Tag: Ganesh Chaturthi

Apple Gojju | How to make apple gojju?

Rich aromatic flavourful, apple gojju/gotsu to awaken your taste buds
11/02/2016 8:39:53 PM vindhyadesai

Gojjus are side dishes to awaken your taste buds. They are spicy, tangy and sweet light gravies usually mixed with a small amount of hot rice or eaten as a side dish with chapathis/rotis. Gojjus can be made using different kinds of vegetables or even fruits. Bitter gourd, cucumber, pineapple, apple, capsicum, fenugreek seeds (methi), sesame seeds(til/yellu) various kinds can be used. Each of these render a special flavour to a gojju. Here’s the recipe for apple gojju.
Unique tasting ingredients are roasted into a masala and then ground up with the spices to make the thick gravy. I have already posted pineapple gojju recipe and here’s the apple gojju recipe. Apple gojju is quite rare but is definitely very tasty as apples have a very sweet unique taste with lot of body and texture.
Enjoy this flavourful apple gojju with some hot rice. I learnt this recipe years ago from a TV show and had it penned down in my book. Try other gojju recipes. More gravy and curry recipes to try! ... “Apple Gojju | How to make apple gojju?”

Carrot Halwa | How to make carrot halwa?

Juicy moist sweet carrot halwa with cashews and raisins
10/21/2016 6:45:02 PM vindhyadesai

Carrot halwa is a famous Indian sweet made from grated sweet carrots, sugar, milk, ghee all sauteed till it turns into a sweet, soft halwa. This light orange coloured sweet is loved by children and is a good way of getting children to eat some carrots. The halwa is flavoured with elaichi and along with added cashews and raisins this halwa is fit to be laid out for a feast.
This is one of those sweets where you do not have to check whether it is set or worry about making a threaded sugar syrup. The only thing to get this halwa to a soft and moist consistency is to stop sauteing it at the right time so that it is moist enough and does not dry out. The pictures below illustrate at what stage the halwa needs to stop cooking.
This will surely be a hit with everyone and is a good sweet to prepare in large quantities. It is easily portable and is a crowd pleaser. It can be served both as a sweet or dessert. Fancy it up a bit by serving with vanilla ice cream right on top. Do try more halwa and other sweet recipes from FOI. ... “Carrot Halwa | How to make carrot halwa?”

Benne Muruku | Butter Muruku | How to make benne muruku?

Crisp and crunchy snack, butter/benne muruku
10/20/2016 10:04:26 PM vindhyadesai

Crisp and crunchy benne/butter muruku has to be one of the tastiest snacks ever. It is a favourite in most households and can be made during many festivals like Ganesha Chaturthi, Sri Krishna Janmasthami and Deepavali/Diwali. In our childhood days, we used to look forward to celebrations of Deepavali/Diwali, along with buying and wearing new clothes and bursting crackers (which we no longer do for Mother Nature!) we also enjoyed eating these crunchy savoury snacks all day long! Of course along with swallowing up some sweets 🙂
Benne muruku is made from rice flour and butter as the main ingredients. Adding butter makes the muruku very crisp and light. Addition of too much butter makes them very brittle and there is a good chance that they will disintegrate while frying. So add butter with caution. Sesame seeds and carom seeds(om/ajwain) give nice flavour and aroma. Enjoy these with a cup of tea/coffee. Try other tea-time festival snacks like chivda and nippattu! ... “Benne Muruku | Butter Muruku | How to make benne muruku?”

Kaju Katli | How to make kaju katli? | Cashew Barfi

Nutty, fudgy, everyone’s favourite with the goodness of cashews, kaju katli
10/18/2016 10:21:39 PM vindhyadesai

Deepavali/Diwali is just round the corner. I started preparing for it over the weekend and with only a few days to go I have recipes lined for Deepavali to be posted on FOI. Kaju Katli or cashew barfi is the most loved sweet both by kids and adults. This is the safest bet when distributing sweets as most people love it! I am no exception to that and I can eat many of these in one day, just chew them all up (I try not to though :)). It seems like a very complicated recipe to make but with only a few ingredients it can be one of the most easiest sweets to make if you get the consistency right. Follow stepwise to ensure you get the right consistency right from making the cashew powder to making sugar syrup to the dough consistency. More Deepavali recipes and festival recipes for you try! Happy preparation for the festival of lights! Let’s begin on a sweet note. ... “Kaju Katli | How to make kaju katli? | Cashew Barfi”

Kayi Holige | Kayi Obbattu | Nariyal PoLi | Coconut Holige | How to make kayi obbattu?

Soft and crunchy sweet coconut/kayi holige, a special dish for the festivals
10/10/2016 10:28:16 PM vindhyadesai

Wish you all a very happy Vijayadashami/Dasara! Coconut holige/kayi obbattu/nariyal poLi is one of my favourite sweets. It is soft yet crunchy on the outside and it has the unmistakable flavour of coconut. Unlike many other dishes where coconut gets lost in between other ingredients, here it is the main ingredient and it gets due importance. Most functions in Karnataka have holige/obbattu/poLi as the main sweet. Usually beLe holige or this kayi holige steal the show and are made in the order of hundreds. They are made with maida/all purpose flour which can make the edges quite hard and the filling inside might not be sufficient to make them soft yet crunchy. I always try and make recipes with whole wheat flour, for the fibre, taste and it makes the holige so much more softer and they hold together beautifully. Make these and a few can be made quite quickly and is not all that difficult. ... “Kayi Holige | Kayi Obbattu | Nariyal PoLi | Coconut Holige | How to make kayi obbattu?”

Haalbai | Akki Haalbai | How to make haalbai?

Soft, fudgy rice and coconut milk barfis
9/05/2016 4:27:39 PM vindhyadesai

Ganesha Chaturthi is a 3 or 5 or 10 day long festival for some people. If you celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi for more than one day, it is mandatory to make at least one sweet dish as offering/naivedya to Lord Ganesha. After making sweets like holige (poli), kadubu or other traditional ones from sweets list one will need a recipe that is simple, easy and light on the stomach. Haalbai is one such recipe, soaked rice ground into a thick batter with coconut milk lightly flavoured with elaichi it is a super easy sweet to make. It does not need resting time after preparing. Just plan to soak rice a few hours before making this sweet. Only water can also be used in place of coconut milk but coconut milk adds a subtle taste and makes haalbai pliable because of the oils in it. If you want to keep this vegan use vegetable oil in place of desi ghee. ... “Haalbai | Akki Haalbai | How to make haalbai?”

Pineapple Gojju | Ananas Gojju | Pineapple Gotsu | How to make pineapple gojju?

Fruity, spicy, festive pineapple gojju
9/03/2016 4:21:01 PM vindhyadesai

In traditional South Indian cuisine it is customary to have a balance of all flavours when eating a meal, especially a big meal on a festival or in big spreads like in weddings. A pickle and a palate cleansing gojju are the most important dishes to get a balance of all the flavours. Gojju is like a curry but thicker and is served in small quantities as a little side dish to eat with hot rice. When we make gojju at home, it is often served as a side dish with chapathi or akki rotis(rice flour rotis). Pineapple gojju has a very festive taste to it with all the different spices, fruity, sweet and sour flavour of pineapple. Gojju/gotsu need not have a lot of oil added to it to make it tasty but it has to be mildly spiced and made into the right consistency. Try making this special pineapple gojju at home, here’s the recipe. Other gojju recipes on FOI. ... “Pineapple Gojju | Ananas Gojju | Pineapple Gotsu | How to make pineapple gojju?”

Bele Obbattu | Bele Holige | Puranpoli | How to make holige?

Filling and delicious sweet dal stuffed poli/holige for festivals
09/01/2016 06:27:09 PM vindhyadesai

Bele Holige or obbattu is one of the most filling and delicious sweets. It is a sweet dal stuffed poli/holige. During a festival or a function we all look for one dish that can feed a big crowd which is also filling. Sweets generally are accessories in a big spread. Yes, preparing bele holige or obbattu is effort but when you have mastered the process of making the dal filling then preparing bele holige or obbattu will be easy especially if you have a few people to assist/work with you.
I have used whole wheat flour/atta for the outer covering dough whereas generally all purpose flour (maida) and chiroti rava (fine rava) are used to prepare the dough along with a pinch of turmeric. I prefer whole wheat flour(learnt it from my mother), holige turn out to be soft and do not become stretchy and chewy when they are kept for a while.
*Updated with new pictures for Ugadi 2019. Try more holige recipes:
Kayi Holige/Coconut Holige
Dry Nuts Holige
 ... “Bele Obbattu | Bele Holige | Puranpoli | How to make holige?”

Avalakki Chivda | Poha Chivda | How to make chivda?

Crisp spicy tea-time snack, avalakki/poha chivda
08/26/2016 9:30:34 PM vindhyadesai

Want to have something at home to munch on without worrying about calories, then chivda is your snack. Yes, it is not completely guilt-free but it is better than deep fried or sweet snacks on a daily basis. Come tea-time we all feel like eating something with our favourite beverage, chivda sounds definitely mouth-watering. This is a very famous snack from North Karnataka and Maharashtra. Nowadays, it is famous all over. Different things can be added to chivda like mixture, sev, ghatte, broken onion pakoda, roasted dry nuts etc. But the base for making avalakki/poha chivda is the same. Use medium poha/rice flakes for making chivda it gives a nice crispiness and crunch. Enjoy with your favourite cup of tea/coffee or serve with yogurt/curd (super combo!) or madike usli/matki usal (again a super combo!). It is also a preferred snack during fasting or when guests pop-over, all in all it is a versatile snack. ... “Avalakki Chivda | Poha Chivda | How to make chivda?”

Madike kaalu usli | Matki usal | Moth bean sundal

Hot, spicy and nutritious madike kaalu usli/matki usal/moth bean sundal
08/06/2016 10:05:09 PM vindhyadesai

Moth beans or madike kaalu or matki beans are rich in protein, easy to cook and digest. Matki usal forms the base of Misal a popular street food dish from Maharashtra. In Karnataka, especially in the Northern parts, this is very famously served during festivals. It is cooked with groundnuts, grated coconut and a quick squeeze of lemon juice on top gives it a super flavour punch. The water in which it is boiled is highly nutritious and is very tasty. ... “Madike kaalu usli | Matki usal | Moth bean sundal”