Easy aval kuzhachathu recipe ( sweet poha)

Easy aval kuzhachathu recipe ( sweet poha)

It was one of those days when I was confused as to what to make for kids snacks, I had a packet of organic beaten rice so thought of making something quick with it. There is a typical Kerala snack of beaten rice cooked in jaggery and coconut and flavoured with cardamom powder. I took a shortcut since I already had melted jaggery. 

Hence this recipe :)

My kids were new to this so I was not sure how they would take it. But convinced the younger one saying about Sudama- aval- krishna story which she is familiar with since she is an avid reader of mythological stories and yes she gave a thumbs up for the dish ..happy meee :)

Ingredients

Brown beaten rice - 2 cups
Jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Milk - few spoons
Cashew bits
Ghee

Method
Pick the beaten rice for any foreign particles and spread out in a large bowl.
Sprinkle the milk and gently mix the poha with the milk.
Grind the coconut and jaggery syrup together coarsely.
Mix the coconut jaggery mixture into the beaten rice 
Sprinkle the cardamom powder and mix well.
Heat the ghee and fry the cashews and garnish the poha.

Serve with some tea or warm milk.
No cook and enjoy.. yes its a no cooking recipe :)
Thanks
Chaithanya

Strawberry preserve in jaggery syrup

Strawberry preserve in jaggery syrup

Bought strawberry with so much enthusiasm but was confused as to what to do with them. Couple of ideas went through my mind but thought will do this experiment.

Once I finished making this dear husband entered the house and was curious to know what was cooking as the aroma was divine! I gave him a spoonful of it to taste, he just loved it and when I said its of jaggery he praised more. Oh yea my experiment passed and now have clicked a picture , not a great one, unable to avoid that glare falling in the preserve and have a three lines recipe too for you all :) Yea as usual short and simply ! ;)

Ingredients

Strawberry - 500 gms

Jaggery syrup ( thick) - 1 cup

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Method 

Wash the strawberries well in salt water and rinse well.

Cut each berry into four and put it a thick bottom pan.

Add the jaggery syrup and keep the pan on the stove. The berries will release water and then gradually the syrup will start thickening. 

Remove from stove once you see the syrup coating the wooden spoon well and the freshly grated nutmeg and mix well

Once the preserve is slightly cool transfer into a sterilized jar and close it airtight.

Store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy :)

thanks!

Chaithanya

Ariunda - A popular Kerala three ingredient sweet

Ariunda has been my childhood favorite sweet and I am sure its just not mine but there will be hardly any Keralite who would not like this sweet. This sweet was most seen when the sweets are gifted to the bridegroom's family by the bride's family and then again during the delivery of the baby(s).

Also, those days it was pounded in a traditional grinding machine called ' ulakka and ural' where they pound the three ingredients until it comes together and forms a ball. And to those who have eaten would remember how hard it used to be but very very tasty too. It was the worth the effort breaking one open and devouring it :) And not to forget to mention it used to be really huge size ball. 

My recipe is very different from the traditional way, its easy, sweet and of course extremely soft.Me and my family like it that way ..so here goes the recipe

Ingredients

Rice - 1 cup

Coconut - one med size

Jaggery syrup - one cup

Cardomom powder - a big pinch

Method

Wash and dry the rice and then dry roast it well. Let it cool for sometime and then powder it well in the mixer.

Grate the coconut and grind it well in the mixer.

I usually melt one kg of jaggery in one cup of water . Out of this I  removed one cup of syrup. If you are not intending to melt one kg jaggery you could probably take some 300 gms of jaggery  and melt in 1/4 up of water, strain and use one cup of the liquid.

Once these three ingredients are ready mix the powdered rice and coconut well and add cardomom powder too. Slowly add the jaggery syrup ad bring the mixture together. Leave it for 15 minutes so that the syrup is absorbed a bit. Make soft balls of the mixture and your ariunda is ready.

My family loved it a lot as it came out very soft, and my dear husband commented that it just melts in the mouth :) 

cook and enjoy!
Thanks! :)

Whole wheat chocolate and copra (dried coconut) cookies recipe

Had couple of dried coconuts( copra) in stock. Thought of trying out cookies, yea that's the easiest I can think of with any ingredient  and I am sure its not surprising for you either :D

I used liquid jaggery instead of sugar and also used whole wheat so yea , I can claim it to be comparatively healthy. 

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups

Powdered copra( dried coconut) - 1 cup

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup

Thick jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup

Cocoa powder - 2-3 tspns

Choco chips ( optional)

Hazelnuts ( optional - 1/4 cup

Egg - one ( I use country egg)

Baking powder - 1/4 tspn

Method
Throw in all the ingredients in a huge bowl and bring it together gently and knead it with fingers to a soft dough. If you feel the dough is not coming together please add few spoons of milk and make the dough softer.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
Scoop out small portions of dough , make a ball and place it on the greased baking tray.
Place the tray in the top rack of the oven and bake for about 15- 17 mins on until the bottom of the cookie turns brown and not dark /burnt.

Remove the cookie carefully from the tray using a spatula and place it on a wire rack and let it cool.
Once cooled store in an airtight container.

Bake and enjoy!
Thanks!!! :)

Whole wheat- puffed rajgira cookies sweetened with jaggery syrup

This is a cookie recipe which is easy, healthy and can be stored for few days and can be sent as snacks for school going kids. Following is the recipe for the same

Ingredients
Rajgira (puffed) - 1/3 cup
Atta - 1 1/3 cup
Butter- 1/2 cup
Jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup
Hazelnuts - crushed- 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1/8 tspn

Method
Mix everything and knead softly and make a soft dough. Make small balls and place in a greased baking tray.

Preheat the oven for ten minutes at 150 degrees celsius, place the cookie tray in the top rack and bake for around 8-10 minutes, when you feel that the bottom of the cookies are baked slowly shift the mode of the OTG to grill mode and grill for another 5-8 minutes..make sure that the top and bottom should not get dark brown , it should be just golden brown.

Remove the tray from the oven and remove each cookie carefully ( it would be soft ) from the tray using a flat spatula and let cool till it turn crispy and then store in airtight jar.

Enjoy!

Whole wheat oats cookies with almonds, sweetened with jaggery

Whole wheat oats cookies with almonds, sweetened with jaggery 

A mother of school going kids often breaks her head for ideas for snacks box for the kids, and these days mothers are more aware to add something healthy. In this recipe instead of using sugar, I used jaggery syrup to sweeten the cookies.

Following is the recipe
Ingredients
Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
Oats- 1 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup *
Blanched peeled and halved almonds- 1/2 cup
Baking powder - a pinch / 1/8 tspn
Cocoa powder - 2 tbspn

* I melted 1 kg jaggery in I cup of water , strained and used 1/2 cup of this liquid for the recipe. 

Method
As simple as said always take a big bowl and throw in all the ingredients and mix well, it will be a little wet and sticky because of the jaggery syrup. Scoop out small spoons of the dough and place it in a greased baking tray, press it lightly with the back of the fork.
Bake for about 10 mins in a preheated oven at 150 degrees Celsius and grill for another 4-5 mins.
Remove and let it cool in a wire rack and then store in a airtight container.
Enjoy! :)

Jaggery amla ( amla caramelized in jaggery syrup)

Jaggery amla

Been wanting to try some sweet combination with amla when it is in season. Even if it fails I might not regret too much :). This is a wild try of caramelising amla in jaggery syrup, undoubtedly it turned very yummy. But I might as well warn you that you need a little ' more' time to get this done. But anyways I am going to save the recipe for me and for others who would love to try this.

Ingredients 
I kg amla ( steamed and seeds removed)*
2 cups of jaggery syrup**

Method
Mix both the ingredients and stir until it is reduced. You needn't wait until all the liquid evaporates, you can retain a little amount of the reduced liquid which adds on to that sweetness.

* Wash, and steam steam cook the amlas just until it breaks.
** I melted 1 kg jaggery in I cup of water , strained and used 2 cups of this liquid for the recipe. You can retain the remaining liquid for any other recipe/cooking or use it instead of sugar.

Chakka varatti - jackfruit jam in jaggery

                         

Till the moment I started making it, I had no idea that I would make it that day. But probably as they say I was supposed to make it that day. There is a reason for such a belief.

That day morning when my doorbell rang, I saw my neighbouring kid standing on my door holding a huge portion of a jack fruit. The aroma which filled my house made my mouth watery, yes I confess. I had to take my kids for their swimming classes, once I was back I patiently ventured out in cleaning and removing the carpels one by one carefully and gently. Once I was finished with my task I realised there is quite a lot of it. Then I thought of cooking it so that it stays for a couple of days. What better way other than making chakka varatti for a Keralite. Without waiting for a second I called my aunt to check the recipe. I noted and ventured out to make it. I have the traditional vessel for this called as 'uruli', was happy to make use of it too :)

You have to be very careful while cooking this as you dare not raise the flame since it makes the syrup splash and might reach your face, as it did for me. So be careful while cooking it and use a ladle which has long handle to stir.

Whatever said and done all the effort is worth when you taste the varatti and your kids eat it and has a glee on their face.

So enjoy cooking and eating this delicacy

Following is the recipe

Jackfruit carpels - 1 kg

Jaggery - 1/2 kg

Ghee - 2-3 tbspn

Cardamom powder and dry ginger powder (optional)

Method

Steam the jack fruit carpels for about 15 - 20 mins, remove from flame, let it cool and then puree it to paste.

While you keep the carpels for steaming take about a cup of water and melt the jaggery and sieve to remove the impurities and keep it aside.

Once your paste is ready, mix the paste and the jaggery syrup and pour into the thick bottom vessel and keep in on the stove.

Keep stirring it; yes keep stirring it until the syrup thickens. Once the syrup starts thickening start adding ghee little by little until the syrup leaves the sides of the pan and starts releasing the ghee. You can stop when it reaches a jam consistency.

Let it cool and transfer to sterilised jars. Enjoy the yummy chakka varatti/jackfruit jam.

Before removing from flame you can add the flavourings. 

Carrot jam using jaggery

Few weeks back made carrot halwa using red carrots in season,  this time I bought one kg of red carrots again, but dint feel like making the heavy creamy sweet carrot halwa again, and hence thought of experimenting with it, something healthy and which can be stored for a couple of days.

This jam is very simple to make, delicious and of course healthy, also has shelf life for few days. This is how I made it.

Ingredients
Red carrots - 1 kg
Jaggery syrup - 1 cup (take one cup jaggery syrup when you melt 500 gms jaggery with 1 cup of water)
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method
Wash, peel and finely chop the carrots in a food processor  or in the mixie jar ( make sure you dont make a juice of it  :)  ).
Keep a big thick bottomed vessel on the stove, put the chopped carrots and sprinkle some water and cook the carrots, once half cooked pour in the jaggery syrup and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and leaves the sides of the pan. Sprinkle some cardamom powder and mix well.
Remove from heat and transfer into sterilized glass jars. Enjoy with dosas, rotis or enjoy it as it is :)

Pumpkin payasam

I need to agree that making a payasam out of pumpkin has not been my idea at all, this was given by a person who sells vegetables. But I did honour him agreeing that I might try this, I tried it and I did inform him about this trial and its success. This is a very healthy sweet made using coconut milk and jaggery. Its not very difficult either. You can also give it a try.
Following is the recipe

Ingredients
Pumpkin - 500 gms
Coconut milk - 2 cups ( not very thick )
Melted jaggery - 3-4 tbspns or according to your taste
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Cashews fried in ghee - as required

Method
Chop pumpkin and steam until it is cooked.
Remove it into a vessel in which we would bring the payasam together.  Mash the pumpkin with the back of a wooden spoon, You might not want to mash it completely, it will be nice to get a bite or two of the pumpkin.
Pour in the coconut milk and the jaggery syrup , add water if required.
Bring it to boil and remove from the flame. Garnish with cardamom powder and fried cashews and serve hot or cold.
Enjoy!!

Jam with fresh figs using jaggery syrup

Been wanting to try some jam for a long time, but always hesitate for the reason of amount of sugar being used in the same.This time I tried jam with figs and substituted a portion of sugar with jaggery syrup. Nevertheless my family loved it , hence posting and saving this recipe for me and for you for future use.

Following is the recipe

Ingredients 
Figs - 500 gms ( washed thoroughly and halved)
Zest of one lemon and juice of half a lemon
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Jaggery syrup - half cup
Cinnamon stick - 1

Pick a thick bottom flat vessel and add all the ingredients together and mix well. Keep stiring it , once it is half cooked use a potato masher to mash the fruit or use a hand blender to blend it off, I used the latter although few lumps/skins of the fruit will be remaining. Never mind !!! And then put the  cinammon stick and cook further, keep stirring and cook the jam further till it passes the gel test

Do a gel test to check whether the jam is ready  :For a good gel, test a small amount on a very cold saucer: Put the saucer in the freezer for a few minutes, put a little of the fig mixture on it, then return to the freezer for 1 minute. When a good gel stage is reached, the surface of the fruit mixture will wrinkle slightly when pushed with a finger.

Meanwhile sterilize the jar to store jam and store the jam while it is still hot and your healthy home made fig jam is ready!!

Aval payasam with jack fruit flavour

Regret to inform that I have not clicked a picture of this invention, but when the verdict came from my family to be good , I thought I should be saving the recipe for future use and moreover my mother in law kept praising about it and my heart jumped with joy . So following is the recipe for the same and before entering to the recipe we need something called as 'chakkavaratiyathu' for this recipe which is similar to jam made with jack fruit pulp cooked and reduced in jaggery to a thick consistency.

Ingredients
Paper aval ( very thin beaten rice flakes) - 2 cups
Chaka varatiyathu - 3-4 tbsps
Coconut milk - of one full coconut 
Jaggery water - (  jaggery melted in 1 cup water and sieved to remove impurities )
Water - 2 cups
Cardomom powder - a pinch
Nuts - as required
Ghee - 2 tbpsn

Note : the amount of jaggery depends on the sweetness you prefer and sweetness of the chakka varitayathu

Method
Mix beaten  rice flakes, jaggery water, coconut milk and the chakka varatiyathu and  required amount of water in a pan and cook it until the contents are cooked this may not take long since beaten rice cooks very fast, sprinkle the cardamom powder for flavoring. Fry the nuts in ghee and add into the payasam for additional flavor 

Your quick jackfruit aval payasam is ready! 

Multigrain choco- chip cookies

Its been long I have blogged and its even more longer that I have baked some cookies, I was seriously thinking of substituting sugar with something healthier and just the other day I made some jaggery syrup at home. So when I saw my freshly collected home made butter and this jaggery syrup I thought of going a step high in making some crunchy cookies and hence the resultant product. Fine will take you to the recipe too !

Ingredients

Ragi flour - 1/3 cup

Barley flour - 1/2 cup

Powdered coconut- 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/3 cup

Jaggery syrup- 1/3 cup

Sesame seeds - 2-3 tspn

Choco chips - a handful

Baking powder - a pinch

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl except the choco chips into a soft dough , add the choco chips in the final stage of mixing 

Scoop small quantities of the dough and place in a greased baking tray .

Place the tray in the top rack of the oven and bake in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes and then grill for another few minutes until the top and bottm of the cookie is slightly browned. 

Remove the cookies to a wire rack and let it cool!

Store in an airtight container and enjoy the cookies with your tea

Totally guilt free cookies !! 

Sweet neer dosa

Sweet neer dosa

Saw a discussion of neer dosa in a foodie group recently and I was all tempted to try it after a long time.  I dint have the patience to make the dosa and an accompanying side dish to go with it for a weekend breakfast and  made it sweet, yes my family love anything sweet for breakfast, specially me :). Ok , so here goes the recipe for it.

Ingredients

Dosa rice- 1 1/2 cups

Grated coconut- 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups

Jaggery - 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup ( depending on the sweetness you prefer)

Water- 2 cups

Cardomom powder - a pinch

Method

Soak the rice overnight. 

Melt the jaggery in two cups of water , sieve it and leave it overnight. ( I did this step in the night b'coz it cools down by morning)

Next day morning grind the rice in the grinder  along with the grated coconut, adding the jaggery water in between and grind the batter to a  fine paste. Add the remaining jaggery water and remove the batter from the grinder. Add extra water to make the batter thin. It should be much thinner than the usual dosa batter

To the batter add a pinch of cardamom powder and salt. Mix well

Heat a non stick pan to high heat and then pour a laddle full of batter to the pan and rotate the pan to spread the batter evenly. Close the pan with a lid and remove the dosa when it is cooked. You can fold the dosa and remove it from the pan.

Serve these thin lacy sweet dosas hot!!

Ginger sponge cake

SPONGE GINGER CAKE


Ingredients 
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup jaggery
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon ginger
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda


Method 

Beat together the jaggery, butter, egg, buttermilk and ginger. Stir in the flour and finally the baking soda, dissolved in a tablespoon of hot water.
Bake in greased and floured shallow square cake tins or muffin pans at 350°F until cake tests done (about 35 minutes). 


Old picture again :)

Caramelised banana

Caramelized banana


Ingredients 

Banana- 1 no. ( i use the big kerala banana) 
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/63498403_be58b14be4.jpg
Jaggery powder - 2- 3 tablespoon, add more if u want more sweet.
Water - 1 cup
Ghee- 1 tspn
Cardomom powder - a pinch

method:
1) Chop the banana into small round pieces and keep aside
2) Melt the jaggery adding one cup of water, seive it and pour in a thick bottom vessel.
3) Add the chopped banana pieces into the jaggery syrup and let it cook till the water reduces, keep stirring .
4) Remove from heat when the water disappears and the banana pieces looks really cooked and coated with jaggery syrup.
5) remove from heat, add ghee if u r serving for kids and sprinkle cardomom powder.

Whole wheat jaggery cake

I know this picture looks bad , but nevertheless its quite close to my heart as its one the early pic I took when I had just started the journey of my culinary experiments :) . By now you would have seen that I stay away from using white flour for my bakes and experiment with other flours and this was the first among the few first experiments.

I have got positive feedback from quite a lot of people who tried this cake . So following is the recipe for the same . Try making it , I am sure you will fell less guilty of having a cake and eating it too!!!

Ingredients
1 cup cooking oil
2 cups jaggery ( powdered)
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder

Method
In a large mixer bowl blend oil and jaggery in an electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla; beat in eggs one at a time. In another bowl stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder (1 teaspoon of salt optional). Add to egg mixture until well blended.

Pour batter into a greased and lightly floured pan. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 50-60 minutes until the cake tests done. Cool in pan, then invert on serving plate. Optional to sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

Fatless sponge cake

Basic fatless sponge cake


Eggs -  4 no.s
Powdered jaggery - 3/4 cup OR 1/2 cup sugar
Vanilla essence - 1 tspn
Whole wheat  flour ( atta) - 1 cup
Almonds 1/2 cup ( powdered)
Baking powder - 1 tspn


Method


Preheat the oven to 180- degrees celsius
Beat together the eggs , powdered jaggery and the vanilla esssence till light and creamy. Gradually fold in the flour stirring with a light hand in one direction only.
Add in the powdered almonds and fold again.
Pour the batter in a prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.