Diwali is a favorite festival among people of all age groups predominantly because of the sheer variety of food one gets to consume during the course of the day. People greet each other on this day by exchanging sweets and the festival is not complete without tasting some of the hallmark Diwali sweets and savories. Kitchen fairy Mallika Badrinath tells us how to make these traditional Diwali sweets and savories from her repertoire.

 

Adirasam

 

Fried patties made from rice flour and Jaggery

Ingredients

• ½ kg processed wet rice flour
• 300 gm dark brown jaggery, grated
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp ghee
• Oil for deep frying
• Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

How To Make

1. Pour just enough water to cover grated jaggery in a heavy kadai. Boil until soft ball consistency.
2. Take out kadai from stove and tip in cardamom powder, rice flour and mix well without forming lumps.
3. Transfer mixture to another vessel to which little ghee should be applied. Pat well and pour a tablespoon of ghee on top.
4. Prepare small balls from the dough and flatten it to a thick circle. Sprinkle little sesame seeds on top and press lightly.
5. Deep fry in hot oil one by one .remove excess oil by resting the adhirasams on top of paper towel.

Note: 5. For best results, prepare adhirasams next day and use only paagu jaggery (paagu vellam) and wet rice flour.

 

Coconut Burfi

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh coconut, grated
• 1½ sugar
• 3 tbsp ghee

How To Make

1. Grate only the white portion of coconut. Grind ½ cup of the coconut with little water. Strain to get the extract. Blend in the coconut reminder with rest of the grated coconut.
2. Mix the coconut extract with sugar and boil till soft ball consistency. Add grated coconut and stir constantly until a thick mass in the centre is formed.
3. Add ghee and stir until it turns frothy and porous.
4. Pour on a greased tray. Cut into pieces while it is still warm.

 

Gulab Jamun

 

Ingredients

• ¼ sugarless milk koya
• ½ cup maida
• 2 tbsp melted ghee
• Milk to bind
• Pinch of cooking soda
• Oil for deep frying
• ¼ kg sugar
• 1½ cup water
• Rose essence, few drops

How To Make

1. Mix melted ghee with maida using finger tips to blend properly. Crumble koya and mix with maida.
2. Mix cooking soda with little milk. Tip this into the maida mixture. Blend together well to form dough.
3. Prepare balls and flatten it lightly.
4. Mix sugar with water and boil to form sticky syrup. Add few drops of rose essence.
5. Deep fry the prepared balls in moderately hot oil until dark brown and soak in the syrup while it is still hot.

 

Kaju Katli

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew nuts
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Rose essence, few drops

How To Make

1. Soak cashews in water for 10 minutes. Strain the water and grind cashews to a smooth paste.
2. Mix ground cashews with powdered sugar and stir in a non-stick broad kadai in medium flame until thick chapatti dough consistency.
3. Remove from heat and mix essence.
4. Roll it like a thick chapatti on greased aluminium foil.
5. Cut into diamonds while it is still warm.

 

Badam Halwa

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup almonds
• 1¼ cup sugar
• Kesar yellow colour as desired
•  Saffron, few strands
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup ghee

How To Make

1. Blanch almonds in hot water and remove the skin. Grind it to a smooth paste using milk.
2. Mix little water to sugar and boil until one string consistency. Add almond paste, saffron, Kesar colour and stir until halwa consistency adding ghee whenever it sticks to bottom.

 

Green Gram Dal Laddu

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup de husked green gram dhal
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup jaggery, grated
• Melted ghee as desired
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• Finely chopped roasted cashews

How To Make

1. Dry roast dhal until golden and good aroma sets in.
2. Allow to cool and grind it to a powder. Sift the flour to get fine powder.
3. Blend the sugar and add the grated jaggery and dhal powder. Run the mixie at short intervals until everything blends together properly.
4. Pour the powdered mixture into a broad dish. Add cardamom powder, roasted cashews and melted ghee.
5. Shape them into lemon sized balls.

 

Ribbon Murukku

 

Ingredients

• 4cups processed dry rice flour
• 1 cup roasted gram flour
• 3 cups water
• 50 ml oil (heated to mix with flour)
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• Oil for deep frying

How To Make

1. Heat water in a broad dish with salt.
2. When it starts to boil, add rice flour as a heap in the centre and switch off the stove.
3. Mix well and set it aside at room temperature.
4. Add remaining ingredients and knead to dough using more water if necessary.
5. Fill a long slit disc, greased murukku press with dough. Directly squeeze in hot oil to form long round swirl.
6. Turnover and fry until crisp.
7. Prepare all the murukkus in the same manner and allow to cool thoroughly before storing in a container.

 

Thenkuzhal

 

Ingredients

• 4 cups raw rice flour
• ½ cup roasted urad dal flour
• 1 tsp red chilli powder or green chilli paste
• Salt as required
• 50 ml hot oil
• 1 lemon
• Oil for deep fry

How To Make

1. Mix both flours together with salt and chilli powder.
2. Pour hot oil, squeeze lemon and blend with fingertips.
3. Mix well and divide the flour into 4 parts.
4. To the first portion sprinkle water and knead to a dough.
5. Grease the murukku press with 3 eyed disc.
6. Fill the dough and squeeze small murukkus on a polythene paper and transfer to hot oil.
7. Deep fry until crisp and golden.
8. Using rest of the flour sprinkle water each time separately and knead.
9. After frying all the murukkus allow to cool thoroughly before storing.

 

Kai Murukku

 

Ingredients

• 4 cups processed rice flour
• 1 cup Roasted urad flour
• Salt -as required
• 1 tbsp coarsely powdered pepper & cumin
• 50 gm ghee
• Oil to deep fry

How To Make

1. Take measured ghee or vanaspathi in a broad bowl and rub it using finger tips until light.
2. Sift both the flours and mix it with ghee to blend.
3. Add salt, cumin pepper powder and mix.
4. Divide the flour into 4 parts.
5. To the first part sprinkle water and knead to a dough.
6. Take lemon sized ball from the dough and using first three fingers prepare spiral shaped murukku on a polythene sheet.
7. Prepare few and transfer gently in hot oil to deep fry.
8. Fry until crisp and golden.
9. Prepare rest of the flour in the same manner.
10. Allow to cool thoroughly before storing.

 

Mixture

 

Ingredients

For boondhi

• 2 cups Bengal gram flour
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• ½ salt
• Oil to deep fry

For sev

• 1 cup Bengal gram flour
• Salt to taste
• Ground ajwain

Other ingredients

• Cashew nuts as required
• ½ fried gram
• Roasted peanuts (optional)
• Curry leaves as required
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp asafoetida powder

How To Make

1. Mix Bengal gram flour with rice flour, salt, enough water to make pouring consistency batter.
2. Keep boondhi ladle on top of hot oil and pour little batter on top. Allow that to fall in oil as droplets.
3. Deep fry until crisp. Prepare all boondhis in the same way and allow to cool.
4. Mix Bengal gram flour with salt, ground ajwain with a ladle of oil and little water to form thick dough.
5. Fill it in greased sev press and squeeze directly in hot oil to form spiral sev. Deep fry until crisp.
6. Prepare all the sev and break it into pieces.
7. Mix sev, boondhi together with all fried nuts, fried curry leaves and sprinkle chilli powder and asafoetida powder.
8. Store and serve the mixture whenever required.