Nuts energy bites/Dry fruit Ladoo

Most of us crave for something sweet after meals, these ladoos are just perfect for that sweet tooth. Loaded with roasted dry fruits and sweet flavor at its best for that quick energy.

I have used jaggery in these tiny shaped balls. Jaggery is made from cane sugar too as sugar and has its sweet taste. Its the most raw form of sugar and there are no chemicals added in its making. Its widely used in India for sweet preparations and has its own health benefits. It has a golden yellow, brownish color. You will get it on amazon or in any Indian grocery store in US.

Ingredients :

1 cup almonds

1 cup walnuts

7 to 8 pitted dates

1 cup jaggery

3 to 4 tbsp clarified butter or unsalted butter

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 400 degree Fahrenheit. On a baking sheet spread almonds and walnuts. Roast them for around 10 to 12 minutes. Once at room temperature roughly pound them to little pieces, not too fine.

2. Take a heavy bottom pan, put in 2 tbsp of clarified butter. Keep the heat on low to medium. Toss in the jaggery, once it comes in touch with heat, it will start melting. Stir for 5 minutes.

3. Add almonds, walnuts and dates, stir in for another 2 to 3 minutes.

4. On a large flat plate smear the a tbsp of butter, get the pan mixture on to this plate and rest for 1 or 2 minutes. When the mixture is still little warm, apply butter on your palms. Take a portion of mixture and roll them into desired size balls. You can keep them in room temperature for 1 week and refrigerate for months together.

These are great after workouts too.

 

 

 

 

 

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is one of the must have snacks in India. Its enjoyed by all ages. I and my friend Madhu have set a new tradition from last few weeks. We get together every friday and try and cook different snacks. This week we nailed pav bhaji from scratch. It was fun and and I was specially exited about the Pavs/Bread.

 

 

 

Recipe makes 24 pavs

Recipe

Ingredients for the Pav:

10 cups all purpose flour/Maida + 1 cup for kneading and dusting

1/2 cup non salted butter+ 3 tbsp for applying once baked.

4 cups warm water

3 tbsp dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

salt to taste

Method:

1. In a large bowl add the water, dissolve the sugar and add the yeast and give a good stir. Add the salt and a cup of flour. Start adding a cup at a time and get the mixture together. Dust some flour on a counter top, get the dough and knead well, add the melted butter. Once butter is added dough will become less sticky, knead it for 5 more minutes  and rest the dough in a warm place for 2 hours.

2. After 2 hours of proofing, dough should double in size, dust some more flour on a counter top and knead the dough for 5 minutes. Line a baking sheet with butter and divide the dough in required side balls and place them next to each other. Allow them to rest for a hour in a warm place. Cover the baking sheet while kept for resting.

3. After a hour time, the flour balls must have doubled the size and are ready to bake.

4. Preheat the oven to 380 degree Fahrenheit and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, the crust will change to a light brown color. Apply butter to pavs and rest it for 10 minutes and enjoy the pavs with bhaji. They are very close to pavs we get in Goa.

 

For the Bhaji/Mix Vegetable gravy

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes

2 big sized onions

2 tomatoes

1 capsicum

1 cup cauliflower florets

1/2 cup peas

1/2 cup carrots

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp cumin powder

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp chilli powder

1/2 tbsp mango powder

1 tsp fennel powder

1/2 cup butter

2 green chilies

1 cup coriander leaves

salt to taste

 

Method

1. Steam cook cauliflower, carrots, peas, potatoes, capsicum, green chilies and keep it aside.

2. In a pan heat the butter add finely chopped onions, saute them until golden brown, add the ginger garlic paste, cook well. Add tomatoes and cook them for 5 more minutes. Add cumin, coriander, chilli, fennel and mango powder and get the whole paste to a good consistency.

3. Add the steamed vegetables to pan with cooked mixture, mash the vegetable with a potato masher. Add water to get the whole mixture to a good consistency. Add salt to taste and chopped coriander leaves. Cook the bhaji for 10 to 15 minutes on a low flame.

Serve the bhaji garnished with coriander leaves, fresh baked pavs, a peice of lime,  and enjoy!!

 

Sweet Potato Chapati/Indian flat bread

Sweet Potato, reminds me of my childhood days when dad use to cook them as sides with food. I never savored them much until now when I realized the nutritional value of it. I try and search different ways to incorporate them in my diet. Today I made sweet potato chapati’s , Indian flat bread. Chapathi is usually made of wheat. Recipe: 1 medium sweet potatoes 2  cups whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp turmeric powder Water if required   Method 1. Roast or pressure cook the sweet potatoes until completely done. Allow them to cool to room temperature, peel of the skin. Mash the potatoes  in a large bowl, add around 2 cups of wheat, salt, turmeric and knead. The dough should be firm and soft. You could add more flour or water to get to the required firmness. 2. One should be able to roll the dough with a rolling pin to a flat sheet. Divide the dough in size of golf balls or say in size of truffles and roll them with a rolling pin on a hard surface. Dust flour if required on both sides while rolling them to thin sheets which will prevent it from sticking to the surface. 3. Take a flat skillet, keep on medium heat. Once hot enough put the rolled sheet, cook through on both the sides. Enjoy chapati’s with a gravy or you can use as a tortilla.

Avocado Healthy Shake

Lately I have been hooked on this fruit and just love the soft and creamy texture. And supposedly to be very healthy. This is of the best shakes I have had. Made it with no sugar or cream. I have tried my best to make it tasty, delicious and successfully accomplished.

 

Here is it how I made it

Ingredients

2 medium sized avocados

4 tbsp whole yogurt

1 glass of whole milk

6 tbsp honey

 

Method

1.Cut avocados in small pieces and put it in food processor, ground into a fine paste then add in the yogurt and pulse it.It should be like a thick paste.

2. Add in the milk and process it.

3.Pour the shake in glass and stir in honey as required.

 

Note: This recipe will give 2 glasses of a healthy shake. You could also add maple syrup or agave instead of honey.

Whole yogurt and avocado gives the thick consistency, you can adjust this as per your choice.

 

Thalipeet-Semolina savory pancake

Thalipeet is a quick snack you can make for breakfast or with evening tea. I make it with a variety of veges and my husband loves it.

This dish is commonly made in west of India and every place has a different version to it. Like you could use different lentil coarse flours or maybe rice flour.

Here is a version which is followed by my family.

Ingredients:(Makes 4 Thalipeet’s)

1 and 1/2 cup fine rava (Semolina)

3/4 cup finely chopped onions

3/4 cup finely grated carrots

2 strands of coriander leave finely chopped

1 finely chopped green chilli (Chilli peppers)

salt to taste.

2 to 3 tbsp oil

 

Method

1.Mix all these ingredients with half a cup of water or as required, the mix should be thick and good enough for you to pat it on a skillet. Let it rest for 5 mins, in order for all the ingredients to come together.

2.Spread a tbsp of oil on skillet and place handful portion of mixture and pat it as thin as possible. Cook on both the sides. It will take a minute or 2 on each side.

 

Note:You could add finely chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, corn.

Zucchini Tausali/Cake

Tausali is originally made from big sized cucumbers and is a authentic dish of konkan region. I thought of trying this with well known Zucchini which is easily available in the region I reside.

The results were amazing and it tasted the same as my grand mothers tausali I had years ago.

The ingredients used in this dish are basic and healthy. Jaggery is a healthy alternative to white sugar and is extensively used in India for making sweet dishes. You will get it in Indian stores or instead you can use sugar.

Recipe:

Ingridents:

2  1/2 cups of grated zucchini

1   1/2 cups of powdered Jaggery

1   1/2 cup semolina/rava

1   1/2 cups of fresh/Frozen grated coconut

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp cardamom powder

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup roasted cashews

1 tbsp of clarified butter or oil (If you want to make it vegan, add oil)

 

Method:

1.In a large bowl mix grated zucchini, semolina, jaggery and grated coconut. Let this mixture rest for 10 to 15 mins, all these ingredients together will sweat out some moisture which is completely fine and will only add to the softness of the cake.

2. After 15 mins add cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, raisins, cashews and the butter or oil.

 

3. Preheat the oven at 375 degree Fahrenheit and  bake it for 25 to 30 minutes till cake turns brown and  until toothpick inserted comes out clean

4. This is how the Zucchini tavsali will look side and tastes perfect like a moist cake.

Bread Bun or also called Pav

A bread bun or also called Pav has always fascinated me, I can eat it any time of the day and still feel I am eating it for the first time. Back in Goa we have these local bread vendors selling fresh made Pav’s hopping door to door, they are called “Poder”. These bread buns will be soft and still warm and is a perfect complement to a evening hot tea.

I tried making these bread buns for the first time today and I was so exited to see these little pop balloons. I made them of whole wheat to make it healthy.

Here is the recipe for Pav (makes around 9 to 10 buns)

Ingredients

3 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

1 sachet of active dry yeast- It was 6 grams

1/2 cup olive oil or any other vegetable oil

1 tsp of salt

100 grams of unsalted butter

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1 tbsp of honey

1 tsp of sugar

Method

1. To a cup of warm water add the dry yeast and sugar and stir well, set it aside for 10 to 15 mins or till it foams.In a large bowl take around 2 and 1/2 cups of wheat and put the yeast mixture, oil, salt, milk, baking soda, honey and roll the dough. It will be a little sticky initially.

Get the dough on a hard board and knead it well.While kneading the dough will stick to the bottom so you will need to use the remaining wheat flour for firming the dough. It took me 7 to 8 minutes to form the dough.

2. Apply butter thoroughly to a large bowl and put the dough inside the bowl(apply a little butter on the dough too), it should have enough place to rise. Keep it covered in a warm place for around 2 hours for proofing. After 2 hours you will notice the dough has almost doubled if not give it more time.

3. Get the dough on a hard surface and knead it well, you will notice a air formation and it will puff out air when you press it. Put parchment paper on the baking tray, spread butter and make the desired shape of the dough. Cover the buns with kitchen cloth and put it aside for a hr or 2. These buns will rise and are ready for baking.

4. Spread oil or butter on the buns and bake it in oven at 375 degree F for 18 to 20 mins. Once you take them out apply butter and allow them to cool for 10 to 15 mins.

Bread buns/Pav are ready