Coconut and Almond flour Ladoo

Hello my friends, I am back to my blogging world after a long time. Though the situation is so scary around the world, I am happy in a way and that this this quarantine period brought all my cooking passion back which I have been missing all these days because of my job and personal commitments. Today I am going to share one of my favourite and easy peasy sweet recipe "Coconut and Almond flour Ladoo" which is prepared using just three ingredients. Yes ! you heard it right ! Just 3 !! All you need for this recipe are grated coconut, almond flour and condensed milk.

This recipe is prepared using a store bought Almond flour. Don't worry if it is not available, just soak the whole Almonds overnight, remove the skin, dry them completely and grind it into a fine powder using blender.

So here comes the recipe for Coconut and Almond flour Ladoo..

Ingredients :

1 Cup Grated Coconut
2 Cups Almond flour
1/2 Cup Condensed Milk ( adjust according to taste bud )
Raisins for garnishing
Grated Coconut for garnishing ( optional )


Method :

Dry roast the grated coconut for couple of minutes in a medium flame (Make sure not to change the colour of the coconut).

Add almond flour and mix well.

Saute it for another couple of minutes and add the condensed milk.

Reduce the flame and stir well to get a dough consistency.

Once done, remove from the flame and make small balls out of the prepared Almond - Coconut dough.

Roll the balls on grated coconut or garnish with raisins or almonds.

Wahan Mosdeng / Pork Chutney / Pork Bharta / Tripura Cuisine

Wahan Mosdeng is a popular Tripura cuisine in which pork is the key ingredient and apart from that, only minimal ingredients required to prepare this delicious salad. Wahan is nothing but pork and interestingly, this recipe is prepared without using a drop of oil. Yes! you read it right... this is zero oil recipe. This Wahan Mosdeng is also called as Pork Bharta and Pork chutney. Traditionally this recipe is prepared using pork but people who do not eat pork, substitute it with chicken.  The fresh ginger and roasted chilli gave a perfect flavour to the dish and personally, I loved it with rice.

Prepared this recipe for a blogger event "shhh cooking secretly challenge" which is happening among food bloggers every month. For this month, I got a first time chance to get paired with a lovely blogger Narmadha who blogs at namscorner.com. Don't forget to check out her page to view loads of  delicious recipes. She gave me coriander leaves and chilli as my secret ingredients which helped me to create this authentic Tripura recipe. Likewise, check out her page to know the secret ingredients given by me. She made an interesting, simple yet delicious recipe out of it.

Ingredients :

250 gms Pork, Cut into pieces

1 Big Onion, thinly sliced 

5-6 Green chillies ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 

1 1/2 Tbsp Ginger, finely chopped 

1/4 Cup Coriander leaves, finely chopped 

Salt to taste

Method :

Wash the pork pieces and pressure cook it for 3 whistles by adding little water. 

Open the lid and cook it for another 2 minutes or until the water gets absorbed. This helps to keep the flavour in pork. 

Once done, cut in small pieces and keep aside. 

Dry roast the green chillies and grind it without adding water. Keep aside. 

Take the chopped pork pieces in a bowl and add the ground chilli followed by thinly sliced onion, ginger, coriander leaves and salt. 

Mix well and serve. 

Serving Options :

Serve with Rice or Roti.

Kumbakonam Kadapa

I was wondering that how did I miss posting this famous and traditional dish "Kumbakonam Kadapa" on my page and that too being it as my native place delicacy. Kadapa is a delicious dish prepared using Moong dal, coconut and spices which pairs perfectly with Idly or Dosa. I must say that if you are visiting the temple city of Tamilnadu ( yeah! Kumbakonam is popularly known as Temple city of Tamilnadu ), this kadapa is a must try dish. Already the imagination of having hot, soft and fluffy idlis with this tasty kadapa is making me drool. Thanks to Shhh Secretly Challenge group for hosting Tamilnadu cuisine theme for this month challenge and Mayuri ji for giving me the lovely two ingredients , Moong dal and Bay leaf as my secret ingredients.

Shh secretly challenge is an interesting blogger event which is happening among few food bloggers. In this event, the bloggers are paired every month with the particular theme and the paired bloggers have to share their secret ingredients among each other. Using those ingredients, the dish has to be prepared and the secret ingredients are guessed by our co-bloggers. Interesting right!

So, if you are keen to know the secret ingredients given by me to my partner Mayuri ji, click HERE. She prepared a delicious and traditional sweet "Paal Kozhkattai" out of it. And also, her page is loaded with lots and lots of drool worthy recipes. So, don't miss to check out her page.

Here comes the recipe of the delicious Kumbakonam Kadapa....

Ingredients :

1 Tbsp Oil 
1 Bay leaf 
2 Cloves 
A small of Cinnamon 
1 Onion, finely chopped 
2 Green chillies, sliced 
3 Potatoes, boiled and mashed 
1/2 Cup Moong dal, cooked and mashed 
Less than 1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 
Salt to taste 
Coriander leaves for garnishing 

To Grind :

1/4 Cup Coconut, grated 
2 Garlic pods, peeled 
3 Tbsp Roasted gram 
2 Green chillies 

Method :

Grind all the ingredients given in "To Grind" into a fine paste and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaf followed by cloves and cinnamon.

Add the chopped onion followed by green chillies and sauce until the onion turns translucent.

Now add the cooked and mashed dal.

Mix well and cook it for a minute.

Add the ground paste followed by turmeric powder and the required quantity of salt.

Let it cook for 5 minutes and add water if kadapa is too thick.

Now add the potatoes to the kadapa and cook it for another couple of minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and remove from the flame.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with Idly or Dosa.

Punjabi Chana Dal Masala

Chana dal masala is one of the delicious, comforting and easy to prepare dish which pairs perfectly with Roti or Jeera Rice. And no doubt that this curry is a nutritious and healthy dish as it is packed with proteins. The chana dal / Bengal gram is soaked and pressure cooked before adding to the masala. Though soaking of chana dal is not required in this recipe, I have done it to speed up the cooking process. I have included ginger and garlic paste in this recipe which can also be replaced with finely chopped ginger and garlic.

Sending this recipe to a lovely event Shhh Secretly cooking challenge which is happening among a group of food bloggers. For this June month, I was paired with a blogger Archana Gunjikar Potdar who blogs at The Mad Scientist's Kitchen. Her page is filled with loads of yummy recipes and yeah, if you are looking for simple and vegetarian diet then her page is the must visit one. Personally, I loved all the recipes which she has posted on her page. And coming to the challenge, she gave me Tomato and garlic as my secret ingredients for this month challenge and using those, prepared this flavourful punjabi dal masala recipe. Likewise, she prepared a delicious punjabi recipe Lauki ke Kofta using the secret ingredients given by me.

Here comes the detailed recipe for Punjabi Chana dal masala recipe...

Ingredients :

1/2 Cup Chana dal / Bengal Gram 
A pinch of Turmeric 
2 Tbsp Oil for preparing masala 
2 Tsp Oil or ghee for Tadka / Seasoning 
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds 
2 Dry red chillies 
1 Tsp Ginger garlic paste 
1 Green chilli, sliced 
1 Onion, finely chopped 
2 Medium sized Tomatoes, finely chopped 
1 Tsp Red chilli powder 
1 Tsp Coriander powder 
1/2 Tsp Cumin powder 
1/2 Tsp Garam masala powder 
A pinch of turmeric powder
Finely chopped Coriander leaves
Salt to taste  

Method :

Soak chana dal for 1 hour. Though this process is not necessary, it helps to speed up the cooking process.

Pressure cook the soaked chana dal for 4 - 5 whistles or until soft by addling a pinch of turmeric powder and 1 1/2 cups of water.

Once done, remove from the flame and wait till the pressure gets released. Slightly mash the cooked chana dal and keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add green chillies followed by ginger garlic paste.

Add the finely chopped onion and sauté until it turns translucent.

Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook until it turns soft and mushy.

Add all the masala powders along with the required quantity of salt and saute for a minute.

Add the cooked dal to the masala and mix well.

Let it boil for another 5 minutes and add the finely chopped coriander leaves.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a small pan and add cumin seeds followed by dry red chillies.

Fry and add it to the prepared chana dal masala.

Remove from the flame and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with steamed Rice, Jeera Rice or Roti.

Chickpea Potato Dry Sabji or Curry

Chickpea potato dry sabji is a delicious and flavourful curry which pairs perfectly with Roti and can also be used as stuffing for Dosa or Bread. This recipe is quite easy to prepare and tastes heavenly. Prepared this delicious sabji for a recipe swap challenge which is happening among bloggers.

Recipe swap challenge is an interesting event happening among bloggers where couple of bloggers are paired and have to recreate the recipe from their partner's page. I was paired with a lovely blogger Sujata Roy who owns a fabulous page batterupwithsujata.wordpress.com which is filled with loads of amazing recipes. Thanks Sujata for sharing this delicious sabji recipe. Click HERE to check out the original recipe from her page.

Ingredients :

1 Cup Chickpeas 
2 Elachi 
1/2 inch Cinnamon 
2 Cloves 
3 Potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/4 Cup Oil 
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera 
A pinch of Hing powder 
2 Green chillies, finely chopped 
1 Big Onion, finely chopped 
1 Tsp Ginger garlic paste 
2 Tsp Red chilli powder 
1 Tsp Cumin powder 
1 Tsp Coriander powder 
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 
1/4 Tsp Garam masala powder 
1 Tsp Amchur powder / Dry mango powder 
1 Tsp Lemon juice 
1 Tsp Dry roasted mixed spices
Salt to taste 
Coriander leaves, finely chopped 

Mixed Spices :

2 Tbsp Cumin seeds 
2 Tbsp Coriander seeds 
3 Elachi 
1 inch Cinnamon stick 
3 Cloves 
2-3 Dry Red chillies

Method :

Dry roasted all the ingredients given in "Mixed spices" and grind into fine powder. Store it in an air tight container.

Soak chickpeas overnight and pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles along with elachi, cloves and cinnamon stick.

Once done, cool and grind the cooked chickpeas coarsely. ( Remove the spices before grinding )

Heat oil in a pan and add the cubed potatoes.

Fry it for couple of minutes and keep aside.

Add cumin seeds to the same pan along with hing powder, green chillies and onion.

Add ginger garlic paste and sautéed until the raw smell goes off.

Now add the ground chickpeas and mix well.

Add the fried potatoes followed by salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder.

Cover and cook until the potatoes gets cooked.

Once done, add lemon juice followed by amchur powder and mixed spices.

Remove from the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with Roti or bread or dosa.