Offering for the Baal Gopal - Nariyal Burfi and Malai Ladoos

One of my favorite festivals is Janmasthami ( birthday of Lord Krishna) mainly because of the memories associated with the same . It is the probably the first festival on which I would have "fasted" . The fast was only for name sakes though and I am sure I always ended eating a whole lot of delicacies .... this was one "fast" we always looked forward to . Another aspect was the "Jhanki" which we would set up every year ... we would use our toys , new figurines bought from the market to depict various events in Baal Gopal's life ... it involved so much planning and use of imagination and we kids would be busy the whole day . Evenings would go checking out other Jhankis.. comparing them , dressing up as gopis and krishna and going to temple. All in all it used to be a fun day for us .

This year I did not fast on this day due to many unavoidable reasons , however like my mom I prepared a few offerings for the Baal Gopal. I prepared a very simple NARIYAL BURFI ( Coconut burfi/fudge) and MALAI LADOOS . I also prepared the Makhana Kheer using the secret ingredient from LG of Tasteofmysore which I had got in the bloggers meet, but that will be a separate post.

They were both very simple and hardly took any time .



Nariyal Burfi -

Ingredients - ( about 10 pieces)
Dessicated coconut - 1 cup
Condensed milk - 1 cup
Powdered cardamom - 1 t sp
Oil - a little

Dry roast the coconut over low flame, till it becomes fragrant. Take care that it does not change color.
Then add the condensed milk and the cardamom powder. Keep mixing it continuously till the mixture thickens and starts separating from the pan. Switch off the flame and let it cool for 10-15 minutes . Take a flat plate and apply oil all over it , then spread the prepared mix over it . Flatten with a spatula . Keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour and then cut into diamond shape pieces .

Nariyal Burfi is ready :-)

Since condensed milk is already sweet , I did not add any sugar . You can sprinkle this with dried dessicated coconut if you want.


Malai Ladoos -

I read about this recipe in one Sanjeev Kapoor recipe book and had been wanting to make them ever since . Janmasthami seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so :-)

Ingredients : ( for about 10 ladoos)

Paneer/Cottage cheese - 1 cup (I used freshly made cottage cheese which had not been pressed into any shape, if you are using the hardened one then either crumble it or grate it)
Condensed milk - 200 ml
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Dessicated coconut - about 3 tb sp

Take the paneer /cottage cheese in a heavy bottomed pan . Heat it a little and then add the condensed milk . Keep stirring continuously so that it does not stick to the bottom.Take off the flame. Add the cardamom powder and stir well . Once its a little cool form into small ladoos.

I rolled the ladoos in dried dessicated coconut as malai ladoos are a little sticky and hence a little difficult to handle . I rolled the prepared ladoos in the coconut powder and coated them lightly . It also gave a slight taste of coconut to the final ladoo which we liked however you can totally avoid this if you want.

These two go as my entry for the Krishna and Ganesh Chaturthi event hosted by Purva of Purva's daawat

Poori Mania - Palak/ Spinach Poori with Kala chana and Sooji Halwa

When I saw pooris being blogged on every blog that I visited ...I thought what is all with this poori mania ????........

A little more blog patrolling revealed that Anita of A Mad Tea Party has started this and declared poori - bhaaji as the national food of India. I must say I whole heartily agree with her, but instead of making pooris with bhaaji .....I decided to make poori with the traditional kala chana " black chickpeas" and Sooji halwa , which are my hubby's favorite also.

Traditionally this combination is made at the end of the nine days fasting period called "Nav ratra" in the northern parts of the country .

Pooris have become a rare treat these days with the increased awareness about the HDLs and LDLs ..but this combination is always welcomed in our home and you can serve this for any meal of the day and be rest assured that it will be devoured with much gusto and happiness ;-) . I added palak "spinach" to the poori dough to assuage our guilt about devouring them and also to add a little more taste and color to it.....well here comes my recipe for the same.

Palak Poori ( about 15 )

Wheat flour - 1.5 cups

Palak/ spinach - 1 bunch

Salt - as per taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Oil for frying

Clean and wash the spinach and then boil it in a pressure cooker with very little water. After 2 whistles , remove the cooker from the stove and cool it under running water . You can also use a microwave for this purpose .Puree the spinach in a blender .

Take the flour in bowl and add the salt. Then add the 1 tb sp oil and rub the flour well between your fingers. Then add the spinach puree to the flour and knead to make soft dough . If the puree is not enough then you can add a little water to prepare the dough. Set the dough aside for 15 mins after covering with a moist cloth.

Pinch out small balls of dough and roll them into small circles with the help of a rolling pin . Deep fry these circles in hot oil . Puffed up delicious pooris are ready !

Sooji Halwa ( for 2 people)

Sooji/ Semolina - 1/2 cup

Besan / Gram flour - 1 tb sp.

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 1/3 cup

Cardamom - 2-3

Water - 2 cups

Dry fruits - as per taste

Dry roast the sooji in a pan till it becomes fragrant . Then add the besan/ gram four and stir for a minute . Add the ghee to this mixture and keep stirring continuously . Fry till the time the ingredients become light brown ( some people like the halwa to be whitish or a little pale ...if you like it that ways than you can stop the roasting at that stage , I like mine a little dark in color so I roast it a little longer) . Lower the flame to minimum and add crushed cardamom . Then add the sugar and immediately add the water . Let the mixture simmer at medium flame . Keep stirring continuously till the consistency becomes thick . Take off the stove and garnish with dry fruits of your choice.