Carrot Halwa

Starting this new year on a sweet note , Season’s special Carrot/Gajar ka Halwa sounded like a perfect idea! Carrot halwa is a delicious dessert prepared from carrot , milk, dry fruits and nuts. . The ghee and cardamom powder gives it an unparalleled aroma and rich texture. Traditionally, carrots are slowly cooked in lots of milk and sugar. Milk has to reduce about one-third of it's original quantity. This  gives a delicious light fudgey texture.Every bite just melts in mouth.It is a  versatile recipe that can be prepared in a number of ways. Season’s special Gajar Halwa is loved by  my family! 

Ingredients:

  Carrots – 1/2 kg

  Sugar – 1 cup ( as per sweetness can less or add)

  Milk –2 cups  

  Ghee - 2tbsp

  Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

  Condensed milk - 3/4 cup

  Almonds/ pistachio to garnish

Method:

1.Wash the carrots and trim their edges. Scrape the skin lightly and grate all the carrots using a grater and keep aside. I used my food chopper.

2.Soak the almonds in some warm water for 15 – 20 mins. Peel the skin off and chop them into slivers and keep aside.

3.Heat ghee in non-stick pan or heavy based pan over medium flame. Add grated carrots and roast them for 3-4 minutes while mixing continuously till the raw smell must not be there at all

4.Pour milk over ghee roasted carrots and stir to mix well. Bring it to boil over medium flame.

5.When it starts to boil, reduce flame to low and cook until almost milk is absorbed and mixture

6.The color of the carrots would have completely changed and it would have gotten cooked completely.

7. After 15-20 minutes, when all the milk is evaporated, add condensed milk and Stir it well and add very less sugar as condensed milk is very sweet in itself. . Stir occasionally in between to prevent sticking.

 8. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved and condensed milk also is absorbed and mixture thick.

9.Then Add cardamom powder, garnish with almonds and pistachio mix properly and turn off the flame.

7. Transfer it to a serving bowl and either serve it hot or cold

Eggless Cashew Nut Cookies

This cashew cookies are simply delicious and easy to make with very few ingredients. Cashew nuts have a very special creamy flavor, which manifests very pleasingly in the cookie too. Plus, the coarse cashew powder also gives the cookie a melt-in-the-mouth texture that is unbeatable. This delectable combination of cashew nuts and melted butter is enough to make you drool and go perfect with a cup of tea.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida - 1 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Unsalted butter -  1/2 cup

Coarsely ground cashew nuts - 1/2 cup

Chopped cashew nuts - 1/4 cup 

Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

 

Method:

1.Grind the 1/2 cup nuts using a blender into a course powder., put these to the side in a separate dish.

2.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and ground cashewnuts  powder until thoroughly incorporated.

3.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla beating until completely combined.

4.Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined then Add chopped cashew bits and mix well.

5.Fold through until it forms a stiff dough Take a small portion of dough, shape it into balls

6. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Bake until lightly golden and just lightly browned around the edges, about 15-18minutes.

7.Once the cookies are cool, store them in an airtight container.

Varavarisi/ Varu Payaru

Varavarisi/ Varupayaru is one of the traditional iyer seer dish in Seemandhan & Valagappu Festival in Tirunelveli.  This dish made for my daughter's seemantham as seer. It is made in my village  in huge amount exclusively for this function. Varu payaru (soaked, dried, roasted pulses) is a combination of two tamil words. “Varuththal” means Dry Roast. “Payaru” is a common name for all Legumes. Legumes are a very healthy food because it is low in fat and high in protein and  also very high in fiber and other nutrients and oil free snack. So it gives during the pregnancy. 

Ingredients:

Whole Green Gram - 1 cup
Chick peas - 1 cup
Horse Gram- 1 cup
Black eyed peas- 1 cup
Verkadalai/ Peanuts – one cup

Seedai  1 Cup

For seedai:

Processed rice flour - ¾ cup (roasted lightly)

Roasted urad dhal flour - 1 tbsp

Salt, butter, hing

Knead, adding little water to tiny balls & deep fry in oil.

Ingredients for masala :

Red Chilli powder -according to taste

Hing-1tsp

Salt-as per taste

Turmeric-1tsp   

Mix well and keep aside.

Method:

1. Wash and Soak  the lentils separately for overnight. Next morning drain off the water and dry the grains separately.

2.Drain well and tie in damp cheese cloth separately. Allow them to sprout. Rinse once or twice during the sprouting period.

3.When the legumes sprout, spread them in a dry cloth/towel and keep them in a warm place. The legumes will air dry.

4.Take the salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and asafetida in a small cup and moisten it with 1/2 teaspoon of water.

5.After the legumes are ready slowly roast each of the dried pulses separately one after the other in a heavy bottomed pan, till they turn light brown in color.

6.When they are nearly roasted, add a spoonful of the masala mixture to each of the pulses, and roast till all the water is absorbed.

7.Remove from fire, and cool separately. Meanwhile prepare the seedai and add the seedai and mix well.When everything is really cool, mix all together and store it in a air tight container

8.The Varavarisi is now ready for Seer. This is very healthy snack too..

Apple Cinnamon Braided Bread

Apple Cinnamon Braided Bread

Apple and cinnamon both flavours goes wonderfully together. The fruity aroma of apples and the delicate smell of cinnamon fill the entire house with their magic. It's an easy recipe,especially I tried without yeast with common ingredients yet so delicious and very tempting. The smell in the house while baking is divine .The inside of bread is soo soft with crusty top, . Hardly could someone resist this rich and buttery, juicy mouth-watering braid looks to be unbelievably delicious .and it makes it perfect for breakfast /teatime snack or even for holiday season.

Ingredients:

APPLE FILLING:

Apples, peeled and diced-2 medium

Unsalted butter-1tbsp

 Granulated white sugar-1tbsp

 Brown sugar-1tbsp

For Dough:

All-Purpose Flour-2 cups

Granulated sugar-2 tbsp

Baking powder-1 1/2 tsp

Baking soda-1tsp

Unsalted butter-3tbsp

Milk-1/4 cup

Unsweetened applesauce-1/2 cup

(Combine the chopped apples, water and cook it until tender Remove it from heat and cool it out the apples and blend it smooth in a blender adding little water if needed. adding sugar is optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Prepare the apple filling:Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices, then cut the slices in half. On the stove top, melt butter in a medium skillet. Add apples and sugars. Saute until apples are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the cinnamon-sugar filling: Mix ingredients in a medium bowl until mixture is combined and lumpy.

Prepare the cinnamon roll dough: Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.

1.In a separate bowl, use a whisk to combine the butter, applesauce, milk . Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine until well mixed.

2.Remove the dough to a well-floured surface, sprinkling in more flour as needed to make sure the dough isn't sticky.

3.When the dough was ready, rolled it out into a big rectangle, then cut each side into strips. .

4. Spread the apple filling down the uncut center of the dough, and then Fold strips of dough into the center, crisscrossing the filling by alternating strips from each side.

5.Lightly press ends to seal, and straighten out the braid with your hands to create a braided effect.

6.Bake the braid in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and Brush braid with remaining melted butter, let the braid cool for several minutes.

Then Slice and serve.