Churma Na Ladoo ~ Wheat Flour Ladoos

Ganesh Chaturthi is incomplete without Lord's Favourite Ladoos. Last year I made authentic Modak for Vighnaharta, this year I decided to serve him with our traditional Gujarati Ladoos called Churma Na Ladoo. Gujaratis and brahmin community in particular are very fond of these Ladoos. They made from wheat flour and ghee and it gets its sweetness from jaggery. Guajarati Brahmin's feast is incomplete without Churma Na Ladoo.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Coarse Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup of Rawa (Semolina)
1/2 Cup of Milk
1/2 Cup of Water
2 Cups of Ghee
1 Cup of Ghee / Oil for Frying
2 Cups of Shredded Jaggery
2 Tablespoons of Elaichi Powder
1 Tablespoon of Jaiphal Powder (Nutmeg Powder)
1/2 Cup of Khus Khus (Poppy Seeds) / Sesame Seeds

Method:
1. Take course wheat flour, and add rawa to it. If you don't have course wheat flour, increase the amount of rawa to 11/2 cup. Add water, milk and knead a very though dough.

2. Make small balls or muthias out of this dough. Heat ghee or oil and deep fry these wheat balls till they turn brown in colour. This is the easy and best way to cook the wheat flour instead of traditional and time consuming method of making bhakris out of these small balls and then roasting them.

3. Once the wheat balls are fried, allow them to cool, later grind them coarsely in a food processor. The consistency should be of a coarse powder. Add elaichi and jaiphal powder in the grinded wheat.

4. Heat ghee in a pan, add shredded jaggery and allow jaggery to melt in the ghee, spread this mixture in the grinded wheat powder. Mix well with ghee, jaggery and wheat mixture with the help of a stapulla. Don't mix it with your hands as it will burn them as the ghee and jaggery mixture is very hot.

5. Once properly mixed, apply small amount of ghee on ur palms, take the ghee, jaggery and wheat mixture and make small round balls or ladoos by pressing it in between your palms. Make the ladoos when the mixture is still hot. Roll the ladoos in khus khus or sesame seeds.

6. Allow them to cool and place them in the air tight container. They can be stored for almost 10 days.

This is my entry for my very own Janmashtami & Ganesh Chaturthi Event.

This post also goes for Sanghi's IFL - Milk Event and Sara's Sweet and Savoury Event

My Dear Friends Sanghi, Priya Raj and Lone Acorn have tagged me, you can know more about me through this tag here..... thank you girls for thinking about me and tagging me.

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Gatta Curry

My interest in cooking started with this dish. I was watching 'Khaana Khazana' a popular cookery show presented by always smiling Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. I was in my early teens and had never even made tea. But I really liked this recipe and the way he showed it. This was the first dish, I ever cooked in my life. 'Gatta Curry' is a traditional Rajasthani dish, cuisines of Rajasthan are greatly influenced by the climatic condition of this state. Because of inadequate water, lack of green vegetables, Rajasthani cuisine developed a style of its own. Gatta's are besan (Bengal gram flour) dumplings cooked in simple tomato and yogurt gravy. This dish like other Rajasthani food has very limited and basic vegetables. Whenever there are unexpected guests at my place this recipe is my last resort as you need minimum ingredients like onions, tomatoes, curd and besan which are always available in the house. So here's your chance to impress your unexpected guest.

Ingredients:
For Gatta
1 Cup of Besan (Bengal gram flour)
2 Tablespoon of Curd
1 Teaspoon of Red Chilly Powder
1 Teaspoon of Coriander Powder
1 Teaspoon of Saunf (Fennel Seed/ Ani seed)
1 Teaspoon of Turmeric Powder
Pinch of Asafoedita
1 Teaspoon of Garam Masala
1 Teaspoon of Oil
Salt to taste

For Curry
1 Large Chopped Onion
1 Large Chopped Tomato
1 Tablespoon of Ginger-Garlic paste
1 Teaspoon of Cumin Seeds
1 Teaspoon of Coriander powder
1 Teaspoon of Red Chilly Powder
1 Teaspoon of Turmeric powder
3 - 4 Curry Leaves
2 Tablespoon of Curd
2 Teaspoon of Garam Masala powder
Salt to Taste
1 Tablespoon of Oil

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients for Gatta and make a dough. Take small portion of this dough and make thin strips by rolling the small portion of dough in between your two hands

2. Now boil the Gatta strips in water by adding few drops of oil in water so that besan strips should not stick to each other.
3. Once the Gatta strips are cooked remove them from the boiling water and cut in to small Gattas and keep aside.

4. Now take a vessel, add oil and cumin seeds, once they start spluttering add curry leaves, Onions and Ginger-Garlic paste. Saute the Onions till they are transparent.
5. Add Tomatoes, Coriander powder, Asafoedita, Red Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder and cook them till oil starts leaving the vessel.
6. Add Curd, salt and garam masala powder and water if required and let it cook for 1 Minute.
7. Once the curry starts boiling add cooked Gattas and let it simmer for few minutes.
Once the Gatta curry is ready you can serve it with plain rotis or parathas

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