Drumroll, Please, For These Diwali Delights!

Nutty Mawa Laddu

Makes 12 laddus

These toothsome laddus are flavored with classic spices and made using a readily available pack of mawa and a few pantry ingredients.

Ingredients

• tsp saffron
• 1 tsp milk
• 200g mawa/khoya
• 200g powdered sugar
• 100g cashews, powdered (divided)
• tsp cardamom powder

Method

1. Soak the saffron in 1 tsp warm milk and set aside.
2. Crumble or grate the mawa and put it in a frying pan. Cook on low heat, stirring often. Let the mawa melt and then roast it well on medium heat for 23 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and cook on low heat until the mixture starts to come together like a dough.
4. Set aside cup of the powdered cashews. Add the rest of the cashews and the cardamom powder to the dough. Also, mix in the saffron milk.
5. Take the mawa mixture off the heat and let it cool completely. You can also keep it in the fridge for some time to tighten it up.
6. Roll the mixture into laddus and roll each laddu in the powdered cashews.
7. The laddus can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for about a week. If you prefer a softer texture, then leave them at room temperature for an hour or so before serving.

Ragi Nankhatai

Makes about 20 cookies

Nankhatai is the quintessential Indian cookie, featuring the rich taste of ghee, the crunch of nuts and the heady aroma of native spices. Try making them using ragi, an earthy millet that brings a wealth of nutrition and flavor to this melt-in-your-mouth confection.

Ingredients

• 1 cup ragi flour
• 2 tbsp fine rawa
• cup almonds, ground fine
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• tsp cardamom powder
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• cup semi-solid ghee
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with baking/parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift together the ragi flour, rawa, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom powder and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. Place the ghee and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat them until the mixture becomes very light and fluffy.
4. Stir the dry ingredients gently into the gheesugar mixture to make a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about an hour.
5. Roll the dough into one-inch balls and flatten them slightly. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking tray. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie, and put some chopped pistachios in it.
6. Bake the cookies for about 1518 minutes. Let them cool completely on the baking tray before serving.
7. These cookies keep well for a week when stored in an airtight container on the counter.

Maddur Vadas with Beetroot

(Serves 4)

These vadas from Maddur (a town on the highway between Bengaluru and Mysuru) are a much-loved teatime snack. The crispness of the vadas is matched by the intense savory flavor of the fried onions that are packed into the dough. These instant savories are made without lentils, but weve added some grated beetroot to give them a festive look.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice flour
• cup fine rawa
• cup atta (whole wheat flour)
• Salt to taste
• Pinch of asafetida
• 1 large or 2 medium onions
• 1 small beetroot
• cup curry leaves
• 24 green chillies
• 2 tbsp oil
• Oil for deep frying (~2 cups)

Method

1. Combine the rice flour, rawa and atta in a mixing bowl, and add salt and asafetida to the mixture.
2. Mince the onions. Peel and grate the beetroot. Chop the curry leaves and green chillies finely. Add all these to the flour mixture.
3. Using clean hands, mix all the ingredients for a minute. Now set aside for 1015 minutes to allow the vegetables to release some of their moisture.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and toss it in the flour mixture. Now knead the mixture to create a stiff dough, adding water by the teaspoon as required.
5. Roll the dough into lemon-sized balls. Lay out a damp cloth on the counter and press each ball into a thin disk of about 2.53 inches (diameter) on the cloth.
6. Meanwhile, heat the oil for deep frying.
7. Slide 34 disks into the hot oil and fry on medium heat until the vadas turn crisp. Fry the remaining vadas the same way.
8. Drain well and serve hot with any chutney of your choice.
9. The vadas are best served hot, but you could make them a couple of hours before serving, as they do retain most of their crispness.

RUCHIRA RAMANUJAM RUNS A POPULAR FOOD BLOG, tadkapasta.com, WITH HER PARTNER RANJINI.