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 :)
Ingredients -
sabudana/sago(1 cup)
sugar(3/4th cup)
freshly grated coconut(2tbspn)
cardamom/elaichi powder(1/2 tspn)
salt(a pinch)
ghee/tup(2tbspn)
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 :)
Ingredients -
chopped bottlegourd/lauki(1cup)
milk(500 ml/1packet)
sugar(1 cup/as per taste)
cardamom/elaichi powder(1tspn)
dryfruits-almonds/cashewnuts/raisins(optional)
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 :-)
Hing kachori is a famous street food in Kolkata served along with chana dal or aloo sabji.It is common outside Dakshineshwar Kali temple or Belur Math(this is where I had it for the first time).I was so much impressed with the piping hot kachoris that thought of giving it a try.So I made them for Durgashtami this year(sorry for posting this so late :p) and the combo was just awesome-Hing er kochuri and niramish Aloo Dum :-)
Ingredients -
urad dal/kaali dal/split black lentil(1cup)
ginger(small piece)
fennel seeds/saunf(1/2 tspn)
asafoetida/hing (1/2 tspn)
green chillies(3-4)
salt to taste
sugar(a pinch)
oil
wheat flour(2cups)
water for kneading
Method -
Wash and soak the urad dal in water overnight or for 6-7hours.
Grind the urad dal with green chillies to a paste.
Make a paste of ginger and saunf separately.
Heat oil in a non-stick kadai.
Add hing,ginger and saunf paste.
Then add the dal-chilly paste.
Stir it continuously,adding salt and sugar.
Cook for sometime until the mixture drys up.
Knead the flour with some oil and water.
Make small balls out of the flour.
Stuff in the mix inside the ball and roll it into a puri.
Similarly stuff and roll all the puris.
Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.
Fry the kachoris till golden brown.
Serve hot kachoris with aloo dum/potato curry of your choice.
Muga gathi as it is called in konkani is a famous vegeterian whole moong dish which you would find in any religious functions specially Ganesh Chaturthi.This is a favourite amongst almost all Goans :) Apart from being tasty, this dish is very very healthy as it is made out of sprouts.So if you have never tasted sprouts other than in salads it is time to try this out..
Ingredients -
whole moong sprouts(2 cups)
freshly grated coconut(1 cup)
red chillies(2-3)
turmeric powder(1/2 tspn)
tamarind extract/paste(1/2 tspn)
coriander seeds(1/4 tspn)
cloves(2)
black peppercorns(2)
mustard seeds(1/4 tspn)
asafoetida/hing
oil/ghee
curry leaves/kadi patta
salt to taste
jaggery(1/2 tspn)
Method -
Soak whole moong overnight.Next day morning place them in a muslin cloth,tie it close for the entire day.Again soak them in water for overnight.In this way you will get sprouted moong the next day morning.
The above procedure can be followed to make sprouts at home or you can buy it.I prefer making at home.
Pressure cook the sprouts till soft.
Grind to a fine paste-coconut,haldi powder,red chillies,tamarind paste,coriander seeds,cloves and peppercorns.
Heat some ghee in a non-stick kadai.
Add hing,mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Add the above ground mixture.Then put in the cooked sprouts.
Add jaggery and salt as per taste.
Let it cook for about 2 minutes.
Serve hot moong sprouts gravy with chapati/puri or steamed rice :-)
French toast is basically bread soaked in eggs.It can be served as a sweet dish or just as a snack.This is a very simple and tasty dish which can be made when you don't have anything much in your pantry and you are running short of time :)
Ingredients -
bread slices(4)
eggs(1)
milk(1/2 cup)
sugar(3tbspn)
vanilla essence(1 drop)
butter/oil for frying
Method -
Whisk the egg well in a bowl.
Put in the milk and sugar and mix.
You can add a drop of vanilla essence to it but this is optional.
Grease a non-stick pan with butter.
Dip in each bread slice into the above mixture and fry on the pan.
Fry on both sides till golden brown.
Yummy french toast is ready to serve :-)
Sandesh/sondesh is a bengali sweet which is famous all over.Kachha gola/kacha golla is one kind of sandesh in which the chena/paneer is not cooked.Hence the name kacha meaning uncooked.These balls of chena mixed with sugar taste delicious..
Ingredients -
milk -500ml/1 packet
lemon - 1medium
powdered/caster sugar -5tbspn
cardamom/elaichi powder(optional)
Method -
Heat the milk in a saucepan.
When it comes to boil add lemon juice mixed with some water.
Now you would see the milk solids separating out from the water.Do this on a low flame.
Drain out the water and wash the chena/paneer with water to remove the lemon smell.
Collect the paneer in a muslin/soft cloth and keep some weight over it so that the excess water goes out.Keep it for an hour.
Now knead the paneer with the palm of your hand for about 5min.
Mix in the sugar and knead again for 5min till the sugar and chena are mixed well.
You can add elaichi powder or rose water/gulab jal for flavour.
Make round balls out of the chena.
Refrigerate them for 2-3 hours.
Sandesh or Kacha golla is ready to serve :-)
Rice-prawn fish curry is a very famous combo in Goa.Prawn curry with drum-sticks gives it a unique taste and flavour which just cannot be described.. :)There are other variations of prawn curry too which I shall post sometime later..till then you can try and enjoy this one.
Ingredients -
prawns
drumsticks
freshly grated coconut -1/2cup
turmeric powder -1/2tspn
whole red chilly -3
whole coriander seeds - 5
tamarind - 1tspn
black pepper -2
onion -1(small)
asafoetida/hing -a pinch
oil
salt
Method -
Wash the prawns well and apply salt.
Grind the following to make a fine paste - grated coconut,haldi powder,red chillies,tamarind pulp,coriander and pepper seeds.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
Chop the onion.Peel the outer skin of the drumsticks and cut them to finger-size sticks.
Add onion to the pan and saute.
Put in the prawns and drumsticks and add sufficient water so that the drum-sticks and prawn cook.
Once done add the ground paste and salt as per taste.
Add a pinch of hing to this.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot fish curry with rice :-)
This is yet another easy and delicious snack which is healthy as well as filling.This pattice has got a unique savoury taste along with the sweetness of corn... :-)
Ingredients-
sweet corn - 1cup
potato - 1(small)
onion - 1(small)
green chillies - 3
ginger - small piece
garlic -1clove
turmeric powder
red chilly powder
coriander powder
cumin powder
fresh coriander leaves
salt
bread crumbs/sooji
oil
Method -
Boil the sweet corn with water till soft.Boil and mash the potatao.
Mix the mashed potato and corn with salt.
Chop onion,green chillies and coriander finely.
Make a coarse paste of ginger and garlic.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
Add chopped chillies,onion and saute.
After a minute add ginger-garlic paste.
Once ginger-garlic paste is cooked add all the masala-haldi,mirchi,dhaniya,jeera powder.
Add salt as per taste and coriander leaves.
Let this mixture cool a bit.
Apply some oil to your palm and make tikki/cutlets out of this mixture.
Roll the tikkis in bread crumb or sooji and roast on both sides on a non-stick tawa.
Crispy corn cutlets are ready to serve with ketchup/chutney of your choice.
Hot cutlets go well with a cup of tea :-)
