Multigrain Ladoo/ Laddoo - Multigrain Sweet Balls

This is a delicious and a very healthy sweet. I made this for the first time, about one year ago. I needed a healthy and filling snack which would be easy to store and carry. Also, it needed to be appealing to a child and easy to hold and eat. My daughter enjoys besan laddoo and one day I thought it would be great if I tried to make laddoos with other grains and flours. This recipe was a great success.  My family enjoyed it and I was okay if dinner occasionally constituted of one laddoo and milk.

Ingredients
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup soy bean flour
1 cup mung dal
2/3 cup urad dal
1/2 cup ragi flour
1.25 cups of ghee/clarified butter
2 and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup blanched and peeled almond slices (optional)

Method
Dry roast the whole wheat flour, soy bean flour and ragi flour separately. The flour should be roasted till it gets a toasted fragrance. The soy bean flour will take the minimum time. Roast each flour and grain separately, as each flour will need different amounts of roasting time. Roast the urad and mung dal till they turn reddish brown, taking care to not burn the grain. Grind each grain, separately into powder. It can be slightly coarse, which will give the laddoo some texture. Once all the flours are roasted and grains have been ground into flour, heat ghee in a pan. The pan should be large enough to hold all the ingredients. The powdered flours approximately amount to about 5 and a half cups. Once the ghee has melted, add the flours and mix them well with the ghee. Turn off the heat. Once the mixture turns warm, add the powdered sugar, raisins and almonds (if using them) and mix well. The mixture should not be cold, else it will be difficult to incorporate the sugar. Mix it well till all the sugar is incorporated into the flour and ghee mixture.

Then take a fistful of the mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands to roll it into small balls. Store in an airtight container. These do not need refrigeration, however you can  store them in the fridge if any remain after a couple of weeks to keep them fresh.

Tips
If you store the laddoos in the fridge, warm them up in the microwave for 5-10 seconds before eating. You can switch out the whole wheat flour with besan/chickpea flour. Or you can even add in besan as an additional flour. You can adapt this recipe by trying out different proportions of the various grains or flours. Just make sure that you roast the flour before using it in the laddoo. It can be made gluten free by substituting the wheat flour with chickpea flour.

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies - An Oxymoron? - Maybe not!

The last thing I think of while devouring... umm eating cookies, is "healthy eating". Cookies translate to something sweet and decadent. At this point, you are probably wondering - what's up with this title then! Please read on. I enjoy cookies as much as the next person, but I also feel guilty after eating them (what's the saying? once on the lips, forever.... ).  It so happens that I run down to the cafe a couple of times a week, to get an afternoon snack, but faced with limited options, I end up getting chips or cookies. This just adds to my guilt. So, finally I decided it would be a better idea if I made cookies with healthy ingredients, cut back on the sugar and fat. Homemade is the best right? So, I used oatmeal, whole wheat flour, wheat bran and apple sauce. The end result was healthy and akin to granola bars. The texture is more on the "cracker" side because I baked them till they were well browned and no longer soft. (Of course you can stop when they are cooked through if you like soft cookies.) Now, there is no guilt, I can indulge and  it is a great to go breakfast. Tasty, filling and sweet minus the decadence. The best part is that my family loved it too.

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp wheat bran
2 cups rolled oats (not the quick 1 min cook ones)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins

Method
Grease a cookie sheet/ baking sheet and heat the oven to 350F. Sieve together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wheat bran and mix with a whisk. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla extract. To it add the melted butter, apple sauce, both sugars and mix well. To this add the wheat flour mixture and stir till ingredients are mixed. Then fold in the rolled oats. Using an icecream scoop or two spoons, scoop a little mixture into small dollops onto the sheet. Make sure you leave a couple inches between the dollops, as the cookies will expand while baking. Bake the cookies for about 20-30 minutes or more till they are brown. I baked them till they were well browned and dry. If you prefer soft cookies, stop baking when they are light brown and cooked through.

Tips
You can substitute the white sugar with brown sugar as well. The cookies will be a little less sweet. Brown sugar is white sugar mixed with molasses. I am not sure how much healthier it is compared to white sugar, but the resultant dishes are definitely  less sweet.

Chiwda - Savory Dish made with Pressed Rice

Continuing on the theme of items made at home during Diwali, another staple is the "Poha Chiwda". Pohe/Poha is pressed rice. The one I use for making Chiwda is the thin version though. The thick one is used to make the breakfast dish "Pohe". This is a very easy recipe, especially if you use the microwave for assistance. I do make it during the rest of the year too. It is just the perfect accompaniment with a nice cup of afternoon tea and definitely makes a healthy snack, especially my low fat version.

Ingredients
6 cups thin poha
2 tbsps oil
1/8 tsp turmeric
10-12 curry leaves
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp jeera seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2-3 green chillies, sliced
pinch of hing
1/2 cup peanuts
1/4 cup dall/daliya/roasted gram
1/4 cup dry coconut slices
2-3 tbsp raisins
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
pinch of citric acid

Method
Roast the poha till it is crispy. The color doesn't need to change. The texture will change and it will become crispy and crumble easily when crushed. The poha starts curling up a bit as it gets crispier. I generally roast the poha in the microwave. Start with heating it for 2 minutes at a times and then reduce this to 1 minute and then 30 seconds as it is roasted. Stir it in between to avoid heat from being concentrated on one patch. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burning as it gets closer to being completely done.
Mix the citric acid, sugar and salt together and sprinkle it on the warm roasted poha and mix it togther so that the poha is well coated. In a pan large enough to hold the poha, heat the oil. To this add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add the jeera, hing, curry leaves, chillies, peanuts, and roasted gram. Fry the peanuts  and gram they turn start changing color. Add the sesame seeds, coconut slices and then roast these for another minute. Then add the turmeric, raisins and the seasoned poha. Stir all the ingredients well so that all of the poha is coated with the seasoning and turns a light yellow color. If you feel that the oil is less compared to the quantity of poha, you can add a little more oil to the pan before adding the poha. Cook this for a couple of minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and sugar as needed. Store in an airtight container after it cools down completely. This will last a few weeks and doesn't need to be stored in the fridge.

You can serve this with a few slices of onion with some lime squeezed over it. The combination tastes fantastic.

Tips
Check for the poha variety before you buy it. Do no use thick poha, the taste will not be the same. You can substitute red chillies for the green ones. Use 4-5 if using red ones. If a small quantity of turmeric you are using is sufficient to impart the yellow color, use a smaller amount. Adjust it as needed. Do not add more than 2-3 pinches, as turmeric has an overpowering taste. Add the coconut slices before the peanuts and gram turn brown, else they will burn while the coconut is fried. Also, sesame and coconut slices take lesser time to brown, so add them after the peanuts and gram. You can increase the quantity of oil to almost twice the amount noted above for a richer taste.

Besan Laddoo/Laadoo - A Sweet made from Chickpea Flour

I enjoy the festive season. It starts with Shravan and then there's Ganpati followed by Navrati, Halloween, then Diwali.  And of course, I love  Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every place is decorated and it's a ton of fun. I love the holiday and festive season. I look forward to the many long weekends after August and there are plenty of excuses to have parties, and cook a variety of delicacies. This year has flown by and Halloween and Diwali are right around the corner. I am still coming up with my list of items to make for Diwali. It's an evolving list, with requests coming in every other day. I enjoy the challenge of making something new each year. There are always a few staples though, and one of them is the ever loved "besan laddoo". It always has a special place on the Diwali menu.
I will be posting a few recipes over the next few days that you can try for Diwali this year. Hope you are enjoying the festive season.

Ingredients
1 cup clarified butter/ghee
3 cups besan/chickpea flour
2 and 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3 tbsp raisins

Method
Heat the ghee and besan together in a pan.  Roast the besan till the besan turns light brown. Take care of stir it often so that it doesn't burn. Alternately, you can roast this mixture in the microwave oven. Start with roasting it for about 2 minutes a couple of times and then you can roast it in 1 minute intervals or lesser depending on how poweful your microwave is. It is very important to keep an eye on the besan when using the microwave, as its very easy for it to burn if its kept for a few seconds more than necessary. Once the besan is well roasted, you will notice a lovely aroma. That indicates that the besan is being cooked. Also, the taste will change from raw to a nice roasted taste. The color, smell and taste are great indicators to determine if your besan is well roasted. If it is not, and if you add the sugar, you will not be able to cook the besan further and will be stuck with raw tasting laddoos.
After the mixture cools down slightly where it feels warm, add the cardamom powder, powdered sugar and raisins. The mixture should not be cold, else it will be difficult to incorporate the sugar. Mix it well till all the sugar is incorporated into the besan. Then take a handful of the mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands to roll it into small balls. Store in an airtight container. I generally store them in the fridge to ensure that they do not spoil, however they do not last for too long.

Tips
This recipe makes about 20-25 small sized laddoos, about 1.5 inches in diameter. Do not use confectioner's sugar. If you do not find powdered sugar, you can grind regular sugar in the blender till it is fine and use it. If you add the sugar when the besan is still being heated or is too hot, it will melt and turn into a syrup and the texture of the laddoos may get spoilt. The sugar should be added when the mixture is warm and can be touched without burning your hands. You can roll the laddoos when it's warm or when the besan and sugar mixture is at room temperature.