FOR JANMASHTAMI

Bread murukku

Ingredients
Bengal gram flour 1 cup, rice flour half cup, bread 8 to 10 slices, powered salt 1 tsp, red chili powder 3/4 tsp, asafetida powder 1/4 tsp, hot oil for the dough 1 1/2 tbsp, oil for frying.
Method
Remove the brown crust from bread slices. Dip one slice at a time in water, remove immediately and squeeze out water. Add rice flour, gram flour, salt, chili powder to the squeezed bread and mix well. Pour hot oil, asafetida powder and then sprinkle water to prepare thick dough use star disc or ribbon disk, fill dough in murukku maker and squeeze directly in hot oil to prepare murukkus. Fry till crisp in medium flame.



Chakli

Ingredients
Rice flour 4 cups (washed and dried), urad dal 1 cup, hot oil or ghee for dough 75 ml, salt to taste, white sesame seeds 2 tsp.

Method
Pressure cook dal in just enough water for 10 minutes. Drain excess water and grind dal to a smooth paste.

Mix it with rice flour, salt and sesame seeds. Pour hot oil on top and mix well. If necessary, add a little water to thicken the dough. Pass through a greased Chakli making device with a single or three-holed plain disc to prepare small Chaklis on top of a polythene sheet.

Deep fry a few at a time, depending on the size of your frying pan. Store in a dry-air-tight container.



Coconut laddus

Ingredients
Condensed milk one tin, desiccated coconut powder 2 cups, Cherries half cup.

Method
Mix the condensed milk and one and a half cup of desiccated coconut powder in a bowl and stir on a low flame for about ten minutes. Set aside until the mixture has slightly cooled down and shape in laddus. Roll each laddu in the desiccated coconut powder and decorate with cherries.




Sesame laddus

Ingredients
White sesame seeds100 gms, jaggery 150 gms, a little grated dry coconut.

Method
Wash the sesame and dry it on a white muslin cloth. After it dries roast it till golden brown. Half powder it in mixer. In a kadai put the jaggery with little water and bring it to thread consistency, switch off the gas and add dry coconut power, sesame powder and make laddus when hot.



Groundnut laddus

Ingredients
Groundnut 1 cup, jaggery half cup, dry coconut (grated) 1/4 cup, Rice 100 gms, green gram dal 100 gms.

Method
Roast the groundnuts until the skin comes out. Fry rice and green gram dal till golden. Powder both in the mixer. In a kadai put the jaggery with little water and boil till it comes into thread consistency.
Add the roasted groundnut, rice and dal flour and dry coconut and make laddus when it is still hot.



Besan laddu


Ingredients
225 gms pure ghee, 225 gms besan, 350 gms castor sugar, 1 tsp cashew nuts chopped, 1 tsp almonds chopped, 1 tsp pistachio.

Method
Roast besan in pure ghee on low flame. Keep stirring the mixture to avoid lumps. Remove and set aside to cool. Add sugar and cashew nuts to the besan mixture and mix well. Mould into laddus.



Groundnut chikki

Ingredients
Groundnuts one and a half cup, sugar one cup, ghee 2 tbsp.

Method
Roast the groundnuts in a kadai over moderate heat. After it cools rub off the skin. Melt sugar on a slow fire in a thick pan without adding water, but stirring continuously. When it has melted and turns light gold in colour remove pan from fire and immediately add the nuts stirring briskly. Quickly pour on a greased plate and cut it to required shapes.



Rice marbles (Cheedai)

Ingredients
Ready-made Chakli flour 2 cups; butter 2 tbsp; sesame seeds 1 tbsp; ghee 2 tsp; oil for frying.

Method
Add butter to the flour and rub well to get crumbs. Add sesame and ghee and make into stiff dough with water. Knead well and make tiny marble sized baits and deep fry in hot oil and drain; store when cool. Makes about 50 numbers. A very crunchy marble nibble.
Note: Chakli flour can also be prepared at home by mixing roasted rice flour and urad dal flour in the ratio of 1:1/4 and adding a little of salt, jeera and asafetida.



Sweet balls (Chithundai)


Ingredients

For the filling, coconut gratings 2 cups, jaggery powder 1 cup, cardamom powder 1/4 tsp, cashew bits and raisins a few, oil for deep-frying. For the casing: Urad dal half cup, rice flour half cup, butter 1 tbsp, salt a pinch.

Method
Soak urad dal for 2/3 hours, drain and grind to a smooth paste until fluffy. Mix salt to butter and rub till fluffy, add rice flour and mix well. Add this to the ground paste and mix thoroughly to make a batter of very thick coating consistency.

Cook coconut gratings with jaggery till well blended and dry. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well. Make into lemon sized balls.

Heat fat, dip each ball in to the batter and deep fry till brown and crisp. Drain and store when cool. Serves four.




Chukku-vellam


Ingredients
Ginger powder 1 cup (sieved), powdered jaggery 3/4 cup, cardamom powder 1/4 tsp, ghee 2/3 tbsps.
Method
Add ginger, jaggery and cardamom powder in a blender and whisk for a few seconds to blend well. Add ghee, mix into dough consistency. Store in a dry box as a single ball. Serve a marble sized ball. This is considered a digestive too.