Dry Fruits and Nuts Burfi/ Dates Rolls

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Busy with prepping, cooking already? I don't have to do much except take a dessert to my friends place where she's hosting Thanksgiving dinner. She asked for brownie, so I will soon be preparing my to go recipe of Double Chocolate Brownie.

My kiddos don't eat nuts except pistachio. If I don't powder it and put it in without their knowledge there is no way I can get them to eat them by themselves. These Dry fruit Rolls though are a hit with my son. He doesn't mind this, even though he can see all the chunks of dry fruits in. I have to admit first time it was hard to get him to have one bite... But after first bite there is no turning back. He usually gobbles down 2 or three. I have cut them in round, but you can always cut it into desired shapes. Try this dessert for the holiday and let the guest marvel over the taste.


Prep Time: 15 min | Cooking Time: 15 min | Makes : About 4 dozen

Ingredients:
Dates - 2 Cups Packed
Almond - 1 Cup
Pistachio - 1 Cup
Cashew Nuts - 1 Cup
Condensed Milk - 1 tbsp.
Ghee - 1 tsp.

Method of Preparation:

~ Pulse almond, pistachio and cashew nuts in a food processor for few seconds. We should have small pieces of it (not powder). Keep them aside.
~ In a thick bottomed vessel, heat ghee and dates. Once it's heated mash it using a potato masher.
~ Add condensed milk and cook for another 5 mins, it starts to come together.
~ Switch off the heat and add all the dry fruits.
~ Mix them together and leave it to cool a little bit.
~ Make roll out of the mixture and wrap it in parchment paper. Leave it in the refrigerator for half an hour, so you can cut them easily.
~ Take it out and cut them into discs. * Before cutting them you can roll them into dehydrogenated coconut flakes. I usually skip if I am leaving it out for long for kids to eat everyday.
~ Store them in an air tight container. They stay good on the counter for 2 to 3 weeks.

Sending these for Hearth and Soul Blog Hop.

Cilantro Chutney/ Coriander Chutney/ Green Chutney Konkani Style

Last night I had made Idly and Chutney. When I posted the picture on my Facebook page, I got lot of inquiry for the chutney. The chutney that was in that picture was Celery Chutney. Then I noticed that I didn't had the green chutney recipe that I usually do. This is my mom's way of doing the chutney. This goes great not only with Idly and Dosa, you can put it on a sandwich and add some vegetables and voila your lunch sandwich is ready. This can be saved in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. While reusing, warm it a little bit in a microwave.

Ingredients:

To Grind:
Coconut - 1 and 1/2 Cup
Coriander/ Cilantro - a bunch (about a cup not packed)
Putani/ Dalia split lentil/ Hurigadale - 2 tbsp.
Tamarind concentrate - 1 tsp. extract
Green Chili - 4 to 5 (depends on the spiciness level you can handle)
Ginger - Half lemon size
Salt to taste

For Tempering:
Oil - 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Curry / Kadipatta leaves - 1 spring
Garlic - 1 Crushed
Red Chili - 1

Method of Preparation:

~ Grind everything in the ingredients list under "To Grind" to fine paste. You can check half way through on the spice, salt and add if needed. Take it out in a service bowl.
~ In a small pan heat oil, let the mustard start crackling, add crushed garlic, red chili and curry leaves.
~ Pour it over the prepared chutney. Serve it after mixing them.

This will go really good with
Rava Idly 
Urid Dosa
Oatmeal Dosa
Dill Dosa/ Sweet Green Dosa
Onion Uttappa
Pan Pole/ Neer Dosa/ Thin Lacey Dosa

Spiced Peach Muffins (Eggless)

Holidays are approaching and every household is preparing for it. My kiddos for their love of fruits want me to use fruits in any recipe. These muffins I baked a while ago. Peaches are still in abundance at grocery stores. If you want to sneak in any fruits in your diet, these are a great way. Put a dab of cream cheese and add a coffee or tea, your scrumptious breakfast treat is ready. :o)

Recipe source - Babble

Prep Time: 15 min | Baking Time: 25 to 30 mins | Makes 12 to 15 muffins

Ingredients:

Multi-grain + Unbleached All-Purpose Flour - 2 Cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Allspice powder - 1/2 tsp.
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp.
Baking powder - 2 tsp.
Brown sugar - 1 Cup
Flaxseed meal - 1 tbsp. *
Oil - 1/2 Cup
Milk - 3/4 Cup
Peaches, diced - 2 Cups
2 tbsp Brown sugar with 1/4 tsp Cinnamon - To sprinkle on top

Method of Preparation:

~ Preheat the oven to 400 deg Fahrenheit. Line muffin pan.
~ Add two tablespoons of warm water to flaxseed meal and set aside. (Note you can replace flaxseed meal with an egg. Then no need of this step. Egg can be beaten and directly added to the mixture.)
~ In a large bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar, allspice and cinnamon.
~ Stir in flaxseed mixture, oil and milk.
~ Once everything is combined, gently stir in diced peaches.
~ Drop big spoonful into the muffin cups to fill until the rims. Sprinkle the top with Sugar and Cinnamon mixture.
~ Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
~ Rest for few minutes before digging in.

Sending these to Vardhini's Bake Fest event

Karathe Kismuri/ Hagalkaayi Kosumbari/ Bitter Gourd Relish

Karathe or Bitter Gourd is extremely bitter if you try to eat it as is. It is considered to be very good for diabetic patients. And today happens to be World Diabetics Day! When I was looking to see if there were any scientific proof about bitter gourd reducing the blood glucose levels, I stumbled across this link. Didn't know there was a website dedicated to bitter gourd.

My mom would make variety of dishes using karathe and this is one of the relish that she would make. Being part of Konkani group reminding me all these dishes that my mom would serve us. Me and my hubby loved karathe since childhood and I see the same trend in my son. He just loves any variations of bitter gourd. You can adjust the jaggery as per your taste. If you can handle the bitterness then more power to you and less to jaggery. :o)

Prep Time: 20 min | Cooking Time: 10 min| Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd - 2 medium
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Jaggery - 1 tbsp.
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp.
Chili Powder - 1 tsp.
Grated Coconut - 1 Cup
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Onion - 1 small finely chopped.
Coriander Leaves - half a handful
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

~ Wash and scrape off bitter gourd skin. Cut it lengthwise and de-seed. Chop them in small pieces, add salt and leave it for few minutes.
~ Heat oil in a pan, squeeze the bitter gourd a little to take out the moisture and add it to the hot pan.
~ Shallow fry until they are almost done. This needs patience since you have to keep it on medium heat and keep frying. Now add haldi/ turmeric powder and jaggery. Give it a nice mix and take it out of heat. Allow to cool for few minutes
~ In a bowl add onion, chili powder, coriander powder and little salt. Nicely mix them together. It turns out good when you squeeze everything together and mix with hand (yeah, I said it.. magic of hand mixing)
~ Add in freshly grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves and fried bitter gourd pieces. Mix it all up and serve on the side with Plain Rice and Daali Thoy.

You may be also interested in Bitter Gourd Subzi

Sending this dish to Nandoo's event Dish it out - Coconut & Salt

Basil Zucchini Noodles with Grilled Corn

I have to admit, we are hooked on to Zucchini noodles at our home. It's so much healthier than the starchy noodles, fills you up and are super quick to make. I don't have a tool to make the zucchini noodles to come out in exact round noodles. So I just use a peeler to make flat noodles out of Zucchini. This is how they look.

Zucchini is almost out of season now, while it was in season, I was buying them from the local market. They had some of the huge ones that I had never seen before. So bring one and you are set for 2 or 3 recipes. :o)

Prep Time: 15 min | Cooking Time: 15 min | Serves : 4
* Serving Size: 2 Cup | Calories: 104 | Carbs: 20 | Fat: 2 | Protein: 6 | Sugar: 10 | Sodium: 313

Ingredients:
Zucchini - About 4 Cups of Noodles
Hot green peppers - 2
Onion - 1 small
Tomato - 3 medium
Colored Bell Pepper - 1 small
Garlic - 6 big cloves
Lemon Basil - big handful
Corn from Grilled Corn on the cob / Some roasted fresh corn - 2 Cups
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:
~ Finely chop peppers, onion, tomato and garlic. Place all of it in a sauce pan and cook for about 5 minutes stirring once in a while. Add salt to taste.
~ Meanwhile bring water to boil in a pot and add salt. Add Zucchini noodles and cook for 3 minutes until just done. Drain the water and drop the noodles into the sauce.
~ Top it with roasted Corn and chopped Basil leaves.
~ Enjoy a nice hot one pot meal.

Disclaimer: Nutrition fact is based on ingredients that I have used and is an approximate. It is calculated using Recipe Nutrition Calculator from a health website.

Sending this healthy seasonal fresh food over to Nandoo's Eat Seasonal Food event

Arugula Salad Pizza

One fine day when I switched on Food Network, saw Ree of Pioneer Woman cook a Fresh Herb Pizza. It looked exactly like the one that I had fortnight ago at a family owned pizza place. And that weekend, our friend who picks up their fresh produce from a  farm where they have membership, dropped some salad greens. Stars must have aligned right, so it was a sign, and I made this beautiful looking pizza. It was an instant hit with my family. Other than younger one, who despises any green fresh thing on her food, all of us devoured it. I left half of the pizza uncovered for her and she loved every bit of it. And I am not kidding when I say all of us over ate. BTW just noticed that this is my first post with yeast. Yes! I am not afraid anymore to use yeast in my recipes.

Prep Time: 15 min | Inactive Time: 1 Hour | Cooking Time: 15 min | Serves: 4

Recipe Based on: Fresh Herb Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza Base -
Multi-grain Flour/ AP Flour - 2 Cups
Active Dry Yeast - 1 tsp.
Warm Water - 1 Cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Pepper - 1/4 tsp. Freshly ground
Light Olive Oil - 1/4 Cup
Olive Oil for drizzling - 1 tbsp.

Pizza Sauce - 1 Cup
Shredded Cheese - 1 Cup


Salad Topping -
Arugula - 1 Bunch
Pomegranate seeds - 1 tbsp.
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp.
Olive Oil - 1 tsp.

Method of Preparation:
~ Add yeast into the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
~ Meanwhile, add some salt and pepper in the flour. Mix in olive oil and combine well. Now slowly add the yeast mixture and mix until just combined.
~ Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil and just roll the dough lightly, cover the container and leave it to rise for atleast an hour in a warm place.
~ When ready to make the pizza, preheat the oven to 500 deg Fahrenheit.
~ Take out the pizza dough cover, punch the dough lightly and start rolling it out. Drizzle little oil on the pizza stone or pizza pan or sheet, and transfer the rolled out pizza on to this.
~ Top the pizza base with pizza sauce and shredded cheese
~ Bake this for 15 minutes on the bottom rack, or until the crust is golden brown.
~ Toss all the ingredients together for the salad. Top the pizza with salad and serve it.

Notes:
~ You can use different types of greens salad. Sky is the limit as to what you want to top it or what kind of salad.
~ Or can just have pizza with just sauce and cheese.
~ Store bought pizza sauce can be used or even ketchup would suffice.
~ Can serve it topped with Parmesan cheese.

Sending this yummy pizza to Vardhini's Bake Fest event

Microwave Mysore Pak

Happy Diwali to all my friends and Family. May the light be with you always!

Mysore Pak is a famous sweet dish that originated in city of Mysore, Karnataka. In it's true self it uses quite a bit of butter and long procedure to make. I saw this recipe for microwave recipe on a food group that I am part of and thought of trying it out. It was so quick and easy to prepare that I think this will be my go to sweet if I have to do Indian exotic dessert very quickly.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cooking Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

Besan/ Chick Peas Flour - 1 Cup
Sugar - 2 Cup
Ghee - 1 Cup
Milk - 2 tbsp.

Method of Preparation:

~ In a heavy bottomed pan or wok, fry besan until nice aroma comes and color changes to golden brown. Note that you can do this part in microwave too.
~ Prepare a 6X6 inch dish by greasing the dish with a teaspoon of ghee.
~ Add the remaining ghee in a microwavable container and microwave high for a minute.
~ Add all the remaining ingredients, mix them thoroughly and microwave for three minutes in interval of one minute. Take it out and mix it thoroughly. You should inbetween notice ghee and besan separating, don't worry keep microwaving. At the end of three minutes, heavy bubbles starts to form and everything starts to come together when you mix.
~ Now microwave for one and half minute at the interval of 30 seconds.
~ Take out and immediately pour into the prepared dish and smooth the top.
~ Let it cool for 15 minutes and then cut into desired shape.

Sending this to Vardhini's Diwali Event