Uppu Kozhukattai, Ulundu Kozhukattai Recipe for Ganesh Chaturthi, Step by Step

Kozhukattai (Modak, Modakam) and Lord Ganesh go hand in hand quite literally, we know that. When Ganesh Chaturthi rolls around every year, I try to make some modak the week before and get it as perfect as possible because, and I won't lie you guys, making the perfect kozhukattai is not easy. Or maybe it's me just needing more practice because my mom and grandmom seem to need no effort, measurements, or recipes on the internet to churn out gorgeous vella kozhukattai by the dozens, Ganesh Chaturthi or not.

Uppu or Ulundu Kozhukattai is the salty, savoury counterpart to the sticky sweet modaks which are probably more popular. But life is all about balance and so it's a good idea to make some of these salty kozhukattai to serve along with the sweet ones, I'd say.

Going back to making kozhukattai and practise - if you've ever attempted them before you'd know that the fillings are usually very easy and it's a good idea to make them first and keep them cooled and ready. The covering, now that's the tricky part and I'd be the first to admit that mine bombed so badly the first 3 times I made them for this post. They had nice fluted edges and stuff but they tasted terrible. So what you see in the pictures here are my fourth attempt at making ulundu kozhukattai and while the edges are impatiently stuck together with my fingers, they tasted near-perfect. Goes to prove it can be done because as I generally like to say, if I can cook something, anyone can.

Here's a list of Ganesh Chaturthi recipes I compiled last year. You can bookmark and refer back during the festival to get going with your offerings to the Lord.

Now, on to the step by step uppu kozhukattai recipe.

UPPU (ULUNDU) KOZHUKATTAI RECIPE

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes ~ 8 kozhukattai

INGREDIENTS:

For the filling:
1/4 cup of whole white urad dal
1 of green chilli
2 tsp of oil
1/4 tsp of black mustard seeds
A pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungayam
A few curry leaves
2 tbsp of grated coconut (I used desiccated coconut)
For the covering:
1 cup of rice flour or idiyappam flour
1 and 1/4 cup of boiling water, more or less
2 tsp of ghee or oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

We'll make the filling or poornam first.

Soak the urad dal (ulutham paruppu) for one hour. Drain well and grind coarsely with the green chilli and some salt. Don't add water at this stage otherwise the urad dal will turn into paste.

Make lime-sized balls of this urad dal mixture and steam for about 5 mins on low flame.

When cool enough to handle, crumble the steamed balls with fingertips into a fine, breadcrumb-like mixture and set aside.

Heat oil and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, and hing.

Add the urad dal crumbs and continue to cook on low flame until the oil has coated it well. Add the grated or desiccated coconut and mix well.

Test for salt and add more if required. Switch off and set aside to cool.

Now we'll make the rice flour coating. Mix the rice flour and some salt in a bowl. Boil water and add it a little at a time to the rice flour, mixing it immediately. You are partially cooking the rice flour at this stage with the heat of the water so a thorough mixing is very important.

When the mixture begins to look like below, stop adding water and combine well with the tail end of a ladle (it will be too hot to use your hands). When the mixture cools down a bit, use your fingetips to knead properly.

Make a lime-sized ball of the flour mixture with hands greased with ghee or oil. Pat it flat with the other palm and add a bit of the cooled ulundu filling.

Close it into a semi-circle and pinch the ends together. Proceed with the remaining rice flour covering and filling. There may some of either leftover, it's hard to get the quantities perfect.

Prepare your steamed by adding water to the base and bringing it to a boil. Place the kozhukattai gently on the steamer plate and steam for not more than 10 minutes. Mine were done in about 8 minutes. The outer covering will turn glossy when done.

Serve warm. Kozhukattai are best eaten fresh and on the same day of preparing them.

Have a wonderful Ganesh Chaturthi 2014, dear reader!

For uppu kozhukattai recipe in Tamil please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.

If you found this post useful, do share, like, and pin it. Thanks for that motivation :)

Apple Kheer - Easy 15-Min Apple Kheer (Indian Apple Pudding) Recipe

When I shared the list of 12 easy diwali sweets under 20 mins, it wasn't complete and I had left the last one as a surprise. This apple kheer is the 12th surprise diwali sweet but I must confess the reason why I left it blank - it's because I hadn't decided what to make :D. I went through a number of options but really needed a sweet recipe without ghee since I didn't have any in hand and also wanted to use up the leftover condensed milk from making coconut ladoo, palkova, and chocolate burfi.

So, apple kheer. I love fruit in dessert but hadn't tried any type of kheer with fruits. I had an apple which was handed out as prasad at the temple we went to over the weekend and it seemed like a good way to use it up. I pretty much made up the proportions as I went about preparing the apple kheer but the idea to saute the grated apples is from Priya's recipe.

I made the kheer in the morning (took me ~15 mins to make two servings), took pictures, let it cool, and then refrigerated it before heading to work. In the evening, I found that the apples had absorbed the liquid part and the kheer had become thicker. It was still delicious but check notes after the recipe to see how you can adjust the consistency to your preference.

APPLE KHEER RECIPE

Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups of full fat milk
1/2 cup of grated apples
2-3 tsp of sweetened condensed milk
A pinch of cardamom powder
A few strands of saffron
8 almonds, chopped
1 tsp of butter or ghee

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Bring the milk to boil in a pan and let it simmer on low flame. Stir frequently to prevent it from burning.

2. Meanwhile, in a smaller pan, heat the butter (or ghee) and roast the almonds until light golden brown.

3. Add the grated apple to this and saute for a while. The mixture will turn dry and the apples will soften a bit but still retain the crunch. I did this for about 3 mins or so.

4. Turn attention back to the milk. In about 10 mins or so, the milk would have reduced to half the original amount. At this point, add the cardamom and saffron. Mix and let it cook for another minute.

5. Now add the condensed milk

... and cooked apple-almond mixture.

6. Mix well and turn off the flame.

Apple kheer is ready! How easy was that?

NOTES:

• You can add raisins to the almonds when roasting them. Also, use any other nuts that you prefer, like cashews, instead of almonds. I just feel almonds are apples are a good combination
• Increase the amount of milk if you want a thinner kheer. As I mentioned. the kheer became quick thick on refrigeration
• Adjust the amount of condensed milk to your preferred sweetness levels
• It's normal for the milk to curdle slightly when the apples are added. This is perfectly fine and enhances the taste of the kheer. Don't fight it or despair that it happened :)
• Apple kheer is best served chilled. This is also a great Diwali sweet recipe for kids to get involved in since it's easy and can be enjoyed by them too

Here's a list of easy diwali sweets you can try this festive season.

For apple kheer recipe in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar.

10-Min Palkova Recipe - Easy Condensed Milk Palkova Sweet for Diwali

Palkova in 10 minutes. Really. What has the world of cooking come to? Traditionally, palkova and thiratipal would require you to painstakingly stir a pan of milk constantly to avoid burning until it reduces to a delicious mulch which is then sweetened. The resultant palkova cannot be compared to this 10-min microwave or stovetop version (let's not kid ourselves) but it's still quite magical to get a good bowl of hot palkova in just 10 minutes. During Diwali, nothing can be more convenient than getting some super quick and easy sweets on the table so you can concentrate on other festival activities at hand.

{Also check out this Rasmalai from Rasgulla Recipe}

On the subject of this particular method of making palkova in the microwave, I must admit that it has some negatives and flaws, in my humble opinion. I followed the method mentioned in tons of blogs around and it worked like a charm, but the resultant palkova was heavy, too sweet, and turned very hard on refrigeration. Also, I found the process of making it in the microwave very messy and, ironically, time-consuming because you have to turn the MW on and off every time the condensed milk threatens to boil over, which is all the time!

{Easy 20-Min Chocolate Peda Recipe, perfect Diwali sweet for kids and adults}

So, while I have taken pictures step by step of making palkova in the microwave, I urge you all to try this on the stovetop. The extra time you need to cook the condensed milk should be fine since the MW method needs constant monitoring too. I also have some suggestions to offset the sweetness of the condensed milk (pls check notes below), do let me know if you try any of these and I would love to update this post with the details since I don't have enough time (or condensed milk) to try this palkova on the stovetop again. Check out this list of Diwali Sweets all under 20 minutes.

10-MIN CONDENSED MILK PALKOVA RECIPE

Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 9 minutes
Makes 1 cup palkova

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of roasted nuts of your choice (see notes)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please note: I made this batch of palkova in the microwave and have step by step pictures of that process. Although I haven't tried it myself, I suggest following this process on the stovetop using a heavy-bottomed pan and low heat. The stages of palkova should look very similar as below.

1. Pour the condensed milk in a large glass bowl (if using the MW). The condensed milk will boil and rise substantially so make sure you use a large enough bowl.

2. Microwave for 1 minute on high power. If the condensed milk seems to be almost bubbling over, stop the microwave, let it settle (for a few seconds), and then switch it on again. My MW, as do most, has a stop-start option so I used that.

3. Add 1 tsp curd to the hot condensed milk

mix well, and cook in the microwave for another minute.

The condensed milk will keep bubbling to the top so stop and start the MW as many times as you need. I had to do this roughly every 10 seconds and it was quite annoying and time consuming. If on the stove stop, you can just keep mixing the condensed milk as it curdles due to the yougurt we add (which is the desired result).
4. Repeat this step of adding curd one more time and cook again for 1 minute.

By this time, the condensed milk would have curdled well (if not, you can do one more round of yogurt+cook but this shouldn't be necessary for this amount of condensed milk).

5. Keep cooking in the MW in bursts of 10 seconds until the palkova forms - thick and curdled like in the picture below.

You don't want it to become too dry because the mixture continues to cook even after you stop - it's very very hot - so be careful when handling it or if you decide to take a taste.

NOTES:

• I added 1/4 cup of dry-roasted pistachios to the palkova when it was still hot and mixed them in well. This is to cut down the sweetness. As you know, condensed milk is very sweet on its own and when you are cooking it down removing moisture like in the above process, you are making it even sweeter. I have a sweet tooth but even for me, this palkova was too sweet
• You can add some milk to the condensed milk (maybe equal amounts) and cook it down on a stovetop following the above process of curdling with yogurt. This will help make the palkova softer and less sweet. Worth a try
• I am wondering how it would taste if we add some flour to the condensed milk. I haven't tried this either but I am just trying to think of how to make the consistency a bit softer and make it optimally sweet. Adding unsweetened cocoa powder is another option, of course. It may end up a lot like this chocolate burfi, but more grainy in texture
• Most recipes around suggest adding a tsp of ghee or butter. I didn't feel the need for it since the condensed milk turns quite greasy as it cooks down and didn't feel sticky. Feel free to add it if you'd like the enhanced flavour though

Any ideas for making this easy palkova taste better?

For palkova recipe in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar

15-Min Coconut Ladoo Recipe - Coconut Laddu Sweet for Diwali

I love coconut so making coconut ladoo has been high on my things-to-cook list. This coconut laddu recipe has only 2 key ingredients and takes not more than 15 mins to come together, so it's perfect for those looking for quick and easy sweet recipes for Diwali. I had bought some desiccated coconut for rolling the date nut ladoos in and it seemed like a good idea to use them up to make some coconut ladoos for Diwali. They are perfect to be packed and gifted too and takes so little time that I made them on a weeknight after cooking and washing up. Total win!

Now, coconut ladoo snobs (do they exist?) may claim that this is not the real recipe or not the traditional coconut ladoos they know. I don't claim that at all. As I said, this Diwali is all about easy, simple sweets for me that pack well and these ladoos fit the requirements perfectly. You can play with the ingredients and proportions a bit depending on how you like them. I was conscious of too-sweet ladoos so went a bit heavy on the coconut and added a generous portion of roasted almonds too. They tasted delicious and fudgy due to the condensed milk.

You may also want to check out my list of diwali sweets recipes that all take under 20 mins to make.

COCONUT LADOO (LADDU) RECIPE

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes 12 ladoos

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup of desiccated coconut + more for rolling
12 raw almonds, chopped
1 tsp of butter or ghee + more for greasing

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat the butter/ghee and toast the almonds until golden. Drain and set aside.

2. To the same pan add the condensed milk and desiccated coconut.

3. Mix well and cook on low flame

until the mixture turns quite thick and starts to roll into a ball. This took me about 8 mins but will totally depend how much heat you are using, type of pan, etc. The mixture will stick to your spatula and generally refuse to get stirred anymore. At that point, give in and turn off the flame.

4. Add the roasted almonds, mix them in and let the mixture cool enough for you to handle it.

5. Make ladoos of the desired size and roll them in more desiccated coconut. You can grease your hands with some soft butter or ghee if the mixture is sticky but if cooked right, it shouldn't be hard to shape them. If the ladoo mixture is too sticky, return to the pan for a while longer and cook until ready.

6. Transfer to an airtight container and let them cool completely. Refrigerate for up to 4 days, just remember to keep them out for some time before consuming since the ladoos turn a bit hard when refrigerated.

That's it! How easy are these coconut ladoos? I took them along on a road trip we went to this weekend and they were great to snack on between meals.

NOTES:
1. The sweetness was perfect since I used equal amounts of coconut and condensed milk but you can alter this to your taste
2. Use any nut(s) of your choice or leave them out completely
3. You can also use fresh coconut but the shelf life will be lower and you may need to cook the mixture longer since fresh coconut will be more moist. Desiccated coconut tasted great actually, not at all dry like I was worried it'd be

For coconut ladoo (laddu) recipe in tamil, hindi, marathi, urdu, gujarati, telugu, etc, please use the google translate button in the sidebar

Date & Nut Balls: 15-Min Date Nut Ladoo (Laddu) Recipe for Diwali

Date and Nut Balls or Ladoos (Laddus) are probably the quickest and easiest sweet you can make for Diwali this year. There are many variations of these delcious ladoos and mine are probably the most stripped down and basic version. I cooked down the dates a bit and mashed in the nuts to give it a nice texture but you can easily skip this step and make raw date nut balls too.

Most supermarkets here have pitted medjool dates which are perfect for making date ladoos. Medjool dates are large, very soft and fleshy, and have tons of fiber in them. Since dates are naturally sweet, you don't need to sweeten these ladoos although you can if you want to. To make vegan date nut balls, skip the butter or ghee and add some neutral oil or coconut oil for shaping the balls.

As it often happens with ladoos, you can decide what you want to add to these along with the dates. The dates form the perfect base being sweet and sticky, and you can add dry fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, sesame seeds, desiccated coconut, etc. These ladoos are also much healthier than tranditional sweets like maladu, besan ladoo, sandesh, gulab jamun, etc. I won't argue that they are tastier but these dates nuts balls are surely a great treat and quite addictive too. Try them this Diwali and share with friends and family. I really wanted to add 2 tbsp of chocolate chips in them but didn't have any in hand. Try that for me, won't you :)

15-MIN DATE & NUT BALLS (LADOO)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Makes 12 balls

INGREDIENTS:
12 medjool dates (or any soft dates)
1 cup of raw mixed nuts of your choice
1 tsp of butter or ghee
1/2 cup of desiccated coconut (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove seeds and grind the dates to a coarse paste. Set aside.

2. Dry roast the nuts one kind at a time until they start to brown in patches.

3. Pulse this in a mixie or food processor until you have a coarse mixture. It's best to leave a few chunky pieces for some texture in the ladoos.

4. Heat the butter or ghee in a non-stick pan.

5. Add the dates and cook on low flame until it turns soft - about 3 mins. It will absorb the butter/ghee completely too.

6. Add the chopped nuts and blend in. Turn off heat.

The mixture will be sticky and a bit tough to blend but keep going with your spatula and soon you will have mass of dates and nuts blended in perfectly.

7. When it's cool enough to handle, make ladoos of your desired size and roll in the desiccated coconut. You can also use roasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc in place of coconut. Or just leave the dates ladoos plain.

I hope you make these delicious dates and nuts ladoo for Diwali this year. They keep well at room temperature for up to one week and make a great, healthy snack in addition to being a nice sweet to distribute to friends and family for Diwali since they pack well and won't crumble or lose shape easily. Check out a list of easy Diwali sweets here.

For Dates and Nuts Ladoo recipe in hindi, tamil, marathi, telugu, urdu, etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.