Janmashtami treats

Lord Krishna was my first love. Nope, Iam not kidding...when most other kids were content with bowing their heads before the lord to seek his blessings before exams, I could be found hugging a mini-statue of his and making grand proclamations of my plans to marry him and none other than him. A streak of atheism during my high school days made sure that I did not become wife no. 16,001. Past high school, I got over my atheism and chose a middle path....neither extreme belief nor total disbelief.

Celebrating Krishna's birthday has always been something that I've enjoyed mostly because of the food. This year I tried my hand at making uppu cheedai and vella cheedai for the first time. Here's a peek at what I made to celebrate His birthday.

Uppu Cheedai

Raw rice flour - 1 cup
Urad flour - 1/4 cup
Jeera - 1.5 tsp
Pepper - coarsely crushed,3/4 tsp
Water
Salt
Butter - 3 or 4 tbsp, softened
Oil - for deep frying

Dry roast both the flours if you are using store bought flour. Mix the flours, jeera, pepper, butter and salt with enough water to form a stiff, firm dough. Shape this into small balls and spread on a newspaper for a few minutes so that it becomes just a little bit dry. Heat oil and gently drop into it a few cheedais at a time. Fry until the cheedai turns reddish brown. Drain oil and store in an air tight container.
I've often been told that cheedai, if not prepared properly will result in disastrous explosions. Expecting nothing short of tiny blasts, I stood a safe distance away from the kadai and dropped a few cheedais in...but luckily for me...there were no explosions...not even a tiny one....and the cheedais turned out quite crisp and brown.


Vella cheedai

Raw rice flour - 1/2 cup
Urad flour - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - a little

Boil water in a pan. Add jaggery to this. When it melts completely, add the two flours, cardamom powder and stir well until it comes together into a smooth dough.
Let it cool for a bit and then shape it into balls. Deep fry a handful at a time in hot oil. Remove when dark brown, drain oil and store in an air tight container.

Neyyappam

Raw rice - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 3/4 tsp
Ripe banana - 1
Ghee - a little

Soak the rice in plenty of water for about two hours. Grind it using as little water as possible to a fine paste. To this, add the rest of the ingredients and grind again until everything is well mixed. Some people swear by certain kinds of banana to get soft appams..I've tried several kinds and found that if you make sure that the batter is ground really well, it doesn't matter which kind u use. Set the batter aside for an hour or two.

Season your appakarai(an aebelskiver pan can be used) with a few drops of ghee( I use a non-stick appakarai...so I use just about a drop or two of ghee in each hollow). Fill about three-fourths of each hollow with the batter. Enjoy the sizzling sound and the delicious aroma that will wrap you up in a loving embrace. When the under side is done to a delicious brown flip it around so the top gets cooked too. Remove....let it cool just a little bit and store. Repeat this process until all the batter is used up.

This is my entry to Latha's Janmashtami event.
Iam also sending a plateful of appam to JFI Banana hosted this month by Mandira of Ahaar
All three snacks are a huge favourite at home....which makes it a perfect entry to the WYF Snack event hosted by Hima.