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.

Pasiparupu - Semiya Payasam / Moong dal - Vermicelli Payasam

Payasam / Kheer is one of the popular and traditional sweet which is prepared mostly during festival season or on special occasions. Though there are different varieties of payasam, semiya paal payasam and parupu payasam are the most famous payasam in Tamil Nadu. In my today's recipe, I have included moong dal to the regular paal payasam to give a delicious twist and taste. Roasting Moong dal in a ghee enhances the taste and also gives a lovely aroma.

Ingredients :

1/4 Cup Moong dal 
1/2 Cup Semiya / Vermicelli 
2 Cups Milk 
1/2 Cup Sugar 
3 Tsp Ghee + 2 Tbsp Ghee
5 Cashews 
6 - 7 Raisins 
1 Elachi, crushed 

Method :

Heat 2 Tsp ghee and add semiya / vermicelli.

Roast it until it gets a light golden brown and remove from the flame.

Now add the remaining 1 tsp ghee to the same pan and add moong dal.

Roast till the aroma comes out and add 1 1/2 cups of water.

When the dal gets almost cooked, add roasted vermicelli and mix well.

Add 2 cups of Milk and cook until the semiya becomes soft.

Add the measured sugar and cook until it dissolves.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp ghee in a pan and add cashews followed by raisins and elachi.

Roast and add it to the payasam.

Serve hot or cold.

Notes :

1. Payasam will become thick when it cools down, so add extra milk before serving.

2. Apart from cashews and raisins, grated badam and melon seeds can also be added.

3. Instead of adding crushed elachi, elachi powder can also be added.

4. To make the payasam more creamy and rich, substitute sugar with Milkmaid. 

Ragi Vermicelli Musk Melon Kheer / Ragi Vermicelli Kirni Pazham Payasam

Apart from Mangoes, muskmelon is also one another widely available fruit during summer season. Muskmelon is known as Kirni pazham in Tamil and Kharbooja in Hindi. The high water content in muskmelon helps us to keep hydrated during this season. Personally, we love to consume muskmelon as such along with jaggery powder or juice. And for the first time, tried payasam for Tamil new year which became a super hit among the family members. The addition of Ragi vermicelli is to make the payasam more healthy and yummy.

Ingredients :

1 Medium sized Muskmelon 
1/2 Cup Ragi Vermicelli 
400 ml Milk 
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Sugar ( adjust according to sweet tooth ) 
1/4 Cup Milkmaid 
1 Cup Water 
1 1/2 Tbsp Ghee 
5 - 7  Raisins 
5 Almonds, chopped 
5 Cashews
1 Tbsp Muskmelon seeds 

Method :

Boil milk and keep aside.

Peel the skin of muskmelon, remove the flesh and make puree of it. Keep aside.

Boil 1/2 cup of water and add ragi vermicelli.

Let it boil for couple of minutes and add the muskmelon puree along with the remaining water.

Cook till the vermicelli gets cooked in a medium flame. ( stir continuously )

Once done, add sugar and cook till it gets dissolved.

Meanwhile, heat ghee in a small pan and add raisins followed by almonds, cashes and muskmelon.
Fry, remove from the flame and keep aside.

Add milk to the Ragi vermicelli - muskmelon followed by milk maid.

Let it boil for couple of minutes and add the fried raisins - nuts.

Mix well and serve hot or cold.

Note :

Cook in a low flame and stir continuously so that the muskmelon and ragi vermicelli doesn't get burnt and stick to the pan.

In this recipe, I have used both sugar and milkmaid but the same recipe can be prepared using milkmaid only which also gives extra richness to the payasam.

Adding muskmelon seeds gives a crunchy taste to the payasam and its optional, if not available in the market.

Add extra boiled milk to the payasam if you like it little watery.

Beetroot Pancake Paniyaram Jamun

Posting an interesting recipe after so many days for this special Valentine month. Advance Valentine's day to all my readers. When you think of Valentine's day, Pink and red colours are the ones which flashes our mind. And also according to our January month theme in Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge, we have to post red coloured theme post, based on the secret ingredients given by our partner.

I was paired with a wonderful co-blogger Prathima Shivraj from parthusfood.com. She gave me beetroot and any flour of my choice as my secret ingredients for red coloured theme. Initially, I thought of preparing pancakes using beetroot as its my kid's favourite breakfast. But changed my thought and converted pancake into paniyaram / appe which is further soaked in a vanilla flavoured sugar syrup to give a delicious twist to a regular pancake.

Beetroot is cooked and made into fine puree is further mixed up with a pancake batter. I have also used dates syrup in this recipe, to make it more healthy, tasty and also to get a vibrant color. The addition of vanilla essence in a sugar syrup enhances the flavour of this sweet and also gives a lovely aroma while serving.

Ingredients :

1 Cup All purpose Flour 
3/4 Tbsp Baking powder 
3 Tbsp Powdered sugar 
1/4 Tsp Salt 
1 Cup Milk 
1 Egg 
1 Big Size Beetroot
2 Tbsp Dates Syrup 
2 Tbsp Olive oil / Melted Butter 

For Sugar Syrup :

1 Cup Sugar 
1 Cup Water 
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence 

2 Tbsp Almonds, grated for garnishing

Method :

Peel and chop the beetroot into small pieces.

Add 1 tbsp of water and microwave it for 4 - 5 minutes.  (Alternatively, chopped beetroot can also be steamed )

Puree the cooked beetroot and keep aside.

Mix all purpose flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a big bowl.

Mix well and keep aside.

Add milk followed by egg, date syrup, oil or butter and beetroot puree in a small bowl.

Beat well and add the wet mixture to the dry mixture ( flour ).

Gently fold both the dry and wet ingredients until it becomes batter with no lumps.

Heat a Appe pan / Paniyaram pan and grease the mould using butter or oil.

Pour the batter gently using spoon on each mould and cook both the sides in a low flame.

Once done, remove from the flame and repeat the process for the remaining batter.

Meanwhile. add sugar and water in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to boil.

Simmer the flame for 5 minutes and let it boil.

Now switch off the flame and add vanilla essence to the sugar syrup.

Drop the Beetroot Pancake paniyaram in a sugar syrup and let it soak for couple of minutes.

Once done, remove from the syrup and garnish with grated Almonds.

Serve hot or cold.

Serving Options :

Serve hot or cold with Ice-cream.

Vazhakai Jamun / Raw Banana Jamun

Bored of preparing curries or stir fries using Raw Banana / Vazhakai ? Then, try these yummy jamuns prepared using raw banana which is also called vazhakai in Tamil.

Vazhakai Jamun is a yummy twist to our popular sweet dish Gulab jamun. The raw banana is boiled and mashed without any lumps is mixed up with maida, rava milk powder etc to get a soft dough. The dough is further prepared into small balls, deep fried into batches and soaked in a sugar syrup to get a delicious sweet. This is one of the perfect way to make our kids to eat veggie.

Ingredients :

1 Raw Banana / Vazhakai
1/2 Cup Milk Powder 
4 Tbsp Maida 
1 Tbsp Rava 
1/2 Tsp Ghee 
Oil for Frying 

For Syrup :

1 Cup Sugar 
1 Cup Water 
3 Elachi Crushed 

Method :

For Sugar Syrup :

Add sugar and water in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to boil.

Then add crushed elachi and simmer the flame for 5 mins.

Once done, remove from the flame and keep aside.

For Jamun :

Pressure cook the raw banana and mash it completely without any lumps.

Add milk powder to the mashed banana followed by maida, rava and ghee.

Mix and knead well to get a soft dough. Keep aside.

Grease both the palms with ghee and make small balls out of the prepared dough.

Deep fry them in batches in a low flame.

Drop the fried jamuns in a sugar syrup and keep aside to get soaked.

Serve hot or cold.

Serving Options :

Serve hot or cold with Ice-cream.

Sweet Wheat Dosa Using Brown Sugar

This simple and tasty dosa brings back a beautiful memories of my childhood days, where all my cousins used to wait for Friday pooja to get over to indulge this yummy prasadam. Easy to prepare yet tastes so delicious. Though my aunt used to add only chopped coconut pieces, I have included almonds and raisins to make it more tasty and rich. Other dry fruits can also be added to enhance the richness of the sweet.

Ingredients :

3/4 Cup Wheat Flour 
1 Cup Water 
1/2 Cup Brown sugar ( Adjust the quantity according to sweet tooth )
A pinch of salt 
A pinch of Cardamom powder 
6 - 7 Almonds, grated 
6 - 7 Raisins, finely chopped 
2 Tbsp Coconut, grated
Ghee for preparing dosa

Method :

Add sugar and water in a bowl and bring it to boil till the sugar melts. ( String consistency does not required ).

Once done, remove from the flame and add the wheat flour.

Mix well without any lumps and add the grated coconut followed by almonds, raisins, cardamom powder and salt.

The consistency of the batter should be like regular dosa batter. ( not too thick nor thin )

Heat a non stick dosa pan, pour one ladle of the sweet wheat batter.

Smear little ghee and cook both the sides in a medium flame.

Once done, remove from the pan and repeat the process for remaining batter.

Serve hot.

Note :

According to the above measurement, approx 4 - 5 medium sized dosas/pancake can be prepared.

The quantity varies according to the size of dosa.

Adjust the quantity of sugar according to sweet tooth.

Brown sugar can also be replaced with jaggery or regular sugar.

Parupu Poli / Puran Poli

Parupu poli is one of the famous sweet which is prepared using Ugadi festival. Chana dal and Jaggery is used as stuffing along with the elachi flavor. Preparing this sweet using ghee enhances the taste of the poli and also gives lovely aroma. Apart from chana dal, coconut stuffing can also be made which is called as Thengai poli.

Ingredients :

3 Cups Maida / All purpose flour
1/2 Cup Rava 
Salt to taste
Water, as need to knead the dough
1 Cup Chana dal / Kadalai parupu 
1 Cup Jaggery, grated 
1 Tsp Elachi powder 
2 Tsp Ghee + extra for preparing poli

Method :

Add maida along with rava and salt in a big bowl.

Add water little by little and knead into soft dough.

Grease little oil on top of the dough and keep aside for 30 minutes.

Wash and Soak chana dal for 1 hour.

Drain the water and pressure cook it for one whistle by adding half a cup of water.

Once the pressure gets released, completely drain the water from chana dal using strainer.

Once the dal becomes dry, grind into fine powder and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a pan and the ground dal powder.

Saute it for couple of minutes and add the grated jaggery along with elachi powder.

Simmer the flame and cook it for 5 minutes till the jaggery melts and gets a thick mixture for stuffing.

Keep mixing else the mixture gets stuck with the bottom and preferably use non stick to prepare the mixture.

Once done, cool the mixture and divide the dal into 12 equal sized balls. Keep aside.

Divide the maida dough into 12 equal sized balls and keep aside.

Take one ball, grease the palm with oil and gently flatten the dough into medium size circle.

Place the dal ball inside, combine the rolled dough and seal it properly.

Apply some more oil and gently flatten the stuffed poli using fingers.

Repeat the process for the remaining dough and dal balls.

Heat tawa, grease little ghee and place the stuffed poli.

Cook both the sides by using ghee in a medium flame.

Once done, remove from the flame and repeat the process for the remaining poli.

Serve hot. 

1 Minute Cake / Microwave Cake

When you have sudden craving of delicious chocolate cake, try this yummy 1 minute microwave cake with all easily available ingredients in a jiffy. No egg and butter is required for this recipe. I have used olive oil which can also be substituted with regular cooking oil.

Ingredients :

2 Tbsp Self Raising Flour
1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Sugar 
2 Tsp Cocoa powder 
A pinch of Salt 
2 Tbsp Milk 
1/4 Tsp Vanilla extract 
3/4 Tsp Oil ( I have used olive oil in this recipe ) 

Method :

Take a mug or tall glass and add milk followed by oil and vanilla extract.

Mix well with a fork and add self raising flour followed by sugar, cocoa powder and salt.

Combine all the ingredients and microwave it for 1 minute.

Once done, remove from the microwave and serve.

Serving Options :

Serve with Ice cream.

Note :

I have used self raising flour in this recipe which already contains baking powder. If you don't have self raising, use the following ingredients...

2  Tbsp All purpose flour / Maida
1/4 Tsp Baking powder

Millet Kesari / Diet Friendly Veg Thali / Diet Friendly Recipe - 100 / #100dietrecipes

Hurray ! Successfully completed my 100 days of diet recipes #100dietrecipes and it's time for a virtual treat ( Diet Friendly Thali ) for my friends. Since I started my blog, I never posted continuously for more than 30 days but this time, I took it as a challenge and posted only diet recipes for 100 days. The main reason for posting diet series is to change the mindset which people have on dieting. Generally, what people think about dieting is scarifying their favorite food and consuming only Indian breads and oats which is actually not. Dieting is switching from regular ingredients to healthy and nutritious ingredients. When one gives a weird look and ask about my dieting, I make sure to give an answer that I am on healthy eating habit / healthy dieting. Absolutely, there is no reason to skip meals and lose weight. Just including few nutritious ingredients in our regular menu makes wonder in our lifestyle.  This change doesn't help only in losing weight but also to keep our body healthy and fit.

Post delivery, I tried so many diet ways to lose my weight like consuming only phulkas in the night, oats buttermilk porridge for breakfast etc but more than weight loss, it pushed me to frustration mode because of the monotonous meal. Later, I started focusing on a healthy life style by including more nutritious rich ingredients in our regular  menu in a different way so that dieting became interesting and experimenting. This healthy change over helped me and my husband to shed good amount of weight without frustration. So, thought of sharing all my interesting and unique recipes on my blog as a 100days project so that it will be a motivation for me n everyone to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Being regular on blogging is very difficult with lots of commitment and in fact, it took me one month to decide whether I can able to do it or not. Finally, with my husband's full support and encouragement, started my 100 days diet challenge post on dec 1st 2015 with an interesting recipe Burnt garlic fried rice using foxtail millet. I tried my level best to focus on all food category like salad, soup, starter, main course and dessert. This 100 days of journey made my life completely busy and interesting, in addition to that I also learned lots of nutrients facts about food. 

I really have to thank 3 special persons ( My husband, mom and my best friend ) in my life who helped me in completing this challenge. My husband's patience, involvement and interest in this diet series gave me lots of confidence to continue this series. His critics on my experimental foods made me to improve a lot day by day. Secondly, my mom who is the main reason behind my breakfast platter and diet friendly thali helped me a lot in cooking and in fact, her involvement in my challenge changed her cooking style too. And last but not the least, my best friend Swathi who is also a big foodie ( no wonder why is my best buddy ) and good cook. I love her karnataka style cooking and in fact, I got inspired by one of her recipe and posted with a little twist as Methi Wheat Flour Instant Dosa during the challenge. Her constant support from the beginning and appreciation after tasting my breakfast platter and diet friendly thali, boosted my confidence and energy. 

No more delay, here comes my 100th post along with an interesting thali filled with lots of delicious and healthy spread. Here are the links of few recipes listed in the Thali...

Cabbage & Sprouts poriyal / Stir fry - http://www.priyasmenu.com/2016/02/cabbage-mixed-sprouts-stir-fry-diet.html

Mixed Greens - Mixed Dal Kootu - http://www.priyasmenu.com/2016/01/mixed-greens-mixed-dals-kootu-diet.html

Ridge gourd peel and sprouts chutney - http://www.priyasmenu.com/2016/01/ridge-gourd-skin-sprouts-chutney.html

Horse gram Masala Brown rice - http://www.priyasmenu.com/2016/01/kollu-satham-using-brown-rice-horse.html

Panchratna mixed veggie sambhar - http://www.priyasmenu.com/2016/01/panchratna-mixed-veggies-sambhar-diet.html

Vetrilai kuhzmbu / Beetel leaves kuzhambu - http://www.priyasmenu.com/2015/07/betel-leaves-kuzhambu-vetrilai-kuzhambu.html

Apart from these 100 diet recipes, I had already posted few healthy recipes on my blog. Click HERE to view all those recipes. Ending my 100days challenge with a healthy sweet.....

If you are craving for a healthy sweet, try this easy and tasty kesari prepared using millet and brown sugar. Millet is slow cooked in a brown sugar mixed water and garnished with melon seeds. I have used kudo millet in this recipe which can also be replaced with any other variety of millet or mixed millets. For a change, I have garnished this kesari with melon seeds but to make it more tasty, include dried figs, apricot, raisins etc along with the melon seeds.

Ingredients :

1/2 Cup Kudo Millet / Varagu
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar ( adjust according to sweet tooth )
1 Tsp Olive oil
1/2 Tsp Watermelon seeds
1/2 Tsp Pumpkin seeds
2 Cups Water

Method :

Dry roast the millet and keep aside.

Boil 2 cups of water and add the brown sugar.

Once the sugar starts melting, add the roasted millet and simmer the flame.

Cook till the water gets absorbed and millet gets cooked.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add the watermelon seeds and muskmelon seeds.

Roast and add it to the millet kesari.

Mix well and serve hot or cold.

Note : I have used only melon seeds for garnishing but raisins, apricots, figs can also be added along with the seeds.

Finally, I thank all my readers, well wishers and friends who encouraged me by posting your valuable comments. Will come up with an another interesting 100days series soon :)

Liitle Millet Pumpkin Sweet Pongal / Samai Parangikai Sakarai Pongal / Diet Friendly Recipe - 54 / #100dietrecipes

Healthy and guilt free pongal to enjoy during auspicious and festivals days. This delicious sweet pongal is prepared using little millet, pumpkin and for the sweetness, I have used damerera sugar, which can also be substituted with brown sugar. As per the given measurement, the pongal will be mild sweet. So, adjust the sugar measurement according to sweet tooth. Pumpkin is added to make it healthier and also it enhances the taste.

Ingredients :

1/2 Cup Samai  / Little Millet 
1/4 Cup Moong dal
1/2 Cup Grated Pumpkin
3 Cups Water 
1 Cup Damerera sugar ( Brown sugar can also be used and adjust according to sweet tooth ) 
1 Tsp Ghee
1 Tsp Olive oil 
3 Cashews
6 Raisins
2 Elachi, crushed


Method :

Wash little millet along with moong dal and add it to a pressure cooker along with the grated pumpkin.

Add the measured water and pressure cook it for 5 - 6 whistles.

Once done, switch off the flame and cool it.

Meanwhile, add little water in a sugar and melt it in a low flame.

Once the pressure gets released, add the melted sugar to the pongal and mixed well.

Heat ghee and oil in a small pan and add cashews followed by raisins and elachi.

Fry and add it to the sweet pumpkin pongal.

Serve hot or cold.

Beetroot Stuffed Wheat Flour Poli ( Grill Method ) / Diet Friendly Recipe - 32 / #100dietrecipes

                                                                  
                                                              Happy New Year !!!

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous New Year with a diet friendly virtual treat. In my 100 days of diet friendly series, posting my grilled version of puran poli with a healthy twist. I have included grated beetroot along with channa dal and used damerera sugar to make it more healthy. The soaked channa dal is cooked, made into paste and further cooked along with the grated beetroot with an addition of damerera sugar to get a delicious stuffing for the poli. The prepared sweet balls is stuffed in a wheat flour dough, flatted and grilled to get a guilt free sweet.

Here is a complete healthy and guilt free sweet to kick start the first day of the year...

Ingredients :

1 1/2 Cup Wheat Flour
Salt to taste
Water, as required to knead
1/2 Cup Channa dal / Kadalai parupu
1 Beetroot, grated ( Medium size )
1/2 Cup Damerara sugar ( Minimal sweet taste )
A pinch of Elachi powder
Little butter to brush on top of poli

Method :

For outer covering :

Add wheat flour along with salt in a large bowl.

Add water little by little and prepare a soft dough.

Cover and keep it aside for about half an hour.

For stuffing :

Soak channa for about 1 1/2 hrs and drain the water.

Cook the soaked dal till it turns soft.

Drain the water and grind the dal into paste without adding water.

Heat pan and add the grated beetroot followed by elachi powder and damerera sugar.

Saute till the beetroot turns soft and sugar starts melting in a low flame.

Add the channa paste at this stage, mix well and cook for a minute.

Remove from the flame and cool it completely.

Divide the channa dal mixture into 8 equal sized balls and keep aside.

Meanwhile, divide the wheat flour dough into 8 equal sized balls. ( Wheat flour balls should be bigger than the channa dal balls )

Take one wheat ball and roll it into small circle using rolling pin.

Place one beetroot - channa dal ball and seal it completely by pulling the sides to center. ( similar to aloo paratha ).

Flatten it gently using rolling pin by dusting wheat flour.

Place the filled and rolled poli on a greased baking tray ( I have used baking sheet instead of greasing it ).

Grill it for 5 minutes on one side ( the poli puffs up at this stage ) and flip the other side.

Grill it for another couple of minutes and remove from the oven.

Brush it lightly with less butter to enhance the flavor.

Once done, remove from the oven and repeat the process for the remaining dough.

Serve hot.

Ragi Sweet Balls

Power cut has become one of the major issue in our place and the foods which have been kept in the fridge, especially milk and batter is making me more worried and crazy. In fact, I started boiling milk for twice a day but the batter gets its sourness in 3-4 days. Though I make it in very less quantity, one or two cups of soured batter will be my leftover. To avoid the wastage of food, turned those soured batter into sweet and delicious balls using Ragi and Jaggery which is very healthy too. And Interestingly, my 2 secret Ingredient for shhh cooking challenge are also Ragi and Jaggery which is given by a lovely and active blogger, Rafeeda from Bigsweettooth.
As I had mentioned in my earlier posts, shhh cooking challenge is a lovely and friendly challenge in which 2 bloggers were partnered and shared 2 secret ingredients. And the most Interesting part is guessing the secret ingredients of others recipe which will get posted on 16th to 18th of every month. Special Thanks to Priya Suresh from priyasversatilerecipes for creating such an amazing friendly event. 

And coming to today's recipe...

Ragi sweet balls is a delicious snack which is prepared with the leftover Idly or Dosa batter. I have used only 4 ingredients to prepare these yummy balls but nuts and fruits can also be included to make it more healthy. It can be prepared with oil and ghee but personally I feel that, ghee gives a yummy aroma and taste. This can be served as breakfast or can also be packed for kid's Lunch box. 

Ingredients :

• 1 Cup Dosa / Idly Batter 
• 1 Cup Ragi flour (I have used sprouted flour)
• 3/4 cup - 1 Cup Jaggery powder (Increase according to taste buds)
• 3 Tbsp Coconut pieces
• Ghee or oil for cooking 

Method :

• Take Dosa batter in a bowl and add Ragi flour and Jaggery.

• Mix well to avoid any lumps and add coconut pieces.

• Mix well and keep aside for 15 mins.

• Heat Kuzhipaniyaram / Appe pan and smear ghee or oil.

• Mix the batter again and pour it in a pan.

• Close the pan and cook it in a medium flame.

• Once the base part gets cooked, slowly turn the balls and close the lid to cook the other side.

• Once done, remove from the pan and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with little honey or it can eaten as such without any side dish.