Poosanikai halwa / Kasi halwa

                                    Next to thirunelveli halwa,i like this poosanikai halwa. I have tasted this halwa only in marriage feast.They will serve only small scoop of this halwa,so i didnt get impressed with this halwa. But when i was pregnant ,my MIL neighbour came to my house to give  sweets for me. She prepared this halwa in big sambadam( big steel container) . I am not a big fan of sweets.But when i tasted this halwa,i have become big fan of it.Me and my FIL loved it and finished it within three days. Yummy halwa. After delivery, i lost sweet carving but in my mind i was thinking to prepare it one day.Finally that day came and planned to prepare for this year diwali. Initially i thought it is very easy process.just shred poosanikai,cook it,add sugar ,mix it .Thats it. Process is simple but it is time consuming process. Shredding takes more time .It take atleast 40 minutes for overall preparation.Finally i can able to prepare this halwa and get the texture and taste. It need experience to make a perfect halwa but i am happy atleast i could prepare an halwa little bit similar to halwa prepared by perfectionist .

Ingredients:

Poosanikai - 4 cup
Sugar - 1 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Color - a pinch
Cashew - 10 pieces.
Ghee - 4 tbsp

Recipe:
1.Shred the poosanikai into fine shreds leaving the green part.After shredding squeeze the water and keep remaining poosanikai in a bowl.
2.Take a thick bottom pan and add 2 tbsp ghee.Fry cashew nut pieces  and keep it in separate bowl.
3.In same pan ,add shredded poosanikai .Cover and cook it for 10 minutes in slim-medium flame.
4.Once poosanikai is cooked well and raw smell fades ,now add sugar and color.Mix well and cook in slim flame.
5.Stir it continuously.Stir till the poosanika turn translucent and become shiny.
6.Once the halwa comes together without sticking to the pan,add remaining ghee,cardamom powder and stir.
7.Finally add fried cashew nut and mix well.
  Either serve hot or cold as it is or transfer it to a plate and cut it into cubes.

Note:
*Adjust sugar according to the taste.
* We can add any food color or can add saffron soaked milk to get yellow color halwa.
* Take time to cook shredded poosanikai before adding sugar.After adding sugar, poosanikai won't  cook.
*Cook till all the moisture in poosanikai is reduced before adding sugar.

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Chiroti

                           When i was very small kid,  my father used to buy  "ineese" from bakeries( i don't know right spelling). Though it is dry,i like the little crispy texture and sweet taste one.During ramalan time, my neighbor grandma used to send me panniyaram,coconut chutney,semiya sweet and this "ineese" like sweet. It will crispy and brittle.I like this ,than "ineese".Only recently i came to know the name of this sweet as "chiroti". I have tried it many times. Each time i try to make it in home,it came out in different texture,sometimes soft and sometimes crunchy. After many experiment,finally i got the crunchy chiroti. It is different from normal sweet which used to soft and juicy.

Ingredients:
Maida - 2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Oil- for frying

Recipe:
* Powder the sugar into very fine powder.
1.In a bowl, add maida,salt and ghee . Knead a stiff dough like puri dough and rest it for 1 hour.
2.In a small bowl,mix rice flour and ghee. Mix it into a smooth lump free paste.
3.After one hour, take dough and divide it into equal pieces.Make it into ball and roll like chappathi. Roll as thin as possible.Roll all the dough balls and place it separately in a plate.
4.Take a plate and place one chappathi on it. Now apply rice flour paste on top of it as thin layer.Also spread  1 tbsp rice flour on top.
5.Now place one more chappathi on top of previous rice flavor spread-ed chappathi. Same way ,place all the chappathi one above other.
6.Once all done,using hand roll the chappathi from one side towards other.Once rolled in cylindrical shape,seal the edges using fingers.
7.Take a knife and cut the rolled chappathi into 1/2 inch pieces and keep it in a plate.
8.Heat the oil in a wide pan. Heat it in a low-medium flame.
9.Roll the pieces into desire shapes( Circle or rectangle like ineese).
10.Slowly drop one or two rolled chiroti into oil.
11.Deep fry the chiroti in low-medium flame. When one side turn color slightly,turn to other side.Fry till the chiroti is crispy and crunchy.Transfer it to a plate lined with a paper towel.
12.When it is hot,sprinkle fine sugar and powdered cardamom on top.Sprinkle on both sides.

Notes:
* If we use less ghee while preparing paste,we won't get layers in chiroti.
* We can also dip this fried chiroti in sugar syrup.
* Also we can serve fried chiroti with almond flavor milk.Place chiroti in a plate and pour almond milk on top.
* While rolling the rolled chapathi ,don't roll so hard. We won't get layer if we press hard.
* The rice flour mix will help to get space in between each layer in chiroti.

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Macarons / meringue cookies

                        Macaron is a sweet meringue based cookie made of egg white,sugar and any flavor. When i was studying in collage ,one of my relative brought me a pack of white cookie like one. When i tasted first, it just melts in my mouth. I like the taste and texture. Recently my neighbor friend karthiga remind me back this cookie.When i searched online,i came to know it has only few ingredients. But i found difficult to get the texture and color after trying few times.Finally i got the texture and taste.It take times to bake but after tasting it, we feel all is worth.Today is halloween,kids likes to get a treat from everyone. I prepared this cookie as a treat for my son.

Taste: I can get the flavor of vanilla essence and cashew taste in it.It melts in our mouth.
Texture: It has brittle texture.It is not as hard like normal cookie.

Ingredients:
Egg - 2
Sugar - 1/4 cup(Fine powdered)
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice or cream of tartar - 1/2 tsp
Broken cashew nut - 5 tbsp

Recipe:
*Chop cashew into very fine pieces.
* Extract egg white separately  from yoke and transfer it to a small bowl.

1. Pre-heat conventional oven to 200 degree F.
2. Take a baking plate and line it with parchment paper or aluminium foil and keep it in oven while pre-heating.
3..In  a big bowl,add the egg whites.Using hand mixer or electric mixer,mix the egg white in low-medium speed.Mix till the egg white turns foamy. Now add lemon juice or cream of tartar into it and mix again ,till small spike appears.Now slowly add sugar one spoon at a time,mix till stable spikes appears.(When you take mixer from egg white, spikes should appear ).Finally add vanilla extract and finely chopped cashew nuts and mix for 1 more minute.Finally check the texture using hand. The mix should be like a cream without solid sugar bit in it. (Cashew nut pieces can be there)
4.Transfer the mix into pastry bag (with 1/2 inch tip) and seal it .
5.Remove the baking tray from oven and slowly make desired shape using the mix on the tray.Once done,keep the tray in oven.
6.Bake for 1 1/2 hours in 200 degree F.
7.After 1 1/2 hr,slightly open the oven door and leave it like that for 3 to 4 hrs to dry the cookie.
8.After 4 hrs , slowly remove the cookie and transfer it to a plate to serve.

Note:
* We can use any artificial flavor while making this cookie.
* We can also add finely chopped almond too.
* We can add some food coloring to make it more attractive.
* Take time while preparing this cookie, don't hurry while mixing.It took 20 minutes for mixing.
* Keep the egg in room temperature ( out from fridge alteast 30 minutes before)
* If we don't get fine sugar,we can grind it in mixie to very fine powder.
* Use pure vanilla extract than imitation one.

Problem we face while preparing this cookie:
* If we add yellow yoke even mall bit, the taste will differ and texture differ.
* If the sugar is not fine, the cookie wont be smooth textured one.
* Take time to mix the egg white. It should get the spikes when finish mixing.
* Keep the cookie in pre-heat oven,else the cookie will loose its shape.
* Don't increase the temperature in between while baking , it will make the cookie to bake fast and it turn brown color fast.
* By leaving the cookie in switched off oven,makes the cookie to be crispy for long.

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Fried modak / fried kollukattai

                                   In my life i have tasted four types of kolukattai. kara kolukattai,sweet kolukattai,paal kolukattai and pidi kolukattai. As vinayagar chadurthi is few days away,I searched net for dishes which are prepared on this festival. There were different type of kolukkatai's ,one thing which sounds different and  intresting is fried kolukattai. In south india, we used to prepare kolukatti/modak using rice flour,but this dish is prepared using wheat flour. When i tried to make sweet version, i feel difficult to get the correct modak shape. But making and getting shape of fried kolukattai is easy.

Ingredients:

Outer cover:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - as per taste
oil - 1 tbsp
Warm water - 3/4 cup
Rava - 1 tbsp

Inner filling:
Grated Jaggery / urunda vellam - 3/4 cup
Shredded coconut - 1 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Recipe:

1.In a thick pan,add grated jaggery . Cover it and cook it by adding very little water. When jaggery thickens up,cool it down and strain it using strainer(To remove impurities and stone in it).Once again keep it in stove and add grated coconut,cardamom powder and a pinch of salt( To enhance sweetness).Cook for 10 minutes,till the coconut and jaggery mixed well and thickens up.Transfer to a bowl and cool it.
2.Take a bowl and add wheat flour,salt,oil,rava(to get crispy modak) and warm water.Mix and make a dough like chappathi.Rest it for 30 minutes.
3.After 30 minutes,make small balls and roll it like chappathi . Take a small portion of sweet filling,make a ball and keep it in center of the chappathi.Close the corners of the chappathi and form a modak shape.
4.Prepare all the modak and deep fry it in oil.
5.Transfer to a plate with paper towel. Serve to god and have it.

Note:
* Prepare the chappathi either by rolling or using hand, but the thickness should be thin else the outer cover will be hard after frying.
* After frying all the kolukattai once, once again fry it to get crispy kolukattai.
* You can also add soaked dhal while preparing sweet filling.

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kachayam

                This is one of the sweet snack which is easy to prepare and my mom used to prepare it on weekends. When there is any guest in home, within few minute yummy appetizer is ready to be served. I still remember, on sunday's my mom used to serve hot kajayam's when we wake up from afternoon nap. Having a bite of kajayam and seeing sunday evening movie is a good time pass.


Ingredients :

Maida - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Banana - 1 riped
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Salt - a pinch

Recipe :

1.Take a pan and add jaggery and less water . Keep stirring till jaggery is fully diluted. Strain it and keep aside.
2. Take a bowl, add maida ,salt and cardamom powder.Mix well. Now add banana pieces and smash it well.Now pour the diluted jaggery and mix slowly till we get a smooth lump free batter. The batter should not be watery.If needed can add baking soda to get fluffiness.
3. Heat a pan with oil and once it is warm, add one spoon of kajayam batter one at a time. Turn kajayam for awhile and once it turn brown color,take it with a spatula and transfer it to a plate lined with paper towel. Serve hot or cold. It taste yum.

Note :

1.If the batter is too thin, then kajayam will flatten up. so the batter should be not too thick and not too thin.
2.Those who hate banana in snacks, can avoid it.
3.Instead of jaggery, we can add powdered sugar too.
4.Adding a pinch of salt to sweet dish will enhance the sweetness in the snack.

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Carrot halwa

     There are different types of halwa in india , like wheat halwa,pushinikai halwa, beetroot halwa,thirunalveli halwa..... I have tasted only the above. Once my neighbour  gave me a sweet which is called carrot halwa. It was yummy but since i don't like ghee,i couldn't enjoy the sweet. So i thought i should prepare this when i have time. When i was searching the fridge,i saw 2 big bag full of carrots which are due to date. So i thought this is the time , I should try carrot halwa without ghee. But in this recipe i gave recipe for carrot halwa with ghee.


Ingredients :

Carrots - 4 cup
Milk - 2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Almond ,pista and cherry - Few ( can also add cashew and raisin )
Ghee - 3 tbsp

Recipe :

*  Shred carrot using thin holes in shredder.
*  Chop almond and pista
*  Warm milk in microwave for 2 minutes.

              Take a think bottom pan and add ghee. Fry the almond and pista in the ghee and remove it alone and place it in a plate. In the same pan,add carrot and Stir . Close the pan for few minutes till the carrots are tender,soft and raw smell of carrots goes. Now add the milk and stir for sometime. Cook till the milk get mixed with carrot and absorbed fully by carrots. Now add sugar ( add according to the sweetness of carrot) and stir it . Stir till we get halwa consistency and it is not stick to the pan. We can 1 tsp of ghee now to get that non sticky halwa. Add chopped almond,pista and cherries and mix well. Sweet ,yummy carrot halwa ready.

Note:

* Some will use red carrot for making this halwa.we can use that too.
* Add sugar according to the sweetness of the carrot.
* Whenever we halwa, we should use thick bottom pan. Else halwa easily stick to the bottom.
* This halwa wont be like other halwa which has paste like consistency. This halwa will be little coarse texture.

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Rasamalai

 I tasted rasamalai only few years back.I love rasagulla till i tasted rasamalai. Though i am calorie conscious,i used to have rasamalai once in awhile. I have tasted it in shop,but didnt tried it in home because of its lengthy process. Its is worth it to take time and prepare it when you taste it finally.

Ingredients:

Milk - 8 cup
Lemon - 1
Sugar - 2 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
saffron - a pinch
pista,almond - few
Muslin cloth - 1

Recipe:

* Chop almond and pista.
* In hand grinder,grind saffron and sugar.In 2 tbsp warm milk,add the grinded saffron.so that it get diluted easily.

1.Take two thick heavy bottom pan and pour milk in equal proportion.Stir both simultaneously .
2. First pan is for the liquid in the rasamalai and second pan for malai.
3. Stir the first pan milk till it reduce to half its volume.Once it is reduced,add 1 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cardamom powder.Stir well and transfer to a bowl.
4. Squeeze lemon in second pan,the milk slowly curdles.When milk curdles fully and float on top,transfer it to a muslin cloth. The malai should be less moisture.Kneed the malai into fine paste,if it difficult to get paste consistency, sprinkle some maida and kneed it.Once it is fine paste, make into small small balls and flatten it.
5.In cooker add 2 1/2 cup water( enough water to submerge malai) ,sugar and cardamom powder.Boil it ,till it is thicken up. Now slowly drop malai into sugar syrup.Close the cooker lid and wait till 1 whistle. After 1 whislte,switch off the stove and wait for five minutes.
6.Remove the malai and squeeze excess water and add to thick liquid which is prepared already.
Garnish with pista and almond pieces.Store in refrigerator for atleast 2 hour.Rasamalai taste yummy when it is chill.

Notes:

* It look tedious preocess,but if we try once.we like to make it often,like me.
* Stir the milk often,else milk will get burnt and smell reflects in rasamalai.

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