Chomp And Cheers With Golden Star Thali

Chomp & Cheers brings all our readers Diwali delights – make some yummy home-made special festive sweets for your family and friends during the Festival Of Lights!

chomp-and-cheersSweet
Chomp With Mung Dal Halwa
Ingredients:
Yellow Moong Dal (split yellow gram) ½ cup; A few Saffron (Kesar) strands; ½ cup pure Ghee; ½ cup Milk, warmed; 1/4 cup Sugar; ½ tsp. Cardamom (Elaichi) powder; Water as required; A few Almonds and Pistachio slivers for garnishing.

Method:
Soak mung dal overnight or at least for 4 to 5 hours. Add in a mixing jar and grind coarsely. Dissolve the saffron in 1 tbsp of warm milk and keep aside. In a pan add ghee and mung dal, mix well cook for 30 minutes or till it becomes golden brown in colour, while stirring continuously. Add the warm milk and 1 cup of warm water. Cook on a low flame for 3 to 4 minutes or till all the liquid is absorbed, while stirring continuously. Add the sugar, cook on a slow flame for 15 to 17 minutes or till the ghee separates, while stirring occasionally. Add the prepared saffron- milk mixture and cardamom powder, mix well. Serve hot garnished with almond and pistachio slivers.


chomp-and-cheers-1Gujiya
Ingredients:
400 gm Mawa (khoya); 100 gm Semolina; 2 tbsp. Pure Ghee; 400 gm Sugar; 100 gm Cashew Nuts (cut each Cashew into 5 to 6 pieces); 50 gm Raisin – (Remove the stems from it); 7 to 8 (peeled and granuled) Small Cardamom; 100 gm Dry Coconut – (grated)

Method:
Cook the dry fruits in a heavy bottomed frying pan, till they turn light brown and take them out in a utensil. Pour ghee in the frying pan and add semolina to it. When semolina turns light brown, take it out in a plate. Grind the sugar. Mix mawa (khoya), semolina, sugar and dry fruits all together. The mixture for filling gujiya is ready.

Ingredients For The Preparation Of Flour For Gujiya:
500 gm White flour; 50 ml Milk; 200 gm Pure Ghee – (To make the dough and to fry); Water for kneading the dough.

Method:
Sieve the white flour. Mix little melted ghee in the flour properly and add milk to the flour. Make a firm dough, adding water gradually. Cover the dough with wet cloth for half an hour.
Remove the cloth and knead the dough again to make it soft. Make small round pieces from the dough. Cover these round shaped pieces with a wet cloth. Take out one small piece and flatten it in about 4 inch (diameter), with the help of a rolling pin. Continue rolling all and keep the rolled pile aside.

Methods To Fill The Gujiya:
Take the flat rolled dough on your palm and put some mixture in the centre. Add water to the edges and fold it in a semi-circle or half-moon shape. Else you can use the readymade gujiya cast for perfect shape and size. Take pure ghee in a thick bottomed frying pan and heat it. In the hot ghee, add gujiyas and fry gradually turning them with a frying spoon, till they turn light brown. Your gujiyas are now ready. Serve piping hot. The remaining gujiyas can be saved after cooling down. Put them in an air tight container. They can stay well for upto 6 to 7 days.


chomp-and-cheers-2Main Course:
Surti Undhiyu
Serves 6

Ingredients:
750 grams Surti Papdi; 250 gram Lilva Dana; 100 grams Green Peas; 250 grams Tuver Dana; 200 grams Baby Brinjals; 400 grams Baby Potatoes; 400 grams Purple Yam; 250 grams Sweet Potato; 4 nos Rajgiri Bananas; 30 ml Oil; 1 tsp. Asafoetida (Hing); 1pinch Soda Bicarb; 2 tsp. Ajwain; 2 tsp. Dhania Jeera powder.

Methi Muthias:
1 cup Wheat flour; 3 tsp. Gram flour (besan); 1 tsp. Ginger Green Chilly Paste; 3 tsp. Methi Leaves crushed; 1 tsp. Asafoetida (Hing); 1 tsp. Turmeric; 1 pinch Soda Bicarb; 1 tbsp. Oil.

The Masala mix:
3 nos Coconuts grated; 2 tsp. Green Chillies; 1 big piece Ginger pounded; 1 small bunch Green Garlic; 2 cups Corriander leaves Chopped; 3 tsp. Dhania Jeera powder; 3 tps. Sugar; ¼ tsp. Asafoetida (Hing); ½ tsp. Turmeric; Salt to taste.

Procedure:
Cut the potatoes and brinjals into segments taking care not to separate them at the base. Take half the quantity of the masala mix and fill the masala in the segments. Keep it aside. In a thick and broad based vessel add mustard seeds, when it starts crackling add the Surti papdi pods along with the lilva and tuver dana. Add a pinch of soda bicarb to it. Add salt, ajwain, ginger and green chillies crushed, dhania jeera, half the green garlic and the remaining half masala. Mix the papdi when it starts simmering. Arrange the brinjals, potatoes, purple yam, sweet potatoes dices, green peas all around the simmering papdi. Add the remaining masala and cover with a containing a little water on top of it. Add the methi na muthias. Be careful as not to stir the veggies rigorously as the sections tend to break. Cook on a slow fire. When done, add the bananas dices and dhania jeera powder and cook for 5 more minutes.

Methi Na Muthias:
Mix together wheat flour, gram flour, chopped methi leaves and all the masalas, and oil. Add little water and ensure that the dough is stiff and hard and not very soft. Make it into 1 inch balls and deep fry till golden brown.

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