Diwali Dhamaka #2 - Nippat / Nippattu

The Diwali theme has brought a lot of enthusiasm in me. I have been researching on how Diwali is celebrated in different parts of India and the reasons they give behind the celebration.

Each of them quote a very different history of how the festival commenced!!!! :)

This is called "unity in diversity" :P be it whatever reason, the celebration is on!! and the fun never ends!! :)

According to hindu mythology, the other reason behind the celebration of Diwali is "The return of Lord Rama from exile".

Lord Rama was a great warrior King who was exiled for 14 years by his father Dashratha, (The King of Ayodhya) along with his wife Sita and his younger brother Lakshman.

Ravana the king of Lanka, was a great Pundit, highly learned but still evil dominated his mind. Hence Rama put an end to Ravana which denotes the victory of good over evil.

Rama returned to Ayodhya after completing 14 years of exile. In Ayodhya, the people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. So, it is an occasion in honor of Rama's victory over Ravana or say truth's victory over evil.

Hence the day of his return is celebrated as Diwali :)

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 3 cups
Maida - 1/2 cup
Roasted gram(Pottu kadalai) - 1 cup
Ground nuts - 1 cup
Sesame - 1/4 cup
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbl sp
Salt - For taste

Method:

Powder the roasted gram and peanuts coarsely.

Take rice flour, maida, sesame and powdered roasted gram and peanuts, salt and chilly powder in a plate and mix well. Heat 2 tbl sp of oil and pour it on the flour mixture and mix well.

Divide the flour into 4 parts.

Take one part of the flour and add water little by little and make thick dough. Roll out small balls from the dough and press them between two greased plastic sheets to make flat nippat.

Fry these in hot oil. Maintain medium flame throughout and roast them until they turn golden brown on both the sides.

Continue the same process for the other three parts of the dough as well. Don't skip partitioning, we do that to avoid the dough becoming dry and dark.

Finally drain the nippat on tissues and store them in air tight containers.

Note:

I made them in small size, hence I dint have any issues of the nippat puffing up.

But if you are planning to make them large, then do poke some holes on the nippat using fork before you fry them in oil. This will give them a flat surface and would avoid puffing up.

Written by: Nithya
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Diwali Dhamaka #1 - Ras Malai

The festive mood is on!! :) :) :)

Diyas spread all over the streets.
The shopping spree has reached its extreme.
Dham!! dhoom!! Dum!! Damal!! crackers everywhere :)

Diwali is the most exciting festival according to me. Its filled with fun and fiesta :) The celebrations of this festival starts quite early and goes on for almost 5 days :)

Yup!! so the Diwali Dhamaka would go on for 5 days in fourth sense cooking too :) I am all excited to share my joy and celebrate along with my readers :)

Diwali or Deepavali is celebrated for various reasons and in different ways throughout India. So lets know more about it throughout this series :)

Being a south India, let me start of with celebrations in South India.

Narakasura ruled the kingdom called Pradyoshapuram. Puranas say that Naraka, son of Bhudevi, acquired immense power from blessings given by Lord Brahma after a severe penance. Under his rule, the villagers suffered a lot of hardship as the demon tortured the people.

Unable to bear the tyranny of the demon, the celestial beings pleaded with Lord Krishna to save them from his torture. But Naraka had a boon that he would face death only by the hands of his mother Bhudevi. So, Krishna asks his wife Sathyabhama, the reincarnation of Bhudevi, to be his charioteer in the battle with Naraka.

When Krishna fell unconscious after being hit by an arrow of Naraka, Sathyabhama takes the bow and aims the arrow at Naraka, killing him instantly. Later Lord Krishna reminds her of the boon she had sought as Bhudevi. The Narakasura Vadh by Sathyabhama could also be taken to interpret that parents should not hesitate to punish their children when they step in to the wrong path.

The message of Naraka Chaturdashi Parva is that the good of the society should always prevail over one's own personal bonds. It is interesting to note that Bhudevi, mother of the slain demon Naraka, declared that his death should not be a day of mourning but an occasion to celebrate and rejoice. It is said Lord Krishna had an oil bath to rid himself off the blood spattered on his body when Naraka was killed. Which then became a practice to take oil bath on this day.

Ingredients:

Ras :

Milk - 1 ltr
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom powder
Saffron

Malai:

Milk - 1 ltr
Lemon - 1
Ice cubes
Water - 3 1/2 cups
Sugar - 500 gms

Method:

For Ras:

Boil the milk in a non stick pan. Simmer the stove and allow it to condense to half its quantity.

Once done, add sugar and mix till it gets dissolved.

Take two tsps of hot milk and soak few saffron strands in it for ten mins.

Add the soaked saffron strands along with the milk and mix it. Finally sprinkle some cardamom powder.

Ras is ready. Refrigerate it until use.

Method for Malai:

Boil milk in a vessel and once it starts to raise pour in the lemon extract and switch off the stove. Mix with a ladle until it curdles. Drop in ice cubes into the vessel immediately.

Then drain it in a thin muslin cloth or handkerchief. Hold it covered with cloth in the running water. This is to remove the lemon flavor from the prepared paneer.

Hang the cloth and allow it to drain for half an hour.

Now press and remove the excess water and transfer it to a bowl. Kneed the soft paneer into a dough. Roll into small balls and press them a lit flat.

Take the water and sugar in the pressure pan and mix till it dissolves. Once the water starts boiling drop in the rolled malai balls and pressure cook with weight on top for a whistle.

Switch off the stove and keep the pressure cooker under running water to cool it soon. Open immediately and transfer the cooked balls along with the sugar water to a different bowl. Leave it alone for 4 to 5 hours.

Later remove the the balls from the jeera and press them gently to remove excess jeera and drop them into the prepared ras.

Ras malai is ready :)

Serve it cold and top it with chopped almonds and pista.

Enjoy eating a rich and yummy dessert :)

Written by: Nithya
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Carrot Rice

When I was a toddler, most of my eating habits depended or was inspired from cartoons. I loved spinach because Popeye loves it. I wanted cheese since Jerry was excited about it and in the same lines, carrots were introduced to me by Bugs Bunny :)

Yes!! I'm literally a Bunny rabbit when it comes to carrots :) love to munch them as it is and would some times eat them along with tomato ketchup. Believe me, its one of the best freaking combination ever ;)

Carrots are universally liked by many, at least I have not seen much of people who hate carrots. Hope you all agree with me!! If that is the case, one lovely form of cooking carrot is to make carrot rice :)

Its simple and super healthy :) Go on to the recipe and I bet you would love it too :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Carrot - 3
Onion - 2
Red chillies - 3
Channa dhall - 2 tsp
Urad dhall - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds(Dhaniya) - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt - for taste
Coriander leaves

Decoration: Used carrots for the petals, onion for the center part and curry leaves

Method:

In a pan, take a tsp of oil and fry red chillies, channa dhall, urad dhall, coriander seeds and cumin seeds just for a min and powder it finely.

Wash and soak rice for half an hour. Pressure cook with two cups of water. Once done allow it to cool on a plate. Add a tsp of ghee to the rice and separate the grains.

Chop onions finely and grate the carrots.

Heat two tsp of oil in a large pan and crackle mustard seeds. Add the chopped onions and fry till it turns golden brown. Once done add the grated carrot and fry for 2 mins adding a little salt to it. Then add the above said powdered masala to it and mix well.

Now add the rice and mix until everything comes together. Finally switch off the stove and add the tsp of lemon and salt and mix it well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Simple and tasty carrot rice is ready to eat :)

Enjoy the hot steaming carrot rice with some potato chips :) Happy eating :)

Written by: Nithya
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Eggless Vanilla Tutti Frutti & Choco Chip Muffins

I have lately been on a baking spree.. or precisely on an eggless baking spree :)

Did you know??!! "Pisceans are dreamy" and me being a foodie piscean with a sweet tooth would always dream about cakes and desserts :P Aha no wonder! ;)

Every time I enter my kitchen paradise, the muffin tray and the new liners keep saying "hi" to me ;)

So this time picked them out to make eggless vanilla muffins topped with colorful tutti frutti for a batch and chocoholic's favorite chocolate chips for the other batch. :)

Both turned out to be a hit at home :) They came out so fluffy and soft. Melting in the mouth cakes for sure :)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour(Maida) - 1 1/2 cups
Corn starch/flour - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1/4 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Tutti frutti
Chocolate chips

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl using a electric beater or whisk till it becomes lite.

Sift the all purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt together and keep it aside.

Mix in the vanilla extract to the milk and add the milk and flour alternatively to the creamed butter beating it well. Once all the milk and flour is incorporated, beat continuously in medium speed for two mins.

Finally add the chopped tutti frutti to the cake batter and mix it just once.

Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C. Line the muffin tray with liners.

Fill muffin cups upto 3/4th and sprinkle some tutti frutti on top as well.

Bake it for 20 mins at 375°F or 190°C. Adjust the time according to your oven settings.

Check if cooked by inserting a tooth pic in the center. Once done, allow it to cool on a wire rack for a while.

Replace the tutti fruitti by chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips to make choco chip muffins :)

You can use nuts of your choice to make it extra rich too :)

I used tutti frutti for 6 muffins and the other six with chocolate chips :)

Cute looking and yummy eggless Vanilla muffins with tutti frutti and chocolate chips are ready to eat :)

This quantity would make around 10-12 medium sized muffins :)

Enjoy making :) Happy eating :)

Written by: Nithya
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Masala Papad - A Simple Crunchy Starter

Masala papad is a very tasty Indian starter which always tops the menu card. It can also be a best snack for the 4 O'clock tummy grumble :)

Crispy papad with crunchy fresh vegetables, tangy lemon and spicy chilly powder makes it one of the most interesting appetizer. Yummmmm :)

All you need is papad and some fresh vegetables. The recipe is handy and can be made within a jiffy.

I love garlic papad and hence it was my choice for masala papad too. The flavor is totally upto you :) Freak out with your choice of papad and veggies :)

Ingredients:

Papad - 2
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Cucumber - 1/2 (optional)
Green chilly - 1
Cilantro
Lemon juice or Amchur powder
Chilly powder
Chaat masala
Salt

Method:

Roast the papad carefully on direct flame and lay them on the plate. You can microwave the papad on high for a min too. But I always prefer direct roasting since the slightly burnt taste adds to the flavor of the starter. :)

Chop onion, tomato, cucumber, green chilly and cilantro finely and mix them together in a bowl. Drizzle some lemon juice, sprinkle some salt and chilly powder and mix well.

Spread it on the papad and finally sprinkle some chaat masala on top and serve it immediately.

Masala papad is ready to eat :) Eat it quickly to enjoy the crunchiness of the papad :)

Happy snacking :)

Alternative:

Simply crack the papad into small pieces and mix it with the vegetable salad and serve it as a crunchy salad. :)

You can use fried papad for the salad.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.