Sweet and Savoury Diwali Moments



Diwali Marundhu,Mysore Pak,Wheat halwa and Rava Ladoo

 

Thenkuzhal,Mullu thenkuzhal and Omapodi




Brinjal,Chow Chow,Potato and Raw Plantain waiting to sizzle our palate. 



Diwali at our place is really big on food.These are some of the moments that made Diwali great for us. This was at my Mil's place.Our festivities started on the 4th evening with bhaji and wheat halwa and the rest of the bakshanam pictured on top .This was followed by a simple dinner of semiya payasam,onion sambar and potato curry.Check out the collages.This was our Pre-Diwali treat! I'm sending this to the key bunch fest.

Shake it with Salt and Peppa!

A girl cut in two! I couldn't help thinking of this French movie title, when I received this orange salt and pepper shaker as a gift.I think this was picked up in the U.S.This is going to the salt and pepper carnival happening at Scatter the batter. 

Making of Mysore Pak.My mom in her own words.

Melt in the mouth barfi type Mysore Pak

Proportions:
Gram Flour: 1: Sugar 2: Ghee 3 (Aavin or Udhayam)

The importance of using Asli desi Ghee in Mysore Pak

Sorry health conscious people.If you want to get a nice texture of Mysore pak,you can't resist the use of ghee.You have to use ghee in the proportion of 3 cups to 1 of besan and 2 cups of sugar.If you have any health problem no other go, you have to keep away from eating the delicious Mysore Pak.

How this sweet was named

Since this sweet was prepared in the royal kitchen of Mysore Maharaja,this was the name it acquired.

Making of the barfi like Mysore Pak!

1)Heat half cup of ghee and add one cup of besan in the frying pan.(generally iron kadai is preferred).If you don't have one use you can use Calcutta frying pan or any other pan which is thick bottomed.

2) Mix the flour with out any lumps.

3) In the meantime time add 2 cups of sugar, add water to immerse the sugar.Boil till you get a two string consistency.

4) Now add the besan mixture which is mixed with ghee.


5) Keep the fire very low in sim condition.

6) You must keep remaining ghee in another vessel on the stove in a heated condition.

sinful ghee laden in progress mixture

7) Keep stirring the besan sugar mixture,periodically adding the heated ghee side by side.

8) Keep stirring the mixture till you can see the mixture starts leaving the side of the vessel.The ghee will ooze out of the Mysore pak mixture.If you take a pinch of it you can roll it into a small ball.This is the correct stage where you can transfer the contents.

9)Pour the contents into a plate which is smeared with ghee.The plate should be of even surface.

10) Then you can mark the pieces into squares.Once it cools down you can store it in an airtight container.

Tip: 

The end point is very important in making this sweet.You should not leave the place to attend any call.Even if you are a little careless you won't get soft consistency of the Mysore pak.

Best of luck to get smooth barfi type of Mysore pak and enjoy with family and friends.

Seriously my mom's Mysore pak was a big hit with everybody. I really loved this sweet Diwali moment.This is a tried and tested recipe.Please do try this recipe and let me know.My mom got a lot of wows from visiting family and friends.

I'm sharing this with Key Bunch & Emreen and Sugar Bananas

Weekend exploits

vegetable salad with vinegar

Tomato and Basil Soup

Mushroom Zondich!

Shree Mithai Thali

After Diwali festivities, just wanted to head out,because our house was littered.Just decided to have an early brunch at Shree Mithai at Anna nagar.We settled for their Thali. It was a simple quick meal with rotis added in.I liked the spiced buttermilk the best.This was on Saturday.

The weather was great thanx to cyclone Jal which hit Chennai.It got a little worst in the morning on Sunday.So we spent the rest of the day at home,after cancelling movie plans .My better half started following the weather with images from satellite kalpana!He predicted the worst.He kept giving me updates.I got a little bored of Jal towards evening and we headed headed out to the Soup and Salad Cafe in Anna nagar.

I really loved the place.The interiors were bright and chirpy.The menu card had a spice meter.I haven't seen this feature anywhere else.So for a person like me who cannot stand chilly spice it was of great help.So I settled for items with spice ranking of zero.Really loved their soup and salad and sandwich(Zondich).It was refreshing,light and tasty at the same time.For the Zondich they had even nicked the packet of sauce,which I usually fidget with.Didn't go for their dessert.Maybe next time.Loved the ambience,the fun way of naming their dishes,the spice meter,the calorie meter(light,medium,celebration), and the healthy food.The security even escorted me up to the car with an umbrella.That was nice touch.Will surely go back there.

Patty,looks like I'm doing only these weekend wrap up posts!(so addictive).Anyways this is going to her wrap up 5.

“It's the cook's nook’

This is a nook in my kitchen,which I have converted as a sanctified space!.Thanx to the lack of space in my "in transit" kitchen.When the key bunch people announced their party I thought it would be a no show from my side.Finally I persuaded myself to feature this nook.The lamps are facing the east.The Ganesh lamp is a panchaloham lamp(an alloy of five metals).The wooden stand is actually a  thai wooden game piece!The red and yellow terracota lamps are magic lamps.If  you turn this lamp upside down,there is a hole in the centre.You can pour the oil in there and use it as a regular lamp.The oil will not spill out!

The magic lamp

Submitting this to the key bunch party.Hope you liked my nook in the kitchen.Here's wishing my readers a Happy Diwali and my grand mother a quick recovery.