Gujiya and a Giveaway on my 6th blog Anniversary

Neivedyam is going to turn 6 in March and what else can be a better way to celebrate than a lovely giveaway to all my readers. First get a virtual taste of this delicacy Gijiya and later we can talk on the giveaway:)

Ingredients

For Outer Covering:

2 cups refined flour (Maida)
3 tablespoons oil + to deep-fry

For Filling

2 1/2 cups khoya/mawa, grated and roasted
3 1/4 teaspoons desiccated coconut
15 cashew nuts, chopped
15 almonds, balanced and chopped
20 raisins
A pinch of nutmeg powder
1/4 teaspoon green cardamom powder
10-12 saffron strands
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup grated choclate (optional)

Preparation

For preparing the covering, sift refined flour and rub in three tablespoons of ghee or oil.  Add cold water and knead into a stiff dough.  Cover it with a damp cloth and set aside.  Add powdered sugar and khoya in a pan. Heat it on low flame and mix the sugar and khoya well. Other way is to buy sweet Khoya and skip adding sugar. Add desiccated coconut, cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, nutmeg powder, saffron strands, sunflower seeds and green cardamom powder to khoya and mix well.  Add grated chocolate and mix properly. Remove from heat and let it cool.

With oiled hands divide dough into small balls.  Roll out dough balls into small puris(flat roundels).  Place the stuffing on one half of the puri.  lightly dampen edges and fold the other half over the stuffing and press edges firmly. I did the sealing with my hands. You can do it with fork too.  Keep gujiyas covered with a damp cloth.  Similarly use up all the dough and stuffing. You can do it with a mould too or roll out puris, cut with a katori(metal bowl of four-five inch diameter) to get a proper round shape. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai(wok) and deep-fry gujiyas on medium heat till golden brown.  Drain and place on an absorbent paper.  Let them cool slightly before serving, as the stuffing inside may be very hot.

This recipe is adapted from Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

Now lets get into the details of the Giveaway.
Here you have a chance to win 2 gift vouchers one is a flipkart e-gift voucher for Rs 700 for the readers in India and the other is Amazon gift card for 15USD for the viewers of USA.

You can post your comments form 1st March to 31st March. The winner will be declared in the first week of April.

Yam n flat Beans Subzi

Ingredients

2 cups yam (cleaned, washed and cubed)
1 cup flat beans cut into 2 inch size
1 inch ginger
2-3 tbsp tamarind pulp
1tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp dry coconut powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

for tempering
2 tsp oil
1/2 mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp chana dal
2 dry red chillies
1 sprig curry leaves
roasted cashewnut for garnish (optional)

Preparation

After cleaning the yam and cutting into cubes add 2 cups water to it. Pressure cook yam and broad beans separately in the cooker for 2 whitles. Do not add water to the broad beans. Once the veggies cool down, drain the extra water from the yam. In a pan add 2 tbsp oil and fry the yam pieces till slightly brown and crisp. Set aside.
In a pan add the tempering ingredients in the given order and let them splutter. To this add finely chopped ginger, the beans and fry for 2 minutes. Add tamarind pulp, dry coconut, coriander powder, tumeric powder and mix well. To this mixture add yam pieces and salt. Mix well and cook for few more minutes.
Garnish with cashewnuts or coriander leaves and serve warm with roti or rice.

Sweet Pongal with Brown Rice Poha

Ingredients

2 cups brown rice poha (Flattened rice)
1 cup moong dal
1 cup Jaggery
3-4 tbsp ghee
3 tsp cashewnuts
3 tsp raisins
3 tsp grated fresh coconut
almonds and walnuts to garnish

Preparation

Wash the poha, drain and set aside. Wash moong dal and Pressure cook it adding 3 cups of water for 3 whistles.
Melt the Jaggery in a pan with very little water (1/2 cup ) and strain it to remove the impurities.
In a pan add 1 tsp ghee and fry the nuts and raisins till golden. Set aside.
In a bowl add poha, dal and jaggery and mix well. Heat a heavy bottomed pan with remaining ghee and add the poha mixture. If you like you can add 1/2 cup milk. I did not do that. If you feel the pongal is too dry you can add 1/2 cup of water. Add the dry fruits and  grated coconut. Serve hot.

This recipe can be made very quickly especially during festivals like Sankranti, Vasant panchami etc. and can be offered to God.