Kajjikaayalu (Stuffed crispy fritters)

Kajjikayalu are one of the famous Andhra (South Indian) sweet delicacies. I remember helping my mom in making kajjikayalu. She used to make in large amount and store them in big boxes for our afternoon tea-time sweet cravings! There are various types of fillings. My mom prefers roasted Bengal gram-coconut-jaggery filling. Subtle sweetness of kajjikayalu makes you want to eat more and more!

Roasted Bengal gram is called Putnalu in Telugu and Dahlia in Hindi. Putnalu by itself can be great guilt-free snack. You can get them in any Asian/Indian store. Check for the name Dahlia or roasted Chana split. 

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour/Maida                                               1 cup

Filling:

Grated coconut                                                            1 cup

(Either fresh coconut or frozen grated coconut that you can buy in any Asian/Indian store)

Putnalu/dahlia                                                                ½ cup

Grated Jaggery or sugar                                                ¾ cup

Oil                                                                                3 cups (for deep fry)

Method:

1.       Make dough with all-purpose flour using required amount of water.

2.       Blend putnalu, grated jaggery or sugar into fine powder.

3.       Take the blended powder into a bowl and add grated coconut.

4.       Make small lemon size balls with the dough and roll each ball into thin puri.

5.       I use Kajjikaya peeta/mold (available in market). It saves lot of time and energy ;-) Grease mold with oil and place rolled puri on the mold as shown in the image below.

6.       Using a spoon, add approximately 2 spoons of powder and close the mold. Remove excess dough as shown in the image below.

(If you don’t have mold, place powder in the centre of the puri (rolled dough), fold the puri into semi-circle shape. Wet your fingers and seal the edges)

7.       Heat oil in low-medium flame simultaneously.

8.       Gently take out the stuffed puri and slide it into the heated oil. You can fry 5-6 pieces at the same time.

9.       Fry till golden brown and serve cool with tea.

Boondi Paakam/Karakajjam (crispy sweet nuggets)

Boondi paakam is a delicious evening time snack-dessert usually made on special occasions like religious ceremonies and festivals in Andhra Pradesh. This is one of the desserts I would die for! It takes about 30 minutes to prepare. These crispy sweet nuggets are made with Besan (chickpea flour), rice flour and jaggery. Jaggery is a type of brown sugar popular in India. My mom always preferred jaggery to sugar because it is unrefined sugar (molasses are not separated) that is high in simple carbohydrates. Jaggery is made by boiling sugar cane and palm sap. In taste, it can be compared to brown/raw sugar. Jaggery brings a distinct flavor and taste to the food. 

Ingredients:

Besan  (chickpea flour)                       1 cup

Rice flour                                            ¼  cup

Jaggery (grated)                                  1 ½ cups

Water                                                 2 cups

Cardamom powder (optional)             1 tsp

Oil (for deep fry)                                4 cups

Ghee (clarified butter) / Butter            1 tsp

Method:

1 In a bowl, mix besan, rice flour with water. The batter should be of dosa or sauce-like consistency.

2. Heat oil in a wide bottomed vessel on medium flame. Take a stainless steel skimmer (perforated) and place it above the oil vessel.  Using a spoon, pour the batter onto the skimmer. The batter should fall into the oil as tiny droplets. Continuously stir spoon and the skimmer so that batter droplets spread evenly. Fry droplets (Boondi) until golden color.

3 Place a kitchen paper towel on a plate and pour Boondi into it so that paper can soak excess oil. 

4 Boil grated jaggery with water until the liquid thickens. To check if the syrup is ready, drop a drop of syrup into a cup of water. If the syrup turns into soft ball in the water, syrup is ready.

5 Add syrup to the Boondi and mix well. Pour Boondi on a butter/ghee-greased plate and leave it aside for at least half an hour.

6 Break the crispy nuggets into pieces and serve with tea.

Nippatlu/Pappu chekkalu (Rice crackers)

One more recipe from my namesake! Nippatlu gets me very nostalgic.. My aunt in India used to have a small business of all types of rice crackers. Every time we visit her place, we were asked to help her in making these nippatlu. Traditionally, we use banana leaves for making patties. My aunt had a small garden with all kinds of herbs and plants including banana. We enjoyed running into the garden, choosing our banana plant, tearing its leaves, cutting them into halves and helping her in the making for we used to get as many nippatlu as we want after the help ;-) I and my namesake made these yummy nippatlu yesterday and believe me, making nippatlu is not a big deal even for the newbies. Nippatlu can stay good for at least a week (although I doubt if there would be any left for such long time. One just cannot help munching them all day!). They are great tea-time snacks.   

Ingredients:

Rice flour                                      1 cup
Water                                             1 cup                    
Red chilli powder                          1 tsp

Coriander seeds (dhaniya)             1 tsp

Cumin seeds (jeera)                        1 tsp

Yellow split peas (chana dal)         ½ cup

Curry leaves                                   1 sprig                         

Oil (any)                                         3 cups (for deep-fry)

Salt to taste

Method:

1.      Soak chana dal for at least 1 hour before cooking. Roughly tear curry leaves. Crush coriander seeds and cumin seeds into rough powder using mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestel, blend them using blender.  

2.      Mix all the ingredients (except oil) in a bowl.

3.      Heat oil in a wide bottomed vessel on a medium-high flame. Make lemon size balls of the dough.  

4.      Take a plastic sheet and apply oil to it. (traditionally we use banana leaf) Using your fingers shape the mixture into 3-4 inch dia round patties with less than ¼ inch thickness. 

5.      Gently add the patties into hot oil and deep fry until golden color.

6.      Serve with tea.

*Serves 2 people

 P.S.  Store nippatlu in an air tight lid. No need to refrigerate.

Masala vadalu/garelu (yellow split pea fritters)

Masala gare is one of the popular snacks in South India and is especially loved in monsoon evenings. These mouth-watering crispy fritters are made with chana dal (yellow split peas). Chana dal is closely related to garbanzo beans. It is rich in protein, iron and calcium. You can find chana dal in any indian store/asian store.

Ingredients:

Chana dal (yellow chickpea)          1 ½  cups
3 thai chillis                  
1 onion

Coriander leaves (cilantro)             1 bunch

Mint leaves                                    1 bunch

Curry leaves                                  1 sprig                         

Oil (any)                                        3 cups (for deep-fry)

Salt to taste

Method:

1.      Soak chana dal for at least 1 hour before cooking. Chop coriander and mint leaves. Chop onions into small square pieces.

2.      Take fistful of dal and keep it aside. Strain the water and blend remaining dal, chillis, curry leaves and salt in a blender or food processor. During the process, add only the amount of water that is required for the blades to run. The mixture should not be smooth. Blend until you get a coarse mixture.

3.      Take the mixture in a bowl. Add chopped onions, coriander and the dal kept aside and mix well. The whole chana dal gives a nice crispy texture and adds a great taste.

4.      Heat oil in medium-high flame. Take small amount of the mixture on your palm and shape the mixture into 2-3 inch round patties. Gently add patties into hot oil and deep fry until golden color.

5.      Serve vadas with ketchup.

*Serves 2 people