“Putani Churmundo (Roasted Gram/ Hurikadle Laddoos)” … A delicious simple laddoo that is very easy to prepare and can be offered as Naivedyam to God also ... I prepared them on the occasion of Guru Purnima a day marked as a respect to all our Gurus/ Teachers from whom we have learnt a lot … Thanks to all from bottom of my heart ....
** Putani Churmundo is a simple laddoo that can be prepared in lesser time and not that much laborious. I prepared these on the auspicious occasion of “Guru Purnima”, to extend my heartfelt thanks and seek blessings from all my Gurus, my Parents, my Friends, all of who have in many ways taught, inspired and trained me in the journey of my life. I prepared these churmundo’s in my way of thanking my Mom, from whom I inherit my culinary skills, she is now 86 and stills prepares the best churmundos with smooth finish. I never bothered to learn to prepare them and always put the ball in her court. Whenever she comes to stay she prepares them and we relish them, I just help her in preparations while the binding of laddoo is her forte. Somehow I always find it tiring and do not manage a smooth finish unless off course I add in more of ghee which I do not want to do.
** Seeing my friends always post them makes me want to also relish them. But then recently Mom’s hands ache when she binds them and at this age I really do not feel like bothering her to do it. So recently I have tried to prepare the same a few times and each time I added a little bit more ghee to get it easier for binding. I had come across this recipe from my friend but she used to prepare it with only roasted gram flour and I always found it easier method as there was no much of stirring which I find difficult due to my health issues. So today I decided to give it a try as I had lots of putani at home. I added on little bit of rava too like how mom does for her churmundo which is prepared with wheat flour and was surprised to see that the whole process hardly took any time. Off course I prepared just about 20 laddoos but then that is more than enough for us, it also given the scope of preparing another variety soon.
** Though Mom makes the laddoos smoother with less ghee content, I too did with the same consistency but a little uneven on the surface, but taste wise they were great considering that I prepared with putani flour for the first time and also I could not taste it for checking as I had prepared them for Naivedyam/ Prasadam an offering to god on the occasion of Guru Purnima. Mom, at present is enjoying in Mangalore and can’t travel coz. of Covid-19 or I would have got her to taste them, well there is always another time. Do try these delicious churmundos and enjoy them with your family and friends, they are very easy to prepare. I took the easier method of roasting the putani in microwave, which is what I always do with most of roasting, it saves my aching neck and also turns out perfect once you learn the right way. Wishing all my friends "A Very Happy Guru Purnima" Stay Safe, Stay Blessed ...
** Here is my simple recipe for “Putani Churmundo (Roasted Gram/ Hurikadle Laddoos)” … My Style ….
** Roast one cup of putani/ roasted gram/ hurikadale in a thick bottomed kadai till it rawness goes away and it is slightly crisp. You can use the microwave method too, just put them on a glassware mw safe dish and run at 100% for 2 minutes, mix well again run for 2 minutes, mix well, check and if needed run for another minute.
** Whichever method you use for roasting, once roasted put it on a plate and allow to cool down. Then put it in a mixer grinder and grind to a very smooth textured powder. Do not run the mixture continuously or the moisture created will make it sticky. To avoid it run the mixer for ½ minute and then mix well and only if needed use pulse method for further grinding.
** Mix the powder putani with ½- ¾ cup of fine sugar powder (sakre pitti/ pitti shakkar), 1 tsp of cardamom powder (ellaichi/ yella pitti) and then sieve it all together through a fine sieve to get it mixed well. Sieving them together mixes them evenly and is a necessary step, though you can mix them with a flat spatula too.
** In a thick bottomed kadai add in 4 tblsp (slightly less than ½ cup) of ghee/ toop and bring to heat, once melted remove 1 tablespoon of the ghee and keep it aside, to be added later on only if needed. No add in 2 tblsp of cashew nut (kajjubi/ kaju) pieces and fry till light browned and then add in 2 tblsp of raisins (draksha/ dried grapes) when done remove into a plate to be added later.
** In the same ghee add in 3 tablsp of bombay rava (rulavu) and fry till you get a nice aroma on medium heat or till it changes in color very slightly. When you reach this stage add in a pinch of edible yellow color and ½ tsp of kesar (saffron) and mix well till evenly done. Remove from fire and then add in the putani- sugar powder- cardamom mixture sieved and kept ready together.
** Add in the fried and kept cashew nuts and raisins and mix all ingredients till evenly combined. You have to use a rubbing in sort of method to mix so that all the ingredients get evenly mixed. Now take a handful of mixture and check by trying to bind them into laddoos by pressing them well in your palms by applying gently pressure on it.
** If the mixture sticks and sort of become a lump and you are able to make a smooth ball, then it means the mixture is in the right consistency to prepare the churmundos / laddoos. If you are unable to bind into laddoo and the mixture breaks up into powder, it means the mixture is not right and needs a little bit more of ghee addition.
** So, add in some more tablespoons of melted ghee and knead well into the mixture and try binding them into laddoos. Once you are able to do so, prepare them into even sized laddoos and place them on a try to cool. You can take a measuring bowl to take the mixture and bind it, this way you will get same sized laddoos, though with practice you will not need that.
** “Putani Churmundo (Roasted Gram/ Hurikadle Laddoos)” are done and ready to be offered as Naivedyam to God before distributing the same among family and friends. Store them in air tight container/ stainless steel dabba/ utensil and relish as and when needed. Remains good for 2 weeks at room temperature and over a month in the fridge, provided they remain for that long period.
** Note : Do not add in the putani- sugar mixture into pan when on heat, first remove from fire once the rava has been done and then add, you should not do so on flame or the sugar will start caramelizing and the whole thing will turn into a mess. So remember to remove from fire once the rava has be fried.
** Note : You should press down and keep all the prepared mixture in one side of the kadai and keep removing the same from one side only for preparing the laddoos every time. By keeping, the mixture tightly pressed down on one side the heat remains within and the cooling process is curtailed making binding of laddoos a easier procedure.
** Note : Keep removing some mixture and kneading them well with hands, and then proceed to prepare the laddoss with the kneaded mixture, this way the ghee within the mixture leaves out and the mixture gets softened and binding become easier and smoother. Once done, remove some more and knead them and continue to bind laddoos and follow similar pattern till all mixture is done and over.
** Note : Binding of churmundo/ laddoos is slightly difficult task and takes a little bit of practice. You can ask you friendly neighbor or relative who knows the same and watch them binding the laddoos live, as I believe there is nothing better than having an experience of preparing food by keen observation and interest.
** Note : I have shared a common link at the bottom of this recipe for “Chrumundos”, there are step by step pictures there, which will help you in learning the method easily, do browse through the same. Maybe the next time I will try capturing a few more pictures of binding, when done as I could not do it this time as I was alone at home.
** Note : The addition of ghee should be curtailed as much as possible except that much which is mentioned above in the ingredients list, to get a dry appearance on the surface of churmundo/ laddoo. If you add too much of ghee you get a glassy/glaze look which may look appealing, but does not taste so good and gets somewhat stuck to the tongue as you relish the laddoos.
** Note : To be on the safer side, keep some melted ghee ready beside if need be and add on a little bit if binding the churmundo/ laddoo becomes difficult till you get the experience of binding them drier. It does take practice, trust me I myself am not able to bind the laddoos in the texture my Mom does and I do need a little bit of more ghee into the mixture for me to be able to do so.
** Note : Finally do not give up on preparation of this laddoo, taking it to be tedious, the challenge always lies in achieving that which is difficult, Isn’t It ?? Also the powder will not go waste you can always relish them a with a spoon if still not able to do them till one day you will finally be able to do so. So its no wastage.
** You can also check up on the link given below for the traditional recipe of "Churmundo", the way my mother prepares, though each home has its own method.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks.