Friday, February 17, 2023

How to make Paruppu Poli | Poli Recipe

Paruppu poli, a delicious and soft flatbread stuffed with sweet filling made from chana dal, jaggery and flavored with cardamom powder. Though poli has many varieties, this paruppu poli is the traditional one that has been made for many festive occasions all over the India.

I love this paruppu poli more than any other varieties. And whenever i make paruppu pooranam for kozhukattai or susiyam, i reserve some to make this delicious poli on the next day !

Outer layer for the poli

In this recipe, i have used equal amount of maida and wheat flour for the outer dough. It gives soft yet not chewable poli. If maida is only used for the outer dough, it needs a lot of oil for soft texture instead of chewable texture.

So in order to reduce the oil and still achieve the softer texture, i have used the both flours. But it's really up to you and make it with whatever the flour you prefer.

Cooking the poli

To cook the poli, i highly recommend to use ghee. It gives such a aromatic flavor to the poli. This is one of the recipes that taste is directly proportional to the amount of the ghee used ! More ghee, more delicious! So be generous in drizzling the ghee :-)

Storing the poli.

Once the poli is completely cooled, you can store this in air tight container and it stays well for a 2 days at room temperature! For longer storage, put it in refrigerator. While serving, gently warm it in the hot tava ! It's as good as freshly made.

How to make Paruppu Poli | Poli Recipe

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 8
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Madia - 1/4 cup

Wheat flour/Aata - 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Water - as needed

Chana dal pooranam - 1/2 cup

Procedure

First let's prepare the dough, take the all purpose flour/ madia and wheat flour / aata in a bowl along with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder. Mix it all well together.

Next add the oil and mix it with the flour well, so that it's well incorporated into the flour. Then add the water little by little and make a soft pilable dough.

Apply some oil on the top and rest for two hours. In the mean time, prepare the stuffing/chana dal pooranam and keep it ready.

After 2 hours, divide the dough into small pieces(a little small size as of the inner stuffing). Roll them into small balls. Take a dough and flatten it with hand as small circle.

Place a stuffing on it and gather the dough from the sides and cover the stuffing as shown below. Keep the sealed side down and flatten the dough with your fingers.

Next you can use your hand to stretch the dough or like me you can use the rolling pin and roll into small circle.

Heat the tava/pan , apply a little bit of ghee and add the rolled poli and drizzle some more ghee on the sides and top of the poli & cook until it has brown spots on both sides.

That's it. Tasty and soft paruppu poli is ready.

Related : How to make Sweet Boondi

Notes:

Adding turmeric powder gives that authentic yellow color to the poli.
You can store this in refrigerator for upto 5 days.

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Chocolate Croissants using Puff Pastry | Chocolate Croissants

Chocolate Croissants, a delicious pastry filled with chocolate. Croissants are a style of viennoiserie pastries which uses yeast as a leavening agent and these kinds of pastries are mostly served as breakfast or as snacks.

Traditional Croissants take hours to make and it's really a labour of love kind of pastries. If you have followed my blog for a while, you would already knew how much i like to bake with puff pastry . So today, in this recipe, i'm using store bought puff pastry to make these delicious chocolate croissants.

I'm not gonna lie that it tastes just like traditional croissants, but it tastes awesome in its own way and it's really tasty, flaky, light & would be ready in 30 mins ! What else you need for sudden cravings, right?

Before moving on to the recipe, let's check out some FAQs.

Which brand of puff pasty am i using in this recipe?

I have used "Tender Flake" brand puff pastry for this recipe and also i tried this recipe with "Pepperridge farm" brand puff pastry in the past and both work really well.

Also, you can use the homemade puff pastry too !

Can i make these croissants without using egg/egg wash?

Yes, you can make them. Instead of egg, you can add a tsp of sugar in the milk and apply it on the top of puff sheets.

Egg wash is only for the color on the outside, you can totally omit it if you don't want.

What type of chocolate tastes best with these Croissants?

Use your favorite chocolate anything like milk chocolate , semi sweet or dark chocolate. But make sure to not overfill the pastries. Otherwise it spews out of the pastries while baking.

How can i store the leftover croissants?

You can store the leftover croissants in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and for more days freeze it.

Just before serving, just microwave it for 10 secs, it will be ready !

Now let's check out how to make these delicious Chocolate Croissants.

Chocolate Croissants using Puff Pastry

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 8
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Austrian

Ingredients

Puff Pastry - 1 sheet

Milk Chocolate /Dark Chocolate / Semi Dark Chocolate - 1 bar or as you needed

*Egg yolk -1 (optional)

Milk - 1 tbsp

* See FAQs at the top of the post for eggless version.

Procedure

Preheat the oven at 400F.

Take a puff pastry(make sure that it's in room temperature) , sprinkle some dry all purpose flour/maida on the top and roll into rectangle as shown in the pic below.

Next cut the rolled sheets horizontally into four rectangles using pizza cutter or knife and then cut each rectangle diagonally into two. In the end, you will get 8 triangle pieces.

Then cut the chocolate into little chunks and place the needed chocolate(don't add more chocolate, it will come out of the croissants while baking) on the larger side of the triangle and start rolling tightly till the end.

Do the same for all the puff pastry pieces.

Then arrange it on the foil lined/ parchment lined baking sheet and place the croissant on it. Make sure to have enough space in between them since it will expand while baking. Next crack open the egg and place the yolk alone in a bowl, add the milk and beat it smoothly with a fork.

Apply egg wash on the croissants and place the tray on the oven. Bake it for 20-25 mins.

Tada, Yummy Chocolate Croissants is ready !

Related: How to make Apple Turnovers using Puff Pastry

Notes:

Make sure to cool it completely before store it.
Taste best when it's out of oven.

Friday, December 30, 2022

Kaju Katli | Cashew Burfi

Kaju Katli, a delicious and rich fudge made from cashew nuts and sugar. Kaju Katli is a Hindi word where Kaju means "Cashew nuts" and Katli means "Slice/Burfi". It's one of the most famous desserts/ sweets to prepare on any festive occasion all through North India.

As I'm a South Indian, i was not aware of this sweet in my childhood days. During my working days in Chennai, we got a diwali gift hamper every year from the company. That's where i first saw this sweet and initially i thought it was milk sweet/burfi based on its look.

After tasting a piece, i loved it instantly. It was so rich and at the same time had very subtle sweetness making you want to eat more and more.

After marriage , i have tried this sweet many times at home. For me, it takes a while to get that perfect taste and texture. Though it needs only two ingredients and the recipe looks so simple, there are few minute things to take care of to get that perfect delicious kaju katli.

From my experience of cooking all these years, i find that the less ingredient recipes or the basic foods are the most difficult one to nail. Do you ever feel it ?

Ok, now let's talk about the key ingredient for kaju katli!

Cashew nut powder

I personally like to make my own cashew nut powder for this katli. To make the cashew nut powder at home, here are the few things to take care of .

Make sure to use the good quality cashew nuts whether it's whole or split.
If you store the cashew nuts in the refrigerator/freezer, bring them to room temperature before powder it.
Use a dry mixie/blender jar to powder it.
Don't run the mixie/blender for a longer time, the cashew nuts will start leaving the oil.It ruins the recipe.
If you find a lot of little granules of cashew nuts after grinding, make sure to sieve it once. I always do this for smooth kaju katli.
You can make the cashew nut powder ahead of time and store it in airtight container. I usually get it ready the previous night itself. So when the day i'm making the kaju katli,it's so much easier.

Now let's talk about the next important thing in getting perfect kaju katli !

Sugar Syrup

For soft and melt in your mouth kaju katli, you need a thin thread single consistency sugar syrup
Dip your fingers in the water, take a little bit of sugar syrup in between index finger and thumb, when you move your fingers a little apart, it forms a single thread. And at the same time, when you move your fingers apart like more than 1/2 inch apart, then the string breaks. That's the perfect sugar consistency of making kaju katli.
Once the sugar syrup starts to boil, keep the flame low-medium, so it will be easy to reach the correct sugar consistency.

Correct Stage to switch off the heat

When the whole mixture becomes thick, take a little bit of cashew mixture on a separate plate. Dip your fingers in the cold water and then take cashew mixture and roll it in between your fingers. When you can roll non-sticking ball, then kaju katli is ready and it's time to remove from the heat.
Make sure to dip your fingers in cold water because the mixture sticks to the warm hands.
Also when you pour the mixture on the butter paper, the last bits of the mixture starts to thicken. That's also the indication of a perfect stage! See the step by step pic for more understanding

Kneading the dough

For smooth kaju katli, kneading the cashew mixture is really important.
Once you pour the cashew mixture in the butter paper, immediately start kneading the mixture with the help of butter paper. Don't touch it with your hands immediately since it's super hot.
When the mixture is hand bearable, you can knead with your hands and make a smooth ball.

Shaping Kaju Katli

Let the mixture come to room temperature before start shaping.
In case, the mixture is dry and not smooth enough to roll with a rolling pin, then add a tbsp of warm milk and start kneading again till it's smooth.
Place the mixture in between the butter paper for easy rolling.
Cut into desired shape as you like.

I believe that i have shared all the tips to get perfect kaju katli. If you have any other questions, do leave it in the comment section,I will try my best to answer.

My little one turned one a couple of days ago! I had saved this post in my draft for a while to post on his birthday :-) But with our exhausting trip to India including winter storm, staying at hotel, missing connecting flights twice, waiting for hours at airport, travelled almost half of the world for three days before reaching the destination and finally lost our both check-ins luggage, i have no energy to turn on the laptop to click the publish button.

Despite all the hurdles, we had a great celebration on his birthday and finally after a week, we got our luggage. Such a roller roaster trip, it was !

Ok, enough with the long story! I wish everyone a very Happy New Year ! See you all in the next year with more interesting recipes.

Kaju Katli | Cashew Burfi

Preparation Time : 10 min | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 20
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Cashew - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 1/4 cup

Ghee - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

Measure the cashew and add it in the blender/mixie jar and powder it nicely.

It should be like fine rava. Then sieve it once to avoid big pieces of cashews and keep it ready. At this stage, you can store in airtight container for later use too.

Next add the sugar and water in a non-stick pan and turn the heat on medium flame.

Let the sugar melts completely and boil it till it reaches the fine single thread consistency.

Add the cashew nut powder, keep the flame in low and stir it continuously.

Cook till it's thick. To check whether it's ready, dip your hand in water and take a little bit of the cashew mixture and roll it. If you're able to roll it without sticking, then it's time to turn off. Transfer the mixture on to the ghee greased butter paper. Gather the butter paper around the mixture.

And start kneading the cashew mixture until it's smooth ball.

Then place an another butter sheet over it and roll it with rolling pin till the thickness of the katli you need.

Cut the kaju katli into desired shape. I cut it in the traditional diamond shape here.

That's it, Delicious and rich Kaju Katli is ready!

Notes:

Make sure to powder cashew nuts finely for smooth kaju katli.
I would highly recommend to use the non-stick pan to avoid sticking at the bottom.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Kadalai Paruppu Pooranam | Chana Dal Poornam

Kadalai Paruppu Pooranam, a delicious stuffing made from the chana dal, jaggery,coconut and flavored with cardamom which is used for many Indian Sweets like sushiyam, kozhukattai and poli.

I love this stuffing for kozhukattai and poli more than any other fillings. It tastes so awesome with exotic flavor and taste.

For this recipe, i have used an equal amount of chana dal and jaggery which is sweet enough for our family. But if you really want more sweetness in your pooranam, then you can add more jaggery as per your liking.

Also, the color of the pooranam depends on the color of the jaggery. Use dark colored jaggery for bright looking stuffing. You may notice the color difference in the final pictures and the step by step pictures of pooranam in this post that's because i have taken the photos on different days and also the jaggery that i used are also different.

I know this is the odd time of the year to post this recipe but I have had this post on my drafts for a while, finally today I got some time to edit the post so i'm sharing this today :-)

Now let's check out on how to make kadalai paruppu pooranam.

Kadalai Paruppu Pooranam | Chana Dal Poornam

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Channa Dal - 1/2 cup

Jaggery - 1/2 cup

Cardamom - 2 nos

Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp

Procedure

Soak the channa dal for 1/2 hr.

In a sauce pan, bring 3 cup of water to boil, add the channa dal and allow to cook.

The channa dal should not be mushy, if you press the channa dal in between your fingers, it should be pressed.That's correct stage, switch off the flame, drain the dal and dry it on neat kitchen cloth until the extra water is absorbed.

Put the chann dal in the blender and pulse it for few seconds, it will become powdered easily and keep it aside.

Heat the wide pan, add the jaggery with litltle water & crushed cardamom, allow the jaggery to melt and bring it to boil.

Add the powdered chann dal, mix it well, then add coconut and stir it well.

Once the dal leaves the side , remove it from flame & allow to cool. Then make equal size balls from the stuffing and keep aside.

That's it, Chana Dal Pooranam is ready.

Related : How to make Munthiri Kothu

Notes:

The color of the pooranam varies depends on the color of the jaggery.
I have used freshly grated coconut but frozen also works fine.
You can make this stuffing a day before itself and store it in refrigerator.

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Friday, February 17, 2023