Baby Badushas and Happy Deepavali

Here comes that time of the year again. Here's wishing all my readers a very happy Deepavali and a prosperous year ahead.

Deepavali is a festival celebrated with great fervor throughout the country. It is a festival eagerly looked forward to by one and all . It has no age barriers. Deepavali definitely means food, crackers, new clothes, food, visiting people, food, food....

That having been said it is also a festival which ends up being an eating orgy. Food keeps going down the system non stop and without any control at all. Sweets, savories, heavy pulaos, rich curries... the list goes on. In fact, we happily use the kids as an excuse to cook that much. The kids need to eat well.... They need to celebrate... Deepavali comes but once a year..... In the meantime, we have consumed these vast quantities of rich foods. And then struggle with our conscience and weight gain. Thats why our people knew the importance of Leghiyam at the end of the festivities. It is sorely needed to digest all that rich food eaten over the last few days.

We too make a lot of food during this season. In fact, I think I have used more oil and sugar in the last couple of days than in the entire two months preceding it. Just happily pouring in the oil into the frying pans and letting the sugar syrups bubble away to glory. What can I say? Deepavali comes but once a year...

Each year we have a combination of old favorites and a new addition to our feast. I love making one thing new each year. Something I have not tried out earlier. It helps in adding to my repertoire. It is also a good excuse to update my blog. I try to make something traditional and in keeping with the Deepavali spirit. I am all for innovation and creativity, but there is something to be said for the old faithfuls. They have been around for many years and will continue to be there for next so many.

This year I tried my hand at making Badushas. They are pretty simple to make and if you don't count calories (you should not- this is Deepavali, right? And Deepavali comes but once a year..) it is quite a nice sweet to eat for the festive season. It also lasts for a while so thats another plus point. The only thing is I made my badushas really baby sized. They looked cute and are perfect for one mouthful.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cooking soda

4 big tablespoons ghee or clarified butter

4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

Oil to deep fry

Method:

Sift the all purpose flour and baking soda till well mixed

Add the cardamom powder

Add in the ghee and gently rub in.

Add water a tablespoon at a time to make it into a dough.

Do NOT over knead the dough.

Make small lemon sized balls and make a depression with your forefinger. This helps cooking the badusha through.

Simultaneously, heat the sugar with 2 cups of water till a two string consistency is obtained. (Take a bit of the syrup between your fingers and pull apart. two strings should form)

Heat oil till medium hot. It should not be smoking.

Fry the badushas till golden brown and immerse into the syrup.

Leave the badushas to soak in the syrup for a minute or two.

Take out and let dry.

ENJOY!!!!!

Besan Laddoo

Deepavali has come and gone and though I made a bunch of sweets and savories, they never got posted. At least I was smart enough to take the pictures before everything got consumed. This year I have decided to turn over a new leaf ( no resolutions, mind you, they never work out). Post a little more than I did this last year. So I thought new beginnings have to be sweet beginnings and therefore, here goes the second yummy post of the year.

Besan laddoos have always been my personal favourite sweet but surprisingly it does not do much for the rest of the family. They prefer the Rava Laddoos and the Kajjikais. I guess, the besan flavour is an acquired one.

For simplicity in making, there is no sweet to rival this. Usually, all Indian sweets require slaving over the stove. But this one is just so simple and with minimal ingredients (as you all know, this is a personal weakness of mine - fewer the ingredients , the more pronounced the taste of each ingredient). The only thing is watching it closely so that it does not get burnt. It is only a matter of a few seconds which prevents it from going to a burnt dark orange instead of a delicious golden brown. I made that mistake last year and therefore waited till this year to post this particular recipe. The other way of knowing if it is ready, is the moment when aromas start wafting out of the kitchen. The whole house (actually make that the whole neighbourhood) will know that yummy besan laddos are on their way...


Ingredients:

1 cup besan flour (gramflour)

3/4 cup sugar, powdered finely

1/4 cup ghee

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

20-30 raisins


Method:


Heat ghee in a pan.

Add the gram flour and keep stirring till it starts changing colour. At this point, there will be a heavenly aroma throughout the house. You will know it is then ready to take off the flame.

Remember that continues to cook for a few minutes longer and may get burnt so watch out for it.

Take off the flame. Cool for a few minutes till it is at the right temperature to handle.

Add the sugar, cardamom powder and the raisins.

Make into round balls the size of a lime.

Let them cool down and store in an airtight tin.

Enjoy!!!