Traditional Cuisine of India Archives

Sooji Ka Halwa

Sooji ka Halwa is one of those sweet dishes in India which is prepared in all the states with different names and with slight variations. Sooji ka Halwa is mostly made during festivals, but sometimes during winter or rainy season it goes very well to accompany any pakodas, Pyaaz ke pakode(crispy onion bhajji)

Sooji ka Halwa has main four ingredients. Rava/sooji, water/milk, desi ghee (clarified butter) and sugar. The whole taste depends on how wholeheartedly you add desi ghee here. Of course, the balance of other ingredients matters a lot as well, but desi ghee makes it very rich in taste.

Nowadays, people are more calories conscious, and kids also don’t have a lot of interest and taste for traditional sweet dishes. So Sooji ka Halwa is also restricted to fewer/limited occasions only.

Recently, I had prepared this traditional sweet dish at the occasion of Navmi prasaad during the nine days of Navratri festival along with Kale Chane for Navratri prasad. Kala Chana and Sooji ka Halwa, are both part of Ashtmi or Navmi pooja prasad.

The preparation for Sooji ka Halwa is not time consuming if we keep dry sooji/ rava roasted one day before. Next day, add ghee, roast for 3-4 minutes and proceed to the further steps.

The perfect balance between the quantity of sooji, water and sugar gives a perfect result. Take any cup or bowl from the kitchen and use the same bowl to measure all three ingredients. The ratio is quite simple. If you are taking 1/2 cup of rava/sooji, sugar will be twice that, which is one cup. Water will be 4 times more than rava/sooji, which will be 2 cups.

If you are preparing Halwa for any auspicious occasion, this ratio is perfect. By the time you will finish pooja after cooking, halwa will set properly. But if you are preparing to consume immediately after, reduce quantity to 1: 3.5 of sooji and water. Sugar can be reduced according to personal taste.

Ingredients:

Sooji /rava/ samolina 400 grams

Desi ghee 200 grams

Water 1600 grams (1.6 litres)

Sugar 800 grams

Cardamom powder, coarsely grinded nuts and dry fruits and grated coconut powder.

Process:

In a wok on medium heat add pure ghee and melt it.

Add sooji in melted ghee and start roasting it with the help of a spatula.

Slowly sooji will start becoming dark in colour. Keep roasting it till it reaches a nice brown colour.

Slowly start adding water in roasted sooji. Soon, sooji will absorb all the liquid and will turn into a thick consistency. Don’t stop stirring.

Once halwa is thick, add sugar and mix it properly.

As sugar will start melting, the consistency of halwa will be thin again and halwa will turn into beautiful brown colour.

Reduce the heat on sim and let halwa cook slowly till it becomes thick again. Don’t forget to stir in between. When halwa becomes thick, switch off the heat and add a little bit of desi ghee on top to give a nice fragrance.

Sprinkle, cardamom powder, grated coconut powder and coarsely chopped dry nuts. Sooji ka Halwa is ready to be served.

April 22, 2022

Deeksha Pathak35 Comments

Kale Chane for Navratri prasad

Kale Chane ka prasad for Navratri is prepared in India on the 8th or 9th day of the pooja – also called ashtmi and navmi. On the last day, nine young girls (symbolic of nine goddesses) are invited from the neighborhood in the morning to have prasad which includes poori ,sabzi, suji ka halwa and kale chane. During my childhood my friends and I used to get invitations from so many neighbors that after the first two houses, the rest of the aunties used to pack our prasad. Along with the prasad a small gift was given which was always the main attraction and we used to make sure not to leave any house unattended 😂😂.

Now, I also do Navratri pooja and invite small girls from the neighborhood for prasad. It is so much fun to feed them and to keep listening to their non-stop chit-chat about their new bangles, who is eating more pooris or which gifts they got from the other aunties. Hot poori and kale chane is always their favorite. Small kids can’t tolerate very spicy food, so I always use a mild level of spice in kala chana and sabzi for this particular day.

Kala chana/black gram/black chickpeas can be prepared for evening snacks as well. If you can tolerate, increase spices like ginger, green chilies, red chilies and chat masala. Serve them with finely cut onions or onions rings along with a dash of lemon juice. Mouth-watering evening snack is ready!

If you don’t want to go through all these spices, then just boil them with salt and keep them in a small quantity near your work station and keep munching them. If you don’t suffer from acidity, then can munch the overnight soaked ones without boiling them.

There is one more post for Kala chana in the blog. If you are interested, you can check that out as well…

Black Chana with Coriander Gravy (no onion-garlic)

If you cook your food without onion garlic, then this recipe of kale chane for navratri prasad is perfect for you!

Ingredients:

Kala chana 1/2 kg ( 500 grams)
Turmeric powder 2 tsp
Small mustard seeds ( rai) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1+1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) 1/4 tsp
Oil 5 tbsp
Coriander powder 3 tbsp
Red chili powder 2 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) 1 tbsp
Garam masala 2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Water as per requirement

Process:

Wash chana nicely and soak them in the water overnight (water should come up 5-6 inches over the chana in the vessel.)

In the morning you will see that chana has bloomed nicely. Reduce 1/4 water, add salt and turmeric powder. Boil chana in the pressure cooker till it turns soft. It is difficult to tell the exact time of boiling as different types of pressure cookers take different time.

While chana is boiling, let’s prepare spices. In a bowl take coriander powder, red chili powder, dry mango powder (amchur) and garam masala. Add 3-4 tbsp water, mix it well and keep aside.

When chana is boiled, let the pressure cool down completely, open the cooker and shift the boiled chana in a different vessel.

Heat oil in a wok and crackle rai, hing and jeera. Add those soaked spices from the bowl along with water.

With a spatula stir this masala and let it cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add boiled chana, mix it well with spices and let it cook till the water evaporates. Don’t forget to stir in between to avoid burning chana from the bottom of the vessel.

Kale chane ka prasad for Navratri is ready. Shift it in a serving bowl.

April 18, 2022

Deeksha Pathak39 Comments

Naariyal Ke Laddoo

Even though I usually prefer to follow traditional method for any sweet dish, Naariyal ke Laddoo with condensed milk is a very quick way to prepare these traditional laddoos. However, this time condensed milk was also Homemade Condensed Milk/Milkmade during Janamashtmi festival, so I decided to go ahead with this no-fail quick-fix recipe for preparing Naariyal ke laddoo.

While celebrating Janmashtmi, we keep fast (vrat) for whole day. This fasting is different than our usual fasting days as this day we don’t use grains and white salt to prepare prasad and food. Everything is prepared with milk or milk based products, dry fruits, fresh fruits and fruit based flours. So I prepared these laddoos for prasad.

This best part about this recipe is that there are no difficult steps to follow. We can make our kids also join-in in the preparation. Just prepare condensed milk one day in advance and next day delicious Naariyal ke laddoo will be ready within 30 to 40 minutes! We can add Khoya/Mawa also to enhance the taste.

Just like Naariyal ki burfi (coconut burfi), I used desiccated coconut powder in laddoos too. But if you want, you can use fresh coconut also. If so, remember that as fresh coconut has a lot of moisture, you will need more quantity of fresh coconut powder than written in the recipe.

Ingredients :

Condensed Milk 250 gms

Desiccated coconut powder 250 gms

1/4th cup extra coconut powder to roll out laddoos

Process :

Pour condensed milk in a big broad pan so that mixing is easy. Add coconut powder in condensed milk and mix it well. Mixture should be thick enough to roll it as firm round balls. If required, add some more coconut powder to get the right consistency.

Now take a little amount of mixture and give it a round shape of laddoo with your palms.

Roll this laddoo in dry coconut powder and repeat the process for all laddoos. And job done!

Isn’t this the fastest way to prepare delicious naariyal ke laddoo!! For longer shelf life keep these laddoos in the fridge.

September 1, 2020October 27, 2021

Deeksha Pathak113 Comments

Kairi ki Launji

Kairi ki Launji (raw mango dish) sunte hee muh mei paani aa jaata hai (mouth starts watering after listening to the name of the dish). This dish is prepared with raw mangoes. Kairi ki Launji is one of my favorite raw mango dishes during summer since childhood. It is a side dish with your regular meals or you can have it with paratha during breakfast.

Sour taste of raw mango is balanced by sugar/jaggery, salt and red chili powder. Seasoning with fennel seeds gives sweet fragrant flavor. When sugar melts and gets mixed with the rest of the ingredients, the look of the dish and taste reaches to another level altogether!! You have beautiful caramelized raw mango dish which will get over by licking directly from the pan. Oh, I can really write a poem on this!!!

Am I exaggerating too much?? Not at all… Try this recipe and experience the wonderful taste of my favorite raw mango dish “Kairi ki Launji ” during summer!!

The whole credit for this recipe goes to my younger sister Nandini. Amongst the three sisters she is the one who started cooking very early. So her culinary skills are excellent. Last year during my Jaipur trip she prepared launji and since then I have been waiting for the summer season to get back that wonderful taste!!!

You can check one more post from raw magoes in the blog. It is traditional Indian cool summer beverage Kachhi keiri ka pana/panna (raw mango beverage)

Ingredients :

400 gm keiri (raw mango medium sized peeled and sliced)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp sauf
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt or as per your taste( can take a mix of white and black salt)
Water 1/4 cup
1/3 cup Sugar

You can reduce or increase the quantity of salt, sugar and chilli powder as per your preference.

For oil, my preference is mustard oil for its pungent flavor.

Process :

Wash, peel and cut raw mangoes in long pieces. The seed of raw mango is tender. While slicing keiri, the seed will also be sliced. Remove the seed after cutting keiri into pieces.

In a broad pan heat oil and crackle funnel seeds.

Add cut pieces of kairie and rest of the spices, except sugar.

Add water, mix everything and cover the pan.

Raw mango gets cooked very soon – so after a minute keep stirring in between. When the keiri is 80% cooked and needs a few more minutes, add sugar and keep stirring very gently till sugar melts. Switch off heat.

Be careful here – don’t let keiri cook completely before adding sugar. If it is completely cooked, it will become mushy when sugar/jaggery is added. Slight crisp and soft pieces of keiri taste really nice.

Kairi ki Launji wouldn’t last more than a day, but if you want to save it for the next day to eat it with paratha for breakfast, keep it in the fridge.

May 31, 2020April 27, 2022

Deeksha Pathak63 Comments

Aaloo ki sookhi sabzi

Aaloo ki sookhi sabzi (dry potato sabzi) is everyone’s favourite! Potatoes are cooked in many ways all over the world and liked by all age groups. In my fridge, the vegetable basket can be empty in 3-4 days but potatoes, never ever…..

I use potatoes to prepare Aalu ki tikiya(potato patties stuffed with spicy peas) dry veggie or veggie with gravy and aaloo ka halva, some snacks and Aaloo ka Paratha (paratha with spicy potato stuffing)

Last weekend my daughter had a get-together in our house with a few of her friends. Preparing lunch for teenagers is a challenge as they are very fussy about their likes and dislikes. So, to be on the safer side I decided to prepare this dish “aaloo ki sookhi sabzi” as I thought that no can says no to potatoes.

We can prepare this sabzi with raw potatoes or with boiled ones. I decided to prepare with boiled potatoes. It’s a very easy and hassle-free dish.

Ingredients :

Potatoes, green chilies, green coriander leaves, rai, cumin seeds, asafoetida, oil, salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, dry mango powder or lemon juice.

Process :

Wash nicely and boil potatoes. After boiling keep them in a strainer and let them cool down.

When potatoes have cooled enough to touch, peel them.

In a heavy-bottomed pan heat oil and crackle rai, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Mash potatoes in small and big chunks and put them into the pan. Add finely chopped green chilies, salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, coriander powder and dry mango powder or lemon juice.

Keep the heat on the sim and mix everything, cover it and let it cook on sim heat for 1/2 an hour. In between keep on turning them upside down. You may wonder what is the need for cooking so long when we had already boiled these earlier. Additional cooking makes potatoes absorb the flavours of all spices and makes them crispy. Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves and serve.

June 21, 2018January 23, 2021

Deeksha Pathak11 Comments

Methi ke parathe

Methi ke garam garam karare parathe aur ek cup adrak vaali kadak chai!!!! That’s all I want on a chilly winter morning, my favorite breakfast!
I always like crispy methi ke parathe. Methi leaves give parathas beautiful green colour and make them crispy.

In Jaipur we used to get clean methi leaves without stems, so no need to go through the cleaning process. It was a boon for a person like me who loves to cook green veggies but always feels lazy to clean them.

But still, the moment I see fresh green bunches of coriander, mint, spinach or methi leaves on the vegetable shop, I couldn’t resist buying them. Even once Manish (poor guy, not able to differentiate all different green leafy veggies) couldn’t resist appreciating those fresh green bunches and wished if we were a cow, we would have finished it all!!! Lol 😂😂😁😁

Come, let’s prepare healthy methi ke parathe…..

If interested, you can go through my other post on stuffed aaloo ka paratha also…Aaloo ka bharva Paratha

Ingredients :

Fresh green Methi (fenugreek)leaves
Wheat flour
Salt (according to your taste)
Red chili powder (according to your taste)
Hing (asafetida) a pinch
Oil for roasting
Water to knead the dough

Process:

Wash methi leaves under running water nicely and keep them in a strainer till all water drains out.

Now chop leaves very fine.

In a broad vessel take wheat flour and add chopped methi leaves, salt, chilli powder and hing.

With the help of water prepare dough.

Brush your ready dough slightly with oil to avoid it drying.

Now take a small portion of dough, roll it between your palms, apply some dry flour and roll it in a small round circle.

Apply few drops of oil on it.

Fold it, and again apply few drops of oil, do last fold and give it a shape of triangle. Again apply dry wheat flour on both the sides, roll it with rolling pin slowly and evenly on clean and dry kitchen counter, keeping triangle shape.

If rolling in triangle shape is difficult for you, then after applying oil on small circle, pinch the edges together closely and neatly and bind them.

Now press this mould slightly and roll in dry flour from both the sides.

Roll this slowly and evenly with rolling pin in round shape. Don’t roll it too thin, otherwise it will stick on kitchen counter.

Heat tawa on medium heat and carefully with the help of your palm place paratha on tawa.

Once it gets slightly roasted from one side (tiny bubbles on top are the signs that it’s time to flip) flip it with the help of flat laddle (once you are used to, then flipping can be done with fingers).