Ravva Laddu

Happy Dasara to all my friends and Family. As this is the season of Navaratri specials i just wanted to share at least one sweet with you all. This is one the favourite sweets to the Goddess so i made this sweet this year for Naivedhyam. This is one of the dishes that i made during these 9days and wanted to share with you all. Yet more to come in my next posts.

Ingredients:

Goduma Ravva - 1cup
Grated Coconut - 1cup
Ghee- 3tsp
Cashews- few
Grated Badam - few
Kiss Miss(Raisins)- few
 (i took 1/4 cup of each dry fruits as per our taste)
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - as needed

Procedure:

• Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and kiss miss till light brown in color and keep aside.
• In the same ghee pan add the goduma ravva on low flame fry them till light golden color and take aside in a bowl.
• Now in the same pan without any ghee add the grated coconut and fry for 5 mins and add this to the goduma ravva bowl.
• Add the fried dry fruits, elaichi powder and sugar to this mixture and mix well. 
• To this add some cold milk 1tsp at a time and mix well till they are lightly wet and good enough to make balls.
• Now make round balls when it is lightly hot only. Because if it is cold it will become hard and when cold serve.
• You can store them in refrigerator for 2 weeks to enjoy fresh ravva laddu.

Tips:

1. Make sure that you do not fry the ravva on high heat. Because it changes the color very easily which makes it taste very bitter. 
2. Be careful while adding the milk to the mixture at the end. If you add more milk it will avoid us to make balls  easily and will be sticky to hands.
3. You can add any of the dry fruits of your choice to this recipe.

Oats Cookies

Ingredients:

Quick Oats - 1/2cup
Oats Powder - 1 cup (I grinded the oats into powder but did not buy it outside)
Maida/All-purpose Flour - 1 1/2cup
Brown Sugar - 1cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp
Butter/Oil - 1cup
Baking Soda - Pinch
Pinch of salt

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. 
• Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. 
• Add eggs and vanilla extract; beat well. 
• Mix flour, baking soda and salt together and keep aside. 
• Add this flour mix to the above mixture and mix well.
• Slowly stir in oats powder. 
• The mixture will be like the chapati dough. 
• Make round balls and little flat at the middle and keep them on the cookie sheets.
• On top of the biscuits add some oats and press it a bit.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes on sheet and serve.

Daddojanam (Andhra Style)/ Curd Rice

I generally have this Daddojanam or Curd rice in temples but never tried it at home. But in one of the festivals time i did not get much time to make pulihora so i made this curd rice for the first time by asking this recipe from one of my friends and frankly saying it was not that great that day. But later with some changes to the recipe it was a big hit. First time i mixed the curd in hot rice and also used little curd, and the rice consistency to what it got cooked is also not cooked to the right amount. So to avoid all these mistakes in my second attempt i made some modulations and it came out yummy. But please do remember to follow the right amount of ingredients while doing the recipe to get the perfect Daddojanam.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1cup
Curd - 5cups
Cashews - 1hand full
Chana Dal - 2tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 15
Jeera - 1tsp
Green Chillis - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Red Chillis - 2
Asafoetida - pinch
Oil - 1tsp
Ghee - 2tsp
Coriander Leaves - hand full
Carrot - 1/2 cup grated
Keera/Dosakaya - 1/4 cup(optional)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

• First cook rice with 1cup rice and 2 1/2cups water in a pressure cooker and remove it out and let it cool and  keep aside.
• Now make a paste of green chillis, ginger, jeera and salt together.
• Heat ghee in a pan, fry cashews till light brown colour and keep aside.
• In the same pan add the oil(or ghee is fine), chana dal, urad dal fry for 2 mins till light color change
• Add red chillis, mustard, jeera, curry leaves added and fry for 2 mins on low flame. 
• Now in this add the green chilli paste that we made above and a pinch of hing. 
• Now we get an aroma of the hing mixed with all the ingredients.
• This mixture is now mixed into the rice and also the cashews, grated carrot(half of the quantity), grated keera, salt is also added to rice. 
• Add the whipped curd into the rice and mix well till all the ingredients are well mixed.
• Now garnish it with the carrot on top and serve it cool. 

Points to remember:

1. Make sure you mix all the ingredients only after the rice is cool. Otherwise if you add it when hot then it may become hard after it gets cool. So better to add in when cool.
2. Use only fresh curd rather than sour one. Because after sometime it may change the taste to sour, so if we use sour curd it becomes more worst. To avoid this add little more salt too.
3. To get the గుడి(temple) style daddojanam add whole pepper corns instead of green chillis. 

Undrallu/Kudumulu, Aardhi for Vinayaka Chavithi

We generally do this Kudumulu for almost many of the festivals and one main festival we do this is for Ganesh Chaturdhi. This is a very common and favourite dish for Ganesh. 

Kudumulu

Ingredients:

Rice - 1cup
Chana Dal - 1tbsp
Jeera - 1tsp (optional)
Salt to taste

Procedure: 

1. Soak the chana dal overnight in water.
2. Soak the rice in water for 1 hour and let it dry under sun or fan till half dry.
3. Now course grind the rice by just pushing the grinder button to pulse mode and repeat it again depending on the consistency (it must not be very powder or very course. need to see at least some course rice like cream of rice)
4. Now sieve it and keep the course rice aside. 
5. For one cup of rice add 2cups of water and to this add the chana dal and let it cook till done.
6. Now add some salt to taste and add the cream of rice in it and mix well.
7. Keep the lid on it and let it cook for 5-10 mins till done. You will know that it is done when it is not that sticky if you test it by hand.
8. Now make this mixture into small balls (lemon size) and pressure cook them in the idly pan for 10-15 mins and now the kudumulu is ready to serve.

Points to remember(Hints):

• You can directly use cream of rice that we get it from the store by avoiding the steps 2, 3 and 4. But the above method is and old tradition method which gives us the perfect taste of kudumulu.
• Depending on the consistency after adding rice you can add some water if necessary. If it becomes very hard as soon as we added rice.
• Do not mix while adding the cream of rice. Mix it only after adding the full rice into it. If you do mix it while adding it may become very thin consistency.
• If you do not have pressure cooker or wanted to do it in the old method just add some water to a big pot and tie a wet cloth on top of it and keep these kudumulu on it and cook them on stove for 10-15mins.
• Some people do the same procedure with rice flour which is known as undrallu.

Aardhi

Happy Ganesh Chathurthi

Happy Vinayaka Chavithi to all my friends and Family...

Ganesha Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is the Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvathi, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the day Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all the gods, barring Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva and Parvati. Lord Ganesha is believed to be God of power, prosperity,wisdom and good fortune. In India, people worship Ganesh before initiating any work or start any travel. Ganesh Festival is one of the main festivals celebrated blissfully and joyfully all over India.

In Andhra, kudumu (rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery mixture), Vundrallu (steamed coarsely grounded rice flour balls), Panakam (jaggery, black pepper and cardamom flavored drink), Vadapappu (soaked and moong lentils), Chalividi (cooked rice flour and jaggery mixture), etc., are offered to Ganesha along with Modakams. These offerings to god are called Naivedyam in Telugu.

In Andhra, Matti Vinayakudu (Clay Ganesh) and Siddhi Vinayakudu (Turmeric Ganesh) is usually worshiped at homes along with plaster of paris Ganesha. But now a days due to the pollution control and other factors that are effecting the natural resources in the process of nimajjanam the new mantra is getting rounds in India i.e., Go Green by using eco friendly Ganesh. So say no to idols made of chemical, Plaster of paris, baked clay, plastic, thermocol (polystyrene). Opt for natural, biodegradable material so that after immersions (visarjan) it does not pollute water and surroundings. Natural products can be used to make the idol such as unbaked clay, coconut, paint with natural colours, etc. 

So by following this rule for this year I made an idol with my own hands which i wanted to share with you all...  Here are some of the pics of our Bojja Vinayaka and our Puja at home. People celebrate in various ways in each place depending on their customs and traditions. In the same way in Andhra too there are different variations especially the prasadams we offer to God. May be the procedures are the same but the name of the item is different. So according to our tradition we offer Kudumulu and Aardhi(Palu ardhi or bellam kudumulu which is called in some of the places). 

For recipes of kudumulu and Aardhi click here :

So here is our Puja: 

Soya Beans Egg Masala Curry

This is a very simple and healthy recipe. Both eggs and soya beans are very good source of protein. Soybeans are considered to be a source of complete protein. A complete protein is one that contains significant amounts of all the essential amino acids that must be provided to the human body because of the body's inability to synthesize them. For this reason, soy is a good source of protein, amongst many others, for vegetarians and vegans or for people who want to reduce the amount of meat they eat.

Getting bored with routine way of cooking egg made me explore this different combination which is a big hit in our home as it is very tasty and healthy as well. So it is very much enjoyable not only by adults but also by kids. It is one way of giving them healthy meal in a different colorful way. So lets start with the ingredients:....

Ingredients:

Eggs : 3

Soya Beans - 1cup (soak overnight)
Onions - 2 medium size
Oil -2tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste,GGP- 2tsp
Mustard seeds, Jeera, Urad dal - 1tsp each
Green chillis - 3
Chilli Powder - 1 1/2tsp
Curry Leaves - few
ఉప్పు తగినంత , Salt to taste
Turmeric - pinch
Dhaniya Jeera Powder - 2tsp
Garam Masala - 1tsp

Procedure:

1. Soak the soya beans overnight and pressure cook it with little oil and salt for 3whistles and keep aside.
2. Boil eggs and peel the shell and put some holes with the fork or toothpick to avoid bursting while frying.
3. Now in little oil add these eggs and little chilli powder and salt in it and fry evenly on all sides till it is brown in color and keep aside.
4. Heat the pan, add the remaining oil and in it add mustard seeds, jeera, urad dal and fry for 2 mins and add the GGP to it and fry for 1min.
5. Now add finely chopped onions, green chillis, curry leaves and fry till they are lightly brown.
6. Add the cooked soya beans(if there is any water left when cooking these beans add it along with water) and cook for 2 mins of there is no water. Else cook till all the water goes away. 
7. Lightly spice it up with garam masala and dhaniya jeera powder. 
8. Lastly add the fried eggs and mix well with the curry and serve it with rice.

Hint:

Vegans can make this dish by just skipping the 2nd and last points which also very tasty and of course healthy.

Simple Prawn Biryani Authentic Andhra Style

I always have the habit of tasting prawn biryani in restaurants or in some parties but have never tried at home. But i remember that my mom use to make prawn biryani very frequently back home but unfortunately at that time i am not in a habit of eating prawns. But people use to say that it is quite yummy and i am missing something that my mom use to make. So when i came here in US i remember my mom, when i first wanted to make this rice for my dear hubby to surprise him as prawns is one of his favorite.

So at last i got the recipe that i have been missing all these days from my mom which is very quick and easy, though tasty. Undoubtedly, anyone can say that the best taste that we ever eat in our life is the one that is made by our loving mom where we wont get that taste even if we tried it for years...May be it wont be the exact taste what my mom use to make but i tried my level best to reach it as the recipe i am posting here is from my mom.

Here it goes.....

Prawn Biryani...http://gayathriraj.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

Prawns - 2lb
Biryani Rice - 2cups, soaked for half an hour
Oil - 4tsp
Tomato - 2, big
Onions - 1
Green Chillis - 6 or more (depending in you taste as we wont be adding any chilli powder to it)
Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch
Cloves - 7
Biryani Leaf - 2
Chilli powder, salt and turmeric for marination of prawns depending on your preference.
Ginger Garlic Paste(GGP) - 3tsp
Pudhina - for taste
Salt to taste

Procedure:

• Firstly marinate the prawns in chilli powder, turmeric and salt for half an hour.
• In a cooking pan, add 2tsp oil and add all the masala items followed by onions, chillis and GGP.
• Now fry them till the raw smell goes and add the tomatoes, let them cook till they are smooth.
• Add the prawns to it and keep the lid.
• Now lot of water will be coming out from the prawns and let all the water goes away.
• Add the soaked rice, mix well along with the prawns and fry for 3 to 5 mins.
• Add the water to it, salt to taste and keep the lid and cook the rice on medium flame(or you can pressure cook it for 3whistles). When it is half way add the pudhina on the top and close the lid.
• Serve it hot with raitha.

Tip:

1.If you want to prepare it faster then you can separately cook the prawns in another pan till they are dry.
This will not only quicken the process but also reduce the smell that comes out from prawns which many people won't like it.
Generally i follow this process as i am a bit allergic to the smell of prawns.
2. You can add any of your own spices and masala when the prawns are cooking for added taste.

Simple Chilli Chicken Fry

Being a good food lover i can say that as and when i started eating chicken i have become a great fan for it. So i started gathering different kinds of recipes from my friends and tried different varieties too. But this chicken fry is one of the best and easiest recipe that i have ever made.

After having this dish in one of my friends place me and my hubby were excited. Its just because not only for the taste but the time it took to prepare the dish. Its been ready within mins and with very little amount of ingredients and that too with greatttt taste of course.... So i could not wait to know the secret recipe from my friend Sridevi that day itself. And the next coming weekend only i have tried it at home and it is a big hit and here is the secret recipe how it goes......

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2lb
Garlic - 20 to 25 pods, finely chopped
Soya Sauce - For marination of chicken (it must cover all the chicken pieces)
Green Chillis - 10, finely chopped
Onions - 1/2 medium size, finely chopped
Curry Leaves - 10
Little salt (Sometimes it is not needed too)

Procedure:

• Clean the chicken thoroughly and make it into small pieces( With bones or without bones is fine).
• Now marinate it with Soya sauce till the chicken pieces are almost dipped into the sauce. 
• Keep it aside for min of half an hour(the more it is marinated the more will be the taste).
• Heat oil in a cooking vessel and add the chopped garlic, green chillis, curry leaves and fry for 2 mins and now add the marinated chicken and keep the lid.
• Do not add any water to it because there will so much of water coming of it.
• By the time all the water gets dry the chicken will be fully cooked. Adjust the salt if needed.(mostly we wont need any salt to be added as there will be enough in the soya sauce )
• Before ten mins when we feel the chicken is getting ready add the onions and let it cook for 10 more mins. 
• Serve it with hot rice and rasam.

http://gayathriraj.blogspot.com

                                 

Egg Nuvvula Podi Curry

http://gayathriraj.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

Eggs : 4 (boiled)
Onions - 1, finely chopped
Oil - 2tbsp
Popu (Tadka)- 1tsp
Green Chillis - 2
Red Chilli Powder - 1tsp
Dhaniya  Powder - 1tsp
Sesame Powder/Nuvvula Podi - 4tsp
Pachi Kobbari, Coconut powder(grated)- 2tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste(GGP) - 1tsp
Coriander - for garnishing
Curry leaves - 5 chopped finely
Salt to taste

Procedure:

• Cut the boiled eggs into pieces (bite size pieces) and keep aside.
• Now heat oil in the cooking pan, add the popu and curry leaves and fry for 2 mins.
• Add onions and green chillis, salt and fry till translucent. 
• Add GGP, dhaniya powder, grated coconut and fry for 2mins till the raw smell goes.
• Now add the nuvvula podi and add little water for the gravy and cook all these ingredients for 3mins.
• When oil is started oozing out add the cut egg pieces and mix it slowly with the gravy till it is coated thoroughly to the eggs. 
• Close the lid and cook it for 2 mins and finish it off with coriander garnishing and serve with roti's or rice.

Chana Mutton Curry

Ingredients:

Mutton - 2lb
Onions -1 (big)
Green Chillis - 3
Tomatoes - 2
Chana Dal - 1cup
Chilli Powder - 1tsp
Turmeric - 1/2tsp
GGP(Ginger Garlic paste)-1tsp
Oil - 3tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander for garnishing

For Masala Paste:

Onion-1
Cloves -3
Cinnamon Stick - 1inch
Ginger - small piece
Garlic - 3pods
Jeera - 1tsp
Red Chillis - 3

Procedure:

• Soak chana dal for 2 hours and pressure cook it for 3whistles and keep it aside.
• Cut the mutton into small pieces and clean it once with water thoroughly and marinate it with chilli powder,turmeric,salt and GGP for minimum of half an hour
• Make a masala paste from the items listed above and keep it aside.
• Heat a pressure cooker, add oil, green chillis, chopped onions and fry till the onions are little translucent. 
• Now add the masala paste and fry till the raw smell of the onions goes away.
• Add the tomatoes fry for 2mins and add the marinated mutton into it.
• Let the mutton cook for at least 5- 10 mins till its water comes out it.
• Now add the cooked chana dal, 1/2cup of water and adjust the flavor with salt and pressure cook it for 15-20mins depending on the tenderness you would like to serve.
• (Generally we like it very soft and not to be that watery so i prefer to cook it for minimum of 5-6 whistles)
• Garnish it with coriander of it is ready. If needed, you can add some water and cook for few mins.

Hint: Do not clean mutton with water too much which may reduce the taste and flavor of it. 

Pressure cook it more, for more tender mutton curry.

Raagi Roti with Gobi Tofu Kurma

Raagi Roti : 

Ingredients:

Raagi Flour: 1cup

Goduma Pindi/Wheat Flour: 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Oil: 1tsp

Procedure:

1. Add all the ingredients together except oil and make it a soft dough that are good enough to make roti's. 
2. Now make small lemon size balls and roll it as roti's.
3. Heat the tawa and add little oil and fry the roti's on both sides and serve with curry.

Gobi Tofu Kurma

Ingredients:

Gobi : 1 (cut into florets,medium size)

Tofu (preferably firm) : 1/2 lb, cut into cubes

Onions: 1/2 slice

Tomato: 1 medium size

Green chillis: 2

Curd : 1cup

Oil : 2tsp

Chilli Powder: 1tsp

Turmeric: pinch

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Dhaniya Jeera powder: 1tsp

Curry leaves: 10

Coriander for garnishing

GGP(ginger garlic paste) : 1tsp

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Clean gobi and soak it in salt water for 15 mins. 
2. Now heat a pan, add oil, mustard seeds, jeera saute for 2mins and now add the onions,green chillis,GGP and saute for 3 mins.
3. Now add tomatoes,gobi, turmeric, chilli powder, turmeric and keep the lid on it and let it cook.
4. Meanwhile in a separate pan in little butter or oil fry the tofu cubes to light brown colour and keep aside.
5. Now when the gobi is soft add the fried tofu cubes, dhaniya jeera powder, salt and mix well. 
6. Add little water and let them cook for 2 mins. 
7. Finish it off with curd and garnish it with coriander.