THE CHEF and HER KITCHEN: August 2013

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes| Vinayaka Chavithi Recipes 2013 | Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipes

'Vinayaka Chavithi' also known as 'Ganesh Chaturthi' is my favourite festival and I always look forward to this festival as we celebrate it in a grand manner. In Karnataka this festival is called Gauri Ganesha where the previous day before Ganesh Chaturthi - is celebrated to worship the Goddess Gauri and we have a tradition to distribute the Vayanam(a set of items laid together) among the married ladies.

The menu differs from state to state. In Andhra, the menu would be like Undrallu, Bellam Kudumulu, Undralla Payasam, Chintapandu Pulihora, Medu Vada, Semiya Payasam or Sago Kheer along with sundal, stir fry, Pappu Chaaru etc. In Karnataka we prepare Holige for Gowri Habba and on Ganesh Chaturthi we prepare Kudumulu with various fillings or Karida(Fried) Kadubu, Idli with rice rava, Undralla Payasam, sundal, Kosambari, stir fry, Kandunta Majjiga Pulusu, rasam etc. Whereas in Maharasthra Modak or Puran Poli are prepared as main sweets and along with Varan Bhaat and other items on the menu.

I am compiling various set of recipes from all the regions so that it would be convenient to choose according to your preferences.

Kudumulu-3 types Bellam Kudumulu Karida(Fried) Kadubu

Puran Poli Modak Peda Undralla Payasam

Pappulo Undrallu Dry Fruit Modak Ammini Kozhukattai

Palathalikalu Paal Payasam Mango Sheera

Boorelu/Poornalu Bele Holige(Obbattu) Garugu Holige

Karanji Semiya Kesari Sago Kheer

Rava Payasam Moong Dal Kheer Semiya Payasam

Rava Pulihora Nimmakaya Pulihora Chintapandu Pulihora

Aava Pulihora Mango Gojju Annam Usirikaya Pulihora

Undrallu Ambode Dahi Dal Vada

Kosambari Chana dal Kosambri Corn Sundal

Kala Chana Sundal Kabuli Chana Sundal Ground nut Sundal

Kandunta Majjiga Pulusu Special Toor dal Rasam Pappu Chaaru

Cabbage Carrot stir fry Cabbage Moong dal fry Beans Stir fry

I would like to mention the menu ideas as well as it is more convenient to pick it up if you are in a hurry to decide the menu.

Typical Andhra Menu for Vinayaka Chavithi(at my MIL's place):

Breakfast: Undrallu or Idli with Coconut Chutney
Main Sweet: Bellam Kudumulu or Undralla Payasam
Rice Varieties: Chintapandu Pulihora or Nimmakaya Pulihora or Rava Pulihora
Vada/Snack: Medu Vada or Masala Vada(with out onions)
Payasam: Semiya Payasam or Sago Kheer
Stir fry: Cabbage Carrot stir fry or Cabbage Moong dal fry or Beans Stir fry
Sundal: Kabuli Chana Sundal or Kala Chana Sundal
Dal: Pesara Kattu
Rasam: Pappu Chaaru or Drumstick Rasam or Lemon Rasam

Typical Karnataka Menu for Ganesh Chaturthi(at my Mom's place):

Breakfast: Idli with Coconut Chutney
Main Sweet: Kudumulu with various fillings or Karida(Fried) Kadubu
Rice Varieties: Chintapandu Pulihora or Nimmakaya Pulihora
Vada/Snack: Masala Vada(with out onions) or Kandunta or Capsicum Kandunta
Payasam: Undralla Payasam
Stir fry: Cabbage Carrot stir fry or Beans-Carrot Palya or Beans Stir fry
Kosambari: Kosambari or Chana dal Kosambri
Sundal: Kabuli Chana Sundal or Kala Chana Sundal
Dal: Pesara Kattu
Rasam: Kandunta Majjiga Pulusu and/or Special Toor dal Rasam

Other Options

Main Course:

Sweets/Savories- for Naivedyam:

Musk Melon Juice Recipe | Cantaloupe Juice | Easy Juice Recipes

I prefer Milkshakes over fresh fruit juices as I like to eat the fruit in its whole form rather than having it as a juice. If we consume the fruit in its whole form, we don't need to add extra sugar nor do we lose any nutrients. There are many people who prefer having juices though and even DH falls under that category. So sometimes I prepare fresh fruit juices for him and that also gives me an opportunity to click the pics.

Muskmelon used to be a famous local fruit in the place where I spent most of my childhood. It used to be very sweet and we always carried them to our native place as my grand mom used to like this variety very much.While 90% of the fruits used to be consumed directly the rest which could be either softened fruit or less sweetened ones used to get converted in this juice form. There is no specific recipe as such but just wanted to highlight it for those who are looking for the recipe.

I must admit that I am very bad in clicking pics of beverages and I always find them challenging to click as the angles are a bit difficult to capture.I have hence been experimenting quite a bit with clicking juices for two reasons - to improve my photography skills and also that they can make their way to my blog. In this juice, I had tried to give the froth by pouring the juice in different glasses so that it can hold the muskmelon balls.On another note,recently I tried foodpanda.in online portal when I came back home after exhaustive shopping and was completely tired to cook anything.They had various range of restaurants and also categorized according to the area which helped me to choose the restaurant and cuisine easily and I was very happy with their services and I recommend you to try it if you have not done before.

Check out few quick beverages recipes here:

Muskmelon Juice | Kharbuja JuiceRecipe:

Serves 2

Prep time: 5 mins | Blending time: 2 mins | Total time: 7-8 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Juices -Beverages

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped ripen Muskmelon

1 tsp Lemon Juice(optional)

1/2 cup chilled Water

2-3 tsp Sugar

Ice cubes, to serve(optional)

Method:

Cut the musk melon into two halves and remove the seeds and cut the muskmelon into pieces by removing the external hard layer.
In a blender add chopped muskmelon, chilled water and sugar and blend it to a thick pulpy juice. Taste the juice and add more sugar if needed.
Add lemon juice and stir it nicely.
You can strain the juice or serve it as it is.I suggest you to serve as it is to retain the nutrients of fruit.
Pour it into 2 individual glasses.

Add ice cubes and serve it immediately.

Notes:

Adjust the sugar and consistency of juice according to your your wish.
I usually do not strain the fresh fruit juices to retain the fiber and nutrients of the fruits. If you want you can strain it in a metal sieve.
You can experiment it by combining mixed fruits combinations with various fruits like pomegranate, orange, sweet lime, watermelon etc.
If you like you can make it a thick milkshake by adding milk instead of water in the recipe.

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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Puran Poli Recipe | Bobbatlu | Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes

I am sure every one would had celebrated Krishnasthami with lovely home made goodies.Once the celebrations for Krishna Janmashtami gets over, its time to start preparations for another major festival - Ganesh Chaturthi which is the biggest festival in Maharasthra and south India. If you are interested check out our Vinayaka Chavithi Celebrations in the previous year here.
'Puran Poli' is a very popular sweet in Maharasthra and it is known as 'Bobbatlu or Bakshalu' in Andhra and 'Poli' in Tamilnadu and 'Holige' in Karnataka. Bobbatlu or Bakshalu is one of the traditional sweets of Andhra which are prepared for festivals or occasions. I have already posted 'Hoornada Holige' also known as 'Pappu Obbattu' which is prepared in our typical community style. Usually for Puran poli or Bobbatlu or Poli the filling is prepared with chana dal and jaggery and the outer layer(dough) is prepared with maida and also the polis are made bit thick. In our community style Holige the filling is prepared with toor dal and jaggery and the outer layer(dough) is prepared with chiroti rawa and the holiges are prepared very thin and are folded like hand kerchiefs. These two varieties vary in taste, looks and texture but both the varieties taste delicious and my taste buds slightly incline towards our community style holige rather than the puran poli.

I am posting Puran poli(Bobbatlu) recipe which is prepared in a simple way with neat step wise pictures hoping that it would help the readers. Try this Puran poli recipe for Ganesh Chaturthi and seek his blessings. We prepare a very delicious Saaru(amti) called as Holige Saaru with the water strained from the cooked chana dal and is mixed with a porion of puran, it tastes absolutely delicious when mixed with hot steamed rice.

You can also check out other special recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi here:

If you are looking Bangalore style Hoornada Holige check out the recipe here.

Puran Poli | Bobbatlu | Bakshalu Recipe:

Yields: 8-9 Polis

Prep time: 30 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 1hr + 1 hr resting time

Cuisine: Maharasthra -Indian | Category: Sweets/Festival Sweets

Ingredients:

Ghee/oil, to fry Puran poli

for outer layer/dough:

1 cup Flour(Maida)

a pinch of Turmeric powder

a pinch of Salt

1 1/2 tsp ghee, melted

1/3 cup Oil, to soak the dough

Water, to mix the dough

for filling:

1 cup Chana dal(Senagapappu)

1 cup grated Jaggery

2 tbsp. grated fresh Coconut

2 Cardamom pods, seeded & powdered

a tiny pinch of Salt

1 tsp Ghee

Method:

for outer layer/Dough:

Mix flour(maida) with a pinch of salt, turmeric powder and ghee and add water to it and knead in to a very smooth dough. The consistency of the dough should be very loose than the regular roti dough, this is the most important step otherwise you will not get softer polis.
Now using your fist hit the dough for few mins to get the softer dough or lift the dough and drop it hard into the bowl and repeat it until the dough becomes very smooth.
Now place this dough in a deep vessel and pour oil over it until the dough is completely soaked in oil. Let the dough rest for a minimum of 1 hr and upto 2 hrs. Drain the excess oil and use it for other purpose.

for the filling:

Wash and soak chana dal for 1 hour.You can even slightly roast chana dal before you soak,however this step is optional.
Bring 5-6 cups of water to a boil in a deep vessel and add salt,ghee and soaked chana dal and let it cook until you feel it is almost cooked. Dal should hold its shape and should be firm, it should not become mushy. Press a grain of dal with your fingers to get to know whether the dal is cooked properly or not. Alternatively you can pressure cook it for 1 whistle, not more than that.
Strain this cooked dal over a strainer and let it drain the water and cool completely. Reserve this water to use it in making delicious holige saaru(amti).
Grind chana dal with coconut, jaggery and cardamom powder to a smooth paste in a mixer and if necessary if it has some extra moisture fry it in the pan for few minutes until it becomes thick. Let the mixture cool completely and make lemon sized balls out of it.
Alternatively heat 2 tbsp of water in a kadai and add grated jaggery to it and let it melt over low flame.Add strained chana dal, grated fresh coconut into it and let it cook along with jaggery until you get a uniform mixture. Now add cardamom powder and mix well and switch off the flame. Let the mixture cool completely. Grind to a smooth paste( do not add water) in a mixer and make into a big lemon sized balls and leave them aside. See the pics to get to know the consistency of the filling.

to prepare Puran Poli:

Cut the holige paper into a round and place it on the rolling stone which we use to roll rotis. Grease holige paper or banana leaf with oil.
Pinch a small amla sized dough(the amount of dough should be half the quantity of the filling you take) and flatten it a bit using your hands as shown in the pics and place one ball of filling and seal it properly from all the edges like how we do for parathas.Now flatten it slowly with hands to get 5" diameter circle. Alternatively you can roll it like parathas like how we do in between two greased transparent sheets. Adapt the method which ever is convenient for you.
Now place the holige paper along with the poli(with poli facing down the tawa)on a hot tawa over the low flame.
Let it sit for 20-30 seconds and now peel the holige paper gently scraping it along the edges using a spatula. See the pics to get a clear understanding of it.
Now fry it on both sides applying ghee until light golden in color. Pour the ghee over it, do not try to spread ghee over the poli while frying it. Do not fry it for long time, it will make the polis bit hard so quickly remove it from stove when you get to see the brown patches on it.
Repeat the process for making all polis, smear the holige paper liberally with oil and follow the same procedure.

Serve the puran poli/bobbatlu warm or hot with melted ghee and warm milk. I like to eat it with either ghee liberally smeared over it or dunk it in warm milk.

Notes:

These Puran polis stay good for 2 days and for 3-4 days when refrigerated.
The thickness of these puran polis depends on your taste buds, you can prepare them small like parathas(slightly thicker) or large thin polis/bobbatlu which can be folded. As I already posted the thin variety I wanted to show the thicker one which is easy to prepare.
The amount of dough should be half the quantity of filling for each poli otherwise the dough would be more and makes the polis bland and hard at the edges as the dough gets accumulated in the edges.
You can either pat it or roll it like parathas in between two greased polythene sheets.
If you want a less calorie version, do not soak the dough in oil and instead smear oil on top of the dough and let it rest and then roll the puran polis like we do for parathas by sprinkling some flour. But these are not soft as compared to the ones which are prepared by dunking the dough in oil. But it tastes delicious too.
Do not make the filling very dry as it will make the puran polis dry. The filling should be fairly thick and soft and the dough should be very soft to get the soft polis.
For a vegan version use oil instead of ghee and also also avoid ghee in the filling and the dough.
I use holige paper or the plastic banana leaf which we get in markets. If you do not get them use a banana leaf instead.
You can even replace jaggery with sugar in the recipe.
You can use the strained water to prepare Holige Saaru or Amti which is again a must when we prepare polis.

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