Munthiri Murukku, a crunchy and delicious snack made from the rice flour and cashews as main ingredients. This murukku is so easy to make and it has such a nice flavor from the cashews. It's one of my recent favorite snacks to make for evening tea.

If you're looking for something different from the traditional snacks to make for this Diwali, then i would highly recommend to try this murukku. 

Rice Flour

For this murukku, i have used the store bought rice flour. Make sure to use the fine variety of rice flour or you can use Idiyappam flour. 

In case you want to try this murukku with home made rice flour, i have a recipe for that, so do check it out here.

Cashews 

I have used 15 whole cashews for 1 cup of rice flour. If you have splitted cashews only, then  use around 30 pieces. Make sure that the cashews are well soaked before grinding, it will help to make smooth cashew paste without any grains of cashews. 

Sesame Seeds

I always add sesame seeds or cumin seeds to the murukku for the flavor. Adding those elevates the flavor of the murukku to the next level. So i highly recommend to use either one of those depending on your liking.

In this recipe, i have used white sesame seeds but of course you can use the black sesame seeds too. Taste wise both are the same.

Now let's check out how to make this crunchy and delicious murukku.

Munthiri Murukku | Cashew Murukku

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 6 
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Cashew Murukku, Munthiri Murukku, Murukku Munthiri Murukku, a crunchy and delicious snack made from the rice flour and cashews as main ingredients.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Rice flour - 1 cup

Cashews - 15 

Sesame Seed - 2 tsp

Butter ( melted) - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Water - as needed

Oil - for frying

Procedure

First soak the cashews in 1/4 cup of warm water for 30 mins and then grind into smooth paste in a mixie/blender. Then in a large bowl, measure and add the rice flour.

Add salt, sesame seeds and butter to the rice flour.

Mix it all well together and then add the cashew paste and mix it with the flour.

Then add the water(i used the mixie jar washed water) as needed to make a soft dough. Next take the murukku press and use the star shaped disc for the murukku press and fill the press with the dough and close it with the lid.

Heat the oil for frying and then press the dough in concentric circles or as you wish on a wooden board or on small plates. Once the oil is well heated, then gently transfer them into the oil. Cook till the shhh sound stops and then take it out of the oil.

Delicious and crunchy Munthiri Murukku / Cashew Murukku is ready.

Related: How to make Mullu Murukku

Notes:

• Store it in a air tight container and it stays well for up to 7 days.

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Rava Badam Ladoo, a delicious and rich sweet made from the semolina, almond flour and sugar as the main ingredients. If you're looking for a new variety of ladoo to make at home for this Diwali, then try this simple yet amazing Rava Badam Ladoo.

Couple of months back, i had some almond flour at my pantry which was bought a while ago so i wanted to finish it off before it goes rancid. And i had this idea of making ladoo with it so i gave it a try and it turned out so good with little overpowering of sweet. 

So next time, i made this ladoo again for Krishna Jeyanthi with reduced sugar and it was a perfect melt in your mouth ladoo.  

Sugar 

Normally for the regular rava ladoo, i add 1/3 cup of sugar for 1 cup of rava which is perfect for our taste. Here, even though i added 1/2 cup of almond flour in addition to the rava, i have added only 1/3 cup( heaped ) because generally almond flour doesn't need much sugar.

But if you have a really sweet tooth or your kids prefer more sweetness in their sweets then you can add up to 1/2 cup of sugar for the given quantity.

Now let's check out how to make this yummy Rava Badam Ladoo.

Rava Badam Ladoo | Diwali Recipe

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Rava Badam Ladoo, Badam Ladoo, Ladoo Recipe Rava Badam Ladoo, a delicious and rich sweet made from the semolina, almond flour and sugar as the main ingredients.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Rava - 1/2 cup

Almond flour - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/3 cup(heaped)

Cardamom - 2 

Ghee - 2 to 3 tbsp

Cashew - 8 to10

Procedure

Heat a pan with a tsp of ghee and then add the rava and roast till it's aromatic.

Transfer the rava into the mixie/blender jar and let it cool a bit. In the meantime, add the almond flour in the same pan and roast till it's aromatic.

Transfer the roasted almond flour into a big bowl and then grind the rava into fine powder and add into almond flour.

Next add the sugar into the mixie/blender jar along with the cardamom seeds and grind into fine powder and add into the rava-almond flour mixture.

Mix it all well together and then heat the remaining ghee in a pan and add the cashews and roast till it's golden brown. 

Then add the roasted cashews along with the ghee into the rava mixture and mix it all together well.

Take a small portion of the rava mixture and start making the ladoos.

Delicious and flavorful rava ladoo is ready.

Related: Rava Coconut Ladoo

Notes:

• Cashews are optional and you can totally skip it.

 

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Cream Cheese Danish Pastry, a delicious pastry made with cream cheese and puff pastry. It's one of my favorite pastries to make at home with store bought puff pastry. 

It's such an easy recipe to make for tea-time get together or on weekend evenings to enjoy with friends / family. 

Here in this recipe, i have used strawberry jam for the filling along with cream cheese. But you can use any of your favorite jams in this recipe. My other favorites jams to use in this recipe are raspberry jam / blueberry jam.

Tips to make perfect cream cheese pastry 

• Make sure to take out the puff pastry from the freezer a couple of hours before.
• Make sure to use the room temperature jam and cream cheese.
• Lemon zests add an amazing flavor and it also helps to balance out all the sweetness.
• Though i skipped the egg wash in this recipe, you can do it for even more coloring on the top. 

Like any pastries, this too becomes soggy as it cools down so i highly recommend to serve this fresh out of the oven. However, you can store the remaining in the refrigerator for a couple of days. 

Don't microwave the leftover pastries, it softens the pastry further. Leave it on the counter top for 30 mins or more and serve it as it is ! 

Now let's check out how to make this delicious Danish cream cheese pastry.

Danish Cream Cheese Pastry | Eggless Cheese Danish

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Pastry | Recipe Cuisine: Danish
Danish Cream Cheese Pastry, Eggless Cheese Danish, Eggless Pastries Cream Cheese Danish Pastry, a delicious pastry made with cream cheese and puff pastry.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Puff Pastry -1

Cream Cheese - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2 to 3 tbsp

Lemon zest - 2 tsp

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Strawberry jam - 1/4 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp

Procedure

Take the puff pastry out of the refrigerator and let it thaw. In a bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Give it a good mix until it all comes together.

Next take the puff pastry and roll into a thin sheets and make a angled slit on the sides as shown in the below pics.

In the center of the puff pastry, add the cream cheese and spread it evenly and then add the jam and spread it well.

Then cover the cream cheese and jam filling with the puff pastry from the sides overlapping one another like shown in pics below. 

Preheat the oven @375 F. Transfer the puff pastry into a parchment line baking tray and brush the top with some butter. Bake it in the oven for 20 mins or until the top becomes golden brown.

Delicious Cheese Danish is ready. Let it cool a bit and then cut into desired shapes and serve.

Related:How to make Egg Puffs

Notes:

• Depends on how sweet you want, you can add more or less sugar.

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Javvarisi Kozhukattai | Sago Modak

Javvarisi Kozhukattai, a delicious kozhukattai made with tapioca pearls for outer dough and coconut jaggery stuffing for the inner fillings. It looks so cute because of the tapioca pearls which gives the translucent look for the outer covering and tastes chewy & absolutely delicious.

This Javvarisi Kozhukattai was really popular a couple of years ago and ever since i have been eyeing on this kozhukattai finally made this a couple of months ago and it became our favorite since especially the little one loves this kozhukattai a lot because of its chewy texture and he said it's like gummy bears :-) 

It makes a great snack for the evenings. Also if you're looking for something unique to make for this vinayagar chaturthi then definitely give a try on this javvarisi kozhukattai. 

Javvarisi| Sago|  Tapioca pearls | Sabudhana 

In the market there are two types of tapioca pearls available. First one is in white color and the other variety is like glass which is also known as nylon sago/javvarisi. For this Kozhukattai, you need white color tapioca pearls. 

Don't try it with a nylon variety which will not work for this recipe. So make sure to get the white variety of tapioca pearls.

Shaping the Kozhukattai

As my javvarisi/sago is a little big, i pulse the javvarisi/sago a couple of times so that i'm able to make the ball shape out of it. If you're using the small variety, then once the javvarisi/sago is soaked and drained, try to make a ball shape out of it. If you can, then no need to pulse the javvarisi/sago.

Honestly , compared to the traditional outer dough, i find these sago outer dough is very forgiving and keeps the filling intact without any spilling because of its glutinous  nature. But it takes patience to shape the modak for the initial one or two. Once you get the knack of it, it all will be done in minutes.

 Coconut Filling

For today's recipe, i have used jaggery to sweeten the coconut. For the easier no cook version, you can simply mix coconut, sugar and cardamom powder and use it as filling.

I have tried both ways and my personal favorite is the jaggery version. Because first, it tastes better than the sugar version. Second, no cooked version of coconut  filling is s little difficult to stuff the modak. It spills over all the place because nothing holds it together. So if you're trying for the first time, simply follow the recipe ditto. 

Also for the filling, you can use fresh, frozen or desiccated coconut. It all works well for the recipe.

Finally, the sweetness of the filling is a little bit on the higher side because you can't make a thin layer of outer dough with this sago mixture and also you can't overfill the modak, so the extra sweetness is much needed for this kozhukattai to avoid the blandness 

Now let's check out how to make these cute yet delicious javvarisi kozhukattai.

Javvarisi Kozhukattai

Preparation Time : 2 hrs | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 6 
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Javvarisi Kozhuttai, Sago Modak,Tapioca Pearls Modak,Sabudhana Mothagam Javvarisi Kozhukattai, a delicious kozhukattai made with tapioca pearls for outer dough and coconut jaggery stuffing for the inner fillings.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

For Outer dough

Javvarisi / Sago / Tapioca pearls - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1/8 tsp

Water - as needed.

For filling 

Coconut - 1/3 cup(heaped)

Jaggery - 1/3 cup

Water - 2 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

Measure the javvari/sago and put it in a bowl and add water till it's immersed completely. Cover it with a lid and let it aside for 2 hrs. After 2 hrs, the javvarisi /sago would be big and soft.

Take a sago in between your fingers and press it, it should mash easily. That's the correct stage. Strain the javvarisi/sago to remove the excess water. 

Put it in a mixie/blender jar and pulse for a couple of times and then transfer into a bowl and then add the salt.

Mix it with your hand and make equal sized 6 balls and keep it covered until use.

Now let's make the filling, in a sauce add the jaggery and water, heat it in the medium flame until the jaggery is completely melted.

Next add the coconut and cook till it becomes a thick mass. Finally add the cardamom powder and switch off the flame.

Now, let's make the kozhukattai/modak, take a ball of javvarisi/ sago and place it in your palm and make a small bowl like shape. Place a small amount of coconut filling in it and gently close it. Do the same for the remaining dough.

Bring the water to boil in a steamer/idli pot . Steam the Javvarisi kozhukattai in it for 15 mins in a low medium flame.

Delicious Javvarisi Kozhukattai/Sago Modak is ready.

Related: How to make Jackfruit Kozhukattai

Notes:

• Make sure to use the white javvarisi, not the nylon variety.
• For the mild sweetness, you can reduce the jaggery upto 1/4 cup.

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Sweet Coconut Kozhukattai, a delicious and very inviting kozhukattai stuffed with jaggery and coated with cardamom flavored grated coconut. 

A couple of months back, i saw a video about the recipe klepon (Indonesian sweet dumpling flavored with pandan leaves) which is made from glutinous rice flour and sounds so similar to our kozhukattai but a little different in the making.  

I was totally impressed by the idea of how klepon is made and want to try the same with regular rice flour. So within a few of days of watching that video, i tried the same recipe with the regular rice flour and cardamom flour. To be honest, i was mind blown by the taste and how cute it looks with very minimal effort.

Also if you're new to cooking or struggle to make mothagam, then this recipe is a saviour for you. Trust me, it tastes just like thengai poorna kozhukattai ! So give it a try on this kozhukttai  for this vinayagar chathurthi.

Jaggery 

For this kozhukattai, you need small chunks of jaggery pieces to stuff the kozhukattai. You can either cut the jaggery into small chunks (while doing that, you end up with some powdered jaggery which you can use it later for other recipes) or you can gather some grated jaggery into small marble / pea sized balls depends on the size of the kozhukattai you want.

Depending on how big the jaggery piece you use for each kozhukattai and how quickly it melts, you end with fully liquid jaggery syrup inside or some liquid and some crunchy pieces of jaggery. 

I simply love when i bite into it, the liquid jaggery squirts into your mouth and mix with coconut ,it tastes so yummy and flavorful. 

This somehow reminds me of karupatti paniyaram that Amma used to make, she simply added  some grated/small chunks of  palm jaggery into dosa batter and made the paniyaram. Once cooked, some of the karupatti pieces are not melted completely and that would make a gooey inside on some of the paniyaram and i loved those very much in my childhood days.

Also when browsing about klepon to know more about it. I came to know there are different versions of this recipe available in many countries with different names. In Malaysia/Singapore, it's commonly known as "ondeh ondeh" and in Thailand it's known as "Kanom ko".  

So here is my humble attempt of recreating the klepon with the twist of Indian flavor. Do give it a try and let me know how you like it in the comment section. Also it's a great recipe to make with kids, no messy stuffing so they can easily put one piece of jaggery into each kozhukattai. 

Now let's see how to make this sweet coconut kozhukattai.

Sweet Coconut Kozhukattai | Klepon(Indian Version)

Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 8 mins | Serves : 2 to 3  
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Sweet Coconut Kozhukattai,Klepon,ondeh ondeh, kanom ko Sweet Coconut Kozhukattai, a delicious and very inviting kozhukattai stuffed with jaggery and coated with cardamom flavored grated coconut.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Boiling water - little less of 1/2 cup

Jaggery pieces - about 15 small pieces

Grated coconut - 1/3 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

First let's make the dough, take the flour in a bowl, add sesame oil and salt. Give a good mix. 

Pour the hot water into the flour and make a soft dough. Keep it aside for 5 mins.

Next let's gather all the other ingredients. Cut the jaggery into small pieces as shown below and keep it ready. In another plate, add the grated coconut and cardamom powder and mix it well and keep aside.

Now take a small ball of dough and make a small dent in the center and then place a piece of jaggery and close the jaggery with the dough and roll into a smooth ball.

Or else you can make a flat disc from the small dough ball and then place a piece of jaggery and close it. This way of making is so easy and i recommend this for beginners. 

Do the same for all the dough. To boil the kozhukattai, bring a pot of water to boil and then add the kozhukattai in batches into the boiling water.Make sure that the water is boiling while adding the kozhukattai otherwise it sticks to the bottom or disintegrates into the water.

Boil it for 5-7 mins in medium flame or until the kozhukattai starts to float on top. Don't stir the kozhukattai for the first 2-3 mins and then gently give a swirl with a spoon to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom. Remove from the water and then immediately put it on the coconut mixture.

Shake the plate so that the coconut would stick to the kozhukattai well. 

That's it. Delicious and easy to make coconut kozhukattai is ready.

Related: How to make  Peanut Kozhukattai

Notes:

• Taste great when it's warm. 
• Depends on the size of the kozhukattai, the cooking time varies. Make sure that once the kozhukattai floats on top, remove it immediately. Otherwise it would be rubbery.
• The amount of coconut and jaggery are purely personal, you can add as much as you want as per your family needs.
• Make sure that the water is boiling while adding the kozhukattai otherwise it sticks to the bottom or disintegrates into the water.

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