Homemade Chocolate Rakhi

Today is 'Rakshabandhan', a special day for all Brothers and sisters.  This year I wanted to make something very special for  Rakhi. I was watching an advertise of Dairy-Milk chocolate…."Kuch Mitha Ho Jaye…" and suddenly thought of making Edible Rakhi, that is chocolate Rakhi. I had bookmarked recipe from Padhuskitchen…..so tried accordingly and see Edible Rakhi for All my Brothers is looking so nice :-).

Ingredients

Condensed Milk - 400 Gms

Unsalted butter - 100 Gms

Sugar - 6 teaspoons

Cocoa Powder - 6 Teaspoons

Liquid Glucose - 1/4 Teaspoon

Milk - 6 tablespoons

Procedure

Mix cocoa Powder and milk nicely. No lumps should be exist. Dissolve liquid glucose in cold water neatly.   Mix all above given ingredients  with liquid glucose and cocoa and milk mixture in a Non-stick Kadai. Now keep the kadai on flame. Keep the flame low.  Stir it continuously till it leaves the sides of pan.  It should not stick to your hand. Transfer it to a greased plate. When it get slightly cool, take one chocolate mould (any shape or size of your choice) and feel  1/4 of it. Now take one Satin ribbon, place it on the chocolate horizontally. Again on ribbon put chocolate and completely fill the mould. Keep it aside for an hour.  Flip the mould to opposite side and the chocolate will automatically come out of mould. Chocolate Rakhi is Ready.

Narali Bhat... Sweet coconut Rice to all my Brothers

First of all "Wish you all a very Happy Raksha Bandhan".

As I mentioned in my last year's Raksha Bandhan Post, We Maharashtrians celebrate this festival as 'Narali Pornima'. We prepare some sweet things from coconut. This time I made typical Maharashtrian recipe from coconut that is 'Narali Bhat' (sweet coconut Rice). My younger sister suggested me to prepare this dish & post it on Raksha Bandhan. Thanks Sneha. So this sweet rice along with the Rakhi from both of us to all our brothers, whom we can not meet on this special day .

Happiness, prosperity & success …….On Raksha Bandhan, we are wishing your life be filled with all these & more….. Miss you Bro….

Ingredients

Rice - 2 cups (sona Masoori/ Ambe mohor)

Grated Coconut - 2 cups

Grated Jaggery - 2 cups (I used organic this time)

Pure ghee - 2 tablespoon

Cloves - 3-4

Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt - 1 pinch (optional)


Procedure

Wash the rice 2-3 times. Drain the water and keep aside for half an hour. Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in kadhai. Put cloves in it. Now add rice and saute it for one minute. Then add 4 cups of water. Cover it with lid. Mix coconut and jaggery together. When the rice is almost done add the coconut mixture and a pinch of salt (it increases the taste of sweet dishes). Mix well. Keep the lid and cook the rice completely. When done, add cardamom powder and mix it. Narali Bhat is ready to serve.

This goes to Priti's 'FESTIVE FOOD - RAKHI'

And Sanyukta's 'A Visual Treat' event

Pedha....Festival season started

Shravan Month has already started. It's a month of different festivals. So again the month of foodies…specially for sweet lovers. I am starting my first shravan special recipe with Pedha. When I read about Jagruti's Pedha event, I thought I'll try pedha this time. For Indian Cooking Challenge we prepared 'Khoya' at home so thought can make pedha from scratch. Thanks to Srivalli of ICC :)

Ingredients


Khoya - 1 cup

Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup

Cardamom Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Saffron strands - 1/8 teaspoon

Chironji for decoration


Procedure

Take a heavy bottom kadai and mix khoya and powdered sugar into it. Cook this mixture on slow flame. Keep stirring continuously. After 8-10 minutes when sugar completely dissolved and the mixture became little thick, remove from the flame. (in this procedure my mixture has cooked little more, so the colour of pedha is on darker side) . Add cardamom powder and saffron strands. Mix well. Allow it to cool. Then make very small balls. Press very lightly with your palm. At the centre put one chironji and fix it. Sweet Pedhas are ready to offer 'God'.


This goes to,

Jagruti's  'CELEBRATES SWEETS- PEDHA' initiated by Nivedita's kitchen

&

Priti's 'FESTIVE FOOD - RAKHI'

Naralachi Vadi for Rakshabandhan

The full moon day of the month of Shravan is celebrated in different parts of Maharashtra and is known variously as Narali Pournima, Shravani Pournima, Rakhi Pournima or Raksha Bandhan. 'Naral' means 'coconut', and Narali Pournmia is thus called because offerings of coconuts are made by people to the sea-god on this day. Narali Pournima also marks the advent of the new fishing season and fishermen appease the sea-god before sailing out in their decorated boats. The festival is a day of singing and dancing. Raksha Bandhan is also observed on this day. Sisters tie 'rakhis' on their brothers' wrists. The ritual renews the bond of affection between siblings and signifies the brother's responsibility of protecting his sister all her life. We prepare Naralachi vadi that means Coconut burfi on this day and give this to our brother while tying the Rakhi.














Ingredients

Scrapped fresh coconut - 2 cups
Sugar - 1,1/2 Cups
Milk - 1/2 cup (preferably with cream)
Pure Ghee -1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Procedure

Mix scrapped coconut, sugar, milk and ghee in a thick vessel and place it on low flame.Stir the mixture while cooking. After 5-10 minutes ad cardamom powder and stir in between. When sugar is melted and coconut starts binding then take out from the flame. Grease one plate with pure ghee. Now spread coconut mixture on greased plate. flatten with a greased flat bottom bowl (katori/vati).When it get slightly cool, cut it into square or diamond shape. Store it in airtight container.

My post for Priti's Festive Food~Raksha Bandhan event.

Hayagreeva on Varmahalaksmi Puja

Var Laxmi Puja is an important pooja observed in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and some places of Maharashtra. Var Laxmi Vrata is observed on 2nd Friday during the Shravana mas. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. Worshipping Goddess Laxmi during Shravan month is highly auspicious because the whole month is dedicated to the divine couple, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi. Friday is the most auspicious day for Laxmi Devi. Hence, worshipping Lakshmi Devi on Shravan Shukravar is highly meritorious. Elder people says that Ashtalakshmi showers their blessings on Vara Laxmi Vratha performers. As the eight forces of the world, known as Ashta Lakshmi – primeval force (Aadi Laxmi), wealth (Dhana Lakshmi), courage (Dhairya Laxmi or Veera Lakshmi), wisdom (Vidhya Laksmi), Children or family development (Santana Laxmi), success (Viajaya Lakshmi), food (Dhanya Laxmi) and strength (Gaja Lakshmi) are dedicated to Goddess Laksmi. Puranas described that observing Vara Laksmi Vratham would bless a woman with all eight energies for life. On the day of Pooja or Vrata, women clean their homes and decorate their front yards with rangolis. Later, they take a bath and deck wear pure silk saree and jewellery. The lady performing the pooje makes a mandala with the drawing of a lotus upon it. A kalasha filled with rice and topped with fresh mango and betel leaves, a coconut smeared with haldi and kumkum and cloth are placed on the mandala and Lakshmi is invoked therein.
After the worship of the kalasha, follows the worship of Ganesha, then the worship of the sacred thread. Now the main worship of Vara Lakshmi begins and the scared thread is worshipped a second time. It is then tied to the right hand of the lady. After the worship thamboola is given to 5 married ladies. The same evening, we invite all the neighboring ladies(married women) and offer them tamboola; also called veeledele Adike, which is an offering of betel leaves, fruits, betel nuts, kumkum, haldi and dakshine. At this point the ladies also sing songs in praise of goddess .

In our home we make Puran Poli or any varieties of it on Shravan mas Friday. So today I have prepared Hayagreeva. Hayagreeva is an authentic sweet from Karnataka. This is done on special occasions and can be done very easily. It is basically of Chana dal, jaggery and pure ghee. The major ingredient of this dish is Channa Daal. Avery interesting fact about Channa Daal is that it is great for diabetics. It has been shown to be one of the foods having a very low glycemic index, ie, it does not increase blood sugar levels. There are a lot of articles on the internet which talk about this, for all interested.

Ingredients

Channa Daal- 1 Cup
Grated Jaggery - 1 cup
Khus Khus - 1 tablespoon
Grated Dry coconut- 2 tablespoon
Cashewnuts - 8-10
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee- 1/4 cup


Procedure

Wash chana daal neatly. Pressure cook it with water upto 3-4 whistles. Let the pressure of cooker get release. Drain the water on top of the dal into another vessel. It is called 'kat' in Marathi . It is used in a "Katachi aamti", It is a special daal which served with Puran Poli. . Now take a thick bottom pan and add jaggery and 'Kat' into it. Cook until jaggery get fully dissolved. Now ad chana dal to it and cook for two minutes. In a seprate pan fry dry coconut, cashewnuts and khuskhus in ghee till it turns slightly brown. Now add all this in chana dal mixture. Add cardamom powder. Add the remaining ghee. The consistency should be not very thick or not very watery. Offer Goddess Laksmi prasad of hayagreeva with Tulsi pan on it.



This is for Sia's RCI-Udupi & Mangalorean Cuisine and also to Lakshmi’s RCI announcement page.

And Nithya's Food in Colors(FIC)- Express your Mood which is a brain chils of Sunshinemom

And for MLLA-13 of Tongue Ticklers... initiated by Susan of the "Well-Seasoned Cook

Tambittu for Nagpanchami

Today is Nagpanchami, first festival of Shravan Mas. Nag Panchami is celebrated to worship snakes. It is a festival in the honour of the Snake God, Shesha Nag. People worship snakes by offering milk and Puja. Snakes are worshipped since Vedic eras as they protect crops from getting damaged by rats and other rodents. Snakes are also a part of the Puranas, they took part in 'Sagar Manthan', and is also worn by Lord Shiva around his neck. Nag Panchami is celebrated in the month of Shravan according to the Hindu calendar. The victory of Krishna over the Kaliya snake is also remembered on this day. For this reason, Krishna is known as 'Kaliya Mardan'. The festival celebrates during the rainy months. It is believed that the festival is to counter the increased possibility of snakebite during this time. People visit temples specially dedicated to snakes. Shiva temples are also crowded during this festival, as snakes are considered dear to him.
We do puja of snake made with rangoli at our home and offer him milk. On this day, at my father's place they make laddus of roasted chana dal as prasad. These laddus are called Tambittu. My father's elder sister, My Shanta aatya gives me these Tambittus every year. So the picture and recipe of tambittu given here is of my shanta aatya.

Ingredients
Roasted chana dal - 1 cup
Rice -1/2 cup
Roasted peanut powder - 1/2 cup
Grated dry coconut - 1cup
Sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon
Poppy seeds - 1teaspoon
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom powder -1/2 teaspoon


Procedure
Roast rice in kadai without oil or ghee till it turns slightly brown. Cool it. Now take rice, roasted chana dal and make a powder in mixer. Dissolve jaggery with 1/2 cup of water . Heat it for 2-3 minutes. Mix all ingredients in warm syrup. Cool it. Make laddus of it.