Tilgul : Sesame jaggery ladoos

"Tilgul Ghya Goad Goad bola " : In my last post of GulPoli, i had mentioned about the Tilgul. These are also made on account of Makar Sankranti and are given to each other saying the phrase "Tilgul ghya goad goad bola" Meaning " Take this Til-gud ( The ladoo), and speak sweet". I don't know where this tradition of speaking such a phrase arrived from... If anyone knows, please let me know. As kids, saying the phrase and taking blessings from elders was just a formality...The eyes were glued to the ladoo in the other's hand..:)

No one can eat just one !!! : Its such a tempting ladoo, that you pop it in your mouth and you want to have more and more.... Its healthy during winters, ( because of sesame ), and jaggery adds to it...Much better than sugar!!! Our Mom used to hide the stacked Dabba from us, as we used to munch it throughout the day :)

Kutaache ladoo : This is my Mother's speciality. Normally, people make ladoos with whole sesame. But Mom makes this grinding the sesame to a fine powder and then adding jaggery and other ingredients. This one tastes toooo yummmy..And they are sooo simple to make...This is how she makes it :

Ingredients :

( Makes 30-35 ladoos )

Sesame powder : 4 cups ( Dry roast the sesame seeds and make it into a fine powder in mixer grinder )

Peanut powder - 3/4 cup ( Dry roast the peanuts, remove the skin and then grind it to a powder in mixer grinder )

Dry coconut powder - 1/2 cup ( Grate dry-coconut, dry roast it and make it into a fine powder in mixer grinder ) 

Jaggery - 1 n half cup ( Adjust according to taste how sweet you want it )

Ghee - 1/4 cup

Recipe :

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients well and make into small ladoos. Make sure the jaggery is fine and there are no chunks in it. You can even powder it or use ready-made powdered jaggery.

And these are the commonly made ladoos in every household. They are crunchy and have a very different taste than the "Kutaache ladoo"

Ingredients :

Chikki Jaggery ( This is another form of jaggery which is more sticky ) - 250 gms

Ghee - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds ( Til ) - 250 gms

Dry coconut ( Grated ) - 1/2 cup

Peanuts - 1/4 cup ( Dry roasted )

Recipe :

Heat 1 tsp ghee in a Kadhai. Add the jaggery and keep stirring it till it becomes of thinner consistency. Make all the procedure on low heat.

Now add the grated dry coconut and the peanuts ( skin removed )

Now slowly add the til ( sesame seeds ) while stirring in between. Adjust the til quantity according to how much fits into the jaggery. It shouldn't get too sticky, niether remain too dry. 

Mix everything well.

Now make the ladoos when the mixture is warm/hot. Apply ghee on your palm while making the ladoos ( This helps the jaggery not to stick to your palm and prevent it from burning )

If the mixture becomes cold, then warm the mixture again on the stove and again make the ladoos when hot. ( Yessss, Its tough to make this when hot, but trust me it's all worth it when you pop one in your mouth !!! :)))

Your yumyliscious Tilgul is ready.

Christmas Cake

"Jingle all the way" : Its the month of Santa, Christmas tree, candles, decorations with stars and lights and lots of ornaments. People even decorate the outside of their homes with snowmen, sleighs and other Christmas figures. And the age old tradition of hanging a stocking and waiting for Santa ( Saint Nicolas ) to get us the wanted gifts...

My brother who stays in US, always decorates his home with Christmas tree and lighting his backyard and home with candles and lights..Here is how he welcomed Christmas this year... It looks terrific, doesn't it?

Christmas celebrations are in full swing in India just as abroad. We see a lot of people hosting Christmas parties, markets selling Santa's red and white caps and even Christmas trees. This year, we got the tiny Santas and candy cane and some ornaments ( just to decorate my cake :))

And so not to forget, It is also the month to bake cakes, cookies and biscottis :)
Its such a pleasant feeling when your kitchen has aroma of the freshly baked super spongy cake...This year i wanted to try my hand at baking the Christmas plum cake, and hence i soaked in the dry fruits almost 15 days before in rum. I have added Cherries, different coloured tutty-fruity, cashews, raisins and black raisins. You can add any dry fruits of your choice like walnuts, almonds, prunes, dates, orange zest etc. but raisins are a must!!! After all it's rum and raisin cake :) For people, who like it without alcohol, you can just boil the dry fruits with water and little sugar for 5 minutes at the time of baking the cake. If you don't like rum, you can even soak the fruits in beer or red wine or a mixture of wine, rum and beer. Anything tastes just great.
Here is how my soaked fruits looked like :

Every day is an occasion : The cake turned out so yummy that it was finished by hubby and his friends ( who had come over for Christmas) within hours! I feel i shouldn't wait for Christmas to bake and eat this one...Any day is a celebration and i am surely going to bake this one again :)

Recipe adapted from : Swapna Mickey

Ingredients :

Mixed dry fruits : 350 gms ( i used cherries, different coloured tutty-fruity, cashews, raisins, and black raisins )
Rum - 1/2 cup ( Can also add brandy, wine or beer )
Butter - 3 tbsp ( heaped )
Ghee - 3 tbsp ( heaped )
Powdered sugar - 150 gms
Eggs - 2
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp ( to caramelize )
All purpose flour/ Maida - 120 gms
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Spice powder - 1/2 tsp ( i used my chai masala powder - Recipe uploaded earlier - You can also use mix of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg powder )
Milk - 1/8 cup
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp

Recipe :

Soak the chopped dry fruits in Rum as early as you can/want. I did it for 15 days, but some even do it for months or a year in advance.( the more u soak, the tastier it is). Soak it in a clean , dry glass bottle or air tight container. Make sure you stir the fruits once a day. Soak them for minimum 1 week in advance.

On the day of baking the cake, transfer these dry fruits into a steamer and steam them for 5 minutes. I did it in idli maker in microwave for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the fruits to cool.

The most important thing to make a plum cake is to caramelize the sugar. It is not that tough at all ! Just take 2 tbsp sugar in a pan and heat it stirring continuously till it becomes dark brown. Meanwhile, boil 1/2 cup of water and keep. Now add this hot water to the sugar. Keep stirring till it becomes thick. Keep it aside.

Add 2 tbsp sugar to 1 tbsp lemon juice and keep aside.

Sieve together ( preferably twice ) maida, baking soda, baking powder and spice powder. Toss in the steamed and cooled dry fruits into this flour, so that the dry fruits are coated properly. This is just to avoid the dry fruits from falling to the bottom of the cake when baking.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for minimum 15 minutes.

Beat Butter, Ghee and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and keep beating. Now add the vanilla essence and caramel syrup and mix well. Now add the flour-dry fruit mixture and milk alternatively, finishing with the flour mixture. Mix it all well with a spatula. Lastly, add the lemon juice mixture.

Grease and Dust the cake tin with butter and flour respectively. Add in the cake mixture and bake the cake at 180 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Check after an hour if it's done and add more time if required.

Let it cool for 10 minutes in the tin after removing from the oven on a wire rack. Now remove from the cake tin and let it cool completely.

Store in an air tight container. You can also pour in rum on top while serving or inject rum inside the cake with a syringe :) Tastes yummm....

Happy Baking :)))

Masala Milk : Kojagiri Special

"The curious me" : 

Yesterday was kojagiri pournima. I started getting text messages since morning wishing me a happy pournima and photos of glasses of masala milk and moons! And then a non-Maharashtrian friend asked me, " What does it mean"? And i realised that i didn't knew its meaning!!! In childhood, and until now, all it meant was to drink the yummy masala milk mom has made (strictly allowed to drink after the moon comes out) and also getting excited to sing and dance at the cultural event held in society at nights. Yes, it always used to be a social gathering with all the society people coming together, kids performing some dance or reciting some poems, elders forcing each other to sing songs and ladies chit-chatting over the masala milk they used to boil in the corner. And there was always some snack item too at the side. This all used to be in the night... People waiting for the moon to come out and being awake as late as they can. But i never knew there is a meaning behind all this or so as people think it to be !

Curiosity killed the cat!!! I started doing some R n D, made call to Mom who knew it all as always, searched google and also chatted with my sister in law Namrata Kulkarni. Gathering all the information, here is what i came to know. This is a full moon day which marks the end of the monsoons. On this day, the orbital position of the Moon is such that it is the closest to the Earth as it can be in a year. It is believed that the moon has some healing medicinal rays that it emits on this day ( You have to look at the moon or stand under the moon for minimum 15 minutes) and hence also, the milk is boiled under the moon, so it gets the rays and enters our body when we drink it. Nowadays, people make the milk on gas stove and show it to the moon as "Prashad" ( an offering) or keep it under the moon in balcony for sometime. In old days, people used to have early dinners and this milk was to keep them awake throughout the night. It gave energy( as dryfuits are added ) and it reduced bodily heat ( when the milk is taken cold).

It is also believed that Goddess Laxmi travels from one place to other on this night and while travelling, she asks "Ko Jagarti" which means " Who is awake" and blesses all those who are awake. Hence people do laxmi puja also on this night and sing her songs and aartis. That's how the name Kojagiri came. 

I was happy that i learnt something new and thought of trying my hand at something new in the kitchen too ! I had never made masala milk though i knew it was a sister of Basundi ( which i had made once earlier). So here's how i made it and it turned super yummy!! 

Ingredients

1 litre full cream or toned milk

20 almonds ( soak in water for around half n hour and remove the skin )

10 cashews and 10 pistachios ( Hand grind them. Don't make it into smooth powder. A little coarse or a few small pieces should be visible). You can even grind in a mixer. I prefer grinding in this :

A pinch of nutmeg powder

5 tblsp sugar ( Me and my husband don't like too sweet. You can adjust as per your taste)

Cardamom powder - a pinch ( optional). I didnt add

Saffron - a pinch

Recipe

Bring the milk to boil on low flame and keep boiling it for 20-25 mins stirring with a spoon in between. Add the nutmeg powder, saffron and sugar and let it boil for another 10-15 mins. The milk should reduce to around 750 ml or even half litre ( if you like it thick but masala milk should always be of drinking consistency and not like Rabdi). Add the dry fuits and boil for another 5 mins.

You can either have it hot or cold.

Happy Cooking :)