Diwali Treats and Post Diwali

Seems like my typical day involves a lot of "rush, rush, rush, rush"! Its been a crazy few weeks for me. Time is just flitting across and I cannot believe its almost the end of the year. I admit I've also been slacking on the blog front. Actually slacking on the cooking front. Its hard to cook anything nice and different when there's no one to eat. Both me and K are trying really hard to cut down our intake and eat healthy. Actually more him (and I'm just trying to follow suit). So most days lunch has been raw veggies and dips or dry rotis and some really boring sabji or some really boring sandwich put together with again some raw veggies. And my kids just love raw veggies and American food so we have no complaints. :-)
And I've been thinking of a post but finally had to get out of the slumber when I saw Sia's message "Lathamma, yaavagri nimma next post? " (meaning "Latha when is your next post?") :-) so here I am....
Diwali this year for us was pretty low key. At first, I just did not have the energy to make all the goodies that i usually make. Calorie Check being the second excuse. We cannot afford to have those kind of temptations at home :-) Poor kids, they suffer.. but guess what they don't know better :-)
I'm digressing... so here I am and I don't do anything till Diwali day. But then I have all these wonderful friends who stop by with so many yummy treats and I feel terrible for not having made anything. So I logged on to blogosphere and Food Blog Desam... What did we ever do without this??? Thanks to Mathy and Indira for this wonderful tool!
And there popped Shilpa's wonderful Diwali treats one after another. I took a printout of all her treats and set out to try them.
I made the Mysore Pak... 3 batches of them... and they were a huge FLOP! Its not Shilpa's recipe... poor girl she has wonderful instructions and step by step pictures! Its just ME! I suck at making sweets! Have i told u that before! I dont eat any so I never make any, and if I do, they are disastrous! I think the mysore pak could have used a little more cooking on the stove. I took it off onto my greased tray's a tad bit early. So I ditched that, did not take any pictures!

Next was the yummy looking Shankarpali's. I made the Spicy ones first. They were good! And by the time i got done with these, my whole house was smelling of fried food! I hate that! And I was dead tired, the kitchen a big mess and my kids were screaming with hunger!
So then i ditched all my plans, left the kitchen as is, opened up all my windows, gave my kids some junk to eat (they loved me for that) took Bee's suggestion and poured myself a drink, kicked back and just enjoyed Diwali!

Oh and I also managed to take some pictures of the Spicy Shankarpali and some of the other treats that my friends gave me.
Do check it out....


Diwlai treats - courtesy my friends - Jalebis and Soan Cake, Murrukku and Shilpa's Teekh Shankarpali's

I've been meaning to post some of the other dishes I have made recently but have not had a chance. Here's one that we traditionally make at home.

Adai with Chutney

Adai is a traditional Tamilian breakfast dish. It is rich in protein because of the mix of dals and is very delicious. Though it is so heavy that I usually make this for Dinner on a weekday night. It is usually served with Avial or with some Jaggery and Podi. I just serve it with some coconut chutney, avial or sambar - anything that suits the mood of the day :-)

My recipe for Adai is pretty simple actually.
1 cup Rice (you can use any kind of rice. I use Long grain Jasmine rice or Ponni Raw Rice)
1 cup Dals ( 1/3 cup Toor Dal, 1/3 cup Urad dal, 1/3 cup Channa Dal and 1 handful of Moong Dal)
5 Dry Red Chillies

Wash and Soak the above for at least about 4 hours. Then grind everything together into a coarse mixture by adding water intermittently. The batter is usually thicker than Dosa batter (not runny but like a thick gravy).

Adai Batter

Once the batter is ready you can make adais instantly. To the batter you can add finely chopped onions, chopped curry leaves, small pieces of coconut, some grated carrots or some grated ginger. All of the above are optional.


Adai batter with all the toppings and Coconut Chutney on the side

Pour into rounds Adais just like you would make Dosas or Pancakes. Drizzle oil while pan roasting.
Serve hot with spicy coconut chutney.


Adai and Chutney - a wholesome, satisfying meal


One more look!

And this goes to dearest Linda of Out of the Garden for JFI- Dals.

Another Simple Breakfast dish that I made one of these days was "Goddu Upma". Not sure how this name came by. My maternal Grandmother - Ammama used to always make this for me. Have I told you about her? Ammama - the Krishna Bhakt. She hates to cook. And all along if she had to cook it would be something really simple and quick. Less than 10 minutes in the kitchen - was her policy. Anyway, this was something that she always made for Ekadashi. "Goddu Upma" meaning "Upma with nothing in it"! It was the most basic upma but yet so tasty! I make this once in a while when I am too lazy! (Seems like that's happening more nowadays :-)


Goddu Upma - Simple and Easy

You will need:
1 cup Upma Rava (or Bansi Rava or Coarse Suji)
2 tsp Oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Jeera or Cumin seeds
1 tsp Channa Dal
1 tsp Urad dal
a few curry leaves
a pinch of Hing (Asafoetida).
2 dry red chillies ( broken into bits)
a few peppercorns (black pepper - coarsely ground)

Method:
In a microwave safe dish dry roast the rava for about 1 minute in the microwave. In a pan, heat the oil. Season by spluttering the mustard seeds. Then add the jeera, channa dal, urad dal and Hing. When the dals are golden brown, add the curry leaves and dry red chillies. Then add about 2 cups water, salt to taste and allow the water to boil. When water comes to a rolling boil, add the rava in there and mix well so that there are no lumps. When all the water has evaporated, garnish with chopped cilantro and grated coconut (optional) and serve hot.


Up close!

Hope you guys enjoyed my post. Thanks for stopping by.

Update on 21st November 2007:

Updating this post to post the recipe of the Coconut Chutney on request from a blogger friend - Seema.

For the Chutney:

Fresh Grated Coconut – 1 cup
5 Green chillies
A small piece of tamarind soaked in water
A few sprigs of fresh Cilantro or Coriander leaves
A small piece of Ginger (optional)
1 small clove of Garlic (optional)
2 tbsp Chutney Dal (Dalia, Putnaala Pappulu or Hurkadale)
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
Salt to taste

Combine all the above and grind to a fine paste. Add a little water while grinding. If you are using frozen grated coconut, then add hot water while grinding. Season with mustard seeds, jeera or cumin seeds, hing and a few curry leaves. Serve with Dosa, Idli or Adais.

Also a note: My cousin Reva in Boston insists that Adai tastes best with Jaggery and Butter on the side. After she saw my post, she said "You should update your post with this". She says, that her in-laws and her husband traditionally ate adai this way. We always had Adai with Ghee and some Podi ont he side in our home. But she says after she tried the butter and jaggery combo, she loved it!

Thanks for stopping by.