Sundal Podi / Curry Powder

Sundal Podi / Curry Powder Recipe

Navaratri is fast approaching. All of you will make different types of sundal and sweets for neivedhyam during the navaratri nine days. If you make sundal podi in advance it will help you in making sundal easily. Sundal without sundal podi is also good but sundal podi gives extra flavor and taste to the sundal.

Here is the quick video

You can make large quantity and store it in a air tight container. It will be good for more than three months. You can use this podi in our regular curry and poriyal to enhance the flavor.

 Sundal podi is easy and simple recipe with simple and available ingredients in the kitchen.  We can make it in 20 minutes.

Now let us see how to make sundal podi

Preparation time                             - 10 minutes

Cooking time                                 - 15 minutes

Yield                                              - 50 gms

Ingredients:

Coriander seed                                 - 1 tblsp

Bengal gram dal                               - 1 tblsp

Tuvar dal                                          - 1 tblsp

Urad dal                                            - 1 tblsp

Red chilli                                           - 8

Method:

Dry roast coriander till nice aroma comes.Dry roast Bengal gram till nice aroma comes.

Dry roast tuvar dal till nice aroma comes.Dry roast urad dal  and red chilli till nice aroma comes.

Allow it to cool for some time.Grind it in a mixer.

Note:

If you roast red chilli alone it will turn black.  So we can roast it with any one of the dals.

If you want more spicy you can add extra 2 red chillies.

It will be good for three months.

Thinai Burfi

Thinai Burfi  Recipe / Foxtail Millet Flour Burfi
I had some thinai flour after making thinai idiyappam.  So I decided to make sweet recipe in that flour. I saw thinai burfi recipe in Kurinji Kathambam. I tried it. It came out well. It tastes like krishna sweets mysore pak.

It is a very easy recipe. It is very good for growing children.
Now let us see how to make thinai Burfi
Here is the quick video

Recipe Source Kurinji Kathambam
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 30 minutes
Yields - 15 pieces
Ingredients:
Thinai flour(foxtail millet) - 1 cup
Powdered jaggery                - ½ cup
Ghee               - 2 tablsp
Water                - ½ cup
Cardamom powder                - 1/8 tsp
Sliced almond                - 1 tablsp
Method:
Make jaggery syrup with water and strain it.

Again boil it till one string consistency. Dry roast thinai flour in the frying pan till nice aroma comes out. Then add jaggery syrup and mix it well without lumps. Low the flame and stir.

 Add ghee and cardamom powder and stir well till the flour leaves the sides of  the pan.

 Pour the mixture in the greased tray and level it with a spoon or knife.

Sprinkle grated almonds and keep aside to cool.Cut in to cubes.

Note:
You can switch off the stove while mixing jaggery syrup with thinai flour (to avoid lumps).

Sweet Somas

Sweet Somas

Somas is a traditional sweet recipe of Tamilnadu, which was often made during festivals in olden days, when the modern sweets were not known and well popular. In olden days mysore pak, somas, paniyaram, achu murukku etc were the sweets made during deepavali.

Here again the pooranam can be made with lot of variations like change in ingredients from fried gram to rava. Professional makers will get it right and the outer layer cover will be crispy, then only it will taste good. The new trials may give it a chewy taste. 

This time my friend wanted to make it so we both decided to do and we got it very well. We have used coconut and fried gram only, you can use rava also instead of fried gram. Try it and you will like this traditional sweet recipe.

Let us see how to make sweet somas

Preparation time - 30 minutes

Cooking time - 30 minutes

Yield - 20 somas

Ingredients:

For dough 

Maida - 1 cup

Rava - ¼ cup

Salt         - pinch

For Filling

Coconut            - ½ cup

Fried gram(pottu kadalai - ½ cup

Khus khus - 1 tablsp

Sugar - ¾ cup

Cardamom powder - ¼ tsp

Ghee - 3 tsp

Oil         - for frying

Method:

Add maida, rava and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add water little by little and make a smooth dough. Cover the dough with wet cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.

 Grind pottukadalai coarsely in the mixer. 

Heat ghee in a pan and add grated coconut and sauté for about few minutes. Add sugar, ground pottukadalai, Khus khus and cardamom powder. Mix well and switch off the stove. 

Take lemon size ball in the dough and make big chapatti. Cut small round pori with a help of small bowl or lid. Place one teaspoon filling over the pori and fold the pori. 

Press the edges with the help of wet fingers. Trim the edges with somas spoon. Do all like this. 

Heat oil a frying pan and fry somas in batches. 

Fry both sides well till the shhh sound subsides.

Note:

Stick the somas well or else the pooranam will come out while frying. 

Use water to stick the edges.

If you want You can add cashew, badam or any nuts in the pooranam.

Store it in a air tight container and use for about a week.

  

Thinai Laddu

Thinai (Foxtail Millet) Laddu
Nowadays millets are entering our diet. Millets are power packed grains. Their health benefits are countless. For a change this gokulashtami you can make thinai laddu and varagu murukku. Thinai and jaggery are good for growing children. Thinai laddu is easy to make and is good to eat.

Now let us see how to make thinai laddu

Ingredients:-
Preparation time  - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes
Yield         - 21 laddus

Thinai -1cup
Jaggery -1cup(powdered)
Ghee     -1/4cup
cashew -10
Dry grapes  -10
cardamom powder -1/4tsp
Method:- 
Dry roast thinai and keep aside for cooling. Grind it in mixer finely.

Fry cashew and grapes in ghee. Add thinai powder, jaggery, cashew, grapes and cardamom powder in a bowl and mix it well.

Melt the Ghee.

 Add Ghee little by little and make laddus.
Note:
You can sieve the flour after grinding and make the laddu also.
You can powder the jaggery in the mixer also.

Milk Burfi

Milk Burfi

Gokulashtami is fast approaching. Lord Krishna likes milk and milk sweets. So It is the right time to post the milk burfi recipe. It is an easy recipe but a time consuming recipe. If you want to do the recipe quickly, you can make it with store bought kova. But the taste will be good in the home  made one.

Let us see the recipe

Cooking time                     - 1 hour

Serves                                  - 4 to 6

Ingredients:

Milk                       - 1 litre

Sugar                     - 5 ½ tablsp

Pista                      - 5

Badam                  - 5

Saffron                 - few

Cardamom          - ¼ tsp

Ghee                     - 1+ 1 (burfi, greasing)

Method:

Boil milk in a heavy bottomed vessel. When it comes to boil you low the flame.   Stir often to avoid overflow. 

Boil till it reaches thick consistency. Then add sugar and cook till it melts. Keep on stirring till it becomes a thick mass. Add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well.

 Slice the nuts and add to the burfi. Grease the tray with ghee. 

Pour the burfi in the tray and sprinkle sliced nuts and saffron. 

Cut into required shape.

Note:

Use nonstick pan to avoid sticking at the bottom.

It will take one hour so you can use induction stove .

If you want smooth texture you can knead the burfi well after cooling. Roll in the butter paper and cut.

Pineapple Kesari

Pineapple is a very nice fruit, which everyone likes. Some like it with salt and chilli powder and some others like it with sugar syrup, but if you buy good pineapple you can eat it just like that. It is a rich source of Vitamin C and Dietary Fibers. Pineapple eradicates intestinal worms too.
There are a few recipes using Pineapple fruit. Out of all the fruits, Pineapple Kesari is one recipe which is very appealing in color and very nice to taste with a fantastic aroma.
You can make Pineapple Kesari in a few minutes; everyone will like this Pineapple Kesari just you try as the season is on for Pineapples.

Let us see how to make

Pineapple Kesari Ingredients:
Pineapple            - 1/3 cup
Rava           - 1 cup
Water - 1 ½ cup
Sugar   - 1 ½ cup
Ghee     - 3 tblsp
Cashew     - 10
Raisin   - 10
Yellow colour  - pinch
Pineapple Kesari Method:
Heat water along with pineapple and yellow colour in a medium flame. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashew and raisin and keep aside.

 In the same pan add rava and roast for a few minutes. Add boiling water and pineapple to the roasted rava. Stir often.

Once the rava is cooked add sugar and stir well.

Finally add fried cashews and raisins. Grease the plate with ghee and put the kesari.

Press it well and cut with a knife.

Note:
If you want you can add cardamom also. I like the pineapple flavor so i did not add.
Half cup rava is enough for 3 to 4 members.