Erra gummidikaya Boorelu-Red Pumpkin fritters - Navratri special

The Basic boorelu recipe is here

Ingredients for batter
2 cup rice
1 cup black gram dal
salt to taste

For filling
1 cup fresh grated coconut
1 cup Jaggery
1 cup grated or crushed yellow/red pumpkin
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp ghee
Oil for deep frying

Preparation

Soak Black gram dal(urad dal) and rice overnight or for about 5-6 hours. Drain the water and grind to a thick dosa batter. Add salt and set aside.
In a pan heat up ghee, add grated pumpkin and saute till the raw smell leaves. To this add Jaggery, coconut, cardamom powder and mix well. Cook till moisture dries up completely. The mixture should be such that it can be made to small lemon size balls.
Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool. Make small balls, dip them in the dosa batter gently so that the ball is completely covered by the batter. Drip off excess batter and deep fry in oil till golden colour. Serve warm.




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Pesara kobbari Laddu (Moong Dal-Coconut Laddu) Navratri Special

Since it is festive time, I will be posting all the recipes that can be prepared for Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali. These recipes are simple, easy and can be prepared as Neivedyam. All the nine auspicious days of Navratri we offer neivedyam for the nine goddesses.
Moong dal-coconut laddu is one such easy recipe which can be prepared in no time.

Ingredients

1 cup moong dal
2 cups fresh grated coconut
1 cup jaggery
1/2 tsp powdered green cardamom
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsb cashew nuts
5 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Preparation

In a pan dry roast moong dal till golden colour. After it cools, powder it coarsly and set aside.
In a pan heat 1 tsp ghee and fry raisins and cashew nuts till golden colour. Set aside.
In the same pan heat 2-3 tbsp ghee and add jaggery. When jaggery melts completely, add grated coconut and cardamom powder and mix well. Cook till all the moisture from the coconut gets dried up and both jaggery and coconut blend well. Add powdered moong dal, dryfruits, 2tbsp ghee and mix well. When it slightly cools down, add ghee to your palm and make laddus. Delicious and healthy pesara-kobbari laddu is ready.

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Parippu Pradhaman (Moong dal kheer) and Erissery

Moong dal kheer is a famous south Indian delicacy. It is made using coconut milk in Kerala (Parippu pradhaman) and Tamil cuisine(PasiParuppu payasam) and cow's milk is used in Andhra cuisine(Pesara pappu payasam).

After a lovely Onam feast at the neighbour's, I thought of trying out the Kerala style Pradhaman. I followed my dear friend Shn's recipe from her beautiful blog which is very close to my heart. Though the colour of the pradhaman is not the same as hers, the procedure is the same:)

The second recipe is an authentic Kerala delicacy called erissery (Yellow pumpkin curry) which is made during festive occassions like Onam.




Ingredients

2 cups pumpkin pieces
1/2 cup black eyed beans
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

To be ground

1 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 green chillies
2 garlic pods

for tempering
2-3 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 dry red chillies
1 sprig of curry leaves

Preparation

Soak the black eyed beans for 2-3 hours and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
Cook the pumpkin pieces separately with 2 cups water, salt and turmeric. Set aside.
Grind the given ingredients into paste with very little water. Add the paste to the cooked pumpkin, also add the beans and cook on low heat till all the ingredients blend in well. Do not let the pumpkin to overcook and get mashed. Remove from heat and temper with the given ingredients. Delicious erissery is ready to go with rice!

Ganesh Chaturthi Kozhukattai (Steamed and stuffed rice balls)

Pal-Kozhukattai (steamed rice balls in milk)



Kozhukattai are traditional south Indian delicacies made during Vinayaka Chaturti/ Ganesh Chaturti.
I made two types of Kozhukattai, Pal Kozhukattai (steamed rice balls in milk) and poornam Kozhukattai (stuffed rice balls). Both are purely my style. I did not follow any particular recipe. But they came out great after many years of experiment :)

Ingredients

For the rice balls

1 cup rice flour
1 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp salt

For the milk

2 cups milk
1 cup khoya
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom powder
dry fruits to garnish



Preparation

The basic pal kozhukattai makes use of coconut milk. I made use of cow milk.
In a pan add water, oil, 2 tbsp milk, salt and when the water warms up add rice flour and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed. The mixture starts to thicken and begins to take a dough consistency. The mixture leaves the sides of the pan and rolls along with the ladle. Remove from heat. When it cools down a little, make tiny balls out of the dough. Apply some oil to you hands if the dough is sticky. You can even add some jaggery to the dough to make it sweet.
Steam cook in an idli cooker for 10 minutes.
In a heavy bottomed pan add milk, bring to boil, add sugar and khoya. To this add cardamom powder. When the milk starts to thicken a little, add the rice balls and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with nuts and serve warm.

Poornam Kozhukattai (stuffed rice balls)



Ingredients

Fot the stuffing

3/4 cup Powdered Jaggery
1 cup fresh grated coconut
1 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tsp ghee

Preparation

In a pan heat 2 tsp ghee, add Jaggery and coconut. Saute and mix well for 3-4 minutes. Add cardamom powder. When the moisture gets dried up from the mixture completely, Remove from heat. Let it cool.
For making the kozhukattai it is the same process as the pal-kozhukattai dough. I made a common dough for both the recipes.
Divide the dough into small lemon sized balls.Using the thumb and forefinger, shape the balls gradually into a cup shape. Place a little coconut-jaggery filling in the middle and carefully close it from all sides. Make small modak shapes. Arrange it in a greased idli plate and steam cook for 10 minutes.
Serve them after they cool down.

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Modaks for Ganesha!!!

I am giving these modaks to Ganesh Ji in advance!!

Ingredients

1 cup Chana dal (Bengal gram dal)
1/2 cup Dates (deseeded)
2-4 tbsp ghee
raisins roasted in ghee
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp crushed cardamom
Cashew Nuts for garnish



Preparation

Pressure cook chana dal along with dates, with water just required to cook the dal. Blend the dal and dates in a mixer to make a thick paste. Do not add much water while blending.
In a pan roast raisins in ghee and set aside. In the same pan add 2-3 tbsp ghee, add cardamom powder and then the chana dal-dates paste. To this add sugar and stir continously, cook until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. If you feel the mixture is not leaving the sides of the pan, add some more ghee :) Lord Ganesha will be Happy!! Fold in the raisins.
Remove from heat and let it cool. Use mold to make modak shapes. If you do not find a mold you can use the traditional hand juicer. (hope you got me!!) Top it with cashew nuts. Neivedyam ready for Ganesh chaviti (Chaturthi)!

Sorakaya payasam ( Bottle gourd pudding)

It is time for Ganesh Chaturti so I thought will post some sweet recipes.

Ingredients

1 cups grated bottle gourd
3 tbsp ghee
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup khoya
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Dry fruits roasted in ghee for garnish

Preparation

In a pan add 2 tbsp ghee and saute grated bottle gourd till it is soft and cooked. Set aside. In a heavy bottomed pan heat milk till it boils. To the milk add sugar, cardamom powder, khoya and bring to boil. Add the cooked bottle gourd and cook for 2-3 minutes till the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and garnish with dry fruits. Serve warm.

Drumstick kootu (Murungai poricha kootu- Tamil cuisine)

Ingredients

1 cup moong dal (pressure cooked)
4 drumsticks
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric
oil

For ground paste

1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp jeera
2-3 green chillies
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tsp rice
1 tomato (optional)

For Tempering
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a dash of asafoetida
5-10 curry leaves

Preparation

Cut drumsticks into medium size pieces and cook it in little water by adding salt and turmeric. In a pan add 1 tsp oil and fry the urad dal to golden colour. Along with it slightly roast the grated coconut too.
Now grind to paste all the given ingredients. To the cooked drumstick, add the ground paste required water and bring to boil. To this mixture add cooked moong dal and cook for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat and temper with the given ingredients. Tomato adds more flavor to a kootu.