Instructions for Making Rice Lamp (Maavilakku) with Auntie Babez's Involvement

If you want to eat idli but don't have time to soak beans and let the batter ferment for a long time, you can quickly prepare soft and fluffy murmura idli. This method avoids hours of waiting and a laborious process.

The recipe uses a mixture of murmura, yogurt, and dry rice flour (sooji). Fruit salt is used to make the batter light and airy. Murmura idli can be prepared in a short time and served for breakfast with coconut paste or any other favorite paste.

To begin, take 2 cups of murmura and wash it thoroughly with water. Then, soak the murmura in water for about 5 minutes, then strain it to remove all excess liquid.

Place the soaked murmura in a blender jar along with 1 cup of fresh yogurt and blend. If necessary, add a little water to achieve a consistency similar to dosa batter.

Next, add 1 cup of finely chopped dry rice flour and 1 teaspoon of oil to this mixture, stirring well. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes so that the dry rice flour has time to swell.

Meanwhile, lightly grease the idli molds with a small amount of oil. Check the batter, and then, to make the idli soft and fluffy, add 1 teaspoon of fruit salt. Add a little water and gently mix the batter in one direction.

It is important to remember that the fruit salt should be added immediately before cooking the idli. If the batter needs to be prepared in advance, omit the fruit salt and store the batter in the refrigerator.

Distribute the batter in small portions into the idli molds, without overfilling them, as the idlis will expand in the steamer. Preheat water in a pot and place the idli molds in it. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for about 10–12 minutes.

After turning off the heat, leave the idlis in the steamer for another 2 minutes. Then, remove the molds and carefully take out the idlis. If the idli sticks to the mold, it can be removed by slightly wetting the back of a spoon.

When you hear the combination of rajma and rice, your mouth starts to water, but the long cooking process often makes people give up on their favorite dish. Usually, it requires chopping onions and tomatoes, then frying spices to prepare the sauce, and after that, waiting for the rajma to cook. Thus, to make a delicious and beloved rajma, you need to spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen.

But what if there is a way to cook rajma without preparing a separate sauce and without frying onions and tomatoes in oil? Today we will tell you about such a method of cooking rajma, where you won't need to fry the spices. All ingredients will be added directly into the kitchen appliance.

The feature is that although the method of cooking rajma has been changed, the taste will remain the same as in a cafe and will be approved by all family members. Let's find out what this method is.

Ingredients

The recipe lists the following components: aromatic spices, ground spices, and ingredients added at the end.

Cooking Method

First, thoroughly wash the rajma, which was soaked in water overnight, and place it in the pressure cooker. Then add chopped onions, tomatoes with cuts, garlic cloves, grated ginger, and green chili.

Next, add all whole spices, such as cumin, large cardamom, bay leaf, green cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. You also need to add Kashmiri red pepper powder, coriander powder, turmeric, garam masala, and salt.

Now add 3-4 tablespoons of ghee and about 3 cups of water, mix all ingredients well, and close the pressure cooker lid. There is no need to preheat the oil and fry the spices or prepare a sauce from onions and tomatoes.

Cook over medium heat for about 4-5 whistles (signals). After that, turn off the gas and allow the pressure in the pressure cooker to release naturally.

As soon as the pressure completely drops, open the lid. Carefully remove the tomatoes with tongs and peel them. Then mash the tomatoes thoroughly and return them to the pressure cooker, mixing well with all the remaining rajma.

After that, cook in the pressure cooker without the lid over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. This will allow the rajma sauce to thicken, and the flavors of all the spices to fully blend.

Finally, add fried methi, finely chopped fresh herbs, and one tablespoon of ghee, mix. The ready hot, thick, and spicy rajma is ready. It is served with jeera rice, sprinkled with a little fresh herbs on top.

During the sacred festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, it is customary to offer worship to Lord Ganesha using modaks. However, during the festive season, there are concerns about impurities and adulterated mawa in the sweets sold in the market. Instead of buying expensive and counterfeit sweets to welcome Bappa, it is recommended to prepare crispy and aromatic Mawa Modaks from regular dry grain that you have at home.

Thanks to the outer shell made of high-quality coarse dry grain and the rich filling of mawa and nuts, the taste of these modaks becomes so delightful that they will win the hearts of everyone who receives them as prasad for Bappa.

For the outer shell: 1 cup of fine dry grain, 1.5 cups of milk, 1 tablespoon of ghee, 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom powder, 2 tablespoons of crushed sugar.

For the filling: 1/2 cup of mawa (khoya), 2 tablespoons of grated coconut, 2 tablespoons of cashew and almonds (finely chopped), 1 teaspoon of chirunji, a pinch of nutmeg and cardamom powder, 2–3 tablespoons of crushed sugar.

First, sauté the mawa in a pan over low heat for 2–3 minutes until light pink. Then add the chopped cashews, almonds, chirunji, grated coconut, nutmeg, and cardamom powder, after which turn off the gas. When the mixture cools slightly, add the crushed sugar and set aside.

In a pot, bring 1.5 cups of milk, 1 teaspoon of ghee, and 2 tablespoons of crushed sugar to a boil. Then reduce the heat and gradually, stirring constantly, add the dry grain to avoid lumps. Continue stirring until the grain has completely absorbed the milk and the mass starts to pull away from the sides of the pot. Turn off the gas and cover the dry grain with a lid for 5 minutes to steam well.

When the dry grain is slightly warm, knead it by hand for 2 minutes, lubricating your hands with a small amount of ghee, until it resembles dough. Lightly grease the modak molds with ghee. Place a small amount of the dry grain mixture on both sides of the mold and form an indentation in the center with a finger. Then, place the prepared mawa and nut filling into this central hollow, and cover it with a small amount of the dry grain mixture, sealing the mold from below. After removing the mold, you get a beautiful, clean, and delicious Suji Mawa Modak. Similarly, prepare all other modaks and offer them to Bappa.