Munthiri kothu

Munthiri kothu - Deep fried moong flour ladoo.  Meaning - bunch of grapes. This is one of the popular snacks made during Deepavali in Southern Tamilnadu and Kerala. This Munthiri kothu recipe is my mom's recipe and I am glad to present you all this during this festival of lights.

Ingredients:
Green gram - 2 cup
(whole moong dal / paasi payaru / pachai payaru)
moong dhal - 1/2 cup (optional)
roasted rice flour - 2 tbsp
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
dry ginger powder - 2 tsp
cardamom - 10
sesame - 2 tbsp
Jaggery - 2 1/2 cups
Oil - for deep frying
For outer covering:
rice flour - 1/2 cup
maida - 1/4 cup
salt - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Dry roast the greengram till it smells good and gets crunchy (5 - 8 minutes).
Likewise  roast the split moong dal too (this gives more dal taste to the ladoos) along with cardamom.
Dry roast the coconut to  a golden red color.
Cool everything.
Grind them to a coarse fine powder (like sooji).
Sieve and remove any skin of payaru.
Separately roast the sesame and add to the powder (sesame is optional only).

In a separate vessel bring 2 cups of water to boil and add jaggery.  (The weight of jaggery and powder should be approximately equal). Bring to a boil and switch off. Let it dissolve completely.
Strain and retain the pure jaggery solution.
Mix this with prepared powder and make small balls of the size of Amla (or key lime).

In another bowl, add rice flour, salt, maida, turmeric powder and little water.
Mix well so that it can be of thin dosa batter consistency.

Heat  oil for deep frying.
Take two or three balls at a time, dip together in the rice flour mixture and  deep fry. Flip and fry for a minute till bubbles disappear.

Take out , let cool and store in air tight containers.

Munthiri kothu is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as snack.

Note:
This sweet stays good for 2 -3 weeks in room temperature.
In the dipping batter: avoid maida / AP flour if we want to keep this snack for more than 3 weeks.
We can soak and grind rice flour for outer cover and this stays good for more days.
Adding rice flour or pottu kadalai powder while making balls is also optional, but helps in getting the shape if we have added more jaggery solution.
Instead of green gram, we can use split green gram without skin also.

Events:
Sending this munthiri kothu to Priya's Deepavali delicacies event.

Happy Deepavali

Mohanthal

Hope you all are doing well. Recently I started to learn sewing. Though I can do embroidery and some basic stitching, I have never attempted any realistic dresses. And that's what I am doing now:) Its very enthusiastic to see our own curtains and nighties :)

Here is a sweet dish to start this month. Mohandhal is a Gujarathi sweet/ gram flour fudge. My mom used to make this very often and we call this as her signature dish. I don't know who taught her this recipe, but she had left this hand written recipe in her note book. I remember her spending lot of hours and energy in making this sweet before Deepavali. I like that taste very much .But her method was very elaborate and difficult. She would do it from scratch, starting from home made milk kova (paal kova), which I can never imagine. She has a lot of patience and perseverance to do stuff like this. I can never stand that much long before a hot wok. All my favorite recipes will require just 15 minutes. So I searched the net and got Manjula madam's Mohandhal video. It was so easy and more like a reverse calculation in arithmetic....once you know the result , you will definitely arrive at the ingredients / question...isn't it :).  . I am noting down mom's method as well. Mom's mohanthal recipe is a treasure to me, but still feeling lazy to try that:) May be some one with patience like her will try that or may be one day I will try that myself:)

Mohanthal.

Mom's recipe: (makes 15 big slices)
Besan flour (kadalai mavu) - 1 cup
cashew nut - 1 cup + 15 (garnish)
whole Milk - 4 cup
Sugar - twice of flour
ghee - 1/2 the quantity of flour + 2 tbsp
Pachai karpuram (edible camphor) - a tiny pinch for a cup of flour
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Soak the cashew nut in milk (1 cup) for 2 hours or more and grind it to a very fine paste. Keep aside.
Heat 1.5 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts to golden brown. Keep aside.
Grease a plate with 1/2 tbsp ghee and let it wait.
Add the gram flour to the same wok and fry till it becomes mild brown and flavorful. Don't take it out till it turns fluffy and smells good. Keep aside.
In the same wok add the remaining milk and boil till it evaporates and get thick like gova / goya.
Then add the sugar + cashews and heat them in low heat. The sugar will melt in the moisture from cashew and milk. Put the fried gram flour and stir without rest in low heat.
Add the ghee slowly, whenever required and do this till bubbles start appearing in the whole mass.Now add the edible campbor and cardamom, mix well. Care should be taken not to brown the bottom.
Pour this bubbling (almost semi solid) mixture on the well greased plate. Let it stand for 15 minutes. When it is almost set and warm, draw slanting lines to get rhombus shape (diamond shape). Fix one cashew for each slice. Cool completely and store in air tight container.

-----------------------------------------

Easy method:
Click to see Manjula madam's video.

(The following one is from Manjula madam only , except for few of my variations. She recommended to add heavy cream . But I have used condensed milk instead).

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 2 cups
Unsalted butter - 6 tbsp
warm milk - 1 tbsp
sweetened condensed milk - 200 gm (1/2 tin or 3/4 cup)
milk powder - 1 cup
cardamom powder- 1 tsp
sugar - 3/4 cup
water - 1/2 cup
almond - 5

Method:

Mix the butter with besan flour by rubbing between both palms to get a sandy texture. Keep aside for 15 minutes.
Microwave the milk and let it be warm. Add the milk and rub the mixture again between your palms.

Add the condensed milk and milk powder in a wok and cook it till it rolls to form a soft dough. Switch off and keep aside.

Then add the dough we got with the besan flour and stir fry in low heat till it turns mild brown and aromatic. Fry till it becomes powder / sandy.
Let it cool and add cardamom powder.

In another wok, add the sugar and water and heat till we get double thread consistency (225 deg F in a candy thermometer).

Then switch off and add the flour mixture and mix well. Pour on a greased plate before it starts setting (still hot). Strew finely sliced almond.

Make small slices when it is still warm and let it cool completely.

Mohanthal is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as snack or dessert.

Jangiri

Jangiri is a South Indian version of Jilebi. Jilebi is made of a sour batter, while jangiri is made with black gram without fermentation.

Recipe source for me:  Our beloved Jegatha achi , who was the binding factor of most us. I have never met anyone like her. She was the most dedicated and trustworthy lady for anyone who approach her. 

This is my mom's most favorite sweet.She got the recipe from her chithi, Jegatha achi  (we fondly call her thoothukudi achi).  I admire that grandma very much because of her  hospitality. She became my mom's mom and supported her, gave her a beautiful life and made all of our lives beautiful with her love and care. She used to buy clothes for us for all the Diwali and sometimes gold jewelry too. Her gift for my wedding is very special for me, a beautiful ring. Most of my happy memories include her and she is a proof that God created some special women resembling angels. 

  'According to aachi, this is a very simple sweet, that can be prepared without much grocery or special equipments'. After trying it my own, I too acknowledge her words:)

Happy Krishna Jeyanthi!

Ingredients:

Urad dhal - 1 1/2 cup
(whole black gram without skin)
Rice flour - 3 tbsp
(1 tbsp rice flour per 1/2 cup of urad dhal)
baking soda - a pinch
(very small pinch...too much will make jangiri puffy and oily)
orange food color - a pinch
(I mixed the red food color and yellow kesari powder to get this color)
salt - 1/4 tsp
oil(to deep fry) - 200 ml
sugar - 3 cup
water - 2 cup
rose essence - 3 drops
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Soak urad dhal in water for 2 hours. If possible keep the soaking inside refrigerator to avoid jangiri drinking the oil.(Yes, sour urad dal batter may absorb more oil).
Grind the dhal with very little water to a thick batter. (The batter should be like a softened butter).
Mix the food color, rice flour, salt, a pinch of baking soda and run in mixer again.(Don't keep the batter for long time. Immediately start making jangiri, else it will absorb oil. The perfect jangiri should not be oily).

Fill a zip lock cover with this batter and cut a very small hole in a corner as shown in figure. The hole should be approximately of 4 mm diameter size and not more than that.

Jangiri batter filled in zip lock cover.

(The authentic procedure calls for making a jangiri cloth. For making that cloth, select a new cotton cloth (bigger than a men's kerchief) and make a small hole using a sharp skewer and do 'satin stitch' around the hole very tightly like a button hole. The hole should be  of 4 mm diameter).

In the mean time add sugar and water in a wide mouthed vessel and bring it to a boil. Heat the syrup till it reaches the single string consistency (oru kambi patham in Tamil). It means, if you pour the syrup using a spatula, the last drop should drip like a single string. If heated above that we will get double string and finally the crystallization will occur. So stop with the single thread consistency. Switch off and add the flavoring agents.

Now heat a wide wok with enough oil (1.5 cm high) and wait till its sizzling hot.
Now reduce the flame to minimum and squeeze the jangiri batter in the hot oil.

First make a two or three concentric circles in clockwise direction and then make swirls like petals in anticlockwise direction. (see the image below). Flip once and put the crispy jangiris in sugar syrup.

Let the jangiri soak for a minute or till the next batch is ready.

Take the soaked jangiri out and arrange in a plate.
Jangiri is ready!

Top and bottom views of jangiri, showing the pattern.

Jangiri served.

Diwali 2013

For Hubby's office party 2013

Note:

1)The jangiri should be stiff and not soggy. The rice flour helps in getting stiff jangiris. But the tubes of the jangiri should be filled with sugar syrup, just like a honey comb:)
2)Makes 20 to 25  palm size jangiris if we are grinding using an Indian mixie. If we are using an Indian wet grinder, then we will get 50 jangiris. It can stay good for almost 3 days in room temperature and can be stored for three weeks in fridge.
3)The jangiris are usually made during Deepavali or any Indian festival.
But they are mainly served as one of the desserts in Tamilnadu  marriages.
4)We can make a double layered jangiri also, by doing some circles over the swirls again. These mega jangiris are called 'kalyana jangiri', which are usually made in a bride's home to give to the bride groom's family as 'carry home gift' along with many other snacks and goodies:)

update:
I made this jangiri for a party in hubby's previous office on Dec 5 2012, as per his wish:)

Glad that it came up to my satisfaction and hubby kept a lion's share for himself:).

Notes: (For parties)
For making 80 - 85 big size standard jangiri , we may need the following proportion.
Urid dal - 3 1/4 cup
raw rice - 5 tbsp
Soak them together for 3 hours and grind with 1 tsp salt, food color, pinch of baking soda.

Sugar syrup:
sugar - 5 cup
water - 2 cup
consistency - till we see bubbles around sides , one string stage. Add cardamom powder - 1 tsp and rose essence - few drops.

For deep frying:
Use 2 cups of corn oil and 1 cup ghee.- in a shallow frying pan.

Don't let the fried jangiri soak for more time. Just dip, flip and let it soak less than a minute. Take out and let cool before storing.

Athirasam (with store bought rice flour)

Athirasam can be classified as an Indian version of doughnut but made with rice flour and jaggery.

Please see my traditional athirasam recipe too. It will give best results always, if we can make the flour using our mixie.

Tradition:
Athirasam is a common sweet made in TamilNadu. I have seen people frying these doughnuts for all the festivals they celebrate. In India, the traditional marriages are very expensive, that too a lot from the bride's side. It is a custom to give a lot of sweets and snacks like ladoo , athirasam , halwa, mixture, murukku, fruits etc to the bridegroom's house along with the jewels, money and ofcourse the bride too:).The snacks and sweets (that the bride brought) would be distributed by the mother inlaw to her friends and neighbors as 'maruveettu palagaram' that means snacks from bride's side. The sweets are prepared in certain numbers like 100 or 500 or more depending on the inlaws' request. Our athirasams also find a solid place among the gifts. Even now in villages, athirasam is a must to accompany a bride while entering the groom's house as one of the various gifts she bring.
Hope now you understand the importance of this humble sweet:)

My version:
The original athirasam recipe, calls for powdering the soaked rice in a rice-mill.
I can't find a mill here. So I altered the original recipe to suit the availability.
This athirasam recipe is my very own creation and I tried my best to get a typical Indian athirasam.
Actually if you can powder the wet rice or searching for an authentic athirasam then click here to see how Kribha has done it.

Athirasam


Ingredients:
white Rice flour(very fine) (store bought) - 2 cups
Jaggery (crushed) - 2 cups
sugar - 1/4 cup
poppy seed (kasa kasa) - 2 tsp
sesame seed - 1 tbsp
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
milk - as required (say 1/4 cup)

Method:
Measure and put the flour into a wide mixing bowl.
Mix cardamom powder, sesame, poppy seed, dry ginger powder and keep adide.
Now we are going to fake our store bought flour to get that home made wet flour.
So sprinkle very little cold water (1/2 cup exactly) to moisten the flour.
Let it rest for an hour.

The athirasam flour (moistened to get the real texture).


Measure and put the jaggery + sugar on a vessel along with 1/4cup water and heat it in medium flame.
Check the consistency of the syrup to get a one string consistency.
(One string consistency: While stirring the syrup with a spoon, take the spoon above the vessel and let the syrup flow down to the vessel. If it forms one string like flow, then it is called one string consistency and if it forms two distinct strings then it is called two string consistency, which is of course a thick syrup).

Don't go for uruttu patham (update 2014): if it became soft ball or uruttu patham, then add 1/4 cup water and heat and bring back. {Soft ball consistency. (Soft ball consistency - uruttu patham : If we drop 1/2 a tsp of jaggery solution in cold water, it should not dissolve. We should be able to roll that into a soft ball). (or do this step using a candy thermometer - candy stage temp).}


Take care not to burn the syrup. Because making the perfect syrup is the only secret behind good athirasam.
Then pour the hot syrup over the flour and mix well so that the flour gets cooked a bit in that heat.
It should come to a sticky dough.
Add 3 tbsp milk to this and knead again. This gives soft athirasam. (updated 2014)
Now we can place the dough in a cling wrap and protect it airtight for a day  or upto 3 days .
Next day heat 300 ml vegetable oil in a wok.
Make adhirasams like very flat vadais (They will swell while frying) and deep fry in medium heat.
(I pierced a small hole in the center to facilitate the perfect cooking. But some people won't pierce it. Both are correct. In Southern Tamil nadu , we make a hole , whereas in Chennai they won't)
Take out when it becomes deep red in color.
Drain oil in a paper towel and let them cool.
Store them in airtight containers for a week.

Makes 25 - 30 athirasams depending upon the size.
The athirasam will become perfectly soft after 2- 3 hours.

Note :
Original recipe - rice jaggery proportion:
If we take 1 kg rice then use 3/4 kg jaggery + 3 tbsp white sugar.
syrup consistency : 2 string , but if dropped in a cup of water , then we should be able to roll it into soft balls.

Featured in Foodista:

Adhirasam