Last month while Srivalli and I were chatting we came to a decision to try Khasta Kachori's for the Indian Cooking Challenge, the only person I could think of is my aunt Indu Maasi who is a wonderful cook, every time I am in loss for a recipe she is always there. She quickly sent me the recipe and by then I realized that I also had Tarla Dalals recipes. Indu maasi's and Tarla Dalal's recipe were very similar. Tarla dalal had 2 more fillings and I tried those too. We loved them a lot. I loved the moong dal one it tasted just like the store bought. Though my shapes are not so perfect since this was the first try it tasted wonderful.

Thank so much Indu Maasi, I think I am going to add a column on my blog just for your recipes.

I would also thank Srivalli to give us the opportunity to try these new recipes which we always wanted to but never got to.

For the Dough

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup oil/ghee, I used oil
1/2 tsp salt
water for kneading

Method

1. Mix the flour and salt.
   
2. Add the oil and mix well. Till you get a bread crumbs texture.
   
3. Make a soft dough using water.
   
4. Knead well for about 8 minutes.
   
5. Cover and keep aside to rest for atleast half hour.
   

Notes

• Keep the dough covered at all times, if not it will dry up and not puff up when frying. If the dough is made right wet cloth can be used if not just a towel.
  
• The dough could spring back for many reasons:
  
• Dough is too cold (If wet cloth is used)
  
• Dough is not soft enough.
  
• Not kneaded for enough time.
  
• Oil is less.
  
• Not rested enough.
  

Fillings
Khasta Kachori - Moong Dal kachori
Here I took a mix of both the recipes.

Ingredients
1/2 cup split moong dal (yellow)
1 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch hing (asefetida)
2 tsp finelly chopped curry leaves (Optional)
1 tsp chilli ginger paste
1 tsp sauf (fennel seeds) powder
1/2 tsp spoon garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp mango powder (amchur)
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

Method

1. Wask and Soak dal in water for atleast 1 hour. You can go upto 4 hours not more.
   
2. Drain the water well.
   
3. Grind the dal to a coarsely. (Will resemble Idli Rawa)
   
4. Heat oil in a pan.
   
5. Add the hing and cumin seeds.
   
6. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.
   
7. Add the dal.
   
8. Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.
   
9. Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.
   
10. Add all the masalas.
    
11. Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.
    
12. Add Salt.
    
13. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.
    

Muttar Ki Kachori from Tarla Dalal:

Ingridients
2 cups green peas
1 teaspoon green chillies, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons oil
salt

Method

1. Corarsely grind the green peas,green chillies and ginger in a blender without using any water. Keep aside.
   
2. Heat the oil in a pan,add the nigella seeds,fennel seeds,bay leaves and ground green pea mixture and saute over a very slow flame for 8 to 10 minutes.
   
3. Add the chilli powder,garam masala,coriander and salt and saute for 2 more minutes.
   
4. Remove the bay leavess and discard. Divide into 12 equal portions.
   

Pyaz Ki Kachori

Ingredients
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
2 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons green chillies, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Bengal gram flour (besan)
2 teaspoons coriander (dhania) powder
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
3 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons oil
salt to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, green chillies and onions and sauté till the onions turn light brown in colour.
   
2. Add the gram flour, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
   
3. Add the chopped coriander and mix well. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
   
4. Divide into 12 equal portions and keep aside.
   

Notes

• The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooz out when rolling.
  
• The masalas are according to taste, I did reduce the spice but still its spicy for us but the level we can enjoy.
  
• Once I added the filling I found it difficult to roll especially the moong dal, I felt the dough would break and make holes So I pressed it down with my hand. I followed Manjula's method,
  
• Fry the kachori's on medium low to get a crisp outer layer, that is the key. For people using electric stove, my numbers were going from 6 to 4.
  

To Make Kachori's

1. Make a small ball from the dough.
   
2. Roll out into a 2 inch diameter circle.
   
3. Place about 1.5 tsp of t he filling in the center of the rolled dough.
   
   
4. Cover the filling with the dough by sowly streching it over the filling. Seal the ends and remove excess dough.
   
   
5. Flatten and roll each portion to 2.5 inch circle. I used the my palms to flatten it, using the rolling pin was not working sincet he filling was coming out. (See notes below).
   
   
6. Keep aside covered.
   
7. Repeat with the remaining dough.
   
8. Meanwhile heat some oil for deep frying.
   
9. Drop the kachori in the oil. It should rise up slowly.
   
10. After it rises up (about 2 minutes), turn it over.
    
11. Cook for about 6 to 10 minutes till the side down gets a golden brown color.
    
12. Turn and cook the other side for another 6 minutes or till its golden brown in color.
    
    
13. Remove when done, cool and store in airtight container.
    
14. Serve with coriander chutney and tamarind chutney
    

Notes

• I fried 3 kachori's at a time.
  
• The oil should be at a heat when you drop some dough it should come up slowly, if the dough comes up too fast the oil is too hot, if it does not come up then the oil is cold.
  
• It will not be crisp if the oil is too hot.
  

Recipe Source: Simran's Mother. Thank you aunty.

For the December 2009 Indian Cooking Challenge, Srivalli chose the Moong Dal Halwa, Dal Jo Seero for us Sindhi's. Every winter we would have tons of Khoyo, a kind of halwa that has poppy seeds, dates and other yummy stuff. Its so delicious and would take hours to cook and I could just not wait for it to be done. After that the seero that I love is this one, I would never have dared to cook it until now, not because I am lazy or was thinking it would be tough, I am in for challenges but only because I love when my mom cooks all these things. And Dal jo Seero is one off the sweets always made during weddings and big functions.

Anyways I had a nice experience making this, thought it would be a breeze but no it wasn't. I made it my mama's way finally. This is how my evening went.

Dec 24th
7:00 AM - Soak 2 cups dal
6:00 PM - Grind the dal
6:15 PM - Heat the ghee
6:20 PM - Add the dal
6:21 PM - Dal sticking to the bottom
6:22 PM - Trying to Mix it
6:23 PM - All the ghee falling out, dal is sticking to the pan. Why is the dal sticking and why is all the ghee floating on top.
6:24 PM - Ok Ok relax...think....cant leave the stove cant go to the recipe....think.... keep mixing, ghee keeps falling out in the process
6:25 PM - Ok reduce heat more, remove all this ghee.
6:28 PM - All the floating ghee removed. happy now mixing will be a charm.
6:29 PM - Oh My this is so heavy, why is it heavy, why is my arm already paining.
6:30 PM - Heard the garage door open---thank god now hubby (who I call Listen) can do all the mixing this is tough (in my mind should have soaked 1 cup)
6:32 PM to 6:40 PM
Listen: whats UP?
Me: Come here.
Listen: whats this?
Me: Hold this. (giving him the ladle)
Listen: whats this?
Me: Mix this.
Listen: whats this?
Me: Mix it its sticking.
Listen: Ok Ok Relax. Starts mixing
Me: thanks, its dal jo seero
Listen: How come?
Me: ICC
Listen: Whats that? Anyways what about my tea
Me: Whats that?
Listen: This is so heavy to mix and its sticking.
Me: I know thats why you are the right person for this. Let me call mom

6:40 PM tp 6:50 PM - Call to mama
Mama: Hello Beta
Me: mama I am making Dal jo Seero
Mama: Silence....
Me: I soaked 2 cups dal for 11 hrs and then ground it. Then heated the ghee and added the dal but its sticking to the bottom and not mixing.
Mama: Silence....
Me: Is this how you make it too.
Mama: Silence....
Me: MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Mama: Yes, you must have added less ghee.
Me: No No, I added lots it was floating so I removed half of it.
Mama: This Seeta needs more ghee.
Me: But.
Mama: Did you grind it very fine.
Me: Proudly, yes very like dosa batter.
Mama: Oh Oh. its should be coarse.
Me: Oh..Then now what do I do?
Mama: Off It bring it tomorrow I will see here.
Me: No I want to do it, should i add all the ghee back.
Mama: Yes please this will need more ghee since its finely ground and will be tougher to mix.
Me: Ok Hubby dear is mixing it, if he sees me add all this ghee he will not eat it. So I will go now and take over and see what happens.

6:51 PM - release DH - wheres my tea, I sat 2 minutes
6:52 PM to 7:00 PM - I go take the ladle, send him away and start the mixing and slowly add the ghee its getting better not bad its coming together. Great. But am tired of mixing.
6:53 PM to 7:15 PM -
Me: Listen can you please help me in mixing this.
Listen - Ok but wheres my tea.
Me: In a minute
Listen: Oh this looks better now, did you add more ghee.
Me: NO, its the dal its removed some oil, its normal. Keep mixing.
Listen: Till when?
Me (On phone with mama): Dont know, will call mama, called mama and she said Golden brown. I asked her how long it will take she said long time. She said bring it here tomorrow I will do it. I said ok I will just bhunofay it till brown and then get I dont have mawa anyways.
Listen: I know the color I have seen my mother make this.
Me: Great.

7:15 PM to 8:15 PM - We take turns in mixing it, it keeps getting easier to mix. But its not turning brown at all.

8:16 PM - Listen is tired. Asks me for his tea again, I see the time and then tell him lets have dinner too late for tea. So I obviously forgot to cook dinner and we had maggie while I keep the flame on low and stirring every 5 minutes.

9:15 PM - Listen Listen see its brown now, the ghee is out, looks lovely come tell me when to stop. So we both wait for another 10 minutes and he tells ok that looks fine. GREAT. PERFECT
Listen Now what?
Me: Add mawa, but we dont have it. Will call mama.

9:20PM to 9:35 PM
Me: Can we add the mawa at the end.
Mama: We can but we will have to cook the mawa separately and add, the taste will change.
Me: So what do I do?
Mama: Bring it here tomorrow.
Listen from behind: Mommins no we want to make it here what else can we do????
Mama: Ok then make with milk only.
Speaker Phone is ON now
Me: Ok, so how much milk do we need.
Mama: about 4 litres.
Me: What? I just have 1.5 litres.
Mama: get it here I told na.
Listen: I will go get the milk.
Me: But I want mawa it tastes better.
Mama: Then Bring it here tommorow.
Listen: I will get the milk.
Me: No listen, I want Mawa.
Listen: Ok then we will add what milk we have and then take it tommorow, mommins buy the khoya and keep.
Me: No mama, when we come on the way I will go to the indian store and buy it and come.
Mama, Listen: Ok done.

We add .5 ltr milk and all the milk vanishes. What so we add more..thats gone too, we then remove what we need for tea and add everything we had. it keeps drinking it. I said ok thats enough. We off it and clean up.

Next day we went to moms place and the Indian store was closed, so no mawa...:(, so we landed up making it with only milk or should I say mama finished it off for us. But she did use a lot of Milk and cooked it for another 3 hrs on low. She adds more milk and cooks on low for low, so as the milk gets thick and will get to the mawa consistency.

Anyways it was delicious and everyone liked it..:) I dont think I am going to make 3 cups in future just small quantities. But it was a great experience

Moong Dal Halwa
Soaking Time : Overnight
Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 - 45 mins

Recipe 1 with khoya

Ingredients:

Split (Yellow) Moong dal - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup - 1 cup (depending on your preference)
Clarified Butter / Ghee - 1/2 cup
Khoya - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts and raisins for garnish

You can make any quantity with this as long as you keep this ratio constant : equal amounts of dal and sugar, half the ghee and khoya.

Method:

1. Lightly roast the 1 cup of moong dal, wash, soak overnight and be ground to a fine paste adding very little water.
   
2. Take a thick bottom pan, heat 1/2 cup ghee and fry the moong dal paste till it turns brownish and releases the ghee. Add sugar and khoya.
   
3. Stir fry until both the sugar and khoya are well absorbed. Turn off the heat, then mix in cashew nuts and raisins.
   

Recipe 2

Split (Yellow) Moong dhal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cups to 1 cup (as per required sweetness)
Milk - 1/2 cup (Notes from Lataji - instead of water for the sugar, this gives the khoya added taste, Simran's recipe asked for water)
Cashews/ raisins roasted in ghee for garnish.

Method

1. Soak 1 cup moong dal overnight. Next morning, grind to a paste.
   
2. Heat a heavy Kadai, take initially only 1/2 of the ghee and heat it.
   
3. Add the dhal and stir continuously, not allowing lumps to form. This part is very tricky as the dhal cooks really fast, irrespective of the ghee.
   
4. Keep the heat at the lowest and keep stirring even after the dhal becomes thick.
   
5. Add the rest of the ghee intermittently and cook the dhal until aromatic and the ghee starts oozing out.
   
6. Meanwhile mix the sugar with water/ milk in a pan and bring to a boil. Add this slowly to the cooking dhal.
   
7. Keep the fir low at all times and break lumps if formed while adding the sugar and water/ milk mix.
   
8. Cook until the ghee surfaces.
   
9. Garnish with cashews and raisins.
   

Notes :

• Use a thick bottom pan or better nonstick pan
  
• Don't leave the halwa unattended. The dal can stick and it can go from just done to burnt in a second so keep stirring as much as possible. You should remember to keep stirring to prevent dhal from sticking irrespective of the ghee added.
  
• You aren't looking for the halwa to get too thick when you turn off the heat. It was thicken as it cools.
  
• Cook until ghee surfaces on the sides and the halwa attains a very nice shine.
  Initially, it may appear that all the ghee is being used up. But as the dhal cooks the ghee separates. So the ghee measure is sufficient.
  
• In both recipes depending on how you got the moong dal paste, you may require slightly more ghee to get the texture
  
• Though original recipe didn't call for roasting the dhal before soaking, Lataji felt roasting it a bit gives more fragrance.
  

For this months Indian Cooking Challenge, Srivalli chose Chegodilu or more commonly called Ring Muruku or Kodubele by us. I had tried these before and had failed, they never get crisp for me, I knew I don't have the temperature right. I never tried them again till now. I wont say they came out perfect I still have to get the right temperature for getting them crisp, if I let them brown they do get crispier but then we don't like that dark color. I think I will try them again at my moms place on a gas stove, I have an electric one. If anyone has any idea at what level to keep on an electric stove please do let me know. I finally tried them all on a constant medium heat and they came out better. I tried the second recipe since I realised on the 15th when everyone's posts were popping up that I haven't done the challenge as yet and the second one seemed to be quicker to try. So here I am after frying them and still have my second last batch in the frying pan. I shall try again with my mom and get them crisp hopefully. Thanks Valli.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Rice flour
1/4 cup All purpose flour/ Maida
2 tbsp Ghee
1/4 tsp Ajwain
1/4 tsp Red chili powder
pinch Turmeric
Salt as per taste
Oil for deep fry
1 cup water approximately

Method

1. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil.
   
2. Mix the flours, ajwain, red chili powder, turmeric and salt in another bowl.
   
3. Add the water to the flour mix slowly, keep mixing till you get a stiff dough. Mix Well till everything is blended.
   
4. Pour Ghee on top, cover the bowl and keep aside.
   
5. Once cool to handle, knead to form a smooth dough.
   
6. Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope. Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmed pressed as not to give out during frying.
   
7. Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate or a cloth to prevent the dough from getting dried.
   
8. Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chakodis in batches of 4 -5. The flame has to be on high until the chakodis come up to the surface, then lower the flame to medium and cook till you get a golden colour on the chakodis.
   
9. When the chakodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. Store in an air tight container for longer shelf life.
   

Notes:

• Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chakodis to golden colour and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chakodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times.
  

This month Srivalli chose Gulab Jamun's, it could not have come at a better time, every Diwali we make gulab jamuns. But the challenge was to make the khoya/mawa at home and not to use store bought.

We had three recipes to choose from Gulab(less) Jamun from The Yum Blog, Gulab Jamun from Indo and Gulab Jamun from Alka

I followed the recipe from Indo since it had the procedure to make the khoya/mawa. They were perfect intially I thought they were hard but once we ate them they were perfect and held their shape, I usually just helped the elders make gulab jamuns on diwali and never made them alone, I feel great now that I made them on my own.

I had missed last months challenge, so I made the muruku too for diwali, they were so crunchy and nice, I was out of time so I just popped them into the hot oil and did not shape them. The photos did not come out well, since i will be making them again I will post abt it then, till then u can have a look at the blurred picture.



Thanks girls this was a wonderful challenge.

This month was a festival special, we had many recipes to chose from and had to make 2 off them, something that you have not cooked before. I chose churma ladoo and Modak from Mints. I made these for Ganesh Chaturti.

Churma Ladoo by Tarla Dalal (Shared by Lata)
These were super easy to make and we loved them b ut the next time I would just decrease the amount of seasame seed, I am not a big fan of them. Other than that this is a ladoo which I will make more often now.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta), coarsely ground
1/4 cup grated dry coconut (copra)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (til)
3/4 cup (150 grams) jaggery , grated
2 tablespoons ghee

Other ingredients
ghee for deep frying
poppy seeds (khus khus) for coating the laddus

Method

1. Make a stiff dough of the whole wheat flour using 1/2 cup of water. Knead very well.
   
2. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
   
3. Shape the portions into the shape of your fist and press with your fingers in the centre of each portion to make an indentation.
   
4. Heat ghee in a large kadhai and deep fry the dough portions on a very slow flame for approximately 25 to 30 minutes until they are golden brown in colour.
   
5. Drain on absorbent paper and allow them to cool.
   
6. Pound in a mortar and pestle to coarse pieces. Grind the pieces further in a food processor to get a fine powder (churma).
   
7. Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan, add the grated coconut and sesame seeds and saute for about 2 minutes. Remove and keep aside.
   
8. Heat the jaggery with the remaining tablespoon of ghee and 1 tablespoon of water on a medium flame till the jaggery dissolves. Cool slightly.
   
9. Mix the ground churma, coconut and sesame seeds with the melted jaggery.
   
10. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
    
11. Divide into 10 portions and shape into rounds. Roll each laddu in poppy seeds.
    
12. Store the laddus in an air-tight container.
    

Modak by Mints



We usually make the fried version of Modak, so I tried this one. Anything fried is always tastier, though this one was healtier we enjoy the fried one. I had to finish these myself, DH would not eat them he just took one as prasad. I think I did not do it right too, the outer layer was thick. I just would heat it in the microwave for 30 minutes with some ghee and then it would taste better.

Ingredients
Stuffing
2 cups freshly grated coconut (can use frozen unsweetened coconut)
1 cup jaggery (grated)
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cardamom powder
one pinch nutmeg (optional)
2 tbsp water (mom uses milk)

Cover
1 cup rice flour
1.25 cup water
pinch of salt
1 tbsp oil

Method
Stuffing

1. Roast poppy seeds in a small skillet and let it cool down. Grind it coarsely and keep it aside.
   
2. In a heavy bottom kadhai mix all the ingredients for stuffing except poppy seed powder and let it sit for 15 min. Now start heating the mixture over medium heat. In about 10-12 minutes, the mixture starts boiling and stuffing will turn yellowish brown and will be sticky. Take the kadhai off the heat, add poppy seeds powder and mix well. Set it aside to cool down.
   

The Cover

1. Take vessel that has tight fitting cover. Start boiling water in that vessel, add salt and oil.
   
2. When water starts boiling, lower the heat and slowely add rice flour. Please do now dump everything at once.
   
3. Start mixing vigourously with a heavy spoon.
   
4. Now close the lid and take the pot off the heat. Let the covered pot cool down for 15 minutes or so.
   
5. Then with wet hands, mix the dough properly. It will warm so be careful and use cold water to keep your hands from burning but do not use too much water.
   
6. If you think the dough is little sticky, I will suggest add 1-2 tbsp maida to it and make the dough.
   

Making Modak (Final Product)

1. Start boiling water in a large vessel that can fit a steamer. I use a stainless steel steamer that fits on a pressure cooker and water doesnt touch the steamer and use stainless steel plate to cover it.
   
2. Oil the steamer and set it aside.
   
3. Make about 20 balls of the dough and 20 parts of the stuffing.
   
4. Start making small puri with the dough ball on a oiled paper/aluminum foil.
   
5. Keep one part of stuffing in the middle of the puri and gather the puri gently to make shape like modak. You can see the picture here.
   
6. You will have to handle the dough very gently. Follow the step to make remaining modaks.
   
7. Now dip each modak in cold water and put it in the steamer.
   
8. Put the steamer on boiling water and cover it. Let the modaks steam for 20 minutes on medium to high heat.
   
9. Take the steamer off the vessel and let it sit for 5 minutes before removing moodakd from steamer.
   
10. Traditionally, modaks are served with ghee but it can be served with coconut milk.
    

This months Indian Cooking Challenge was the Khaman Dhokla. We were really hungry so could not wait to get a good picture, it was a bit crumbly but was very tasty. I actually made it 3 times to get it right, the first time I added Eno too early and it did not rise, I baked it in the oven to make it crisp and had them like biscuit, the second time I think I went over board and added more eno, I have the bottle and not sachets, it was really light and good but tooooo crumbly. Finally I went back and actualy read the notes below and saw that 1 sachet is about 5 gms. I finally had this though a bit crumbly it help well, will reduce the eno a bit more next time.

I used lime instead of citric acid and skipped the coconut. Made my own Pudina chutney to go along with it, though it tastes good even without the chutney.

Thank you Srivalli and a big thank you to your colleagues mom for the recipe.

Ingredients
Makes 20 medium sized pieces
For Batter:

250 gms Bengal Gram flour / Besan (1 cup in US, and 1 & 1/2 in India)
1/2 cup Curd
1/2 cup Water
1/2 tsp Cooking Soda

For seasoning to be mixed to the batter (to be added just before cooking)
1 tbsp Oil
a pinch
pinch Turmeric
2 green Chili paste (as per taste)
1 tsp Sugar
1/3 tsp Citric acid or 1/2 lime
Eno - 1 packet (green colour fruit lime) + sprinkle or dust few bits on the plate (5 gms)

For tempering
Sesame seeds
Mustard Seeds
Curry leaves
Grated coconut
Coriander leaves

Little water + Oil to be topped on dhoklas

Method

1. Mix first 1/2 cup curds with 1/2 water. To this add the besan and mix well to get a lump less batter, the consistency should be of idli batter, more of dropping not pouring consistency. Slowly add more water if needed else, add the soda. Keep it aside to rise for 1 hour.
   
2. If you are using a pressure cooker, fill the pan with water, place a plate over which you will have use a plate for steaming the dhoklas. Thali plate can be used for steaming
   
3. To the batter mix in the citric acid, oil, salt, sugar, green chili paste and turmeric powder. Mix well. This has to be done just before pouring to the plate.
   
4. Meanwhile have the pan on stove, and let the water start boiling. When the water reaches the rolling stage, you can mix the eno to the batter (Save little of eno for dusting on the plate), mix gently, you will see bubbles coming out.
   
5. Dust or sprinkle the plate with eno. Then immediately pour the batter to the plate. Place the plate carefully inside the pressure pan and cover with lid. You need not use the whistle. After covering you will find steam coming out of the outlet, simmer and don't disturb for almost 5 -7 minutes.
   
6. After 5 -7 minutes, remove the lid and proof it using toothpick or knife. If the knife comes out clean and does not have any batter sticking, then its done. Cover back and let it remain on flame for 1 min and switch off the gas and allow it for 5 minutes.
   
7. In a bowl, mix 3 tsp of water along with a tsp of oil
   
8. Remove the plate from the pan, pour the water and oil mix over the top.
   
9. For seasoning, heat a pan with oil, add curry leaves, sesame seeds, mustard seeds and finely chopped green chilies. When mustard starts popping, remove and pour over the dhokla
   
10. The batter should be filled to only 1/2 as it will rise up. After adding eno the batter should not rest. Amount of sugar can be increased on preference.
    
11. If you want perfect shaped ones and not the crumbling, cut and handle gently
    
12. Dhokla can also be steamed in kadai filled with water and a plated titled over it.
    

Green chutney
4-5 Green chili
4- 5 pieces coconut
1 bunch coriander
few mint leaves
1/2 Cumin seeds
1 big Lime
Salt to taste

Method

1. Take all the ingredients except coriander in a food processor. Grind to a smooth paste.
   
2. Then add the coriander and again grind. Remove to a bowl, add the remaining lime and serve with Dhoklas.
   

Srivalli of Spice Your Life has started this wonderful Indian Cooking Challenge, where every month one recipe will be given and everyone should follow it and post it on the same day. This month was trial and we all had to make Rava Laddoo's. What day better than today, being our anniversary and also we finalized on a house. I waited for today to make it. I had made them before but a bit differently. I followed her recipe and this is much easier than what I used to follow and tasted better too. Thanks Srivalli for this lovely challenge. This were so easy to make too. Here is Srivalli's recipe.

Ingredients

Makes - 10 Laddoos of normal size

Rava / Semolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 25 gms
Milk - 25 ml
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Cashew nuts - 10 whole nuts
Raisins - 10 nos
Grated fresh coconut - 25 gms


Method

1. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a kadai. Roast cashew nuts and raisins. Once the raisins balloon up, remove and keep them aside.
   
2. Roast the grated coconut. Remove and keep aside.
   
3. Add the remaining ghee and roast the Rava till its well roasted and aroma starts coming out.
   
4. In a bowl, take all the roasted Rava, Nuts, Coconut and add the Cardamom powder.
5. Add the sugar. Mix well.
   
6. Slowly add the warm milk into the bowl. Check if you are able to gather as balls. When you find that milk added is enough to get you laddoos, transfer it back to the kadai and cook on sim for 2 mins.
   
7. Mix well and then cover it and let it rest for 2 mins.
   
8. Then immediately make laddoos.