Ash Gourd Halwa /Vellai Poosanikai Halwa / Thadiyangai Halwa/ Kaasi Halwa

This halwa is a tasty, sticky treat containing the positive-pranic and healthful ash gourd. In my yoga system my guru always ask us to consume ash-guard. Daily consumption of ash gourd greatly enhances one’s intellectual capabilities. During summer we used to add ash-guard in our salads. Consuming ash-guard juice also taste well. During my childhood, my mom used to make this halwa often and I love to consume it when it is hot.

Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time : 1 hour
Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

Ash gourd (white pumpkin), peeled, grated & squeezed: 300-400 gm
Ghee: 4 tablespoon ghee
Cashews: 10
Dry grapes/ kismis- 5 nos
Sugar:  300-400 gm
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
Saffron  - 3/4 teaspoon
Edible camphor (Pachai Karpooram) - 1 pinch (optional)
Salt - 1 pinch

Method

1. Squeeze the grated ash gourd pulp by hand to remove excess liquid or, alternatively, allow the pulp to sit in a sieve/colander for some time until the juice runs out. It is most important step, that helps in getting crunchiness in halwa.



2. Heat pan and add 1/2 of the squeezed pumpkin water and allow it to boil. Add pumpkin pulp to it and mix well and saute it for 5 mins.



3. Add sugar to it. Sugar quantity should be equal to the weight of pumpkin pulp.



4. When sugar dissolves, add saffron to boiling mixture. When 3/4 of water evaporates, add 3 tablespoon ghee and cardamom powder.



5. Cook by stirring continuously, until the halwa begins to leave the sides of the pan and becomes a homogeneous mass. Add pinch of salt at this stage and stir well.



6. In a separate pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee and fry kismis and cashew. Add fried cashews to halwa and mix well.

Simple, Yummy and tasty Ash-Guard halwa is ready to be served.

Paneer Makhani/ Paneer Makhanwala

Fresh Indian cottage cheese/ paneer dunked in rich tomato gravy mixed with cashewnut and fresh cream. It is served with steamed rice, Naan, roti, pulka. One of the base Indian gravy is makhani gravy. Makhani is hindustani word meaning with butter. It is one of the exotic, versatile gravy. My hubby loves paneer equally to mushroom. Whenever I make pulka, I make this recipe.

Ingredients:

Tomato - 4 (large)
Cashewnut - 20 nos
Oil - 5 tablespoon
Butter - 3 tablespoon
Bay leaf - 2 no
Cardamom - 2 no
Cinnamon stick - 2 no
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon
Water -to boil
Ginger garlic paste -2 teaspoon
Sugar - 2 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Kasturi methi - 1 teaspoon
Jeera powder -1 teaspoon
Green Chilli - 1 (slit into 2)
Ginger- 25 gram (julienne)
Fresh cream - 1 tablespoon
Cumin seed - 1 teaspoon
Panner - 250 gms

Method:

1. Slit the base of tomato into 4. Boil 2 glass of water in a sauce pan and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of oil to it. Add slit tomato to it, cover the pan with lid and allow tomatoes to boil. After 5 mins, add cashew nuts to it and again close the pan. Let this mixture boil for 5 mins.Switch off the flame. Allow the mixture to cool off. Drain the water in which tomatoes boiled.




2. To the drained water add red chilli powder and keep it aside.
3. Blend boiled tomatoes and cashew nut to fine paste.
4. Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan and add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cardamom to it. Saute it for a min and add ginger garlic paste.
5. Mix well until raw smell of ginger garlic paste vanish off, now add the red chilli powder mixed water to it. Boil it for 5 minutes.
6. Now add blended tomato paste to pan and allow it to simmer by adding 2 teaspoon of sugar. Adding sugar will give glassy texture.



7. After 5 minutes, add jeera powder, kasturi methi, required salt, 2 cubes of butter and mix well. Allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes. Makhani gravy is ready to be served.

 

8. Heat oil in a separate kadai, add cumin seeds, green chilli and julienne cut ginger (length wise strips) and saute well. Now add the tomato gravy(Makhani gravy) to the kadai and add panner cubes and allow it to boil for 5 minutes in medium flame.



9. Finally add 1 teaspoon of kasturi methi, fresh cream and mix well. Finally add 1 tablespoon of butter and switch off the flame.

Garnish it with grated panner . Hot,exotic, delicious and versatile Panner Makhani is ready to be served. 

Golpapdi (20 mins microwave recipe)

Most famous and traditional Gujarati sweet that is consumed during fasting by most north-indians is Golpapdi. The aroma that arises when roasted wheat flour mix with ghee and jaggery is scrumptious. It is much easy to make using microwave. I have tried this recipe and it got published in Aval kitchen during month of August. And it is my 50th recipe I am posting this year.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Serves : 3 nos

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Poppy seeds (kasakasa) - 1 tablespoon
Ghee- 5-6 tablespoon
Jaggery - 1/4 cup (grated/powdered)
Cardamom powder/ Elachi - 1/2 teaspoon

Method:

1. Dry roast poppy seeds and sprinkle it over greased tray.
2. Combine wheat flour and ghee in microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 4 mins
3. When wheat flour gets roasted, add jaggery powder, cardamom powder and mix well, such that little loosy consistency is formed.
4. Microwave the mixture again on high for 30 secs.
5. Pour the mixture to greased tray, when it is warm and spread it evenly using backside of cup. A mere pressure is required while setting up, that's why press the mixture over tray using backside of cup and spread evenly to set.
6. Cut into diamond shape. Once it is completely cooled off , cut into pieces and store in airtight container.

Yummy and delicious Golpapdi is ready to be served.

Tips:

1. Finely chopped seedless dates can be added along with jaggery and mix well and microwave it for 30 sec in high power. This dates and jaggery gives instant energy, thats why this recipe is consumed during fasting.

Authentic Adhirasam

Deepavali, festival of lights. It is the most important festival for kids,as they enjoy eating more sweets, wear new dresses and light crackers. One of the most traditional sweet for Deepavali is Adirasam. My mom used to make lot of sweets and she starts with neivelanga urundai as first sweet every time. Me and my sister too will start our Deepavali recipe with same urandai. From my childhood I have seen my mom doing this Adirasam for every deepavali. I remember from my childhood I used to help my mom in making this recipe and I tried this recipe individually after marriage and it came so good. This recipe got published in Aval Vikatan this month as Deepavali special with step by step pictorial representation.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice (Maavu arisi) - 1/2 kg
Paggu jaggery (paagu vellam) - 300 gm
Elachi powder - 2 teaspoon
Dry ginger powder (sukku podi) - 3/4 teaspoon
Water - 1/4 glass
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Oil - for deep frying

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice for 2 hours. Drain water from rice and spread it on clean cloth and dry it for 20 mins under fan. Leave little moisture with rice. Don't allow it to dry completely.
2. Grind the rice in mixer/ blender to little coarse powder. Make sure, it shouldn't be too much coarse or too much fine powder.
3. In a separate pan, mix jaggery and water and boil. Once jaggery gets dissolved, filter the jaggery extract to remove impurities.
4. In a washed pan, again boil the jaggery extract by adding sukku powder. Once second string consistency is attained switch off the flame and add elachi powder. To check second string consistency, add little jaggery syrup in water. It wont get dissolved. Instead you will be able to make balls out of it as shown.
5. Now add the rice flour little by little to jaggery syrup and stir continuously using backside of wooden ladle, such that no lumps are formed. For half kg rice, 300- 325 gm of jaggery is required.
6. After mixing rice flour and jaggery, finally add a tablespoon of ghee and mix well. The mixture will be little sticky and gooey at this stage. Transfer the entire mixture to another bowl and keep aside for 2 -3 days (No need to refrigerate). All moisture will be absorbed and mixture gets stiff.
7. Grease plantain leaf/ ziplock cover and take little portion of adirasam mixture (small lemon size) and flatten the dough. The dough should be flatten into medium thickness, it shouldn't be too thin or thick.
8. Simultaneously heat oil in a kadai and carefully drop flatten dough into oil. Once it raise up, flip the dough and make sure, both sides are golden brown in colour. Make sure, in medium flame the dough is fried in oil.
9. Once the adirasam turns golden brown colour, remove it immediately from oil and squeeze out excess oil by pressing the adirasam between 2 flatten ladle.
10. Allow it to cool and then store it in airtight container.


Yummy, tasty and soft adirasam is ready to be served.

Tips:

1. The dough should be gooey while the mixture is preserved for 2 days, if not adirasam will become hard and chewy.
2. If jaggery syrup consistency is missed, then adirasam will get dissolved in oil.
3. Cook adirasam in low flame, such that it doesn't get burnt. Flip immediately once it raise up after leaving into oil.

Apple halwa

Apple halwa is the easiest halwa one could make without much strain with simple ingredients. Apple halwa is scrumptious dessert. We all know a famous saying "An apple a day keeps doctor away". Such a nutrition rich fruit is apple. But it is very difficult for me to consume apple as such. So I tried this recipe and used to consume now and then. Apple when  it is roasted in ghee, it gives nice aroma. This apple halwa has its own flavour, so I have not added any additional flavour. Kids love this recipe to the core, make it Diwali special. This recipe got published in August Avalkitchen book.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time : 45 mins
Serves : 4 no

Ingredients:

Apple - 3 no (grated)
Ghee - 5 tablespoon
Milk - 2 tablespoon
Milk powder - 1/2 cup (150 gm)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (150 gm)
Cashewnut - 10 nos
Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Kesari powder - 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Heat 3 tablespoon of ghee in a heavy bottom kadai and add grated apple. Saute well until juice evaporates and apple get nice aroma.
2. Add Sugar and milk powder to kadai and mix well until everything gets mixed up.
3. Mix kesari powder in milk and add it to kadai and mix well. Cook well in medium flame until halwa starts leaving the sides and ghee ooze out.
4. In a separate kadai fry cashewnut in ghee until it turns into golden brown colour. Add fried cashewnut to halwa and mix well. Switch off the flame.

Hot, tasty and yummy halwa is ready to be served.

Tips:

1. Cardamom powder can be added optionally in step 3. But it is better to taste the apple halwa with its original flavour.
2. Instead of milk powder, even unsweetened koya (palkova) can be added.
3. You can also boil apple and smash and fry it in ghee and same steps can be followed from step2. Slightly taste will differ and to feel crunchiness of apple it is better to grate and make halwa.