Usually Lauki /bottlegourd we think of only making subji when we get it from the market,today why not try something like sweet and delicious halwa for this Navaratri.This light green rich,creamy delicious halwa is perfect for any occasion to serve as a dessert.Preparation is very similar to carrot halwa. Lauki is a vegetable with coolant property which is good for the body.It will help to remove excess heat and any inflammation from the body.It is also good for diabetic people and heart patients.Happy Navaratri to all of you.
Ingredients: Lauki,grated-4cups Sugar-3/4cup Milk-1/4cup Ghee-2Tbsp+1tsp Home made khoya-2-3Tbsp Cardamom powder-1/2tsp Cashewnuts-fistful(optional) Raisins-fistful(optional)
Method: 1.First thing is grating lauki, wash lauki and peel the outer skin and grate the lauki with the help of a traditional manual grater or with a food processor. 2.Roughly squeeze out the juice from grated lauki by hands. 3.Heat a pressure cooker pan and add ghee and let it melt,when it begins to melt add grated lauki and fry for 2-3 minutes. 4.When the water begin to evaporate add milk and pressure cook the lauki for one whistle. 5.After taking out the cooker lid,continue cooking in a cooker on a medium heat with out closing the lid stirring occasionally. 6.When the mixture is slowly thickening,add khoya, sugar and cardamom and cook on a low flame stirring continously. This is the crucial time you need to give attention as it will be leaving the oil and ready in any minute. 7.When it begins to leave oil take out of the flame. 8.Heat a small tempering kadai,heat tsp of ghee,when it begins to melt fry cashewnuts and raisins until cashews becomes golden brown and raisins puffs up. 9.Add fried cashews and raisins to halwa and serve hot or cold,both ways tastes nice.
Note: 1.I have not added any food colour to the halwa as it as a natural pale green colour from lauki.If you want bit more colour you can add green food colour, 2.Cooking in pressure cooker saves lot of time and will be done in one pot. 3.Don't add sugar before lauki is properly cooked. 4.It is advisable to fry lauki in ghee to get rid of the raw smell. 5.Make sure to use thick bottom pan and cook on low medium flame. 6.This halwa will keep well 3-4days in the refrigirator. 7.I have used homemade instant khoya,you can also use condensed milk but reduce or skip the addition of sugar.
Halu holige is a very easy sweet dish of Karnataka.Halu mean's Milk and poli means bread.It is nothing but fried poori's soaked in payasa.This is the first holige dish which I tried when I was new to cooking as I am scared to try Bele hobbatu or Kayi holige for their lengthy procedure.Now there is a festival season going on,This is will be ideal for beginners to try for the coming festivals.
Ingredients for Poori's: Wheat flour-1 1/2cup Maida/Plain flour-1/2 cup(extra for dusting) Ghee-1Tbsp Salt-pinch Water for kneading Oil for frying Ingredients for Kayi Halu/Gasagase Halu/Payasa: Gasagase/Poppy seeds-2Tbsp Almonds-Fistful Grated fresh coconut - 1 cup Dry coconut/Kobbari-1Tbsp Cardamom pods-3-4 Jaggery-3/4cup crushed Water -1cup Milk-1 1/2 cup Cashewnuts-fistful(optional) Raisins-fistful(optional) Ghee-1Tbsp for serving
Method for poori's: 1.In a wide bowl, add wheat flour,maida,salt and ghee.Mix the ghee with flour with the fingers until it forms crumbly texture. 2.Now add water little by little and knead a stiff dough like Poori dough. 3.Apply ghee to the dough and keep it for 20-30 minutes covered. 4.Take a gooseberry size dough and roll it into thin poori's of 6-7 inch diametre using maida for dusting.Dust off the excess maida after rolling and keep the rolled poori's on a clean surface or on a news paper. 5.Heat a oil in a kadai which is big enough to fry poori's,deep fry the poori's one at a time on a low medium flame until they are crisp on both sides and take out on colander or kitchen tissue to drain out extra oil.
Method for Kayi Halu/Gasagase payasa 1.Dry roast the poppy seeds until poppy seeds becomes little brownish & crisps up and nice aroma comes out,leave it to cool. 2.In a mixie jar add roasted poppy seeds ,fresh coconut,dry coconut,almonds,cardamom seeds dry grind first then add water and grind it into fine paste. 3.In a pan add jaggery and 1 cup water cook until jaggery dissolves then remove it and filter it through seive to remove any impurities. 4.Then again pour back jaggery syrup to the same pan mix the grinded paste mix well add water to thin it and cook it on a medium low flame for 5minutes. 5.Fry the cashwenuts and raisins in ghee and add to the above mixture. 6.When the payasa is boiling add 1.5cup of milk and boil for 1 to 2minutes and turn off the heat.
To Serve: 1.Fold the fried poori's into quarters.Heat the kayi halu. 2.On a serving plate,place the folded poori's and pour the warm kayi halu on top along with dollop of ghee.
Note: 1.Here for payasa I have added raisins and cashewnuts,if you don't like it you can skip it. 2.Don't soak poori's for long as it will make poori's very soggy,only pour payasa on poori just before serving.
Gouri and Ganesh Chaturthi/Vinayaka Chauthi is on 16th and 17 September Kadubu/Modak is a healthy delicacy made out of rice flour covering stuffed with savoury or sweet fillings which is steamed.Kadubu as we call in Kannada,is prepared during Ganesha Chaturthi which falls on Bhadrapada masa.As they tell in purana's Lord Ganesha was very fond of steamed Kadubu's,Mata Gouri used to prepare it for Ganesha so that is why it has become a tradition to prepare Kadubu or Modak during this festival. In my family we prepare Kara Kadubu (savoury) and Sihi Kadubu(sweet).Kara Kadubu usually have the Channadal vada(Ambode) filling or Uraddal vada(Uddina vade) filling in it.In Sihi Kadubu the choice is endless,coconut and jaggery mixture,Dry sesame mixture(we call this suslu kadubu),Peanut and jaggery to name few.Here is my version of Sihi kadubu..Happy Gouri and Ganesh Chaturthi to all my viewers.
Ingredients: For Covering(Kanaka) Rice flour-1cup Ghee-1tsp Salt-1/2tsp Water-2cups For Stuffing(Hoorna) Grated fresh coconut-1cup Jaggery,crusdhed-1cup Khuskhus/Gasgase/Poppy seeds-2tsp Cardamom powder-1/2tsp Cashewnuts-fistful Ghee-1tsp
Method: 1.In a pan boil a cup of water, add tsp of ghee and salt and let it boil. 2.When water begins to boil,add rice flour to the boiling water mix well take out of the flame then close the lid and keep it aside to cool a bit. 3.Heat pan add khuskhus,dry roast until the khuskhus turns light brown and starts popping take out on a plate and keep it aside. 4.In a same pan add tsp of ghee and let it melt then add jaggery and allow it to melt on a low flame because jaggery will burn easily,make sure to stir it continuously,when it melts completelyadd grated coconut and cook until the mixture thickens. 5.When the mixture begins to thicken,add roasted khuskhus,cardamom powder and cashewnuts and cook for 2-3minutes and take out of the flame and allow it to cool. 6.Now take a rice flour mixture and knead it on a clean surface or on a wide plate or bowl,when still it is warm,Knead it like a chappati dough until it becomes soft. 7.Divide the dough into lemon size balls,take a one rice ball dip it in rice flour and roll out 5cm discs then take a kadubu mould,pace the rolled disc on the mould,add Tbsp of coconut filling in the middle. 8.Smear the water to the edges then gently press the mould to seal the edges and remove the excess dough from the edges.Now open the mould gently,and remove the finished kadubu.Do the same procedure to all the remaining balls. 9.Place the kadubu's on lightly greased idly plates and steam it for 10-15 minutes. Kadubu's are ready to offer neivedya for Lord Ganesha. Serve with Ghee.
Note. 1.Make sure to keep an eye on when melting jaggery,beacuse it will burn easily. 2.I have used kadubu mould which is typical south indian style but if you have modak mould you can use it. 3.Don't over fill the mould, the mixture will oozes out when you steam it and will be a messy kadubu. 4.Along with cashews you can add any dry nuts and raisins. 5.If you don't have the any sort of moulds,then simply roll out the discs and take disc on your left hand palm,place the tbsp of mixture,smear the edges with water then gently close them by sealing the edges in to a cresent shape and steam it as normal. 6. To check the whether the coconut mixture is ready ,wet your hands and touch the mixture if it sticks it is not ready and needs to cook more or if it doesn't sticks then it is ready.
Gasagase payasa is one of the popular traditional sweet dish of Karnataka.It is prepared by grinding poppy seeds(Gasagase in Kannada).It is prepared during festivals and family get togethers.It is prepared along with Ambode(Channadal vada/fritters) is a good combination.As this a shravana masa and many festivals around the corner,this will be a perfect dish to prepare.I prepared this dish on Varamahalakshmi vrata.During festivals after having oil massage, head bath and and pooja rituals drinking this payasa will make you doze off to a good sleep.This is because of opium content in poppy seeds.This payasa will relaxes the mind body and soul for sure..here is a authentic recipe from my grandmother.
Ingredients: Gasagase/Poppy seeds-3Tbsp Almonds-Fistful Grated fresh coconut -1/2cup Dry coconut/Kobbari-1Tbsp Cardamom pods-3-4 Jaggery-1/2 cup crushed Water -1cup Milk-1cup Cashewnuts-fistful(optional) Raisins-fistful(optional) Ghee-1Tbsp for frying nuts and serving
Method: 1.Dry roast the poppy seeds until poppy seeds becomes little brownish & crisps up and nice aroma comes out,leave it to cool. 2.In a mixie jar add roasted poppy seeds ,fresh coconut,dry coconut,almonds,cardamom seeds dry grind first then add water and grind it into fine paste. 3.In a pan add jaggery and 1 cup water cook until jaggery dissolves then remove it and filter it through seive to remove any impurities. 4.Then again pour back jaggery syrup to the same pan mix the grinded paste mix well add water to thin it and cook it on a medium low flame for 5minutes. 5.Fry the cashwenuts and raisins in ghee and add to the above mixture. 6.When the payasa is boiling add cup of milk and boil for 1 to 2minutes and turn off the heat. 7. Serve hot payasa with dollop of ghee.
Note: 1. Rice is fried and added to give it a thickness,I have not used rice because I have used more almonds to substitute rice to give both thickness and flavour. 2.Saffron can also be added for more flavour. 3.If you think that payasa is little thick and sweetish,before serving you can add more milk to make it thin and warm it. 4.Check out my other kheer recipes Barley Payasa/kheer Shavige Payasa
Happy Holi to all of you...Today I prepared Kheer out of barley,my family loved it and asking it to make it again.I prepared by grinding the barley into course powder.It is very easy and simple to prepare in no time,so I want to share with you on this auspicious day.Barley is a good source of nutrients and antioxidants.This whole grain is not only packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, but is also one of the richest sources of fiber, both soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber helps in the detoxification of the body, while soluble fiber attaches to fats to aid them in getting out of your body.Barley also helps in the stabilization of blood glucose levels. In short, eating barley is good for people with diabetes. This is because fiber found in barley can cause a delay in the stomach emptying and can slow down the body's absorption of carbohydrates from foods. Barley should be included in the diet of a person suffering from this health problem.It also reduces body heat,good for urinary tract infections,kidney stones and water retention to name a few.
Method: 1.Chop the nuts roughly,Fry the nuts and raisins to golden brown in ghee and keep it aside. 2.In a pan boil the milk,when its nearly to boil add barley powder,allow it to boil until the mixture thickens. 3.Now add condensed milk,saffron strands and cardamom powder, cook for 2-3minutes on a low flame. 4.Garnish with fried nuts and raisins.Serve hot or cold.
Enjoy thick,creamy,healthy and delicious Barley kheer.
