Delicate Crochet bracelet with beads in purple

crochet backpack

This crochet backpack, I made for my granddaughter, who is very fond of bags like me ! The final look is like the first picture. Hope Anu likes it.

Sinless , quick dessert

1 cup each of wheat flr.,   rice flr./ semolina/ rava,    maida or cornflour.    roast the 3 flours with 2 tsp of ghee or butter, till a nice aroma comes & raw smell goes.  Keep it aside.
In a thick pan, take 1 cup of sugar ( measure all the ing. with the same cup) add water to cover it well, cook it, keep
stirring till it boils well, add the roasted flours, mix well, seeing that no lumps are there, add a tbsp of ghee, keep stirring till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Spread the mixture on a greased plate, garnish with nuts. Those who like may add some color, like kesari powder. I added mango flavor essence, that gave it a light yellow color & flavor.

Unlike other sweets, this is very easy to make, quite healthy, also with very little sugar & fat.
So, those with a sweet tooth like me, can have a good go at it ! &and don't have to feel sad.

Sinless , quick dessert

1 cup each of wheat flr.,   rice flr./ semolina/ rava,    maida or cornflour.    roast the 3 flours with 2 tsp of ghee or butter, till a nice aroma comes & raw smell goes.  Keep it aside.
In a thick pan, take 1 cup of sugar ( measure all the ing. with the same cup) add water to cover it well, cook it, keep
stirring till it boils well, add the roasted flours, mix well, seeing that no lumps are there, add a tbsp of ghee, keep stirring till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Spread the mixture on a greased plate, garnish with nuts. Those who like may add some color, like kesari powder. I added mango flavor essence, that gave it a light yellow color & flavor.

Unlike other sweets, this is very easy to make, quite healthy, also with very little sugar & fat.
So, those with a sweet tooth like me, can have a good go at it ! & don't have to feel sad.

Sinless , quick dessert

1 cup each of wheat flr.,   rice flr./ semolina/ rava,    maida or cornflour.    roast the 3 flours with 2 tsp of ghee or butter, till a nice aroma comes & raw smell goes.  Keep it aside.
In a thick pan, take 1 cup of sugar ( measure all the ing. with the same cup) add water to cover it well, cook it, keep
stirring till it boils well, add the roasted flours, mix well, seeing that no lumps are there, add a tbsp of ghee, keep stirring till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Spread the mixture on a greased plate, garnish with nuts. Those who like may add some color, like kesari powder. I added mango flavor essence, that gave it a light yellow color & flavor.

Unlike other sweets, this is very easy to make, quite healthy, also with very little sugar & fat.
So, those with a sweet tooth like me, can have a good go at it ! & don't have to feel sad.

Cauliflower stem kheer

Ingredients

1 kg cauliflower stems             1 ½ l. milk           300 gms sugar         

 50 gms khoya( thickened milk)

2 mgs raisins          1 gm pista           1 tsp cardamom pdr.

Method

Wash the cauliflower stems well, core the stems from the sides as they’re thick. Finely chop the stems & squeeze them to remove the excess water. Boil milk in a thick pan, add the stems, allow them to cook well, add sugar & reduce the flame. Once the stems are well cooked & the milk is reduced, add the khoya & mix well. Then add cardamom pdr, raisins & pista. Serve hot.

Goodness of apples- caramelised apple pie

Green apples- good for teeth & strong bones, helps in sight, has anti-cancer properties.

Red apples- good for heart & memory, lowers the risk of some cancers & helps maintain urinary tract health.

Yellow apples- good for heart, eyes & immune system, reduces the risk of some cancers.

Caramelized apple pie

Tart mixture- butter 500 gms       refined flr. 750 gms       icing sugar 250 gms

Chilled water 25 ml.

For apple mixture- apples 5       sugar 150gms      raisin 100 gm          cinnamon pdr 1 tsp

Method- gently cream butter in a bowl, add the icing sugar & cream well. Gently add the flr. Add some cold water & mix. Rest the sough in a refrigerator for a t least an hour. Take out & knead gently. Roll out the dough & line the tart moulds. Cut apples into dices & mix sugar raisins & cinnamon pdr. Put the mixture into the tart moulds & cover with the dough.   Bake at 180 deg. C in a preheated oven for 25-30 min. serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Soyabean kababs

Ingredients- 

2 cups soya bean nuggets          1 medium onion peeled & halved      1” ginger sliced fine

1 small pod garlic peeled        2 dry red chilies         ¼ cup chana dal     1 onion

3 pieces each whole black pepper, white cardamoms, cloves

1 black cardamom  2 green chilies   1 bunch coriander leaves cut fine   2 tsp oil for frying

Method-

Cook all the ingredients in a pressure cooker. Grind to a paste. Mix onion, chilies, salt, coriander with the paste. Shape into kababs & shallow fry till well browned on both sides.

Mixed vegetable cutlets

Ingredients-    4 green bananas boiled & peeled             4 carrots boiled      2 slices brown bread

1 tsp butter     salt & black pepper  to taste          2 tbsp freshly grated cheese ( opt.)

2 cups freshly crushed Monaco biscuit crumbs/ bread crumbs

Method-

Mash all ingredients together & shape into oblong cutlers. Roll on both sides & press into biscuit crumbs. Shallow fry till crisp & brown on both sides

Banana cutlets

ingredients-

6 green bananas             2 slices of brown bread         1 tsp spicy green chutney ( this you can make with fresh coriander leaves, green chilies & some mint may be added, if you add mint, squeeze some lime juice to retain the green color).  Salt & chili pdr to taste

Method- boil or steam bananas & remove the skin. Mash the pulp along with bread, salt, spices & chutney. Form into whatever shape you like & shallow fry in a tsp of oil/

round bows for hair

This is my idea to fashion one's pony/ plait with these round bows. As this is my grand daughter's favorite color, made the 1st in green. She can tie her plaits with these !

Crochet bracelet with beads

This bracelet was finished in less than 2 hours. It is one of the easiest design. I've put velcro in the end, so it can be adjusted according to one's size !

Sabudana Vada/cutlet

To make sabudana vada, soak about
a cup of sabudan in water for about 30 min., drain. To this add 4 medium sized cooked, peeled , smashed potatoes,
2 onions finely cut,
6-8 green chilies, finely cut or as per taste or ad chili pdr. to  taste  salt to taste
to make it a bit healthy I added about a cup of soaked soya granules.
To bind all these you may need about 2 tbsp of rice flour & 2 tbsp of besan/ gram flr. In case those who don't have either, bind it with some refined flr./ maida & enriched atta along with a tbsp of semolina/ suji/rava.
Heat oil, make small flat cutlets/vada & deep fry in hot oil. Drain on paper & serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

3 no-cooking fruit desserts

1.  Fruits with almond milk dip -- Just cut any fruits (Strawberries, mango, peaches would be best for this). Make almond milk by soaking some almonds in hot water. Remove the skin and blend in blender with little bit of water (just enough to get them to blend).  You will get a thick creamy milk. At the end, add some of the fruit you are cutting and also some sugar or honey and blend.  Dip the fruit in the milk and enjoy!  Instead of blending some fruit with the milk, you can also add some chocolate sauce to the almond milk and dip fruits iin it.

 

2.  Fruit kebabs -- I just cut fruits of various colors (grapes, kiwi, mango, pineapple, melons, strawberries are all good).  Just skewer them on barbecue skewers making sure the colors contrast.  They look lovely on a platter and taste great naturally.

 

3.  Yogurt with fruit -- In a glass cup or bowl, place a layer of cut fruit (bananas, berries, mango, kiwi, peaches would be best); spread yogurt on top of the fruits; top with honey; sprinkle some chopped nuts and seeds (sunflower, for example).  Enjoy!  If you want to be really fancy, put the nuts/seeds after the cut fruit, top with yogurt and make a design on top with fruit "petals" then drizzle honey over them.

These recipes were sent by Ms. Seetha Sharma, my niece from Singapore, thanks for the simple recipes.

Apple, pear, soys, nuts pudding

This dessert is made of small pears which weren't so juicy (6-8), 2 red apples, both were peeled, cut into small pieces. Micro high with wee bit of water & a tsp. of sugar along with cinnamon pdr. 1/2 tsp for 3 min. Mix well, I added about 1 small cup of milk, some almonds cut into rough pieces, I added some soaked & squeezed out soya granules, which must be about 1/2 cup, cooked it for 3 minutes, then added about 1 tbsp of gur/ jaggery, those who don't have gur, may add sugar to taste or brown sugar mix well & keep for another 3 minutes. To make it dry, I added some wheat germ, as it is also healthy ! & micro high for another 2-3 minutes adding some dates cut into small pieces.

If you don't have wheat germ/ or any other ingredient, don't worry, you may use what you've. The best part is, there is no fat in it ! also healthy, as all ingredients are quite healthy, including gur, which is a good source of iron !

Bread crust full of vitamins

You Shouldn’t Cut Off the Bread’s Crust. It’s Full of Vitamins.

The truth is: In a 2002 German study, researchers found that the baking process produces a novel type of cancer-fighting antioxidant in bread that is eight times more abundant in the crust than in the crumb. That said, it’s more important to serve whole-wheat bread, with or without the crust, because it’s all around higher in nutrients, such as fiber. Make sure the ingredients list “100% whole-wheat flour.” Breads simply labeled “wheat” are usually made with a mixture of enriched white flour and whole-wheat flour and have less fiber.

Traditional Kolakattai/ modakam, snack

The picture on the left is the traditional 'kolakattai'/ modak that is made on Ganesh Chathurthi.

For the outer covering- Rice flour 1 cup means
2 cups water    2 tsp oil   1/4 tsp salt
Boil water, add salt & oil, thens tir in rice flr. & keeps stirring till it forms a lump. cover & keep it.

For traditional filling with coconut-
for 1 coconut grated      1 cup gur/ vellam/jaggery
add coconut & gur in a heavy pan with 1/2 cup water, keep stirring till it all the water dries up & it is completely dry & leaves the sides of the pan. Cool.

To make modakam/ kolakattai-
take a small portion of the dough roll it well it greased palm, then shape like a cup with your finger tips, keep some filling inside & shape it as shown. Make a few, then arrange it in idli plates, heat the cooker with some water, keep the plates in, cook for 7-9 minutes maximum. remove, cool slightly, then you'd be able to tilt the modakam on to a plate. For those who cook idli in microwave, this can be made in microwave too in 3-4 minutes.

The 2nd picture shows the salty filling-
normally this is made with vadai batter, which is steamed in idli plates for 10 minutes, then you've to cool & smash it well so that there are no lumps. then heat a kadai, add 2 tsp of oil, add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 2 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp udad dal,   green chili 2-3 cut fine, hing 1/2 tsp. Mix it with the crumbled cooked dough along with little salt. Thoe who don't want to add green chilies may add some red chili pdr. too. Cook it well for 2-3 minutes, remove & cool & stuff like the modak but it is shaped in oblong way.

For sweet stuffing with sesame seeds/ til/ Ellu
as it is shown in the last picture. Roast sesame seeds well, add gur/jaggery powder to taste & grind it in mixie. Store in air tight container. This can be done earlier too. This can be eaten plain, as it tastes good ( I just love it , so does my hubby). Til/sesame is a good source of calcium & gur/ jaggery is a good source of iron, so it is quite healthy.
Take some prepared outer filling/ dough, shape it like a cup, put the till filling, close it in oval. oblong shape. It is steamed like modak.

crochet necklace with beads

This crochet necklace with beads is for my grand daughter, Anasuya, hope she likes it!

atta/wheat flour onion vadai

Atta 2 cups              maida/ refined flr 1 cup              rice flr  1/2 cup       spring onion finely chopped 1 cup
rava/sooji 2 tbsp         hing 1/2 tsp                   green chilies 5-6 finely cut       salt     oil to fry

Mix the flours with salt with little water, then add onion, green chilies, curry leaves finely cut, knead well, as onion will make it moist, if only need be add little water to need. It should be stiff like vadai dough. let it remain for 5 minutes. Heat oil , make small, flat rounds & deep fry in hot oil.

Murukku

Murukku is normally made on special occasion like weddings or on certain festivals, as it is a bit laborious job, as each one has to be turned by hand to get the shape.
It is made with rice flour, for 7/9/11 parts of rice flr., you can add 1 part of udad dal powder, to make this powder, roast the dal lightly cool & powder it in the mixie fine. This dal pdr. is used for cheedais also.
To make dough, add the rice flr & dal flr, along with salt to taste, ajwain/ jeera & 2-3 tbsp of ghee/ butter depending on the quantity you're using of the flours.  This dough should be softer than the one we use for roti. To make the shape, take a foil, smear it with oil, also put some oil in your hands, take a small lemone size of the dough, hold the first part down with your left hand, then slowly twist & turn it to get the shape, in case you find it difficult to turn, with your left hand, turn the foil, then deep fry in hot oil.

I made this for Gokulashtami, as my husband loves it!

Crochet bracelet with beads

This is specially made for my grand daughter, Anasuya, hope she likes it.

"kolakattai"/ modak fried, sweet

For Ganesh Chathurthi, we normally make modak or kolakattai as prasad. But the usual steamed one is a bit laborious & has to be finished the same day. But the same filling can be used & made into nice crispy fired ones, which will last long !

For the filling- 1 coconut grated  for this you'd roughly need gur/vellam/ jaggery around the size of a normal orange or say 1 measuring cup. In a thick bottomed kadai, add the coconut, gur & 1/2 glass of water, keep stirring till the mixture is thick & almost dry, as then this will last long if you do like this. As then in case, you don't feel like making modak/ kolakattai, you can simply eat the filling as a dessert !

For the covering- 2- 2 1/2 cups of maida/ refined flour   a pinch of salt     3 tbsp ghee/ butter
knead all this into a soft dough. Then roll like a chapati, cut into small pieces as shown in the picture along side, keep a small portion of the filling, carefully cover from all sides like a modak/ kolakattai & deep fry in hot oil. Once the oil is hot, when you put them to fry, reduce the heat to low, as then only it will come out crisp.

Those who are in a hurry on Ganesh Chathurthi day, can make this earlier, as on that day, you may have to make idli, vadai & other types of kolakattai- til/ sesame sweet one, then salty one with vadai dough.

We at home love this, as it lasts long.

Wish you all a very Happy Ganesh Charthuthi & amy God Ganesha shower you all with his blessings so that all your dreams come true .

Crochet bracelet with beads

This is a crochet bracelet I made with beads. Any takers?

Crochet head band

This crochet head band is for my grand daughter. I put some beads, as she loves them ! hope she likes it too!.

Cluster beans ( Kothavarangai)/ gawar ki phali paruppu usali vege

Cluster beans is not advised for kidney patients. whose urea levels are high. So those with kidney problems may avoid it.

As cluster beans/ kothavarangai has a slightly bitter taste, best is to boil it with salt & turmeric powder, once cooked,s train it, squeeze out the water & keep. unlike beans as by itself, it doesn't taste that good, so, one way is to make it with dals. i.e, soak about one small cup of chana dal & equal quantity of arhar dal. grind it with 3-4 red chilies, 2" ginger , 6-8 garlic, optional, with salt to taste. The mixture need not be thick, as it can be cooked in microwave in 5 minutes, so unlike vada batter, it can be slightly thinner than that. grease a microwave dish with oil, put the batter, cook for 2 minutes, stir well, cook for another min. & so on till done. This can be steamed in idli plates, then the batter should be slightly thick. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp of oil in a thick kadai, add 1 tsp mustard seeds, once it crackles, add 1/2 tsp hing pdr., add the cooked dal mixture, making sure they're not in lumps, by breaking it well. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the cooked cluster beans, check for salt.

ps- the amount of dal for 1/4 kg of ckuster beans can vary as per one's taste, as some like to have more dal in this vege. This vege goes well with onion vathak kulambu, or South Indian Mor kulambu, i.e., South Indian kadi.

salted cheedai, snack

To make salted cheedai, you need 1 cup of ric flour, which should be roasted without oil/ghee on low flame till light golden. for it 1 tbsp of roasted & powdered udad dal powder is needed but optional. Ghee. butter 1 tbsp, salt to taste, 2 tsp white til/sesame seeds, pepper pdr. 1 tsp / red chili pdr. 1 tsp. First mix well all the ing. & then knead it with little water to a soft dough. Heat oil in a kadai, make small balls of this dough, deep fry in hot oil till golden, to know if it is crisp, after you drain, crush one with your palm, then you would know if it is crisp. or when you drain in a colander, the experienced ones can make out from the noise, that is crisp.

ps- this is normally made on Gokulashtami/ Janmashtami by South Indians, along with sweet/vella cheedai.

Thattai, salty snack

the simplest way to make thattai is to add equal quantities of rice flour, maida & rava/ suji. suppose you take 1 cup of each, coarsely powder 2 tbsp of pottukadalai/ roasted dal which is used for chutney along with 3-4 red chilies, add to four, along with salt to taste & 2 tbsp of butter/ghee, make a dough with water. For thattai, the dough should be like for roti. Then smear some oil in a plastic sheet or those who want to use any foil, in it, take small balls of dough flatten it as thin as possible & deep fry in hot oil till crisp.

Avil/ chiwda vadai

This is one of the quickest & easiest snack to make. All you need is about 2 cups of avil/ chiwda, wash it well, if it is thick avil, then sprinkle some water, after washing  & draining all the water. If it is thin one, wash the avil in a colander & keep. Cut 1 cup of onion fine, 5-6 green chilies to taste cut fine, 1/2 -1 cup of grated coconut, 1" ginger piece cut fine, salt to taste. mix all the ing. well, without adding any water. heat oil in a kadai, when it is hot, then flatten the dough in your hands by wetting your palms or flatten on a plastic sheet & carefully immerse in hot oil, deep fry till golden.

ps- this tastes good when it is eaten hot, no need of any chuntey also.

avil is a good source of iron.