Apple-Banana Sheera (Halwa)

 Fruits are an amazing source of natural sugar. I  love using them in desserts. This one for example. First try and it came out so well. Do try it and let me know.

APPLE BANANA SHEER (HALWA)

Ingredients:

Semolina/Rawa - 1 cup

Ghee - 1 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Water - 2 cups (For the roasted rawa I used, it absorbed a good 3 cups water, so please use as required)

Chopped apple - 1/4 cup

Chopped Banana - 1/4 cup

Sliced cashews - a few

Cinnamon powder - a pinch

clove powder - a pinch

Method:

1. Add water and chopped apples to a saucepan and let simmer so the apples cook. After about 5 mins, add the cinnamon and clove powders so the apple absorbs the flavour.

2. Once the apple pieces are tender, add the sugar and stir well. Simmer only till sugar dissolves. Turn off flame.

3. Meanwhile heat ghee in a non-stick pan and add cashews. Roast till golden brown, remove and keep aside.

4. Now add the semolina/rawa to the ghee and keep stirring on low-medium flame till rawa turns golden brown and you get a nice 'bhuna hua' or roasted aroma.

5. Add the chopped bananas and give it a good stir for 3-4 mins.

6. Now carefully add the apple-sugar water (it will splutter so be careful). Stir quickly and continuously to avoid lumps.

7. Once all the water is absorbed, check consistency and if the rawa looks cooked. If the halwa is too thick, add little more water.

8. Add the cashews and cover-cook on low for about 5 mins. Check the rawa again. If all looks good, remove from flame and serve.

Kacche kele ke kebab

 Had some extra Raw bananas leftover after Mahalaya daan. Overdone the Podimaas and roasted sabjis. This was a long pending one on my bucket list. So tried Kacche kele ke kebab the weekend. Super super super it turned out. And the recipe is simple too. Here we go...

KACCHE KELE (RAW BANANA) KE KEBAB

Ingredients :

2 raw bananas

1 -2 medium potatoes, boiled and peeled

2 Green chilies (medium), finely chopped

1 tbsp Cornstarch

1 inch piece Ginger

Salt to taste

1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)

1 tsp Black pepper powder (or Red chili powder)

1 tsp Garam masala (optional)

Bread crumbs or crushed Oats for coating

Oil to shallow fry

Note: You can also add methi leaves if you have and/or chopped Banana flowers

Method:

1. Pressure cook the bananas upto 1 whistle. De-skin and mash them

2. Add the boiled, peeled potatoes and mash them as well.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except oil) and mix well. Check for taste.

4. Heat oil for shallow frying on medium flame. Divide the kebab mixture into equal portions. Roll in bread crumbs. I personally prefer crushed oats. The texture is so good.

5. Drop the kebabs into the oil and let cook on low-medium flame till golden brown on both sides.

6. Remove and drain excess oil. Serve hot.

Red Rice Pongal

Day 1 of Navratri and it's time to bring out the creativity in Bhog. Red rice gets its hue from a compound called Anthocyanin. In its unhulled or semi-hulled forms, this rice is an excellent source of antioxidants, minerals and fibre. It has a low Glycemic index too.
For Pratham day, we made a Red Rice Pongal (It can be made risotto style too)
PS: Don't be stingy with ghee! :)

RED RICE PONGAL

Ingredients:
Red Rice - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Water - 3 cups
Jaggery - 1.5 cups
Cashews, raisins - a few
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 1/4 cup

Method:
1. Wash and pressure cook rice along with milk and water upto 6-7 whistles, so it's well done to a very soft consistency. Keep aside.

2. In a saucepan, add jaggery along with 2 tbsps water and stir on low heat till it dissolves. Filter the impurities first. Now transfer back to saucepan and stir on low till you you get a sticky consistency (no strings needed)

3. Mash the cooked rice and add the jaggery syrup to it. Stir on low -medium heat till it all comes together well.

4. Heat ghee in another wok, roast the dry nuts and keep aside.

5. Pour the heated ghee over the Pongal. Add cardamom powder and give a quick stir. Leave it covered for a while to allow flavours to soak in.

6. Serve hot garnished with ghee-roasted nuts.

Lemon Rice

One of the simplest Rice varieties out there is the Lemon Rice. It's very simple to mix up and you can add variations of your own too!
Here's my mom's version..

LEMON RICE

Ingredients :
Rice - 1/2 cup
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Bengal gram(chana dal) - 1/4 tsp
Asafetida (Hing) pwd - 1/8 tsp
Turmeric pwd - 1/4 tsp
Green chilies - 2 medium
Curry leaves - a few
Lemon - 1 medium
Chopped capsicum, carrots, boiled peas (optional) - 1/2 cup
.
Method :
1. Pressure cook rice with equal measure of water, basically Pulao consistency. Once pressure subsides, transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature. Gently fluff it using a fork.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds & let splutter.

3. Add chana dal, chopped or slit green chilies, curry leaves and fry for a minute. If using vegetables, add them in at this point and cook till 3/4th done.
NOTE: Add salt to taste if adding veggies else add them later directly to the rice.

4. Add hing pwd, turmeric pwd, give a quick stir and remove from flame.

5. Add the tempering mix to the rice along with salt and gently mix till all the rice is well-coated.

6. Once well-mixed, squeeze half  lemon and check taste. Squeeze the other half if you want it more tangy.
Serve slightly warm.

Sooji Halwa (using Jaggery)

As we look to move away more and more from refined foods, it's high time to go back to roots and use what our ancestors did. White sugar for one is not used in my home anymore. We prefer jaggery in its whole or powdered form, or honey and cane sugar.
This Halwa comes out absolutely superb using jaggery and a must, must try..

SOOJI HALWA USING JAGGERY

Ingredients:
Ghee (Clarified butter) -¼ cup
Sooji / Semolina – ½ cup
Jaggery (roughly powdered) – 1 cup
Elaichi powder – a pinch
Salt – a pinch (optional)
Water – 2 cups
Cashews and raisins, roasted in ghee

Method:
1. Heat water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Heat ghee in a non-stick wok. Add sooji and roast till you get a nice aroma.
3. Add the boiled water and stir quickly to avoid lumps.
4. Stir well till sooji absorbs all the water and is well cooked.
5. Add the jaggery and stir on low flame till jaggery dissolves and mixes well.
6. Add the roasted dry nuts and cardamom powder. Stir again for 3-4 minutes and remove from flame.
Serve hot.

Jain Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is a world-favourite recipe. Who can resist the sight, aroma and flavour of this delicious curry dish with soft and succulent paneer chunks floating in a spinach gravy?
Though the recipe typically uses onion and garlic. But for those who want to enjoy this during vrat season, this recipe can help.

NO ONION-GARLIC PALAK PANEER

Ingredients:
Spinach/Palak - 2 small bunches
Tomatoes, medium - 4, blanched
Green chilies, medium - 3 to 4
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsps
Jeera - 1 tsp
Haldi - 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Method:
1. Add chopped and washed spinach to a pressure cooker along with green chilies and salt and cook for just 1 whistle. Remove, cool and grind to a paste. I like to keep the paste little chunky rather than too fine.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera. Let crackle.
3. Add blanched and chopped tomatoes (or pureee) along with haldi and let cook a bit.
4. Now add chili powder (careful here as we have already used green chilies) and dhaniya powder. Cook till tomatoes/puree is cooked.
5. Finally add garam masala and let simmer for few minutes more.
6. Now add the spinach puree and mix well. Check for salt. Do not cook for too long after adding spinach.
Remove and serve hot with chapati or rice.

Dill Palak Vada

Dal vada is a popular snack down south. Many variations exist, in terms of lentils used, as also vegetables. This one uses Dill leaves or Soya leaves (Suva bhaji) that has amazing health benefits and our good old Spinach.

DILL-PALAK DAL VADA

Ingredients:
Chana dal - 1 cup
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Red chilies - 2
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Green chili - 1
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Dill leaves, chopped - 2 tbsps
Palak leaves, chopped - 2 tbsps
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tbsp

Method :
1. Soak both dals together for 1 hour. Drain and keep aside.
2. To a blender jar, add the red + green chilies and ginger and give it a quick run.
3. Now add the dals, salt to taste and hing. Blend coarsely with very little water. Just a few quick turns of the mixer knob.
4. Transfer to a bowl and add the chopped greens. Check for salt.
5. Heat oil for frying on medium. Wet your palm, take a small portion and flatten it. Drop it into the oil and fry till golden brown. Best trick is to first fry till half done and re-fry till crisp just before serving.

Strawberry Amaranth Halwa

                Nine days of Navratri, nine days of fasting or abstaining from certain foods. And not without a scientific reason! Seasonal changes require our body to adjust and for us to adapt lifestyle practices which are best for us. Most importantly food; where we are advised to give our stomach a rest and detox, by either fasting or abstaining from heavy foods that are difficult to digest. 
As a balance, instead of wheat, lentils and millets, people use wholesome substitutes like Amaranth(Rajgira) and Buckwheat (Kuttu) which provide all the health benefits that our body needs at this time, plus they are easy to digest as well. For the Chaitra Navratri vrat preparation (theme of our 35th #BlogHop), here's a popular Halwa, with a twist of course!!

STRAWBERRY RAJGIRA HALWA

Ingredients :
Amaranth/Rajgira flour - 1 cup
Clarified butter/Ghee - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 2.5 cups
Chopped Strawberries - 1/4 cup
Chopped dry-fruits of choice - 1/4 cup
Green Cardamom (choti elaichi) powder - 1/4 tsp

Method : 
1. In a saucepan, add sugar, chopped strawberries and water, and let simmer on medium heat till sugar dissolves and strawberries become semi-soft.

2. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a non-stick kadhai/wok (Use a large one as we'll use the same for the halwa as well) and add the dry nuts. Toast them till golden brown. Drain excess ghee and keep aside.

3. Heat the 1/2 cup ghee in the same pan and add the rajgira flour, stirring simultaneously so that it absorbs all the ghee. Roast for 2-3 mintues till you get the aroma. Turn off flame and keep aside.

4. Once the sugar has melted, place the kadhai with the rajgira flour back on low flame, and gradually add the sugar syrup to it, remember to keep stirring to avoid lumps. Let cook for 4-5 minutes. 
Finally add the toasted nuts and cardamom powder and give it a final stir. Remove and serve hot.

Stuffed Multi-grain Parathas

Day 5 of Navratri and third day of Lakshmi pooja (3 days each for Durga-Lakshmi-Saraswathi), this also coincided with something to prepare for our 10th #FoodieMonday #BlogHop, and this week the theme was food that we prepare during the festival. Anything ranging from Faraali dishes to sweets, to simple daily prasad....My preparation...stuffed Multi-grain Parathas. 
With my new-found love, actually turning into obsession (!!), for millets, this one has both Bajra and Ragi flours with multi-grain wheat flour to supplement and to help in binding.

STUFFED MULTI-GRAIN PARATHA

Ingredients :

For the dough :
Pearl Millet (Bajra) flour - 1/2 cup
Finger Millet (Ragi) flour - 1/2 cup
Soya flour - 1/4 cup
Multi-grain or whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water as required

For the stuffing :
Finely chopped carrot - 1/2 cup
Finely chopped capsicum - 1/2 cup
Roughly chopped or torn Spinach leaves - 1 cup
Crumbled Paneer - 1 cup
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric (Haldi) powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 & 1/2 tsps
Chili powder - 2 tsps
Oil - 2 tbsps

Method :

1. To prepare the dough, add the flours and salt to a bowl. Knead into a soft dough using enough water. Pour a little oil over the top and knead lightly just once. Leave aside to rest for about 10 minutes.

2. Now the stuffing, heat 2 tbsps oil in a pan, add jeera and let crackle.

3. Add chopped carrot along with turmeric powder, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Now add in the capsicum and spinach leaves as well, salt to taste, mix and again cover cook for 5 minutes more. Stir once and finally add the paneer and let cook uncovered for 5 minutes more. 

4. Add garam masala, chili powder and check salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes more and transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature. 

5. Divide the dough and stuffing into equal portions. Make a cup of the one dough round and place the stuffing inside. Seal properly and flatten gently. Now roll out into a thick roti of about 1/2 cm thickness. Repeat with remaining dough.

6. Heat a tawa and place the paratha on it to cook. Cook for a bit on both sides, then let cook using oil / ghee till golden brown and well-cooked. 
Note : Due to use of millet, cook the parathas slightly longer till well done.
Remove and serve hot with desired accompaniment.

Sweet Pongal

Pongal/ Makar Sankranti/Bihu...celebrated under many names across India...One of the greatest Indian festivals..our own Thanksgiving, to nature, our crops, farmers, all that make our every day life great and worth living and looking forward to..

SWEET PONGAL

Ingredients :
Rice - 1 cup
Split Green gram(moong dal) - 1/4 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Water - 3 cups + 1/4 cup
Jaggery - 2 cups
Green cardamom (Elaichi) powder - 1/4 tsp
Clarified butter (Ghee) - 1/4 cup
Nutmeg (Jaiphal) powder - 1/4 tsp
Clove (Laung) powder - a pinch (optional)
Cashews - a few
Raisins - a few

Method : 
1. Lightly toast Moong dal in a pan, only until it lets out aroma. Add to the rice and wash both together. Pressure cook with 3 cups water and milk till well done and very soft. It should be easily mashable.
2. Add jaggery and 1/4 cup water to a wok. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, till all water content evaporates and you get a really sticky syrup. 
3. Remove the cooked rice+dal from the cooker and mash well while still hot. Once the jaggery syrup is ready, add the mashed rice to it a little at a time. Stir really well so that the jaggery and rice+dal are well mixed. Add the ghee and mix.
4. In another pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and roast Cashews and raising till golden brown. Add to the rice mix in the wok.
5. Sprinkle elaichi powder, nutmeg powder and clove powder. Mix well. 
Serve warm, and to make it even better, pour a generous ladle of ghee over it !!!

Sprouted Moong Sundal

Day 2 of Navratri, continuing with Ma Durga (3 days each for Durga-Lakshmi-Saraswathi), plus it being Wednesday, Mom & I decided on a "green" prasad. Well..what better than Sprouted Moong Sundal, also known as Pacchai-Payaru Sundal !!!

SPROUTED MOONG SUNDAL

Ingredients :

Sprouted whole Green gram(Moong) - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tbsps
Mustard (Rai ) seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Chili powder  - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric (Haldi ) powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing) powder - 1/4 tsp

Method :

1. Heat oil in a wok or kadhai. Add mustard seeds and let crackle.

2. Add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, sauté for a minute. 

3. Add the moong sprouts, along with turmeric powder, salt, chili powder and hing. mix well. Let cook for about 5-7 minutes, stir once or twice in between.
Remove and serve as desired.

Lemon Rice

Day 3 of Navrathri, and mum completed the 3 days of Durga Pooja (3 days each for Durga-Lakshmi-Saraswathi) Today the prasadam was Lemon Rice, a simple to make, yet delicious rice variety that's quite popular in South Indian kitchens. The variations one can make with this dish is quite amazing, from a simple seasoning to veggies, peanuts, one's creativity is the limit!!

Here comes the recipe ......

LEMON RICE

Ingredients :

Rice - 1/2 cup

Turmeric (Haldi) powder - 1/2 tsp

Finely chopped vegetables (Mix of carrot & capsicum) - 1/2 cup

Peas - 1/4 cup

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

For seasoning :

Sesame Oil - 2 tbsps

Mustard (Rai) seeds - 1/2 tsp

Bengal gram - 1 tsp

Green chili - 1 large

Curry leaves - a few

Method :

1. Boil or pressure cook washed rice with 1 cup water. Take care not to over-cook, we need a pulao consistency where the grains are separated but cooked. Once done, spread on a plate gently using a fork and let cool to room temperature.

2. Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds and let crackle. Add the bengal gram, curry leaves and chopped green chili. Saute for 1 minute. 

3. Now tip in the vegetables along with turmeric powder and salt and let cook till 3/4th done. 

4. Once the vegetables are done, add to the rice. Add lemon juice as well and again using a fork, gently mix all of these with the rice till uniformly done. Check for salt. Optional to garnish with chopped coriander.

Warm the rice before serving.

Karthigai Special - Appam (Sweet)

Sweet Appams or Appe are quick and easy to prepare and a popular dish for festivals like Navratri and Karthigai Deepam. Here's a jhatpat recipe to try...

SWEET APPAM

Ingredients

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Rice flour - 1/2 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Ripe banana - 1 (mashed)

Elaichi powder - 1 tsp

Method

1. Sift together wheat and rice flours. 

2. Dissolve jaggery in plain water, approximately 1 cup, no need to heat. Once it is completely dissolved, strain through a semi-fine sieve so as to remove impurities.

3. Add this to the flours along with the mashed banana. Mix well leaving no lumps. Add sufficient water (only if needed) to make a thick batter of dripping consistency. Add cardamom powder and mix again.

4. Heat oil in a appam pan or a small kadhai. Drop small ladle-fuls of the batter into the appam cups or the kadhai. Fry on a medium flame till golden brown on both sides.

5. Serve warm or store for later.