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 !!

Nei Appam - Traditional Sweet Delicacy

'நெய்' அப்பம் - நெய்யிலேயே  சுட்டா  இன்னும் நல்லாத்தான் இருக்கும்... 😊

Nei appam is a simple sweet deep-fried food made with rice flour and jaggery which i always consider as the healthy combination. the typical south Indian desserts are made with rice or its flour and jaggery as main ingredients. some dishes even call for coconut milk than regular milk.

Mukkani-Then Kalavai - THE Three Fruits in Honey Medley!

முக்கனி -தேன்  கலவை  - சங்ககால  உணவு 

முக்கனி  - மா, பலா மற்றும் வாழை. 

i have heard about the term "mukkani" means "The three fruits" - mango, jackfruit and banana... during our Tamil classes in our schools and colleges.

Sweet Poli - Stuffed with Coconut and Dhal in Jaggery

இனிப்பு பருப்பு/தேங்காய் போளி  

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Black (Whole) Urad Dhal Laddu

கறுப்பு உளுந்து லட்டு  - Black (Whole) Urad Dhal Laddu

Only recently i noticed that urad dhal is one of the key ingredient in many of south Indian recipes. It is only for the past few decades we have been using white skinned (white) urad dhal. Before that it was the black whole urad dhal which was mostly in use. There were many special recipes here in Tamil Nadu with whole black urad dhal exclusively for its health benefits. Example உளுத்தம் களி, உளுத்தம் கஞ்சி, உளுத்தம் வடை, உளுத்தம் புட்டு, உளுத்தம் தோசை, உளுத்தம் லட்டு etc. Urad dhal is good to be consumed by women especially young girls during menstruation.

Boondi Laddu - Let's Bring It back this Deepawali

Guess Lot of Us Lost the Love for this Luscious Laddu..

For more sweets and snacks ideas click here - Deepawali

Laddu.. used to be a main sweet in the weddings, festivals, special occasions etc. But now a days.. kids prefer some fancy sweets to these traditional boondi laddu. Being born and raised in this land, I think it I to sow some seeds of love for these traditional sweets in our kids hearts. I am making boondi laddu this Deepawali. 

Beetroot Halwa - For Beautiful Moments

Beetroot Halwa

When I see brilliant colours in flowers, fruits and vegetables.. I have always wondered how nature brings these bright pigments in one place. In flowers, its colours and fragrances.. in fruits and veggies its colours and tastes. I always relate colour to happiness. when I see any fully bloomed Cassia fistula tree this summer.. I feel it is the most happiest tree on earth. It just flowers like crazy. That is so very contagious.. I feel happy the very instant I see it. I can understand why flowers and fruits are brilliantly coloured. But why beets and carrots are colourful.. they are roots!! 

Kasi (Kaasi) Halwa - Ash Gourd Halwa

காசி அல்வா  - 150th Post - Kaasi Halwa or Ash Gourd Halwa

Long long ago.. not so long when i was holding my mother's hand and walking in the weddings.. just little later than that.. in the weddings and other functions, especially in the breakfast... the first served item was this brilliantly coloured... glossy.. sweet loaded with ghee and cantaloupe seeds.

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Udacha Kadalai Laddu or Pottu Kadalai Laddu or Fried Gram Laddu

If there is any laddu recipe which is easy to make, healthy and good to eat.. then it is this pottu kadalai or udacha kadalai laddu.

Our people used to call it as udacha kadalai and many of my friends call it as pottu kadalai or chutney paruppu. Its a very healthy pulse variety. It is extremely rich in iron content. Excellent snack for kids.

Mango Pudding - Use the Season

Mango Pudding - With Coconut Milk

Mango pudding is the new dish I tried with mango fruits this season. I used flavourful Banganapalli mangoes. 

Ulundhu Kali ( Urad Dhal Halwa ) - Healthy Traditional Food

Ulundhu Kali - Healthy Traditional Food

Ulundham/Ulundhu kali is a healthy food traditionally cooked in Tamil Nadu with black whole urad dhal and palm jaggery. These are the two main ingredients plus water. That is all..! you can also do this with whole white urad dhal. But whole black urad dhal is more nutritive and has more fibre and above all more flavour than the whole white urad dhal.

Since I did not have whole black urad dhal today, I used whole white urad dhal.

Sesame Seeds Balls - Keep it Simple, Keep it Healthy.

Sesame Seeds balls - Healthy and Easy Snack

Sesame seeds jaggery balls is a sweet laddu which is easy to make and good to eat. I remember my grandmother making it.. pounding the roasted sesame seeds manually with jaggery. But now.. all the hard work is saved. Use a mixer or blender. But taste - I can say we have compromised. The taste and flavour we get by manually pounding the sesame seeds and jaggery is incomparable. But now we cannot think about traditional manual gadgets. We have lost them! But, something is better than nothing. Use a mixer. That is all 😁.

Aval Paayasam / Poha Kheer - TAMIL NEW YEAR Special

Aval Paayasam / Poha Kheer - No Added Sugar

I Wish all my friends very Happy Tamil New Year 2018. This aval paayasam is this new year's special in our house.

Kesar Peda (Indian dessert with Khoya)

Kesar Peda - made with Khoya

I got this recipe from a cook book. I tried this kesar peda. It is made with khoya which I bought from shop. We can use khoya made at home too. These pedas tasted awesome and has this great saffron and cardamom flavour in it.

"Kesar-y" Rava Kesari

Rava Kesari with Kesar

Kesari is such a polite and easy sweet dessert. quick to make and good to eat. It doesn't make much fuss to come out well. It is a fool proof recipe.

Rava Laddu

🎄Season's Greetings Everyone ! 

Rava Laddu

Rava laddu is one of the most simple sweet item in the Indian cuisine. Most of us would make rava laddu for any Festival as its recipe is simple.

Before I started to cook, I never respected rava laddu.. I never had any concerns for rava laddu untill one of my friend in US gave me her rava laddu for her son's birthday. I had a bite of the laddu, and just stopped to sense the unique flavour..

Kadalai Urundai - Indian Peanut-Jaggery Balls

Kadalai Urundai / Kadalai Mittai

I can assure that anyone born before 1990 will have this kadalai mittai in their childhood favourites list. Those small bite-size dark brown peanut-jaggery balls.. for which we used to drool when we used to go to shops with mom. Those days these candies were not individually wrapped in fancy wrappers.

It's Deepavali !

Wish You All My Friends a Very Happy and Safe Deepavali !

For Deepavali goodies, click here - Deepavali

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Badam halwa - was once a sweet which I thought we could never make at home. Always used to buy from shops and relish.

During the course of trying of new recipes and developing old recipes.. I found out that this badam halwa recipe was such an

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Javvarisi payasam is the simple dessert made with milk and javvarisi/sago. I love the way the javvarisi feels in my mouth in this payasam.. tiny.. soft.. smooth.. pearls.. with the flavour of cardamom and my special touch - the edible camphor.