Tilgul Ladoos- Quick and Easy

Tilgul Ghya Goad Bola!!!

Made these quick and easy Tilgul ladoos yesterday. No sugar syrup and no cooking!

Recipe- Makes 20 small ladoos 

1/2 cup Roasted peanuts (I used store bought)
1/3 cup Roasted sesame seeds 
1/3 cup dry coconut powder 
1/3 cup finely chopped almonds
4 tsp jaggery powder
3 tsp fine sugar
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

In a blender, blend together peanuts and half of toasted sesame seeds till they are powdered and everything starts to slightly stick and come together. Don’t overgrind! 
Add rest of the toasted sesame seeds and the other ingredients and knead with light hands. Roll into small ladoos. Done! 

Other traditional Tilgul recipes:

http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/search/label/Tilgul?m=0

Red Quinoa Tikkis

It was the first time I had bought this 'Red' variety of Quinoa and wanted to try something with it...that the kids would enjoy too. Lately, they have been fans of  'Sabudana Tikkis' and I have to keep a frozen pack handy, as the demand strikes almost anytime:)
So...I thought...May be if I make Red quinoa tikkis with crushed peanuts, cumin etc ..similar to Sabudana tikkis...they would probably eat it...And THEY DID!!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Red Quinoa
2 Cups water
1/2 Cup Crushed roasted peanuts
1-2 green chilies finely chopped
1tbsp Chopped cilantro
1/2tsp Cumin
Salt
some sugar
Oil to shallow fry

Method:
1) Wash the Quinoa and pressure cook it with water and little salt.Let it cool down.

2) Add the Crushed peanuts, green chilies, chopped cilantro, salt,cumin, sugar and knead.
3) Form into tikkis.
4) Shallow fry on a nonstick pan with little oil.
5) Serve with Ketchup/ Chutney/Yogurt.

Puffed Sorghum / Popped Jowar Chivda

"Add a variety of whole grains to your diet".....was the message I gained from 'food' books I was reading.Really what has changed...how many types of grains are we eating compared to our 'traditional diets' (back in India)?? Jowar, Bajra, Nachani (Ragi) ....all very traditional grains to our diets....hardly make it to our daily meals now.
I found this Puffed Jowar Chivda, was a simple, yet tasty snack to add as a 'adding whole grain ' to the diet agenda. And, I remember my grandmother making these as snack, before the whole 'Pop Corn' culture came!

Ingredients:
4 Cups Puffed Sorghum/Jowar ( Found in Indian grocery stores)
1/2 cup peanuts
10-12 curry leaves
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp turmeric
1/2tsp red chili powder
4tsp oil
1/4tsp Hing/Asafoetida
salt and sugar to taste

Method:
1) Heat oil, add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter.
2) Add the peanuts, curry leaves and fry till the peanuts turn golden.
3) Add the turmeric, hing, red chili powder and the puffed sorghum.Toss till mixed well.
4) Take off the heat .Let it cool. Store in air tight container.

" For Little Tummies"- Oats and Peanut Butter laddos

 I had a jar of peanut butter sitting in the pantry.Now, I am not a big fan of having peanut butter with bread and was wondering how could I use this jar up??? I have used peanut butter to make the 'Thai' peanut sauce for dipping and for noodles before, but this was the first time I tried this recipe!

The combination of oats and peanut butter worked really well and the ladoo texture was pretty similar to the 'Besan' ladoos.Also, to make it even 'protein richer'...I sneaked in powdered Cashews-almonds and pistachios. Now that's a ladoo any kiddo will like!!!!

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cup powdered whole grain oats ( Quick cooking oats)
1/2 cup-1/3rd  powdered sugar (add more for sweeter ladoos)
1/4 cup peanut butter( with low sodium)
2tbsp Ghee/Clarified butter
1/4 cup powdered cashews-almonds-pistachios
1/2tsp cardamom powder
Almonds, raisins etc for decoration

Method:
1) Powder the 'whole grain quick cooking oats' in the mixer.
2) Roast the oats powder in 2 tbsp ghee till golden brown

3) Take off the heat.After it cools down completely, add the peanut butter, nuts powder, sugar, cardamom powder etc and knead into a dough

4) Roll into small balls/ladoos and decorate with almonds, raisins etc

"Appetizers"- Thai Stir Fried Tofu

I am like the person who can eat 'Everything'...well almost! What I mean is...I like to try different foods and my palate is appreciative of various tastes. My little 'E' is learning to eat different foods and getting to know different tastes. I am surprised ( touchwood!) he even likes vegetables like cabbage, eggplant, cauliflower that I did not care for when I was a kid!!! I have seen, he likes well seasoned food......may that be Indian,Italian,Chinese or anything else. I was sure he wouldn't like plain Tofu or things like Tofu milkshake. So I made this tangy yummy appetizer and he loveeeeddd it! (Ofcourse without the peanuts...coz he gets a rash sometimes after eating peanuts)

Ingredients:
1 cup 'Extra firm' Tofu cut into bite size cubes
1/4 cup Onion cut into bite size chunks
1tsp Pad thai sauce
1tsp soy sauce
1/2tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2tsp ketchup
1/4tsp red chili paste/hot sauce/red pepper flakes
1 pinch black pepper
1tbsp coarsely crushed peanuts
cilantro for garnishing
salt
oil

Method:
1) Dab the cut tofu on paper towel to remove extra moisture
2) Heat little oil in non stick flat skillet. Lay the tofu on the heated oil.Let it brown on one side.Then turn on other side.
3) Add the ginger garlic paste, onions and stir fry on high heat.The onions should remain crisp.
4) Add all the sauces, black pepper and mix well.Turn off heat. Check for salt (as soy sauce is salty)
5) Garnish with peanuts, cilantro.

5) Serve warm as appetizer or as a side dish along with Fried Noodles/ Rice etc.

"Everyday Cooking"- Stuffed Okra/ Bharali bhendi

As a kid, I LOVED okra! We call it 'Bhendi' in marathi ( language we speak in Pune,India). My mom tells me, to get me to wake up in the morning....only thing she had to say was...." Come on wake up...There is Bhendi for lunch"!!!  And...it seems I would get up right away and ask for lunch! Hahah!
May be my mom was exaggerating....but I still remember liking it very much! My father used to joke that....since I like Okra soooo much.....I would have to marry a 'Okra Farmer" so that I can always have okra whenever I want! And the fun part is....."M" (my husband) comes from a family who did own a farm where they planted okra in one plot! How funny is that!!!!
There are number of ways you can prepare okra.You can slice it into discs and fry it, stuff it, add it to Sambar (lentils) etc etc.As a kid I liked the simply sliced one and fried in oil with turmeric,mustard,chili powder and salt. Same goes for my little 'E'...he likes it that way too!
But as I grew up,I also started liking this 'stuffed' okra that my mom used to prepare.
Here is the recipe for Sour-sweet-spicy Okra, stuffed with peanut,sesame,tamarind,jaggery etc.

Ingredients:
1lb Okra (look for slender ones)
1/2cup Finely Crushed peanut
1/4 cup roasted sesame seeds
1/2tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2tsp tamarind extract
1/2tsp Jaggery/ Brown sugar
1/2tsp turmeric
1/4tsp Chili powder
1/2tsp Cumin-corainder powder
1/2tsp Maharashtrian masala (optional)
1/4tsp Cumin
1/4tsp mustard seeds
salt
oil

Method:
1)   Mix together, crushed peanuts, sesame,ginger garlic paste, tamarind,jaggery, cumin-corainder powder,chili powder,turmeric etc. The mixture will be moist but crumbly.
2)Wash Okra and pat it dry. With a sharp knife, give a slit vertically. Gently put your finger in the slit and widen it a little bit.
3) Stuff the slit with 1/2tsp or so of the filling.Press it shut.

4) Heat some oil on low flame.Add mustard and cumin and let it splutter.Add turmeric and little bit chili powder.
5) Add the stuffed okra and gently toss.
6) Cover the pan and let it cook for 3-4 mins on low flame. Do not overcook. The okra should hold its shape.
7) Serve warm with Chapati (Indian flat bread) or roll it in a tortilla to make a tasty wrap.