Wishing everyone a very Happy and Prosperous Diwali !

Deepavali or Diwali is popualrly known as the festival of lights. Its an important
five-day festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, occuring between mid-october and mid-november. The word "Deepavali" means row of lamps. Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends. Most Indian business communities begin the financial year on the first day of Diwali.
Read more about Deepavali here.

I made Rava ladoo and Mixture for this year's diwali.


Rava Ladoo :

Ingredients :

• 1 cup rava
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup broken cashews
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup ghee
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 
• milk, as needed

Method :

1. Heat some ghee in a pan and saute the rava until slight colour change and you get nice aroma. remove and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining ghee in the same pan and fry the cashews and raisins until the raisins swell.
3. Now add the rava, sugar , cardamom powder and mix well in  reduced heat.
4. Slowly add milk little by little until the mixture is soft . set aside for 10 minutes.
5. Once the mixture is warm enough to touch, make small balls .

Hints and Tips

• If you have added more milk to the mixture, leave it to rest for some 10-15 minutes. All the milk will be absorbed and the mixture will be dry to make balls.
• Grated coconut can also be added for more flavour.
• Ladoos can be kept in room temperature for 3 - 4 days.

Mixture :


Ingredients :

• 2 cups besan / gram flour
• 1/2 cup raw peanuts
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup aval / poha
• 1/4 cup pottukadalai / roasted split chickpea
• 1/2 cup curryleaves
• chilli powder, as needed
• salt, as needed
• 1/4 tsp perungayam / asofetida
• oil, for deep frying

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan, fry the cashews, peanuts and aval one by one using a slotted spoon. set aside.
2. Fry the curryleaves till crisp and keep aside.

Preparing Boondi :

1. Mix 1 cup of besan and water to form a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter should be in the consistency like dosa batter.
2. Heat oil in a pan , hold a slotted spoon over the oil and add the batter slowly and evenly in the oil. Fry till golden brown and drain in a paper towel. Repeat the process to make more boondis. Set aside.

Preparing Omapodi :

1.  Mix some salt , asofetida and water in a small bowl and add it to the remaining 1 cup of besan and form a thick dough . The consistency should be like a murukku dough.
2. using a murukku press and a disc with small holes press the dough in to hot oil.
3. Fry till golden brown and drain into paper towel. Repeat the process with the remaining dough

Mixing process :

1. Mix salt, chilli powder and fried curryleaves together in a small bowl.
2. Break the omapodi into small pieces using your hand.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add the fried boondi, cashews, peanuts, split chickpea, aval and the curryleaves mixture. Mix everything together and check for salt and chilli powder.
4. Now add the omapodi and mix well.

Hints and Tips

• Salt and chilli powder can also be added to the boondi batter at first, instead of adding it at last.