Traditional Sweets

                                                                    Appam

Ingredients:

• Raw rice - 1 glass [soaked in water 1/2 an hr]
• Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery - 1/2 glass
• Ripe banana - 1 small size
• Cardamom powder - 1 sp
• Seasame seeds - 1 sp
• Grated coconut - 2 tbl sp
• Ghee - 1/2 cup
• Oil - For frying.

Method:

Grind the rice in the mixer along with jaggery, wheat flour, ripe banana & cardamom powder. Grind the batter smoothly & keep aside [See Photo]. Then take a pan & pour 2 tbl sp of ghee to that & fry the seasame seeds & coconut. Make them little brown in colour & add it to the batter. Keep the appam vessel on the gas & pour little oil & ghee together to that. When the oil becomes hot, pour one sp of batter to the vessel [See photo]. Make sure that when one side of the appam gets fried, turn the other side also & get it fried. Fry both the sides till it becomes brown in colour. Remove from the gas. Your appam is ready.
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                                                                  Badhusha

Ingredients [For Syrup]:

• Sugar - 2 cups
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Powder cardamom - 1/2 tsp
• Pachai karpooram - A pinch.

Method:

In a heavy wide mouthed vessel heat sugar adding 1/2 cup of water. Bring to 2 string consistency syrup. Add powdered cardamom, pachai karpooram & mix well. Your syrup is ready.


Ingredients [For Badhusha]:

• Maida - 2 1/2 cups
• Baking powder - 1/2 level sp
• Unsour curd - 1/2 cup
• Butter - 1 tbl sp [Good Quality]
• Ghee - 1/4 cup
• Powdered sugar - 2 tbl sp
• Oil - for frying.

Method:

Take one mixing bowl, put maida & baking powder. Add butter, ghee & curd to make a dough. [Don't knead it too much]. Then make big lemon size balls with the dough. Make each ball in to a good round shape vada with 2 cm thickness. Make gentle depression with your finger in the center. Keep over a greased plastic sheet. Then heat oil  in a pan & gently dip as many vadas as possible. Lower the flame, turn each vada the other side & deep fry till it is light golden in colour. Remove gently with a spoon. Dip each vada into the prepared syrup [Check whether it is still hot]. Then transfer each sugar coated vada on to the other plate. The badhushas are ready. Heat the syrup again to make it watery [You may add a few drops of water if necessary]. Decorate with chopped nuts when it is still hot. When it becomes cool, keep them in an air-tight container.
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                                                         Milk & Coconut Burfi

Ingredients:

• Finely grated coconut - 1 cup
• Milk - 1 litre or Sweetless kova [Mawa] - 50 gms
• Sugar - 1 level cup
• Pure ghee - 3 to 4 tbl sps.

Method:

First take one heavy kadai, keep on the gas & pour the milk & heat till it is reduced to half. Then add coconut, sugar & stir till it becomes thick. Add ghee when it sticks to the bottom of the kadai. When it reaches burfi stage, the mixture turns golden & frothy. At this stage, pour on a greased tray [apply little ghee on the tray] & cut into pieces. Your mouth watering milk coconut burfi is ready to eat.

Note: People who don't prefer milk while making burfi can make this burfi with the help of sweetless kova as per the above measurement. At 1 litre of milk you can make this kova upto 50 gms. Such type of kova is also available in shops.
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                                                             Boondhi Laddu


Ingredients:

• Bengal gram flour - 1 cup [Heaped]
• Rice flour - 1 tsp
• Kesar colour - A pinch [For the dough]
• Cooking soda - A pinch
• Oil - For deep frying
• Sugar - 1 1/ 2 cups
• Water - 1 1/ 2 cups
• Saffron - Little
• Broken cashewnuts - 1 tbl sp
• Resins - 1 tbl sp
• Diamond candy - Little [Optional]
• Cloves - Few
• Ghee - 1 tbl sp
• Kesar colour - A pinch [For sugar syrup]
• Cardamom powder - Little.

Method:

Mix gram flour, rice flour, kesar colour, cooking soda together. Add just enough water to make it into a paste.[Like bajji dough consistency]. Then heat oil in broad kadai. Keep boondhi ladle [flat round ladle with holes] on top of the oil at a distance & pour 1 big spoon full of mixed batter on the boondhi ladle. Tape gently with spoon. See whether small droplets of dough falls in the oil & gets fried. When its half fried, [still soft] take out from oil & put in hot sugar syrup. Repeat the process till all the boondhis are fried.

For Sugar Syrup:

Mix water & sugar together in heavy vessel. Heat till the sugar is dissolved. Stir it in between. When it is dissolved, allow the syrup to boil till 1/2 string consistency is reached [do not stir at this stage]. Then remove from the fire & mix kesar colour, saffron, cardamom powder, fried cloves, cashewnuts, resins, diamond candy & deep fried boondhis. Then keep aside till it becomes warm. Then make into medium size balls [laddus] when the mixture is warm.

Note:

If the mixture cools completely, the sugar crystallizes & balls cannot be made. Add all the deep fried boondhis together in sugar syrup. Syrup should be warm while putting boondhis in that.

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                                                      Milk Powder Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:

• Milk powder - 15 tbl sps [Level]
• Maida - 6 tbl sp [Level]
• Cooking soda - 2 pinches
• Fresh curd - 1 tbl spn
• Milk - Little
• Melted ghee - 1 1/2 tsp
• Oil or Vanaspathi - For frying.

For Sugar Syrup:

• Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
• Water - 1 1/2 cups
• Saffron - Little
• Rose essence - Few drops.

Method:

First sieve maida, milk powder, soda together 2 or 3 times without any lumps. Then take this mixture in a bowl, add ghee, curd & mix with finger tips. Sprinkle water or milk & mix gently to form a smooth dough. [Do not knead]. Then keep it closed for 10 mins. Make lemon sized balls & deep fry in medium hot oil or vanaspathi. On the other side of the gas, keep one vessel & prepare sticky syrup with sugar & water. At this time, add saffron & essence to that. As the jamuns are fried, put it in hot sugar syrup. Allow to soak for atleast 2 hrs in sugar syrup. Enjoy your gulab jamuns. Serve it hot or cool.
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                                                        Cashew [Kaju] Kathri


Ingredients:

• Cashewnuts - 1 cup
• Powdered sugar - 1 cup
• Rose essence - A few drops
• Sliver warq [wrap] - For decoration [Optional].

Method:

Soak cashewnuts for 10 mins. Then grind it into a thick paste without adding water. Then mix the paste with sugar, heat it in a heavy kadai, stir it constantly, till it becomes a thick mass. Then remove from the gas & mix it with essence. Knead well like chappathi dough when the mixture is still warm. Then apply little ghee in 2 thick plastic sheets. Transfer the dough on one sheet. Place another sheet on top. Flatten the dough & roll out like a thin chappathi. Then peel off the top plastic sheet & decorate with sliver warq. Cut into diamond shapes when it become cool. Enjoy your kaju kathri.
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                                                            Akkaravadsal

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 glass
• Moongdal - 2 sp
• Ghee - 1/4 kg
• Cashewnuts - 10-12
• Jaggery - 1 glass
• Sugar - 1/4  glass
• Elaichi - 8
• Resins - 10-12.

Method:

Take 1 glass of rice n 2 tablespoon of moongdal, wash n drain them together nicely. Fry them with ghee till the smell comes. Now, If u take 1 glass of rice, then take 1 glass of milk n 3 glasses of water n boil them in cooker (like how u cook / boil rice). Wait for 3 whistles to come.

Now open the cooker. Above the rice, mix with it 1 glass of jaggery n 1/4th glass of sugar. Mix it with ghee also (in between). Mix it well till it becomes thick. After it becomes thick, add some elaichi powder & a pinch of green karpoora powder (Pacha Kalpooram Powder). Finally fry some cashewnuts, resins (kismiss), & pour it above the Akkaravadsal. Ready 2 eat.

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                                                                    Puttu

Ingredients:

• Rice Flour - 1  1/2 cup
• Jaggery - 1  1/4 cup
• Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
• Ghee - 2 tbl sp
• Cashewnuts - 10 [Made into small pieces]
• Salt - A pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp.

Method:

Wash the rice, strain it & spread it on a muslin cloth. Allow about 15 mins for the cloth to absorb all the water from the rice till it no longer steals wet. Now blend the rice in to a fine powder. Roast the flour over a medium flame. The flour should be roasted to such a consistency that you should be able to draw a straight line. Add little salt & turmeric powder to the flour. Sprinkle little warm water to the flour & mix well. It should be in such way that you should be able to hold it & when you leave it, it should spread.
Add water to the jaggery & melt it over to a low flame. Strain to remove stum [dirt].
Return to the flame & steer until it reaches a thick pouring consistency so that when you roll & drop it, you should be able to hear the sound. Pour this thick consistency to the flour & mix well. Fry coconut, cardamom & cashewnuts in a ghee & pour it on the puttu & mix well. Your puttu is ready.
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                                                                  Ukkarai


Ingredients:

• Bengal gram dal [Kadalai parupu] - 1 glass
• Jaggery - 1 glass
• Ghee - 3/4 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1 sp.

Method:


Take one kadai, keep it on the gas & fry the channadal till it turns to golden brown. Then pour required water to the dal & keep aside for 2 hrs. Then drain the water & grind it to a fine paste. Again keep one heavy bottom vessel on the gas & pour ghee to that. Add the grained dal & fry till it becomes dry. Heat the jaggery adding 1/4 cup of water. When the jaggery melts, strain through a strainer & reheat. Keep the fire in lower flame. [Better use non-stick vessel]. When it comes to 1 string consistancy, add the prepared dal & mix well. Add cardamom powder. When it becomes dry & soft, remove from the gas. When it becomes cool, store it in a dry container.


It is a popular sweet in Tirunelveli.

Tomato Sambar [Quick Tasty Sambar]

Ingredients :

Tuvar dal - 1 cup [Washed & well pressure cooked]
Raw red tomatoes - 4 to 5
Tamarind paste - 1/2 sp
Small onion - 1/4 cup [Peeled]
Salt - As required
Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
Sambar powder - 1 sp
Red chillie powder - 1 sp
Sugar or jaggery - 1/2 sp
Green chillie - 1
Mustard seeds - 1 sp [For seasoning]
Dry red chillie - 1 [For seasoning]
Oil - 2 sp
Curry leaves - Little
Cut coriander leaves - Little
Fresh grated coconut - 1 sp.

For Grinding :

Grind onion, tomatoes, green chillie, grated coconut in a mixer to a fine paste & keep aside.


Method :

Take one pressure pan, keep on the gas & add the boiled dal, grained masala, salt, turmeric, sambar powder, red chillie powder, sugar or jaggery to that & pour enough required water & mix well. If you want you can add cut red pumkin [Cut into dices]. Then close the lid & wait for 2 whistles to come. Then keep the flame in lower position for 5 mins. After the pressure goes open the lid & season with mustard seeds, red chillie. Garnish with curry leaves & cut coriander leaves. Enjoy your quick tasty sambar. Serve with idli, dosa & hot steamed rice.

Dosa's

1.                                      Ordinary Dosa with Tomato Sambar

Ingredients [For crisp dosa] :

Raw rice - 1 1/2 cups
Boiled rice - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Methi seeds - 1/4 sp
Salt - As required
Til oil - As required [To make dosa].

Ingredients [For soft dosa] :

Raw rice - 1 cup
Boiled rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Methi seeds - 1/4 sp
Salt - As required
Til oil - As required [To make dosa].
[Or equal quantity of til oil & refined oil mixed].

Method :

Wash & soak raw rice, boiled rice, urad dal, & methi seeds in water for atleast 6 hrs. Then wash again & grind to a very fine paste adding just enough water to make the batter for dosa. Add salt to that & keep aside for 8 hrs before spreading dosa.

How to spread :

First take tava keep on the gas heat it, pour 1 sp of oil rub with a piece of cloth or paper to grease the entire tava. Then take 1 ladle of the dosa batter, pour it in the middle of the tava, immediately with the same ladle spread evenly in a rotating motion to get a round shape. Pour 1 tsp oil in a circulating motion around the edges of the dosa. Turn over the other side with a spatula & pour 1 tsp oil around the edges [If necessary]. Then gently remove the dosa from the tava & serve hot with chutney & sambar.

Care to be taken:

The tava should be cleaned properly. See to it that the tava is not over greased with oil. The tava should be under medium heat. If the tava is over heated, dip a piece of cloth in water & wipe. After making each dosa if necessary, wipe with a cloth.
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2.                                      Sabudhana/Sago/Javvarisi Dosa

Ingredients :

Raw rice [Pacharisi] - 2 glasses
Sago [Javvariai] - 1/2 glass
Green chillie - 5 to 6
Salt - As per taste
Oil - As required.

Method :

Soak sago in a vessel with enough water on previous day evening [Around 4 'o' clock]. Soak rice in the night with enough water.  Don't soak together. Soak it separately. Next day morning, grind in the mixer along with green chillie & salt. Grind smoothly. Keep the batter for 6 hrs. In the evening, pour 1 tsp of oil in a heated tava & wipe with a cloth to grease evenly. Spread 1 ladle of dosa-batter evenly in a circulating motion to get a thin layer & a round shape [Without the ladle touching the tava]. The more thinner the dosa is, more tastier it will be. Serve with coconut chutney, milagai podi i.e; red chillie powder. [Mixed in little gingelly oil].

Crisp Colocaesia [Seppankilangu]

Ingredients :

Colocaesia yam -  1/2 kg [Pleed & cut]
Salt - As required
Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
Oil - For frying
Red chillie powder - 1 1/2 sp
Asafoetida - A pinch.

Method :

Wash, boiled & cut colocaesia [seppankilangu] into 2 or 3 pieces depending upon its size. Take one non-stick pan, heat oil & add mustard seeds. When the seeds splutters, add the seppankilanku along with salt, turmeric, red chillie powder, asafoetida & mix well. Keep the gas in lower flame till it turns into golden brown. Then remove from the gas. Serve with hot plain rice, rasam or sambar.

Variation :

Boil as mentioned in the above recipe. Deep fry the cooked yam pieces in hot oil till it becomes golden brown & crisp. Then sprinkle with salt, chillie powder & serve immediately.

Dry Potato Roast

Ingredients:

Potato - 1/2 kg [Peeled & cut into small pieces]
Oil - For roasting [Better fry in non-stick pan]
Salt - As per taste
Red chillie powder - 1 sp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
Asafoetida - A pinch
Mustard seeds - 1 sp
Black broken gram dal - 1 sp
Curry leaves - Little.

Method :

Take one non-stick pan, keep on the gas pour 4 sps of oil, add mustard seeds, black broken gram dal & curry leaves. When the seeds splutters, add the cut potatoes to that along with salt, turmeric, red chille powder, asafoetida & mix well. Close the pan with a plate & fry in a lower flame. In between open the lid & turn the sabhji. When the potato turns into golden brown & crispy, remove from the gas. Serve with sambhar bhath & rasam. Enjoy your potato roast.

Dry Fruit Ghughara or Karanji

Ingredients [For Filling] :

Almond [badam] - 1 cup
Pista - 1/2 cup
Cashewnuts - 1 cup
Resins - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 1/2 sp
Nutmeg powder - 1 1/2 sp
Sweetless Kova [Mawa] - 250 gms
Ghee - 1 1/4 sp
Sugar powder - 2 1/2 cup.

Method :

Fry all the ingredients along with little ghee till it becomes crispy. If it becomes cool, grind in the mixer. Then take one kadai & pour 1 sp of ghee. Add mawa to that & fry for 1 minute till it leaves ghee & looks shining. At this time remove from the gas & keep aside. After mawa becomes cool, mix the dry fruit powder, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder along with sugar powder. Mix well. This is the filling for karanji.

Ingredients [For outer portion] :


Maida - 1/2 kg
Warm Milk & Water together - 3/4 cup [To knead the dough]
Hot Melted ghee - 1/ 2 cup [To knead the dough]
Ghee - 2 cups [For deep frying].

Method :

Take one deep bottom vessel & put maida, ghee & mix well. Add little warm milk & water together in the atta to form a soft dough. Keep the dough in a close vessel. From that dough take small balls, make small puri & fill the stuffing to that & make a shape like karanji [See the picture]. Then keep one frypan on the gas, pour remaining ghee. Make it heat [It should be in medium heat ] fry in lower flame only. If the karanji becomes golden brown on both the sides, remove from the gas. Store it in a air-tight container. Enjoy your tasty karanji.This recipe i learn from my friend rita.

Thattai

Ingredients :

Roasted rice flour [Roasted & Powdered] - 2 cups
Urad dal [Roasted & Peeled] - 1/4 cup
Ground nuts - 1/4 cup [Cut into bits]
Channa dal - 1 tbl sp [Washed & soaked]
Curry leaves - 1 spring [Finely chopped].
Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
Salt - As per taste
Butter - 1 tbl sp
Oil - For deep frying.

Method :


Mix all the above ingredients [except oil] with little water to make a thick & soft dough. Then take a clean plastic sheet & grease it with little oil. Then take lemon size dough, make into thin vadas [palm size] by dipping your fingers in oil. Spread it evenly & as thin as possible. Then heat oil in a frying pan & gently dip each into oil, 4 to 5 at a time. When it becomes crisp & golden in colour, gently remove them from the oil with the help of a spoon. Store it in an air-tight container. Your thattai is ready to eat.