Paan-Coconut Laddu - For this Deepavali

Paan Flavoured Coconut Laddu with Gulkhand Stuffing

This deepavali i am making these flavourful laddus along with my other traditional sweets to brighten up our taste buds.

I have never tasted paan in my entire life whereas my husband never misses the sweet paan or beeda in the weddings. i always used to wonder how poeple eat those beetle leaves. during festivals, my mother used to eat the beetle leaves with some areca nut and edible calcium paste. her mouth and tongue turns brilliant red colour and i loved the smell of beetle leaves from her mouth as she talks.

once i tried paan gulfi. i liked it with subtle flavour of paan and tiny bits of paan leaves in it. 

since then i wanted to try something with beetle leaves. we always had gulkhand at home as my daughter likes to have gulkhand milkshake. so it struck me to try this paan flavoured dry coconut laddu. initially i had plan to make gulkhand coconut laddu only. then wanted to try some paan flavoured laddus. once i tasted dry fruits nuts katli with paan stuffing inside. so, i wanted to bring that twist in this laddu too like.. paan flavoured outer coconut sweet mixture with sweet gulkhand and nuts stuffing inside. that's how this recipe came to my blog. 

Ingredients:

• dry or desiccated coconut powder - 4 + 1 cup
• gulkhand - 1/4 cup
• ghee - 2 tablespoons
• almonds, watermelon seeds or cantaloupe seeds,cashews - 1/4 cup
• tutti frutti - 1/4 cup
• cardamom powder - 2 pinches
• condensed milk - 400 grams tin
• paan/beetle leaves - 4 to 5 or more 
• green food colour - optional

Procedure:

• finely chop the nuts, mix it with gulkhand, half cup coconut powder, and tutti frutti and keep aside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan and roast 4 cups of dry coconut powder in low heat till the oil in it warms up and emanates flavour.
• in the mean while take the paan leaves and the condensed milk in the mixer blender and run it to make a smooth paste of the paan leaves and condensed milk. you can add light green colour if you need at this stage, as we are going to use this condensed milk to make the outer paan flavoured sweet coconut mixture.
• now add this condensed milk to the coconut powder in the pan and give a good mix till it is evenly mixed to soft lump. add cardamom powder and mix.
• when everything is evenly mixed, remove from heat. 
• apply some ghee to your hands, pinch off some coconut mixture and make a small cup.
• take the gulkhand stuffing and fill the cup and make laddus.
• roll this in dry coconut to give that final snow-flaky look to those laddus.

Decorating the laddus with edible silver leaf or varak or tutti frutti is your wish. 

During this deepavali, enjoy these awesome and colourful laddus with gentle paan flavoured outer layer of sweet coconut and intense gulkhand with nuts mixture surprising inside. enjoy these laddus for this festival season.

Since this is paan flavoured, these laddus are a good choice as dessert after meals also.

Happy cooking !!

Karuvepilai Chutney (Curry Leaf Chutney)

Karuvepilai Chutney (Curry Leaf Chutney)

I have tried many versions of karivepilai chutney. But this recipe is awesome flavourful and goes very well with idli and dosai. perfectly sauteed curry leaves.. right amount of dry red chillies and tamarind gives this chutney a balanced flavour and taste which is perfect for idli/dosai or bajji/bonda. It is quiet easy to make in the busy mornings too. 

Rice Flour Puttu - Easy, Tasty and Healthy !

Rice Flour Puttu - Easy, Tasty and Healthy !

Puttu is another polite, easy to cook, no oil, steam cooked, good-to-eat and healthy dish. It is good for breakfast or dinner. It is one of the easily digestible food for sick people. 

Chennai Hotel Style Coconut Chutney

Chennai Hotel Style Coconut Chutney

Aahhaaa.. is there anything better than hotel chutney! Such a simple and polite accompaniment with idli/dosai. Eventhough sambar is the hero.. it is so very incomplete without a coconut chutney.

Adai - Kara Dosai

Adai - Kara Dosai

Adai became one of my favourite dish only after my marriage. Before that it was in the not-my favourite list. Adai is such a balanced dish for breakfast or dinner. It has the right amount of cereals and pulses and above all coconut! coconut freshens any dish. 

Coconut Chutney - Simple yet Significant !

Coconut Chutney - Side Dish for Idli/Dosa/Pongal/Vadai/Upma

Coconut chutney - when I was thinking for a word to describe it.. i got the word "simple".. and was waiting for another word which really brings the "feel" for chutney in our menu and in our hearts. My daughter came out with the word "significant". Bingo! thats the word. Coconut chutney is such a simple yet significant side dish in our south Indian breakfast menu.

More side dishes and chutney recipes are here - Side dishes and chutneys 

Mint-Curry Leaves Chutney

Mint-Curry Leaves Chutney - Pudhina Karivepilai Thogayal

This pudhina-karivepilai thogayal is what I am frequently doing after they started to give bunches of curry leaves for free (they say so and I know there is nothing free in this world) in the vegetable shops.

Vegetable Khurma - South Indian Style

Vegetable Khurma - Royal Dish - South Indian Style

KHURMA - I do not want to go into the history and geography of 'khurma' or 'korma' or whether it is Shahi or Mughal. How many varities of khurma do you see on your daily basis? The person who sells parotta on road side "kaiyendhi bhavan" calls his side dish as khurma. The person who sells tiffin in push cart.. names his side dish for poori as "khurma". In restaurants, they give khurma with idiyappam. They also have seperate item as " vegetable khurma" in the menu for side dish. All are different recipe, but same base - coconut paste and garam masala.

For more sidedish/chutney recipe click  - Sidedish / chutney

The khurma which I make is an influence from my moms recipe. When I was a little girl, I was not a big fan of vegetable khurma. Other members in my family were fond of chicken/mutton khurma which again was not on my favourites list.

Kadalai Paruppu Chutney - Gram Dhal Chutney

Kadalai Paruppu Chutney - Gram Dhal Chutney - Idli/Dosai sidedish

Kadalai paruppu chutney - takes my memories to my grandparents place where they used to make it in large quantity as this is budget friendly. I forgot this chutney after my grand parents shifted to Chennai and I did not have any native place to go. 

After many years, I had this chutney once in my aunt's place (her name is Kala, she passed away couple of weeks back due to illness). While having this chutney, I could feel a trace of the childhood days in my native place. Here, I would like to thank my auntie for preserving the recipe which carries nostalgic memories. Even though she is not with us now, she will always remain in our thoughts and heart. I learnt many recipes from her too. Love you and miss you Kala auntie.

Idli with kadalai paruppu chutney is good for packing for lunch too. This chutney is simple with few ingredients. Let's see how it is made..

For more sidedish/chutney recipe click  - Sidedish / chutney

Kadalai paruppu chutney

Vella Kozhukattai / Pidi Kozhukattai

Vella / Pidi Kozhukattai - Vinayagar Chathurthi 

Vella kozhukattai is a very humble and light dish made with rice flour and jaggery. It is steam cooked dish. This kozhukattai is Vinayagar Chathurthi🌺🌻 special. This recipe is easy with minimum ingredients and healthy too.

We can either prepare the rice flour at home or buy from shop. Today I used the store bought rice flour. Make sure you buy fresh rice fours just before making and never use old flours which had been there in your pantry for long. Such rice flours smells stale and rancid. Here is how I make the vella kozhukattai.

For more festival foods click here - Festival Foods

For more Sweets/Desserts click here - Sweets

Coconut Milk Rice/Thengaai Paal Saadham

Coconut Milk Rice / Thengaai Paal Saadham

The first time I tasted this rice was when my mother-in-law made during my initial days of marriage. I became a fan of this rice the very first time I tasted it. She made in a Dabara.  But I make it in pressure cooker too. This is such a simple rice with minimal ingredients. The subtle flavour of coconut milk and the fewer spices makes it good for brunch or lunch or dinner. In this recipe, I prefer to to use diluted coconut milk (that is half of water and half coconut milk) than full coconut milk because the full coconut milk will make the meal heavy or rich and creamy. The use of abundant garlic pods.. them being cooked in coconut milk.. awesome experience for the taste buds! Worth giving it a try.

Coconut milk rice / Thengaai Paal Saadham