Crushed sesame and flaxseed balls (Alivedai and ellu podi orundai)

Crushed sesame and flaxseed balls (Alivedai and ellu podi orundai) - Preparation 25 to 30 mins

 Wish you all happy thamizh new year - Villambi

This type sesame ball preparation will be made  during celebration rituals and when praying certain god's. I watched making this in one of our family goddess praying. Only if you do this patiently the end result will be good. Now coming to this ball i tried making is little bit more healthy by including flax seed also. Actually it came out well. You can also try it out. Use 50 or 100 gm of the seeds each (sesame and flax) and try preparing. 

The sesame is rich in calcium and flax seed in omega 3.  We are using jaggery, cardamon and grated coconut for more flavor and goodness.

Ingredients:-
Sesame seeds - 100 gm (cleaned)
Flax seeds - 100 gm
Jaggery - jaggery syrup 1/2 cup (we will use only few tablespoons of jaggery)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Broken cashew - 1 tbsp
ghee - 1/4 tsp

Preparation method:-
Dry roast the sesame seed in low flame (take care don't burn it).  When it starts spluttering and nice aroma comes remove it and add flax seed.

Roast flax seed till it changes the color. When splutters transfer to another bowl. Leave it to cool.

Grind the roasted sesame and flax seed separately. After grinding mix both the powders well.

Melt the jaggery with water. Filter and remove the dirt (if any) and boil the syrup with grated coconut and cardamon to thick consistency (next to sticky consistency but less than 1 string consistency)

To the powdered sesame seed add cashew pieces (optional), ghee, tbsp of jaggery syrup and mix.

Try making small balls. If the syrup is not sufficient add some more syrup and make the balls.

Healthy, nutrition balls are ready to taste. Don't give more than one ball to eat because it is better to stay in limit. 

Note: While make balls apply little ghee in your palms so that the mixture won't stick too much in your hand. It will be stick only you have to remove the mixture with a spatula or spoon from your palm.

Making of kothavarangai vathal (Cluster beans fryum)

Making of kothavarangai vathal (Cluster beans fryum)

When i was kid I used to visit grandma's home for annual holidays (our summer camp in which our grandparents or THE BEST teacher and mentor). She used to prepare the flours, vathal, appalam,etc for next year. It will be interesting to watch the making process, help her in making (of course by tasting also:-)), questioning her a lot. The vegetables for making vathal will be in large quantity 20 kg or 25 kg because after all the process the end result will contain around 5 kg because after cooking and drying in sun the size will become very small. This vathal is one which grandma used to make.

The process begins by removing the unwanted vegetables (infected, ripen,etc). In the large vessel wash the vegetable 2 or 3 times in water to remove the dirt and remove the kothavarangai vathal.

I tried making vathal with less than a kg of fresh vegetable so it came around 150 to 200 gms (i think so) of vathal. In a large vessel boil 3 cups of water (u can use less also because after boiling we will discard the water) when it starts boiling add the whole cluster beans. Add little salt for taste.

After 10 to 15 mins check whether the vegetable is cooked well. When you take one cooked cluster beans and pressed between your fingers it should mash. Color will be slightly changed

When the vegetable is cooked filter the water and spread the cooked kothavarankai (cluster beans) in a big clean plate. Dry this for 2 to 3 days. It will turn to dark colour and shrink in the size. If it is fully dried store in a container and use.

For frying this cluster beans heat some soil. When oil is hot bring down the flame and put few dry cluster beans it will fry immediately and turn into brown color. Remove from oil else it will be burnt to black color and will taste bitter.

This is a healthy alternative fries for kids. If you want you can try by adding little chili (but i haven't tried that one :-))