Recipe | Churma Ladoos - Traditional Diwali Sweet

Hmm...traditional sweet recipe from Rajasthan -  and I could not think beyond Churma Ladoos. 

The instant flashbacks I get when I think of Churma Ladoos is - firewood, smoke filled kitchen, large black iron kadai (wok) and my grandma with a ladle sitting on a small wooden stool, slow roasting coarse whole wheat flour adding ladlefuls of fresh homemade cow’s ghee from a copper burni (pot) beside her and a funnel in another to fan the hearth.

Recipe | Quick Saffron Fudge or Kesar Peda

Kesar Peda is one of the 30 recipes I did for an assignment for a regional magazine. The issue is out and is liked by many who called to say the same. Here is quick saffron Peda recipe; 

Recipe | Kesari

Semolina Kesari is a popular sweet in South India. In my hometown Udaipur we make Suji ka halwa which has almost the same ingredients but proportions are different. Halwa has fluffy texture while Kesari is fudgy and seta like burfi.

  

Ingredients;

• 1/2 cup Semolina or rawa
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. Ghee
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
• A pinch of orange food colour

Method; Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan and roast cashew nuts till they turn brown in colour.

Add semolina to the same pan and roast till it turns light brown in colour.

Boil milk in another vessel and add roasted rawa and orange colour in it. Stir it well so that there is no lump formed in the milk.

Cook for  3-4 minutes till rawa gets cooked.

Add sugar and keep cooking for another 4-5 minutes till Kesari leaves the sides of the pan.

Add ghee, cardamom powder and fried cashew nuts in it. Grease a large plate with oil and spread the cooked Kesari on it. Flatten the top with a ladle and let it cool completely.

Slice it in desired shapes and serve. 

 

Notes;

1. Replace water with the same quantity of milk for a slightly different taste. Milk makes this Kesari recipe richer and denser. 
2. Avoid orange colour if you are allergic to food colours.

....

Recipe | Methi Pakoras or Fenugreek Fritters

Ingredients;

• 1 cup tightly packed Methi leaves
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1 tsp. red chilly powder
• 1 tsp. Chaat masala
• Salt to taste
• Oil to deep fry
• Water as required

Method; Pluck Methi (fenugreek) leaves, wash it with water and chop them finely.

Take a large vessel and add chopped Methi leaves and rest of the ingredients eacept oil and water.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly with hands. Add water if you feel the batter is not binding together.

If you want crisp Pakoras add very little water and keep the batter thick, almost like chapatti dough. If you wish to make soft Pakoras add enough water to make a batter of flowing consistency.

Heat oil in a wok and drop small portions of batter to make Methi Fritters or Pakoras.

Notes;

Add a little hot oil in the batter to get soft Pakoras.

 

....

Recipe | Fresh corn Fritters or Pakoras

Rain and Pakoras go hand in hand. These crispy corn fritters or Pakoras make a perfect tea-time treat.

Ingredients;       

• 1 cup corn kernel fresh or frozen
• 4 tbsp. chickpea flour or besan
• 2 tbsp. chopped coriander leaves
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp. Chaat masala or lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. red chilly powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil to deep fry

 

Method; peel and chop onion finely. Grind corn kernel to make a coarse paste.

Take a large vessel and add all the ingredients together except oil.

Heat oil in a wok and drop small portions of batter in it. 

Fry the Pakoras till they turn golden brown in colour.

Serve hot Corn fritters or Pakoras with green chutney or tomato sauce. 

  

Notes;
Grate a fresh corn and use in the recipe for better taste.
Replace 2 tbsp. of chickpea flour with rice flour more more crispy fritters.

....