Protein rich laddu

This is my own version of a homemade protein bar (say protein ball) / சத்து மாவு உருண்டை , which I prepare whenever we need to buy a snack bar. Hope my readers like it too.

Happy Valentines's day !

Snack balls.

keep it covered to prevent drying.

Ingredients:

Almond - 10

green gram - 1 cup

puffed channa dal - 1/4 cup

peanut  - 1/2 cup

brown sugar - 3/4 cup

ghee / coconut oil - 2 tsp

coconut - 1 tbsp

salt - 1/4 tsp

cardamom powder  - 1/4 tsp

dry ginger powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Dry roast the almond in a frying pan (or microwave 1 minute) and let it cool.

Dry roast the green gram in a frying pan in low heat till it smells good (takes nearly 5 minutes).

Then take it out and let cool.

In the same pan, dry roast the shredded coconut, peanut separately.

Let everything cool.

Grind together everything to a fine powder except sugar and butter.

In the same pan add the brown sugar, heat at low with 2 tbsp water and dissolve. Switch off.

Add the powder , cardamom powder, ginger powder and mix with a spatula. If needed add few drops of coconut oil and mix well. Let cool.

Make lime size balls. Apply little ghee or oil in palm to get a smooth ball.

Serving suggestion:

Serve as snack or dessert.

We can use honey instead of brown sugar too.

It can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days and after that keep refrigerated up to a month or more.

Makes nearly 20 balls.

Inji mittai

Inji - fresh ginger ; mittai - candy.

This is a candy sold in almost all the bus stations in Tamilnadu. I have never seen any one preparing this at home, as it is easily available there. This inji mittai is helpful in digestion and boosts the energy level during travels. I couldn't get a recipe from anyone I know, so I formulated this recipe myself. I am not sure if this how they prepare the ginger candy commercially, but works for small batches. It tasted exactly like the vendor's and I am sure many of you will like it too.

Method 1:

Ingredient:

very young fresh Ginger root - 150 gm
(Makes a paste of 3/4 cup)
sugar - 1 cup
water - 1/4 cup
cardamom - a pinch (optional)

Method:
Choose very young tender ginger, without any fiber. Scratch and remove the skin of ginger. Wash well to remove any impurities. Grind to a fine paste with 1/2 of the water mentioned above.
Bring remaining water and sugar to a boil and keep on heating till sugar solution gets the candy stage (2 string).
Add the ginger paste and cardamom powder. Stir well for 10 minutes or till it forms a mass and starts leaving the vessel holding the spatula.
Grease a plate with a 1/4 tsp ghee. Pour the ginger candy mixture and let cool for some time. Then draw lines and let cool completely. Break into squares as per the guidance lines and preserve in an air tight container.

Inji mittai is ready!

Method 2:

(If we cannot get the tender ginger, this method holds good)

Ingredients:

Fresh ginger - 150 gm
sugar - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp

Peel the ginger and extract juice with just 1/4 cup water. Discard the fiber.
Let the juice stand for 10 minutes. Discard the white residue.
Add the clear ginger juice to sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and heat till it starts getting candy stage (2 string). Put the all purpose flour (maida) and stir vigorously to avoid lumps. Now the candy will start leaving the sides and starts crystallizing. Pour over a well greased plate and flatten to 1/2 inch thickness. Draw lines using a knife and let cool completely.
Break into squares and preserve in air tight container.

Inji mittai is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Taking a ginger candy after a heavy meal helps in digestion.
Good for people with giddiness.
Makes 20 small squares (1.5 inch).

Wheat oats Ladoo

Happy Dussera to my readers and friends!

Here is a semi-healthy snack to munch on:)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
oats - 1 cup
puffed channa dhal (pori kadalai) - 1/2 cup
brown sugar / white sugar - 1 1/2 cup
cardamom powder - 1 tsp
ghee - 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
cashew , raisin - 1 for 1 ladoo
milk - 1/2 cup
dry ginger powder (sukku) - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat a wide frying pan with 1 tbsp ghee.
Fry the cashews , raisins in the ghee.

In the same wok fry the oats till it turns crispy and mild pinkish.
Once it gets cool, grind it to a fine powder. Keep aside.

Now add the remaining ghee and start roasting the wheat flour.
After some time, the flour will turn very loose and flavorful.
Roast it in medium flame till it starts turning mild pink.
Take it off the wok and let cool.

Grind the puffed channa dhal to a fine powder along with cardamom.

Powder the brown sugar / white sugar in a blender.

Mix the 3 flours, sugar, nuts, ginger powder and sprinkle some milk to moisten it.
Let it be just enough to make balls and not sticky as we are not going to knead it as a dough:)

Make lemon size balls. (It should be soft and powdery, but holding the shape).

Wheat oats laddu is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as snack.
If made with 1/2 cup ghee instead of milk, it stays longer.
If made with milk it can be refrigerated for a week.

Sweet Paratha.

Belated Indian Independence day wishes to all my readers and friends. Here is a healthy dessert idea for the oncoming Vinayagar Chathurthi festival. Happy celebration to all!

This is a green gram based boli / poli/ stuffed paratha.

Some months back I prepared this  paratha, when hubby had a different work schedule. I prefer giving a homemade snack pack especially on such days, so that I can track what he eats:) The beauty of this paratha is the rich fiber content with some jaggery. As we all know how fiber gives a 'fullness' feeling for a long time and so this can be a perfect choice for an evening snack. I prepared the stuffing on the previous day and kept it refrigerated. The next day by early morning I prepared these parathas, let them cool and kept them in rubbermaid lunch box. I am glad that everyone liked it. I am sure this will be a great choice for kids who prefers stuffed parathas for lunch.

Outer layer:

Wheat flour - 1 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - a pinch
Sesame oil - to make paratha

Mix the flour, salt, Turmeric powder.
Add water little by little to get a thick chapathi dough like consistency. Coat it with little sesame oil and cover it with a wet cloth / clear wrap.We can prepare this dough and keep in fridge overnight.
Before making the paratha leave it in room temperature for 1/2 an hour. After that divide the whole dough into 12 (or equal size balls) portions.Shape them in to balls. Keep aside.

Stuffing:

Green gram - 3/4 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
cardamom powder - a pinch
shredded coconut - 1/4 cup (optional)

Method:

Soak the dhal for 2 hours. Cook and remove the water. Mash the moong gram. (We can use the water to make rasam / soup). Mash the dhal to fine paste using a mixie / a spatula. Heat 1/4 cup water and dissolve the jaggery in it. Then filter any dust / sand present. Mix the jaggery solution with mashed dhal and heat it in a wok. Add coconut and powdered cardamom now. Let it loose all the moisture and become a thick mass.
Switch off stove and let it cool. Divide it in to equal size balls.

To prepare paratha:

Take one 'wheat flour ball'. Apply oil to it. Using a rolling pin flatten it to a circle. Do not use flour to spread the circle. Instead apply oil generously to spread it.
Take one 'stuffing ball'. Place it on the center of the circle.
Now fold it with the covering dough closely , so that no stuffing can be seen from outside.
Now again apply some oil and carefully spread it to a thin circular shape (approximate diameter should be 5 - 6 inch). Don't worry if you see some pooranam from inside in this stage, as it will become fine after frying.
Heat a dosa tawa. Evenly apply sesame oil on the tawa .Reduce flame and fry the bolis on both sides till we see some brown dots all over.
Again increase the heat, apply little oil, reduce heat and fry the bolis in lesser heat.
Take out , let cool and store in a container.
Like wise proceed with the rest of the dough.
Sweet paratha is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as meal or evening snack.
Makes 12 numbers (approx) .
The leftover boli (if any) can be wrapped in ziplock covers and kept refrigerated for a week.

Note:

Like wise we can make numerous verieties of sweet stuffed bolis like, coconut boli , date fruit boli, sesame boli, fruits boli, ghee boli, Jeera boli (boli soaked in sugar solution) etc.

Pearl millet candy (Kambu urundai)

This candy might have been the power bar / cereal bar for the farmers of  India before this commercial era. Not only Indian farmers, each and every working community all over the world would have had their own recipe before industrialization. While growing up I never cared much for these village recipes as they were readily available to me on daily basis. But after tasting all kinds of store bought power bars and realizing the benefits of home-cooking, I wanted to try my own using the traditional recipe. In my native we used to make a lot of this kind of candies / cereal bars using various combinations. These candies have loads of fiber and nutrition , hence they can be served as after work-out food, evening snack, break fast with milk, dessert etc. We can adjust and make them within 150 K Cal (each).

I have heard people calling it as Kambu kozhukkattai, but I tell it as kambu urundai (candy) as it is prepared without steaming.
Kambu - pearl millet (bajira - Hindi), kolukkattai / kozhukkattai - steamed sweet dumbling, urundai - ball (here it means candy).

Ingredients:

Kambu (bajira) - 1 cup
sesame - 1/4 cup
groundnut - 1/2 cup
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
jaggery - 1 cup
rice flour - 2 tbsp

Method:

Dry roast the kambu till it smells good and powder it.
(If we can't get whole kambu, then use the powdered version here after roasting).
Dry roast the sesame and groundnut separately.
Remove the skin of groundnut by scrubbing gently.
Coarsely grind the sesame and groundnut, so that groundnut remains as big pieces.
Melt the jaggery and remove any impurities. Bring it to rolling boil (2 string consistency).
Mix the powdered kambu, crushed sesame, crushed groundnut, dry ginger powder, cardamom powder and make small spherical balls (palm size). If needed add a tbsp rice flour to facilitate the rolling process.

Kambu urundai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve just like protein bars
It can be had as healthy snack, after work-out meal, breakfast etc.