Sweet Puttu – Navarathri special

Navarathri has always been my favorite festival. I remember keeping golu – display of dolls – in my house every year. It used to be great fun visiting neighbors, friends, and relatives during this festive season, seeing different golu arrangements, and eating varities of sundals and puttus. This is my third year in keeping golu with my husband and my daughter. Now that my almost three year old is asking many, many questions, the festival has taken new meaning for us. Therefore, this year I decided to make one of the traditional sweets made during this festival.

Ingredients

Rice – 1 cup

Jaggery – 1 cup

Water – ¾ cup

Grated coconut – ½ cup

Cashews – ¼ cup

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Ghee – 2- 3 tbsps

Method

Soak the rice for 10 to 15 minutes and then drain. Spread out the drained rice onto a paper towel and let it dry for 15 minutes. In a kadai, dry roast the rice until it turns slightly red. Roasting the rice ensures that there is no moisture left in the rice.

Now grind the rice in a mixer to make a smooth powder. Sieve the ground rice flour to remove any lumps. Add salt and turmeric to the flour and keep aside.

Boil ¾ cup of water. Mix the hot water to the rice flour slowly. Mix simultaneously, until the mixture is crumbly. Be careful while adding water, too much water will make it very soggy. Now press the mixture tightly and keep it covered for 30 minutes.

In a kadai, heat ghee and fry cashews. Keep the cashews aside. Then roast the grated coconut and add it to the cashews.

In a saucepan, take 1 cup of jaggery in a little water and bring to a boil to make the jaggery syrup. In a small cup, keep little water for checking the syrup consistency. After about 3 – 4 minutes, drop a little syrup into the water and try rolling it with your fingers. The syrup for this sweet dish must form to a hard consistency when rolled with fingers and should make the “ding” noise when you throw it onto a plate. This is the “Kallu Paggu” or the stone consistency.

Once the syrup boils to the required consistency, remove from stove, add the rice flour, cashews and coconut to it, and mix well. Sweet puttu is ready to be enjoyed.

Carrot Cake and a Birthday

Is there a better aroma than that of something baking in the oven...especially when the fragrance of spices wafts throughout the kitchen? I guess not!

It was my husband's birthday a few days ago and I baked him a cake. I have been wanting to bake a carrot cake for quite some time now and this seemed like the perfect occasion. This super moist cake is mildly flavored with cloves and cinnamon and is complemented by the sweet cream cheese frosting, with specks of lemon zest, slathered all over. So, am I guilt laden for eating such an indulgent cake?? No, of course not…I used fat free cream cheese and slightly less sugar and butter than the original recipe…so all is well in the guilt department. :-)

Ingredients

Cake

½ cup walnuts/pecans

1 ¼ cups grated carrot

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp powdered cloves

2 eggs

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup vegetable or canola oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

⅛ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (I used fat free cream cheese)

1 cup powdered or icing sugar

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Method
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Depending on the number of layers you want, butter the cake pans and keep ready. Heat a small pan on medium heat and toast the nuts for a few minutes (until they turn slightly darker and fragrant). Once cooled, chop coarsely and keep aside.

Finely grate the carrots and keep ready.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and powdered cloves, and ground cinnamon.

In another bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. I recommend using an electric beater, as it makes the work a lot easier. Add the sugar gradually and beat until the mixture thickens. Pour in the oil and the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just mixed. Fold in the grated carrots and half of the chopped nuts. If making multiple layers, divide the batter between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick pierced in the middle comes out clean).

Remove from oven and let them cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter, with an electric beater, on low speed. Once the mixture is smooth, slowly add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until completely incorporated. Fold in the  lemon zest.

Assembly

If you are making a single layer cake, just spread the frosting smoothly, all over the cake, and garnish chopped nuts.

For multiple layers, place one layer on a cake pedestal/serving plate, spread the frosting on top, place the next layer and continue the process. You could make more frosting to cover the cake completely and add add the chopped nuts either on the sides or on top. 

 

Note:

The same batter can also be used to make cupcakes.

Leftovers should be refrigerated.







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