The traditional 'Nombu Adai'

Ingredients :
Rice flour - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
'Karamani' dal - 25 gms
Coconut - 1/4 of a coconut (cut into small pieces)
Cardamom / Elaichi powder - 1 tsp

Method :
First fry the rice flour, without oil, till it turns slightly golden in color.
It should be cleaned without any rice hard particles in the flour.

Now boil the Jaggery in 1 and 1/2 cup of water till you create the 'Vellai paagu' / Jaggery liquid.

Lightly fry the 'Karamani' dal and cook in the pressure cooker and set aside.

Now add the rice flour, coconut pieces and 'Karamani' dal in the 'Vellai paagu' and make a mixture similar to that for Upma.

Final Preparation : Now prepare Vadais with a hole in between them and steam it in an Idli stand in the cooker.

Serve with Butter and njoy this traditional South-Indian 'Karva Chaut' delicasy with family!

Aarodi' - traditional medicine

This is a traditional medicine used for pregnant women as well as to cure stomach aches.

Ingredients :
Ginger - 100 gms
Coriander seeds - 3 tbsp
Jeera - 2 tbsp
Omam - 1 tbsp
Black Pepper - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup (powdered)

Method :
Grind all the above ingredients (except ghee) with a bit of water to create a paste.
Now in a pan, add 1 tsp of ghee and add the paste to it and stir till the paste doesnt stick to the sides of the pan and leaves the sides.

Cool the paste and refrigerate.
Can eat upto 1 tsp of this paste per day during times of stomach ache or pregnancy.

Diwali Bakshanam - Omopodi

Ingredients :
Omam - 50 gms (only 25 gms will be used)
Rice flour - 1 cup
Gram / Besan flour - 2 and 1/2 cups

Method :
Fry the omam lightly till a smell emalates and then powder the same.
Mix it with Besan flour and rice flour with ordinary water and make a dough.

Now put a bit of the dough in the 'kozhal' and deep fry omam noodles in refined oil.

Serve when cool.

Diwali Sweets - Coconut Barfi

Ingredients :
Coconuts grated medium size - 4 cups
Powdered Sugar - 2 cups
Cardamon / Elaichi powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts - 10 in number
Ghee - 1/2 cup

Method :
Mix coconut and sugar with 1/2 glass of normal temperature water.
Add this mixture in a heated pan adding ghee to the mixture and keep stirring till the mixture becomes thick.
Now add the cashewnuts, elaichi powder and stir well. When the mixture becomes sticky, its time to drop the mixture into a ghee greased plate.

Once you have laid out the mixture onto a plate, cut small 'Barfi' cakes and let cool.

Njoy the authentic Coconut Barfi!

Diwali Sweets - The Traditional 'Okharai'

Ingredients :
Chana dal - 1 cup
Jaggery - Broken - 2 cups
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Til oil - 1/4 cup

Method :
Fry chana dal slightly till you get its smell. Now boil water well and soak the chana dal in the boiled water for 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain the water and grind it in the mixie coarsely.
Now STEAM this mixture (like for idli) and let it cool.

Once it has cooled down, beat it to become a paste in a mixie.
Now heat the jaggery and make a 'Vella paagu' / cooked jaggery.
[ HINT : To know that the 'Vella paggu' is ready, take a fingertip of jaggery and drop it in water. If you can roll the drop into a little ball, then the jaggery has been cooked correctly. ]

Now add the steamed chana dal paste in the 'Vella paggu' and keep stirring continuously.
Gradually add the Til oil little by little for enabling smoothness of mixture while stirring and finally add the ghee and stir till the mixture separates into a 'Chana and Jaggery' powder.
Add cashewnuts and elaichi powder to this powder.

Njoy the traditional Diwali 'Okharai' sweet that is prepared in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Diwali Sweets - Maaladoo

Ingredients :
Dalya / Pottu Kadalai - 500 gms
Powdered Sugar - 750 gms
Cardamon / Elaichi powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1 and 1/2 cup

Method :
Firstly powder the Dalya. Now mix Dalya, sugar and Elaichi powder.
Keep fried cashewnuts ready and mix with this mixture.
Now heat the ghee and slowly mix with the mixture and make small ladoos.
(Note : make tight balls so that the ladoos are firm)

Serve when cool.