camphor: 1 pinch
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Water: 1 cup
Raisins and cashews: a handful
Yellow colour (optional)

Method:

Dry roast the aval. Once cool, make a fine powder. Keep aside.
In the same kadai add about one tsp of ghee, fry the raisins and cashews till golden brown and keep aside.
Now add the water and the aval. Keep stirring so that it does not form any lumps.
Add the remaining ghee and keep stirring till all the water dries up.
Once all the water is dry, introduce the sugar.
Add the edible camphor, colour and the elaichi powder.
Keep mixing till it leaves the sides of the kadai.
Add the fried cashews and raisins and give it one final stir.
Done.
Offer to God and enjoy!

This recipe goes to 'Anyone can cook Series - 3' event hosted by Taste of Pearl City

Navarathri Neivedyam III - Peanut Burfi

The peanut fire in me got kindled and I chose this recipe from my myriad bookmarks since they were made using very less ghee and had an excellent shelf life. This recipe is fairly similar to the recipe of Peanut Laddoos. I got it from a Hare Krishna website featuring recipes of a lot of Burfis, and had written it down in my diary.

The sweetner in this case is sugar and not jaggery. And this burfi calls for syruping of sugar. Though I went wrong with the syruping (the syrup master – K, was attending to our baby), I somehow managed to pour the peanut lava into a greased cake tin and managed to make burfis out of them. Hence they look rugged, nevertheless, tasty.

Navarathri Neivedyam III – Peanut Burfi

Ingredients (makes 12 burfis)

Peanuts: ¾ cup
Sugar: ¾ cup or a little less (depending on taste)
Ghee: 1tbsp
Elaichi powder: onebig pinch
Water: 4 -5 tbsp

Method:

Dry roast the peanuts till done. Cool, skin them and powder fairly finely.
Now take the sugar in a kadai along with the water. Make a syrup of one string consistency.
As soon as this is done, add the peanut powder and stir vigorously so that no lumps are formed.
Now, you could add the ghee so that the mass does not stick to the bottom.
Add the elaichi powder and keep stirring till you are able to make a loose ball out of the slightly cooled mass with your fingertips.
Once done, empty the contents into a greased plate.
Make pieces while warm.
Offer to God and enjoy!

This neivedyam goes to 'Only' Festive Food Event conceptualised by Pari and hosted this month by Preeti.

Navarathri Neivedyam II - Dessicated coconut ladoos

The moment I saw Veena's recipe, I knew I was going to make it for Navarathri. As I was doing it, I was reminded of the Milkmaid advertisement in Doordarshan where the mother would roll the ladoo in dessicated coconut.. Back then, that ad would make me salivate very badly. I curbed all those carnal instincts since I was making a neivedyam and proceeded with the job on hand. Being a no-cook sweet, it can be quickly assembled while visiting any friends or relatives, or can serve as an excellent quick fix dessert for an emergency sweet craving.

Navarathri Neivedyam II - Dessicated coconut laddoos with condensed milk

Ingredients (yields 10 medium sized laddoos)

Dessicated coconut (store bought): 1 heaped cup + 2 tbsp (for rolling the laddoos in them)

Sweetened condensed milk (milkmaid): 1/3 cup

Sugar: 1/4 cup

Elaichi powder: 1 big pinch

Ghee: 1/2 tsp (optional, just for greasing your palms while making laddoos)

Method:

Mix the dessicated coconut, sugar and elaichi powder thoroughly.

Now pour the condensed over it and mix well with your hands.

Now this coconut mixture will become slightly moist. Knead using fingertips and you will be able to make laddoos out of them.

Make medium sized ladoos.

Spread the 2 tbsp of dessicated coconut in a plate. Roll the laddoos in this.

Dessicated coconut ladoos are ready in 10 minutes flat!

Offer to God and enjoy!

This neivedyam finds its way to 'Only' Festive Food Event conceptualised by Pari and hosted this month by Preeti.

Navarathri Neivedyam I - Wheat Katli

The best part of any festival is that it would bring with it a certain contagious enthusiasm. Navarathri generally signifies the victory of good over the evil according to Hindu mythology. It would kick-start a flurry of activities in most Hindu households in Tamil Nadu. Planning would start much ahead of the actual nine days. Houses would be cleaned up meticulously, the ‘kolu padi’ (kolu steps) or any other arrangement would be kept ready, the dolls dusted with a soft cloth, mental list of attendees for ‘vettalai-paakku’ would be finalized, neivedyam for all nine days decided ahead and the needed ingredients stocked, etc etc.. Neivedyams would be prepared on a daily basis and shared with family and friends.

This year I plan to celebrate Navarathri here in my little way with nine varieties of offerings – one for each day. I want to make simple neivedyam for Devi, it is my little way of showing my love for her. However, the only chief difference is that I would try to blog about it, that too daily. Let me see if I can pull it off.

So, here we go.

Neivedyam Day I – Wheat Katlis

Ingredients:

Wheat flour (atta): ¾ cup
Sugar: ¾ cup
Water: 1/3 cup
Ghee: 3- 4 tbsp
Elaichi (powdered): a big pinch

Method

Take a heavy bottomed kadai.
Heat about 2 tbsp of ghee and roast the wheatflour till it gives out a great aroma.
Keep aside.
Now, add the sugar and the water. Let it come to a rolling boil.
Add the elaichi powder and the wheat flour.
Stir constantly so that no lumps form.
You will see in a while that the mass is becoming a little stiffer.
Do a little test with your finger tips. Take a small bit of the mass. Let is cool for a while and try rolling it into a loose ball.
If it does not gather itself, then stir for some more time. Else, remove from fire immediately.
Stir a couple of minutes more, even after the stove has been switched off.
Let the mass cool down for about 5 – 10 minutes.
Once done, knead it to form a smooth dough. Add 1 tbsp of ghee if you feel like.
Roll it on the counter using a rolling pin and make diamonds (katlis) out of it.
If you feel the dough has become stiff, add some milk or water and knead patiently. It will come together as an elastic mass once again. Then roll and make katlis
Offer it to Devi.
Enjoy! This neivedyam finds its way to 'Only' Festive Food Event conceptualised by Pari and hosted this month by Preeti.

Carrot Burfi

Kheers, halwas, cakes, salad, curry and sambars using carrots are familiar entities. But, I had not tasted a Carrot Burfi till now. Ever since I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. And when I made it, I was surprised how quickly this burfi made its way to my list of probable Diwali goodies!

I used Kamala’s recipe for this. Had a couple of doubts and the benevolent Kamala gave me the needed instructions. I altered her recipe only on the sugar front. This recipe is fairly deceptive in the sense that it uses a whoopingly large amount of carrots and yields a substantially small number of Burfis. So, I would sincerely suggest anybody to hit the market, stock up on the carrots and then try out this Burfi. It was so tasty that I had a trouble saving up some pieces for the clicks since they were vanishing. The relieved public (me and K) gobbled up the remaining as soon as the photo session was over!

Ingredients (makes 8 small pieces)

Carrots (washed, peeled, grated and roasted in ghee till raw smell disappears): 1 cup
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Sugar: 40% of the measure of ‘processed’ carrots or more or less per taste
Cashews/Badam/ Raisins/ Pistachios: 2 tbsp finely chopped
Cardamom powder: ¼ tsp
Saffron (optional): 3 -4 strands
Water: 3 – 4 tbsp

Method:

Take a heavy bottomed kadai. Heat a tsp of ghee and roast the dry fruits till golden brown.
Wash the carrots. Peel and grate them. Now (without adding any water), roast them in 2 tbsp ghee on a medium flame till the raw smell appears and it has cooked to about 75 percent. You could add the cardamom powder also while roasting.
Now measure this quantity of ‘processed’ carrots. For every cup of this, you will need 0.4 cup of sugar (or even less, since carrots are inherently sweet).
Now in the kadai, add the sugar and water and make sugar syrup of one string consistency.
When this is done, add the processed carrots.
Keep stirring constantly.
Initially the mass would become a little loose. But by constant stirring, it would reach a stage where it comes together like hard ball. It will take some time and a lot of stirring.
While stirring, add some saffron if you want to.
Immediately pour into a greased tray.
After it has cooled a bit, make pieces.
Enjoy!


This delicious burfi is my contribution to to ‘Bookmarked Recipes – Every Tuesday’ event by Priya Mitharwal.

It also finds its way to 'Only' Festive Food Event conceptualised by Pari and hosted this month by Preeti.

Oatmeal Date Raisin Peda

I see a little irony here. This is my first participation in this marathon food blogging event ‘Sugar High Fridays’ and my entry for this event has no sugar or its sweet cousins in any direct form. Nevertheless, it is sweet because of all the dates and raisins it is loaded with. Hence, this oatmeal-date-raisin peda rightfully qualifies to be a part of this great event ‘Sugar High Fridays – Bite Size Desserts’ hosted by Aparna, one of my favourite bloggers.

This peda is adapted from Sharmi’s Fudge. Truly it is a cinch – right from start to finish. I felt these pedas are nothing but a fudgy younger brother of oatmeal breakfast bars, probably with a smaller shelf life. It takes no more than 20 minutes to put together. If you are looking for a dessert that would leave your mouth sweet, though not cloyingly so, and that is not loaded with too many calories, this is the thing for you.

Ingredients (Yields 14 medium size pedas)

Instant Oats (Quaker): ¾ cup
Peanuts (roasted and skin removed): ½ cup
Almonds (raw, chopped into tiny pieces): ¼ cup
Dates (chopped fine): 15 Nos
Raisins: ¼ cup
Cardamom: ¼ tsp
Ghee (to grease hands while making the pedas): 2 – 3 tsp
Water: About ¼ cup

Method:

Dry roast the oatmeal for about 3 – 5 minutes. Let it cool for a while.
Make a fine oatmeal powder out of it and keep aside.
Grind the almonds and peanuts coarsely with the cardamom. Keep aside.
Grind the dates and the raisins along with ¼ cup water to obtain a tight paste. (You could also use milk to make the paste, but, would reduce the shelf life of the sweet greatly. So, I used water.)
Mix the oatmeal powder and nut powder together.
Add the date-raisin paste to little by little and make small lemon sized balls using greased palms.
Now flatten the balls slightly and add a chopped almond in the middle for decoration.
A very healthy dessert is ready to be relished.

Kaju Katli

Even the stiffest sweet-haters would readily indulge in this little thin diamond. The calorie-conscious good citizens would dump their dietary resolutions for a brief while if they were confronted with a box of these goodies. And the compulsive sweet lovers like me would rest peacefully only if we had the solace of emptying the entire box! I am speaking of the famous Indian sweet - Kaju Katli or Cashew diamonds. Mildly sweet with no other added flavours, this sweet is sure to impart mouthfuls of cashewy goodness (and truckloads of calories) with each bite. My almost foolproof recipe from Saffronhut yields about twenty katlis.

Ingredients:

• Cashews: 1 cup
• Sugar: 0.6 cup (or more if you prefer it sweeter)
• Water: ¼ cup
• Ghee: 2 tsps (for greasing)

Method:

• Powder the cashews finely. In order to do this, break the cashews into rough bits using your hands. Then place the bits in the fridge for about an hour. This step makes the cashew pieces brittle and they powder finely with very little effort.
• Mix sugar and water in a non-stick kadai or saucepan.
• Keep gently stirring till the sugar water begins to vigourously bubble. Once it happens, add the cashew powder.
• At this stage, the cashew powder is prone to forming lumps. So, stir vigourously.
• Keep the flame at low all the time.
• After some stirring, you will see the lump solidifying. Keep stirring continuously so that it does not stick to the bottom.
• When the mixture solidifies further, do a plate test. Drop a drop of the kaju mixture on a dry plate. Let it cool down a bit. Collect the contents and try rolling it between your fingers. One should be able to make a loose ball out of it. If the loose ball consistency is not reached, then wait for a while and try again.
• Keep stirring all the time.
• If the loose ball consistency is attained, immediately take the kadai off the heat and stir (off the flame) for about two minutes. Then let the mixture cool.
• While it cools, get the kitchen counter, wax paper, rolling pin, ghee and a greased knife ready.
• When the mixture becomes finger-friendly, knead well with your hands on the wax paper. The dough would become smooth and glossy. Add 1 – 2 tsp of ghee if needed.
• Take a portion of the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll to ¼ inch thickness.
• Cut into pieces.
• Gather all the bits and pieces and roll again. (A greedy cook like me would omit this step conveniently since I strongly believe that the cook has the first right to those out-of-shape yet tempting incentives :-))
• Repeat with the remaining cashew dough.
• Store in an air-tight container. Stays at room temperature for a week very easily.
• If by any chance, you miss the loose ball consistency and land up with a harder than intended lump, Saffron Hut advises to add some milk and knead. When it happened to me the first time, I just emptied the contents into a greased plate and cut them into burfis. You could do either of these things for emergency damage control.
• Enjoy!

Cabbage Payasam

Aparna’s blog - with her engaging narrations, awesome photos and yummy recipes is a great way to use up free time. When I learnt that Aparna’s blog would be the theme for this month’s ‘Tried and Tasted event’, I knew I would definitely contribute atleast one recipe since I had loads of them bookmarked. I zeroed in on this one – Cabbage Payasam, simply because it threw me off my chair the first time I read the title - “Cabbage Payasam”. I had an incomprehendable feeling. Aparna had rightly named it ‘wierd’. Then I collected myself and thought, if onion payasam can be a most-sought after dish at a leading restaurant in Chennai, why not a payasam with cabbage?

But yes, I should confess that I had my own doubts while making it. So, I quartered Aparna’s recipe and followed her instructions closely. My only addition was half a teaspoon of ‘MAS’ flavour powder to add some mild orange colour and flavour to the dessert. Verdict: A neat dessert – very doable, gets done comfortably on the backburner, just a little stirring in between other stuff, and most importantly, Very Delectable. Nobody having it would imagine it is a payasam out of a cabbage! Thank you aparna, for introducing us to this lesser known avatar of the humble hostel vegetable!

This bowl of payasam goes to Tried & Tasted event hosted by Srivalli for this month and originally conceived by Lakshmi. Since the recipe is inspired by another blog, it goes off to Nupur’s BB-6 Potluck Edition.

Bread Ladoo

I want to start year 2010 blogging with a breezy easy sweet dish, just to begin on a sweet note. This tremendously easy bread ladoo is a must-make, especially when one is in the mood to ‘muh-meethafy’. Get ready to pop-in these little rotund treasures!

Ingredients (yields 9 medium sized ladoos)

Bread slices (crusts removed): 10
Sugar: 1/3 cup
Cashews and badam: 5 each, chopped fine
Elaichi: 8 – 10 pods
Ghee: 2-3 tbsp

Method:

After chopping the crusts of the bread slices, tear them into ¾ inch pieces. Now whip them in small quantities in a dry mixie. This makes fine fluffy bread powder. Keep aside
Now powder the sugar and elaichi together. Keep aside
Take a fairly large kadai
Heat ghee and fry the cashews and badam till golden brown
Now switch of f the flame
Add the bread powder and the sugar powder
Mix well
Make quick hard ladoos so that they don’t fall apart
Done!

Rava Ladoo

I have a feeling ladoos are always the easiest sweets to make. Make a mix - of anything, drizzle some hot ghee over it and lo! Yummy ladoos are ready in a matter of minutes. And during diwali, this is one of the reasons why ladoos secure a definite place among the list of sweets-to-do in most households.

One of the diwali sweets this year at my home was - the easy rava ladoo. This is a popular diwali sweet in Chennai. Despite its tremendous popularity, each home has its own ways of making the rava ladoo. I have never tasted rava ladoos of two homes being similar. Well.. this recipe is from my mother and this yields about ten medium sized ladoos.

Ingredients:

• Bombay rava (suji): 1 cup
• Sugar: 1 cup
• Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
• Ghee: 1/3 cup
• Cashews (broken into bits): 7 - 8
• Raisins: 10 - 15
• Grated coconut: 1/3 cup (optional)

Method:

• Take a heavy bottomed kadai
• Add 2 tbsp of ghee to it. Once hot, fry the cashews and raisins till golden brown. Keep aside
• Add the rava and elaichi powder. Fry till a yummy aroma arises and it turns golden brown. Do this on a low flame. Let it cool down
• Once it is cool enough for the mixie, run the rava and elaichi powder in the mixie till it becomes a reasonably fine powder. Run it a couple of times if the rava is stubborn. Empty into a large basin
• Now, powder the sugar. Add it to the rava in the basin
• Introduce the cashews, raisins and the grated coconut into the basin
• Mix very well.
• Heat the remaining ghee. Pour on top of this mixture
• Make firm ladoos quickly
• If making of the ladoos are a trouble, add a little more ghee to it. Else, sprinkle some warm milk on the mixture and try again. In a couple of trials, the ladoos should be done
• Enjoy!

My Rava Ladoos are my contribution to "Sunday Snacks: Festive snacks of Navarathri and Diwali", hosted by Indrani

Groundnut ladoos

Peanuts again!

If there were a club for peanut lovers, I am sure to be its President. I am one of those who can eat/enjoy groundnuts in absolutely any form. When I saw Valli's peanut ladoos which she had made for Ganesh Chaturthi, I instantly knew this is going to be yet another lip-smacking incarnation of the wonder nut!!

My recipe, which makes about 17 fairly big ladoos, is completely Srivalli's except that I had used 3-4 tbsp of ghee for double of her quantity of peanuts. My ladoos tasted a little more sweeter than they should have been because I had used two packed cups of grated jaggery instead of two loose cups.. This is one place to be slightly cautious.. Else, the ladoos were yummmmmmm!

Ingredients:

• Roasted peanuts: 2 cups
• Grated jaggery: 2 cups
• Ghee: 3 -4 tbsp (just to hold the ladoos together- add more if you feel like)
• Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp

Method to make the ladoos:

• M/W the peanuts till they are done or roast them in a kadai. I M/W-ed the nuts for about four-and-a-half minutes, just kept stirring once in 40 seconds or so. They were done fast.
• Allow the nuts to cool and remove the skin
• Grate the jaggery on the other hand and measure two (loose) cups
• Add the nuts, jaggery and cardamom powder and start whipping in the mixie
• The texture of the ladoos is a question of personal choice. I had mine about 90% smooth, just wanted one or two pieces of peanuts in between for texture
• Empty the contents of the mixie into a wide basin
• Heat 3 - 4 tbsp of ghee and pour on top of the mixture
• Make ladoos
• Done!
• Finish of as many ladoos as you can while making them since you may not get to see them once you take them out of the kitchen :)

• Enjoy!

Atta Ladoos

I had previously mentioned the visit of my close friend R. We landed up yapping till 4 in the morning.. And to our utter surprise, a large portion of our discussion was on food!! Yummy discussions indeed.. R remembers me as a single working woman who was completely calorie conscious! She had no clue that I had even taken interest in cooking. She was surprised to see this transformed friend and was more than glad to share her cooking secrets with me.

This atta ladoo is a direct bi-product of those lovely late night talks. About making these ladoos, all I can say is, they are easier to make than blogging how to make them! So simple, yet so tasty and nutritious! This made a quick evening prasadam during Navarathri.

Ingredients (makes 7 ladoos)

• 1/2 cup wheat flour / atta
• 1/2 cup grated jaggery or a little less if you prefer it little less sweety
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 - 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 - 2 tbsp cashews and raisins

Method of preparation:

• Take a kadai. Dry roast the atta till a heavenly aroma arises. Empty the roasted atta in a fairly large bowl
• Add the grated jaggery to it
• In the same kadai, heat ghee
• Fry the broken cashews and raisins till they become golden brown
• Pour the ghee over the atta
• Add the cardamom powder
• Mix well and make ladoos
• If making the ladoos becomes a trouble (in most cases it wont), just heat a little ghee and pour over the mixture
• Yummy ladoos are ready in ten minutes flat!

Oats Ladoo

It is Navarathri. Everybody is making all types of prasadams for the goddess during these nine days. Huge celebrations all around. I decided to do my little bit and resolved to make one item a day. Either a sundal variety, or some kind of sweet.

On the other hand, the thought of making ladoos with oats has been pinging me from one corner of my brain for quite some time. So, decided to try a ladoo with oats. The goddess is also not spared from our cooking experiments. :) The recipe that is followed is very similar to pori urundai that is generally made at home for karthigai deepam. This recipe makes 12 medium sized ladoos.

Ingredients:
Oats - (Quaker quick cooking) - 2 cups
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Cardamom (powdered) - 4 Nos
Peanuts - 4 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Cashews - 6 Nos (optional)
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Roasted channa dhall (pottukadalai) - 2 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 - 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation:
- Take a heavy bottomed kadai. Keep it on a slow flame.
- Dry roast the peanuts, cashews and sesame seeds separately.
- Remove the skin from the peanuts. Keep aside.
- Now dry roast the oats till they turn golden brown. This happens rather soon. So keep stirring constantly so that they do not burn.
- In the same kadai, add jaggery and water.
- Let the jaggery dissolve completely. Strain to remove any impurities.
- Now keep the syrup in low flame and add the cardamom powder.
- Keep stirring till the syrup reaches the soft rolling ball consistency. This can be checked by pouring a drop of the syrup in a small bowl of water.
- Turn off the flame and add the roasted oats, peanuts, cashews, raisins, channa dhall, sesame seeds.
- Mix vigorously.
- Dust your hands with rice flour and quickly make ladoos out of it.

Naivedyam - first for the goddess and then for us is ready :)
Just a thought, using the same method, one can make breakfast bars also. Adding a few more ingredients, some vanilla essence and a few nuts, this mixture can be poured on a greased plate and cut into rectangles. Need to give it a try sometime!!