Rice starch water wheat instant cake on open stove

This is a grandma dish which enjoyed years back. Off course not with rice starch water. In this lockdown down enough time and new ideas for cooking taking me to traditional paths and improvising new recipes of cooking. Results are good and making happy. We had this special grandma’s cake for our breakfast.
Wheat flour 1 cup, fried lightly,
Rice starch water 4 cups,
Grated jaggery 1 cup,
Ghee 2 tbsp.,
Cardamom powder 1 tbsp.,
Fried sesame 1 tbsp,
Fried peanuts 1/4 cup,
Fried cumin seeds 2 tsp.,
Salt a pinch.
Mix all the ingredients and whisk well to remove any lumps left. Take the mix in a nonstick wok, put its on medium flame and stir continuously till the mix thickened properly and gets separated from the sides of the wok. Take out the wok from the flame, spread some more fried peanuts over and flatten the surface with a moist bottom small steel bowl. Keep it to cool down for 2-3 hours. Get it separated from the wok by your clean hand and transfer on a plate. Cut it into desirable size and shape. Serve as snack or for breakfast.

Jackfruit seeds recipe, Juice and Shake

Jackfruits seeds are edible and nutritious. It takes a little more time to prepare. It is easy if the seeds are cooked , peeled and refrigerated. After cooking allow the seeds to drain and dry. Then it is easy to peel. Peel out the outer white and non edible cover. The inner thin brown layer is edible. If you want 

your juice whitish then remove the brown layer. It is having fibre and good for gut health. 

Benefits of jackfruit seeds 

Low in calories 

Contains natural fat 

It is sodium free 

Reduces blood sugar levels 

It helps to control hunger 

It is probiotic, eases digestion 

Rich in vitamins and minerals, resistant starch, proteins and antioxidants.

A cup of cooked jackfruit seeds are having 180-200 calories.

It increases the risk of bleeding. Those who are are on medication with blood thinners may increase the risk of bleeding. They may be careful to have it minimum.

Jackfruit seed Juice 

WoW so delicious. Easy to make. Why to wait? Let’s start. 

Cooked and peeled jackfruit seeds 12, chopped, remove the brown layer of the skin if you prefer whiteness,

Sugar 3 tsp.,(you can change the measurement according to your taste)

Chilled Milk two glass.

Blend the sugar and chopped seeds in a mixie into smooth paste. Whisk well with the milk . Pour into the glasses. Enjoy your delicious nutty drink. 

Jackfruit seeds Shake 

Cooked and peeled jackfruit seeds, 30,  keep on the thin brown layer, chopped,

Sugar 2 tbsp.,

Cardamom 4,

Chilled Milk 2 glasses.

In a mixie, blend the cooked seeds, cardamom and sugar into a fine paste.

If needed add a little milk to blend it.

Put the mix into the bowl of chilled milk, whisk it nicely and transfer into the serving glasses. Top up with a few cooked and chopped jackfruit seeds. Serve it’s with pride. Delicious.

Sweet salad with moong dal sprouts

Moong dal sprouts are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and, protein and antioxidants. It is low in calories and rich in fibre. It helps in weight loss. Sprouting enhances the nutritive value of the pulses. It aids in digestion, detoxifies and boosts immunity.

This is a sweet salad made for a change. Once in a week it is compulsory for us to have a dinner with moong dal sprouts. Usually make with grated coconut, crushed pepper and honey. This time thought to enrich it more with ghee and peanuts. Thus the new recipe born.

Ingredients 

Moong dal sprouts 1 cup, cooked,

Grated jaggery 2/4 cup,

Grated coconut 1/2 cup,

Salt a pinch,

Ghee 1 tbsp.,

Fried peanut splits 3 tbsp.

Heat the ghee in a nonstick pan, add jaggery, allow to melt, add salt, cooked dal and mix well for 2 minutes. Add coconut and peanuts combine well and serve hot. Good for evening snack and even for dinner. 

Watermelon rind sago balls Kheer (Palpayasam)

Preparation 

Pressure cook the rind with one cup of sugar for two whistles. Allow to cool down. In a thick bottom wok, cook the sago balls in a litre of milk. Since it is soaked it will get cooked in half an hour. Cook in medium flame with continuous stirring. Add the cooked rind into the payasam wok, add the balance milk and cardamom powder. Let it become into a Kheer texture on low flame. Fry the raisins and cashews separately in one tbsp. of ghee. The the fried ingredients into the Kheer. Off the flame, combine well and serve hot. Delicious and nutritious. Feeling happy of trying something different ❤️

A new delicious Kheer with watermelon rind and sabudana.(Tapioca sago in English and chowari in Malayalam). No need to throw away the inner rind. Can make delicious desserts. Today is Eid Mubarak. To give a sweet dish thought of making something unique. This is the third one in this season. Tried with Semolina and rice. Then came this novel idea. We had an unexpected guest today. Served the payasam. Was asking, is this made of apples. No one can easily recognise the rind candies.

Ingredients 

Watermelon rind chopped 4 cups, 

Sago balls 200g, soaked in water for 3 hours,

Sugar 2 cups,

Cashews 12, broken,

Raisins 2 tbsp.,

Cardamom powder 1-2 tsp.,

Milk 11/2 litres

Copra peanut dry chutney

Whenever I get copra love to make this chutney. Good with idly, dosa, dhokla, chapatti, appam. Very good to to take  while travelling with your own food. 

I had come across this copra chutney in 2014 in our train trip from Mumbai back home. Befriended with a couple settled in Mumbai visiting home town. We had this chutney while sharing food. She made it with copra. Back home I had prepared and posted in my blog.  We were going to visit our daughter so that time I made from 5 coconut copra to take with us to USA. Everyone liked the chutney. 

This time I improvised my copra chutney with peanuts. We had it with dosa in addition to sambar. Yes it is good and delicious.

Ingredients 

Copra of two medium coconuts, cut into small pieces.

Dried red chilli 13, 

Fried peanuts 1/4 cup,

Garlic cloves 6, halved,

Tamarind a gooseberry size ball without seeds.

Curry leaf 2 sprigs.

Hing 1 tsp. (I forgot to put that in the pic)

Salt to taste.

Method of preparation 

Heat a nonstick pan drop in  the ingredients except peanuts, salt and hing. Dry fry till it turns light brown. Allow to cool add the rest of the ingredients and grind it to the chutney texture. Don’t make it fine. Then the oil starts coming out. Allow to cool and store in a air tight glass bottle.

Broken wheat sweet balls an evening snack

An easy evening snack. Soft sweet balls that loved by all ages at home. It’s is made of broken wheat. Broken wheat is made from cracked whole wheat. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre. It improves digestion and gut health. Promotes weight loss and good diet for diabetes. It has grainy taste and fragrance when cooked. It is used to cook porridge, upma, cereal pulao, payasam, Kheer, lapsi and sweet balls. 

Ingredients 

Broken wheat 3 cups, 

Grated Jaggery 11/2-2 cups,

Grated coconut 2 cups,

Cardamom powder 1 tsp.,

Cumin seeds 2 tsp.,

Sesame seeds 1 tbsp.,

Ghee 2 tbsp,

Broken cashew nuts 2 tbsp.

Method 

Clean , wash, drain the wheat and allow to dry. Heat a pan, dry fry separately the cumin seeds, sesame seeds, cashew nuts and keep aside. Dry fry the broken wheat till brown colour. Care should be taken not to over fry. Sauté the grated coconut just to dry the moist texture. Add all the ingredients except cashews and sesame seeds and combine well. Grind the mix to a fine coarse texture. Add cashews and sesame seeds, combine with the hands. Take small portions and make the sweet balls. Got 70 balls from these ingredients. It is soft balls. Tasty and nutritious. It can be kept for a day otherwise can refrigerate for 4-5 days. The cashews and sesame seeds give it a special taste. Can add more sesame seeds if preferred.

Steamed wheat flour cake in idly cooker

Super healthy dish. Steamed wheat flour cake is easy to cook. The batter is to be ready about 6-7 hours before allowing to ferment. I am a person of natural ingredients and available resources in our pantry or in our homestead. No baking powder or yeast is used. Instead I added 2 tbsp. cooked rice and a cup of fermented coconut water.

Preparation 

Wheat flour 21/2 cup, Semolina 1/2 cup, salt 1/2 tsp., jaggery 300g, make into syrup in a cup of water, cooked rice 2 tbsp., blended, ghee 2 tbsp., cardamom powder 2 tsp., fermented coconut water 1 cup. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, add little water and mix well to prepare a medium thick batter. If you like more sweetness go for more jaggery. Then blend the mix in a blender, and allow to ferment. After 6-8 hours, grease the idly stand with ghee, when the water is boiled in the cooker, put half a ladle of batter in each holes of the idly stand. Within 10-12 minutes it will get cooked. After 6 minutes open the cooker and place 1-2 ghee fried raisins on the cake and close to cook. Run a fork through the cake to assure it is cooked. Allow to cool down. It will easily get separated from the stand. It’s so soft, delicious and off coarse nutritious.

Khaman Dhokla

Dhokla is a Gujarati dish. The pride of Gujarat is @ sumas kitchen Aluva. It can be eaten for breakfast, as a side dish, as a snack or as a main diss for dinner. Gujaratis love a hint of sweetness in their food. This traditional dish also have sugar in it.  It takes 3-4 hours to ferment. Otherwise it is a a quick recipe.
Also widely found in Maharashtra. First time I had Dhokla is about eight years back in a train journey from Mumbai. Our co traveller shared dhokla with us. She gave copra chutney along with dhokla. Then a few times we had it from Indian store in USA during our stay. Our son in law likes dhokla and now the whole family. I never thought of preparing it in my kitchen. In the Holy Ramdan month, the self challenge of an evening snack, and that too different types leads me to cook dhokla for my own. Today is the 27th day of Ramdan. Next time sure I can cook this for our children.
Being steamed dhokla is pretty healthy. Everyone likes a platter of dhokla topped with ghee fried mustard mix. Tamarind  chutney is the best if you prefer any sauce to dip in.
I gave a slight twist to improvise and served it simply with the ghee fried tempering mix of condiments, spice and herbs.
It’s so delicious and nutritious. Even sweet pickles will go good with dhokla.
Ingredients
Chickpea flour 6 cups, sieved,
Semolina 1 cup,
Yogurt 1 cup, beaten,
Rice starch water 2 cups, ( skipped baking powder)
Water 2-3 cups,
Turmeric powder 1 tsp.,
Sugar 1 tbsp.,
Salt to taste,
Chopped ginger and green chilli 1 tbsp. each,
Coconut oil 2 tbsp.
Preparation
Add all the ingredients except water, in a bowl, mix well, whisk the mix in one direction adding more water. Prepare a semi thick but free flowing water. Allow to ferment foy3-4 hours.
In a steam cooker cook pouring the batter in a greased plate or tray. It takes about 20 minutes to cook. Take it allow to cool for some time, transfer into the serving plate, cut into squares.
For Garnishing
Ingredients
Mustard seeds and cumin seeds 1 tsp. each,
Sesame seeds 2 tsp.,
Chopped ginger 1 tbsp.,
Green chilli 7, silted,
Chopped scallions, coriander leaves 1 tbsp. each,
Curry leaf 3 sprigs,
Dried red chilli bits 1 tbsp.,
Salt to taste,
Sugar 1 tbsp.,
Ghee 2 tbsp.,
Grated coconut 1 cup,
Heat the ghee, drop in mustard and cumin seeds, allow to splutter, add sesame seeds, ginger, green chilli, sugar, salt, red chilli and curry leaves. When done reduce the flame and add quarter cup of water, allow to boil. Take it off the flame and add scallions and coriander leaves. Mix well, top the dhokla with the garnished mix and the fresh coconut mix. Serve fresh with happiness❤️