Roasted coconut candy - கமர் கட்டு - step by step - Friendship 5 series

Next in Childhood memory series, I have kamarkat. Its one of the fast moving candies in petty shops.Kamarkat is a hard candy made of roasted coconut and jaggery. This is a one of the favourite candies of kids of 1980 's. This is a traditional cadies, which can be available in small petty shops in our home town. The colour of the kamarkat depends on the colour of the jaggery. I got a light colour jaggery from Indian store, hence the colour. If not the colour of the candy should be dark brown. 

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Cooking time : 10 minutes

Yield :12 approx

Ingredients:

1. Shredded coconut - 1 cup

2.Shredded jaggery - 1 1/4 cup to 1 1/3 cup

3.Rice flour - 1 tbsp

4.Cardamom pwdr - a pinch

5.Ghee - 1 tbsp

6.Water- as needed

Method : 

* Shred the coconut and jagger and keep it ready. I have used 1 1/4 cup of jaggery, if you have a really sweet tooth, then increase it to 1 1/2 cups.

* Take a heavy bottomed pan, add ghee and heat it. Roast the shredded coconut in ghee .The whole process has to take place in medium flame.If not the coconut will turn colour quickly, without getting roasted well.

* Here is the roasted coconut. Always use heavy bottomed pan to roast the coconut, if not it will change colour quickly. Transfer the coconut to a plate and let it get  cooled. Mean while let us prepare the sryup.

* Take jaggery  in a pan. Cover it with water. Don't add too much water, then syrup will take more time to cook. Let the syrup come to boil. Strain the jaggery syrup using a filter. Transfer the filtered syrup to the pan. Turn the flame to medium low. Now check for the conistancy often. Stop the flame , when the syrup reaches hard ball consistancy.

* If you are using a candy thermometer, then the reading should be,260 degree Farenhiet or 126 degree celcius. We can also check the consistancy, by dropping the syrup on a plate of water. We should be able to take the syrup out like a hard ball, as shown in picture.

* Turn the flame to low, once hard ball consistancy is reached. Slowly add the roasted coconut and rice flour. Mix them well and let them get cooked for a minute. Add the cardamom powder to the mixture and mix.

* Now our kamarkat mixture is ready to be shaped. Grease your hands with ghee or just wet your hands. Scoop out a tbsp of kamarkat mixture and roll them into a ball.

* Take a plate and sprinkle rice flour on top of it. Place the rolled kamarkat on the plate. This prevents the kamarkat from sticking to the plate.

                                     Store the kamarkats in clean air tight containers.

Notes:
* If the sugar syrup is not right ,then we cannot shape the kamarkats .
* We can increase or decrease the jaggery .
* The coconut has to be roasted well.
* We can store the kamarkat in air tight containers for atleast 2 days.

Linking this to "Friendship Five " series started by "Geetha Achal" and "Savitha Ramesh"

Rose Milk - How to make rose syrup at home - Step by step - Friendship 5 series

      Next in "childhood memory " series, I have rose milk. Rose milk is a very famous summer drink in India. We used to prepare this drink to quench the thirst. Whenever we go out to dine, then this drink will be there in my list. Still the love for rose milk, has never decreased. This recipe is pretty easy and quick too. If we have the syrup handy, we can prepare the drink, within minutes. We can prepare the rose milk and store in refrigerator for atleast 2 days. Adjust the sugar level according to your taste.

Ingredients:
To prepare rose syrup:
1.Sugar - 1/2 cup
2.Water - 1/4 cup
3.Rose essence - 1 tsp
4.Pink food colour - few drops

To Prepare rose milk:
1.Rose syrup - 2 tbsp
2.Milk - 1 cup
3.Ice cubes- few
4. Sugar - few tsp ( optional )

Method:
To prepare Rose syrup:
* Take sugar in a cup with water. Mix it thoroughly. Cook on medium flame , till it reaches 1 string consistancy. That is when we drop the syrup, it should stay in the plate like a pearl. When we take the syrup between our thumb and index fingure, it should form a thread.This is the right consistancy.
let the syrup .

* When the syrup has cooled, add the rose syrup to it. The amount of rose syrup can be altered according to our taste. Add pink colour to the syrup.

Now our rose  syrup is ready. Transfer the syrup to a clean and bottle.Store it in the refrigerator, till we want to use it.

To prepare rose milk :
* Take a clean glass, add the ice cubes. Add the syrup according to our taste. If we want, a strong drink, add more syrup. If you want, more sweeter, then add sugar now.

* Now add boiled and chilled milk to the glass. Stir the rose milk well to get a perfect rose milk.

                                                   Serve the rose milk, chilled.

Notes:
* We can prepare the rose syrup well ahead of time and refrigerate it .
* Adjust the sugar according to our taste.
* Always use boiled and chilled milk to prepare a perfect rose milk.
* We can store the rose syrup for atleast 2 weeks in refrigerator.

Linking this to "Friendship Five " series started by "Geetha Achal" and "Savitha Ramesh"

Peanut Candy balls- கடலை உருண்டை - Friendship 5 series - Step by step

         Next in "Childhood Memory "series, we have "Kadalai urundai" or peanut candy balls. This is a tricky sweet, if we miss the consistancy of the jaggery syrup, then we cannot shape them into balls.Still remember the days, when my mom's friend make these sweets and give us.It would taste great . So humble sweet to munch on.We can also grease a palte with ghee and spread the peanut mixture. When it is still warm, we can cut the chikkis into squares. Also we can , crush the peanuts and make chikkis. We can alternatively use sugar instead of jaggery to make chikkis.The ways are numerous for us to make chikkis using peanuts.

Preparation time : 1o minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Yield : 10 (small)

Ingredients:
1.Roasted peanuts - 1 cup
2.Scraped jaggery - 1/2 cup
3.Cardamom pwdr - a pinch

Method:

* Roast the peanuts well. Medium sized peanuts works well for the peanut balls. Since I had jumbo peanuts, I have used it. If you want your peanut balls to be too sweet, add 1/4 cup more jaggery.

* Take jaggery  in a pan. Cover it with water. Don't add too much water, then syrup will take more time to cook. Let the syrup come to boil. Strain the jaggery syrup using a filter. Transfer the filtered syrup to the pan. Turn the flame to medium low. Now check for the conistancy often. Stop the flame , when the syrup reaches hard ball consistancy.

* If you are using a candy thermometer, then the reading should be,260 degree Farenhiet or 126 degree celcius. We can also check the consistancy, by dropping the syrup on a plate of water. We should be able to take the syrup out like a hard ball, as shown in picture.

* Now turn the flame to medium, add the roasted peanuts to the pan. Mix it well. Add the powdered cardamom to the pan.

* The peanuts should stick together . This will be helpfull for us to shape them into balls.When the mixture is still warm, grease your hands with ghee or water. Take small amount of mixture in hand and shape it into a ball. Do it quickly, to prevent the peanut mixture from drying out. Let the peanut balls cool for some time. Then store it in air tight container.

Notes:

* The jaggery syrup has to be of right consistancy, if not the peanuts cannot be shaped into balls.

* If the peanut mixture becomes cold, we can re heat in the stove and then shape it.

* Always strain the jaggery syrup to remove impurities.

* We can also toss the peanut balls to a plate with rice flour. This will make the balls to dry quickly, without sticking to the plate.

* We can store the peanut balls in air tight container for upto 10 days.

* The colour of the balls will depend on the colour of the jaggery used.

Linking this to "Friendship Five " series started by "Geetha Achal" and "Savitha Ramesh"

Home made Panneer Soda - பன்னீர் சோடா - From sratch - Step by step - Friendship 5 series

           This month , we are going to post recipes under the "Childhood Memory " theme.We have "Panneer soda" or a rose flavoured aerated drink for today. This is my favourite drink , since I was studying in my elementary. When we were living in "Gudiyatham" , a small town in "Vellore district",there was  a small petty shop, near our house. There will be a "thatha", who used to sell these panneer sodas in a small wooden basket, filled with water.Yes it was a very small shop,doens't even has a refrigerator. I am talking about the days of 1991.The soda would cost me 50 paise. That particular shop, gave a initiative to my panneer soda love. The flavour and the punch were the two main reason to hook to it. The panneer soda will be in these kind of bottles. The opening sound of the bottle itself will give a kick for me to drink it. Even now, when I go to India for vacation, panneer soda, karumbu juice,then mittai , will be in my list. Will happily munch on these things, forgetting about the calories.

Image courtesy : Google

       Coming to the home made version, the panneer syrup can be made at home and refrigerated for future use. We can just add some ice cubes and pour the club soda to prepare this addictive drink.This is very simple to make too.We can prepare the panneer soda, within minutes, if we have the syrup handy.

Ingredients:

For the panneer syrup :

1.Sugar - 1/2 cup

2.Water - 1/4 cup

3.Rose essence - 1 tsp or as required

For making paneer soda:

1.Panneer syrup - 2 tbsp or as needed

2.Club soda - 1/2 cup

3.Ice cubes - few

Method:
* Take sugar in a cup with water. Mix it thoroughly. Cook on medium flame , till it reaches 1 string consistancy. That is when we drop the syrup, it should stay in the plate like a pearl. When we take the syrup between our thumb and index fingure, it should form a thread.This is the right consistancy.
let the syrup .

* When the syrup has cooled, add the rose syrup to it. The amount of rose syrup can be altered according to our taste.

Now our panneer syrup is ready. Transfer the syrup to a clean and bottle.Store it in the refrigerator, till we want to use it.

* When we are about to serve paneer soda, take a glass of ice cubes. Add the syrup according to our taste. 

*Pour the club soda to the glass. Taste the panneer soda, if it is less sweet, then add more panneer syrup to the glass.Serve it ,before the gas escapes from glass.

                                         
                             Tasty and flavourfull panneer soda is ready for your guests !!!
Notes:
* We can prepare the syrup ahead of time and refrigerate it.
* The amount of rose syrup used, depends on how strong we want the flavour.
* Prepare the panneer soda, when we serve it for the guests. Because, if the gas escapes from the glass, then the drink will not taste good.

Linking this to "Friendship Five " series started by "Geetha Achal" and "Savitha Ramesh"

Kuzhi Paniyaram - குழி பணியாரம் - Healthy breakfast - Step by step

          Kuzhi paniyaram is a savoury doughnut, which is cooked in a specialised pan. This is an authentic breakfast of "Chettinadu Cuisine". Usualy, our normal idli batter is used to prepare the paniyaram. Kuzhi paniyaram goes very well with coconut chutney or red chutney. Bought this pan recenlty, and started preparing paniyarams . We can also make sweet version of paniyarams, by adding jaggery syrup to it.This will be kid's favourite fingure food. 

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Cooking time : 25 minutes

Yield : 14

Ingredients:

1.Idli batter - 2 cups

2.Onion - 1

3.Green chillies - 3

4.Coconut - 2

5.Curry leaves - few

6.Cilantro - chopped

7.Oil - 2 tbsp.

8.Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

9.urad dal - 1/2 tsp

10.Chana dal - 1 tbsp.

11.Salt - to taste.

Method:

* Take a pan, add oil temper with, mustard seeds,urad dal ,chana dal and curry leaves.Now add sliced onion ,green chillies. Saute till it becomes translucent. Sprinkle salt to the onion. Finally add the shredded coconut. Roast it for a minute. Turn off the stove and garnish with chopped cilantro.

* Take the idli batter in a bowl and add the sauteed ingredients.Mix them well to get incorporated with the batter. Heat a kuzhi paniyaram pan well. Add little oil in all the cavities of the pan/ Th oil should have greased the pan well.When the pan is really hot, pour the batter to all the cavities.

* When you see small pores on the surface of the paniyaram, flip the paniyaram using a spoon or a skewer .Cook the paniyaram , well. Drizzle oil over the paniyaram well.

* When the paniyarams are cooked, take them out of the pan and store in hot packs for the paniyarams to be hot. Serve the paniyarams with coconut chutney or red chutney.

Notes:
* We can prepare the batter for the paniyaram well ahead and refrigerate it.When we need, we can just thaw the batter and use it.
* The paniyaram pan has to be really hot, if not the batter will stick to the pan and will not come out.
* We can also use coconut pieces, instead of shredded coconut.
* Cook the paniyaram in medium heat flame.

Thai coconut sticky rice - Rice pudding with coconut sauce - International Food Challenge - Step by step

Usually, when I recieve the recipes for challenges, I will start to prepare after 15 days of recieving it. But when Sangeetha Priya of "Nitha's Kitchen" gave us the thai recipes, I didn't waste any of my time and prepared the dessert immediately. The reason was , I had mangoes in my pantry , begging me to prepare something. Another reason, this dessert was in my to do list for so long. Thank you Sangeetha. Thai suisine, is always my favourite. Be it the red thai curry or golden curry, or crab rice, love the thai cuisine to the core. We had a small Thai restaurant near our house in Irving. It was so cute with very good ambience and decor. I would always want to try thai red curry. I have also tried thai chicken curry from Sangeetha's list, but have not pictured it.Enjoy this simple heavenly pudding with fresh cut mangoes.

Preparation time : 15 minutes

Cooking time : 20 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

For the sticky rice:

1.Sticky rice or raw rice - 1/4 cup

2.Water - 2 cups

3.Second milk of coconut - 1/2 cup

4.Sugar - 2 tbsp

5.salt - a pinch

6.Mangoes - few pieces to serve with.

For the sauce :

1.First milk of coconut - 1 cup

2.Corn sflour - 1 tsp

3.Sugar - 1/4 cup

Method:

* Wash and soak the rice for atleast 5 minutes. Grind coconut in a blender and extract the first milk and reserve for the sauce. Add more water to the coconut and extract the second milk out of it.Cook the rice in boiling water for atleast 10 minutes or untill it is mashed well.Add salt to the rice.When the rice is cooked well, pour the second milk of coconut on top and sugar, let it soak well, till we prepare the coconut sauce.

* While the rice is soaking in the coconut milk, we can prepare the coconut sauce. Take little corn flour and add it to the first milk of coconut.Let it dissolve in it well. Pour the coconut milk in a pan and cook it till it becomes thick. Now add sugar to the sauce and mix it.

* The coconut sauce is ready now.While serving, take a bowl, scoop out the rice and drizzle the coconut sauce. Serve with freshly cut mangoes.Adjust sugar to your taste.

Notes:
* Traditionally, this pudding is cooked using sticky rice, which we get in Asian supermarket.Since I was not able to get hold of that, used normal cooking rice.
* The rice has to be cooked very well.
* The coconut sauce has to be thick to seve.
* We can also flavour it up using cardamom.
* Fresh mangoes works well with this pudding.
* Adjust sugar according to your taste.