Maida Murukku by Vimitha Anand (My Culinary Trial Room)

The celebration is still on with another guest post by my dearest friend Vimitha Anand of  My Culinary Trial Room, she don't need any introduction further as I'm sure all of you know who is she, she comes up with very innovative and creative recipes every time you check her blog. For those who have not visited, don't waste any time, go now na....Vimi thank you for your time doing a guest post for me. Now off to her;

When Arthy of Sumanarthy's kitchen asked me to do a guest post for her in the month of November, I was first hesitant to accept it. Seriously, I just can't find the time to even blog these days and a guest post was totally out of question. But when she gave the theme as Diwali recipes, I thought that I could squeeze in a guest post sometime. After all, I had decided to make quite a few Diwali sweets and snacks and I just had to pick one for her.

I am a sucker for traditional South Indian snack items. And by sucker I mean not in eating it but to make it. The first time I tried Omapodi at home, it drank so much oil that I had to bin it. The second time I tried seedai and most of you know what happened. And to those who are new, it burst right out spluttering my entire kitchen with oil and it took me 2 hours to clean up the mess. And thus come everything to an end. The huss, the brother, and the whole family asked me to stop venturing out of my league. And so have I. Until Diwali came and I started browsing for some easy recipes. The huss was so adamant that I make the muruku under his vigilance. Grrrrr... As for the recipe, I saw this one in a TV cookery show. Its an easy and go-to recipe for beginners like me...

~*What U Need*~ Unbleached all purpose flour - 1 cup Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Sesame seeds - 1/2 tbsp Ghee - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Warm water - to knead dough Oil - to deep fry How I Made it: Place the maida in a clean cloth and steam for 10 mins. Once done, remove and when it is warm, crumble it with your hand. Once it is completely cool, sieve it and collect the flour. If you want you can run it in the food processor or mixie once. In a mixing bowl, add maida, ghee, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, required salt and mix it once. Then add hot water little by little and combine to form a dough. Then divide them equal portions and set aside. Put each ball into the murukku press. Heat oil in a kadai and when hot drop murukkus (you could either pipe it directly into the hot oil or pipe murukku on a greased plastic cover and drop it carefully into the oil. I piped it directly into the oil. Cook on both side till golden brown, remove and drain in kitchen towl. Crush into bite sized pieces and store in an airtight container. Always fry the murukku in medium low flame.

Serve with tea!!!

So that's it Folks... 

 With Love, Signs off!!!

Bajra & Paneer Ladoo (Pearl Millet & Cottage Cheese Ladoo) by Preeti Tamilarasan of

How educating blogging can be, you get to learn and cook dishes from all around the world even when you have not tried or tasted their food before. Another interesting thing that we could learn through blogging is Food Photography, and this person have mastered the art of food photography very well, and I'm sure many of you know this person well, its non other than Preeti Tamilarasan of Indian Kitchen. Now let us see, what she have prepared for us for this Diwali, you might be thinking what Diwali recipe now, buddies its still November for me the celebration is still on. Thank you so much da PT for this wonderful guest post.

Today i'm sharing my 7th guest post for one of my dear blogger friend Karthi from Sumanarthy's Kitchen. We came to know about each other through Facebook and i still can't believe we have known each other for past one year. How soon the time flies by. I always liked her non-veg recipes which resembles my style of cooking. When she asked for a guest post, i was all excited. I took some time and finally came up with the idea of preparing my fav indian sweet "Ladoo" 

Paneer ladoo is made with crumbled paneer and sugar/condensed milk. I replaced sugar with karupatti vellam(palm jaggery), which makes it more healthy. You can also try this with normal jaggery. Lets check the recipe,

Makes 13-14 medium sized Ladoo

Preparation time : 5 mins

Cooking time : 15-20 mins 

Ingredients :

• 1 cup crumbled cottage cheese (Paneer) – homemade or store-bought
• 8-9 tbsp Bajra Flour (Pearl Millet / Kambu Maavu)
• 1 cup grated palm jaggery (karupatti vellam / palm jaggery)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

Method :

• Dry roast bajra flour on low flame till nice aroma comes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Grind crumbled paneer in a mixie until smooth. Transfer it to a bowl. Combine jaggery and ¼ cup water in a pan or kadhai. Once it melts down completely, remove from the heat and strain it to remove impurities. Pour it back to pan and switch the flame to low. 

 

• Add cardamom powder and ground paneer. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. Once paneer is completely dissolved with jaggery syrup, add bajra flour little by little. 

 

• Add 1 tbsp at a time and keep stirring the mixture on low flame. Initially the mixture will be sticky. Once it starts leaving the sides of pan, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute. 

• Grease your palm with oil or ghee and start making small lemon sized ladoo. Store in an airtight container.

Notes :

You can replace Bajra with Oats or wheat flour. 

 

Peanut Mawa Ladoo by Viji @ Virunthu Unna Vangga

Diwali have been a festival we always look forward in our family because of my uncle, he used to be the one person who kick-starts the Diwali mood in our family. Weeks before he will start asking when are you making cookies and sweets, and he will be in joyous mood throughout.On Diwali eve, my uncle and me would go to market to buy fruits and meat to give out to our neighbors, and its like a tradition every year since I was a small child. The year he passed away in 2011 was the last my family celebrated Diwali, looking at his picture makes me burst into tears, I'm known as someone very strong in the family and I'm their strength all the while, but that year I was the one who made everyone in the family to cry on an auspicious day. Ok, I'm so carried away with my sad story, let me bring you to the Diwali mood, I have someone special to share a wonderful recipe for 2013 Diwali, that's none other than Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj from Virunthu Unna Vangga. Now let us welcome her with her superb Peanut Ladoo;

Hi friends, am really very happy to be here to present guest post on Arthy akka’s SUMANARTHY’S KITCHEN. I am really unexpected that I will do the guest in the festival season... I accepted her invite immediately, when she asked me for the guest post. We both were introduced in our FB chat through some of our friends. She is so polite, down-to-earth and affectionate... She always call me Kutty J, I love the way of she calls me... I learnt many healthy tips from akka, but I implemented very few ;) because of my laziness... Here you can see more non-vegetarian recipes with good photographs. I love her photographs with lively ingredients.

Coming to the recipe, during the short time, I couldn’t prepare any traditional recipe so this is my quick and delicious recipe for the guest post... You can make it anytime within 15 minutes, after you tasted the ladoo, you will make it again and again, am sure about it... J Here I used peanut butter and instant mawa to prepare the cute balls...

INGREDIENTS

Peanut butter – ½ Cup

Mawa/Khoya – 5 Tbsp (I used *Instant Mawa)

Powder Sugar – ¼ Cup

Cardamom powder – ½ Tsp

*Instant Mawa

Milk Powder – ½ Cup

Water – 2-3 Tbsp

Ghee – ½ Tsp

Mix everything into pliable dough, cover it with cloth and steam it in idli cooker or pressure pan for 10 minutes on medium flame. Cool it completely, crumble and use it the instant mawa.

METHOD

·       Take a wide mixing bowl, add peanut butter and mawa mix it well till combines well, it looks like        bread crumbs.

·       Now add powder sugar and cardamom powder mix it well.

·       Grease your hand with ghee and take small amount and start rolling to make balls.

·       Garnish with cashew nuts or almonds.

·       Serve it with coffee/tea.

NOTE

·       You can use fresh mawa instead of instant one.

·       Add ghee roasted cashews and raisins in the dough before making ladoos.

        HOPE YOU LOVE THE CUTE LADOOS...

THANK YOU SO MUCH ARTHY AKA FOR THE WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY...

Am really very happy to be here as ARTHY akka’s guest.....

Such a simple yet amazing ladoo isn't it, I'm sure many of you will try making these ladoos at home for Diwali. Do let us know how it turned out for you! Thank you so much Kutty for preparing these delicious ladoos for us. Happy Diwali to you and your family.

Paneer Chocolate Peda by Usha Rani (Mahaslovelyhome)

Diwali is just around the corner, I didn't prepare many things this year, so I have blogger friends sharing on their Diwali sweets and bakes for the month of November. Blogging world have introduced so many good friends in my life, despite the distance of our location we are still keeping in touch and have a little chat every now and then. Today, I have someone who would like to share about herself and her world on blogging. let us see who is that okay;

HAPPY DIWALI READERS,FRIENDS,WELL WISHERS

Hi..I am Usha Rani..Who writes at Mahaslovelyhome..Well, I love eating and at the same time cooking too..More than following the same kind recipes, I  like to try new methods on my own Idea...This year I started working more on blog and at the same I am a busy wife and mother of two little boys..I believe in god and prays to lord shiva specially..MAHA Is an one other name of lord shiva and I choosed it for my kids..Without second thought I created blog name with MAHA..This is a small story behind my blog name..You can find all kind of baking recipes,rice varities and all categories recipes  of daily needed In Mahaslovelyhome. Recently, I started another blog where I share tips for food bloggers called as SOME THING HELPFUL...Your encouraging comments makes me to feel happy and gives more energy to cook and share my Ideas..Hope it continuous for ever..Thank you..

Arthy Suman is a simple,homely girl whom I visited through her blog..I appreciate her interest on cooking and "SUMANARTHYKITCHEN" is one of my most liking blog.I like her Non vegetarian recipes and some of innovative baking recipes too...Even I book marked few and sure will share the results...I also wonders by seeing her patience where she replies to each comment..Recently  In FB I saw her pic in Venisri wedding anniversary album.Love to see the food bloggers and how beautiful when they meets directly..Wish one day I will meet  at least few of our co-bloggers too..After seeing her status "ABOUT GUEST POSTS" in FB I send a message and she replied within seconds..Actually I planned to post this in my blog on DIWALI, but changed the Idea and writing as guest post in her blog. And Iam with double happy to share this recipe in co-blog on festival time.

Thank you so  much for accepting to write a guest post Arthy..I believe,you liked the post and try next If you are Interested..Hope you will..

Once again Personally, 

I WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY AND PEACEFUL DIWALI TO U N UR FAMILY..

ABOUT RECIPE: Ricotta cheese is always in my shopping list and I love to try gravies and sweets with R.C. well,All the co bloggers are busy in festival preparations and their posts tempting me much more and forced to try some thing..While searching fridge, noted this packet and coconut powder and with remaining ingredients created this peda..This is very easy to make and saves your time..You need just 5 INGS and that`s really quick to cook..Try this when you get some paneer in your kitchen and enjoy.

CATEGORY-SWEETS/RICOTTA CHEESE SWEETS/FESTIVAL RECIPES

PREPARATION TIME-10 MINUTES

COOKING TIME-15 MINUTES

WHAT YOU NEED

Ricotta cheese- 300 gms

Sugar-1/2 cup

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Hershey`s cocoa powder- 2-3 tsps

Desiccated  coconut powder-1/4 cup

HOW TO COOK

Blend Paneer in  mixy jar..

Then heat pan with ghee and add paneer and sir continuously  for 5 minutes in medium flame...

Now add sugar and mix well..You can see some liquid type of consistency..

Keep flame in low and stir without stopping until it thickens..Add in cardamom powder too..

When the time paneer turns tight and hard it will separates from pan...It looks like a ball now and completely dry too..

Once you feel,it is done apply some ghee to plate and keep half of the the paneer dough..

To the remaining paneer add in cocoa and cook for 2 more minutes by mixing every second..Then turn off..

After 5-8 minutes apply some ghee to palms and start making pedas..Take goose berry size plain paneer mix into hands and take the same quantity of choco paneer  mix also..

Combine those and give a shape like PEDA.. (By pressing cookies cutters i got those designs on pedas)..

Yummy Paneer chocolate peda is ready..Serve warm or cold...

MAHAS NOTES

 I ground paneer  directly in the mixy jar..(forgotten removing water from the packet)

So,mine paneer mix is wet for and stirred long time..

If you use store bought ricotta cheese,then drain paneer from water and start grinding.

You can try this fresh home made paneer too..If it looks too thick you can add 1-2 tsps of milk..

Use good quality cocoa powder for best taste.

If you want burphi do like this,cook for few more minutes until it turns dry then spread a paneer layer on plate and on top spread another paneer choco layer and cut into desired shape..After some time separate the slices and serve

You can add some nuts on top for rich look..Try chocolate horlicks powder for a change/if available.

Now isn't that a wonderful sweet for this Diwali? Do try making this Paneer Chocolate Peda for your family and do tell us how it turned out for you !Thank you Usha for sharing such a delectable dish for us today. Happy Diwali to you and your beloved family.

Mix Vege Stir Fried with Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of minced chicken
1 pack of peas
1 carrot (sliced)
1 cup of cauliflower
3 garlic pods (chopped)
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp of corn slurry
3 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of oil
Salt to taste

In a pan, heat oil and fry chopped garlic and minced chicken, add all the vegetables and oyster sauce, fry all for a couple of minutes. Now add in salt and water stir very quickly, finally add in the corn slurry let the sauce thicken and ready to be served. Serve in a platter, do try and let me know how it was!

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:
300g of boneless chicken pieces (sliced)
1/2 cup of lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1/2 tsp of white pepper powder
1/4 cup+ 1/2 tbsp of corn starch
2 tsp of rice wine vinegar
1/8 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of water
Salt to taste

Marinate chicken pieces with salt and vinegar, add corn starch just before frying (shake off excess starch), fry the chicken pieces until crispy and set aside.

Now prepare the lemon sauce, mix lemon juice, water, sugar and boil in a small saucepan until it bubbles. Add 1 tsp of rice wine vinegar and season with salt and white pepper. Finally add corn slurry (corn starch and little water) and let the sauce simmer and thicken. Now pour lemon sauce over the fried chicken and serve while its still hot.

Best eaten with hot plain rice, do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Butter Prawn

My love for Chinese Cuisine, I just can't explain. I love the cuisine because of its quick preparation and does not need long hours of waiting even when you order in a very busy restaurant. I have admired the food since I was a kid, dad used to bring us to Chinese restaurants almost every week, my love for it grew fonder after I have started cooking. Butter Prawn is a dish that have been my all time favorite and must order dish when ever we eat out. It look me so long to get a perfect recipe of this dish, you can find many similar recipes in the net but I have copied this recipe long long ago even before I blog so I don't write down the source of this recipe. My heart felt gratitude to those who have shared this recipe, now let us see how to prepare this easy and delicious dish;

Ingredients:

10 large prawns (cut the antennae)

3 egg yolks (I have used 2 large whole eggs)

2 sprig of curry leaves 

3 bird eye chilli (chopped)

1/4 cup evaporated milk

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

2 tbsp of corn starch

1 tsp of white pepper powder

4 tbsp of butter

1 tsp of sugar

Salt to taste

Marinate prawns with salt and pepper for 10 minutes, before frying add cornstarch. Heat 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, let the butter melt and fry prawns until it turns red/pink/peach colour. Do not over cook the prawn, it take a couple of minutes to achieve this. Drain the prawns and keep aside.

In another pan add 1 tbsp butter and oil, pour the whisked eggs and fry until you get tiny pieces of scrambled egg (very tiny pieces like you can see from the above picture). Pour the balance 1tbsp of butter and oil add curry leaves and chopped chilli, then add the evaporated milk when it starts bubbling add prawn, sugar and salt. Quickly stir fry until all the ingredients are well incorporated and serve.

This dish best eaten while its hot. Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Guest Post by Priya Ranjit: Savory Semolina Cake

Sharing is caring when it comes to blogging, sharing recipes and tips with fellow bloggers. I made a lot of friends ever since I started blogging, next to be the star of my guest post will be Priya Ranjit of Cook Like Priya her pictures show how tasty the dishes would be. Its true when people say pictures tell a thousand story, for those who have not visited Priya please don't waste anymore time rush to her space. Coming to her recipe today, the moment she sent me the picture I have decided that I would be making this soon, drool-worthy dish isn't it?

Now let us see what she have prepared for us and drool with me;

I am so happy and excited to do my 3'rd guest post for Suman Arthy who writes Sumanarthy's Kitchen. When Suman asked me to do a guest post I simply jumped to the idea, although the post was supposed to be for the end of 2012 I took my own sweet time to send my recipe, thanks to Suman for understanding and also sharing her blog for my recipe today.

I came to know Suman through her blog and I was really trilled to see lots of non-veg recipes which I would drool over ;-). I was actually surprised when she asked me for a guest post so I did this savory snack cake just for you Suman. Hope u like it

This Savory Semolina Cake is simple to put together with lots of vegetables and no butter or egg. The vibrant color comes from the spices used which can be adjusted according to taste. Topping of sesame seeds gives a great crunch. The cake remains moist for long, you can also warm it in a microwave before serving. I would recommend having it in the evening with a cup of coffee. This snack cake is great and healthy compared to most deep fried/ sugary cakes or cookies. 

Recipe Source ~ Anjum Anand cook book

Serves ~ 8 pieces and serves 3-4

Prep time ~ 10 mins

Bake time ~ 35-40 mins

Ingredients (read notes before baking)

1 cup semolina/Farina/Sooji

1 cup chopped vegetables, carrots, beans/ peas

1 heaped teaspoon grated ginger

½ - 1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1/4 – ½ teaspoon turmeric

1 green chilli chopped

3 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

¾ cup thick yogurt

½ - ¾ cup water

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon soda bicarbonate

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

Salt -to taste

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 200 C and line a 1 kg loaf tin with parchment paper and grease well with oil
• In a medium sized bowl - mix together sooji, cut vegetables, salt, green chilli, turmeric, red chilli powder and grated ginger.
• Add curd and mix well with a wooden spoon, slowly add water and keep stirring. Make sure that the mixture is not too dry-thick or to runny
• Keep aside and in a skillet add oil and once hot add the mustard seeds once they splutter add the cumin/jeera once they start to change color take off the flame and slowly add this to the semolina mixture
• Mix well and now include the sodium bi carbonate and mix well.
• Pour in the prepared tin and top with sesame seeds. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. 
• As with any cake, insert a tooth pick/skewer in the center of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean and the edges are crisp, the cake is ready. Let it cool in the tin, and then serve along with any sweet pickle and tea.

Cooks Wisdom

- I used ordinary roasted rawa/ sooji, fine variety is also fine

- You can add your favorite vegetables like carrots, beans, peas and so on

- Topping with sesame seeds does gives a good crunch and flavor

- Adjust spices according to your taste

- Use thick yogurt curd, since we are not using oil make sure that the curd is nice and thick this gives
   moisture to the cake

- While adding the tempering take care as it would be really hot so use a wooden spatula

Guest Post by Divya Pramil: Milk Burfi

2013 is the year full of wonderful celebration one after another, I'm extending my Christmas and New Year celebration with another guest post from a dearest friend Divya Pramil. I'm very sure she does not need further introduction as many of you would have visited her space You Too Can Cook  at least once. If you ask me why do I love her space, there are many things to compliment first of all her photography skills then would be her wonderful anyone can try recipes with detailed step by step pictorials and when you visit her blog you feel so welcomed. I wouldn't want to waste blabbering any more and would like to welcome Divya Pramil to share her recipe. Thank you so much Divya for sharing such a yummy recipe with us...

Hello dear friends am so glad to do this guest post for Arthy. This is my 7th guest post and am glad to share this with her space. Thanks for the opportunity Arthy. It is my pleasure to do a guest post for you. Thanks for inviting me and honoring me as your guest.

Coming to the recipe, this milk burfi is a very easy and quick recipe, prepared with just maida (all purpose flour) and milk powder. It tastes really good and the most notable thing is it can be prepared in just few minutes, also I have used very little ghee or butter to make these delectable burfis. Nuts nor any kind of rich ingredients aren't needed, but still these burfis taste excellent and rich. I love adding some chocolate strains to these burfis to make it look delectable, but its upto your choice, you can use any kind of cake or cookie sprinkles or nuts or just leave plain. You can add more ghee or butter and make it more smooth and richer but its according to your wish. Take care to follow the steps carefully to avoid any mishaps. The first time I tried these I burnt my milk powder mixture, I just got diverted and was indulging in some other work and it all worsened in just few seconds, so do this only when you are not going to get diverted. But it is the easiest and quickest way to prepare burfis, also you will love its flavor so much. This was one among the edible Christmas gifts I made for my neighbors. You can make this for your loved ones or for surprise guests. Am sure they'll love it.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 20 burfis 

Total Preparation Time - 10 minutes

1. Milk powder - 70 grams 
2. Maida / All purpose flour - 30 grams 
3. Cardamom powder - 1/4 spoon 
4. Butter / Ghee - 2 spoons 
5. Milk - 4 to 5 spoons 
6. Cake sprinkles (Optional) 

PREPARATION METHOD

• Place a pan on flame, add maida and cardamom powder to it and slightly roast on low flame for a minute or until you get a nice aroma (color change not needed). Set aside until it cools. 
• Mix this roasted maida (see that it is not hot), and milk powder and sieve set aside. Do not keep the milk powder outside for a long time, it will solidify soon. Milk powder has sugar in it, but in case the milk powder is not sugary you can add some powdered sugar to it. 
• Place a pan on flame and add butter / ghee to it, as soon as it melts add the mixture and stir well. Do not keep idle, the mixture will get burnt in just few seconds. 

After a few minutes add 2 spoons of milk and stir well. It will form clumps as shown in the pic. 

Remove from flame, transfer to a plate and mix well into a single dough after it slightly cools down. Sprinkle the remaining milk and knead well so that it softens well. You must be able to make a ball of it. 

Now roll the dough using a rolling pin into 1 inch thickness, sprinkle some chocolate strains or any sprinklers of your choice (optional) and roll again then, cut shapes using a cookie cutter. or just roll into balls. 

Serve!!

TIP 1: You can avoid cardamom powder it will taste like milk sweet without its flavor. 

TIP 2: Add more ghee or butter if you wish. It changes the texture and makes the burfis more smoother. But is turns even more calorific. 

TIP 3: Keep stirring to avoid the milk powder mixture from getting burnt. It takes just few minutes to get cooked. 

Quick, delicious burfis are now ready!! Serve or gift pack them to your loved ones!!