Diwali Wishes with Deepavali special sweets and savories 2011!
Wishing all my readers a very happy and prosperous Deepavali / Diwali. May this year brings you lots and lots of happiness in life and fulfill all your dreams!
What a wonderful day it's been! It has been raining non stop yesterday. Guess the rain God decided that the kids should have their fun at playing with the crackers, that it didn't rain much today.
Though the Deepavali treats started early at home because of the Marathon last week, we still decided to make the usual sweets and savories this year. Amma was upset that she couldn't fit in the Mixture and Ribbon Pakoda. She made her usual Rava Laddo, Kaja, Muruku and Mysore Pak. I learnt a new trick this year, which was that one can make the hard version of mysore pak with the sugar that gets leftover after making Kaja.
From my side, I ended up making Bombay Kaja, Thenkuzhal Muruku, Mini Kajas. Of course everything was done with Amma. I was only the helper there..:)
Deepavali is always very nostalgic for me. I miss those days, well I have written about it enough in my previous posts. Only thought I had in mind was to make sure my kids also make beautiful memories to cherish their childhood. They wanted to play with the firecrackers last night itself. So they did some, rest are saved for tonight.
Will be posting the recipes shortly, I am sure you will enjoy!
Wishing all my readers a very happy and prosperous Deepavali. May this year brings you lots and lots of happiness in life and fulfill all your dreams!
I managed to slip to update this post!. Kids are having their nap and the whole city is blustering with crackers. It is a wonder they actually are still napping! All the round the city, you can find kids getting excited with their Lakshmi Vedi and so many other things. The colorful crackers are treasured for the evening affair!
We finally decided on making a different variety of muruku, 7 cup Barfi, Kakinada Kaja. We couldn't make Mixture and Besan Burfi for want of time.
All are recipes from Amma. I just helped her make the muruku, though the barfi was done in steps and I took the full charge of it.
The timing is very important for making this burfi. Though the top texture looks uneven and gives a tough appearance, it is very soft. If more ghee was added it becomes your perfect melt in your mouth kids!
Recipes will be follow soon. Meanwhile do share what you all made and how you enjoyed the day!
I had tasted these for the first time recently, when hubby dear was given these by his colleague. She is from a background, where the traditional cooking is still in the vogue! Infact when he happened to drop in for lunch, he was served a curry that reminded him of his grandmother. He was telling me that I should talk to her and get insight into their cooking. I am yet to find an opportunity to do that. So when she had made these sweets, I was impressed by the shape and taste. She was supposed to show me a demo on how they make these shapes, but we couldn't make it. When I showed the sweets to Amma, she said she knows another proportion for making Kaja, but she never attempted to shape them this way.
On the day when we were preparing the kajas, we happened to watch these panasa thonalu, over the tele. She said something very fast, only later I recalled the name of this sweet. I couldn't spend much time seeing the chef who was making these, but I had a rough idea. When I got down making these, they turned out so simple. Since I already made the dough and prepared kaja, I wanted to try the other proportion that Amma knows. This method does not require resting time, as ghee is used instead of Dalda. And you can proceed with the process right away!
Kids are back to school today. Konda somehow didn't complain on going to school, whereas the boys cried as they are going after 3 days. I was working both the days, whereas hubby dear was at home, so all the boys had a gala time, playing and napping together. As such both of them are very attached to their father. When he is carrying them both, they won't even come to me, so spending two full days with him, they have become even more. I call the boys his soul mates!
Now coming to these famous sweets called Panasa thonalu, they are called so because they look like Jackfruit bulbs. Eating each strip one by one is fun!
Panasa Thonalu
All purpose Flour / Maida - 1 cup Ghee - 1/4 cup and 2 tsp Sugar - 1 cup Maida for dusting Oil for Deep frying.
Method to prepare:
In bowl, take the maida and ghee. Rub in the ghee well, till you get the crumble. Then slowly add water and knead a pliable dough.
Meanwhile melt sugar and remove scum if any. Then cook till you get one thread consistency.
Divide the dough into small balls of size smaller than regular pooris. Dust the dough and roll out as you do your regular pooris. Roll them as thin as possible.
Using the knife, leaving an inch intact, make long insertions, vertically towards the end. Continue to do so till the end as shown in the picture.
Gently remove from the board, gathering the uncut disc. Shake the disc a bit and the strips will fall as long strips.
Gently drop them into hot oil and cook in sim on both the sides. The trick to get all of the as separate, is to make them as you fry them. When you prepare these shapes and allow them to rest, they will loose shape!
When its cooked on all sides, drop these into the sugar syrup. Let it soak for 5 mins, then remove.
Once they are cooled, store them in an air tight container.
I am sending a box of these to Aparna, who is celebrating her blog's first anniversary. I hope she likes these!
I have mixed feeling on the eve of the Deepavali day. Memories gush in bring in the sweet memories of childhood spun around the Deepavali and what it meant as a child. Every year, almost until after college, the enthusiasm was always there. The crisp new dress and the competition on who fires the first bomb, never dies down. All our colony friends used to bet that they will be the first person to get ready and lit the bombs. Thinking of the excitement that used to stem out of it, even now gets me all excited. I was kind of happy that early morning bug hasn't bit Konda as yet. She was still peacefully asleep when I got up at the dawn. Fireworks started since last evening, all those wonderful rockets blustering different colours out there in the clear sky, was a sight to behold. Chinnu was all excited and was cheering for each one that was on display, while Peddu was going deeper and deeper into my arms at each one. Only this morning, he was happy to be seeing them, from a far distance.
Though I am not as excited as it was as a kid, I went about calling all friends and relatives to wish them on this happy occasion. Everybody had a festive tone on the phone, its really wonderful how infectious this day is to all. A day to spend with loved ones and wishing everybody all happiness, I guess this is the meaning behind the festival of Lights! Konda was all excited when she got up and got ready in record time, to wear her new dress. I remembered my one deepavali, when I had got up in the wee hours as early as 3 am, to get ready. In the haste, I slipped and had a full bath much before! How I can still remember the sore bum, but the enthusiasm was all high!
I have shared our Deepavali traditions much in detail in my last year post. This year, I made sure I learnt how to make Kaja, which is a famous Andhra Sweet. Amma used to make this, along with Athirasams for the Diwali. We skipped making this for the last couple of years, because of its elaborate process. Hubby dear always says, he said yes for the marriage, only after eating the Kesari Bath and Kaja that Amma made for him. He thought being her daughter I would also make both the items well. Kesari Bath of course, I made many times. But Kaja, this was my first attempt on myself. Though I have always been the person who finally press them to shape, I had never kneaded the dough. I got to Amma showed me how to knead and then I continued. It was indeed a lengthy process. Took almost 2 hours for us to complete. I had plans to make Amma's famous Murukus, but after this exercise, I didn't have the stamina. Amma had plans and she prepared them the next day.She made Star Murukkus, Plain ones and then Mixture.
Though Amma was telling me about Kakida Kaja, I don't know the difference. I made Kaja and another famous ones called the Panasa thonalu, because they look like jack fruit bulbs. You can make these with the same dough as kaja, or you have a separate proportions for that too.
Kaja
These are sweets made with All purpose Flour, Vanaspathi and of course Sugar! Once fried, they are normally soaked in the sugar syrup. But they tend to be overly sweet. If you don't want so much sweet, you can powder sugar and sprinkle over the fried Kajas.
I actually wanted to record a video, but since I was also making it, managed only the pictures. Hope the slide show explains the process clearly!
Preparation Time : 1 hour and more Resting Time for the dough - 1 & 1/2 hrs Makes - 50 pieces
Ingredients Needed:
All Purpose flour/ Maida - 500 gms Vanaspathi Dalda - 100 gms Cooking Soda a pinch Sugar - 1 kg Maida - 1 tbsp for dusting Gram flour - 2 tbsp for dusting.
Method to prepare:
For the dough:
Shift Soda along with the flour in a wide bowl. Add the dalda and crumble well. Then slowly add water and knead to a pliable dough. It should be of medium softness and not to stiff. Knead till you get that smooth texture on the dough.
Cover the dough a wet muslin cloth and let it rest for 1 & 1/2 hours, you can allow it for 2 hrs too. Once 2 hrs is done, knead again and divide to equal size balls of the size shown in the picture. You will get about 6 balls of that size.
For the Sugar Syrup
Meanwhile, have the sugar melting over a pan. Remove scrum if any, then bring it to a boil. Cook till you get a consistency of one thread. This you can confirm, by touching the syrup with your thumb and index finger, when you move, you will find one thread forming. Switch off the heat and cover with lid.
For Making the Kaja
Dust the dough with maida and roll the first ball to a disc of 1" thickness. Remove to a plate. Then roll out the second ball to the same size.
On the second rolled out disc, apply melted dalda and gram flour. Spread evenly all over. Now take the first disc and place on the second. Press firmly.
Again repeat the brushing with dalda and gram flour on the top. Then starting from top, fold it inside, as shown in the picture. Do the brushing and dusting. Fold again, repeat and fold till you reach the end.
Then cut into small pieces of 1 inch size. Then dust them again in maida, press them down on the vertical side, then roll them out to get a long strip as shown in the picture.
Heat a kadai with oil. Since the dough is mixed with Vanaspathi, it does not drunk much of oil. Once its hot, drop in the rolled out kajas gently and cook in sim. The entire batch has to be fried in sim, so add enough to cover the oil. Turn to the other side to cook evenly.
Once they are done, drain the kajas and drop them into sugar syrup. Gently press in so that , it soaks the sugar. Let it soak for 2 mins, then remove and spread for it to cool.
Fry all of them the same way and allow to cool before storing them. These normally stays good for about 7 - 10 days.
Note: Heat the Sugar syrup in between the whole process a couple of times, for it to be absorbed well. If the sugar syrup is not enough, add some more sugar and water, bring to the same consistency before add the fried Kaja.
While I was still making these, Athamma said Chinnu will like something Savory and made the Salt Diamonds as I call them. She made it almost the same way as I did. When he came back from school, he saw the box of these and went about completing it by evening, anyway it was a small serving.
I feel exhausted typing so much, will be back with the recipe for Panasa thonalu later.
Deepavali is celebrated on Tuesday in Andhra, so we are having two days of celebrations!
