Chakuli/Chakli/Murukku

This is the easiest & simplest chakuli recipe that I've tried. Thanks to my good old friend from India, without whom, I would not have been able to try it out.





Ingredients;
3 cups rice flour
1/4 cup besan (chick pea flour)
2 tsp til (sesame seeds)
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
5 tsp oil
3 tsp ghee (clarified butter), warmed
a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
a pinch of soda bi carb
salt to taste
oil for frying

How it's made:

Sift rice flour, besan, salt, soda bi carb together. To it, add til, jeera, oil, ghee and enough water to make a soft dough.

Fill a small amount of dough into the chakuli mould & press onto flat surface. (I use wax paper).

Lift one end of wax paper & flip the chakli onto your fingers & deep fry in hot oil until golden. Drain on paper towel. Set aside until completely cool & store in airtight container.

Nippat

Ingredients:

3 cups rice flour
3 tbsp chana dalia
2 tbsp split moong dal
4 green chillies
1 bunch spring onions (green only)
1/2 stick butter, melted
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

How it's made:

Soak chana dalia & split moong dal for 10 mins.
Grind green chillies with a few tsp of water. Strain & use chilli water to mix in the dough.
Chop finley the top half of spring onions (green only).

In a large mixing bowl, mix in rice flour, dals, green chilli water, spring onion, warm melted butter, salt & water to make a soft dough. Cover the dough with a damp towel.

Make small marble size balls. Place between plastic sheets (I used Ziploc sandwich bags) & flatten them. Spread a drop of oil on the plastic sheet if the dough sticks to the sheet.

Deep fry in oil. Fry on medium high heat until brown & drain on paper towel. Set aside until completely cool & store in airtight container.

Cereal Chivda

Cereal Chivda makes an enjoyable, healthy anytime snack.

Ingredients:

3 cups corn flakes
2 cups rice crispies
3 cups honey nut cheerios
2 tsp sasam (black mustard seeds)
1 sprig curry leaves
1/2 tsp hing (asafoetida)
oil
1 tsp red chilli powder
2-3 tsp coriander/jeera/saunf powder (see note below)
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup peanuts, roasted (optional)

How it's made:

In a non stick pan, fry cereal for a few mins until warm & toasty. (It can be warmed in an oven at 200 deg Fahrenheit for 10-15 mins).
In a wide pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add curry leaves, hing, chilli powder, coriander/ jeera powder, salt to taste & sugar. Add toasted cereal & peanuts. Mix well. Cool & store in airtight container. ( I skipped peanuts due to kids with food allergy).


Note:

Coriander/Jeera/Saunf powder: In a coffee grinder, powder a palm full of corainder seeds, a palm full of jeera(cumin seeds) & 2 palm full of saunf (fennel seeds). This spice mix can be used for garam masala based veg or non veg dishes.

7 cups Khadi/Burfi

This was one of my Mamama's (my grandmother-Mother's Mother) favorite dessert to make when there were extra coconuts in the house. I had tried it once several years ago & thought of making this year for Diwali. I personally don't like sweets & other family members prefer a few selected ones.  As per Mamama 3 cups of sugar, a cup each of other ingredients make up 7 cups. Hence the name "7 cups khadi". I cut down a cup of sugar & 1/4 cup of ghee from this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar (my grandmother used 3 cups)

1 cup coconut

3/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)

1 cup besan (chick pea flour)

1 cup milk

crushed almonds for garnishing (optional)

How it's made:

Lightly grease a steel plate or 9"pie dish with ghee. In a non stick pan, combine all ingredients & cook on medium high heat until it thickens & leaves sides of the pan, approx 20 minutes. Transfer mixture to greased dish and garnish with crushed almonds. Cool for 10-12 minutes & cut into desired shape. Remove & store in container when it comes to room temperature.

What I learnt:  I turned off the heat a few minutes prior to the mixture separating from the side & it didn't harden up like the way I wanted.  It had a hard surface with chewy base like caramel candy but tasted good!