Puran Poli (Holige, Ubbati, Bobatlu)

Many names and one magical sweet dish that melts in the mouth. Holi, festival of colors and Puran Poli go hand in hand, it is a must to do dish during this festival in the state of Maharashtra. It is offered into the fire which is lit for Holika Dahan and after that everyone gets to eat and enjoy it. It is a fun dish and one may need a little practice to roll out these stuffed polis. It basically contains 2 parts, puran(huran) the stuffing (chana dal/jaggery mixture) and all-purpose flour dough called kanik. It feels like an accomplishment when you make these polis successfully :)
Let's quickly check the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chana dal
• 1 cup jaggery (grated)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• 4 tbsp Oil (vegetable)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

puran and dough

 Preparation:

• In a pressure cooker, add 3 cups of water and washed chana dal. Pressure cook for 3 whistles, then switch off the gas and let the cooker cool down.
• Open the pressure cooker, strain the cooked chana dal and reserve the water. This water can be used to make katachi amati. Drain water completely from the dal. Then add this dal into a deep pan. 
• Add jaggery in it and let this mixture cook over medium heat. Keep stirring over medium heat until the mixture becomes thick (keep stirring for like 7-8 minutes). 
• Let it cool down a bit. Then using a mesh strainer try to gather all the smooth mixture and keep aside else you can use mixer to blend this mixture smoothly too or if you feel lazy you can skip this step, just see to it that dal and jaggery is nicely mixed.
• Add cardamom powder and mix. * Keep aside, this is your puran.
• In a mixing bowl take all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and turmeric pwd. Add 4 tbsp oil and mix well. Now add water little by little and make a smooth consistency dough. 
• Knead the dough until the it becomes very elastic. Put this dough into a bowl and cover it with lid. Let it rest for 30 minutes atleast.
• Make small balls of the stuffing. Then make balls (smaller than stuffing) of the dough. Grease your fingertips and spread one dough ball gently to make a small round disc. Put one stuffing ball on it. spread the dough gently over the stuffing with fingers and cover the stuffing. Use dry rice flour to roll the poli. Heat the frying tawa, place rolled roti in the center and roast on both sides over medium heat, add little ghee while roasting. Serve hot with Ghee. Puran-poli tastes good with cold milk too.
• These puran polis stay fresh for approximately 1 week at room temperature.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Note*: The huran has to be nice and dry for rolling out the Poli without breaking it. If you feel that the huran has moisture you can either freeze it for some time or microwave it for a couple of minutes stirring it after every minute. Knead the kanik nicely for couple extra minutes before making balls and rolling out. 

I made one batch with 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup maida without adding turmeric, see the picture below. 

Maida Poli are more fluffy and soft.

                                          HAPPY HOLI 

Making of Puran Poli in pictures:

Soft Ubbati

Health Benefits: Puran Poli made with whole wheat is rich in complex carbs, fibre and certain minerals. Jaggery used in the preparation is loaded with iron, calcium, phosphorus minerals. It digests slowly and hence helps to release energy slowly. Cardamom used also aids in digestion.

Boondi Ladoo (Bundi Ladoo)

These Boondi or Bundi ladoos are the most beautiful looking ladoos that are there in the market. That light yellow /orange color makes it look so beautiful and festive! It is a collection of tiny pearly balls of gram flour, first fried then dipped in sugar syrup and then rolled into a ladoo. Boondi ladoo is a very delicious treat and is seen served on almost every joyous ocassion in India.

Never in my wildest dreams, I thought that one day I would be making this treat in my kitchen! I always thought it is a difficult dessert to make. No one made these back at home either, we always got it from the store and have eaten plenty at weddings and pooja ceremonies :)

But one day I simply pulled up my socks, said a small prayer in my mind and started making these goodies. To my surprise, they came out so good that my joy had no bounds! From then on there was no looking back. I look forward to make boondi ladoos every Diwali festival. Another reason to learn this exotic ladoos was my son, yes, he saw boondi ladoos from that Krishna animation series and wanted to have it along with rasagulla, sandesh, and besan ladoos :) Thanks to that series, my kid pushed me to do the needful and I couldn't be more happier with the end results!!

This recipe is adapted from manjulas kitchen site.

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gram flour (besan)
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water adjust as needed
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
• 5 green cardamom pods crushed
• Oil to deep fry

Preparation:

• Add the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. When the syrup comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium and stir to dissolve the sugar. Let it simmer until the syrup is about half thread consistency.
• Mix the gram flour with water to make a smooth pancake-like batter or slightly thicker than dosa batter. You can test by pouring little batter on a perforated ladle(which we use to serve rice) and see drops of batter coming out. If it is runny you will have to add little more besan, if it's too thick add little more water to the batter.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. The frying pan should have at least 1 1/2 inches of oil. To test if the oil is the right temperature, drop a pinch of batter into the oil, if it rises immediately without changing the color then the oil is ready to start frying the boondi.
• Hold the skimmer(perforated ladle) about 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the oil over the center of the frying pan with one hand. With your other hand pour some of the batter onto the skimmer to cover all of the holes without spilling over the edge of the skimmer. If you hold the skimmer higher than 1 1/2 inches above the oil boondi will not be round.

• The batter will start dropping through the holes into the oil. Drop enough boondi into the oil so they just cover the surface of the oil in frying pan in a single layer
• Fry them until the sound of sizzling stops and boondis are light gold in color but not crispy. Lift the boondi out of the oil with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and put them directly into the warm syrup and mix.
• Before making the next batch of boondi, wipe clean the skimmer. This helps to keep the boondi round.
• Repeat the process of making boondi and adding to the syrup with rest of the batter. You may have to adjust the heat in between making boondis.
• When finished frying the boondi, let them soak in the syrup for few minutes.
• Add the crushed cardamom seeds and sliced almonds to the syrup.
• Now drain off the excess syrup.
• If the boondis are still hot, let them sit only until they are warm enough to handle  but don’t let them to cool off. If the boondis become cold you will not be able to form them into ladoos.
• Grease your hands with some ghee, to make the ladoos, scoop up some of the boondi mixture into your palm with a spoon. Gently squeeze the mixture between both palms to shape into a round ball about the size of a golf ball. As you are squeezing some of the syrup will come out. Dont worry about it.
• Repeat the process till all the boondi is used up to make ladoos.
• As the ladoos cool to room temperature they will become firm but they should still be moist.
• Serve it as a dessert or snack.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!
Notes:*
If the syrup is not of the right temperature, you will not be able to form the ladoos. If the boondis cool down to room temperature before being shaped into balls, the sugar will crystallize. If you are not able to make ladoos, don’t worry. You can still enjoy them as sweet boondi or use it in boondi raita without adding the fried boondi to the syrup.

Chakli (soft and mildly crunchy)

 Chakli (also known as chakkuli or chakali) is a very staple savory tea time snack found in most of the Indian households. When it comes to making chakli, there are numerous recipes out there. Previously I updated my blog with a recipe that called for crunchy chakli and this recipe calls for a more softer and crunchy chaklis. This is our home recipe. You gotta try it to believe it :)

My favorite kind is soft and crunchy chakli mixed with lots of spice. But now I appreciate less spicy kind too :) Ingredient phutani(dalia) that is used in this recipe is delicious in taste, nutritious and can be digested easily. It is commonly mixed with sugar and distributed to the devotees in temples as God's offering.
Getting the spirals right(it is a big deal:)) while you press on the dough using a chakli press maker, surely gives you a kick and cheap thrills :) If it won't come out neatly (or breaks) please don't overreact like a hindi serial mother-in-law hehe... absolutely don't worry, I do have few tips up my sleeve which is mentioned in the notes below.

The first time you make it right, that moment, that satisfaction, that simple pleasures of life are not to be forgotten! :) (at least in my case) I cannot thank the techno-era we live in where I can simply share my kitchen achievements/stories, mishaps, success any darn thing with my mom, sister or a friend instantly.

Let us take a look at the Chakli recipe,

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour 
• 1/4th cup roasted gram dal (also known as dalia, phutani) 
• 1 tsp chilly powder, (more if you like spicy) 
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi) 
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 
• 2 tsp sesame seeds (til) 
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania pwd) 
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder 
• 2-3 tbsp butter at room temperature 
• salt as per taste 
• 1/2 - 3/4th cup approx. water (to knead the dough) 
• oil to fry 

Preparation:

• Mix all the above ingredients except water and mix everything with your fingers. 
• Then slowly add water little by little and make a chapati/roti like dough. Keep aside for 20-30 min, covered.
• Take some portion of the chakli dough, knead it some more and place it in the chakli press, start making spirals on a newspaper sheet or wax paper. 
• Heat oil in a kadai, once the oil is hot bring the flame to med. Slowly slide the chaklis in the kadai using piece of wax paper or slide it on plain spatula and transfer slowly in the hot oil and fry nicely till it is brown on all sides on med-low flame. 
• Take it out and place on the paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Nice soft and mild crispy chaklis are ready. 
• Let it cool down completely before you store it in an airtight container. 

njoY!! happY  fryinG!! :)

Notes:* Always fry chakli on low-medium flame. If you see that the spirals are breaking while making chakli, try to work with little dough at a time, knead it well, add couple drops of water, knead well and place it in the chakli press. It works for me that way. If your dough is too soft, add little all-purpose flour and knead well before you start making the spirals. If still it isn't working just directly add the spirals in the oil (carefully) and fry. Spirals or no spirals, snack is yummy anyways! :)

Health Benefits:

Roasted gram dal (dalia) is high in fiber and helps to lower cholesterol. It also has a very low hypoglycemic index, which is important for those with diabetes. Chana dal is a helpful source of zinc, folate, calcium and protein. It is low in fat and most of it is polyunsaturated. 

Fruit Rum Cake

Whoever frequents my blog and reads a little bit of the description (rant :)) will  know how much I love pound cakes. Now here comes the ultimate King of cakes, RUM cake with fruits! It is a festive cake and brings back nostalgic memories of year ending (christmas and new year!! ) Rich, drenched, decadent, dense and a bite to die for- Rum Cake is here!

As I step into the last 2 days of the year 2016, emotions of mixed feelings starts to get heavy on me. Taking a moment to look back and see what the year had to offer - Ummm other than a few glitches, it went on very well. Thankful and grateful to the almighty for a 'No Drama' year :):) Strapping myself to take on 2017!

Coming to the cake, I have tried few different kinds of rum cake, last year baked a brown rum cake with caramelized sugar and all, but did not have an opportunity to click and document. Will do that some other time! This year made this super fantastic fruit rum cake, had to say a prayer before I started whipping butter and eggs :), because I tried to bake one with readymade chocolate cake mix and it did not turn out good taste-wise :(

So was very happy with the results of this sesky cake! :) Go ahead and give it a try! You have my blessings! hehe

Let us take a look at this Fruit Rum Cake!

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots (can add any kind of dry fruits or tutti fruitti that you have)
• 1/4 cup dried tart cherries
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons gold rum, divided
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 1/2 tablespoons  plus more for pan
• 1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoons (or more) sour cream
• 1 cups raw sugar, plus more for serving
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation:

• Combine apricots, cherries, raisins (or tutti fruitti) and 1/4 cup rum in a small bowl and let sit 30 minutes to allow fruit to rehydrate. Drain, reserving rum. Sprinkle fruit with 1 1/2 tbsp flour and toss to coat, set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350F(180C). Thoroughly butter pan, making sure to get into all the curved or ridged places, dust pan with flour (do this even if your pan has a nonstick coating). Whisk baking powder, salt, cloves, and 1 1/2 cups flour in a medium bowl to combine. 
• Whisk reserved rum, oil, and 3/4 cup sour cream in another medium bowl to combine.
• Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat 1 cup raw sugar and remaining 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. 
• Add egg yolks and egg one at a time, beating to blend after each addition; beat until mixture is light and very fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat for few seconds. 
• Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. 
• Fold in reserved dried fruit. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top. Tap pan firmly a few times on counter to force batter into edges of pan.
• Bake cake until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60–70 minutes( I baked exactly for 60 min). Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan 15 minutes. 
• Invert cake onto a serving plate; carefully remove pan and brush warm cake with remaining 1 tbsp rum. Let cool completely, about 3 hours.
• Mix powdered sugar and remaining 1 tbsp sour cream in another small bowl, thinning with more sour cream if desired (the thinner the glaze, the further it will drip down the sides of the cake, so keep it nice and thick), until smooth. 
• Drizzle glaze over cake, working along the center of the top of the cake for even coverage, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Let sit 10 minutes for glaze to set before slicing with a serrated knife.

njoY!! happY bakinG!!

Notes:

Cake can be baked 1 day ahead. Do not glaze. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Buttering the pan and dusting with flour is a must step to get nice brown coating. 

You can make use of more rum to soak the cake after it is cooled down. Depends on your taste. I added 1/4 cup more rum for soaking. 

Please take a portion of the cake and keep aside for kids before you soak the cake further with the rum :) 

recipe courtesy from epicurious site!

Kala Chana Usali (dry sabji- festival dish)

Black Chickpeas are one of the staple legumes available in the pantry of any Indian kitchen. Loaded with proteins they taste delicious once it is cooked. It has inbuilt creamy texture and soft taste to it. It is a filling legume and hence there a few dishes that are made during religious fasting days. Usually, when a dish is made on a fasting day, people avoid adding harsh spices like ginger, garlic, onion etc and try to keep it simple. Here is one such dish which is made every now and then with minimum spices and yet it tastes great! Less is more is apt for this particular recipe.

One can substitute it with regular chickpeas too. These days you can get cooked chickpeas in cans and don't have to go through the process of soaking it for 8 hours and then pressure cooking it. I prefer doing it that way but if your schedule doesn't allow you with reminders and elaborate preps, go ahead and buy a tin of chickpeas. Remember to drain out the liquid (high content of sodium) and rinse it nicely a couple of times before using it in any dish.

During the 9 days of Navaratri people from all over the sub-continent of India do fasting. This dish is very popular during those days and is prepared using kala chana. It is a dry sabji and goes well with poori, roti etc. It is also made as an offering to the God (prasad) during many other auspicious festivals.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup kala chana (black chickpeas)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 string curry leaves
• 2 red dry chilies
• pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4th tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• 1 tsp garam masala (optional, I like it)
• 1 green chili (optional)
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1-2 tbsp grated coconut as garnish
• 1 tbsp cilantro chopped

Preparation:

• Soak kala chana in 3 cups of water overnight or for about 6-8 hours. It will double in size and you will get around 2 cups of chana. Pressure cook for 8 whistles or if you have a cooker without the whistle, follow those instructions accordingly. It must be cooked nice and soft.
• In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, once it starts to crackle add curry leaves, dry red chili, asafoetida, quickly saute and add chili pwd, haldi, stir quickly. Work on the med flame. Do not let it burn. Immediately add the kala chana and mix everything nicely. 
• Add a little water from the cooked chana itself along with the salt. Add grated coconut and mix. Cook for another 5 minutes on med flame. Turn off the gas. Sprinkle cilantro on top! Serve hot with pooris.

You may also enjoy tomato poori, lachcha paratha, ragi poori, Kala Chana Sabji(gravy)

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefit:
Channa is loaded with proteins. The fact that chickpeas have low glycemic index (GI) makes this legume good for diabetics. It causes a slow and steady release of glucose into the bloodstream and thus, maintains your blood sugar levels. Chickpeas also help in relieving mood changes during menstruation and post-menopausal symptoms in women. The high fibre content in chickpeas helps in promoting a healthy digestive system and intestine by lowering the risk of digestive disorders.

Fried Modak

Modak is considered as a favorite food(nevaidya) of Lord Ganesha and all his bhakts(devotees) love to prepare it on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi or any other festival/days related to HIM, like sankashti. It is a stuffed deep fried ball with a modak shape (shaped like Kisses Hershey's: my mom says modak chocolates even to this day :P). It is stuffed with coconut and jaggery mixture!

Mostly every house in Maharashtra will have this as an offering in front of the Ganesha Idol. It is given to all the guests who attend the aarti (pooja) as a prasad (offerings).

Now coming to an interesting story, who knew one day I would start blogging about food! My first post was way back in 2003(maybe?) and it was none other than MODAK recipe on bawarchi.com, if anyone remembers that site. I had searched for the recipe of modak in vain and had not found one (ya can you believe that? I remember getting steamed modak recipes but not fried one's) I finally got it from my mom [Well, my Mom has no concept of measurements, she knows only eyeballing... was tough for me to understand her eyeball measurements :)] I gotta mention, if not for this blog, I would be falling in the same category of eye-balling lol. I somehow managed and the modaks turned out great! I had then sent my recipe to www.bawarchi.com thinking that it would help others who were in the same boat as me! Till recently the recipe was available on the internet, but not anymore :( Maybe they purged the data or something.

So in a way, this is a very special recipe!

One other thing, an interesting game is played while making modaks during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. My aunt usually did this ritual. One has to make modaks in odd numbers like 5, 11, 21, 51 etc (any offering to Ganesha must be in odd numbers). While stuffing the modaks, add extra salt or extra sweetness in one of the modaks and when you serve, keep all the fried modaks together. Whoever gets that odd modak is considered lucky and will have a fantastic year ahead :) Some silly fun to look forward to. But now when I think of it, maybe it was a trick to make everyone eat the modaks haha (smart MOMs :))

Bappa Morya: Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All purpose flour ( or 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup all purpose flour(maida))
• 1 tsp semolina (rava) - optional
• water to knead 
• salt as per taste
• 1 tbsp oil

For filling

• 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut (can use dry coconut too)
• 1/2 cup powdered jaggery
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (roasted)

For frying:

• 1 cup oil or ghee

Preparation:

• Add 1 tbsp of warm oil to all purpose flour. Mix it very well with your fingers in the maida. 
• Add salt and water little by little to make it a very stiff dough.
• Keep the dough aside for about 10-15 minutes, covered.
• Heat jaggery and coconut together till jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture with coconut. Add the roasted sesame seeds in the mixture. It smells great.
• Remove from heat and add cardamom powder. Mix everything together.
• Now make the modaks, take small balls of the dough, roll it into small puris (3-4 inch diameter disc)
• Place 1 tbsp of stuffing on the disk(puri) and bring the edges together towards the centre making folds. Seal it at the centre giving a shape of modak.
• Heat oil and deep fry the modaks on medium heat till all sides are brown. Take it out with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel to drain out the excess oil. Let it cool completely before you store it in air tight container.

njoY!! happY cookinG & fryinG!!

Notes:*- You can use whole wheat flour too, to make modaks, but when you use all purpose flour you get flaky, crunchy and perfect modaks.

Besan Ladoo

Besan Ladoo is a very loved and famous sweet from India. Most of us have a fond memory of this sweet being made in our mom's kitchens where moms were busy rolling it out in their palms like an expert (which they are) over some gossip with other members of the house :) The aroma that lingered in the kitchen then is soo friggin nostalgic now that I cannot describe. These balls of goodness are nothing but a mixture of roasted gram flour, sugar, ghee, cardamom pwd and nuts. After mixing these together you create a ball of sweet!

My son actually got introduced to besan ladoos by a TV series called Little Krishna.  He got addicted and loved watching it when he was 4-5 yr old (after my India visit). There is this one scene in an episode where Krishna(as a kid) tells his friends that he loves ladoos, rasagullas and sandesh (something like that). Since then he loves these ladoos :)

Taking this opportunity to make besan ladoos again on the occasion of Janmashtami ( Lord Krishna's birthday). My kitchen smells so heavenly right now and nostalgia is hitting the roof! For the first timers, if you don't get it right don't lose heart, keep trying, because some things come to us by practice.

Ladoos can be enjoyed as a snack with your tea/coffee or as a dessert after meals. Children have the privilege to gobble it anytime they want :)

Let us take a look at this wonderful recipe quickly!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup besan (gram flour)
• 1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 3/4 cup sugar (add 2 tsp more if you like sweet)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder 
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped nuts (cashews, pistachios, almonds)

Preparation:

• In a nonstick pan, add 2 tbsp ghee, 1 cup sifted gram flour and on a low heat, stir everything together. Keep stirring and adding 1 tbsp ghee after 5 minutes each till the half cup of ghee is used up. 
• Keep a close eye on the flour and ghee, we don't want to burn it. Keep stirring for about 30 minutes till the raw smell of besan goes away. 
• Switch off the gas, add the nuts(except 1 tsp) and cardamom powder. Keep it aside to cool down (for about 10-15 minutes)
• Add fine sugar into it and mix everything together with a spatula or use hands. 
• Grease your palms with little ghee. Take a little portion (2 tbsp) of the ladoo mixture in your palms and press it together to form a small ball. Keep rolling it into your palms till a firm round ball is made. 
• Makes around 14-15 ladoos. Sprinkle little nuts mixture on top of each ladoo to make it look more fancy :)
• Leave the ladoos on a plate to cool to room temperature before storing it in a container. The ladoos can be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 weeks.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes*: You can also add ghee and besan all at one time and stir the mixture till the raw smell goes away (I have found that this takes longer time). If the mixture is very gooey, keep it in the fridge for some time before you start rolling out ladoos.

Health Benefits: Well it is a dessert with sugar so health benefits are not so much other than it gives pleasure to your brain and well being :) If consumed in small portion should not do much harm. One can use sweeteners instead of sugar and make it a sugar-free dessert. Now the benefits of besan (gram flour) are indeed to take into consideration. It has a low glycemic index and has a soluble fiber in it , has low-calorie count, is gluten free, and a protein loaded flour. Nuts provide nutrients and good cholesterol oils. So yes, we all gotta live a little :) with small pleasures in life.