Crunchy Kodubale (Fritters)

Kodubale/fried crunchy fritters are the best to have with Deepavali sweets.Though Deepavali is known as festival of lights it is also loaded with varieties of sweets and crunchy spicy fritters.
Here is an easy way of preparing " Kodubale " one of Karnataka special munch.

There are different ways of preparing kodubale. I have prepared kodubale using roasted channa (Hurikadale), steamed maida and rice flour  and the spices.
Here I have used Rice flour, maida (all purpose flour ) and medium size rava. 
As I said it is an easy recipe and any one can try and enjoy any time of the day. Kodubale goes well with cup of coffee/tea/fresh juice.
Lets see the recipe now.

Ingredients :

Fine Rice flour : 1 Cup
Maida (All Purpose flour) : 1/2 Cup
Rava/Semolina (Medium size) : 1/2 Cup
Chilly powder : 2 Teaspoons
Sesame seeds/Thill/Ellu : 1 Teaspoon
Jeera : 1 Teaspoon
Salt : As required
Butter : 1 Tablespoon
Dry coconut/Kopra/Kobbari : 1 Tablespoon (Optional)
Oil : To Fry (1 Cup)

Method :

1. Put rice flour, Maida and rava in a big bowl.

2. Add chilly powder, salt, sesame seeds and jeera.
3. Add butter and mix all the ingredients nicely.

4. Dry grind coconut and add it to the flour mixture.
5. Mix it well and add water. (little by little) and prepare the thick dough.
6. One needs to kneed the dough well or kodubale might break while preparing.

7. Now divide the dough in to small portion.
8. Take each small portion and roll it with your finger like a big thread.
9. Join the two ends and press a little slightly and arrange them in a plate.

10. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Add oil. Let it get hot.
11. Fry kodubale on low and medium flame on both sides.

12.Remove from the pan and put it on a kitchen tissue. So that it absorbs extra oil.
13. Repeat the same with remaining dough. At time you can fry 4 to 5 kodubales

14. Let the kodubale cool. Put them in a airtight box or bottle and serve as you wish.
15. Serve with cup of coffee or tea.

Note :

You should be careful while preparing the dough. Do not make the dough too soft or watery. Kodubale might turn soft and it may absorb more oil. Adding spices more/less is optional. No need to add more butter. Adding hot oil instead of butter is optional. Adding coconut to the mixture is optional.
Time : 30 Minutes
20 to 25 Kodubale can be prepared. (According to the size).

Deepavali Snacks

Deepavali is one of the National festival. This festival celebrated all over the world now a days. 
Even President Barak Obama also has declared  a holiday for Deepavali in United States of America .
We do celebrate the festivals in traditional way. Each festival has his own history and tradition behind it. It is also called as festival of lights. There are different ways and traditions in different part of India. We do celebrate Deepavali for 4 Days.

The first day is called as Neeru tumbuva habba (means filling water to the big vessel with full of water to take bath next morning). In those days, even now we have big Hande in the bathrooms in my doddamma's (my mother's sister) house and father in law's house. That big hande (big vessel to boil water for bath) is washed nicely and decorated with red soil lines (or some simple art work), and pooja is done to the filled Vessel at night and it is called as ganga pooja and the neivedyam (offering some eatables to God) is prepared using coconut, jaggery and rice. This is called yere appa. (a fried dish). After pooja to Ganga Mata will have our dinner. (normal simple food along with yere appa).
The next day is Naraka Chaturdashi. It is believed that Narakasura (one of the powerful demon) used to trouble people on the earth. So God Narayana came to people's rescue and killed Narakasura. God being kind to him, he asked Narakasura to visit the earth on this day. So the people believe that Narakasura comes to earth on that day to visit them. Being a human they too have kind heart and welcome Narakasura. They get up in the early morning and with oil massage for the whole body will have hot water bath.  Oil bath should be taken before the sun rise. (before 6 in the morning). We wear new clothes. Then Dosa and panchakajjaya (Flattened rice with jaggery and coconut) is prepared and offered to God and the whole family will enjoy Eating Hot dosa with chutney and Panchakajjaya and then burst the crackers. (just one or two ).This is the traditional way of starting the festival. The ladies will be busy preparing festival food for the family. The relatives, guest, newly weds in the family all get together to have lunch.
The next day is Amavasya or No moon day. This day Laxmi pooja is done in most of the houses. The following day is called Bali Padyami. There is also a story behind this day. Bali Chakravarthi who is very kind and generous Chakravarthy (King) and ruled his country so well. It is said that on this day he will come to see his prajas. I have seen people of my village sing some songs about this Bali Chakravarthi and in that song, Bali Chakravarthi is welcomed by his people. On that day they gather grass and put fire and lights will be lightened every corner of the house. And Tulisi Pooja starts from that day. It is continued till the day of Tulisi Festival. It is some thing which is very beautiful to watch. I am blessed to see those things in my childhood days.
The next day (fourth day) there will be poojas for cows and it is called govina pooja. They are washed nicely and put kumkum and brought in to the home and fed sweet flattened rice. (Panchakajjaya). They do pooja to the cows and then enjoy loads of home prepared food that day.
Now the time has changed and loads of eatables available every where and each and every one will be busy with their personal things. Visiting relatives has become very rare but still friends and relatives get together at lease for an evening and enjoy the festival.
We used to prepare many snack items and friends used to visit us and we too visit them one of the day in the whole week celebration. Each house will surely prepare some or the other yummy dishes
Lets see some easy dishes and enjoy this Deepavali. I am sure it is not that late to prepare these dishes. These dishes are good to have either for lunch or even it shines on High Tea ( Deepavali Party in the evening ).

The first one is Yere appa which is normally done on the previous day of Naraka Chaturdashi.  You can just try. It is done with raw rice, coconut and jaggery. You can use cashews while grinding. It adds to the taste and Yere Appa turns tasty.
 1. Here is a recipe of Yere Appa ...Prepare this and enjoy
 http://nsomayaji.blogspot.in/2009/10/yereappa.html

 2. Every one likes to have some sweet dish along with the elaborated lunch or High Tea.
 Lets go with Rasmali, which is very easy to prepare and yummy to have. Give it a try. Less work and yummy dish is ready in minutes.
All You need is ready to eat Rasgullas. I have used Mayyas Ready to eat Rasgullas. As they say it is made with love. They are really yummy to have.

   http://nsomayaji.blogspot.in/2015/09/easy-rasmalai.html

3. Deepavali is also called as festival of sweets. There should be some laddus to share with our friends and visitors.
Oats and corn flakes and almond laddu has no sugar and lots of nuts are used and we can say these are healthy laddus. As always it is simple, easy and quick. Give them a try and you will really love them.
Just check the recipe to note what all you need and the steps to prepare. Njoy eating them.

 http://nsomayaji.blogspot.in/2015/10/oats-corn-flakes-almond-laddu-deepavali.html

 4. How about preparing some savoury dishes ...Have a quick look at it and you can prepare them easily. Not that many things are needed here .
Lets check the recipe of Ribbon Pakoda which is every one's favourite. This snack is made of rice flour ( 3 portions) and one portion of chickpea flour. Glance at the recipe :

 http://nsomayaji.blogspot.in/2015/07/ribbon-pakoda.html

5. Now lets see one more savoury recipe, Karam Kuram the kids favourite to munch them most of the time and it can be good snack which goes well with cup of coffee or tea or even fresh fruit juice.
Sev is a perfect snack for Deepavali. It is prepared using chickpea flour and rice flour. It is very easy to prepare these sev. I am sure you
will surely love these sev.

http://nsomayaji.blogspot.in/2015/10/sev-deepavali-special.html

6. This Crispy Cuts (Diamond Cuts or Shankar Poli) are well known and it is one of the favourite eatable for  all age group. It is prepared using Maida (All purpose flour) and I have used millet with maida. It has turned crispy and it just melts in the mouth. You can feel the taste by giving a try.  It does not take much of your time even to fry. But remember to fry them on low and medium flame.

 http://nsomayaji.blogspot.in/2015/11/crispy-cuts-diamond-cuts-shankar-pole.html

Crispy Cuts (Diamond Cuts - Shankar Pole)

Crispy cuts are made with maida (bread flour or all purpose flour). It is called as diamond cuts, because of the cuts or the shapes while it got cut. We also call it as shankar pole I have no idea why this dish is called Shankara Pole. May be these cuts are used to be prepared with sugar - Shakkar , and it might have got the name shakkar pole and later turned as Shankar pole. Pole must any fried dish. This is simply my thought. Anyways there is a change and different place has different name for the same dish.

This Shankar Pole is a namkeen (salty dish), It can be your one the preparation for Deepavali. It is easy to prepare, does not take much of your time, like other fried dish. It stays crunchy and crispy for a long time, at least for two weeks if it is not get over. (very tempting I can say). Perfect for kids party and kitty party, tea party and traveling. You can also pack it for kids snack box.
Once in while or festival mood or in a party mood you can enjoy this Diamond cuts.
I have used maida, millet flour (jolada hittu), little hot oil and some spices. Just tried adding millet flour to maida and tried it. It turned it very crispy and yummy. So the recipe is here. You can try this and enjoy Shankar Pole.

Things Needed :

Maida (All Purpose flour) 1 Cup
Millet flour (Jolada hittu): 1 /2 Cup
Hot oil :(to add) : 2 Tablespoon
Red chilly powder : 2 Teaspoons
Jeera/Cumin Seeds : 1 Teaspoon
Ingh : a pinch
Salt : As required
Oil (Any brand) ; 1 Cup

Method :

1. Take a big bowl and add maida, millet flour, chilly powder, salt, and jeera. Mix it nicely.

2. Keep a pan and heat 2 tablespoons of oil (piping hot). Add this hot oil to the flour and leave it for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Now mix it nicely and add required water (little by little) and prepare the dough.

4. Divide the dough in to small portion.
5. Just turn the small portion of the dough as ball shape, and roll as chapati. (You can use flour or oil to roll, a drop of oil will do).

6,\Prick it on the rolled chapati with a knife edge or spoon edge. (It helps the cuts not to fluff up).
7. Cut them in to small bits giving a diamond shape. \
9. Keep a pan and put oil and heat. When the oil turns hot, leave the cut pieces of chapati slowly in to hot oil.
10. Fry them on both side.(Let the flame be low and medium).

11.When they turn golden brown remove from the pan and put them on a kitchen tissue. It helps to absorb extra oil.

12. Repeat the same and prepare remaining dough.
13. Let it cool Put them in a airtight box or bottle.

14. Serve it with cup of coffee or tea or any time you wish.

Note : 

Always Try with the small quantity. Adding hot oil helps to get the diamond cuts crispy. Do not add water immediately after pouring hot oil. Shankar pole may turn soft and it might take more oil. Adding more spice is optional. Do not put more energy while rolling as chapti. It may tare. Roll it softly and slowly. Adding more oil to fry is also optional. You may fry them fast. (more quantity). No Need to rest the dough or adding any cooking soda. (I have not added).
Time : 30 minutes. (Total)
Serves : As required . You can get a bowl full of Diamond cuts as shown in the pic.

Sev (Deepavali special )

 Deepavali is nearing and the preparation of sweets and savoury starts. So I thought of preparing Sev and here is a recipe for you. Believe me it is easy, quick and yummy. This sev can be prepared and served with the sweet dish of your choice. Here is a recipe of medium thick variety of sev recipe.

Sev/Om pudi (as we call in Kannada ) is a savoury dish and we can munch them any time of the day. (People like me who are fond of fried  items ). It can be prepared using different flours. For example we can use chickpea/gram flour or rice flour and chick pea flour or only roasted channa (hurikadale) and rice flour or even maida flour or even boiled potatoes are also used for preparing sev.
Here I have used 3 portions of chikpea/channa/gram flour/besan and one portion of rice flour. Some spices like chilly powder, jeera are used. I have used butter and no cooking soda added to the flour .
Lets us see the recipe now.

Things Needed :

Besam/Gram/Besan flour : 3 Cups
Rice flour : 1 Cup
Jeera powder : 1 Teaspoon
Red chilly powder : 1 Teaspoon
Salt : as required
Butter : 2 Tablespoons
Oil : 2 Cups (Any brand )
Sev Mould.

Method :

1. Put Chick Pea flour, Rice flour, butter, salt, jeera and red chilly powder in a big bowl.
2. Mix it nicely so that butter and other ingredients mixes well with flour.

3. Add required water slowly (little by little ) and form a dough. (thicker than chapati dough).
4. Kneed the dough well. and divide them in to small portion. (not very small).

5. Now just apply little oil around the inner layer of the mould and put prepared sev dough inside.
6. Keep a pan on the fire and put oil. Heat it.
7. Now close the lid of the mould and press straight to the hot oil.  Let it turn slightly golden brown.

8. Turn the other side and cook for a minute and remove from the pan. Put it on a kitchen tissue. Let the extra oil absorb by the towel.
9. Repeat the same with remaining dough and prepare sev.

10 Sev is ready to serve.

Note :

The dough should not be watery or too thick. Watery dough may absorb more oil and the thick (hard) dough can not be squeezed out easily. Adding more butter may soften the dough and it might take more oil.  For the above said measurement only 2 tablespoons of butter will be perfect. You can also try using hot oil instead of butter. Adding more/less chilly powder is optional. Adding whole jeera might block the holes of the mould. So roast and powder jeera and then use it. ( I just crushed it a little and added ).
Time : 30 to 40 minutes
Servings : according to your requirement.

Oats, Corn Flakes & Almond Laddu : Deepavali Special

Oats, Cornflakes & Almonds Laddu is a sweet dish and we can munch them any time of the day. Deepavali is nearing and the preparation of sweets and savoury starts. Oats & Cornflakes, Almond Laddus are healthy and perfect for festival celebration. It is easy to prepare and can be kept for at least 10 to 15 days. It is my own creation and I am very happy to say Oats, cornflakes & Almond Laddu is delicious to eat and not worry much because there is not much of ghee and no coconut is used in this recipe. One more good thing is that instead of sugar, jaggery is used and you must be knowing the benefits of having jaggery instead of sugar. It contain loads of healthy benefits.

Lets see some benefits of having jaggery in our diet.
Jaggery helps to cleanse our body and act as digestive agent. It provides good amounts of minerals. It adds sweet to the dish in a healthy way. It is always better to use jaggery. It prevents constipation and good for people who suffer from anemia. It has excellent source of Iron and produce good amount of haemoglobin. It helps to detoxify our liver by flushing harmful toxins from our body. It is also good for cough and cold.
I have used Oats, cornflakes and Almonds, a few cashew nuts and raisins.
Oats, cornflakes & Almonds Laddu can be prepared for festivals, kitty parties, kids parties and even you can box them and give it as sweet packs.
Lets see the recipe now.

Ingredients :

Oats : 1 Bowl
Corn flakes : (any brand ) : 1 Bowl
Almonds : 1 Small cup
Raisins : 1/2 Cup
Cashew nuts : 1 Handful or as you wish
Ghee : 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Jaggery :  5 to 6 Tablespoons (Grated ) or 1 small bowl.

Method :

1. Keep a pan on the fire and dry roast oats on low flame for  2 to 3 minutes and keep it aside. Let it cool.

2. Now add cornflakes to the same pan and add 1 teaspoon of ghee. Fry them nicely and remove from the pan .(2 minutes).

3. Fry almonds in the same pan for one to two minutes and remove from the pan. Let it cool.
4. Now fry cashew nuts and raisins till they turn golden brown and remove from the pan. Keep them aside.

5. Dry grind all the roasted or fried ingredients and keep is separately. ( Dry grind them one by one). (Except cashews and raisins).

6. Keep a bigger pan on the fire. Add powdered or grated jaggery and add 1/4 of water to it.
7. Let jaggery melt nicely. It starts to boil. Let the jaggery syrup get one string consistency.

8.Now add powdered cornflakes, oats and almonds. Mix it well. Add fried cashews and raisins. Mix it thoroughly. Put off the fire and    shift the mixed ingredients to a big bowl.

9. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ghee and mix it well.
10. Take a small portion of well mixed laddu mixture and form a laddu. Press it nicely between the palm and fingers and give a ball shape.Prepare the same with all the ingredients,

11. Oats, cornflakes and almond laddus are ready to serve.

12. You can pack them in a box and give it to your near dear ones.

Note :

Frying cornflakes in ghee gives good aroma to laddu. It is better to dry roast oats as we dry grind it. Adding more almonds adds taste to the laddu. Raisins help to add sweet taste. Adding more cashew adds to the taste. Just take care while preparing jaggery syrup. When it melts completely, it starts to bubble. Let it boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Then add the ground powder of ingredients and mix it well. Adding coconut is optional. I have not added.If you are not able to form a ball shape and the mixture is bit dry, sprinkle some hot milk and then prepare laddu. Hot milk helps the mixture to hold it. You can use dates instead of jaggery. (10 to 15 dates should be dry ground and add it to the mixture and then prepare laddu).
Time : 30 minutes.
Serving : 20 Laddu can be prepared.