Walnut Halwa

Walnut, is an edible seed. It contains Omega-3, which plays a role in brain and cardio benefits. Samolina, from wheat, is a good and fast energetic source. The recipe here is a sweet, and can be prepared as a snack time food.

Ingredients:

Walnut- 1/2 cup or 1 hand full.
Samolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardomom - 2 nos
Cashewnut - 5-6 nos
Raisins - 5-6 nos
Water - 3 cups
Food Color - a pinch (of your choice and optional)
Ghee - 2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp

Procedure: 

• Grind walnuts in a mixer coarsely.
• Heat ghee in a wide heavy bottom pan and roast cashew nuts, raisins. Keep them aside.

• Put the ground walnut in the remaining ghee and let it cook for a min. Stir well.

• Add water into the pan. Let it start to boil. Add food color you would like. I used green, just to feel earthen color.

• Mix samolina and sugar. Pour little by little and mix while pouring into the pan.

• Now our halva would be done in 3-5 minutes. Keep stirring. 
• Once the samolina-walnut gets thicken, add some oil to it and continue stirring, to incorporate the oil into it.
• Add roasted cashews, raisins and cardomom.

• The halva is done when walnut and samolina, get mixed together and start to leave out the oil. Till then continue stirring. It will take another 2 min since incorporating the oil.

• Now halva is ready to serve hot.  An inverted Tree.

• Or transfer the halva in a baking pan or a glass container. Let it cool. Make Slices. It can be served as a sliced cubes or in any shape, our kids would like.

I'm so happy, that my picky eating kids finished their serving and wanted some more..

Vanilla-Walnut halwa

Vanilla Walnut halwa is a variation of rava kesari and walnut halwa, which is shown in my recipe posting. To follow, click here for the walnut halwa recipe. 

Just add an extra ingredient, a tsp of the vanilla extract while you add water to the walnut, as mentioned in the procedure.. This time I used a different food color.

Wow, the final dessert is mouth melting vanilla flavored walnut halwa. Just a tsp of vanila extract transforms the nutty kesari sweet into a western touch dessert..

Thippili Rasam / Long Pepper Soup

At home kids been suffering from cold and cough.. My mom used to make milagu(pepper corn) rasam to help liquefy mucus. And she also send me this thippili(long pepper) from India to use as a medicine for cold.  I saw it here in Houston, in some of the Indian stores. Here is the recipe to make thippili rasam.

Ingredients:

• Toor Dhal  - 2 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
• Black pepper corns - 1 tsp
• Long pepper(Arisi Thippili) - 1 tsp
• Dry Red Chillies - 2 nos
• Tamarind - small lemon size
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaf - 1 stem
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp (to saute)
• Water - 2 cup

Procedure

• Heat a small pan, add a tsp of ghee and saute toor dhal, cumin seeds, black pepper, long pepper, red chillies, till a nice aroma comes (till toor dhal becomes golden brown).

•  Mean while make tamarind extract from the soaked tamarind, add curry leaves and bring it to boil

• Coarse grind the saute toordhal mixture and add it to the boiling tamarind.

• Bring it to boil. And add necessary water to make rasam. Also add salt to taste.

• Let it boil for a minute. Sputter little mustard seeds, in a tsp of ghee and pour into it.

Pattaani Sundal / Peas snack

 Its "Thengai, Mangai, Pattani, Sundal"... Beach Sundal / Park sundal

It would be a nice evening snack at home too., even healthier, tastier, energizer...

Ingredients:

• Yellow Peas - 2 cup
• Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
• Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Dry Red Chilies - 4 nos.(up to taste) 
• Cloves - 3 nos
• Cinnamon Sticks - 2 nos
• Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Poppy Seeds - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - a pinch
• Water - to soak and boil
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

To Garnish:  Finely chopped as for required amount

• Onion
• Tomato
• Cilantro/Coriander Leaves
• Mango

Procedure:

• Soak the peas atleast for 4 hours.

• Dry grind coconut, ginger, garlic, red chillies, turmeric powder, cloves, cinnamon sticks, fennel seeds finely.

•  Splutter mustard seeds in oil and add the ground masala into it and saute till the raw coconut smell goes off.

• Add the soaked peas into it and add required water to cook it. Add some salt to taste

• Add water in between to nicely cook the peas in masala itself.
• When done water must be used for the peas to cook and dry.
• Serve with the garnishing.... hmmm yammm.

• Tip : If you find your peas would take long time to cook, pressure cook the peas first with little salt and add them into the masala saute, and mix them well and correct for salt..

Simple Avacado Dip

Avocado, one of my son's favorite fruit in the form of foamy dip. Avocados, have more fat, unlike the bad fat, it helps in anti-inflammation and helps in heart diseases by absorbing fat-soluble nutrition.

Its so simple and easy..

Ingredients:

Avocado -  1 no. small
Water - 1/4  cup
Salt - a pinch


Procedure:

• Peel the avocado, by cutting it in lengthwise and do a twist and turn to make 2 halves. While cutting, please remember about the big seed. While peeling, get the most of the fruit, the dark green flesh, with your finger.

• Cut them into big cubes and put them in a mixer.

• Add little water. To make it more foamy, you can add some more. Grind it like a pasty, foamy dip.

• Add a pinch of salt or to your taste and serve it as a dip.

• Use this in your salads to increase its good effect in your health.

Tip: If you are using a bigger size avocado and its enough for you to make only half, store the seeded half in an air tight container filled with water to its brim and put it in refrigerator. Use it within a day.

Sambar Saatham / Bisibela Baath

One of the simplest and quickest recipes for lunch menu is Sambar Rice. Which is a perfect diet meal all in one. It has rice rich in carbohydrate, toor dal not only rich in protein but also contains 23 essential amino acids.. along with the good number of vegetables in it adds nutritional value to it.. It can be served with boondhi raitha too, which completes the meal with a milk product. It is generally served with appalam(paappad) and pickle.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Toor dal - 1 cup (little less than a cup)

Vegetables - almost all sambar vegetables can be added. Here I used a capsicum, a piece of raddish, a piece of cauliflower floret, 2 egg plants, 2 potatoes, some peas

Tomato - 1 medium size

Onion - 1 no

Curry leaves - 1 stem

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Hinge - 1/2 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 2 nos

Oil - 2 tsp

Tamarind- 1 lemon size (Soak and extract the juice)

Ginger / Garlic - a bit/ 1 pod (Optional)

Ghee- 1 tsp (Optional)

Cashewnut - few (Optional)

Salt -to taste

To Grind :

Corriander Seeds - 1 tbsp

Chenna dal - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tbsp

Dry Red Chillies - 4 nos. or up to your taste.

Coconut - a normal size sliced or 1/2 cup shredded.

Cumin Seeds -1/4 tbsp 

Cloves -  4 nos

Cinnamon Stick -2 nos

Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Cardomom - 2 nos(Optional)

Procedure:

• Soak Toor dal first before we start anything on stove.
• In a Cooker or a Vessel we use to cook the rice, Sputter some mustard seeds in oil, add curry leaves, hinge and red chillies.

• Then add Chopped Onion, If in case you would like to add ginger and garlic, add them now.
• While the onion is being saute, Cut potato and add them in. Follow the next hardest veggie like carrot, beans,  egg plant, cauliflower, capsicum and green peas... Let it be in for 2 minutes.

• Mean while dry roast the ingredients above said to grind items along with the coconut. Grind them coarsely.

• I roasted the coconut separately, coz I used the frozen kind. While grinding the masala, grind them with the coconut too..

• Add soaked and washed toor dhal, and rice to the vegetables.
• Add the ground masala into it.

• Add required water as usual you keep to cook rice. I used 1:3 for rice and water. Here I used 6 cups of water since I added 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of toor dal. Include measuring tamarind juice too.
• Add sliced tomatoes and tamarind extract.

• Add Ghee and Cashew, if you would like to taste special.

• Pressure cook and mix well and serve hot with your favorite sides like boondhi raitha, pickle, pappadam...