Showing posts with label Blogging Marathon. Show all posts

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Sweet Potato Halwa | Sakkaravalli Kizhangu Halwa | Deepavali Sweet

Sweet Potato Halwa, a quick to make halwa from the sweet potato. If you' ve been following my blog regularly, you might know that for this week I'm posting colorful dishes with the naturally available ingredients without using any food color.

Though I have been buying sweet potatoes regularly, I never thought of making halwa, mostly made stir fry or just steam and have it for evening time, but when I signed up for this theme, I wanted to make something sweet with sweet potato since it's deepavali time !!!

So I had started searching for the dessert recipe with sweet potato, that's when I came across this halwa recipe from manjula's kitchen, the recipe was so easy and sounds so delicious too.

In the next couple of days, i had prepared this and as expected the taste and texture was amazing, unless you have told, no one can find that this halwa is made from sweet potato. ST also didn't find out and kept on asking me what halwa it is till he finishes off his share of halwa :-)

Unlike other halwa recipes, it doesn't need a lot of sugar and ghee, still it's lip smacking delicious. Adding milk gives such a rich flavor to this halwa.It's so simple to make, even beginners can try without any difficulties.

But one thing you have to make sure that the mashed sweet potatoes are sauteed well in the ghee before adding any other ingredients to avoid that raw potato flavor in the final halwa. Now let's check out how to make this delicious halwa.

About the Sweet Potato

Sweet Potatoes available here in North America are usually in bright orange color, so I haven't used any color in my halwa. But in India, the sweet potatoes are mostly in pale yellow or mild orange color, if you're using that variety and want bright color halwa, feel free to add a few drops or pinch of orange food color.

About the sugar quantity

In the ingredient list, I have mentioned the sugar quantity as 1/3 to 1/2 cup because depending on the sweetness of the potato, the amount of sugar varies ! So if your sweet potato has enough sweet, I would recommend starting off with 1/3 cup of sugar and increase if needed after giving a quick taste test !

Sweet Potato Halwa

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Halwa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Sweet Potato(mashed) - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cardamom - 2
Cashews - 6

Procedure

First pressure cook the sweet potato and keep it ready, remove the skin and mashed them well.

I had approximately 1 cup mashed sweet potato. Heat the pan with 1 & 1/2 tbsp of ghee, add the cashews.

Roast them till it becomes slightly golden brown, then remove it on the plate. In the same ghee, add the mashed sweet potato.

Saute them in the ghee until it becomes non sticky and move along with the laddle.

Then add the milk in to the mashed potato.

Mix it well and cook again until it becomes a thick mass. After adding milk, the mixture tends to splatter a little, so be careful while stirring.

Next add the sugar and mix it well. At this stage, the mixture becomes little watery, but that's completely normal. Then add the crushed cardamom into the halwa.

Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of ghee into the halwa now and stir it continuously till the halwa becomes glossy, non-sticky and move along with the laddle.

Finally add the roasted cashews into the halwa and switch off the flame. Halwa is ready to serve.

Tasty and vibrant looking Sweet Potato Halwa is ready.

Related : How to make Lauki Halwa / Bottle gourd Halwa

Notes:

Depends on the sweetness of the potato, you may need up to 1/2 cup of sugar. My potatoes are already sweet, so i have used 1/3 cup of sugar only.
Saute the mashed potato in the ghee till it becomes non sticky. That gives the wonderful aroma to the halwa, otherwise you get the strong smell of the potato.
Milk gives nice richness to the halwa, if you want more richness, you can add 1/4 cup of khoya too.
Cook the entire time in medium flame.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Spinach Murukku | Palak Chakli | Murukku Recipe

Spinach Murukku, a delicious and colorful snack made from the rice flour and spinach puree. Last diwali itself, i got this idea of using spinach puree in murukku dough from the fellow blogger friends.It's been in my mind since, at last, few days back gave it a try and i was amazed by how colorful it looks and at the same time it's super crunchy and delicious. For this murukku recipe, i have used my favorite, fool proof "pottukadalai murukku recipe " as base, in that instead of plain water, i used the spinach puree to make the dough.

While making this murukku, I noticed a few things to take care of to get that beautiful green color!!

First, the spinach should be fresh and green, so I have used baby spinach, it has a bright green color than the regular spinach which is darker in color.
Second, cook it in medium flame and remove from the oil immediately when the "shh" sounds stops and there are no more bubbles around the murukku. If you cook past this stage, then it becomes brownish green, my first batch turned out like that,so speaking from experience here !!
Third, puree the spinach with less water, if it needs more liquid to make the dough, you can always add more water, but if you puree it with more water, then you may not need all spinach puree for making the dough, that means less spinach in the dough and the color also not as green as we wanted.

Here are some basic FAQ about murukku

Why did my murukku break into oil ?

If the dough doesn't have enough moisture in it, the murukku breaks easily in the oil and also it breaks while squeezing the dough. So add a little more water in the dough.

Why is my murukku hard?

It doesn't have enough fat in it. Butter used in the murukku helps to keep the murukku crispy and as light.

Does the murukku burst in the oil?

Chances are there!!

If the dry ingredients like rice flour and any other flour used in the recipe has any big granules. So make sure to sieve all the flour once before making dough
Once all the dough is squeezed, don't tempt to roll the left over dough into seedai and fry. It has the chance to burst.

Ok, hope i have answered the most FAQ !! Now let's check on how to make these cute and vibrant spinach murukku !!

Spinach Murukku | Palak Chakli | Murukku Recipe

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : 22-25
Recipe Category: Snack | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1/2 cup heaped
Pottukadalai/daliya/roasted gram powder - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tsp
Spinach - 1/2 cup(tightly packed)
Sesame seed - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying
Water - as needed

Procedure

First measure & take the spinach, add into the blender along with 2 to 3 tbsp of water and grind into smooth paste. Keep it aside until use.

In a bowl, add rice flour, roasted gram powder, sesame seed and salt, give it a good mix, then add the butter.

Mix the butter with the flour well, then add the spinach puree, if needed add more water and make a smooth dough.

Use the star shape disc in the murukku press and fill it with dough and squeeze the dough as concentric circle in the back of the laddle.

Heat the oil for frying, then add the dough gently into the oil and fry till the "shh" sound stops.

Drain the murukku from the oil and place it on the tissue paper. Once it's completely cooled, store it in air tight container.

Tasty and crispy Spinach Murukku is ready. For more festive sweets and snacks, check out my collections

Related : How to make Butter Murukku

Notes:

You can use black sesame seed instead of white sesame seed too.
Cook the murukku in medium flame and also remove them once the sound "shh" stops.

Friday, November 2, 2018

Double Decker Milk Powder Burfi | Vanilla Chocolate Burfi | Diwali Sweet

Double Decker Milk Powder Burfi / Vanilla Chocolate Burfi, a two layer burfi made from the milk powder, here one layer is vanilla flavor and another one is chocolate flavor.

It's my long term wish to make this kind of double layer burfi, after a few disasters, I finally nailed this recipe and was so glad that it turned out so delicious and I can make pieces without any fuss like my earlier attempt.

Guess this was my 4th attempt in making this milk powder burfi to get the perfect texture and taste.Since i'm saying that it took me 4 attempt to get it right, doesn't mean it's difficult to make, all it need is complete attention for entire cooking without leaving unattended even for a second.

Milk powder is a very delicate ingredient to handle, even if it is left unnoticed for a few seconds while making this burfi, it starts to burn at the bottom easily and the whole mixture becomes waste.

So from all these attempts, I have learned a few things, first it should be cooked in low flame for the entire process to get that perfect texture. Second, remove from the flame once it starts to leave the sides, cooking beyond this point makes the chewy burfi unless you're intentionally looking for chewy burfi, then cook for a few more minutes after the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan.

In one of my attempts, I had cooked one layer of burfi for a few more extra minutes and it turned out a little chewy, but ST liked the chewy layer more than the other one. So it's really up to you how you prefer your burfi and cook accordingly.

Which milk powder works best for this burfi?

I have tried this burfi with both full fat milk powder and non- fat milk powder. Both turned out good.

Where can I find non-fat milk powder?

If you're in the US/Canada, non fat milk powder is easily available in all grocery sections. You can find them at the coffee section !! Full fat milk powder is easily available in any Indian stores.

Can I make one layer only ?

Yes, of course. You can make either vanilla or chocolate layers alone.

Why is my burfi chewy ?

As I said earlier, cooking it for a longer time, makes the burfi chewy.

Any other tips?

Cook in low flame and don't leave unattended not even for a second. Follow these tips religiously to get yummy burfi

Now let's check out how to make these super delicious burfi !!

Chocolate Burfi | Double Decker Milk Powder Burfi | Diwali Sweet

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : 10
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
For Vanilla Layer
Milk powder -1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup(powdered)
Milk- 1/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essense - 1 tsp
For Chocolate Layer
Milk powder -1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup(powdered)
Milk- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cocoa powder - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Pistachio - few(for garnishing)

Procedure

First for the vanilla layer,heat the ghee in a pan, add the milk and mix it well.

Keep the flame in low for entire cooking. Next add the milk powder and whisk it together with milk mixture without any lumps.

Once the mixtures becomes thick, add the sugar and mix it well.

Let the sugar melts completely, then add the vanilla essence and stir it continuously.

Cook till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and also you can see the whitish bubbles at the bottom, remove from the heat and transfer into greased / parchment lined tray. Smooth the surface with the ghee greased spoon.

Next, let's make the chocolate layer, the process is all same instead of vanilla essence here we gonna add cocoa powder. heat the ghee in a pan, add the milk and mix it well.

Keep the flame in low for entire cooking. Next add the milk powder and whisk it together with milk mixture without any lumps.

Once the mixtures becomes thick, add the sugar and mix it well.

Let the sugar melts completely, then add the cocoa powder and stir it continuously.

Cook till it leaves the sides of the pan, remove from the heat and transfer on top of the vanilla layer.

Spread it evenly and then press it with greased bowl or spoon for even surface. Let it cool for a while.

Next top it with coarse pistachio and gently press it on top to make sure that it stick it to the burfi and then slice as desired.

Yummy Milk Powder Burfi is ready. For more festive sweets and snacks, check out my collections

Related : How to make Boondi Ladoo

Notes:

Milk powder is easily burned if it's cooked in high flame, so the entire time, the flame should be low.
Don't cook the burfi for longer time, it becomes chewy.
Store it in refrigerator and it stays well for a week.

Monday, July 30, 2018

Roundup for Regional Cuisine from India

This is the second time that i'm doing roundup for the BM theme. As usual, this month BM also has some interesting themes and one among them is "Regional Cuisine from India". Two months before also, i had joined the same theme and posted three recipes from various parts of India, but this time i want to show case some of the regional famous cuisine from our city, Tirunelveli,Tamilnadu,so i picked this theme. Along with me, my fellow food blogger friends also shared some of the unique regional dishes from various parts of India. Here is the compilation of all the dishes that we have shared under the theme "Regional cuisine from India" for this month.