Arcot Makkan Peda....Delicacy of Arcot Nawabs

Arcot is not only famous for history and Biryani..It is famous for Makkan Pedas too.Arcot is a small town which is near my hometown and  I just love eating these Makkan Peda whenever I visit my native place.Though they look similiar to that of the Gulab jamuns they taste much tastier and yummier than that..

Arcot Chettiyar Sweet stall is famous for the Makkan Pedas.They are the oldest of the town and it is about 188 years old :) which is run by an fifth generation owner..who is around 70 years!!The one who had  started this shop(Govindasamy Chettiar) was a family friend of Nawabs..He happened to taste these Jamuns with a dry fruit filling at Nawabs house  and being blown away by the sumptuousness of the Bedas he  started to introduce it in his shop.This was how Makkan peda was introduced in Arcot ....

Even E.V.R.Periyar was a great fan of this sweet..I remember my grandfather telling me that Periyar's followers buy this delicacy for Periyar when they visit him..and Periyar never fails to have this sweet when he visit North Arcot!!

If u happen to visit Arcot( few kms from Vellore)then don't forget to taste the Makkan pedas from Chettiyar Shop..If not just follow my recipe carefully,make it and relish the diwali with this traditional sweet...:))

For the ones who are not aware of what Makkan Peda is...

Makkan Peda is a sweet that is made with unsweetened Koya n Maida..stuffed with a variety of dry fruits ,made into a ball and then slightly flattened deep fried and then soaked in sugar syrup.The juicy texture and the nut content make the taste exotic...

Vellai Poori---My grandma's way..North Arcot Special..

The name and the colour of the dish has no relation,but I don't know why they named it so.May be because rice is the main ingredient they would have named it as Vellai Poori.This is one of the snack that is made in the evenings.It is quite heavy snack and one can take only 2.

Being brought up in the North Arcot District of TamilNadu I always have a deep love for the food items that are special there.To name some : Brinjal Serva,Maccan Beda,Arcot Biriyani,Vadaicurry,Vellai Poori etc..I had never heard people making this vellai poori either in places near Salem/Erode/Coimbatore/Tirunelveli/Madurai.So I thought posting this dish is a special one to my blog.

 

So I requested my mother to make this Poori.She makes it so tasty and yummy.She had learnt it from her grandma.This is the only snack which my father loves the utmost..Even now when we make it at home we miss our dad..and this is the only reason for which I hardly make this snack at home..For the sake of posting it in my blog I made few pooris..

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE below...

 

Ambur Chicken Biriyani/Dum Biriyani (Sunday Special)

This is a very HOT post.Most of my friends had been asking me to post a non-veg biriyani recipe.I was lazy enough to cook the biriyani...I cooked it this morning and just loved the way it had turned out.I could not resist from posting the recipe.I didn't take any special efforts too to bring in some props for the photo session.I felt Biriyani itself is special and it doesn't need extra photo buildups!;-)

 

Briyani-s are always special.S and Y's  school is closed for winter vacation till Pongal.It's always nice to spend time with kids.Today we had invited newly married couple to our home for lunch .Since it was vacation I thought of serving them an elaborate lunch and also I had ample time at preparing the dishes!!

 

I was breaking up my small brain for the menu list!!Atlast I thought of making chicken biriyani..There are various styles of preparing the biriyani.Being a native of vellore which is few km from Ambur...I am great fan of Ambur biriyani..Star Biriyani Hotel at Ambur serves very delicious biriyani.There are slight additions and deletions that has to be done when compared to the pressure cooked biriyani.

I googled for the ambur biriyani and got a video which described the preparation of the biriyani.I just followed it ..The recipe is explained by the owner of the star Biriyani Hotel-Ambur.

http://www.istream.com/tv/watch/224934/Suvai-Payanam-EP-84-Complete

 

They had explained for mutton.As my kids don't take mutton I had replaced it with chicken.

Usage of Seeraga Samba Rice (Instead of basmathi-which is slow in digestion),lower spice quantity ,no green chillies  is the speciality of this Ambur biriyani.It doesn't cause any indigestion problems!!

 

 

For the recipe please press READ MORE

 

VadaCurry

 

 

 

 

 

This is the dish which is very famous here at my hometown-Vellore.People  from in and around South Tamilnadu are aware of this dish.This is a delicious dish which I love the most...It goes very well with Hot steamed idlies and hot pooris.In Some hotels they serve Set Dosa with Vadacurry.I learnt the recipe of this dish from my mother who makes this in a very delicious way.Infact her love also had added the extra flavour...There is a famous saying that any food that is cooked with lots of love  tastes lovely....Our mood gets replicated in the taste of the food too!!!

 

 

In the olden days during the festivals they make vada in large quantities.That time when there was no refrigeration facilities,they used this vadai to make a sidedish..And hence the name VadaCurry!!!They never wasted food and I feel we should bring  this habit to our kids.

 

 

For the recipe of this sidedish please press "Read More" below: