Foxtail millet sakkarai pongal

Foxtail millet is thinai arisi in tamil and kangni in hindi.

Ingredients

1/2 cup foxtail millet

1/4 cup greengram dal

3/4 cup powdered jaggery

3 tbsp ghee

8-10 cashews

Some raisins

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

A pinch of edible camphor (pacchai karpooram in tamil)

Cook the millet and dal with 3 times water. Soak the jaggery in little water and heat till it melts. Filter out any impurities and heat again till it gets sticky consistency. 

Add the cooked millet dal mix and stir well. Add half the ghee and cook on sim for five minutes. Mix in the cardamom powder and edible camphor. In a seperate pan heat the remaining ghee and add the cashews. Once lightly brown add in these cashews to the sakkarai pongal along with the raisins. Mix well and serve hot.

foxtail millet recipe, thinai recipes, healthy alternatives to rice, sweet recipes, healthy indian recipe, healthy desserts with jaggery

Milk Peda

Tried this delicious doodh/milk peda recipe from Vidhus kitchen..it turned out to be perfect and very tasty ..

Ingredients

Milk powder -2 cups

Condensed milk - 1 cup

Bit of cardamom powder

Butter -3 tbsp

Chopped nuts

Mix the condensed milk and milk powder well and heat it in low flame..keep stirring the same until it gets thick. Add the cardamom powder, mix and let it cool for some time. Make pedas and add some chopped nuts in the center. 

A quick and very easy sweet done with very less ingredients.

Chocolate Gulab jamun

Try this new flavour the next time you plan to make Gulab jamun...Whatever the recipe you use for making them, just stuff 2-4 pieces of chocolate chips in the center of the gulab jamun before frying them. The chips melt while frying and adds a nice chocolate flavour to it. 

Fried modaks

Ingredients

2 cups of grated coconut

3/4 cup grated jaggery

Pinch of cardamom powder

1 cup all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Oil to fry

Mix 2 tsp oil in the flour and add salt. Sprinkle water to get a soft dough and keep covered for 15 minutes.

Heat the jaggery with little water and when it gets to a ball consistency, switch off the gas and add coconut and cardamom powder. Mix well and let it cool for some time. Make small balls of it.

Make balls of the dough, roll them into a small round and place the sweet ball in the center. Cover from all sides and repeat for the rest of the dough and fillings. Fry these modaks on medium flame till golden brown and crisp.

2 minute - 2 ingredient chocolate dosa

Ingredients

Dosa batter

Nutella

Make a moderately soft dosa, spread nutella over it, roll it and cut it into pieces..A yummy and irresistible dessert for all chocolate flavour lovers

Khoya Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

1.5 cups khoa at room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
2 pinches baking soda
Oil/ghee to fry
3 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 tsp rose essence
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2-3 tbsp milk (if required)

Mix the khoa, flour, soda well and add a little bit of milk as required to get a soft dough. Make small balls and keep ready

Heat sugar and water till sticky consistency and add cardamom powder and rose essence.

Heat the oil/ghee on a very low flame and fry the balls till golden brown. Remember not to increase the heat and the balls will not get cooked from inside and will remain hard. Immediately after frying, put the balls in the warm sugar syrup and repeat for rest of the dough. Keep covered for atleast an hour for the jamuns to get well soaked in the syrup.

Serve warm.

Homemade Rasgullas

Ingredients

1 ltr milk

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups water

Boil the milk and stir in the lemon juice. Keep stirring for 5 minutes till the water starts getting clear and paneer accumulates. Switch off the stove and drain the water on a muslin cloth. Squeeze out the water from the paneer completely. Now keep rubbing the paneer till it gets soft without crumbling. Add in the flour and mix well. Make small balls and keep ready. Heat the sugar and water till it boils and add in the balls kept aside. Transfer to a vessel and pressure cook for one whistle.

Cool and serve spongy and tasty homemade rasagullas.

Biscuit pudding

Recipe source: Srividhya's version at Appetizing Recipes..However I tried it with biscuits instead of cakes..

Ingredients

A pack of crisp biscuits (I used one with nuts)

2 cups milk

3 tbsp custard powder

4 tbsp sugar

Chocolate strands for garnishing

Heat the milk keeping aside a 1/4 cup. Mix the custard powder with the 1/4 cup milk. Add sugar to the hot milk and when it dissolves, add the custard powder mixed with milk. Continue to heat until the custard starts getting thick..Keep stirring and cool well.

Place a layer biscuits on a tray close to each other. Use the broken pieces to fill in the gaps. Pour one portion of custard mix over it. Next place another layer of biscuits and pour in the rest of the custard over it and spread well. Garnish with chocolate strands.

Allow it to get set well by refrigerating for some time. Cut into pieces and serve

Bran rice akkaravadisal

Ingredients

2/3 cup bran rice

1/ 3 cup greengram dal

4 tbsp bengalgram dal

1 cup jaggery

1 tsp cardamom powder

A bit of pachai karpooram (edible camphor)

Few roasted cashews and raisins

1 cup milk

2 tbsp ghee

Soak the rice in enough water for one hour. Pressure cook rice and dals with 2 cups of water and milk.

In a seperate vessel, add little water to the jaggery and heat till it starts boiling. Add cardamom powder to it and cooked rice and dal. Mix well. Add the edible camphor, ghee and mix well. Cook for five minutes.

Garnish with roasted cashews and raisins.

* If it gets thick, add some more milk and mix well before serving.

Oats moong halwa

Ingredients

1/2 cup oats (dry roast)

1/4 cup greengram dal soaked in water for 1 hour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 tbsp ghee

Almond sliced or roasted cashews

Grind the soaked dal to a smooth paste with little water. Powder the roasted oats and keep aside. Heat the ghee in a non stick pan and add the dal paste and cook well till the raw smell of the dal vanishes. Add a little milk in between if required. Now add the roasted oats powder and milk. Cook for 2 minutes and add sugar and cook till everything gets mixed well and thick.

Garnish with sliced almonds or roasted cashews.

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts, Earn a Crore

Butter Badushah

Its raining sweet and savories in the blogging world for the upcoming Deepavali festival..I also finally tried out something that I have never tried earlier - Badushah. The recipe is as it is from one of my favourite blogger - Sharmilee of Sharmis passion..Also have a look at Raji's version at Raks kitchen with recipe and video for Badushah but with a different measurement for ingredients. Both of them have provided step by step instructions with special tips and leave no space for going wrong in any way......

Ingredients

1.5 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 tbsp beaten curd

1 tsp sugar

1.5 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp cooking soda

1/2 cup sugar

Cardamom powder for flavour

3/4 cup water

Bit of lemon juice

Water as required

Oil to fry

Mix the butter, oil, sugar, curd and soda well. Slowly add in the flour and keep mixing it well. Finally add water as required to get a soft dough. Keep aside for 10 minutes and prepare the sugar syrup by that time.

Heat the sugar and water to get a single string consistency. Add in the lemon juice and cardamom powder and keep aside. Make small balls of the dough and flatten them slightly. To make the corners decorative, have a look at the videos at Sharmis blog or Raks kitchen. 

Heat oil in medium flame. Put a small piece of the flour to check the heat. If it pops up immediately, put in a few pieces of the badushah and switch off the stove. Dont disturb it and let it cook in the oil. When the bubbles settle down, switch on the stove again and cook on medium flame till golden brown. Drain excess oil in a tissue paper and dip in the sugar syrup. Let it stay soaked for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a greased plate. Repeat for rest of the dough.

Although it takes a reasonable time to prepare these, the end results are just fantastic. Garnish with cardamom powder or saffron strands.

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts, Earn a Crore

Nutritious cereal bar

Ingredients

2 cups crisp breakfast cereals with nuts

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup demerara sugar

2 tbsp butter

Heat butter, sugar and honey on low flame till sugar melts. Add in the cereals and mix well.

                                     

Spread on butter paper or greased plate and roll slightly with the greased rolling pin to even it out. Let it cool for 10 minutes and cut into bars.

Cool well and serve.



Chocolates with cereal

Recipe source: Aarthi's recipe at Yummy Tummy

Ingredients

1 cup breakfast cereals

2 tsp butter

125 grams chocolate bar

Chopped nuts or white chocolate or multi colour sugar balls for garnishing

Heat the butter and chocolate pieces using double boiler method and when it melts, slowly add in the cereals little by little. Mix well till the chocolate coats the cereals well.

Put a big spoon full into cupcake liners, garnish and refrigerate it for minimum 2 hours.

Quick to make and heavenly in taste...

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts, Earn a Crore

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

An exciting project called "Blog Hop Wednesday" has been initiated by Radhika of Tickling Palates and it starts off today..All the members have to cook up something from their partner blog every alternate Wednesday.

This week, my partner is Vidhya of Sugar and Spice blog and I selected a very simple yet royal Chocolate Biscuit cake to try out from her blog. It was awesome and is an excellent dessert for every occasion. I followed the recipe exactly as mentioned but changed the finishing touches a bit.

Ingredients

250 grams tea biscuits (I used biscuits with nuts)

125 grams unsalted butter

125 grams sugar

250 grams dark chocolate

2 tsp milk

Break the biscuits into small bite size pieces. Beat the sugar and butter and keep aside. Melt the dark chocolate with the milk using double boiler method and when it cools down a bit, add it to the butter mixture and mix well. Add in the biscuit pieces and coat well with the chocolate mix.

If you want individual servings, use small cupcake liners and for a big cake, use a greased pan/bowl according to requirements. Gently put in the biscuit mixture into the bowl and fill tightly without gaps.

** For a smoother finish, powder in the biscuit in the mixture towards the end and give it a smooth finish by covering the gaps.

Garnish with either more dark chocolate or sugar balls or dust with icing sugar and refrigerate for atleast 3 hours and serve.

The crunchiness of biscuits and the chocolate butter mix is just wonderful and will surely tempt you for a second helping.

Moong-channa dal halwa

Ingredients

1 cup greengram dal (soaked for 2 hours)

1 cup bengalgram dal (soaked for 2 hours)

1/4 cup ghee

1 1/2 cups of sugar (moderate sweetness-adjust according to tastes)

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Roasted nuts and raisins

Grind both the dals together to a smooth paste with little milk. In a vessel put the sugar and add water just enough for the sugar to soak. Heat it to get a sticky consistency. Add in the dal paste and mix well without lumps. Keep stirring and add the ghee little by little. Finally when the halwa starts leaving the sides, add the cardamom powder, nuts, raisins and mix well. Transfer to a greased plate. It can also be cut into pieces before serving.

how to make moong dal halwa, channa dal halwa recipe, dal halwa, simple and quick halwa, healthy sweets

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts,Earn a Crore

Bread Gulab jamun

Ingredients

6 milk/sweet bread slices

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

Oil/Ghee to fry

Dip the bread slices in milk and squeeze it out completely. You can either cut out the corners of the bread or let it remain. Knead it into a dough and make balls of it. Add milk if required to make the dough. I opted for the less fat version by frying it in the paniyaram pan with few drops of oil. If you are not calorie conscious you can deep fry the balls in oil/ghee.

Heat the sugar and water to a sticky consistency. Add cardamom powder to the syrup and soak the bread balls in it for about 1/2 hr. Serve

* Since these gulab jamuns wont get bigger while frying like the normal gulab jamuns, you need to make a little bigger balls than usual.

how to make bread gulab jamuns, quick and easy gulab jamun recipe, easy and simple dessert, gulab jamun with bread, simple gulab jamun recipe

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts, Earn a Crore

Brown sugar Sakkarai pongal

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice

1/2 cup cooked greengram dal (moong dal)

1.5 - 2 cups of brown sugar (depending on personal tastes)

2 tbsp ghee

Roasted cashews

Raisins

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Heat the brown sugar with little water till it melts well and gets to a sticky consistency. Add the cooked rice and dal and mix well. Add ghee, cardamom powder and mix well. You can add more ghee as per taste.

Garnish with roasted cashews and raisins.

how to make brown sugar sakkarai pongal, sweet pongal recipe, sweet rice recipe, sakarai pongal varieties, pongal festival special dishes, brown sugar recipe, how to use brown sugar in regular food,

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts,Earn a Crore

Rava akkaravadisal

Ingredients

1 cup roasted rava/sooji

2 1/2 cups grated jaggery

1/2 cup cooked greengram dal

4 tbsp ghee

1 cup milk

Few cashews and raisins

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Roast the cashews till golden brown and keep aside. Heat 2 1/2 cups of water and when it starts boiling, add the rava and cook on low flame till rava is cooked and absorbs all the water. Keep seperate. Heat the jaggery with little water till it gets thick. Now add the cooked rava and cooked dal. Mix well. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Allow it to cool a bit and then add boiled milk. Mix well.

Garnish with roasted nuts and raisins.

how to make rava akaravadisal, rava vella payasam recipe, ravai jaggery payasam, healthy dessert recipe

Beetroot Poli

 Ingredients

Stuffing- for 3 medium sized polis

1 medium beetroot (peeled and grated)
4-5 tsp sugar (for medium sweetness-add more if reqd)
Bit of cardamom powder

For outer layer

1 cup all purpose flour (maida)
Pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp Oil

Ghee as required

Make a soft dough of all purpose flour, salt and water. Add oil and mix well. Keep covered for atleast 1 hour. Heat 1 tsp ghee and add the grated beetroot. Mix well and cook on low flame till beets are cooked. Add sugar, cardamom powder and mix well till sugar melts. Cool well and make 3 small balls of it.

Grease a plastic sheet with little oil. Take 1/3 rd portion of the dough and pat it on the sheet by covering it with another sheet. Let the center be little thick and sides thinner. Place the beetroot stuffing in the center.

Cover it with dough from all sides and again pat it keeping another plastic sheet on it. Pat slowly ensuring the filling does not come out. Heat tava and cook it on medium flame with little ghee on all sides till brown spots appear on both sides.

Serve hot with little more ghee.

** You can even grind the beetroot before frying in ghee.

** Since beetroot is already sweet in nature, remember to reduce the quantity of sugar.

More varieties of Polis that you can try for this year's Pongal

Potato Poli

Carrot poli

Groundnut poli

Coconut poli

Paruppu poli

Kesari poli

how to make poli, boli recipe, pongal festival sweet recipes, poli varieties, healthy poli stuffing, poli filling ideas, new poli type, vegetable poli stuffing, bhogi pongal, bogi pongal food

Oats Akkaravadisal

Ingredients

1 cup oats

1/4 cup green gram dal (moong dal)

1 cup grated jaggery

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

3 tbsp ghee

Cashews and raisins

Pinch of edible camphor (pachaai karpooram)

Heat 2 tbsp ghee and roast the oats well. Add 3 cups of water and cook it. Keep seperately. Pressure cook the dal seperately till soft. Heat the jaggery with little water and after it melts, strain it to remove the impurities. Heat it again and allow it to get thick. Add the dal and cooked oats to it and mix well. Cook on low flame for few minutes so that the jaggery taste gets mixed well.

Roast the cashews in the remaining ghee and add it along with cardamom powder and edible camphor. Mix well. Switch off the gas and allow it to cool a little. Finally add the boiled milk and mix well. Ensure that you add it when it is in room temperature or else it will curdle.
how to make oats akkaravadisal, akaravadisal recipe, quick and easy sweet with oats, healthy and simple oats desert recipe,

Affiliate of 100% microwave cooking, Ideas money, Time Pass, Inspirations for life, Easy crafts,Earn a Crore