Thursday, October 29, 2015

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.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

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.

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author
My name is Nalini Somayaji. Teaching is my profession. Cooking is my passion. Reading, travelling, visiting new places, having fun with kids are some of the hobbies I can say. My recipes are Healthy, quick, easy and simple. Grown up being a traditional family member I love and respect Indian culture and traditions. Love classical dance and music.
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