Sesame Jaggery Fudge - Tilachi Vadi

Makar Sankranti is the harvest festival and also marked as the arrival of spring in India. Sesame Jaggery Fudge is made on this occasion. This fudge (Tilachi vadi ) is made up of Sesame seeds, Jaggery, Ghee/ coconut oil. All of these ingredients adds tons of nutrition to the body especially in the time when it is made...the winter. A perfect combination of all these ingredients help lubricate the joints and nourish the brain while giving the warmth that is much needed during chilly winter month.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup shredded Jaggery
• 3/4 cup roasted white sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup roasted broken peanuts
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp water

INSTRUCTIONS

• Roast the sesame seeds on low to medium flame until they get nice golden color. Keep aside.
• Heat up coconut oil in a pan and add the jaggery into it. Let it melt and then add cardamom powder to it. Also add water and mix well. Turn off the heat.
• Add the sesame seeds and the broken peanuts into jaggery and mix well.
• Coat a plate with coconut oil and spread the above mixture on it.
• Take a glass bowl, grease the bottom of the bowl with some coconut oil and spread the mixture evenly across the plate making an even layer. 
• Mark the lines so that they will form nice squares. Let them sit for 30 minutes and then take the squares apart. You can also make them into diamonds but traditionally Tilachi vadi is made square shaped.

NOTES

• Traditionally these are made with ghee instead of coconut oil. You can't really make the difference between both versions. Both are just as delicious. The coconut oil version makes it perfect for vegans.
• Addition of water helps the fudge retain it's softness and chewiness.
• Make sure you use dark jaggery which is known as chikkicha gul in Marathi.

Happy Makar Sankranti to those who are celebrating!!!

Tilgul ghya goad bola....:)

Raw Almond Cacao Truffles

It will be almost a month since I have posted a  new recipe! I have been just cooking and cooking and not getting enough time to actually sit and type in front of computer. As a result I now have too many drafts sitting back there. I decided to break the long break with this delicious Raw Almond cacao Truffles. Vegan, delicious chewy brown balls are so fun to share this holiday season!

Since the holidays are in the air, I have been cooking a lot of sweet stuff lately. Not everything is worth landing up on the blog, since I have been experimenting a lot.

These cuties are our this year's holiday favorites and  I will be making at least  2 more batches before the holiday season ends just because they are so simple to make and are guilt-free at the same time. Almonds, cacao powder, dates and almond milk that's it!!

Let's dive in-:

Ingredients-: Makes about 24 pieces

• Raw almonds- 2 cups
• Medjool Dates(Deseeded)- 12  Soak them for 15 minutes
• 4-5 tbsp of Almond milk or any non-dairy milk
• 1/4th cup of cacao powder
• A pinch of salt.

Method-:

• In a food processor, blend in the almonds, salt and cacao powder to a fine flour like consistency.
• Add the dates and blend well by pulsing. 
• Add almond milk or the milk of your choice so that the mixture starts to come together.
• With the help of small spoons drop the mixture on to a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.
• Remove from freezer and roll into round balls and then coat with the cacao powder.
• You can store in the refrigerator for upto 1 week if they can last that long..:)
• Serve at room temperature.

These truffles are going to Let's party- eggless bakes and treats, also linking CookCookandCook, and Thoushaltcook and also to grand festive feasts.

Thanks to my dear friend Swapna for the nice serving platter!

Recipe source- http://www.ohladycakes.com/2012/09/raw-cacao-truffles.html

Blueberry Smoothie

Holidays are in the air. Everyone is talking about cookies and cakes, pies and puddings, roasted turkey and roasted veggies!

Let me share with you my recent favorite dessert, which you might prefer this holiday, if you are on a weight loss spree like me.

Less ingredients, less calories,  and super easy to make. It takes less than 10 minutes. It's a great choice to include in your breakfast.

All you need is-:

• Frozen whole blueberries - 1/2 cup
• 1% milk/ soy milk - about 2 cups
• Non-fat yogurt- 1/4 cup
• honey - to taste

Mix all above in a grinder and beat to a smooth consistency. That's it. Pour in to the glasses and enjoy!!

oh.... and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Coconut Delights!!

Some times I just love coconut!! As a child I was not in to sweets at all. All I could think of was something spicy and savory. I think coming to US changed my taste a little bit.

Thinking of sweets, coconut burfi/vadi or khobryachi vadi as we say in Marathi is a very popular Indian dessert. These are small square shaped or diamond shaped, which just melts in your mouth if done to the perfection.

Here is what you will need-:

1 cup of frozen thawed coconut.

3/4 cup of Sugar.

1/4 cup of Milk, whole/2% you can also use cream if you want.

cardamom powder 1 pinch,

Step 1:-

Grind the coconut in to the blender along with the sugar , don't make it like a paste. Just blend it once or twice.

Step2:-

Heat a pan, add the paste to the pan , on low heat add the mixture and mix it well. The mixture will be kind of liquid like consistency  at this time.

keep on a low to medium flame and keep stirring constantly.

Step 3:-

After 3-4 minutes add milk to the mixture. 

Heads up:- Keep stirring constantly. Do not stop.

Step 4:-

Add a pinch of cardamom powder.

The mixture will start getting thicker and thicker. When it reaches to a consistency where a spoon you are working with could stand in the mixture on it's own, (See the picture below) you can switch off the heat.

Before you start the first step, Keep ready a pan coated with butter/ ghee. The pan should be something like a baking pan which will give the area for the mixture to spread evenly and about 1/2 inch in thickness.

Immediately after you take the mixture off the heat, spread it on the coated pan. Try to spread it evenly and press the mixture so that it will be packed tightly, and there will be no gaps.

Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for about an hour. Remove from the refrigerator and cut in to the squares/ diamonds as per your choice.

A sweet treat for holidays!!

Rawa (Sooji/semolina) Cake

One of the reasons to eat cake..............:D

Sometimes I make recipes sound so conveniently healthy that I don't feel guilty about eating them....:)

Interesting isn't it? A cake without egg, without maida (All purpose floor) I won't say without butter..well.... it is without butter, but with cream...so eventually, cream balances out butter, and give us a reason to feel guilty about....:(

Well..........this is a holiday season of the year everywhere and it's okay to go crazy once in a while.

So here it goes-:

A cake for holidays.....!!

Here is what you will need-:

• 1 cup rawa (fine)- you can get in any Indian store, it's called sooji or semolina..if you prefer. Its essentially made up of wheat.
  
• 1 Cup wheat flour
• 1 cup of cream 
• 1 cup of yogurt
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 cups of milk I used 2%
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Almonds, walnuts, raisins for crunchiness

This is how you do it-:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

 

Mix all the dry ingredients first. Then add the wet once. Make sure that everything gets mixed up well with no lumps formed. 

Slice the almonds, chop the remaining nuts and add in to the tub.

Spray your cake pan with non-stick cooking spray or you can also rub some butter inside the pan. Pour the batter nicely.

Slide the pan in to the preheated oven and bake for about 50 minutes. The baking time may vary due to difference in the ovens. Check after 45 and decide. If you feel , keep baking for 10 minutes more or so.

Insert the knife and make sure it comes out clean, if not that means, it needs more baking.

bake to perfection and enjoy your holidays...!!!

Happy holidays...everyone...!!!

Fruit puff

I have been on diet for a while. Although this dessert is not meant for the people who are dieting, fruit can always be on the top of the list.

The recipe is an updated version of my mother's recipe. She is one of the those cooks, who has the magic of taking any simple dish to an extraordinary level. May that be an Indian staple food or any delicious party menu, she has it all. So here it goes to her.

Pineapple Puff recipe-:

1 can of Pineapple chunks
1 Jello, preferably strawberry
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup to 1 cup of Sugar depending on your taste.
About half a palm full of almonds
4-5 walnuts- powdered
Saffron to decorate

You can use any kind of fruit you like as chunks as well as in the jelly. I think the combination of strawberry and pineapple goes very well with each other.


The key to prepare this dessert is to make it ahead of time and give it some time to settle . Let's say you want to get the dessert ready for lunch. Start with making Jello first about 24 hours before. Per the instructions on the packet make the Jello. A really smart tip I want to share with you all here, is when you add the water while making the jelly, use the syrup that is already in the pineapple can.
If the packet says, add 2 cups of cold and 2 cups of hot water, then measure the syrup in the can, if it comes out to be 1 and a half cups, then use that syrup and add the remaining measure as a water. This incorporates the flavor of pineapple in to jelly. Set the jelly aside in the refrigerator for at least for 4 hours.
Whip the cream, while adding sugar in to it. whip it until it stands still and does not drop.
Remove the jelly from the refrigerator, and smash it with a fork or a spoon so as to divide it in to small chunks.

Setting the dessert altogether-:
Take a big deep bowl.
Start layering with Pineapple chunks, jelly chunks, whipped cream, almonds one after the other up to the top. Do not forget to sprinkle walnut powder on top of the cream in between two layers.
Decorate the dessert with saffron.
Keep it in to the refrigerator overnight and enjoy!!

Coming up: Green Rice (Pulav)