Besan ladoos are a common sweet delicacy during festivals in India specially Diwali.I made these on Diwali this year, but sorry for posting so late.This is an easy recipe ,but yes you have to be patient for this one,but at the end of it you have mouth-watering laddos..so give it a try atleast once :)
Method - Heat a non-stick pan/kadhai. Add the besan to it(flame should be on sim). Keep on stirring till the raw smell/taste of besan goes. This takes a long time so you need to be patient for this step :P. Once the raw smell goes ie-the besan is almost done, add some ghee to it and stir. After adding ghee, stir for another 10min or so. Next,remove the pan off the flame. Add ghee and sugar to it. Adjust the sugar as per your sweetness.The amount of ghee should be adjusted such that you are able to make ladoos out of it. Now mix all together and make small ladoos out of it. Add a kismis each to one ladoo as a garnish :)
This recipe was lying in the drafts section for weeks or probably months ! I was so occupied with my work in office and baby at home that I could not get the time to post/blog.So finally I decided that I have to FIND time to invest in my passion :) So here it is -a simple and delicious chicken sausage recipe.This would hardly take you any time as you get the sausage ready.
Ingredients - chicken sausage tomato black pepper salt eggs oil
Method - Chop the sausage into small bite-size pieces. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Fry the chicken pieces on both sides till golden brown. Chop tomatoes roughly(not small pieces). Add the chopped tomatoes and fry. Adjust the salt and black pepper as per taste. Keep in mind the chicken sausage already has some seasoning. Now remove the sausage and tomato into a bowl. Scramble one or more eggs into the pan with required seasoning. Now mix together the sausage and egg. Delicious chicken sausage with scrambled egg is ready to serve :) You might also like Tandoori Chicken
I had never tasted savoury dal parathas earlier.I was aware about the sweet dal stuffing which is known as puran poli.These parathas are more similar to the version prepared in Bihar as my mom learnt the recipe from a Bihari neighbour.There can be different variations specially made in North India.But these taste equally yummy..so pls try it if you have never had one :) Ingredients - chana dal(1 cup) green chillies(2-3) asafoetida/hing ginger(a small piece) oil salt sugar wheat flour/atta water Method - Soak the chana dal overnight or for 7-8hours. Grind it in a mixer along with green chillies and ginger adding required water(little). Heat oil in a non-stick kadai. Add hing to it. Then add the ground dal mix. Keep on stirring it so that it doesnt get burnt. Adjust salt as per taste and add little sugar. Keep on stirring till it gets dry. Prepare the dough by kneading the atta with water. Make round balls of the dough and dal stuffing. Take one atta ball and stuff it with the dal mixture. Roll into a roti and fry on both sides with ghee. Similarly prepare other parathas. Serve these delicious dal parathas with a side-dish of your choice :)
A very easy and simple snack item which is healthy too as it is made up of chana..
Ingredients - kabuli chana/chole -1cup potato -1medium green chillies turmeric powder red chilly powder chaat masala salt coriander leaves
Method - Soak the kabuli chana for 6-7hours or overnight. Boil them till soft. Boil the potato. Mash the chana and potato together. Add chopped chillies,coriander leaves and the remaining spices. Adjust the salt for taste. Heat a non-stick pan. Drizzle some oil over it. Make round patties of the mix,coat them with bread crumbs or sooji and put on the pan. Cook on both sides till crisp. Serve hot cutlets at tea-time with tomato ketchup :)
I saw this dosa recipe on a tv channel.The original recipe contained curd, but I modified it a little by avoiding curd and it tasted equally good.This can be an excellent breakfast item.I had prepared these dosas as an evening snack and all my family members loved them :)
Ingredients - rice flour(1cup) sooji/rava(2tspn) cucumber(1) cumin seeds/jeera green chillies coriander leaves water salt oil
Method - Wash and grate the cucumber with skin. Take rice flour in a bowl.Add rava to it. Add finely chopped chillies,coriander leaves and jeera. Add salt as per taste. Put in the grated cucumber and add lots of water. Let it stand for 15min. Again add water if required as sooji will soak water. The batter should be a bit watery. Heat a non-stick tawa. Drizzle some oil on it. Pour a laddle full of batter starting from the edges.(opposite of how you normally make dosas.) Flip and cook on both sides till crisp. Hot cucumber dosas are ready to serve :)
Beetroot is an excellent source of folate,manganese and iron.Needless to say it is necessary for kids/children.Having it by just boiling or in salads is not that tasty, many adults don't like it ! Least expect your kids to have it :p So here is one yummy jam which kids would love and assure mothers too :)
Ingredients - beetroot(1) sugar milk(1/4 cup) water for boiling
Method - Wash the beetroot well and boil it till soft. Peel off the skin and grate it. Heat a non-stick pan. Add some ghee and put in the grated beet. Fry for about a min, then add sugar and milk. Adjust the sugar as per your taste. The milk quantity can be reduced.I added a bit more since it was for my toddler. Keep it on the flame till you get a desired jam consistency. Yummy beetroot jam is ready :)
This is a simple cold coffee recipe which you can have at home anytime.A great respite in the scorching summer..provided you are a coffee fan :p Ingredients - coffee powder hot water sugar milk ice cocoa powder(optional) Method - Boil water in a bowl. Add sugar and coffee to it.The quantity would be as per your taste.I used nescafe powder. Stir it vigorously till its frothy. Next add cold milk to it and refrigerate. Add ice cubes while serving and you can sprinkle some cocoa powder on top if you wish. Yummy cold-coffee is ready to serve :)
This recipe is one way to include all the veggies in your diet.Also it is a nice variation to the normal roti/chapati that you have.Try it out for a change and am sure you would love to have it again. :) Ingredients - potato(1 medium) carrot beans capsicum fresh coriander leaves red chilly powder salt cumin/jeera powder caraway seeds/ajwain oil ghee or butter whole wheat flour/atta
Method - Wash and boil the potato till soft. Grate the carrot finely. Chop all the veggies finely - capsicum,beans and coriander leaves. You can add any vegetables you like. Take a bowl and mix all the veggies together. Add salt,red chilly powder,jeera powder,ajwain and mix. Now add the atta into this mix little by little. Add few tspns of oil in between. Go on adding the flour as much as it goes. The dough should be like a chapati dough. Let it stand for half an hour. With the help of a rolling pin roll the parathas. Heat a non-stick tawa. Fry the parathas on both sides with ghee/butter. Serve the hot parathas with any sabzi/curd/ketchup :)
Aam panna as we all know is a drink which is famous for beating the heat.It is an effective remedy for heat exhaustion and heat stroke.Since its made from raw mangoes it is a good source of vitamin C.So this summer enjoy this refreshing home-made aam panna :)
Ingredients - raw mango/kachha aam(2) salt sugar roasted jeera powder(optional) crushed peppercorns(optional)
Method - Wash the mangoes and pat them dry. Roast them on the flame just as we roast brinjal for making baingan bharta. Let them cool down. Peel off the skin and mash the pulp.Add some water in the pulp. Now add salt and sugar as per your taste and add more water. You can add pepper and cumin powder if you want some masala.I didnt add because we like it plain. Strain the sherbet/syrup in a bottle and refrigerate it. Put in ice cubes and serve the chilled aam panna :-)
Ragi or finger millet is a rich source of iron and calcium.This cereal is commonly known as nachani in the states of Goa and Maharashtra.Needless to say these cookies are very healthy and can be carried as a snack while in office or school or when you are travelling.. :)
Method - Mix the maida and ragi in a bowl. Add the sugar to the flour. Now add the ghee slowly slowly by constantly stirring the mixture so that no lumps are formed. Once the batter is ready keep it for half an hour. Preheat the oven. Grease the plate with some ghee. Make small cookies of any shape you like and bake them for 30-40minutes(convection option). The surface of the cookies would get a brownish colour once done. Serve yummy cookies at tea-time or just as munchies :)
I heard this recipe from one of my friend.When I first heard jeera raita I was a bit confused wondering how can raita be prepared out of jeera !But after getting the recipe from her and trying it, I must say it was a favourite in my house and I plan to prepare it many times in this summer:)
Ingredients - curd/yogurt/dahi onion fresh coriander leaves green chillies salt red chilly powder cumin/jeera powder
Method - Chop the onion,coriander and chillies finely. Mix together in a bowl onions and coriander leaves. Put in the chillies. Add salt,red chilly powder. Chill the curd in the refrigerator. Now add the chilled curd over the above mix. Finally add jeera powder and mix well.I prefer making the powder at home by roasting the jeera. Serve the raita chilled :)
I need not mention that oats are very very healthy.I do not like to have it with milk(oats porridge) so I try to find out other ways of including it in my diet.These laddus can be made very easily and they serve as a great snack in-between meals specially if you are engrossed in your work and late for lunch/dinner :)
Ingredients- Quaker oats - 2cups peanuts/groundnuts/moongfali - 1/2cup jaggery - 1.5cup ghee - 1cup elaichi/cardamom powder Method- Dry roast the peanuts and remove the outer skin. Grind the oats,groundnuts and jaggery to a fine powder. Add elaichi powder to it. Now add ghee and start preparing laddus. Healthy and delicious laddus are ready :-)
Malapua is basically a deep fried sweet pancake.This is a famous Indian dessert which is common in the states of WestBengal,Bihar and Orissa.It is served as prasad for lord Jagannath.Malapuas are common during Holi in many bengali homes.Sorry for posting it a bit late :)
Ingredients - all purpose flour/maida(2cups) sooji/rava/semolina(1cup) milk(1.5cup approx) sugar(1.5cup approx) saunf/fennel seeds/badishep(1 tspn) banana(1) freshly grated coconut(2-3 tspns) oil for deep frying
Method - Take maida and sooji in a bowl. Mix them together. Add sugar,mashed banana,saunf and coconut to it. You can use caster/powdered sugar.Adjust the sugar according to your taste. Now add milk to this mixture.The milk should not be hot. The batter should be like dosa batter(not very thick or very thin). Let it stand for sometime maybe an hour or so. If required add more milk, since milk will get absorbed when you keep it. Heat oil in a non-stick kadai/pan. Pour laddle full of batter into the oil and fry the malapuas till golden brown. Fry them on medium heat. Typically after deep frying, they are soaked in sugar syrup. I avoided that step,anyways it tastes equally yummy in this way too :)
The english name of this fruit is "hog plum".It is known as "ambado" in konkani,"amra" in bengali and "junglee aam" in hindi.This is a rare fruit which is used only in some parts of India.It has got a tangy taste.So a combination of khatta-meetha makes it taste yummy.This dish is known as ambadyache raite in konkani..
Ingredients - hog plum/ambado/amra(4) freshly grated coconut(1cup) green chillies(2-3) jaggery as per taste mustard seeds asafoetida/hing salt oil or ghee
Method - Wash the plums and peel them. Boil water in a pot and put in the plums.Cook them till they are soft.Dont discard the water, as you can use it for grinding in the next step. Grind together grated coconut,green chillies with the above remaining water. Heat a pan and transfer the ground mixture to it. Add jaggery and salt to this mixture. Put in the cooked plums and let them simmer in the mixture for about 2min. Give a tadka/fodni of hing and mustard seeds in 1tspn of oil/ghee to the above mix. Plum raita/chutney is ready to serve :)
Whenever we hear the word "Sabudana" the first thing what comes to our mind is sabudana khichdi(atleast it happens with most of the people).This sabudana sheera is a nice variation to the savoury khichdi.People who have a sweet tooth will definitely like it.It is literally very simple.The only thing you have to keep in mind is to soak the sabudana :)
Method - Wash the sabudana(lightly) once and keep it covered for 5-6hours(till it becomes soft). Sprinkle some water drops in between if it becomes too dry. Do not soak it in water as it may get mushy. Heat a non-stick pan. Put in the ghee and soaked sabudana. Toss it lightly. Add sugar as per taste.Put in fresh coconut(this is optional). Add a pinch of salt. Remove it from the flame and sprinkle elaichi powder. Yummy sabudana sheera is ready to serve :-)
Zunka-bhakri/zunka-bhakar is a famous maharashtrian dish.Zunka is basically besan which is tempered with ingredients to make it spicy.Although it goes well with bhakri, I personally don't like bhakri so I prefer phulkas/chapati.You can also add methi leaves to zunka which gives a nice flavour to it.This is a perfect dish if you have not planned your menu or don't have much ingredients available in your pantry :)
Ingredients - gramflour/besan(1cup) onion(1 medium) green chillies(2-3) turmeric powder(1/4 tspn) red chilly powder(1/4 tspn) coriander/dhaniya powder(1/4 tspn) cumin/jeera powder(1/4 tspn) salt as per taste water oil
Method - Take besan in a bowl and add water to it.Make it like a dosa batter. Cut onion length wise and green chillies. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add the onion and chillies and saute. After a min add haldi,mirchi,dhaniya and jeera powder. Now add the besan batter and more water if necessary. Keep on stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed. Add salt as per taste. Cook it till the water is absorbed. Do not make it too dry as it gets drier later. Serve hot zunka with bhakri/phulka/chapati :-)
Lauki is a very healthy vegetable as we all know.Apart from having the regular veggie dish one day I thought of giving this kheer a try,though I did not mention it to my hubby because I was sceptical aboout how it would taste :p We were amazed that the kheer turned out so delicious and now whenever I have lauki in my pantry my hubby wants to have this kheer.So if you have never heard of this kheer till now please give it a try :)
Method - Wash the lauki and peel off the outer skin. Chop it into thin slices. Boil water in a pot and put in the chopped lauki till it is soft. Heat milk in a pan. After it comes to a boil, add the cooked lauki. Let it cook sometime in milk then add sugar as per taste.Add chopped dryfruits. Sprinkle elaichi powder and take off from the heat. Let it cool down. Serve lauki kheer chilled or warm :)
It has been a long long time since I have posted anything here,thanks to my busy schedule and a very active toddler.So here is a recipe which is dedicated for toddlers/kids.Since long I was planning to give him spinach and finally found a tricky way to do that,so made this soup and he just loved it!Here is a way of giving healthy(which is typically not tasty) food to your kid by making it tasty.What more would a mother want :)
Ingredients - spinach/palak(8-10 leaves) green peas/matar(1/4 cup) onion(1 small) garlic cloves(1-2) salt sugar butter(a small bit) water milk(2-3 tbspn)
Method - Wash the spinach well and chop it roughly. Heat water in a pan.Once it starts boiling add the spinach and peas to it. After about a minute drain out the water and remove the spinach and peas. Do not discard the water. Chop the onion and garlic finely. Heat oil in a pan.Add the chopped onion and garlic. Add the blanched spinach and peas to it. Once cooled grind them to a paste using some of the above water. Put the paste in a pan and let it cook by adding the remaining water. Once done add salt as per taste and a pinch of sugar. Now add milk and stir. Let it simmer for another minute.Finally add the butter. Palak soup is ready to serve :-)
