Avil laddoo, Rava laddoo, Pal therattipal and Ribbon pakoda for Diwali

Hope all of you had a wonderful Deepavali. I did.
Back home the festival of lights is all about decking up in new clothes, going to the temple, lighting firecrackers and of course the all important festival food. When I was growing up we used to look forward to the sweets and savouries that we would get to eat on that day. The firecrackers are another major highlight of the day, but I always was and still am terrified of them. Here we'd gone to the temple where there was a fireworks display....it really felt nice and brought back a feeling of being back home. Here's a look at some of the dishes I made......

(A triple serving of sweets : Avil laddoo; Rava laddoo; Pal terattipal)

All of these sweets are really easy to make and are guaranteed to disappear almost as soon as you've made them. Here are the recipes:

Avil/Poha/Beaten rice Laddoo
What you need:
Avil - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashews - a little
Ghee - just enough to form laddoos ( I used about 8 tsp)

Dry fry the poha a little at a time until reddish brown. Take care not to burn it. Powder it in the mixie. Also powder the sugar. Fry cashews in a little ghee. Mix everything together. Pour hot melted ghee on top and shape into laddoos while the mixture is still warm.

Rava Laddoo
What you need:Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashew and raisins - as per taste
Ghee - enough to form laddoos ( about 10 tsp)

Fry rava until it is hot but not changed in colour. Powder it in the mixie along with the sugar. Fry cashew and raisins in a little ghee. Add the powdered mixture to it. Add hot ghee and shape into laddoos.



Pal therattipal Well, I'll let you in on a secret. Usually pal therattipal involves a lot of stirring and hovering over a hot stove...but this version is very quick and all that you need is a microwave...and about 8 minutes of your time(depends on you microwave's power). I found the original recipe here.

What you need:
Milk powder - 1 pack
Condensed milk - 1 tin
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe dish and heat for about 8 minutes....checking constantly and stirring it whenever it starts rising to the top. When it is a nice reddish brown colour, take it out and when it is warm, shape it into small balls or if you like you can just scoop it up with a spoon and serve it as is.

Now, after all those sweets, if you are craving something that's salty and spicy, here is some Pakodam....
What you need:
Gram flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 3 cups
Salt - as per taste
Red chilli powder - as per taste
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients together and knead to a smooth pliable dough by adding a little water at a time. The dough should be neither too watery nor too crumbly. It should roughly be the consistency of chapati dough. Heat oil. Now take a little bit of the dough and fill it into the pakoda nazhi. (I don't have a pic of the nazhi right now but will post one soon.) Squeeze the dough out in a circular pattern into the hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon so that all the excess oil gets drained out. Store in an airtight container. This pakodam stays good for several days.
Njoy!!!

If you are like me and missed the Special edition JFI-Diwali event, you do get a second chance. You can still send in your entries to Vee....just make sure you do it before the 28th...