“कडबू” (Baked Stuffed Wheat Cookies)

October is one of my favourite seasons.In the midst of fall colours,a beautiful array of birthdays & anniversaries always lined up.A bunch of happiness and reason to celebrate with loved ones.

This 20th October,Aai celebrates her 62nd birthday!!Born is 1947, she is almost as old as Independent India.An economics graduate & perfectionist by choice,Aai chose to remain a Home-maker to shape my future so thoughtfully.

We have nothing in common,yet we are similar.She has been my best critic.While I lived in India,she managed everything so wonderfully for me.Realized her importance in my life only when I started living on my own in US (post marriage).She has been the oxygen supply for all these years and I truly miss her.

I have learnt the methodic way to work on details and achieve finesse from her.

There is a lot more to write & share.But,some things are better unsaid than said,and felt than expressed!

So,here’s a birthday recipe to express my feelings for you.Aai enjoys one of Nana’s (my mother’s father) favourite sweets “Kadbu” (Baked Stuffed Wheat cookies) a lot.So,following the festive mood,made these wonderful baked cookies for her.

Ingredients

• 1/2 muffin-full bowl of chana daal/gram-I cooked it in the pressure cooker with 1 cm deep water above the daal.The book just suggests to cook it and drain the water from it.No particular method to cook it is suggested.Instead of using the traditional Indian “puran yantra” (a sort of grinder),I used the blender and made a thick coarser paste of it.
• 1 muffin-full bowl of sugar or jaggery
• 1-2 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1-2 tsp cardamom powder
• 2-3 stands on saffron (my addition)
• khoya or khava (condensed milk powder or cubed)-Its an optional addition mentioned in the book,but I added a piece of kaju katli mithai.I did not roast it as mentioned in the book.
• dry fruits-I added 2 tbsp of dry fruit powder.
• 1 muffin-full bowl of wheat flour
• 3 tbsp of all purpose flour (my addition)
• 1 tbsp of oil
• ghee for frying-I baked the cookies instead of frying them.
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp poppy seeds

Total Time=Cooking Time+Preparation Time=20 minutes.

Stuff it ,Pattern it & Bake it Up

For the outer crust:I made a hard dough kneading the wheat flour & all purpose flour with oil and salt to taste.I made small dough balls for later usage (5 nos).

For the Stuffing:I saved on time because of pressure cooking the chana daal.I softened it with a spoon and added nutmeg powder,cardamom powder,sugar,dry fruits powder,saffron and khoya mithai to it.However,I did not add the roasted poppy seeds to this mixture.I mixed it well and put it in microwave for a minute or so.This mixture may be a little liquid,in that case add khoya or cooked chana daal to it.This shall allow the stuffing to remain within the crust and not burst open.

Pattern & Bake:I pre-heated my oven @ 350 deg F. I dipped small dough balls into the poppy seeds and rolled them into flat rounds/puris.I put the stuffing on the plane side (side without poppy seeds) such that the other half of the puri could cover it when folded.I sealed the edges of the half-circled unbaked cookie with fingers.I was in a mood to show off my brand new pastry wheel,so used it to create a pattern on edges.But,its not mandatory!

I put the uncooked cookies into the oven.And,in few minutes….crunchy,sweet cookies were on table.Traditional,yet modern “Kadbu”/"Baked-Stuffed Wheat Cookies” were all set for a click!!Cheers to Aai and a very happy birthday to her!

चुरम्याचे लाडू (Sweet Wheat Flour Balls)

One of my favourite grains is Wheat.I always try to frame my recipes with wheat instead of all purpose flour or chickpea flour.Its a healthier option relatively.

In India,Aai would prepare heavenly “कणकेचे लाडू” (wheat flour & crushed fried poha sweet balls) & “बेसनाचे लाडू” (chickpea/gram flour sweet balls) for Diwali.But,those are very common and most of us know more about them than I do! So,took up the task to make “चुरम्याचे लाडू” (Sweet Wheat Flour Balls).

The Twist in Tale was that my back gave up without a notice in the  morning and I could not sit up for long.No matter what I did not wish to quit the project deadline and called up my friend Madhulika Hardas-Gowardhan from Los Alamos,New Mexico who so sweetly agreed to do it for me.She was game for the challenge in spite of a fatal injury while making this recipe.Hats off to Madame Madhulika and her successful efforts to make the Laduus.

Well,Madhulika is an engineer by profession,every smiling with an adorable personality and loves experimenting with international cuisine.She is one of the school buddies of Rohan from Somalwar,Nagpur.We haven’t met yet but have become close friends in the last few months.Perhaps,we have to be reminded of she being Rohan’s friend,isn’t it MHG?

 

 

So,this is Madhulika ’s version of Churmyache Laduu (reference manual was Ruchira),in her own words and it goes…

Dear Readers,I made it enough for 2 people.But,you guys can use the same proportions and make for any number of persons.The Ingredients are as follows

• 1/2 muffin-full bowl of wheat flour
• 1 muffin-full bowl of ground sugar (pithi sakhar).The sugar should be more than the quantity of wheat flour taken.The sugar in the USA is highly processed and fine in texture,so I used it as it is without grounding it.
• Ghee for frying.As Cookwithmoi suggests you may use half-half portions of ghee and vegetable oil.But,the flavour of ghee is unbeatable..I would rather slog in the gym for an hour more,but wont sacrifice the taste.Its Diwali after all!
• Salt to taste
• Some cardamom powder for flavour (my addition)
• Some raisins for decoration (my addition)

Total Time=Cooking Time+Preparation Time=180 minutes max.

The Making of A Wheat Ball

I began making the laduus while my husband Akshay had been for a team dinner and met with an injury that CWM has described as fatal!Anyway,these wheat balls are as simple and as easy as they can be.

Firstly,I kneaded the wheat flour(salt needs to be added) into a dough.CWM had advised me to use some hot ghee while kneading the flour for better results.You may refrain using it if you want to save some calories! I set the dough aside for an hour or so.

After an hour, i made small fist-moulds of the dough called “Mutkas”.These are simple to make and one needs to just shut the fists tightly with a ball of the dough inside.I fried these Mutkas in hot ghee until they were golden brown in colour.

The next step is to break them into a fine powder in a pestle & mortar arrangement.Take care that no lumps remain within and the Mutkas are crushed thoroughly.I sieved this powder with a sieve (chalni).I sieved the cardamom powder also along with it.

 

The most important step was to beat the ghee.Then,I added sugar in the ghee and beat them together.Once the mixture is frothy and gathers lather on the top,I poured it over Mutka powder in a big Plate.I mixed the entire mixture with gentle finger tips.

Finally,just roll the powder into small balls/laduus.Garnish them with raisins or broken cashews.The dry fruits could be added to the powder form of mixture before rolling into balls.

Hope,all of you have a healthy & safe Diwali! Take Good Care Of yourselves :) Enjoyyyyyyy!

Madhulika for Cookwithmoi.

PS:The laduus look awesome.Do send some to Sunnyvale!Thanks so much Madhulika for being the most endearing guest blogger!