Whole Grains : Jowar vada

Treasure Hunt - Pearls in a Jewelery box !! nope, Wholesome Jowar

Yet another important whole grain. Jowar is considered fourth most important cereal grain in the world. We always use Jowar flour to make Jowar roti ,but I am posting a recipe for vadas using whole jowar. For a novice like me, Making vadas is much easier than trying a hand on much complicated Jowar roti. This is my mom's recipe. Hope You will like it too.

Jowar Vada (or) Jonna Garelu:


Whole Jowar - 2 cups soaked overnight.
Onions - 1 medium finely chopped
Green chillies - 3 finely chopped
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying, preferably peanut oil.

Jowar Vada ready to munch on...

Soak the jowar overnight or 7-8 hrs. I usually soak it in the Blender or Mixer Jar. Next day drain the remaining water and grind it after adding salt. It does not become into a smooth dough or may be I am not patient enough!!!. Now add onions, green chillies, cumin and mix it with the dough by hand. Heat sufficient oil, take small lemon sized balls and press on a greased, thick plastic paper and deep fry until done. You can eat them like that or with a pickle or any chutney of your choice. Wholesome goodness of Jowar in tastey vadas was our breakfast today.

Be Nourished!!

Whole Grains : Popcorn Laddu

Popcorn Laddu a.k.a, Pelala Laddu in Telugu. I was looking for a recipe with corn and came across a recipe on the popcorn kernels packet which said 'Popcorn balls' and i decided to Indianise it by adding Jaggery instead of Maple Syrup. I vaguely remember that it is also made in rural parts of telangana with Jonna pelalu, called as Jonna Pelala Laddu. So i decided to give it a try. I followed Borugula (Murmura) laddu recipe of Indira of Mahanandi. Here's the experiment from my kitchen to yours.


Pelala Laddu:

Popping the corn:

1)A pan with a lid and handle to hold (or) a popcorn popper
2)Oil - 3tbsp
3)Corn - 1/2 cup

I don't recommend a Microwave to pop the kernels as it is harmful to your health. I would be posting more on that later. Preheat oil on high heat in the popper or pan for approximately 1 minute. Add kernels to the pan and cover. As the corn starts popping, Lower heat slightly. Agitate popper or pan until the popcorn ceases to pop. Pour popcorn into a bowl. Now grind the popcorn coarsely. make up to 6 cups of coarse popcorn.



Jaggery syrup:

1)Jaggery - 1 cup(powdered)
2)water - 1 cup
3)Cardamom - 2 (seeds powdered)
4)popcorn- 6 cups
Keep a small bowl with cold water ready.

Take a thick-bottomed vessel, add water and jaggery. Cook on medium-high heat. Jaggery melts and begins to concentrate. When it starts foaming , it reached the consistency we want for this recipe. To test, add few drops of Jaggery syrup to the cold water. When pushed with fingers, if the syrup can be rolled to a round without melting in spite of tilting the plate to different directions, it is done and the syrup is ready. This whole process takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
Constantly stirring, add popcorn. Also sprinkle in cardamom powder. Within one or two minutes, popcorn starts to soak up the syrup and comes together in to dry mass. Turn off the heat. Remove the pot from the stove top to counter top.Wait for about 5 minutes for popcorn-jaggery mixture to cool down and then start making laddus. Take a spoonful of mixture into hands and press gently into round shape.



Be Nourished!!