BM 69 Indian sweets. Karai Kacchayam

Abi's li'l hands grabbing the goodies!

      

   Though we like sweets, we don't enjoy the market sweets that much. Traditional and homemade sweets are the most favorite ones. Of these, our traditional sweet called kachayam is a big family hit. We make two types of kachayam. One is made out of rice flour and sugar syrup. The process is more tedious. The second one is called karai kachayam. Karai means mixing. This is easier and instant and made by mixing all the ingredients nicely. Hence the name. Both taste fantastic. Here I'm making the second variety. 

     Every time I make this, time rewinds in my mind and brings some sweet memories. Once we visited my MIL 's sister's place, unannounced as newly married. She was too excited and anxious as it is believed the new bride has to be given sweets on her first visit and there was no sweet shop nearby. So she made this quick sweet with so much love and it tasted like heaven, something which I've not forgotten even after many decades. In fact, I learnt it that day. So I dedicate this to her.  Now to the recipe. 

                       

Ingredients:

Wheat flour   - 1 cup

Maida / All purpose flour -2 tablespoons

Ripe banana  - 1

Sugar   - 1/2 cup ( or to taste)

Grated fresh coconut - 3 tablespoons (optional)

Green cardamom   - 5 Nos

A pinch of cooking soda

Ghee/ oil for frying

Method:

1. Mash the banana well in a mixing bowl.

2. Add in all the other ingredients except oil.

3. Add water a little at a time to make a smooth batter. The batter should be of pouring consistency.

4. Make sure there are no lumps in it.

5. Heat ghee in a pan, bring to medium heat and pour a spoonful of batter into the hot oil. (You can pour 4 or 5 kachayam in one go depending upon the size of your pan).

6. Fry on both sides till they become golden brown.

7. Lift one at a time, press it in between two steel ladles to flatten them and also strain the excess ghee out. (Need to do this quickly so as to remove all of them without burning).

8. You can, of course, serve them hot or even cold (room temperature).

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Sesame seeds laddo / Til ka laddo / Ellurundai

  
   Ellurundai / til ka laddo is a traditional Indian sweet. In South India, we make these laddoos with black sesame seeds and considered as poor man's delicacy in olden days. But not anymore. Nowadays, people don't make it the traditional way and you don't get it in the sweet shops also. Making the laddoos the traditional way is a bit difficult now as we need the traditional pestle and mortar for pounding. Instead we make do with the mixer grinder now. The traditional way of making tastes so much better without any doubt. But when you crave for these laddoos even the substitute tastes great. So for those of you with a sweet tooth,this one is a must try. Here comes the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Black sesame seeds: 1/2 kg

2. Jaggery / Karuppatti: 1/2 kg

3. Fresh coconut: 1 no

METHOD:

1. Clean and roast the sesame seeds till nice aroma comes and let it cool.

2. Grate the coconut and Karuppatti and keep them ready.

3. Divide the sesame seeds, jaggery and coconut into 2 or 3 equal portions. Put one portion of the sesame seeds in the mixer and grind till coarse.

4. Add one portion of the jaggery into coarsely ground sesame seeds and run the mixer for a few more minutes.

5. Now roast one portion of the grated coconut till it turns light brown and nice aroma comes. Add it to the ground sesame seeds and jaggery while it is warm (not very hot). Run the grinder till all the ingredients are well mixed.

6. Repeat the process till all the ingredients are used.

7. Put all the portions of ground ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix them well with a spoon.

8. Take small portion of the mix and shape into laddoos while still warm. If the mixture becomes cold, it can be heated up on a low heat.

9. Cool the laddoos and store them in a container. The taste improves after a day or two.

10. One must keep in mind that while running the grinder the load becomes more. Take the portions according to your grinder's capacity.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#69