Palli Chikki - Palli Patti/ Peanut Brittle

This is the treat most of us enjoyed from our chailhood......and many many memories surely attached to these....So, these chikkies are surely heart rob of mine... not only for taste but also for memories...........



Ingredients:

• 2&1/2 cup Peanuts/palli/verusenaga pappu
• 3/4cup Jaggery
• 1/2cup Sugar
• 1/4cup Water
• 1/4tsp.Cardamom(powdered)
• 1/4tsp.ghee

METHOD:

• Roast pea nuts, keep aside.
• In a thick bottomed, wide pan, heat jaggery, sugar with 1/4 cup of water, bring them to boil, now you see lots of bubbles, keep stirring until it gets to a thick syrupy consistency.( to check the consistency, drop few drops of syrup in a bowl of water, it should solidify into soft threads). Now add cardamom powder, pea nuts and stir constantly for few minutes, then turn off the heat and pour this mixture onto a ghee greased pan, leave it to cool. When cooled, break them to pieces (need not be fancy, I like to brake them in random shapes, which is quite easy). Store them in an airtight container.

Goruchikkudukaya Pulusu/Cluster Beans in Tamarind Sauce

This is one simple house hold curry in the Kitchens of Andhra..........

Ingredients:

• Goruchikkudukayalu/Cluster Beans – 1lb
• Onion -1(finely chopped)
• 1Ttomato (diced)
• Mustard Seeds – 1tsp.
• Cumin Seeds – 1tsp.
• Fenugreek Seeds – few(5-6seeds)
• Curry Leaves – 1spring
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp.
• Salt to Taste
• Red Chili Powder – 2tsp.
• Tamarind – Small Goose Berry Size(soak in 3/4 cup of water for 15min.)
• Oil – 4tsp.
  

Method:

• Wash, cut the cluster bean into 1''pieces. Add salt(little), turmeric powder to the bean pieces, steam them(give 1 whistle in the pressure cooker), once they are cooled, squeeze out the excess water and keep them aside. Heat oil in a pan, once hot, add fenugreek seeds,mustard,cumin seeds and fry till they splutter, now add chopped onions and curry leaves and fry till the onions are translucent, then add tomato, turmeric powder and fry till the tomatoes are pulped up. Now add the cooked bean pieces, salt, red chilli powder, tamarind juice(extracted from soaked tamarind), mix well, cover and cook until you get the saucy consistency to the curry(it takes about 15min.).....This curry tastes good with steamed white rice.

Madatha Kaja/ Kakinada Kaja

The very mention of the name Kaja reminds everyone of Kakinada kaja, this crispy, cylindrical flaky, sticky sweet treat is popular not only across Andhra Pradesh but also across the nation......

Ingredients:
All purpose flour/Maida - 2 cups
Sugar - 2cups
Rice Flour - 3 tsp
Ghee - 3tsp
Soda bi carb. - 2 pinches
Oil for deep frying

Procedure :

• Take maida/flour in a bowl, add ghee, baking powder to the maida/ flour, add sufficient water to make a dough, knead well. The dough should be like puri or chapathi dough. Pinch the dough, roll the dough into big chapathi, and keep it aside, and roll two more chapathies. Mix rice flour and ghee in to a paste, lightly smear this paste on the chapathi, place another chapathi on top of it and again smear the paste on chapati and place another chapathi(it should be stack of 3 chapathies), and roll it like a mat and cut it into 1''pieces, roll them little, lengthwise. Keep aside. Now make a sugar syrup with one string consistency. Keep aside. Heat oil and deep fry the kajas and drop them into the sugar syrup. Let the kaja absorb the syrup for a while. Remove from the syrup and keep aside. Repeat the process for the remaining kajas. Once again drop the kajas in the sugar syrup so that they nicely absorb the sugar syrup. Remove from the syrup..........store them in the container, they can be stored for 15days.

This flaky Kakinada Kaja is going to "Speciality Food Event" hosted by Simple Indian Food-An Easy Cooking Blog.