Manugu Poolu / Manuboolu

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: Festival Special ~ Sri Krishnashtami

Krishnasthami / Janmashtami / Gokulashtami is the day which commemorates the birth of Lord Krishna and is celebrated in India on the eight day of krishna paksha of shravana month (August - September). There are regional variations of this celebration across the country, as is the usual case with all the Indian festivals. In the Southern parts, people who observe this festival usually fast for the day. An odd number of sweet and savory dishes are freshly prepared in the evening and are offered as an offering, the naivedyam to the Lord before breaking the fast. 
Some savory, fried items like chaklis, nippattu, kodbale and paalakayalu are usually prepared on the day. Usually thentharlu/thenkuzhal  are the mandatory ones prepared in my in laws home on the occasion. However these manugu poolu are the only chaklis my mother ever prepares in her kitchen and follows her mother's version. These spicy, delicious chakli are the most we ate growing up and so I am quite partial towards them. My mother would prepare loads of these chaklis and store them in large containers for us, to snack on in the evenings. They are just crunchy and yummy.

Rice flour and roasted chickpeas powder are used in 4:1 ratio for this chakli. My mother usually gets her rice and roasted chickpeas ground in the local flour mill as she prepares them in large quantity. I use the store bought rice flour and it works fine.

Ingredients:
4 cups rice flour (Store bought flour will do.)
1 cup finely ground roasted chickpeas (Chutney dal)
Salt to taste
Red chili powder to taste
Few pinches of asafoetida powder
Oil to fry (I used canola oil.)
(I added about 2 tbsp each of white sesame seeds and cumin seeds as well this time but are not generally used in this chakli.)
 
Making chaklis:
* Heat oil in a kadai on medium flame.
* Combine the flours, salt, chili powder, asafoetida and 1 - 2 tbsp of hot oil in a mixing bowl. Then add water slowly to the flour mixture to form soft (not watery) dough that can be passed through the chakli press.
* Now to test whether the oil is hot enough to fry, slowly slide a pinch of dough into the oil. If it sizzles and comes to surface, then the oil is ready. If not, heat the oil a little longer.
* Take a small portion of the dough and fill in the chakli press. Using your hands, press the mould over the hot oil making circling motion so that coils of dough from the mold dropping into the oil make a circle shape. (Disc with multiple stars is used to make this chakli but I used a single, star shaped disc here.) Or you can first press the chakli on an oiled plastic sheet or a flat spoon and flip it into the oil.
Usually we make chaklis, the frying pan size instead of small ones. When they cool down, we break them into small bits and store them.
* Flipping now and then, fry them on low flame until they turn golden brown. Don't let the chaklis turn dark brown. And also don't be in a hurry and fry on high flame. They brown faster without turning crunchy.
* Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
* Let them cool and store them in an airtight container. They will stay fresh without going stale for at least a couple of weeks and don't need refrigeration. They can be left on the kitchen counter.

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Boodida Gummadi Halwa / Ash Gourd Halwa

I am wrapping up this week's "Sweet dishes using Vegetables" themed marathon with a traditional treat. I was planning something for the final dish but the husband who went to shopping on weekend ended up bringing home three varieties of gourds. And
so ash gourd halwa it is.
Ash gourd halwa is one of the easiest halwas that can be prepared without slogging much in the kitchen. All you do is stir now and then until the mixture reaches halwa consistency, keeping the stove on medium. It is hard to mess up recipe even if left to novices, given that attention is paid to the dish. Below is the method for this yummy and simple treat.

Ingredients:
3 cups peeled and grated ash gourd (Don't discard the water oozed.)
8 -  10 tbsp sugar (or according to taste)
2 + 1 tbsp ghee (use generously if calories are not an issue)
1 tbsp cashews & 1 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
A pinch of edible camphor
A pinch of saffron strands to garnish

Method:
* Heat a tbsp ghee in a small pan and toast cashews and raisins in it. Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep it aside.
* Add grated ash gourd along with the water that oozed out during the grating process and sugar to a pan. Start cooking on medium flame till all the water evaporates and the gourd gets cooked.
* Next add the remaining ghee to the cooked ash gourd and cook until the ghee gets assimilated into the mixture. Turn off the stove.
* Finally add cardamom, edible camphor and toasted cashews - raisins and mix well. Garnish with saffron strands.

This is going to be my contribution to "Sweet Dishes using Vegetables". Check what other marathoners are cooking at BM #34.

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Kaalan

Kaalan, a yogurt - coconut based gravy is from the southern state of Kerala and is part of their Sadhya. Traditionally, a sadhya is a vegetarian feast served on plantain leaves and eaten with out any cutlery, as the other southern states do on religious functions. According to wiki, a sadhya can have up to two dozen dishes or more so that everyone attending can have at least some dishes to their liking. The main dish is rice and other dishes served collectively called as kootan.  
I was planning to try some of the items of Onam sadhya, particularly this kaalan ever since I tried Jayasree's  mambhaza kaalan during one of the previous marathons. Usually plantain / yam is the preferred vegetable or you can go with even mango / pineapple. This is for Jayasree who is no more with us, for introducing me to this simple yet yummy and flavorful side dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt 
1/2 cup peeled and cubed plantain
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt to taste
2 green chillies
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 tsp cumin seeds 
For seasoning:
1 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, a pinch of fenugreek seeds, few curry leaves and 3 red chillies

Method:
* Pressure cook together plantain cubes, salt, chili powder and turmeric powder adding enough water. Or cook in a sauce pan adding water as needed.
* Grind finely cumin seeds, coconut and green chillies together adding very little water.
* Add this paste and the cooked plantain mixture and bring to a boil. Don't be tempted to add much water as kaalan is supposed to be on a thicker side. Reduce the heat and cook for a couple of minutes more. Stir in the yogurt and cook on low flame until it is just heated through and turn off the stove. The mixture will curdle if it is boiled.
* Heat oil. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. When mustard seeds start to splutter, add curry leaves and chillies. Turn off the stove and add it to kaalan. Serve it with hot rice.

Check what other marathoners are cooking during this month long marathon.

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A Virtual Sankranthi Tambula(m)

Happy Sankranthi / Pongal to all my readers.
Sankranthi happens to be a very popular festival in our home state Andhra that is meant to celebrate the harvest of the new crop and in turn the new life. :)
According to this year's Telugu calendar, bhogi falls on the 14th, sankranthi on 15th and kanuma on 16th of January. 

Now a virtual tambula to my readers. This platter contains a typical Sankranthi tambula distributed by young girls around their neighborhoods in Bangalore. Ellu-bella*, sakkare atchu (sugar figurines), bananas, sugarcane and kumkum.

* Though ellu - bella means sesame seeds - jaggery literally, the mixture also contain roasted and skinned peanuts, roasted chana, copra pieces and sugar coated, colored cumin.

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Happy Deepavali

We wish you all a joyous and safe Deepavali!

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Happy Sri Rama Navami

Andhra Summers can be challenging with temperatures reaching around 110 deg F mark, in most of the areas. Sri Rama navami falls on a summer day and to beat the heat, natural coolants like vadapappu, panakam, majjiga (thinned yogurt) are served to guests on the auspicious occasion. Vada pappu is quiet simple in preparation and needs no cooking or seasoning. Wash and soak moongdal (yellow one) in water for an hour or two. Drain all the water and the nutritious vadapappu is ready to serve.



Vada pappu (above) and panakam (below) - Natural coolants, Andhra style
To make panakam, you would need: 
1.5 cups of water
1/4 cup of powdered jaggery (More or less depending upon the sweetness of the jaggery.)
5 -6 pepper corns crushed 
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Making panakam:
Add jaggery to the water and stir till it dissloves. Strain the liquid using a clean cloth to remove any impurities. Then add pepper and cardamom powders to the filtered liquid. Taste and adjust the ingredients if needed.

Happy Sri Rama Navami.
Related Posts: Moongdal - Cucumber Kosumbari
Chanadal - Carrot Kosumbari

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Happy Ugadi

Sarvadhari nama samvathsaraadi subhakankshalu. I wish everyone a very happy Ugadi. Post a comment

Happy Shivarathri and Rasayana

Happy Shivaratri to every one.

Rasayana for Mahashivaratri One of the delicious prasadams offered to the devotees at temples in Bangalore region is rasayana. The recipe usually contains banana, jaggery, coconut and cardamom. Sometimes may be just banana and jaggery. Usually when there were varieties of fruits at home, my sister used to prepare rasayana using all of them. Following her, I added other fruits and ingredients to the standard recipe here. As I mentioned, using other fruits is entirely optional. Only bananas can be used and quantities of other ingredients may need to be altered if done so. You would need: One banana, peeled and sliced into circles One cup of other fruits chopped (I have used oranges, grapes, apple) Powdered jaggery - 1/2 cup Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 cup Cardamom - 1/2 tsp Honey - 2 tbsp Raisins - 1 tbsp

The simple preparation: Add all the ingredients to a serving bowl, mix it well and leave it for at least 30 minutes before serving. By the time, the jaggery would have melted and got incorporated in to the mixture.

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.
I am going on a vacation to India and therefore would be away from the blog world for a few weeks.
See you next year. :)

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Sapaada Bhakshya

According to the Hindu epics, performing Satya Narayana Vrata brings one happiness, peace and prosperity. It is said that people who observe / attend the worship, hear the sacred story of Satya Narayana Swamy and eats the prasad are relieved from the miseries of the world. The Hindu months of Magha, Karthika, Vaishaka are considered auspicious for the vrata. The vrata is generally observed on pournami (full moon day), ekadashi and surya sankramana days.
In Andhra Pradesh, it is a custom to celebrate this popular vratam after auspicious functions like marriages and gruha praveshams. It is said that you should never leave the pooja with out eating the prasad. Coming to prasad, there are several variations. The most common one in South India is being made of semolina. In one of the versions made at my mother's place, no liquid is added. It is supposed to be dry so that they can share this prasad with other family members / friends later. It stays for months.
Today's version, Sapaada Bhakshya is from Karnataka which uses both semolina and bananas.

Ingredients required:
2/3 cups of Semolina, Sugar, Milk & Ghee
2 Bananas peeled, finely chopped
1/4 cup of raisins and cashews

For an authentic version, use equal quantities of semolina, sugar, milk and ghee in this recipe. I have used 2/3 cup of each ingredient. If you have tasted Satyanarayana pooja prasadam, you would know how almost ghee would be dripping from it. I personally feel that prasadam tastes so 'divine' because of the excess ghee used and 'meagre' servings at the pooja. The quantity of the ghee can be reduced. (If it would have been kesari bhath, I would have used just a Tbsp of ghee).

Cooking:

• Peel the bananas. Chop them into tiny pieces.
• Melt the ghee in a deep pan and add cashews and raisins. Toast them till the cashews turn golden brown and raisins turn plump. Remove them with a slotted spoon and save them in a bowl.
• Now add the chopped bananas to the same ghee and fry them for a few minutes till they change into golden color. By the time, they would have turned mushy, add semolina to the pan and keep roasting till you notice the pleasant aroma.
• Then add sugar and keep stirring till all the sugar melts and blends into one lump.
• Add milk and keep stirring till the semolina is cooked.
• Turn off the stove and add the toasted raisins and cashews to the cooked mixture and stir well.

This goes to JFI - Banana hosted by Mandira of Ahaar.

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PaalaKaayalu

Paalakaayalu - the tiny, crunchy balls made out of rice flour and the right amount of seasonings is a traditinal snack from Andhra pradesh. Though they are a hit with the kids, I must admit adults show the same excitement and fervor towards them. Keep a big bowl of these nibblers in front of your family / guests, they would be devoured in no time.
If your family can pitch in to make those tiny balls out of the dough, your major share of work is done in no time. You can prepare them in large quantity and store in an air tight container.
These are especially made for SriKrishnastami in Andhra pradesh.

Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 Cups
Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
Chili powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1 & 1/2 tsp
A few pinches of asafoetida (hing)
Hot water to make the dough (I had to use 3/4 cup of water)
Oil to fry

Making Paalakaayalu:

• Mix all the ingredients and make a firm dough as you do for rice flour rottis.
  Then make very small balls out of the dough and let them air dry for atleast 30 minutes. (Balls should be of around one cm diameter / should fit in a 1/2 tsp. Though mine seem to be of a jamoon size, they were really tiny. If the balls are fried immediately, without allowing to rest for the period mentioned, there are chances that the balls would explode).


• Heat enough oil in a deep pan. Drop a pea sized dough into the oil. If the dough sizzles and comes to the surface of the oil, then the temperature of the oil is perfect for frying paalakaayalu. Then turn down the stove to the lowest heat setting and fry the dough balls in batches with out over crowding the oil.
  Don't rush and fry the balls on high heat. They will brown fast and won't be crunchy. Instead fry them on low heat flipping them in between till they turn slightly brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a plate covered with paper towel.


• Let them cool and store them in an airtight container.

This goes to JFI - Rice, hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam. The creator of JFI is Indira of Mahanandi.

Thanks to Mamatha. Also sending this to 'Sri Jayanthi' event hosted by Latha of 'The Yum Blog'.

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Mahasivaratri F(e)asting

I have never seen people wishing 'Happy Mahasivaratri'. So, I am not going to do that. But, I wish that The Lord bless all of you and your families.
People who like to know more about Mahasivaratri, check here and here.
Leaving the religious part apart, the things which are related to shivaratri (for me) are f(e)asting and the jagarane / jagaram part (staying awake all night).

Coming to jagarane part, I don't know whether this custom is celebrated through out India. It is celebrated in Andhra & Karnataka. When we were kids, I always wanted to stay awake at least till morning. The funny part is that I used to feel sleepy earlier than usual on that particular day. Only one time, I could stay awake till 4.30 in the morning and fell asleep in the living room. When my sister was in 7th grade, she invited a bunch of her friends for a "Jagarane Night" at our place. Even though, I was five years older to them, I was welcome in their party. I guess, they primarily invited me to be their watch dog. My mom gave some snacks for us and went to sleep. They ate the snack, played some games and watched a religious movie on TV. Soon everybody were falling asleep. By 1 a.m , every body were knocked out except me. It seems very funny now. I am damn sure this story repeats every year at some one's house in India. Though not for religious purposes or attaining good karma, kids do attempt to stay awake on this night. It's adventurous and challenging to them. They want to show their friends that they can do this. I am just curious to know how many of us have not tried to stay awake at least once on a shivarathri night.
Now fasting / feasting part. My mom is very religious and so does a strict fasting on this day. Whereas my in laws follow another method of fasting which I always joke about. (Hope no one from our family is reading this). They restrain from eating rice this day and eat all delicious breakfast dishes like idli etc and call this fasting. I did not want to fall behind in following family traditions. I am a part of Gandlur family now. Instead of fasting part, I did the feasting part. Today, we had idlis, cornmeal dosas and cornmeal halwa which have been posted here earlier.


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A bowl of sweet pongal

I am posting pongal recipe today as the festival Sankranthi / Pongal is not complete without the preparation of pongal at homes. Today, I thought of posting the sweeter version, which I learnt from my mom. This is called theepi pongali in telugu which means sweet pongal. This is my favorite pongal than the regular sweet version. It is a very simple dish to make and tastes a lot more better than the regular one. Even my husband who has an aversion towards coconut and sweets said, this was good.

Ingredients for the sweet pongal:
Rice - 1 cup
Moong dal – ½ cup
Powdered Jaggery – 1 cup
Dry coconut, grated ¼ - ½ cup
Cardamom (elaichi) powder – ¼ tsp
Ghee – As needed
Cashews and raisins – As needed
Water – 2 ½ cups or a little less

Dry roast the moong dal for a couple of minutes (till you start smelling the moongdal). No need to turn the moong dal red.
Wash the rice thoroughly. Cook both the rice and moongdal together adding water, in a pressure cooker until two whistles.
Heat a pan / wok. Add jaggery and a tbsp of water to it and let it cook on a medium flame till you get the desired consistency. My mom’s tip to know whether we have reached the desired consistency is to keep a small plate with some water near the stove. When you put a drop of jaggery syrup into the water, you must be able to form a small ball out of it. If you are not able to form the ball out of the syrup and it just melts in the water, then syrup is not ready and you must keep boiling the syrup. It would be done in around 3 –4 minutes.
After the syrup is ready, turn off the stove. Add the cooked rice - moongdal mixture, grated coconut, elaichi powder and mix well. You don’t have to cook further.
Heat ghee in a small pan and toast the cashews and raisins. Raisins turn plump and cashews turn a little brown. Add to the pongal.

Note:
Coming to the ingredients measurements, I did not use the standard cup. For this recipe, the ratio of Rice : Jaggery : Moong dal is always 2 : 2 : 1.
This pongal is supposed to be very dry and not mushy. I did use 2 & ½ cups of water to the 1 & ½ cups of rice and moongal mixture. It turned out good. I think 2 & ¼ cups of water will yield the right texture (like in my mom’s pongal).
I learnt that keeping cooked rice- dal mixture ready before preparing the jaggery syrup is a good idea. If you do the other way, the syrup becomes much thicker and you have heat it further to make it thinner.

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Sankranthi Ellu - Bella / Sankranthi & Sesame Seeds

Happy Sankranthi / Pongal to all of you.



I celebrated only a few Sankranthis in Andhra. I know that there are a lot of beautiful and exciting aspects of the festival. But the few things which pop up whenever I think of it are the eye catching designs of rangolis, the bhogi pallu function and the picnic, we had at the banks of Penna river in Nellore, where my grand parents used to live. People used to gather there to have picnics on Sankranthi.

Sankranthi reminds me the muggulu (rangolis), made in front of the houses decorated with the colors, gobbemmalu and gummadi poolu (flowers from the pumpkin plant). Those beautifully crafted rangolis bring out an unofficial sort of competition among their creators (read young girls). Everybody want their rangolis to be the best in their alleys. I am not talking about the rangolis on the Sankranthi day. Girls start weaving their beautiful designs on the streets, a few weeks earlier. Every day there would be a new pattern and new decorations. My enthusiastic cousins would discuss what they are planning to do the next day. Probably they did not show that much of interest in their studies.

Sankranthi is a three day event in Andhra. The first day is celebrated as bhogi, the second day as sankranthi and the third day as kanuma. On bhogi's evening, an exciting, playful event called 'bhogi pallu poyadam' (pouring the fruits) with little ones is celebrated. Regi pallu, sugar cane pieces and coins are mixed and kept in several small containers. (Regi pallu are sweet & sour, brown colored berries. I have not seen those berries here and don't know their name in English. They are called regi pallu in telugu & elachi hannu in kannada). Infants and toddlers are colorfully dressed, seated and the women & older kids pour the fruit mixture over the little ones' heads. Sometimes neighbors are also invited to participate in the event. I know how much my kids enjoyed during this event during our last visit to India.

Where as when it comes to Sankranthi in Bangalore, it always reminds me the "Sankranthi ellu". Ellu is the kannada word for sesame seeds. Sesame seeds and other goodies are distributed among the neighborhood. Sankranthi , ofcourse is the harvest season and the custom probably started to share their harvest with others. On the festive day, beautifully dressed girls go house to house (known people's) in their neighborhoods distributing ellu, sugarcane, bananas and sankranthi special; sakkare achchu - the tiny sugar models of animals, gods etc. are made using special moulds. Even though our mom used to make plenty of them, it was fun to open the packets given by others just to see which design of sugar achchu we recieved and decide who gets what to eat.

Women prepare ahead, the ellu and the sugar achchus at homes with loads of vigor and enthusiasm. The white colored sesame seeds are slightly fried without browning. The stores sell pale - yellow colored blocks of jaggery, specially meant for the ellu, during the season. The jaggery is bought and cut into small squares. The copra's (dry coconut) black outer layer is scraped and cut into small squares. The peanuts are dry roasted well, skins removed and broken into halves. Roasted chana dal is added. To make it colorful, sugar coated jeera (cumin seeds) are added and are mixed well. My mom takes utmost care when it comes to ellu preparation. She makes sure that the copra is white, the copra and jaggery pieces are cut into uniform squares, peanuts are not roasted black and chanadal added is good. Small quantities of the mixture is put in a small paper bag along with a sugar mould and sealed. When we were young, my sister used to be very eager to go and distribute ellu. My mom learnt to make those sugar moulds for her. It brings me a smile on my face, when I think of it. I made the ellu yesterday for the first time with the ingredients what I could get here, to show my kids. Though my mom would cringe to see her daughter making the ellu which appear to be ready for throwing away.

Enjoy your Sankranthi !!!

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