Thursday, December 29, 2005

Maladu

Flour+sugar / Ghee/ and Cashew Nuts
Maladu

Maladu( I make them very often. It is very easy to prepare.)
Sugar, Porikadalai and cardamom


















Ingredients


  • Pottu kadalai (Roasted gram)......... 1 cup ( Dariya Dal )
  •  Sugar .............................................one and half cup
  • Cashew Nuts(broken).....................quarter cup
  • Ghee ............................... .............quarter cup
  • Cardamom Powder.........................1 tsp 
Method
  • Powder the pottu kadalai and sugar finely in a blender separately.
  • Heat a pan with 1tsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts till it becomes red. 
  • Mix both the powders, cardamom powder, roasted cashew nuts. 
  • Add the rest of the warm ghee slowly till you can roll like a a ball with hand and press tightly.
  • You can keep the mixed pottukadali/sugar powder
  • Whenever you need the ladus, just warm the ghee and make them.
  • It is the best sweet and it consumes less time.. 
  • Add warm ghee to make balls so that the ladu will not stick to the hands.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

kolam





Kolam (in Tamil) is a decorative design drawn using rice powder by female members of the family in front of their home ,especially near the threshold. A kolam is a sort of painted prayer-- a line drawing composed of curved loops, drawn around grid pattern of dots, They are generally symmetirc.
On festival days, functions we put this kolam in front of our courtyard,puja room. Kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to the homes. For special occasions limestone and red brick powde(kavi) to contrast are also used.Though kolams are usually done with rice flour, for longevity dilute rice paste or even paints are also used. Modern interpretations have accommodates chalk and the latest technology in kolams are actually stickers (that defeat the original purpose).
Every morning in southern India millions of women draw kolams on the ground with white rice powder.Through the day, the drawings get walked on, rained out, blown around in the wind, new ones are made the next day. Every morning before sunrise, the floor is cleaned with water, the universal purifier, and the muddy flour and swept well for an even surface. The kolams are generally drawn while the surface is still damp so that it held better. Occasionally, cow-dung is also used to wax the floors. Cow dung has antiseptic properties and hence provides a literal threshold of protection for the home. It also provides contrast with the white powder.

Badam Kaju Cake


Badam Kaju Cake(Almond Cashew Nut Cake)




Ingredients


  • Badam (Almond) ............1 cup
  • Cashew Nuts ............ .....half cup (optional)
  • Sugar .............. ..............3 cups
  • Butter ............................1 stick
  • Milk ................................half cup
Method
  • Soak badam in water for two hours and remove the skin. 
  • Soak cashew nuts in milk for an hour. 
  • Grind all together into a smooth paste. 
  • Heat a pan, add ground paste, sugar, butter and stir it nicely. 
  • After fifteen minutes, when the mixture does not stick to the sides and forms as a ball and then pour it in a greased plate.
  • Cut into diamond shapes .