Amma's Recipes: Sojjappalu | Kesari Stuffed Poori | Sojja Poorilu | Step by Step Recipe

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Amma's recipes is one such column on this blog, which is very close to my heart. These are the recipes which my mother perfected over many many years and reflects how awesome a cook she is. It is also fun to just photograph once in a while, without thinking about what and how to make a recipe, worrying whether it would turn out well or not. She Cooks, I Photograph. That is the deal. :-) If you guys have any questions, do drop in a line or comment. My mom will be more than happy to answer all of them. 

It is not often that I indulge myself into desserts that are especially deep fried and those who know me  are aware of the fact that I don't really have a sweet tooth either. But, the gloomy, not-so-peppy weather in Hyderabad is not helping me and with a blocked nose and sore throat I, to my mom's surprise begged to make some "Sojjapallu" (kesari stuffed poori) past weekend. My mom, being the best couldn't refuse her daughter's wish..;-)

..and as she was making them, I happily took some step by step pictures to share with you all.

Sojjappalu (or Sojja Poori) is a classic Andhra sweet normally made for festivals and other happy occasions. Those who are counting calories might have to just to look at these photographs to pacify their cravings. It is hard to express in words how divine these taste. Rava Kesari (the stuffing for these), as-is is a very popular and imagine if we stuff that into a poori! You see where am I going and why its hard to describe how it tastes. :-)

Enjoy!

Sojjappalu | Kesari Stuffed Poori | Sojja Poorilu |

lemon sized Rava Kesari balls - The Stuffing!

the dough - its consistency must be like a poori dough.

Here are step-by-step pictures on How to make Sojjappalu 

Just out of the fryer, draining the excess oil..

Recipe: Sojjappalu | Kesari Stuffed Poori | Sojja Poorilu |

Makes around 10 Sojjappalu
Recipe: My Mom


Ingredients:

For the dough - 

2 cups maida/all purpose flour
1 tbsp rice flour
1/4 cup oil

For rava kesari filling -

1 cup sooji rava/semolina
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 tsp saffron strands, mixed with little warm water [or any edible orange food color]
1/2 cup in total - cashew nuts, raisins
4 whole cardamom pods, crushed (or 1/8 tsp cardamom powder)
3 cups of water

Oil - for deep frying

Preparation:

How to prepare the dough -

Step 1: Knead maida, rice flour with water into a poori consistency. Rub 1/4 cup oil all over the dough. Cover and rest for 2 hours.

How to prepare the stuffing -

Step 2: Heat 1/2 tsp of ghee in a small kadai and fry cashews with raisins. Keep aside.

Step 3: Heat 3 cups of water in kadai. Add sugar. Stir until it dissolves. Add ghee. Let it come to a rolling boil. Reduce to low-heat and then slowly stir while adding the rava (Make sure there are no lumps). Cook until it is thickened for 5-6 minutes. Just before turning off the heat, add fried cashew with raisins and cardoamom powder. Mix well. It is very important to cool to room temperature as it will be used as a stuffing. Make 10 small lemon sized balls out of it.

How to make Sojjappalu (Kesari Poori) -

Step 4: Make 10 equal sized balls out of dough. Roll out a small round. Put a kesari ball in the middle. Cover gently with hand. Don't use rolling pin. With hand, gently press on each side by placing on a plastic sheet and make into a round.  Repeat the same with all of them. Note: Refer to the step-by-step pictures above.

Step 5: Heat oil in a kadai. Slide one-stuffed-poori-at-a-time into hot (not smoking) oil. Fry until light golden brown. Drain onto paper towels.

Serve warm to pep up those gloomy day and to bring an instant smile on your faces! :D

These are also made as offering for Vara Lakshmi Vratam which is on July 27th 2012. May be you can woo the Goddess with these goodies this year! I am sure she will be extremely happy, so will be your family & friends!

until next time,

Amma's Recipes: Nagori Poori | Puri with Paneer Korma

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“A mother's love is something we keep locked deep in our hearts; always knowing it will be there to comfort us.”  ~ Harmony Ferrario

Nagori Poori, all puffed up and ready to be devoured.

Yesterday was Mother's Day - a day that celebrates the essence of a mother, her importance in our lives, to cherish the everlasting bond we share with them and acknowledge their selfless love.

...well, if I may ask, do we really need a special day to express our feelings and make our mothers feel special? Honestly, all my mother would want is to hug her and plant a kiss on her cheek. That in itself is a mother's day for us. :-).  I have talked about her many times before and I never get tired of it. She is an inspiration to me and my little sister and would strive to be like her when I hit 50!

Make sure the dough is stiff.

uncooked poori.

Today's recipe - Nagori Poori is a recipe I bookmarked eons ago and the korma recipe is my mom's classic and a long time family favorite. It is very versatile and works best with any combination of vegetables, meat, eggs and paneer/tofu.

The weather here in Hyderabad is quite unpredictable these days. Durring one such chilly, gloomy days, my mother made these with spicy paneer korma on the side. Amidst some funny family conversations and while watching a old black & white Telugu movie, these pooris were devoured until the last morsel and gone in matter of minutes. :-)

Now, its your turn to enjoy! Buon appetito..

Paneer Korma. 

{Recipe}  Nagori Poori with Paneer Korma

Adapted from here. NDTV Cooks

Makes 5-6 medium sized pooris

Ingredients:

1 cup maida/all purpose flour
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp yogurt/dahi
1/4 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
salt- to taste
1/2 cup or less water
oil - for frying

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix maida, ghee, ajwain, salt and yogurt. Add water little by little and knead to a stiff dough.

2. Make small lemon sized balls of the dough and roll out into small rounds.

Note: Click here for step by step pictures of frying a traditional poori.

3. Heat oil. Slide one-poori-at-a-time into hot (not smoking) oil and it almost instantly rises up. For puffy pooris, the trick is to press down slightly.  Fry until light golden brown. Drain all excess oil and drop them onto a paper towel. Serve immediately to enjoy them at their best taste.

Paneer Korma:

Cut paneer into small cubes and fry them in oil until light golden brown. Drain excess oil on paper towels. Follow this post for the korma recipe. Just add the fried paneer at the very end.

We all scream for poori!!!

Previously posted Amma's Recipes:

Instant Mango Pickle
Chana Dal Wadi ki Kadhi (Lentil Dumplings in Yogurt Gravy)
Cut Mirchi Bhajji (Double Fried Cut Chilli Fritters)

Kova Billalu & Kobbari Undalu (Ammama's recipe)

Eggplants stuffed with a Spice paste

Spice Powder for Dry Curries

Poori Bhaji/Poori Koora 

Coconut Chutney and Babycorn Kurma

Vegetable Biryani

Aloo/Tofu Kurma (Version 1)

until next time,

Sweet Corn Sundal | Navratri Vrat | Dussehra Fasting Recipes

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9 days of Navratri is synonymous to umpteen number of delicious sundals that are made in south india. From Chickpeas to Rajma to Moong dal, almost anything can be used in a sundal.

I have made some Sweet Corn Sundal for you all today. It is very simple to make, nutritious and a perfect way to break your Navratri fast. the sweetness from the corn with tempering and zing from lemon juice make it irresistibly tasty, perfect for breakfast or a mid-day snack.

Sweet Corn Sundal

Ingredients:

2 cups sweet corn kernels
2 green chillies, very finely sliced
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp oil
few curry leaves
1/2 tsp minced ginger
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Place the corn kernels in a microwave bowl, sprinkle some water on the top and microwave for 3-4 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard & hing. Once they start to pop, add ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Sauce for a minute. Finally add corn. Mix well and cook for few minutes. Season with salt.

3. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice to the sundal. Serve. Optionally, you can sprinkle some grated coconut as well.

Hope you all are having a wonderful time with friends & family during this auspicious Navratri. :-)

Other recipes that can be enjoyed for Navratri -

Chickpea Sundal
Jeera Aloo
Fool-proof recipe for Sabudana Khichdi
Methi Pulao with Mixed Vegetable Korma 
Fried Cauliflower
2 minute Pineapple Dessert

until next time,

Mixed Vegetable Korma | Navratri | Dussehra Recipes

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Words fall short to convey how happy I am right now. After 6 years of being away from my friends and family, couple of days ago, I celebrated by 28th birthday. Did I hear Oooohs and Aaaahs out there as some wise(wo)men said - never ask a woman her real age ;-).

Well, I believe in not hiding but learning and becoming wiser & smarter through life experiences by each passing year.

I had a swell time in Hyderabad with my lovely, gorgeous SIL and her cute little baby S who were visiting India, for a very short period of time. I met her last while we were in US, in April this year and again, we got to spend some awesome time together, here in India. Time flies when I am with Little S. Her innocent love is just so captivating and fills my heart with so much warmth & love.

My mom threw a birthday bash for her baby and invited all of us for lunch. We had asked her to keep it traditional. There was her signature dish - tomato chutney, raw banana poriyal, mango dal, potato-bell pepper fry, mirchi bajji, sambar with rice & ghee. We polished off, with decadent rava kesari. Amidst lots of chatter, laughter and conversations about politics & movies with occassional burps every now & then, we had a swell time together. :D.

A birthday is never complete without birthday gifts, Isn't it. K gave me a cute, black-colored Vintage bag and Mads surprised me with beautiful Food Photography & Styling book - Plate to Pixels by super talented Helene. For a really long time, I was planning to get my own copy. :-) I hope to learn some tips & tricks from this book and improve my photography over time..

Coming to the recipe for today ....

Yesterday, the auspicious Navratri days began and here's Wishing you all a very Happy Navratri. :-). May Goddess Lakshmi bless us with lots of joy, wealth and prosperity.

Today's recipe is a luscious Vegetable Kurma which doesn't need a special occassion to be made. With rice or roti, it serves as a delicious accompaniment leaving you wanting for more.

Give it a try and Enjoy with your family & friends during this festival time..

Mixed Vegetable Kurma/Korma

Ingredients:

For the masala:

1 cup fresh coconut, cut into small pieces
1.5 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp dry roasted cashewnuts
3/4 tbsp coriander powder
1.5 tbsp sesame seeds
3/4 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp tamarind extract
1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced & fried in a tbsp of oil until golden brown (use only half of it for the masala)
1.5 tsp ginger-garlic paste
water

Other ingredients -

1 tomato
2 cups mixed veggies cut into almost equal sizes - potato, beans, carrot, bell peppers
1 tomato, chopped
2 tsp red chilli powder (or less based on the desired spice level)
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
3-4 tbsp canola oil

Preparation:

1. In the blender jar add all the ingredients listed in the "masala" list with enough water to make fine paste.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add rest of fried onion with tomato. Saute for few mins and then add all the vegetables. Cook them until done, not mushy just tender. Season with turmeric, red chilli powder and salt.

3. Add the ground masala to the vegetables. Cook on low-medium flame until oil separates on the edges. Mix in tomato ketchup and cook for few more minutes.

4. Serve with roti or rice.

Check out one other variation of korma here.

until next time,

Sabudana (Sago/Tapioca) Khichdi | Navratri Vrat | Dussehra Fasting Recipes

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After Jeera Aloo, one other quintessential Navratri fasting recipe is "Sabudana Khichdi". Truth to be told, I have had a bitter-sweet relationship with this dish for past many years. I attempted to make it once, but it was a disaster. So, I gave up. But, I loved this dish so much that I used to pester my friend Prachi, to get an extra serving for me, whenever she made some. And she did. :-).

..then I read Jaya's Sabudana Khichdi 101 post some time ago and got to know the nitty-gritty of making this dish. Little did I know that not just me, but many home-cooks fail to get it right. The trick is to not to over-mix or over-work on this khicdi.

Today, I made some just to post on the blog and happy to say, it turned absolutely delicious. Yay! I am sure from now on, me & sabudana khichdi will be together, happily ever after. ;-)

Sabudana (Sago/Tapioca) Khichdi

Ingredients:

1 cup sabudana/sago/tapioca (250gms)
1 meduim sized potato
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup peanuts, dry roasted and ground into coarse powder
2 finely chopped green chillies
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of each - coriander powder & cumin powder (or) 1 tsp of coriander-cumin powder
few sprigs of curry leaves and cilantro
1 tbsp oil (or ghee)
rock salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Wash Sabudana and soak in filtered water for atleast 6-7 hours. Once soaked, drain the water in a colander and let it stand for another 1 hour so that the excess water, if any is drained.

2. Peel and chop potato into small pieces.

3. Gently mix in - salt, sugar, little turmeric, peanut powder and coriander-cumin powder into the sabudana. Keep aside.

4. Heat oil and add cumin seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Once aromatic, add potatoes. Cover and cook until little tender. Make sure they are not too soft, or else when mixed with sago, it will become lumpy.

5. Add sabudana mixture and toss the ingredients well. Don't over mix. Just toss. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 8-10 mins, untouched.

6. Turn off the heat and add coriander and lemon juice if desired. Serve.

Refer to Jaya's Sabudana  Khichdi 101, for her tips & tricks.

  until next time,

Jeera Aloo | Navratri Vrat | Dussehra Fasting Recipes

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In less than 9 days, we have the auspicious Navratri days to begin. This is one festival along with Diwali which is celebrated with lot of rigor & gusto in almost every part of India. On each of the 9 days a different form of Shakti (Durga, Bhadrakali, Jagadamba, Annapoorna Devi, Sarvamangala, Bhairavi, Chandi, Lalita, Bhavani, Mookambika) is worshiped.

As a part of these celebrations, in our state of Andhra Pradesh we set up our own Bathukammas. It is a flower stack arranged with beautiful, seasonal flowers in concentric layers to form a cone. Bathuku in Telugu means live and Amma means mother. And in the evening, all the ladies adorned in silk sarees meet up in their localities , place these bathukammas in the middle and dance around them with synchronizing steps while singing folk songs. It is a visual treat to just watch these women worship Goddess Devi with such joy and gaiety.

Many also observe a seven day fast during Navratri, by following a specific diet and usually end their fast on Ashtami (the eighth day of the festival). For the next few days, I will be posting some fasting recipes and sweets which you can be make during Navratri.

One of the simplest of all is - Jeera Aloo.

Note: Rock salt is usually preferred instead of the normal salt in preparation of these dishes.

Jeera Aloo (Potatoes with Cumin Seeds)

Ingredients:

10-12 baby potatoes (or cut 3 big potatoes into cubes)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 green chillies
juice of 1/2 a lemon (or more)
rock salt - to taste
few springs of coriander and curry leaves

Preparation:

1. Boil baby potatoes (with their skin on), until fork tender. Chop coriander. Keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan, saute curry leaves and cumin seeds until aromatic. Add baby potatoes, green chillies. Fry for 5-6 mins.

3. Season with salt and mix in the coriander. Turn off the stove and then add lemon juice. Mix well and Serve with rice.

more to come..

Amma's Recipes: Poori Bhaji [Poori Koora]

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"Poori-Bhaji" (Poori-Koora, as we call in Telugu) is like a comfort food at its best since I was a child. There are zillion versions of the same potato bhaji served as an accompaniment for the crispy, deep-fried pooris. Some make it as an  aloo-matar combination or a dry potato bhaji version and some make it out of  memories during their train journeys. Whichever way you choose to go, you will reach one place i.e *Yummyville*. :-).

Today, I am sharing my mom's version of it. It is not spicy but mild with much less oil, which works best with its deep-fried counter-part. and this time, I pestered my mom that I would take step-by-step photos, this time around. Though she was all shoo-ing me away in the beginning, after couple of mins, she had to give in as I was adamant on capturing every action of hers. Of course my sister had call me one crazy-lady to shoot so many pictures and ultimately delaying our leisure Sunday breakfast. (you see, she is still mad ay me that I didn't put up the picture where she modeled for me holding a mysore bajji. ;-))..

Now, lets just dive in as we have a delicious photo-journey of poori-bhaji ahead of us...

The Ensemble

The Making of Poori

Step 1: Heat oil in a wide pan, preferably not a non-stick pan as research says at high temperatures they release unwanted and sometimes poisonous substances, which we really don't want in our food. Isn't it.

To test if it is ready, make a very tiny poori out of the dough and drop it. it should fluff up and rise to the top.

Step 2: Knead about 2 cups of wheat flour with little salt, 1 tbsp of oil and enough water (not more than a cup). Mix just like a chapati dough. Make lemon-sized balls out of the dough.

Step 3: Immediately roll into small pooris. Don't stack them, spread them on a paper or a plate, so that they are easy to remove while frying.

Step 4: Slide one-poori-at-a-time into hot (not smoking) oil and it almost instantly rises up. For puffy pooris, the trick is to press down slightly.

Step 5: Turn on the other side. Let it become slightly golden brown.

Step 6: Drain all excess oil and drop them onto a paper towel. Serve immediately to enjoy them at their best taste.

..moving on to the potato bhaji...

The Making of Bhaji

Step 1: Cut 3-4 potatoes into quarters and pour water until they are completely dipped in water. Pressure cook until 3 whistles.

Step 2: Remove skin and keep aside.

Step 3: Heat a 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of each - urad dal, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they start to splutter, add 1/2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste, 3-4 green chillies, few curry leaves and 1 finely chopped onion pieces. Saute until translucent. Season with turmeric and salt.

Note: My mom doesn't use red chilli powder in her recipe. It is only the green chillies. You can adjust the spice levels according to your taste.

Step 4: Lightly mash the boiled potatoes and add it to the onion mixture.

Step 5: Add about 1 cup of water and adjust salt if necessary. Mix well.

Step 6: Cook on low-medium heat for 6-7 mins until everything comes together.

Finally turn off the heat and add lemon juice if desired.

Note: Make the bhaji first and then start making the pooris. that ways, you enjoy them almost immediately..

The poori and bhaji is ready to enjoy!..

Did you like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow me on Facebook to be the first to know what I am are up to. Interested in just photo blogging? 365 days of Siri is my one other blog where I share a slice of my life through my lens. Cya all there. :-)

 until next time,
Siri