TILGUL LADDU

ashus recipe-TilGul Laddu

Each January month the Hindus celebrate the festival of Sankranti. In Maharashtra the new crop harvested is worshiped before the Sun god, mother used to keep the Sugarcane cubes, the red Ber, the Mutter ki Phalli (peas in the pod), carrots, Tilgul, and some whole wheat.  The haldikumkum is also performed in the Maharashtrian houses, a function where the married ladies are invited at home, haldi (Turmeric) and Kumkum (Vermilion) is applied to the forehead, a ritual that I too do every year since my marriage.  Also flowers and a handful of five of these foodstuff is given as part of the ‘Oti’-wheat, Sugarcane cubes, Green peas, Carrot cubes and Ber along with the TilGul (Sweet made of Sesame seed and Jaggery) and a small gift. These were the things I grew up seeing my mother offer to the invited ladies for the function. It is not always possible to get/gather all the five things that form as part of the ‘Oti’ for me since living here in the UAE. I try giving it only when I can otherwise only the flowers, sweet and the gift is given for the Sankranti Haldikumkum to the invited ladies.

Sankranti Haldikumkum tray

It is customary to wear a black Sari during this Sankranti haldikumkum, and I loved wearing my Black Chanderi Sari and my most favorite (and heirloom) jewelry-my mother’s wedding Nath and hubby’s grandmothers Ekdani (the gold & black beaded necklace). Both were gifts given to me by these elders, and I love wearing them for this special function.

The Tilgul that I make during Sankranti and offer is in the form of Laddu. I have been fond of the taste of Laddus that my mother makes and hence continued to follow her simple recipe each year. It is a blessing to carry forward the traditions set by the elders and I enjoy each and every moment of it. With the many Job changes over the years, we have moved to many different places and the numerous friends at every place we stayed have always loved these laddus and hence I have decided to share it here on the blog.

My stay in Vadodara has seen us enjoying this Uttarayan festival as it is called in Gujarat with the whole day flying kites and enjoying the special dish-Undhiyo and sweets Jalebi. It is so much fun, the whole city and state is in the festive spirits with loud speakers blaring loud music on each terrace, and the whole day spent with family and friends flying the hundreds of kites that are kept ready and stacked to last the whole day of 14th January. I learnt to make Undhiyo from my Gujarati neighbors and since then every year I make this dish in my kitchen in January. I have to hunt the local markets for the numerous vegetables and other ingredients that are needed for this dish, but the trouble is worth it. Most times my family members have packed the special papdis and Tur dana that goes into the dish for me and gave them to me if I happened to travel to India in the December holidays. Unfortunately I am yet to get all the ingredients needed and have yet to make it this January, but hopefully soon.

The most delicious sweets are always very simple to make at home, one needs a little effort and inclination to prepare and the whole family can continue to enjoy the innumerable traditional and tasty Indian recipes.

TILGUL LADDU:

INGREDIENTS:

Til (Sesame seeds): 300 gms

Jaggery: 250 gms

Desiccated coconut: 2 Tbsp

Cardamom Powder: 2 Tsp

METHOD: (Makes 15-18 Laddus depending on the size.)

Dry roast the Sesame seeds so that the raw taste is removed as they get roasted and acquire a slight brown color. Take care that you should not brown the seeds too much, this results in a burnt taste of the powder that we will make of the roasted seeds.

ashuskitchen-Roasted Sesame seeds

Powder the roasted Sesame seeds in a mixer pot. Grinding to almost a fine powder does not require addition of few drops of milk to set the laddus.

Powder the roasted Sesame seeds

Grate the Jaggery using a fine grater. I have used the solid Kholapur gur, it is easy to grate and mix.

Grate the Jaggery

Mix the grated Jaggery, Sesame powder, the desiccated coconut, and the powdered green Cardamom together. Care should be taken to ensure the thorough mixing of the Jaggery with the powder, this helps prevent lumps being formed. One can use a few drops of milk to bind if the mixture is too dry and cannot be formed into laddu shape.

Taking a small amount of the mixture shape into small laddus and keep in airtight box. The ladoos can be enjoyed for long as they have a longer shelf life.

ashuskitchen-TilGul Laddu

They are so yummy that one tends to eat quite a few, but one need to take care and avoid overeating as it might result in an upset tummy 🙂 .

I did the haldikumkum at my place last week and since then have been trying to post the Laddu draft post that I had kept ready, and today finally it is time to publish the post 🙂 .

Happy Makar Sankranti to all of you my blogging friends and readers 🙂 .

Enjoy!

ashu

 

Tilwale Methi Muthia

ashu’s- Tilwale Methi Muthia

This recipe is my adapted version of the Gujarati dish Muthia. During my stay in the state, I learned couple of Gujarati recipes from my neighbors and friends. The recipes are all cooked according to my preference and hence I have altered the few ingredients that are essential part of Gujarati recipe i.e. Sugar or Gur. I tend to avoid adding sugar to my cooking and hence I do not add it in the tempering too.

I make methi muthia for adding to the Undhiyo dish. This Friday, I made this favorite breakfast version of the Muthia using 4 to 5 different flours and fresh green methi leaves. As it is a steamed dish and oil is used only for tempering, so it is a healthy recipe too. The mixed flours have a little coarser corn and wheat flour, it adds fiber to the recipe. The methi and Sesame too adds the fiber.  The carom or ajwain seeds aid in digestion.

Friday being a weekend here in the middle east, the breakfast has to be something special, I added my little touch in the display, the family loved it and we enjoyed a hearty meal. The muthias were served with a freshly ground, tangy, green coriander and mint chutney/dip. I added curd and onion dip too, in case one wished to have the curd taste, I need curds with most of my meals :).

Sharing here my healthy steamed muthia recipe. These are the ingredients that I use for this version in my kitchen, might differ from the traditional recipe and cooking, but I prefer this version for the steamed one.

                                     TILWALE METHI MUTHIA:

INGREDIENTS:

Flours: 1/2 katoris each of Rice flour, Makai (corn)atta, Rava (wheat semolina), Bhajni atta (optional) and 1 to 1 1/2 katori of Wheat flour.

(Note: one could use whichever flours they have from above, and it does not matter if one of the flours is not added. You can mix semolina and wheat flour too to make this. Some also use gramflour and semolina only.)

Green Fenugreek/Methi leaves: 1 bunch

Sesame seeds: 50 gms

Curd/yogurt: 2 Tbsp

Red chili flakes/red chili powder: 1 Tbsp

Turmeric powder: 1 Tsp

Ajwain (Carom seeds): 1 Tsp

Salt: To taste

Cooking Oil: 2 Tbsp

Long red Chili: 1 nu

Water: 1 glass (as required)

Chaat masala: 1 Tsp (optional)

METHOD:

Take the flours in a bowl or a big deep plate, add the ajwain, red chili powder, turmeric, salt and mix. Make a well in the center and add the finely chopped methi leaves and curd. Mix well and using water make a medium-to-soft dough.

Mixed flours

Flour and methi for making muthia

Methi Muthia dough

Divide the dough into medium balls and make long rolls out of the balls.

The rolled out dough

Grease a steaming basket, place the rolls in it, brush the rolls with oil so that they do not stick to each other after being steamed.

Oiled rolls ready for steaming in the rice cooker.

I steamed these methi rolls for 15 minutes in an electric rice cooker, I find it very easy to use the electric rice cooker. Once done, remove them from the cooker and allow to cool.

Steamed methi muthia rolls

Once cooled, our rolls are ready to be cut into even-sized roundels. I prefer cutting them into bite-size portions, easy to eat with a toothpick, also can be served as an appetizer /finger food at parties.

For the Tadka (or tempering):

Heat a Wok or Karahi on the gas stove, add the oil and heat.

Add the sesame seeds and the long red chili slices. Once the sesame starts to crackle then add the cut roundels and stir well so that the Sesame gets evenly coated.

Sesame coated methi muthia

One can add little salt, chili flakes, and chat masala at this stage too, if preferred. Mix well and remove on a serving dish or plate.

ashu’s- Tilwale Methi Muthia

I served the muthias with a tangy DhaniyaPudina Chutney and Onioncurd raita.

Tilwale Methi Muthia served DhaniyaiPudina Chutney & Onioncurd raita

Give these yummy bites a try and enjoy with friends and family. Wishing you all a good day ahead.

Enjoy!

ashu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Thalipeeth with Spicy Tomato Chutney, my alternative for a Pizza Dinner.

Most of us are fond of eating pizza, I am no exception. Pizza is something the kids would never say no and possible would eat almost regularly, every day, only if I allowed it. When the mood is for eating pizza, but to avoid the frequent intake of refined wheat flour and yeast to make the pizza base, for those evenings this is my quick menu to satiate the pizza hungry kids. My mother used to make something similar to this recipe but used the regular gas stove for cooking, but I baked it and the family was happy with the final product. It does not take very long time for making this recipe, except for the baking time.

Thalipeeth: Thalipeeth is a type of flat bread, a dish from Maharashtra state in India. Though typically it is made of multigrain flour mix, but for today’s dish I am using only wheat flour as the main ingredient.  It is mixed with onions, spring onions, green chillies, seasoned to personal taste and baked to get the desired crunch and crispy taste. An extremely spicy tomato dip/chutney is served along with it.

Ingredients For Thalipeeth:

Whole Wheat flour-3 cups (300-350g)

Oil: 3 Tbsp

Onion: 1 large (finely chopped)

Spring onions: 1 cup (finely chopped)

Green chillies: 3-4 Medium sized (finely chopped)

Green Coriander: 1-2 Tbsp (finely chopped)

Carom seeds: 1 Tsp. (Ajwain)

Flaxseed: 1 Tbsp (I use it, its a good source of fibre and omega-3 essential fatty acid)

Sesame seeds: 1 Tbsp

Salt: To taste

Turmeric powder: 1/2 Tsp.

Curd: 2 Tbsp

Baking powder: 1/2 Tsp

Water: As required to make a medium soft dough.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan assisted. Grease a square baking tin, I used a brownie baking tin.
2. Sift the wheat flour and baking powder together.
3. Take a clean, dry bowl and add the sifted wheat flour. To it add the finely chopped onions, spring onions, chillies, coriander,  the three types of seeds mentioned above, salt, turmeric and curd.
4. Mix all the ingredients of the bowl thoroughly. Add 2 tbsp oil to it and mix well.
5. Using the required quantity of water make a medium soft dough and knead well.
6. Taking the greased baking tin firmly press the dough inside the tin. Press with fingers to get even thickness on all sides.
7. Brush the top of the dough with oil and drop few drops along the walls of the tin.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or till we get golden brown crust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One can enjoy this dish with chilli sauce or a curd dip, but I prefer the tomato dip. Recipe of the tomato dip follows.

Spicy Tomato Chutney/Dip:

Ingredients:                  

Ripe red tomatoes- 2 Large

Onion-1 small

Green chillies- 2-3 (spicy variety)

Garlic-2 cloves

Salt/ red chilli powder/ turmeric- As per taste.

Oil- 1-2 tsp.

Mustard seeds- for seasoning

Method:

1. Heat oil in pan and add the mustard seeds, chopped green chillies, garlic and onion. Sauté till they are soft.
2. Then add the red chilli powder, turmeric, and salt.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till done.
4. Remove from heat into a bowl and cool.
5. Blend this in blender to get the smooth dip.

Tip: If one does not wish to use a blender, then you can add a little water to the tomatoes and cook them to a very soft and saucy consistency.