Recipe Index

What s diwali without sweets, munchies and bang bang crackers? What s diwali without watching grandma or mom rolling ladoos or frying crunchy murukkus? Diwali doesnt exist for me without all of the above.

And ever since i ve been married, Diwali is incomplete for me without making a sweet or two and frying a murukku. I went on a murukku spree last year. But this year, i m keeping it simple with just this thattai murukku recipe and may be some ladoos.

I dont need the excuse of Diwali to munch on Thattais but then, the kick of making them for a special occasion is simply too hard to resist.I began making these yesterday on a whim and i was at the stove from 11 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon.

But i must say, my efforts paid off well with Mr.P munching away with all those karak murak sounds this evening. You must excuse me for the pictures because i m extremely tired and lazy and sleep deprived. I m definitely not in the chirpy shutterbird mode myself, let alone think about aperture and lights. Just enjoy the murukku this once. Alright?

Recipe for Thattai Murukku
( Crunchy snacks made of rice flour and roasted gram flour)

Prep Time: 20 mins for prepping the dough
10 mins for rolling and shaping the dough for a batch       of 7
Cook Time: About 5 mins for a batch of 7
Yields 50 4″ murukkus

What You Need?

Rice flour 2 cups
Urad dal flour 2 tbsp
Roasted gram 1/2 cup
Butter 2 tbsp softened
Hot oil 1 tbsp
Red chili powder 1 tsp
Hing 1/2 tsp
Bengal gram dal 2 tbsp soaked in water for 30 mins
Sesame seeds 2 tbsp
Curry leaves 10 to 12 torn into little pieces
Water as needed
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

How To Make It?

Dry roast the rice flour and urad dal flour separately. Set aside.
Dry roast the roasted gram separately, let it cool and grind to a fine powder in a blender.
In a large mixing bowl, place all the flours and the other dry ingredients and combine.
Now, sieve the mixture once thoroughly to get rid of any impurities and to combine the ingredients well.
Transfer this mixture to the mixing bowl and make a well in the middle.
Add the butter, oil and water and start mixing the dough. While you add water, make sure you add little by little at a time.
Once you are done kneading, you must have a smooth dough without cracks.
Now lets make the thattais. Heat the oil for deep frying.

In the meanwhile, grease a ziplock cover or any plastic sheet.
Divide the dough into 4 parts and take one part and place it on the greased sheet.

Now using a rolling pin, start rolling out the dough as thinly as possible.

Once you are done, take any round brimmed cup or tumbler, press into the rolled out dough and make circles.
Once you got the circles, transfer to another greased sheet and continue to do the same with the remaining dough. But dont repeat this with all the dough as it tends to dry up. Make circles as you finish frying a batch.
Once you finish making about 6 to 7 circles, fry them in hot oil. The correct heat for frying the discs are when you drop a small ball of dough into the oil, it should float up immediately.
Once the oil is hot enough, drop the discs in batches of 6 to 7 and fry them on low medium flame until the shhhuushh sound of the oil subsides.
Repeat with the remaining batches.
Once done,drain on a kitchen towel and let cool.
Store in an airtight container.

Munch along whenever you pop in and out of the kitchen.

P.S Alternate method of making thattais would be making small balls of the dough and flatten them using your greased fingers on a greased ziplock cover.

 
But somehow, i got smitten with quick snack ideas and this peanut sesame ladoos happened as an aftermath. While they are yummy and delectable, they are also healthy and super easy to whip up. Plus its perfect for the coming up winter. The pictures are not great cos i was too lazy setting up the props and everything but dont let the pictures fool you.

Recipe For Peanut Sesame Ladoos
( Sweet balls made with peanuts, sesame seeds and jaggery.)

Prep Time: Under 5 mins
Cook Time: Under 10 mins
Source:Adapted from Cooks Joy
Yields 15 medium size ladoos
What You Need?

Sesame Seeds 1.5 cups
Peanuts 1 cup
Jaggery 1.5 cups
Cardamom 2 pods shelled

How To Make It?

Dry roast the sesame seeds until light brown and aromatic in a skillet.
Similarly, roast the peanuts on a low flame until crunchy.
Once done, let them cool.
Grind the peanuts along with the jaggery in a blender to a smooth powder.
Add the roasted sesame seeds and cardamom pods to this and blend again.
Once done, start shaping them into round balls by greasing your hand a little.
You dont need milk or ghee for this as the oil in the peanuts and sesame will work as a binding agent.
In case you mixture doesnt come together, add about 2 tbsp of milk and then  roll them into ladoos.

And if you use milk, refrigerate them in an air tight container.
Once done with all the ladoos, start devouring. What are you waiting for??

While the usual paruppu vadai is made with bengal gram dal, this vadai recipe uses 4 types of lentils making it protein rich albeit the DEEP FRIED tag. Deep fried once in a while is ok. Once in a while is once in 2 months at my place.Well, the beauty of the recipe is that the flavors are all different and once you take a nibble, they hit you from all directions. This recipe is loosely adapted from a cookery show that i happened to watch every week religiously.Anyway the point is i made this vadai and it was a great hit. So give it a shot when you are looking for protein and flavor in one package.

Recipe For Naalu Paruppu Vadai
( Deep fried fritters made with 4 types of lentils and spring onions)

Prep Time: Under 2 hours
Cook Time: 30 mins
Yields around 10 vadas

What You Need?

Bengal gram dal or chana dal 3 tbsp
Red gram dhal or toor dal 3 tbsp
Urad dal or bengal gram dal 1 tbsp
Moong Dal or yellow lentils 1 tbsp
Ginger 1 ” bit
Dry red chilies 10
Spring onions 4 chopped finely
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Hing a large pinch
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

How To Make It?

Soak the dals together for about 1 hour in 3 cups water.
Once done, drain the water completely and set aside.
In a blender, place the soaked dal and the other ingredients except the oil and grind to a coarse paste.
Check for seasoning at this stage and add salt if required.
Heat oil in a pan.
In the meanwhile, divide the dough into small rounds and flatten them a little.
Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a lil of the vada batter into the oil. If the batter comes up immediately, it means the vada is done.
Start frying the flattened discs by dropping them in the hot oil in batches of 3 or 4.
Fry them on medium low until golden brown.
If you fry them on high, then you will get vadas that are cooked on the outside but uncooked on the inside.
Once done, drain them on a kitchen towel.
Serve hot with rice,

Sending this to My Legume Love Affair 52 hosted by Sra this month
for Susan and Lets Cook Protein Rich Foods at Radhi s Tickling Palates