This post has been LONG OVERDUE. Yes.... It's about the ARUSUVAI CHAIN.
This was originally started by Latha ma of the YUM blog.
Later it was introduced here in US by Latha of Masala Magic. Ever since I wanted to be a part of this . Finally the sweet girl who owns the spicy blog chose me to pass on her surprise ingredient.
Yes... It was PRAVS of 'SIMPLY SPICY' who contacted me and asked if I wanted to be a part of the arusuvai chain. My joy knew no bounds when I heard that. After a few e-mails and phone talk I recieved the surprise package she sent me.
Wondering what it is? It was CASHEWS , EDIBLE GUM and a box of haldirams sweets.I was thrilled as well as scared about the ingredient. I had never seen edible gum before and had no idea what to do with it.
Again Pravs lent me a helping hand. She directed me Latha ma's
Undaes .
After that I googled a lot but I was not confident enough to try anything. That's why I kept on postponing this.
Anyway, here is what I did with the ingredients:
KAJU KATHLI and DRY FRUIT LADOOS.
This is the first time I'm trying both these recipes and I have to say that I was 100% pleased with the final result. Here are some pictures... Look for yourself and you will agree with me.
KAJU KATHLI:
Ingredients:Cashews- 1 cup
Sugar- 3/4 cup
Water- 1/4 cup
Milk- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tsp
Silver leaves- optional
Procedure:
Grind the cashews to a really fine powder using a coffee grinder. Mix water, milk and sugar and heat it in medium-high flame. Wait for one string consistency. (Keep some water in a small plate. If you put some sugar syrup in it , the syrup should not dissolve. I mean it should lay there like a fine thread.)
After this add the cashew powder and keep mixing it until you get a nice soft dough. If you feel that the dough is dry or too thick you can add some milk to it. Don't worry. You will not encounter this problem. Still, I just wanted to mention it incase you run into trouble. Adding milk reduces the shelf-life but I don't think this sweet will last that long.You can tell that the dough is ready by testing it with your fingers. I mean, when you take some cashew dough in between your fingers and roll it, it should form a ball.
Next, take a greased plate and put the cashew dough on it. Spread it like a chappathi using a rolling pin to the desired thickness. Alternatively, you can spread it on a clean countertop too. Finally spread the silver warg on the top and cut it into diamonds.If you see my picture, you can notice that some of the kathlis are thick and some are thin. The reason is I used a wrong plate to spread the cashew dough. When you try it make sure that the base is even.
Next is the DRY FRUIT LADOOS:
Ingredients:Cashews- 1 cup
Almonds - 1 cup
Raisins - 1 cup
Dates - 1 cup
Edible gum - 1 cup
coconut- 1 cup
ghee- 1/2 to 3/4 th cup
sugar - 1 cup
water- 1/4 cup
Procedure:
Roast the cashews and badam with a tsp of ghee for a few minutes (3 to 4 mins). Next roast the edible gum with a tsp of ghee to a nice golden color. Take care not to burn it. Roast it in a medium-low flame. Dry roast the coconut to a golden brown color and crumble it into fine pieces.Finely chop the almonds, cashews, raisins and dates. The finer the better. This will help in shaping them into balls.
Mix water and sugar and bring it to a boil. Wait till the syrup reaches a two string consistency. Next dump in all the ingredients and mix it all really really well until it clings together. Wait for 5 mins. Grease your hands with some ghee and shape them into small balls while it is still hot.Note:
It requires some expertise to shape them into ladoos. I tried it but I couldn't as it was too hot for my hands. Finally my MIL came to my resuce and she shaped them all. If you find it hard to shape them you can eat it as it is too. Tastes super good and highly nutritious.
The recipe above is no different from Latha ma's but this site gave me the idea of making the sugar syrup which helped in the binding of the ingredients. YAY... Atlast I have managed to participate in this chain. Now it's my turn to pass it on somebody.
So I choose PREMA of "My cookbook" to pass on the surprise ingredient.
Once again I thank dear PRAVS for this great opportunity and it's indeed a great pleasure to be a part of it. Also, THANKS for the lovely sweets that you sent. I absolutely enjoyed it.
I'm signing of with this. Donno when I'll post the next one. I don't want to give anymore false promises that I'm back to blogging. So see you all when time permits. Take care and I thank each and every one of you for your kind comments.
