Hope everyone enjoyed celebrating the colourful Holi 
We had a gala time with our LO! In our sect, families with kids (below 3 yrs) celebrate this festival in a special way. We prepare malas (chains) with food items that kids would love to eat and then kids are made to wear these malas during the Holi festival. I prepared the malas with candies, raisins, puffed rice, marsh-mellows and fruit loops. With my busy boy, I couldn’t shop much, so prepared the malas from the stuff that I had at home. The malas came out so well and we adorned our dear son with all these chains. Kutty wore these malas for few minutes (without pulling it) and posed for the camera 
Hope Skandhu enjoyed his crafty mom’s tasty malas
Candy Mala
Raisins Mala
Pori (Puffed Rice) Mala
Marshmellows Mala
Fruit Loops Mala
Wishing you all a very happy Holi Am here with a Holi (virtual) treat - Dry fruits ladoo!! A healthy and tasty recipe that everyone would love.
Antine unde | Dinkache Ladoo | Gond ke laddu
Ingredients:
Dry dates (Khajur): 100 gms
Cashew: 100 gms
Raisin: 100 gms
Almond: 100 gms
Edible gum: 50 gms
Dessicated coconut (Copra): 50 gms (grated)
Poppy seeds (Khus khus): 50 gms
Jaggery: 250 gms
Ghee: 250 gms
Preparation Method:
- Heat ghee and fry dry dates, almonds, raisins, cashews, copra and poppy seeds.
- Make sure that they are not over fried!
- Allow the mixture to cool and then coarsely powder it.
- Mix jaggery in water (1 tbsp is enough) and allow it to boil.
- Keep boiling till we get one string consistency.
- Remove it from the stove top.
- Now add dates/nut mixture with jaggery syrup and start making ladoos.
Dinkache ladoo is usually given to nursing mothers. The dry fruits and nuts provide the nutrients and strength to the new mother.
Maida chips is one of my favourite snack. I remember my Aaji preparing this chips as afternoon snack for us. Jiffy recipe thats too easy to prepare! We can add sugar instead of chilli powder to make sweet chips. Enjoy this spicy maida chips
Maida Chips
Ingredients:
Maida: 3 cups
Chilli powder: 2 tsps
Asafetida: a pinch
Salt: to taste
Cooking oil: to fry
Preparation Method:
- Mix maida, salt, asafetida and chilli powder.
- Add water and make a dough out of it.
- Make balls out of the dough and roll it (as we do for chappathis).
- Cut the dough in to small pieces using a knife.
- Fry them in oil.
- Tasty chips is ready!
Spring is near… this is my mantra now. Yes the thought about spring is itself very refreshing. Thankfully winter this year in Chicago isn’t too bad. The storm that was torturing the folks in east has finally abated! When ever it snows, I remember the famous Christmas song… “Let it snow..”
Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Being indoors increases our appetite for crunchy snacks.. Hot tea with something spicy… tastes heaven! Here is a spicy crispy crunchy snack tats healthy too
Avalakki Hurigalu | Chinch Pohe
Ingredients:
Thick Poha (Flattened rice / Beaten rice): 250 gms
Verkadalai (Peanut): 50 gms
Pottu kadalai (Fried gram): 50 gms
Copra (Dessicated coconut): 50 gms [Cut into small pieces]
Tamarind: Lemon size ball
Salt: to taste
Cooking oil: to do seasoning
Curry leaves: few
Asafetida (Hing): a pinch
Preparation Method:
- Dry fry verkadalai and remove the rind.
- Soak tamarind in water for about 30 mins
- Extract tamarind juice from the pulp and mix it with poha.
- Add chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder to it and mix thoroughly.
- Heat cooking oil and do seasoning using mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing.
- Add the tamarind poha mixture to it and fry well.
- Remove from the stove top.
- Now add copra, verkadalai and pottu kadalai and mix well.
- Serve with hot chai
Ever thought of preparing kheer without using stove? Here is such recipe using khus khus (Gasagasa). This is my mom’s special dessert. Simple yet delicious
Khus Khus Kheer | Gasagasa Payasam
Ingredients:
Khus Khus: 4 tbsp
Badam (Almonds): few (fistful)
Kaju (Cashew): few (fistful)
Copra (Dessicated coconut): 1 cup
Elachi (Cardamom) powder: 1/2 tsp
Kalkandu (rock candy or rock sugar): 5-6 (Big ones)
Boiled milk: 1/2 litre
Preparation Method:
- Soak khus khus, badam and kaju overnight in water.
- Add copra and grind them to a fine paste.
- Coarsely powder kalkandu.
- Add powdered kalkandu and elachi to the khus khus paste.
- Allow boiled milk to cool and add it to the khus khus paste.
- Khus khus kheer is ready! Serve chill.
Health benefits of poppy seeds:
Poppy seeds protects heart against cardiovascular diseases. Poppy seed oil prevents breast cancer. Poppy seeds with sugar can be taken to cure insomnia.
Recent Comments