Besan Burfis- Navratri special

Ingredients

1 cup Besan (gram flour)
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh grated coconut
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp raisins and cashew nuts
2-3 tbsp ghee

Preparation

In a pan heat 1 tsp ghee and saute raisin, cashew nuts and grated coconut slightly. Remove from heat and set aside. In the same pan add 2 tbsp ghee and roast besan on low heat till the aroma raises. This would take about 5-10 minutes. To this add milk and sugar, stir well so that no lumps are formed. Keep Stirring so that the mixture blends well. Add the coconut-dryfruits mixture, cardamom powder and remaining ghee. You will see that the mixture starts to leave the pan and a halwa like consistency is formed. Remove from heat and place the mixture on a greased plate. Spread it uniformly on the plate and let it cool. Cut them into small squares and serve.



This goes to CFK- Festive food hosted by Suma.

White Pumpkin Halwa- Navratri Special

I bought this beautiful work of art from Kolkata. Maa Durga is placed for Pooja on these 9 days of Navratri.



Ingredients

1 cup grated white pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup khoya (mawa)
Dry fruite to garnish
1 tsp cardamom powder
2-3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Preparation

In a pan heat 1 tsp ghee and saute cashew nuts and raisins till golden, remove and set aside. In the same pan add the remaining ghee and saute the grated pumpkin on medium heat till the raw smell of the pumpkin leaves. Add cardamom powder, sugar and khoya to the pumpkin. Cook till the ingredients combine well and the moisture dries up.
Add dryfruits and remove from heat. Serve warm.




Sending this to CFK- Festive Foods hosted by Suma. Please send your lovely festive entries to this event.

Chekkalu ( Rice Crackers) Navratri special

Chekkalu ( in telugu) and thatti (in Tamil)is a great snack weather its festive season or not. They are usually made with channa dal but I tried them with moong dal and it tasted great too.

Ingredients

2 tbsp split yellow moong dal(soaked in water for 1/2 hour)
2 tsp green chilli paste
1 cup rice flour
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste(optional)
2 sprigs of roughly torn curry leaves
2 tsp butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
1 cup warm water

Preparation

In a pan bring a cup of water to boil. Turn off heat, add rice flour, salt, cumin, chillipaste, ginger-garlic paste, butter, curry leaves, soaked and drained moong dal and kned into soft dough. Cover wit lid and set aside for 10 minutes.
In a pan heat oil for deep frying. Take a small lemon sized ball of the dough, place it on an oiled plastic sheet or banana leaf and using your fingers shape it into a flat 2″ circle. Use a fork to make small dents all over the chekkalu so that they don’t puff up when deep frying.(I forgot to do some of them in hurry)
Gently take the flattened piece and deep fry in oil. On medium heat deep fry till golden colour.
Moong Dal chekkalu are ready to go with chai:)

I am sending these to CFK- Festive food-sweet and savory version hosted by Suma.