Coconut and Carrot ~ Layered or Sandwich Burfi

A delicious and colorful twist to regular Kobbari Mithai /Coconut Burfi ...

You Need :

Keep Ready :  A greased tray for pouring burfi.

For Coconut Burfi:

Shredded fresh coconut - 2 cups
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Cardamom - 1 pod (Powder the seeds and keep it ready)

For Carrot Burfi: (alternative : use beetroot)
Grated Carrot - 2 cups
Sugar- 1.5 cups

Method for making both the burfis are same.

1. Measure 1.5 cups of sugar and take it in a thick bottomed pan
2. Add water just to immerse the sugar, say about half a cup
3. On a medium heat, dissolve the sugar and bring it to boil
4. When the sugar syrup reaches soft ball stage add in shredded coconut and keep stirring.
5.  At first you can see the mixture getting little diluted because of the moisture content of coconut, but soon it starts thickening
6. At a stage where you see the mixture starts thickening and leaves the sides of the container, quickly add in a big generous pinch of cardamom powder and transfer it to a greased tray.
7. If you over cook, the mixture becomes hard and brittle.

Note : 1. I made coconut burfi twice to sandwich the burfis. Together, I made thrice. 1st round-coconut burfi, 2nd round carrot burfi poured it over previously spread coconut burfi; 3rd round - Coconut burfi again to finish off the sandwich. You may want to find a easier way to do it.

Sincere thanks to Mahanandi blog for Coconut Burfi tips.

Verdict : Burfi tasted yumm and it had a colorful appeal too..

Badusha

I made them for Deepavali last year. Recipe is from Rak's Kitchen.  Jayashree from Samayal Arai Cooking is Divine is running a blogger marathon, details can be found here. Badusha Recipe from Rak's Kitchen can be found here .

This was my firtst time making of Badusha and for a first timer badushas were a treat! Raks has a video tutuorial to show how badushas are folded. She has a tempting picture too at her site. There was no modification in the recipe, I just followed word to word.

Ingredients:

Maida : 1.5 cups

Butter+Oil-1/4 cup+1/8cup

sugar - 1/2 tsp

curd/yogurt-1&1/2tsp

Cooking Soda(Sodabicarb)- 2 pinches

Water - 1/4 cup (approx)

Oil for deep frying

Syrup:

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Water- little, just to melt the sugar

Cardamom Powder - a generous pinch

lemon juice- 1 tsp

Saffron- few strands (optional)

Clove - 2-3 (optional, I used clove instead of cardamom as I like the flavor of clove)

A tip : If you make the dough hard, badusha does not soak up enough sugar syrup

If you make thick syrup, again badusha cannot absorb sugar syrup

Ideally, badusha batter must be very very soft!!! I had a thick syrup and little thick batter when I made and ended up having less sweet badushas.

Method:

1.Melt butter. Add oil, sugar, curd, soda bi carbonate to it and whisk well. Add flour little at a time and mix. Finally when you are done adding all flour, the resulting mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add, little water at a time to make a very soft dough.

2. Meanwhile you can place oil in a pan for deep frying.

3. Pinch a lemon sized dough and flatten it. Start pinching the edge and folding it inwards. Finish the whole round and keep it aside.

4.If you feel this is diffcult to make, just make a hole in the center of the flat round you made to give a doughnut like appearance. It can fry faster and easy to make also.

5. Fry them till they are brown colored. Fry on medium heat for good results

6. Dip in the sugar syrup and leave it for 5-10 mins before you drain it.

For Sugar Syrup:

I suggest you to make more syrup as badushas take up sugar syrup unlike gulab jamoons where you can still see sugar syrup left in the bowl.

Dissolve sugar and water over medium heat. When sugar syrup starts getting 1 strip consistency, swtich off the stove and add cloves, saffron and finally add lemon juice.

I enjoyed making Badushas for Deepavali. Thank you Raks for the tasty Badusha recipe and thank you Jayashree for hosting a lovely event.

Carrot Saaru - Readers Recipe ~ No dal saaru

I got this recipe some time back from Manasi, my blog reader. I gave it a try one day and it was instant hit at home. The recipe does not demand for "pricey dal" to make it tasty. Carrots and few spices with coconut and voila! you have finger licking saaru. You can drink it as a soup if you want to, but it tastes yumm with rice. Give it a try..
Thanks you Mansi for sharing this recipe with me :)

Photo : From me.. :-D

Recipe from Mansi :

Ingredients:

Carrot -2nos
Coconut - 3 tbsp
Tamarind paste- 1 tbsp
Jaggery

For Masala
Jeera - 1/4 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Dried red chillies - 3nos
Asafetida - pinch
Fenugreek seeds - Less than 1/4 tsp

Method:
1. Cook the carrots until they are soft and allow it to cool.
2. Add 1 tbsp of oil and fry the dried red chillies, jeera, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds for a couple of minutes.(masala)
3. Grind the carrots, masala mixture and the coconut into a fine paste.
4. Add 4 cups of water, tamarind paste , jaggery and salt to the above mixture and allow it to boil.
5. For seasoning - add 5-6 cloves of garlic, mustard seeds and red chillies.
6. Add above seasoning to carrot saru.

Baby Corn and Mushroom Curry

This is a tasty combination. Mushroom is a rich source of B Vitamins. You can read more about the goodness of mushrooms here : Fresh Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Mushroom : 12 numbers (I used button mushrooms)

Baby Corn: 8 (chopped into small pieces)

Tomatoes: 2 large (chopped into small pieces)

Onion: 1 large (chopped into small pieces)

Garlic: 1 clove  (chopped into small pieces)

Tomato sauce : 1/2 tbsp

Kitchen King, Turmeric, coriander powder, jeera powder, Red Chilli Powder, jeera, hing

Oil: Olive Oil

Method:

In a separate bowl cook mushrooms with little water and keep it aside. Cut baby corn into half or quarter them if they are long. 

Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onion followed by ginger garlic paste. When the raw smell of ginger garlic paste has subsided add in tomato and stir. Let tomatoes becomes soft and you can now switch off the stove. Blend this mixture and keep aside. Heat oil in the same pan, add jeera, hing, turmeric mix well give a sec for hing to be fragrant. Add in coriander powder, jeera powder, redchilli powder, Kitchen King and salt. Throw in baby corn pieces and sautee till it is little crisp. Make sure you cook this on low flame or else the powders will burn. Pour in tomato paste you have blended, add 1/2 tbsp tomato sauce and mix well. When the mixture starts to give away oil from the sides, add cooked mushroom pieces and stirr well and cook for 5 more mins before you switch off. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis/chapathis or phulkas.



Vetta Kuzhambu and Vengaya Sambhar ~ For your reading pleasure

How passionate can one be to express the love for the food they eat is what makes this 'article' a splendid one. Read on..


VETTA KUZHAMBHU AND VENGAYA SAMBAR


If Valmiki and Vyasa took Indian Epic writing to pinnacle of glory,


-if Shakespeare and Milton lent lustre to English Literature,


-if Lindwall and Miller tormented the batsmen the world over and always haunted in pair,


-if Gandhiji and Vinobhaji instilled spirituality in politics,


Vetta Kuzhambhu and Vengaya Sambar, demonstrate the Tamil Brahmin's culinary skill at its sharpest best.

Vetta Kuzhambu and Vengaya sambar, like Sehwag and Sachin, would always dominate the scene and that is the reason perhaps they are not served on plantain leaves in marital lunches. Any other sambar, needs the support of a thayir pacchadi, avial, olan, paruppu usili and kara-kari, to survive the lunch. Remove the support of the various vegetables save one and sambar would surrender at once - a roaring lion, only when there is a retinue around. Not Vengaya Sambar. It can stand its ground in testing time. When Vengaya Sambar is around, like one's own wife, who would glance at Avial or pacchadi, mere coquettes, though they may have inviting looks?


"In small things we just beauty see, In short measure, life may perfect be", says Shakespeare in one of his sonnets, underlying the fact that it is the small vengayam that we are talking about. In Travancore, small vengayam is called ulli or Eerulli. The larger one doesn't deserve a treatise to write about.


Vetta Kuzhambu and Vengaya Sambar can conquer the world with the help of a single vegetable to play a subordinate role, as Kapil Dev played that world conquering game, with Syed Kirmani at the other end. When Concerns in Mumbai served Vengaya Sambar with Potato kara-kari on Thursdays, a serpentine queue with saliva oozing out, would wait for hours. If no vegetable is available, Vetta Kuzhambu can still hold its sway with the help of a roasted appalam. Sorry my Palakkad brothers and sisters. Our pappadam cannot measure upto the expectations of Vetta Kuzhambu. They are not made for each other. It is always ensnared by the amorous advances of appalam.

I prepared only vetta kuzhambhu and chutta appalam today, a Thanjavur Mami, would murmur in humility, oblivious of the fact that the aroma from her kitchen has already reached eight houses ahead in her Agraharam. Chutta appalam, like chundaikai or karela, can also immerse in Vetta kuzhambhu, reiterating the fact that it is part of the household and not a mere catalytic agent.


And yet, we deny them their legitimate place in marriage lunches; instead we relegate them to the light dinner on the marriage day when all the ceremonies are over and only a few are around. Why treat your best batsmen as tailenders? Is it because all other vegetables have ganged up to isolate Vetta Kuzhambhu and Vengaya Sambar, so that they too are noticed? Would it be a blasphemy if we serve Vetta Kuzhambhu and Vengaya Sambar in saddhies of Sasta preetis, instead of several vegetables and varieties of payasams? After all payasams were dictated by palate and not prescribed by Shastras.


Idli and Mulagapodi are always made for each other. And yet, Chutney and Vengaya Sambar are not looked upon as the 'the other woman'. What more, Vengaya Sambar can also lend legitimacy to Idli and dosai and take them to dizzy heights. if Vengaya Sambar and Potato Karakari is unparalleled, Koorkai, Chenai and Banana also go well with it. It does not need varieties of vegetables or pathnis as it strictly follows Lord Sriram. It chooses one and remains loyal. However, Vetta Kuzhambhu is too strong a personality to entertain Idli and Dosai. It prefers to stand alone or mingle with a few lesser mortals. It is a little complex personality and yet has popular appeal.


One needs the arbitrating skills of a Solomon Papaiah to decide whether Vengaya Sambar emerges out better when prepared with Sambar Powder or ground coconut and other ingredients. To put in Brahminical tamil, whether Podi potta sambar scores over arachuvitta sambar, if Vengayam is the main ingredient? I am for one, is a protagonist of vengaya sambar, prepared with sambar powder. The vengayam here is endowed with a rare ability, as the overcast sky does to a swing bowler. When ground coconut is used, the sharpness of Vengayam is bludgeoned as the effectiveness of a pace bowler is, in a flat wicket. Fortunately, Vetta Kuzhambhu does not face such a threat from coconut. I may be torn into pieces by some of the well known professional cooks or mamas and mamis from Palakkad for this sacrilegious statement. It is availability that dictates the ingredients and develop the taste.


One major area where Vetta Kuzhambhu differs from its brother Vengaya Sambar is in longevity. As some of its ingredients are basically preservatives, Vetta Kuzhambhu is blessed with a longer shelf life. Vengaya sambar suffers from Balarishtams if not alpa-ayusu.


Vengaya Sambar, as the very name suggests, leans on good quality small onions, for survival. Vetta Kuzhambhu does not need such singular support. It needs varieties of ingredients and deft handling which is available aplenty in Thanjavur and Trichi. ( yours truly is a poor soul from Travancore).


It is not Sandhya Vandhanam or various other rituals that bench mark brahminical eminence. Ability to prepare, enjoy and evaluate quality Vetta Kuzhambhu and Vengaya Sambar that marks brahminical endowments.


Let young mothers and fathers dissuade their children from Pav Bhaji and Pani poori and instead eulogise them, if they show proclivity towards Vengaya Sambar and Vetta Kuzhambhu.


And finally, let me make a Marxian appeal. Brahminical youth, unite! You have nothing to lose except polluted and contaminated pav bhajis and pani poories and a world with Vetta Kuzhambhu and Vengaya Sambar to gain.

P.S. I recieved this via email from a friend. Thanks to him for sending me this.

Alasande kaalu badanekayi palya and CMT Kathol round up

It is time to the round up of CMT-Kathol. before I summarise the entries, I would like to thank everyone who took out some time to cook something relevant to this event and send it. I had made alasande kaalu (black eyed peas) badanekayi (brinjal) palya. Brinjal compliments almost all types of peas. You can just replace black eyed peas with any kind of kaalu or peas.  It is simple with minimum ingredients and easy to make too.

Alasande Kaalu Badanekayi Palya:

Cooked Alasande Kallu/Cooked black eye peas: 1 cup

Brinjal : 2 (medium sized)

Green chilli paste: as required

Salt

Ginger as required (optional)

Oggarane: Oil, mustard, Uddinabele/chanadal, redchillies, curry leaves, asafoetida

1. Cook brinjal and alasande kaalu in pressure cooker and set it aside.

2. Cut brinjals into small pieces

3. Heat oil  in a pan, add mustard. When mustard stops popping add asafoetida powder and uddinabele. When bele turns brown add curry leaf, redchillies and fry for a fraction of a second. Add in brinjals.

4.Mix well, cover and cook till brinjals are soft. When brinjals are mushy, mash them. Add ginger, green chilli paste, alasande kaalu, salt and mix well. Warm the mixture and taste to adjust the seasonings. Serve when it is warm. 

Non-Blogger Recipe for the event:

Rajma Cheese Sprouts Curry by Sandhya Gunari

Thank you Sandhya for sharing your tasty and nutritious recipe with us.

Ingredients:

Rajma: 1 cup

Grated cheese: 1/2 cup
Bean Sprouts: 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste: 1 spoon
Finely chopped tomatoes: 1 cup
Onions cut lengthwise: 1/2 cup
Potatoes (optional): 1/s cup
Green chillies and salt: as required
Methi powder: a pinch
Curd: 1 tea spoon
Pudina leaves (optional) finely chopped: 1/4 cup


Soak rajmas overnight and boil them. In a kadai, make the seasoning, add finely chopped tomatoes, onions, potatoes, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and methi powder and allow these to be cooked well. Then add sprouts, curd, pudina and rajma. After a while, add the grated cheese and bring to boil. Top it with coriander or sauce. Goes very well with puri, chapati or rice.

Nutritional Value
The nutritional value of this dish is rajma, sprouts and cheese are rich in protein while curd and pudina has a cooling effect on the stomach.
Below are the entries from Bloggers:

Another entry by Madhavi of Vegetarian Medley blog : Black and Butter Beans Subji .
Jayashri has sent Black Chana stirfry with Quinoa

Thank you all for making this event a yummiest one. I hope to try them all :-) .