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September 17, 2007

Goodies for Ganpati on Ganesh Chaturthi - Part 1



I celebrated my first Chavati after marriage yesterday. It was a huge success. And at the cost of having this post sound like a vote of thanks, I still have to thank those without whom this would not have been possible. Ganpati for standing by me and making this possible. Amma, who kept guiding me each step of the way. Sachin who helped when I made everything. Latha and Lakshmi of The Yum Blog for patiently explaining what might have gone wrong and what corrective action I need to take for the kozhukattais. Laavanya for her Ammini Kozhukattai recipe. And Rasachandrika, the amchi cookbook, for guiding a novice.




For this Ganesh Chaturthi, I made Modak, Chakli, Somashe (Karanji/Nevryo), Madgane (Bengal Gram Kheer), Uppu Kozhukattai and Ammini Kozhukattai. I didn't think I'd have the patience for any of this. Normally, I'd have made some one or two items and left it at that. But I'm glad I tried.




Today's post will carry 2 of those items: Chakli & Somashe

Chakli:





3 cups Rice Flour
3/4 cup Roasted Urad flour
1/2 cup Butter
1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for frying



Mix the flours and the salt. Rub in the butter and the sesame seeds. The mixture should come together in your hands. Add water to make a pliable dough. The dough should not be watery, yet moist.




Put some dough into a chakli press and make 4-5 small spirals on to a cloth. Heat the oil in a kadhai. Fry the chaklis in the hot oil till they turn brown. Drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the dough.






Somashe and Modaks:





For the outer covering:

2 cups Maida
2 tbsp Hot Ghee (Clarified Butter)


For the filling:


1 1/8 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
3/4 cup Coconut, scraped
1/2 cup Cream of Wheat (Rava/Sooji)
1/4 cup Cashews
1 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Oil for frying


Knead the dough by mixing the maida and the ghee with enough water. The dough must be elastic. Make small balls of the dough and keep aside.





Roast the coconut, cream of wheat and sesame seeds individually and keep aside.


Make a sugar syrup of 1 thread consistency with the sugar and water. Add the coconut, sesame and cream of wheat along with the cashews and cardamom powder. Mix well and allow to cool.


For the modaks:


Roll out the dough as thinly as possible without tearing it. Place some filling inside and pleat the edge to form a cone. Pinch off the excess dough from the top once you have sealed the modak. (I formed a cup with the excess dough because we perform a modak aarti for Ganesha.) Place on a damp towel and cover.





For the Somashe:


Roll out the dough as thinly as possible without tearing it. Place it inside a somashi press. Place some filling on one half and dab a little water along the edges. Cover with the other half and close the press and hold it down. Remove the somashi from the press and seal the edges again with your fingers (just to be doubly sure!). Place on a damp towel and cover.


Deep fry the modaks and the somashe in hot oil and drain on a paper towel.


This also goes to dear Asha as yet another entry for the RCI Karnataka event. I am also sending this to Latha for her Gowri Ganesh event. I hope all of you enjoyed Ganesh Chaturthi. My wishes to you and yours.

36 comments:

Sig said...

For a novice, those sure look wonderful Raags... hope you had a great weekend!

Unknown said...

Goodies look delicious!! Hope u had a wonderful festival :)

Raaga said...

@Sig: I had a great weekend... except for 2 aching forearms :-) Thanks :-)

@Cinnamon: Thanks. I had a great time, hope you did too.

Sia said...

what a beautiful spread raaga... it looks wonderful... i am sure u must be tired after cooking and eating all those goodies;)

Raaga said...

Thanks Sia. Amma just saw all my pics and called me.

I am tired all right!! My forearms ache like crazy... but it still feels good :-)

Srivalli said...

Raaga..those are wonderful looking one...great job...am sure ganesha must've loved all of them..

Raaga said...

Thanks Sri. I sure hope he loved them.

Siri said...

Hey Raaga,

Wow seems like you made loads of delicacies for Lord Ganesha..:D Nice and yummy recipes dear..:D

Jayashree said...

Raaga, love those somashes and modaks.....

FH said...

You have been busy!! Looks yum.I will take the third photo and URL ,thanks Raaga.I made some BBB,raita and dessert,it was fun!:))

Richa said...

all the goodies look so inviting. love those karanjis, my fav :)

sunita said...

That's a lovely spread...hope you had a nice time.

Laavanya said...

What a spread of goodies for Vinayaka chaturthi... the modaks and chaklis look very professional. I'm so glad that you tried and liked the ammini kozhukattai - so, how does it taste with the sweet pooranam?

sra said...

Raaga, I'm really impressed, I'm sure food blogging is making you do this. When festivals come round, I'm content to make payasam and vadas, if at all! Great going, girl!

bee said...

woohoo!!! what a great spread. and glad to hear you had fun doing it.

Mishmash ! said...

Belated greetings!
I loved your Somashe and Modaks...very cute ones :)

Shn

TBC said...

Wow! what a fab festival spread. Please accept my belated wishes:-)

Finla said...

For the first time it looks super.

TheCooker said...

What a spread!
You've been super busy.

Pooja V said...

This is really commenable. Muah N hugs to u ragga.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is some spread! No wonder your arms are aching. Warm chavathi greetings to you and yours, Raaga.

Suganya said...

What a spread Raaga! You should be glad to have tried them, you get to devour 'em too :)

Sreelu said...

Raaga, I am sure ganesha was a happy camper at your home, what a spread. I have the filling for modak left any ideas what else I can make ?

Jyothi said...

Hi Raaga! I hope you had a great weekend and festival time. All dishes looks yum and with great shape. Thanks for sharing.

musical said...

If this isn't lavish, what is! Your somashe and modaks look perfect!

Chef Jeena said...

It all looks wonderful Raaga. :)

Sharmi said...

hey the aarti with modak is such a beautiful idea! looks awesome. you worked hard. hope you had a great time

Anonymous said...

So many items? Amazing. I am not sure if I can make these many even for Diwali. Sakkad khaan bhari like dista.

Savithri said...

Your modakas and chaklis look wonderful!!

Hope you enjoy your cake decorating kit:) Looking forward to seeing some posts on your blog about how you used them! I'll post whatever I know about how to use them:)

Rajitha said...

raaga..awesome girl..you did go all out and celebrate like a pro!!

Anonymous said...

dudette, this is such a wonderful spread!!! those modaks look so artistic :)

zlamushka said...

Raaga,

how could you make those thingies sooo beautifull y(i would even use PERFECTLY) shaped ? Look at them,... so tempting.

Viji said...

Lovely dishes Raaga. Viji

Cynthia said...

Hope you and the family had a blessed Gahesha Chaturthi.

Padma said...

Looks like you had a great time celebrating this festival which is sadly ending soon...LIked the deep fried modaks..

arundati said...

hey raaga,i dont know how i missed this post....you had quite a beautiful spread...and aching forearms or not i must compliment you on your terrific spirit!! lovely...i loved the modaks....i have only seen steamed ones so the fried version was such a pleasant surprise.....