Karagadabu

Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha, is celebrated with great pomp and show in India. This festival is incomplete without karagadabu for Ganesha. This year me and my friend Arathi made karagadabus for the festival.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cream of wheat - 3/4 cup
Salt a pinch
Sugar - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp

Filling:
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Coconut powder - 1/4 cup
Saffron - few strands
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Powdered cashews - 1/4 cup (optional)

Oil to fry

Method:
1. Mix all purpose flour, salt, cream of wheat, sugar, ghee to a stiff but pliable dough.
2. Rest the dough covered for half an hour
3. Knead well so it is soft and easy and to work with. Add a tsp of olive oil if necessary.
4. Mix all the filling ingredients.
5. Make small balls from the dough and roll it or press it with a tortilla press
6. Keep the rolled dough in the mould and spread the filling and seal the edges.
7. Remove from the mould and deep fry in medium heat till crisp.

Quinoa Akki Roti

My latest experiment with quinoa - quinoa akki roti. I tried this recipe by making quinoa flour in the blender. Then I added a little rice flour and proceeded the same way as the regular akki roti by add the onions, grated carrots, cilantro, curry leaves in the dough.

Ingredients:
Quinoa flour - 2 cups
Rice flour - 1/2 cups
Carrot - 1 small grated
Onion - 1 medium chopped
Curry leaves - 2 strings
Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp chopped
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2 chopped
Salt to taste
Olive oil - few tsp to cook

Hot boiling water - to mix

Method:
1. Mix quinoa and rice flour with grated carrots, chopped onion, chopped curry leaves, corriander leaves, cumin seeds, chopped green chillies, chopped and salt.
2. Add just enough boiling water to this and knead.
3. Make it to tennis size balls.
4. Flatten the dough on a plastic sheet with your hand
5. Gently transfer the flattened roti to a cast iron griddle or skillet
6. Add a tsp of olive oil around it and cover it
7. Cook on medium flame till done
8. Serve with chutney.

Besan Masala Roti

The cooking challenge for the month of August is "Besan ki Masala roti". This is a flat bread made with chick pea flour and whole wheat flour. These rotis are stuffed with mixed spices. This recipe is adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's "Marwari Vegetarian Cooking". This recipe post is for "Indian Cooking Challenge". This event is hosted by Srivalli of "Spicing Your Life".