Kaju Katli - Kaju Katli Recipe - Diwali Sweets Recipes

Kaju Katli is a dream, especially when home made. TH doesn't like Indian sweets except for this one sweet we buy pretty much each time we egt back from India - Kaju Katli! Since we always end up buying it, I never bothered trying to make Kaju Katli at home but since it's Diwali and the festival best suited for trying out sweets, I decided to give his favourite sweet a shot.

It's always a bit scary to make a sweet that requires you to check the done-ness of sugar with the one string consistency test. I watched the recipe video for Kaju Katli (cashew burfi) in Manjula's Kitchen but used my own proportions for making it.

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Unniyappam-Neyyappam-Nei Appam Recipe-Diwali Sweets Recipe

Unniyappam or Neyyappam is traditionally made with powdered raw rice as the base. My athamma (dad's sister) makes the most amazing unniyappam with plain flour as the base and it's delicious, not to mention fail-proof. I first tasted it a couple years back and since then the taste had been haunting me. This time, she made it for me in our ancestral home in Alappuzha as I watched and clicked.

Unniyappam is a regular at our home for Deepavali as one of the Deepavali sweets. Since they taste great when cold as well as warm, they make a perfect make-ahead sweet. The batter needs to rest for a while so make the batter ahead of time and make the unniyappams fresh if you want to enjoy them hot. They cook up in no time so that's a win!

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Aloo Bonda Recipe | Potato Bondas - A Quick Snack Recipe

I am not a huge fan of potato bonda or pretty much any snack made with potatoes (potato bajji being an exception!). But when amma makes a large, fresh batch of these urulaikizhangu bondas, and there are over 10 people to fight over and enjoy them with, they taste different. The step by step pictures for aloo bonda were taken in Kottayam and since there really wasn't an opportunity to take pictures of the final bonda, I made them again after getting back to Singapore.

If you have boiled potatoes in hand, these aloo bondas will come together very quickly and make for a super quick snack for tea. Even if they go cold, the taste is not compromised much.

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Watermelon-Melon Milkshake | Easy Milkshake Recipes

I am home now and amma is churning out (sometimes, quite literally!) different things to eat and drink every meal time. Yesterday around noon, we were feeling a bit peckish so she made this quick milkshake which was delicious and so much nicer than eating the fruits plain. 

My sis was a most obliging model for this pic, few seconds before we all downed the milkshake. You can make this in under 10 mins - all you need is some melon, chilled milk and a mixie or blender.

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Pattani Mangai Sundal-Peas Sundal-Navaratri Recipes

Sundal to me is either channa (kadalai) sundal or payaru sundal. Although I saw the beach type sundal on Jey's and a couple other blogs, that was really the first I'd heard of them and I hadn't ever tasted it.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I landed in Coimbatore last week and my TH's mom had made pattani thenga mangai sundal (peas sundal with coconut and raw mango). It was delicious with small bites of sour mango pieces, softly cooked peas with coconut and was a great pairing with some spicy rasam and rice. It tastes great as it is for evening snack too.

Ideally, you should use the white dried peas for this and not the green kind but she said due to Navaratri, the white peas was sold out in the nearby store! Green peas is a decent substitute and that's what we used.

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Methi Pulao Recipe - Methi Rice - Fenugreek Leaves Pulav

I love methi and its unique flavour. Although I stock up on kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves / vendhaya keerai) which is lovely for flavouring the likes of Paneer Butter Masala, Paneer Tikka Masala, etc. The fresh leaves are best for for making Methi Paratha (which I absolutely adore) and this Methi Pulao which is so very simple to prepare makes me a very happy person too.

I often make pulao as a one-pot meal complimenting it with a simple raita and papad. This methi pulao doesn't have any vegetables in it so you may want to make a mixed vegetable raita or a side dish to compliment it. I love the flavours and wanted to keep it simple (I am also a very lazy person on a Saturday morning!), so served just this.

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Ghee Recipe-How to Make Ghee-Clarified Butter

Before I start off on how to make your own ghee in 15 mins, let me wish all of you celebrating a wonderful Navaratri Festival Season. Check out Navarathri Recipes on Edible Garden (complete with different types of sundal and payasam and snacks for navaratri).

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A lot of my Indian recipes, especially pulao and biryani and some sweets, call for ghee or clarified butter. Ghee almost unites all of India food-wise because there are very few foods consumed all over India with the same amount of gusto as ghee! Although many brands sell different versions, nothing beats the simple and aromatic ghee made at home from butter.

Ghee is another one of my maternal grandmom's specialty. She was so in love with the whole process of boiling the milk, saving the cream on top, churning it to make butter, and then finally making ghee out of it, that she earned the nickname nei-chatti (ghee pan, when translated loosely) from some of her naughty grandchildren. No, definitely not me! :D Very little else gave her as much pleasure as making ghee from scratch at home, one would think. Amma still follows the same method because we are still lucky enough to be getting milk directly from the... err.. cow. She gets so much better from it that she ends up giving away bottles and bottles to lucky neighbours, friends, and relatives.

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12 Easy Recipes for Navratri (Navaratri) 2012

I have vague memories of amma celebrating Navarathri (or Navratri) when I was a child. We would make a few types of sundal, some vadai, and payasam for the festival and for me, it was all about the food anyway. 

TH's family, being Brahmins, celebrate in a different way with golu and one type of sundal for each of the 9 days of navarathri. Golu is a very special thing that the entire family comes together for and on the final day, more food is made - like vadai and payasam and snacks for distribution. Married women are also given small tokens or gifts as blessings. I have especially been interested in the golu that's done for navarathri, having never really seen one or arranged one in person. One day... :) 

Anyway, here's a list of easy Navarathri recipes for 2012 from Edible Garden. Navarathri dates for 2012 is from Oct 16 to Oct 24th. Festive greetings to all of you celebrating.  

1. Kadalai Sundal 

2. Mochakkottai Sundal

{Imagine a beautiful picture of mochakkottai sundal here that amma made. 

Picasa albums gobbled it up because it was that pretty}

3. Payar Sundal / Green Gram Sundal

4. Masala Vada / Masal Vade

5. Ulundu Vadai / Medhu Vadai

     6. Aval Vadai

7. Thayir Vadai / Dahi Vada

8. Maladu / Pottukadalai Urundai

9. Besan Ladoo

10. Paruppu Payasam

11. Semiya Payasam

12. Paal Payasam

Wishing all reader of Edible Garden a wonderful Navratri (Navarathri) Festival 2012.

Eggless Pesto Pull-Apart Rolls Recipe

The garlic pull-apart rolls I posted around 2 years back is probably the recipe most people tried from this site. I got so many notes and feedback saying it worked out great, good, and delicious. A couple of people had issues but nobody sent me stinkers so I guess it's a winner. Must thank Suhaina again for the original recipe.

I love basil pesto and had been wanting to try the same rolls with a basil pesto filling. Finally managed to do it for a potluck a couple months back. Everything came together less than 2 hours (including rising time) and I wrapped the warm rolls, baking dish and all in aluminium foil and headed to my friend's place. Nothing like freshly baked warm rolls to wow your friends, I tell you.

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Idli Batter for Soft Idli - Idli Recipe, Tips for Soft Idli | Step by Step

Wondering how to make soft idli with homemade idli batter? Look no further for the perfect formula and tips for making soft idlis!

Idli and dosa is a staple meal for Reddiars in Kerala. We always have the batter ready in our fridge and amma is always prepared to feed multiple people for breakfast or dinner at minutes' notice, thanks to this.

Amma has a large, old-fashioned grinder which we've had ever since I can remember. In my childhood, we moved houses 6 times and this grinder came with us from house to house, year by year, doing it's job as expected. Ok, I will stop now, don't want to jinx it!

So yeah, back to idli and dosa. My maternal grand mom, as long as she was able, oversaw the grinding of the idli-dosa batter and she did it with a hawk-eye. The help will handle the measuring and soaking and actual grinding and the heavy-lifting (quite literally) of using the stone insert in the middle of the grinder, and finally the onerous task of cleaning the thing once the batter is ground. Needless to say, except for passing by a couple of times and wondering how it would feel to dip my finger into the creamy batter, I have had nothing to do with this grinding business.

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Choc Khoya Kalakand-Kalakand Recipe-Diwali Sweets

I made this double-layered kalakand almost a year back with the khoya leftover after making gulab jamuns. I had about 1 cup of crumbled khoya and wasn't sure what to use it for and then saw this idea on some site, which I've totally forgotten now (apologies!).

I love milk sweets but kalakand is probably one of my favourites. Dadu's in Hyderabad sells a mean kalakand that's grainy and a single bar of it will have shades of brown depending on how much the milk has cooked. It's absolutely delicious! During Diwali every year, Google Hyd would give out boxes of sweets from Dadu's and I would eat the kalakand first - no sharing!

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Meen Peera-Meen Pattichathu-Kerala Style Fish with Coconut

I love Kerala-style fish cooked with coconut and if asked what I'd like for dinner, I'd either opt for the Kerala Fish Fry or this meen peera or meen pattichathu. You can use a variety of fish with bones for this recipe but it works especially well with netholi (netholi - uzhuva - anchovies).

Each time I head home to Kottayam, amma makes it a point to cook this up with whatever fish is available. I do feel that to get the authentic taste we get in Kerala, especially for fish dishes, it's essential to get the freshest fish possible and the amazing sweet coconut that grow back home. The frozen kind we get outside just don't cut it, especially for recipes that concentrate on simple flavours such as this one.

Amma uses coconut quite liberally in her dishes and this one is no exception. If you want to have more fish and less coconut (she uses them in almost equal quantities), then please adjust that as you prefer.

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Double Ka Meetha-Double Ka Meeta-Diwali Sweets Recipes

One of the only things I miss about Hyderabad, apart from the people, is the food. Nothing beats Hyderabadi Biryani with mirchi ka salan and the gongura dal and, of course, the famous Hyderabadi double ka meetha.

My colleague-friend Anil's lovely wife Lalitha made this for us almost a year back when we went to their place for dinner (along with this Bengali Fish Fry I posted a while back). We went early so she was still making dessert and I totally got in her way taking pictures and asking way too many questions. I had to live up to the infamous 'food blogger' tag after all.

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Lemon Diva Cake with Lemon Glaze (Eggless Option Included)

I have never been a fan of lemony desserts. I like tangy but not when paired with sweet and although there are some exceptions to this (how can I not like lemonade?), I have generally stuck to chocolate-based desserts and left lemon desserts alone.

One day, Disha, a friend of mine, made this cake for her boss and I got to taste some of it too. It was delicious. She claimed this was her first time baking a cake and she had done a fabulous job so I was even more interested. I have a lot of first-time bakers asking me for cake recipes and although everything I bake is the easiest possible bakes, this testimonial is from a first-time baker.

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Paneer Tikka Masala | Restaurant Style Indian Paneer Recipe

When I posted the paneer tikka, a few people commented that I am quite the paneer lover. More than loving to eat paneer, I love cooking with it. It's so versatile! Cheese that lends to grilling, frying, crumbling, and rolling has got to rank up high in any cook's list, right?

Anyway, I had been meaning to try Paneer Tikka Masala for ages now but just didn't get the mojo until last weekend. I made paneer tikka in the evening and then used that for the paneer tikka masala gravy for dinner.

The gravy for this dish is loosely adapted from a Sanjeev Kapoor Khana Khazana booklet called "Paneer". I bought it many years ago but never cooked from it until this rainy Sunday evening last weekend. I have cut out some of the ingredients and steps to make it quick and easy, the way I like my recipes.

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Paneer Tikka | Tandoori Paneer Tikka on Stove Top

I am quite a collector of paneer recipes and they are the most popular category on this blog. Something about this milky, hard, omnipresent Indian cheese makes me weak in the knees and although I don't necessarily order it every single time we go out for Indian food, TH and I love it.

There are certain dishes I like to leave to restaurants simply because they are better equipped to do the job. Most tandoori dishes fall into this category because nothing really beats a tandoori naan or a chicken kabab or paneer tikkas that are made in a tandoor.

So these paneer tikkas are not really restaurant-style but they do make a great paneer starter, are relatively quick to make, and for a great base for Paneer Tikka Masala, which is one of my absolute favourite paneer dishes.

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Raw Mango Rice | Mangai Sadam | Mamidikaya Annam

I love all kinds of "variety rice" dishes of the South Indian kind, especially puliyogare and Indian coconut rice. When I came across this raw mango rice recipe in Cooking at Home with Pedatha, I was immediately drawn in by the fact that it has both raw mangoes (tangy) and coconut (yum!). Couldn't wait to get my hands on some raw mangoes the next weekend and try this.

Everything I have tried from Cooking at Home with Pedatha has been a success so if you haven't already, I would highly recommend getting a copy of the book. Simple South Indian vegetarian food for the win!

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