Diwali Special – Butter Mix and Rava Laddu

My Murukku maker

Diwali is here and if some of you have still not made any special snacks, here are two simple recipes that you can make in the last minute. Both recipes can be made quickly and do not require much prep work. You must be wondering what this Butter Mix is, well I had no idea too until my mother-in- law mentioned it yesterday evening. My husband also chipped in saying that this was a common snack in Chennai. I wonder how I had not heard about it till now!

Ingredients

Butter Mix

Rice flour – 1 cup

Pottu Kadala (split chick peas) powder – ½ cup

Salt to taste

Ghee – 2-3 tsps

Water

Method

Mix rice flour, split chickpeas powder, salt, and ghee. Pour in the water, little by little, to make soft dough. Using the single holed plate in your murukku maker, squeeze out the dough into hot oil. Butter mix does not turn brown like the regular murukku, so keep an eye on it.

Remove onto a paper towel, cool and store in an air tight container.

Rava Laddu

Ingredients

Rava (semolina) – 1 cup

Powdered sugar – ¾ cup (original recipe says 1 cup, you can try it either way)

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Cashews and Raisins – 3 tbsps

Ghee as needed

Method

Take ½ tsp ghee in a pan and roast the rava till the raw smell goes, about 6-8 minutes. Place on low heat, else it will burn. Powder the rava and keep aside. In the same pan, add 1 tsp ghee and roast the cashews and raisins and add to the powdered rava. Powder the sugar and add to the rava. Add the cardamom powder and mix all the ingredients well. Heat ghee and start adding little by little, and keep mixing it well. Try rolling into a ball and if it holds its shape, you are ready to start making laddus.

Keep the warm ghee at hand, as the mixture can dry out in the middle of the process. Roll out into small balls and voila, your Diwali sweet is ready!

Bon Appétit and Happy Diwali from the Square Meals kitchens!