Carrot Halwa – Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe Without Khoya

Carrot halwa recipe with step by step photo and a video !
Carrot halwa (Gajar Ka halwa In Hindi) is one of the most popular Indian desserts that is loved by all. Long back I had shared “How to prepare carrot halwa in pressure cooker”. That’s my go-to recipe for making easy and quick carrot halwa. Yesterday for a change, I prepared this traditional method of making carrot halwa in a kadai by using milk,sugar and ghee. I offered it as prasadam for my Friday Lakshmi Pooja. For making carrot halwa, Delhi carrots are mostly used by North Indians whereas I made it with our South Indian orange carrots(Ooty carrot). Traditionally it is prepared in a big iron kadai but I used my non-stick kadai that suits my Induction stove as I wanted to make a video recipe as well. So there are mild deviations from the perfect traditional ones but this one tastes and looks equally good. I have not used condensed milk ( Milk maid) Or Khoya/ mawa. So the preparation time and cooking time takes a bit longer that pressure cooker version. Still the final result makes you forget all the pain .Lets see how to make carrot halwa/ Gajar Halwa at home with step by step photos and video !!

Carrot Halwa Recipe - Gajar Ka Halwa

How to make carrot halwa - Gajar Halwa Recipe using milk

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 25 Minutes

Total time: 35 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Carrot - 4 nos OR Grated carrot - 2.5 cups Sugar - 1/2 cup (heaped) Ghee - 3 tbsp Cashews & Almonds/Badam - 5 each ( chopped) Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

METHOD

Wash and peel the skin of carrots. Grate it using a big sized holes grater.Do not use a small hole grater because halwa turns mushy and the end of cooking.Grate and keep in a plate. In a kadai, heat 2 tbsp ghee and add the grated carrot.Saute well till the raw smell goes off and color of carrot changes to pale orange. It takes nearly 3-5 minutes.  Now add 1 cup of milk and mix well.Keep the flame medium and cover the kadai with a lid. Carrots get cooked in milk. Wait till all the milk is absorbed by the milk. Open the kadai every now & then, stir till bottom to avoid burning. Cooking takes nearly 10-15 minutes. Now add 1/2 cup (heaped)sugar and mix well. Sugar melts and mixture will become watery.Check for taste and add 2 tbsp more sugar if needed. Keep the flame medium and keep stirring till 3/4th of the moisture is lost. When the halwa becomes thick and starts to leave the sides of kadai, add cardamom powder, 1tbsp ghee and mix well. When the halwa becomes thick, gathers in the center with very little moisture, remove it and sprinkle chopped nuts. Serve warm with ice cream or cold ! ** Do not stir the halwa for long time to become thick & dry because when the halwa cools down, it will become hard & chewy.So remove it when there is very little moisture content. This halwa can be refrigerated and stored for a week.Reheat in a microwave for 1 minute and serve warm if needed. Enjoy !

Note

Add more sugar ( 2 tbsp extra) for more sweetness.Sugar can be added any time while cooking carrot halwa. You can use Delhi carrots instead of the regular orange carrot for bright color. Serve warm with your favorite ice cream to enjoy its best taste !

Enjoy this delicious carrot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Its a blissful combo !!

Flickr Tags: carrot halwa recipe,carrot halwa step by step,gajar halwa,gajar halwa recipe,how to make carrot halwa,how to make gajar ka halwa,gajar ka halwa,carrot halwa south indian style,carrot halwa seivathu eppadi,south indian carrot halwa,easy halwa recipes,halwa recipes,carrot recipes,gajar recipes

Ellu Bella Recipe – Sankranti Ellu Bella Mix

Ellu Bella (Sesame seeds-Jaggery trail mix in English) is one of the most popular Makar Sankranti recipes in Karnataka.This is basically a mix of 5 main ingredients – Sesame seeds, Jaggery, Dried coconut pieces, Roasted Peanuts and Fried Gram dal.During Sankranti festival, this mix sold in small packets in all the shops.This ellu bella mix is exchanged with friends & relatives to celebrate this harvest festival and as a token of love for better bonding of relationship. In Kannada, they call this as Ellu beerodu in which they give a pack of ellu bella mix, betel leaves & nuts, fruits ( preferably banana), Sugar moulds ( Sakkare achu) and sugar cane to the near & dear. I have seen my friends ( School moms group) preparing this ellu bella mix 2-3 days before Sankranti and distribute to all. Being in Karnataka for the past ten years, I wanted to share their traditional sankranti recipes in my blog. So I asked my friend Archana to share the recipe and the method of making ellu bella.She explained patiently and clarified all my doubts on how to cut jaggery & coconut into small pieces etc. Thank you so much Archu. Some people add equal measure of all the ingredients whereas some use according to their preferences. I have just followed my friend’s recipe. I prepared ellu bella for the first time in my house successfully and distributed to Raksha’s friends as well. They all loved it very much.Next year I must try homemade sakkare achu. Now lets see how to make Ellu bella recipe at home with step by step pictures !
Check out my other Karnataka recipes too!

Ellu Bella Recipe

Sankranti Ellu Bella Mix Recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 120 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 125 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Roasted peanuts - 1/4 cup Fried gram dal/Hurigadale - 1/4 cup White sesame seeds - 2 tbsp Dried coconut pieces - 2 -3 tbsp Jaggery pieces - 1/4 cup Sugar balls - 2 tbsp ( optional) Sugar coated Jeera or fennel seeds - 2 tbsp

METHOD

Take the whole dried coconut. Grate it using a grater to remove the skin. Slice it using a chips slicer to make thin slices.Chop into very small pieces using a sharp knife. Spread in a plate. Take the jaggery and cut into small blocks using a knife.Then cut them into very small pieces using scissors or nut cracker tool. I used scissors ( Achu vellam/Achu bella works the best. But I used round ones).Spread the jaggery pieces in the plate. Microwave peanuts in high power for 2-3 minutes.Remove in a cover or cloth and rub it well to remove the skin. Break them into 2 and keep aside. Sun dry the coconut & jaggery pieces for 2 – 4 hours OR Dry roast the coconut pieces without changing the color. Warm the jaggery pieces without melting.Sun drying is the best option though. Dry roast sesame seeds till it crackles. Set aside to cool. In a wide bowl, take the roasted, broken peanuts, fried gram dal, sugar balls, jeera mittai, dried coconut pieces and jaggery pieces. Mix well and store in a box. Distribute to your Family & Friends ! Enjoy !

Try this easy,traditional Karnataka special ellu bella mix at home and have a great celebration !

Distribute ellu bella with a pair of banana, betel leaves & nuts, sakkare achu & sugarcane piece as shown below ( sugar cane is missing in the pic )

Technorati Tags: Ellu bella,ellu bella recipe,ellu bella mix,ellu bella mix recipe,sankranti recipes,sankranti ellu bella mix,sankranti mix recipe,how to make ellu bella recipe,how to make ellu bella,Karnataka ellu bella,how to cut jaggery into small pieces

Thiruvathirai Kali – Thiruvathirakali Recipe

Thiruvathirai also called as Arudra darshan is one of the most important festivals celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In most of the Tamil houses, Kali will be prepared and offered to Lord Shiva on this festival day. In my family, my mom has the practice of making thiruvathirakali alone whereas my MIL makes Thiruvadirai kali, kootu and adai, sambar/thalagam, thayir pachadi along with cooked rice as well.So I follow that every year. Long back, I had shared a post for Thiruvathirai adai, kali, kootu recipes. This year, I made a detailed video and wanted to have a separate post in my blog.Thiruvathirai kali is prepared with roasted, ground raw rice and moong dal cooked in jaggery syrup flavored with cardamom powder, grated coconut and ghee. It is one of the tastiest kali recipes and my family loves it a lot. Basically we make the kali with a fluffy texture whereas I saw many recipes with kali in Pongal/halwa texture. It purely depends on how we powder the rice+dal. If you want fluffy kali, powder it coarsely else powder it nicely like fine rava. Whatever be the texture, this kali tastes absolutely yummy.Now Lets see how to make Thiruvathirai kali recipe with step by step photos and video !!
Check out my thiruvathirai celebration post & Adai, kootu recipes post too !

Thiruvathirai Kali Recipe

Thiruvadirai/Thiruvathirai kali recipe for neivedyam

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Raw rice/Pacharisi - 1/2 cup Moong dal/Paasi paruppu - 1 tbsp Water - 1.5 cups ( to cook rice) For syrup Powdered jaggery - 3/4 cup Water - 1/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Ghee - 2 tbsp Cashew nuts - few

METHOD

In a kadai, dry roast moong dal till it turns golden brown in color. Stay nearby and keep roasting patiently.Transfer to a plate. In the same kadai, dry roast rice till it becomes puffy and slightly golden in color.Do it in medium flame. When the vapor starts to come from the kadai while roasting, roasting is done. Rice takes nearly 4-6 minutes for roasting. Transfer to the plate and let them cool down. Grind the rice+ dal to a coarse rava. Pulse it 4 or 5 times using inch button for few seconds.Transfer it to a cooker base. Add 1.5 cups of water ( 1:3) and pressure cook in very low flame for 2 whistles. Open the lid after the steam is released. Mix well and set aside. In a kadai, take the powdered jaggery. Melt it by adding 1/4 cup of water. Strain the impurities in a wire mesh. Again pour the syrup to the washed kadai and boil it. Add grated coconut & cardamom powder. When the syrup starts to roll boil, simmer the flame to low and add the cooked rice+dal mixture.Break all the lumps with  a ladle and keep mixing.Rice absorbs all the syrup and becomes thick and smooth.switch off the flame. Roast cashews in 2 tbsp ghee till golden in color. Add this to the kali, mix well and serve hot ! Enjoy !

Note

Do not burn the dal or rice while roasting.It spoils the entire flavor of kali.So do it patiently in medium flame. Pressure cook rice & water in the ratio of 1:3 else rice will not be cooked well and kali tastes hard and chewy. Do not add less jaggery, kali tastes bland. Rice & jaggery ratio is 1:1.5 Cardamom powder and grated coconut is a must for kali. It adds flavor. Adding ghee & roasted cashews makes the kali rich.So do add it.

Try this easy, yummy kali at home on this Thiruvathirai festival and Enjoy !!

Technorati Tags: Thiruvathirai kali,thiruvathirai kali recipe,thiruvadirai kali,thiruvadirai kali recipe,thiruvathirakali,kali recipe,thiruvathirai recipes,thiruvathirai

How To Celebrate Thiruvathirai At Home/ Arudhra Darshan

Significance of Arudra darshan
Soure:wiki and google
Thiruvathirai/Arudhra darshan is a popular Hindu festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Arudhra Darshan or Arudara Darshan is observed in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December – January) on Thiruvathirai Nakshathram day. In this year 2017, it falls on January 11th,Wednesday ( tomorrow). It is essentially a Shaivite festival and celebrates the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, which is represented by the Nataraja form. Arudra festival is celebrated with fervor in Lord Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia and in other parts of the world by Tamil speaking population. In Kerala, this festival is primarily celebrated for women.The most important Arudhra Darisanam festival takes place at the Chidambaram Lord Nataraja Temple in Tamil Nadu. Arudhra signifies the golden red flame and Shiva performs in the form of this red-flamed light.The cosmic dance of Lord Shiva represents five activities – Creation, Protection, Destruction, Embodiment and Release. In essence, it represents the continuous cycle of creation and destruction.Arudra Darshan celebrates this ecstatic dance of Lord Shiva.
It takes place on the full moon night in the month of Margazhi and this is also the longest night in a year. The festival is mainly observed in the Tamil speaking world.As per the Puranaas, on this day Lord Shiva has shown this blissful dance that energizes this world to two of his devotees - Vyagrapadha and Adisesha (on whom Lord Vishnu Reside). Hence this day is celebrated, in appreciation of the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, by offering Prayers to the Nataraja aspect of the Lord.
Special prayers are held on the day at all Shiva temples. Milk, honey, water, sandal paste and other cooling liquids are offered to Lord Shiva on this day. This is to cool a burning and turbulent Shiva who is performing the Tandava – the cosmic dance of Nataraja.Special abhishekam, rituals and celebrations are held on the night of Thiruvathirai.

Celebration in my house :)

Our Celebration

In our house, we celebrate this festival in a grand manner by offering kali, ezhu kai kootu and adai made of rice flour and jaggery to Lord Nataraja. We also draw maakolam all over our house. My MIL draws a procession car(Thaer) with Shiva lingam in the wall of pooja room and consider it as idol.We tie a yellow rope in our hands after pooja. I have shared our pooja procedures in detail . Please check it. You can follow/alter this method based on your tradition.

Celebration in my MIL's house :)

Ingredients Required

Please CLICK THIS LINK for Thiruvathirai Adai, Kali and kootu recipes.

Thiruvathirai kali recipe with video

Visit my in-laws blog LEARN KOLAM for Thiruvathirai Kolam

• Raw rice
• Moong dal
• Jaggery
• Rice flour
• Cardamom powder
• Grated coconut
• Ghee
• Butter
• Any 7 vegetables ( Raw banana, sweet potato, yam, pumpkin, broad beans, arbi, field beans, brinjal, chow chow, cluster beans, ladies finger)
• Green chilli
• Cumin seeds
• Coconut oil
• Tempering ingredients for kootu

For Pooja

• Coconut
• Betel leaves and nuts ( 7 each)
• Fruits ( 7 banana)
• Banana leaves ( 7 leaves)
• Turmeric pieces ( 7 nos)
• Yellow rope ( to tie around wrist or neck)
• Lamp, wick
• Incense stick, camphor

Pre Preparatory activities
The previous day, clean the house. Wash the lamps, put the wick. Keep turmeric, kumkum dots & make it ready for the next day neivedyam. We have the practice of drawing procession car ( thear) in the wall of pooja room as shown in the first picture and in the entrance of house. We draw maa kolam in the house entrance and in pooja room. As mine is a wooden pooja room shelf, I draw in a paper & keep it as GOD and I draw maakolam at the house entrance alone.We keep 7 dots using viboodhi, manjal, kumkum, sandal, kajal( Kanmai), red saandhu , rice flour in the middle of thear picture for this nonbu. We keep 7 betel leaves, 7 nuts, 7 banana, 7 turmeric pieces, 2 yellow ropes (for me & my daughter) in a plate & keep in front of God.All these things are time consuming jobs.So we do it the previous day night & keep them ready. If you don’t have this practice at home, just do the pooja by keeping a Lord Nataraja or Lord Shiva photo in the auspicious time.
We make kali, 7 kai kootu, adai, cooked rice, thayir pachadi, dal/paruppu and sambar for neivedyam. So we do some pre-preparatory works for cooking as well. We roast rice + dal, powder & keep it for kali. We chop the vegetables for kootu & sambar and refrigerate it in a box.
Thiruvathirai day 
On Festival day, we should do the pooja in the early morning in auspicious time. This year as it falls on Wednesday, we should do the pooja before 7.30am ( Avoid rahu kalam, yama kandam). So start the cooking activities by 6 am. Prepare thirivathirai kali, adai & kootu ( Rice, dal, sambar, thayir pachadi). Decorate the pooja room with flowers and light the lamp. Arrange all the neivedyam dishes in the banana leaf. Keep a plate with banana, coconut, betel leaf and nut, turmeric pieces along with yellow rope. Do the pooja by showing dhoop, dheep and mangala harathi. After doing the pooja, tie the yellow rope around your wrist or neck.
Enjoy kali, kootu and adai !!

DISCLAIMER : The pooja procedures I have shared above is as per my family’s practice. Many people don’t have the habit of drawing thear, maakolam, offering adai. Even my mom makes kali and kootu for thiruvathirai and offers them in front of Lord Nataraja picture for pooja. So take this post as a guidance and change it according to your custom.

Technorati Tags: Thiruvathirai,thiruvathirai celebration,how to celebrate thiruvathirai,thiruvathira,arudra darshan,arudra darisanam,arudhra darshan,thiruvathirai celebration at home,how to celebrate thiruvathirai at home

Sooji Halwa, Suji Ka Halwa Recipe – Rava Sheera Recipe

Most of the time I make South Indian style Rava kesari  ( Rava = semolina in English) for functions, pooja and celebrations at home as it is our family favorite and the most comfortable sweet for me .I have already shared varieties of rava kesari recipes like rava kesari with milk/ Paal kesari, microwave rava kesari, semiya kesari, pineapple kesari, mango kesari etc. Its been my long time wish to try North Indian style Sooji ka halwa/ Rava sheera. So I tried it for New year 2017 celebration yesterday.In North India, Suji ka halwa is one of the most popular and easy halwa recipes that is made in all houses for all the festivals & occasions and is served in most of the temples as Prasad. This halwa is served along with Poori and Chole for breakfast.Halwa poori chole is one of the most popular breakfast combo in North India and Pakistan. In Karnataka, people call this sooji halwa as Kesari bath. Rava/sooji, Sugar and ghee forms the basic ingredients for this sweet recipe. But Rava kesari, suji ka halwa and kesari bath has its own variations in the quantity of ingredients, method of preparation, taste, color and texture.I watched few You tube videos and followed Food viva for the recipe. Though it tastes mildly sweeter than the South Indian rava kesari, it was dripping with ghee and finger licking good. We loved it very much. Its taste reminded me of the banana sheera I had in my friend’s house Satya Narayana pooja. Its very easy to prepare for special occasions and to treat your surprise guests. For variations, you can use milk instead of water. Lets see how to make North Indian special suji ka halwa/ Sooji halwa/Rava sheera recipe with step by step photos and a detailed video !!

Suji Ka Halwa Recipe

Suji Ka Halwa - North Indian version of Rava kesari

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml or 250ml Bombay Rava/ Sooji /semolina - 1/2 cup ( Do not use chiroti rava) Ghee - 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Sugar - 1/2 cup Water - 1.5 cups Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp or 2 pods crushed Saffron threads - few Milk - 1 tbsp ( to soak saffron thread) Chopped cashews, badam and few raisins/dry grapes

METHOD

Soak saffron threads in 1 tbsp hot milk.I din’t use saffron in this recipe. I used cardamom powder alone. Heat 1/3 cup of ghee in a kadai.Roast the dry grapes, cashews and almonds till dry grapes bloat and nuts turns golden. Add rava and roast well for 4-5 minutes in medium flame. Rava turns light golden brown in color. Add 1.5 cups of water to the rava and mix well till 3/4 th of the water is absorbed by the rava and becomes semi thick.Keep the flame low and cover the kadai with a lid. Cook the rava for 2-3 minutes. Open the lid and add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron milk ( if using). Mix well without lumps.Sugar melts and the mixture will become watery. Keep the flame medium and mix well.  Halwa turns thick and starts to leave the sides of pan. Immediately add 1tbsp of ghee, mix well quickly and transfer the halwa to a bowl. Do not wait for the halwa to thicken completely. Remove it as soon as it becomes semi thick because this suji ka halwa becomes dry and hard when it cools down.So remove it at the right time. Garnish with few nuts and serve warm. Enjoy !

Note

Add more sugar ( Say 3/4 cup of sugar) if you need more sweetness. You can use milk instead of water but cook the rava for more time if using milk. Do not reduce the quantity of ghee. It helps to keep the halwa soft. If you don’t want to add more ghee, use half the quantity of oil.

Try this easy, yummy Suji Ka halwa/Rava sheera at home and enjoy !!

Flickr Tags: Suji ka halwa,suji ka halwa recipe,sooji halwa,sooji halwa recipe,Rava sheera,North Indian recipes,North Indian Sooji halwa,North Indian suji ka halwa,kesari recipe,kesari varieties,how to make sooji halwa,how to make suji ka halwa

Karthigai Pori Recipe – Karthigai Vella Aval Pori–Karthigai Deepam Recipes

Karthigai deepam festival 2016 is nearing. It falls on 12th December, Monday. Every year on Karthigai Deepam festival day, we make pori urundai, appam, payasam and maa vilakku and offer God. Both MOM & MIL has the same practice.In Tamil nadu, during Karthigai deepam festival, we get a special mixture of aval pori ( Puffed Poha), pottukadalai( fried gram dal), Ellu ( roasted sesame seeds) in small packets. When I was young, I used to buy them from a small Chettiyar shop nearby my house.My mom used to roast them in ghee and add it to the boiled jaggery syrup. It tastes crispy and stays good for weeks together.  But in my MIL’s place, getting readymade aval pori is difficult. So she used to roast the thick poha until puffy and follows the same.Both of them do not make balls with aval pori (aval pori urundai )instead they just mix the roasted aval pori in jaggery syrup and keep it as such. Today, I have followed my MIL’s method and prepared this Karthigai pori using thick poha. In Bangalore, puffed rice( arisi pori in Tamil, Mandakki In Kannada) is mostly available in all the shops whereas puffed poha ( Aval pori) is not easy to get. For people like me, this recipe would be useful. Generally, beginners may feel difficult to make balls from the hot aval pori mixture. Do not worry, this post is specially for you. Here you do not have to shape balls. Its just a mix and serve method. But the only difficulty in this recipe is poha should be roasted patiently in batches. It takes nearly 15 –20 minutes for roasting. But this Karthigai aval pori tastes super crispy than the ready made aval pori you buy from the market. So the time you put in this recipe is worthwhile. Do try this method of making Karthigai pori, I am sure you will be very happy with the results. So lets see how to make Karthigai pori recipe with step by step pictures and a video !
Please check out my other Karthigai Deepam Recipes HERE

Karthigai Pori Recipe

How to make Karthigai pori without making balls

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Thick Poha - 1 cup Grated jaggery - 1/2 cup Water - 1/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp Ghee - 4 tsp Coconut bits - 2 tbsp Fried gram dal/Pottukadalai - 2 tbsp Black Sesame seeds / Ellu - 1/2 tbsp Dry ginger powder – 1/4 tsp ( optional)

METHOD

Take a kadai and heat 1 tsp of ghee. Add 1/3 cup of poha ( Poha should be roasted only in batches). Roast in medium flame till it becomes puffy and slightly turns golden in color.it takes nearly 5 minutes to finish roasting one batch of poha. Remove in a plate. Repeat the same for the remaining poha and collect everything in a plate. Let it cool down. You have roast 1 cup of poha in 3 batches ( 1/3 cup per batch). Stay nearby and roast them patiently. In the same kadai, dry roast the black sesame seeds till it crackles. It takes nearly 2-3 minutes. Remove them to the poha plate. In the hot kadai, put the fried gram dal and switch off the flame. It will become crispy in the heat of kadai. If your gram dal is fresh and crispy, you do not have to roast it, You can directly it mix with the roasted poha. Chop coconut into small pieces.Heat 1 tsp of ghee and roast the coconut bits till golden in color. Stay nearby and roast till done. Remove in a separate bowl. In a kadai, take 1/2 cup of jaggery and add 1/4 cup of water. Boil till the jaggery melts. Switch off the flame and strain the jaggery syrup using a metal strainer. Wash the kadai and add the strained syrup to it. Boil again till frothy and thick. Add cardamom powder( I used cardamom essence) and dry ginger powder( if using). Keep the flame low to medium when the syrup starts to thicken. Now take little water in a small plate. Put few drops of jaggery syrup and try to gather them with your fingers. Syrup should not dissolve in water and you should be able to collect them and make a small ball with it.This is called soft ball consistency. Refer Video for clear understanding. NOTE : You cannot shape balls/urundai in this consistency. For making balls, you should boil jaggery syrup till it reaches hard ball consistency.   Once the consistency is reached, switch off the flame and add the roasted poha mixture, roasted coconut. Mix well and set aside. Initially the mixture may look sticky. But when it cools down, it will look separate and tastes crunchy.Offer God & Enjoy ! You can store this in an air tight box and enjoy for weeks.

Note

For me, 1/2 cup of jaggery was enough for 1 cup of aval. If you need more sweetness, you can add 3/4 cup of jaggery, The consistency of jaggery syrup is very important else the pori will stick to each other and becomes soggy after few hours. Hard ball consistency is needed to shape balls. For soft ball, balls cannot be made. Black sesame seeds gives nice flavor. You can use white sesame seeds as well but flavor must be missing. If you like, you can add 1/4 tsp of dry ginger powder/Sukku podi.

Try this easy method of Karthigai pori for this festival and enjoy !

Technorati Tags: Karthigai pori,Karthigai pori recipe,how to make karthigai pori,karthigai deepam recipes,karthigai aval pori,aval pori recipe,how to make aval pori,sweets recipes,Karthigai recipes,Karthigai deepam