Vinayaka Chaturti Special

Here is the month of Lord Ganesh which is one of my favourite festival as the preparations for this festival would start 2 or 3 months before vinayaka chaturti.The pandals,big big idols,now a days this is not only a popular festival it has become even a very important economic activity :) for many cities mumbai,bangalore,hyderabad,chennai etc.,

Here in hyderabad,Khairathabad Ganesh Idol is one of the tallest idol averaging upto 50 feet isn't it great and awesome,I don't miss visiting this place every year,lakhs of devotees visit daily for 12days event of ganesh utsav.On 12th day we sat tata bubye to this huge ganesh idol will be immersed with large cranes in Hussain sagar lake.

Not only at Khairatahbad each and every lane in Hyderabad, Ganesh idols are installed in a colorfully decorated mandapas by devotees. My family and friends visit as much as mandapas we can :),here is our Ganesh which is installed in our apartment :)

 Here is our favorite part of festival "Naivedyam".
The favorite naivedyam for lord ganesh is kozhukattai or sweet modak.

Here is the link for Kozhukattai/modak 

Kozhukattai/Modak

A modak or Kozhukattai is famous sweet dumpling in western and southern region of India,it varies only with name and few ingredients.Modak has a special importance as it is the favorite for Lord Ganesh.

The sweet filling inside modak depends on one's own taste it can be filled with n number of mixtures,few are listed here coconut, jaggery or chana dal,coconut,jaggery or moong dal,coconut,jaggery,sesame seed or sesame, jaggery here I am preparing with ellu i.e., sesame and jaggery,while the outer soft shell is made with rice flour.

Preparation:

Kozhukattai Mavu

• Raw rice - 1 cup
• Water- 3/4 cup
• Oil-1 tbps
• Salt as per taste
• Milk - 1 tbps (optional)

1. Wash and soak the rice in water for an hour,after an hour drain the water and allow it to dry.
2. When excess water is drained grind the rice to a fine powder.
3. Sieve this rice to get a fine powder.
4. Now heat water in a pan add water,oil and milk,when the water boils add rice flour an mix well and remove it from flame.
5. Knead the dough well with the hand,now the kozhukattai mavu is ready to prepare.

Filling Preparation

• Roasted Ellu/Sesame - 1/2 cup
• Jaggery - 2-3tbps

Grind the above ingredients.Now your filling is ready

Kozhukattai Preparation:

• Take a small portion of dough and form it into your desired shape and place the ellu mixture in it(preferably modak shape)
• Repeat this for rest.
• Now steam all these modak for around 10 mins 

Modak is ready..:)

GingerGarlic Paste

Homemade Ginger garlic paste,this paste is most often used in our kitchen,it even plays a major role in many of our dishes,this homemade ginger garlic paste is more flavorful and aromatic when compared to the ones which we get in store.
Store ginger garlic paste in a plastic or glass bottle and keep it in refrigerator and use them when ever needed.

Ingredients:

1. Ginger - 250gms
2. Garlic - 250gms
3. Lemon - 1
4. Oil - 2tbps

Procedure:

• Wash and peel the skin from ginger and chop them.
• In a blender add chopped ginger,garlic cloves,lemon and blend them well,while blending slowly add oil until the paste has a smooth consistency.

• Place in a container and store it in a refrigerator or freezer.

Egg Fried rice

Chicken eggs are widely used in many types of dishes. Protein in cooked eggs are more,rather than raw eggs and cooked ones are easy to digest.
Egg fried rice is a popular dish it makes a feast for taste buds and its a perfect dish .It taste delicious.
This can be prepared with even left over rice.

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 1 cup
2. Eggs - 3
3. Garlic - 1/2 tbps
4. Onion - 1
5. Capcicum - 1
6. Carrot - 1
7. Spring onion(green and white part)- 1/2tbps each
8. Soya sauce - 1 tbps
9. Pepper
10. vinegar - 1/2 tbps
11. Ajinomotto - pinch
12. Salt
13. Olive oil

Procedure:

• Rinse rice and pressure cook it with little salt,till rice grains are separated,fluff it off with a spoon and keep it aside.
• In a pan heat oil and add garlic,onion,spring onion white part and saute them till they turn transparent now add rest over vegetables of your choice and saute them for 2 min(do not over cook them).
• Then add soyasauce,ajinimotto,vinegar, salt and cook it on high for 2 mins.
•  Break the eggs in the same pan as shown below add salt and turmeric and saute this egg for few minutes then mix it with vegetables and cook for a minute.

• Now add cooked rice,pepper,spring onion green part,salt and mix it well and cook for 2 mins.

• Transfer the egg fried rice in a serving bowl...Ready to serve..:)

Sunnundallu

Here comes a very tasty and yummy sweet which is fully packed with proteins.Its very simple and easy sweet.
This is a traditional Andhra Sweet,it is much loved sweet because of its unique taste and nutritional values.
This sunnunda laddu is prepared only with ghee and sugar,it can be prepared much nutritious by replacing sugar and whole urad dal with jaggery and black urad dal. Here I have sticked to whole urad dal and sugar.Let us now jump into the procedure.. :)

Ingredients:

1. Whole Urad dal - 1 1/2 cup
2. Sugar - 1 cup
3. Ghee - 1/2 cup
4. Elachi - 2

Procedure:

• Heat a kadai and dry roast whole urad dal on low heat till they turn very light brown color or till aroma comes out.Allow it to cool down and grind it to sand like texture.
• Now grind sugar and elachi
• Add powdered sugar,elachi to urad dal powder and mix well.
• Pour melted ghee to the urad dal and sugar mixture and mix it well such that you should be able to form balls fro it,if not able to form balls add more ghee.

• Now make the mixture into medium size balls and your sunnundalu is ready to have.

• You can store them for almost 2 weeks and enjoy the taste.

...:)

Coconut Chutney

This chutney is the most common side dish in all south Indian breakfast dishes like idli,dosa,vada,upma etc., Its very easy to prepare,its upto your choice for texture.If you add water while grinding you will get a creamy texture or you can even avoid water.

Ingredients:

1. Coconut Grated - 1/2 cup
2. Green Chilli - 3 to 4
3. Roasted Gram - 1 1/2 tbps
4. Onion - 1/2
5. Ginger - 1 inch
6. Garlic - 2 cloves
7. salt

   For Tempering:

1. Urad dal- 1/4 tbpd
2. Mustard seeds- 1/2 tbps
3. Jeera-1/4 tbps
4. Hing-pinch
5. Curry leaves
6. Oil

Procedure:

• In a kadai add 1 tbps of oil,when oil is heat add greenchili,onion,ginger,garlic and saute them for few minnutes.
• Now grind grated cocunut,roasted gram,salt,sauted onon,greenchili,ginger,garlic into a fine paste.
• Heat 1 tbps of oil and add all the tempering ingredients once it crackle add it to coconut chutney.
• You Yummy coconut chutney is ready to serve.

...:)

Peanut Chutney

Groundnut Chutney or peanut chutney is one of my favourite chutney.You can even cal this as a creamy chutney as it seems by its texture.We add tamarind to peanut it gives a slight tangy tastes,it tastes very delicious yet very simple to prepare.

Ingredients:

1. Roasted Peanut - 3 to 4 tbps
2. Red chilli -  2 to 3
3. Tamarind Paste- 1 tbps

   For Tempering:

• Mustard seed-1/2 tbps
• Urad dal-1/4 tbps
• Jeera-1/4 tbps
• Hing-pinch
• Curry leaves 
• Oil

Procedure:

• Grind peanuts,redchilli,tamarrind paste,salt in a smooth paste by adding little water to creamy texture.
• Heat oil in a kadai and add the tempering ingredients once they crackle,add them to the paste.
• Now your creamy peanut chutney is ready to serve.Serve it with idli or dosa.

....:)