Kadale /Channa dal Pancha Kajjaya

Pancha Kajjaya is a sweet dish which is prepared using 5 ingredients.
This Pacha Kajjaya is normally prepared for Naivedya/ offering and eaten as Prasada.
I have prepared Pancha Kajjaya with Channa dal, Sesame seeds, cardamom, jaggery and coconut.

For all the festivals we do prepare Pancha Kajjaya for Naivedya.
In temples we do get Pancha Kajjaya as Prasadam. Pancha Kajjaya Prasada is very famous in Udupi and South Canara. 
We do have varieties of Pancha Kajjaya prepared during festivals. Avalakki pancha kajjaya, Aralu Pancha kajjaya, Kadale pancha kajjaya, kadalekaalu pancha kajjaya, moong dal pancha kajjaya etc.
 Here I have prepared Channa Dal Pancha Kajjaya as Naivedyam for Lord Ganesha.
It is easy, quick and healthy.
Channa dal is full of minerals and vitamins. Coconut helps us to provide good cholesterol for the body. Jaggery helps in reducing the acidity. Cardamom helps to digest the food well. Sesame seeds are fiber rich with vitamins and minerals. So eating all together is a divine taste.
Try and enjoy.
Let us see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

Channa dal : 1 Cup
Coconut : 1/2 Cup
Jaggery : 1/4 Cup
Cardamom : 3 to 4 Pods
Sesame Seeds : 2 Tablespoons

Method : 

1. Dry roast channa dal till it turns golden brown. Take it out from the pan and leave it for cooling.

2. Dry roast sesame seeds till they splutter and take out from the pan. Let it cool.

3. Grate coconut and dry roast till golden brown.

4. Powder jaggery. Remove the seeds from cardamom Pod. Keep the seeds aside.

5. Dry grind roasted channa dal, sesame seeds, dry copra/ Kobbari cardamom and jaggery little by little.

6. Mix all the ingredients nicely and keep it as Naivedyam and after Pooja enjoy the Prasada.
Note :

Do not dry grind channa dal completely. It should be coarse powder. Mixing all the ingredients nicely adds to the taste.
If you are using fresh coconut gratings roast it nicely before adding to grind. or Pancha Kajjaya gets spoil.
Time : 15 Minutes
Serves : As You Serve.

Banana Sweet Fritters.

Banana sweet fritters are easy to prepare, yummy to have and is simple.

Banana fritters are fried sweets that is good for tea time, easy snack in the evening and it satisfies your crave for fried snacks.
It is always better to use ripe banana to get good fritters. It mixes well with the batter.
I have used milk, ripe banana, a little sugar and maida.
Let us see the recipe now :

Ingredients :

Bananas : Ripe Banana : 2
Maida : 1 Cup
Chiroti Rava/Thin Semolina : 2 to 3 Tbs
Jaggery : 2 To 3 Tablespoons
Sesame Seeds : 1 Teaspoon
Milk : 1/2 Cup
Cardamom : 2 to 3 Pods
Salt : A pinch
Cooking Soda : A pinch
Oil :  1 Cup

Method :

1. Take a bowl and put banana (remove the skin) and smash nicely.
 Powder jaggery and mix  all the ingredients nicely. ( Add milk, powdered jaggery, a pinch of salt and sesame seeds).

2 Mix it nicely and add rava and maida. Mix it slowly.
3. Mix it well and keep it aside for 5 minutes. Powder or crush cardamom and add it to the batter and mix it well.

4. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Add oil and let it get hot. (Medium flame).
5. Add cooking soda and mix it nicely once again.

6. Take a handful of the batter and leave in oil in small portions. Cook till it turns golden brown.

7. Turn the other side and cook.

8. Take out from the oil and put it on a kitchen tissue.

9. Repeat the same and prepare sweet fritters.
10. Serve with a cup of Coffee / Tea or your choice of drink.

Note :

You need to mix all the ingredients nicely.
Cook on low and medium flame.
Adding more sugar is optional.
Add cooking soda at the end. (A pinch of soda is more than enough)
Time : 30 Minutes

Serves : According to the serving.

Traditional Haalubai

Haalubai/ಹಾಲುಬಾಯಿ is one of the traditional yummy sweet dish From South Canara.
It is quick, simple and delicious.

Once upon a time people of South Canara People used to grow lots of paddy those days. Even jaggery used to stored in Big Tins. Coconut groves used to taken care and coconuts were used in plenty. People knew to make use of the ingredients available at home. So the Halubai came into existence I feel.
Since I grew up with my doddamma still remember that the paddy fields, people sing while they planting paddy plants  in field. Doddamma used to make this sweet for coffee time in the afternoon and the people were happy to get a piece of it. The rains pour, cold weather, hot coffee, sweet haalubai its all memories now.
Even in this part of Karnataka people do prepare Halubai. It is mouth watering sweet dish and they do use more coconut milk. The slice of halubai dances in our hand. (Means its soft and smooth and yummy to have).
There are varieties of halubai, prepared using different grains like ragi, millet, rava wheat etc.
Here is a traditional Halubai which is prepared using raw rice, coconut, jaggery, cardamom and ghee.
It is always better to use dosa rice. The Halubai turns lovely and the experience speaks here. Use of ghee can be limited and added while eating. But I love to pour ghee while preparing it self. It is super delicious and just melts in the mouth.
Eating jaggery helps to boost our energy, helps in easy digestion.
Let us see the recipe now :
It is very simple, easy, delicious traditional dish and you can make it quickly.

Ingredients : 

Raw rice : 1 Cup
Coconut : 1/2 Cup
Jaggery : Powdered : 1/2 Cup
Ghee : 2 to 3 Tbs
Cardamom : 5 to 6 Pods.

Method :

1. Soak raw rice for an hour and grind it with 1/2 cup of coconut. Use little water to grind. The consistency should be bit thicker than neeru dosa.

2. Powder jaggery and keep it aside.
3. Now keep a pan and put ground rice and coconut mixture. Add a pinch of salt to it.
4. Add powdered jaggery and stir on low flame.

5. Powder cardamom and keep it aside.
6. Stir continuously till the batter thickens.

7. Add a tbs of ghee and keep stirring till the whole rice mixture turn as one ball and it starts to leave the edges and comes to middle.

8. Add remaining ghee and cardamom to it and keep stirring for another 5 minutes.
9.Check with by touching the halubai. It does not stick. So it is done. You can also see that shiny texture.

10. Greece the plate or banana leaf with ghee and spread the mixture evenly.

11. Cut it when it is little cool.

12. Serve for lunch or snack time.

Note :

You can add more ghee. It adds to the taste. Adding more jaggery is optional.Do not make the mixture very thin or very thick. It should be thicker than neer dosa. 1 glass rice, 1 glass of water.
Time : 20 Minutes

Serves : 25 Small pieces.

Nendra baale Sheera/Kesari Baath

Nendra Baale /Nendra Bananan is a type of Banana, and is fiber rich, filled with Vitamins, Minerals and other healthy sources. I have tried Sheera /Kesari Baath using this Nendra Banana.

We from Dakshina Kannada make use of this banana. We do eat this banana, when it is fully ripen, steamed Nendra Bale is good for health. Preparing varieties of dishes like payasa/kheer, dosa and jamoon, just shallow fry in ghee. The ghee fried Nendra banana is good for kids and the people who suffer from anemia. It is full of energy and provides vitamins and minerals.
I have already tried shallow fried bananas, mild spicy dosa, jamoon and now this time it is used in Sheera/Kesari baath. Kesari baath is well known dish for every one in India. Some call it as Sheera.

Let us see some benefits of eating Nendra Banana in our diet.

Nendra banana is provides energy and people do steam and have it for their breakfast. It is also given to small children with honey or sugar.
Nendra Banana is full of vitamins and minerals as I said earlier. It is a rich source of Vitamin C, potassium and other vitamins and minerals. They do help to maintain good health. The fruit's sweetness is balanced with fiber and helps to maintain healthy blood glucose level.
I have used medium sized Rava/Rave/ Semolina / Sooji, sugar, ghee, 1 Nendra Banana, cardamom and dry fruits like cashews, raisins and Saffron.
Let us see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

Rava /Sooji /Semolina :  1 1/2 Cups
Sugar : 1 1/2  Cups
Ghee : 3/4 Cup
Nendra Banana : 1 Big size
Cashews : 2 Tbs
Raisins : 2 to 3 Tbs
Cardamom : 5 to 6 pods
Saffron : 5 to 6 Rakes
Boiling Water : 3 Cups

Method :

1. Powder Cardamom and keep it aside. Peel off Nendra banana skin and cut into circle shape.
2. Keep a pan on the fire and put 2 to 3 tbs of ghee to it. Let it melt.
3. Add cashews and raisins and fry till the raisins get fluffy.

4   Fry Nendra banana pieces in ghee separately and keep it aside.
5. Add rava and fry till the raw smell disappear.

6.. Now add fried bananas and mix rava nicely.

7. Add boiling water and mix it slowly. Keep the flame very low while you pour boiling water.
8. Stir continuously till it turns thick.

9.  Once Rava gets thick, add sugar and mix it slowly. It turns as liquid.
10. Stir slowly and increase the flame to medium.

11. Sheera gets thick. Stir and add powdered cardamom, saffron flakes and remained ghee.

12. Stir slowly and leave it for a minute. Shift the ready Sheera/Kesari baath to a serving dish. We had this sheera with Coconut Uppittu.

Note :
Fry on low flame to get good texture. Fry rava till the raw smell disappear. Adding more ghee to kesari is optional. Adding kesari colour instead of saffron is optional. Fry Nendra bale nicely in a tsp of ghee before you add it to rava.
Time : 30 Minutes
Serves : 4 to 5 .

Hayagreeva

Hayagreeva is one of the sweet dish, that is normally prepared for Shree Krishna Prasada / Naivedyam. Hayagreeva is prepared using Channa dal, lots of ghee, coconut and jaggery.
There is a story behind it about this sweet Hayagreeva.

My Mother used to tell this story to us and we would listen to her.
Guru Thirtha Vyasarayaru used to prepare this sweet praying Lord Vishnu and used to take it for Naivedyam. But the bowl used to be empty when it is kept in front of the God. Guru Vyasarayaru used to feel very sad but still continued preparing Hayagreeva and taking all the way to Naivedya. Guru always thinking of Lord, Lord Vishnu used to come in the form of horse and eat all the prasada, whitle walking behind Shree Vyasarayaru while he is taking the prasada bowl on his head. Lord used to eat and disappear. This sweet is arpitha for Lord Vishnu. Since Lord Vishnu used to come as Horse faced animal / Haya means Horse, Vadana means the face and since He came in the form of  Horse and ate all the sweet prepared by his bhakta, the sweet got its name as Hayagreeva.
We people from Udupi call this Hayagreeva as Maddi. Maddi means is mixed. Hayagreeva is prepared using Channa dal, ghee, coconut, jaggery and cardamom. Lots of cashews and raisins are used on the top. It is heavenly to eat. It is a must for Naivedya for  Lord Krishna in Krishna/Vishnu Temples.
Let us see the recipe now :

Ingredients :

Channa Dal : 1 Cup
Fresh Grated Coconut : 1 Cup
Jaggery 3/4 Cup
Ghee : 1/2 Cup or little more.
Cardamom : 3 to 4 Pods
Cashews and Raisins : 2 to 3 Tablespoons

Method : 

1. Wash and cook channa dal in pressure cooker with required water.
2. Powder or crush cardamom seeds into small.
3. Grate coconut and keep it aside.

4. Now put cooked channa dal in a big pan and add jaggery. Take out the extra water from cooked channa dal before adding jaggery.

5. Jaggery starts to melt and mix dal nicely with jaggery.

6. Let jaggery turns as 1 string consistency.

7. Stir in between and add coconut and a tbs of ghee. Stir nicely.
8. Stir till all the moisture disappear. Fry cashews and raisins in a tbs of ghee and keep it aside.

9. Now add the remaining ghee and powdered cardamom and mix it well.

10. Shift the ready HAYAGREEVA to a serving dish and add fried raisins and cashews. Mix it nicely and serve.

Note :

You can also cook channa dal in a big bowl. (Without using pressure cooker). Optional.
You can add more /less jaggery according to your requirement.
Adding more/less ghee is optional.
See that coconut and jaggery is mixed well with channa dal to get a good taste.
Time : 30 Minutes

Serves : 4 to 5.