Magaja Laddoo ( Ganesh Chaturthi Colab with A Dollop Of That & Delish Potpourri )

It's time to welcome home the 'Vighna Harta', the Hindu God endowed with the power to remove all obstacles. He is the God of new beginnings, of wisdom, success and prosperity. Hence for many of us, Ganesh Chaturthi is the right time to begin something new. However, the festivities surrounding this occasion vary with various parts of the country. In Odisha, it is just a one day affair whilst in states like Maharashtra, the celebrations last 10 days on such a grand scale that everything else almost comes to a standstill.

With just 3 days to for the festival, it is high time to get the grocery shopping done for the various kinds of Prasadam to be prepared on the day. Except for the perishables, which of course have to wait for the last day. Different regions swear by their own version of the elephant God's favorite. But 'Laddoos' are onething that remain a constant. Almost every image of Ganesha is depicted with a laddoo in his hand or a plateful of these placed right in front of him.

Hence, my special recipe for this day had to be some kind of a laddoo. And I finalized on the 'Magaja Laddoo' or'Atta laddoo', which is quite popular in Odisha. When I was a child, these laddoos were made by my grandmother who absolutely adored them. She used to dot them with roasted charoli seeds and the combination of flavors was just heavenly. These are a specialty of the cold winter months when the hilly regions of Odisha can turn quite cold. As expected, quite a bit of ghee goes into the making of these laddoos which are said to keep the body warm.

My version of these laddoos is however low in ghee. And I have further fortified their nutritional quotient by adding powdered almonds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, charoli and pumpkin seeds.

Do not forget to scroll down to the bottom of this post for more amazing laddoo recipes from my blogger friends !!

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 cups whole wheat atta (flour)
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp flax seeds
• 2 tsp charoli 
• 2 tsp pumpkin seeds
• 10-12 almonds
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup ghee
• 2-3 cloves (powdered)
• 1 green cardamom (powdered)

Preparation - Dry roast the sesame seeds, flax seeds, charoli, pumpkin seeds and almonds separately.

Keep them aside to cool down. Transfer all these nuts into a mixer jar (chutney jar is fine) and powder them. Do not overdo the grinding as these the natural oils tend to seep out.

Cooking - Dry roast the whole wheat atta on a very low flame on a skillet. Gradually it will start turning a few shades darker and giving off a heavenly aroma.

At this stage, add the ghee, powdered nuts and sugar . Cook for a while to bring everything together.

Finally sprinkle the powdered cardamom and cloves. Mix in and remove from the flame.

Let it cool a little till it becomes bearable to touch. Take small amounts of the mixture and press tightly to bind them into laddoos. Shape them while they are still warm as they tend to be fragile and difficult to mold once cooled down.

Store in airtight containers once completely cool. Stays fresh for over two weeks.

That's not all !! Check out these fabulous recipes -

Parinaaz's Dink Che Laddoo / Dry Fruit Laddoo with edible gum

And

Saswati's Carrot Cottage Cheese Truffles / Gajar Paneer ke Laddoo !!

Once again, wishing everyone "A very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi " !!

Puran-Poli ( Ganesh Chaturthi special )

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi !!!

This is the last of the 'Ganesh Chaturthi special' series. Puran-poli is perhaps the most popular neivaidyan (offering) on Ganesh Chaturthi alongside the 'Modak' which is primarily consumed in Maharashtra. But one can also find the Puran poli in some parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh too. The Kannada name is Holige or Obbattu . I was a little scared to attempt it at first but the valuable inputs that I got from my South Indian neighbors helped me get it right at one go.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour plus

Ingredients -

For the puran (filling) -

• 1 cup chana dal
• 1 cup powdered jaggery
• 2 green cardamoms (powdered)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 tbsp ghee

For the poli -

• 3 cups all purpose flour or wheat flour
• 1 tbsp ghee
• salt to taste
• water for kneading

Others -

• Extra flour for dusting
• Ghee for frying the puran poli

Preparation - Wash and soak the chana dal for 3-4 hours. Transfer to a pressure cooker along with 1 1/2 cups water and cook for 7-8 whistles.

Keep aside to allow steam to escape. Strain the dal and allow it to stand in the strainer for 1 hour or till all the water drains off.

Take the flour in a mixing bowl. Add salt and ghee. Mix in. Then add sufficient water to make a smooth yet firm dough. Rub a little ghee over the dough and cover it. Keep aside for 1 hour.

Cooking - Heat ghee in a pan. Add the cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.

Add the cooked chana dal after 10 seconds. One can add the powdered jaggery at the same time or at a later stage.Mix everything together and cook for 6-7 minutes or till you find that the mixture is turning powdery. Remove from flame and keep aside to cool down.

Transfer the cooled mixture to a mixie jar and buzz for a few seconds. It will become like a smooth dough.
Remove from the mixer jar and keep aside. Divide it into lemon sized balls.

Similarly, divide the dough into balls which are 25-30 percent larger than the chana dal balls. Lightly roll out each ball into a small circle. Place the puran ball at the center and close it by bringing the ends of the dough together.

    

Dust more flour on the working surface and roll out the puran-poli ball  into a thin circle.

Heat a tawa and sprinkle a little ghee. Place the puran-poli on it . Cook on one side till small brown spots begin to appear. Flip it over and cook it on the other side as well.

Once done on both sides, rub a little ghee over it. Remove from the tawa and keep aside.

Repeat the same process for the remaining dough and puran.

Serve hot/warm with milk (or even some ghee).

Note - Excuse me for the badly taken pics. Will change them as soon as possible.

Uppu Undrallu ( Ganesh Chaturthi Special )

Another popular offering on Ganesh Chaturthi is the Uppu undrallu or salted and steamed rice balls. Spiced with some cumin (jeera) and black pepper, these are easy to make and quite healthy too. They are very popular in Andhra and one can find lot many versions/variations over the net (some sweet ones too )!!!

Read on for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 20 mins ( plus 10 mins standby )

Ingredients -

• 1 cup jeera rice 
• 2 tbsp chana dal
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 7-8 peppercorns (coarsely ground)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp ghee

Preparation - Wash the rice and soak for 5 mins. Drain off the water and spread on a cloth to dry.

Once it has dried, grind into a coarse paste.

Wash and allow the chana dal to soak for 2-3 hours.

Cooking - Heat the ghee in a wok. Add the cumin seeds and allow to splutter.

Add 2 cups of water to the wok along with the soaked chana dal. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil.

Add the rice flour and cook on medium heat till it forms a dough like mass. This takes about 5-6 mins.

Keep aside to cool it is bearable to touch. Pinch small portions out of the dough and roll into balls.

Steam the balls for 7-8 mins in a idli cooker.

Serve warm.

Sweet Appams

With Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner, cleaning the house in in full swing. Replacing/washing the sofa covers/curtains/bed-sheets, dusting, removing the cow-webs, throwing out/giving away the old clothes/toys and cleaning out my pantry is what I plan do achieve by Wednesday. That would give me ample time to make the sweets/delicacies for the big day, i.e., 29th August (friday). People from Odisha do not celebrate the Gowri-Ganesh puju that is being observed on Thursday by folks from down South.

Unlike Maharashtra and some of the other states where it is a ten day long festival, Ganesh Chaturthi celebration in Odisha is a comparatively low key affair. Mandaps/Pandals of varying sizes come up in most schools, colleges, offices and market places. The most common prasad distributed at such Pandals is the 'Chuda Ghasa' and 'Khaee ukhuda' ( scroll down to the bottom of this post for more recipes ). In western Odisha, the harvest festival of 'Nua khai' is observed on the following day. It also heralds the beginning of the festive season in  Odisha. It is closely followed by festivals like Vishwakarma Puja, Dwitibahana Osa, Durgashtami, Kumar Purnima/Lakshmi Puja and Diwali/Kali Puja, and the holy Odia months of Karthik and Margasira.

Sweet appams happen to be one of the important offerings/Neivaidyam made to Lord Ganesh in Southern India. While it is traditionally made from rice flour, I have made these with store bought batter. Saves time and the taste is also preferred by toddlers/kids. Read on for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 10-15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup idli/dosa batter (should be thick)
• 1 tbsp wheat flour
• 1 ripe banana (peeled)
• 2 tbsp grated coconut
• 2 pinch cardamom powder
• 1/3 cup jaggery powder
• a pinch of salt
• oil/ghee for deep frying

Preparation - Take all the ingredients (except for oil/ghee) in a mixing bowl. Blend into a uniform mixture using a hand blender. Allow to stand aside for 20 mins.

Cooking - Heat oil in a wok. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil. Take 4-5 teaspoons at a time. Deep fry on both sides to a light brown. ( Alternately cook in a nonstick appam pan or even a tawa. It tastes as good and absorbs much less oil )

Remove from wok and keep aside to drain on a paper towel.

Repeat for the remaining batter.

Serve hot/warm.

Note - If you wish to make the appams with rice flour, use about 1 cup water for about 1 1/3 cups of rice flour.

Other popular Ganesh Chaturthi recipes -

Chuda Ghasa
Chuda Kadamba (avalakki laddoo)
Paal Undrallu ( Attakali )
Modak (Manda pitha)
Pal Payasam
Channa Sundal

Sirini ( Satyanarayana Puja Prasad )

During my childhood days, most people would organize a 'Satyanarayan Puja' on the birthday of their kids. Usually they would pick the date for the Puja according to the 'thithi' or Hindu religious calendar leaving their kids free to celebrate the actual B'day ( as per the Christian calendar ) with a cake cutting ceremony. All the neighbours would be invited for the Puja and a big vessel of 'Sirini' would be prepared by the 'Nana' or the pujari. Sometimes if the pujari was lenient, he would allow some family member to prepare the prasad. In those days  Brahmins would not touch food prepared by any other caste than their own. Along with the 'Sirini', there would be a large plate holding dozens of 'Sitabhog' laddoos or 'Sareikela laddoo' as we call it in Rourkela. All the kids would be eyeing the laddoos and hoping fervently for the Puja to get over. The prasad would consist of a 'danaa' or bowl made with 'sal leaves' filled with delicious 'Sirini' and a Sitabhog laddoo.

Sirini was originally made with rice flour but sometime back people switched to using 'atta' or whole wheat four instaed of the former. The other ingredients are milk, mashed ripe bananas, sugar and crushed black pepper. Some people also add fruits like apples and pears. I have chosen to make this with a mix of rice flour and wheat flour in equal proportion.
Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2  - 2 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp crushed black pepper

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Use a hand blender to get a smooth and consistent mixture.

Serve immediately or chill for 20 mins before serving.