Dates and Figs Burfi (Energy Bites)

When I think of burfi, the first thing that comes to my mind is oozing ghee, sugar and maybe khoya, besan etc.. But this particular burfi has no such thing, just plain main healthy ingredients. You will want to keep this in your pantry to chomp off whenever you will have a sugar craving :) and go guilt free :) It is more like an energy bite which will calm your sugar cravings too. Win Win situation!

So not wasting any more time here, am going straight to the recipe details!

Let us take a look at the Dates and Figs Burfi (Energy Bites) recipe.


      Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry figs 
• 1 cup dates 
• 2 tbsp ghee 
• 1/2 cup sugar(optional) 
• 10 cashews (roughly chopped) 
• 10 pistachios (roughly chopped) 

Preparation:

• Soak dates in hot water and keep aside for 10 minutes. Then cut dates finely with a knife. 
• In a processor grind figs. 
• Take a pan and warm ghee in it, now add the figs and saute on medium flame for around 6-7 minutes.  
• Add the dates and sugar if you need that extra nice sweet taste and saute till it leaves ghee at the side of the pan (like 5 more minutes) 
• Add the chopped nuts and mix everything well. 
• Grease a tray or plate with ghee or on a wax parchment sheet, add this mixture, spread it evenly with a flat spoon. 
• Refrigerate for 10 minutes, cut into desired shaped pieces and keep it back in the refrigerator for an hour. 
• You can roll it into bite size balls too. Get creative and give your own twist :)

njoy!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits: Figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. Very good source of fibre, magnesium, vitamin b6 and copper. Good news is dry figs are available easily in the market. 


Dates: again high in dietary fiber helps prevent LDL (bad) cholesterol. Good content of iron, potassium, B-vitamins along with vitamin A(for eyes, skin), Vitamin K(for bones).

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Crispy and Crunchy

You won't believe it when I say that I still say Biscuits for Cookies every once in a while :) Yes, the term that we used since childhood (BRI english) doesn't go away easily :) Now I have a kid who corrects me instantly so I am getting better by the day :) Here in USA, biscuits are buttery fluffy bread made with buttermilk, butter and flour.

My kid is my motivation when it comes to baking cookies of any kind. He loves all sorts of cookies- crunchy, chewy, soft, brittle, shortbread- just about any kind. He can live on Oreos for all I know. So yesterday before he went to sleep he tells me, "mom will you please bake me some yummy chocolate chip cookies tomorrow?" Now who can deny that sweet little request? Right?? And as a ritual I have to save a little dough for him to taste. :)

The aroma of freshly baked cookies have a way of melting your stress and giving your brain that instant dose of happiness! House smells fantastic. I have made C C C many times before using store bought packets. But in the past couple of years have been making it at home with fresh ingredients. So here is one such crispy and crunchy recipe of chocolate chip cookies. Just realised the title of my post has 5 C's :)

Let us take a look at the recipe of Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
• 3/4 cup fine sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand held mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. 
• Beat in the egg and then the vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, to make a soft dough. Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Either spoon a heaping tablespoon of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3-inches apart or make a small balls of the dough and press gently to form a disc of 2-3 inches.
• Bake the cookies until brown around the edges, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.

njoY!! happY bakinG!!

You may also like:

Eggless Coconut Cookies

Eggless Saffron Cookies

Nankatai

Crinkled Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies made by Scooping with a spoon

And I have a happy little camper at home enjoying these bites from chocolate chip cookies with his milk :)
Thank you for stopping by this post!

Pretzel Chocolate Hugs

Now I had to come up with a cute name for this goody :) so the word 'Hug' in the name :)
A quick, no stress, fun happy treat for everyone! All one needs to do here is assemble Pretzel, Kisses (chocolates) and M&Ms.  Involve kids into doing these cute little treats.

Long time back one of my friends had made these and I loved the idea of it. Zero effort needed and it looks so beautiful. You can make it in bulk for party occasions or get togethers! My kid gets excited when I tell him that we are making pretzel hugs, his job is to peel the kisses wrapper :) I get so lazy when it comes to unwrap the chocolates. So it is a win win situation for me :)

Keep these beautiful treat in a transparent air tight container on your kitchen counter. A treat for the eyes and taste-bud! The combo of crunchy salty pretzel and soft kisses with m&m flavor makes it a perfect bite!

I have made this so many times, this batch is made with peppermint flavor for holidays! You can add your favorite flavor of chocolates and enjoy!

Let us take a look at this Pretzel Chocolate Hugs recipe:

Ingredients:

• Pretzels
• Kisses chocolates
• M&Ms

(You can take as many as you want)

Preparation:

• On a baking sheet, lay out a parchment paper and neatly place pretzel on it. Keep kisses chocolate on it. Bake on 200F(100C) for just 5-7 minutes. 
• You will see the chocolates softening up. Take the sheet out and place M&M on it in the center and gently press it down. 
• Once all the M&Ms are on pretzels, stick the tray it in the fridge for sometime or leave it on the counter-top till the chocolate hardens. 
• Enjoy the hugs as a happy treat!

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Eggless Coconut Cookies

I am in a baking mood these past few days as my house is set up for holiday season with a Christmas tree (we celebrate it for the holiday spirit) stockings, lights, wreaths etc. Peppermint goodies, hot chocolate box stuffed and stored, only thing remaining is to get gifts and gift wraps :)

Cold wind and air is slowly creeping in, my yard is going all dry and can view naked trees all around the neighborhood. Waiting for a light snow shower to get that magical moment during holidays! (Many may not agree with me, but I am all that oh so predictable cheeeesy gal out there :))

 So my son comes up with a request of wanting freshly baked cookies for him. Now my motherly instincts instantly kicked in big time:) Had to tell my husband like 10 times, my son has asked me to bake him some cookies :) and as usual he nods his head and brushes off my enthusiasm :).  I frantically start looking for some cookie recipes.
Came across these lovely eggless coconut cookies from blend with spices blog. I had to try it and I am glad I did. Just tweaked a little. They taste awesome. Goes perfect with your hot cup of tea or coffee and yes milk for my kiddo.

Let us take a look at these eggless coconut cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and at room temperature
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp milk or as needed
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp unsweetened dessicated coconut for garnish
• 2 tbsp crystal sugar (optional)

Yields around a dozen cookies. Double the measurements to get more...

  

Preparation:

• In a mixing bowl, add the butter and powdered sugar and mix it until light and creamy.
• Add the vanilla and salt and combine.
• Now add the wheat flour, all purpose flour, and dessicated coconut to it and mix everything.
• Then sprinkle the milk little by little over it and mix well to make smooth dough. The dough should be very soft.
• Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
• Divide the cookie dough into 10 -12 round balls and flatten them with your palms to give the shape of your liking.
• Sprinkle the top of the cookies with coconut and crystal sugar and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper spacing about 1 inch apart.
• Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for anywhere between 16-18 minutes.
• Remove them from the oven and let them cool down for 5 minutes. Place them on a wire rack and allow them to cool.
• They will be soft when taken out, but will firm up once they cool.
• Store in an airtight container.

you may also like -

Crinkle Cookies

Saffron Cookies

njoY!! happY bakinG!!

Idli Sambar

Idli Sambar is the most delicious and slurpicious breakfast that is out there, originally from south of India. Now it is a well known dish all over the country and the world. It is a known fact that it has very low calories and it is a very metabolic friendly dish. Hot steaming idlis are soft in nature and fluffy in character with pure look (cotton soft white :))

Getting soft idlis depends on lots of factors. For Idli batter to ferment, it needs warm temperature. In tropical region, one need not think about temperature, which is a big advantage. In cold countries, one has to get creative and keep the batter in warmer places overnight to ferment like in the oven with the lights on or in microwave with a glass of hot water or near the vent where it is usually hot when heater is on :) etc. etc. Idli has basically 2 parts, black split gram dal and either rice or idli rava (also known as rice rava) My recipe has Idli rava and making idli is a breeze. When you make with rice, one has to rinse it, dry it and then grind it. Long process..:( Also if you grind it using a stone grinder (wet grinder) the batter ferments more nicely than when one grinds it in a regular blender.  I use a regular grinder and have no complaints :)

Idli's cannot be had alone (because it is bland), it is not a standalone dish :) it needs company, yes! Sambar or Chutney are the best accompaniments an idli can have. My personal favorite is ginger chutney to go with the idli's :) But I enjoy it with sambar and other chutneys too.
Sambar is again a staple curry from south India. It is a blend of mix vegetables cooked and then mixed with sambar masala (few spices), tamarind, jaggery etc and then finished with an aromatic tempering.

One more thing I like about it is that, it is kind of mess free. Kids take an immediate liking to it as it is bland and we can feed them with sugar and ghee or plain ketchup. Since it is very soft in texture, they will not know how many idli's go in their tummies without making any fuss. Easy to carry while taking road trips and going to picnics.

Let us take a look at the Idli recipe and Sambar recipe:

Ingredients:
Idli

• 1 cup black split gram dal (urad dal)
• 2 cups idli rava
• salt as per taste

Sambar:

• 2 cups vegetables chopped/cubed (beans, okra, potato, onion, carrots, drumsticks, eggplant etc- any 4 vegetables should be good enough)
• 1 cup cooked tovar dal
• 1 tsp tamarind pulp
• 1/2 tsp jaggery
• 2-3 tsp sambar powder (I use mtr brand a lot)
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt as per taste

for tempering:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
• 2 dry red chillies
• 1 tbsp oil or ghee
• for garnish - grated coconut (optional)

Preparation:

         Idli:

• Soak urad dal overnight or for 6 hours. Wash and drain the water out. Transfer to the blender and add just enough water till the dal is immersed. Grind it in a blender with addition of little water if needed and make a smooth paste (shouldn't be a running batter). If you have a stone grinder, even better :). Transfer the paste to a bigger steel ( if possible) container.
• Now take 2 cups of idli rava in a bowl, add some water till it is immersed. Scoop the idli rava in your palms, squeeze the water out and add the idli rava in the urad dal batter. Repeat the process till all the idli rava is in the batter. Mix the batter nicely, it should have thick consistency. Now add salt, mix it with the batter.
• Leave the mixture in a warm place to ferment for good 6- 8 hours. If the temperature is 90F and above you can do a happy dance :) as the batter will explode after fermentation like this

• If the weather is not cooperating, you can place it in oven, turn the heat to 200F, switch it off and place your batter utensil in the oven overnight or 8-10 hours. 
• In todays' time you can also make it in instant pot very easily too, get the mode on yogurt and keep your batter inside the pot for say 8-10 hrs.
• You will see that the fermented batter increases in volume and becomes very airy and fluffy.
• Now take an idli mould stand and grease it with oil, scoop batter and fill the moulds (do not overfill). Steam it for 12 minutes on med-high heat. 
• Take the mould stand out, let it cool for 2 minutes and then scoop the idli's out. Yeilds around 24-25 idli's.
• Serve hot with Sambar and chutney.

           Sambar:

• In a pan add oil and dump all the chopped vegetables. Saute it for few seconds, and add little water, cover and cook for about 6-7 minutes till they are 3/4 done. Stir in between.
• Add sambar powder, mix with the vegetables and then pour cooked tovar dal, adjust the thickness of the sambar as per your liking by adding water. Stir everything gently.

• Add tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt, and bring to a quick boil. Then simmer the sambar for few more minutes. Taste and adjust tamarind and jaggery as per your liking.
• Make a tempering by heating oil, add mustard seeds, after it splutters add curry leaves, red dry chillies and hing. Pour it over the sambar and cover the lid. Let the steam get infused in the sambar. Serve hot with steaming Idli's or Dosas.

You may also like, Ragi Iddiyapam, Potato Stew, Instant Poha Idli, Plain Dosa, Cilantro Chutney, Ginger Chutney etc.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!



Health Benefits:
Idlis are a great source of carbohydrates and proteins. The fermentation process increases the bioavailability of proteins and enhances the vitamin B content of the food. As it is steamed, fat content is low and it is easily digestible. Use of dal and rice in idli is a good combination as the amino acids in them complement each other. An idli fills you up with fewer calories. 1 idli contains only 50-65 calories only. Some foods burden your digestive system whereas some get easily digested. Idli-sambar is a dish which can easily be absorbed by your body. Also, some foods don't make you feel lazy or sleepy after consuming and this dish is one of them.
Shown here are the pics of Idli rava and its packaging, just to give an idea :)

Rice Chakli (Chakali)

Chakali's or Chakli are a perfect spiral shaped (like preztel-ish shape) deep-fried savory snack with a spiked surface. Most of the Indians enjoy eating Chakli with their tea or coffee as a snack in the late afternoon. Or when you go visiting your friends or family, this snack is usually present by default on the coffee table :) along with the other snacks. It is a crunchy snack that makes a loud noise as you munch on it, giving a good exercise to your mouth (he he) as you get into the rhythm of munching and creating sound that goes karram kurram :) -( yeah I know it's the same sound for papad too :))

There are 10 different types of Chakali preparation with various permutation and combination of flours and spices. I make the most simple one with rice flour and chickpea flour (besan) which is how my mom makes. Comes out fine. Soon will try few other kind with Ragi (my fav. grain), Moong dal etc and will experiment with baking instead of frying :)

A special gadget is used to make these spirals. Not sure how you can make this if you don't have one :) This is a must do snack in many households during the festival of Diwali. Every Diwali I think to myself, I must make this snack more often and that somehow never happens :( Either the days are passing by too fast or I am getting lazy to do it before the next Diwali comes by :)

Never mind, let's see on the brighter side, I get into the mood of making it atleast every Diwali :) I like my Chaklis very spicy, that's how my mom makes it and everyone in my house loves it that way.
It is also known as murukku in the south of India or chakri in northern northern India. Whatever the name, it is loved by most of us.

Let us take a look at the Chakli recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan) 
• 2 tbsp split black gram flour (urad dal/kali dal)
• 1 1/2 tsp chilly powder, (more if you like spicy)
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 
• 1/2 tsp carrom seeds (ajwain) 
• 2 tsp sesame seeds (til)
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania pwd)
• 2 tsp hot oil
• salt as per taste 
• 1 tsp hot ghee (you can use all 3 tsp ghee too)
• 3/4th cup approx. water (to knead the dough)
• oil to fry

Preparation:

• Mix all the above ingredients except water and mix everything with your fingers. Be careful with the hot oil. 
• Then slowly add water little by little and make a chapati/roti like dough. Keep aside for 20-30 min, covered.
  

• Take some portion of the chakli dough, knead it some more and place it in the chakli press, start making spirals on a newspaper sheet or wax paper.

• Heat oil in a kadai, once the oil is hot bring the flame to med.  Slowly slide the chaklis in the kadai using piece of wax paper or slide it on plain spatula and transfer slowly in the hot oil and fry nicely till it is brown on all sides. 

• Take it out and place on the paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Nice crispy spicy chaklis are ready.

• Let it cool down completely before you store it in an airtight container.

njoY!! happY fryinG!! :)

You may also like Microwave Doodh Pedha, Badushai, Mandige, Besan ladoo....

Notes:* Always fry chakli on low-medium flame. If you see that the spirals are breaking while making chakli, try to work with little dough at a time, knead it well,  add couple drops of water, knead well and place it in the chakli press. It works for me that way. If your dough is too soft, add little all purpose flour and knead well before you start making the spirals. If still it isn't working just directly add the spirals in the oil (carefully) and fry. Spirals or no spirals, snack is yummy anyways! :)

Mande (Mandige / Chowde)- Sweet Dish

Mande or Mando is a very simple and an authentic Konkani sweet dish usually prepared during the festival of Diwali, Chaturthi and Weddings! It is a deep-fried flat poori (bigger in size) which is folded like a handkerchief and a generous dose of confectionary sugar mixed with sesame seed is sprinkled on the top. It is a melt in the mouth treat! It is sweet, rich and crunchy! Has a pure look to it as it is white in color and looks so divine!

I call it my handkerchief dessert :) because of the way it is folded and stored. Various regions in Karnataka and Maharashtra know this sweet by various name like Mande, Mandige, Chowde etc.

Try it this Diwali and enjoy it with your family!

Here is the Mande recipe or Chowde recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
• 2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp cardamom crushed
• 2 tsp pistachios crushed
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds roasted
• 1 tbsp dry grated coconut roasted (optional)
• pinch salt
• water to knead the dough
• oil to deep fry

Preparation:

• Make a dough by taking maida, add warm ghee, salt and mix everything by rubbing with your hands. Add water 1 tbsp at a time and knead a hard dough. Keep aside for 15 minutes covered.
• Make a mixture of confectionary sugar, cardamom, pistachios and coconut. 
• By taking a small portion of dough, make balls and roll out a disc of 5-6 inch diameter using a rolling pin. It should be thin and not thick disc. 
• Heat oil in a frying pan, work on a med-high flame, else the mande will soak oil while frying. Fry it just like you would fry a papad. The color should remain white. Small bubbles appear on the surface indicating they are cooked. If kept for a longer time, they become stiff and cannot be folded.
• Take it out on a paper towel and immediately sprinkle sugar mixture on the mande, by making use of spoon fold it once and sprinkle more sugar on it. Now make one another last fold and sprinkle sugar mixture again. Leave it to cool down. You can store it in an airtight container for good 1 week. 

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* While frying the Mande poori see to it that it doesn't fluff like poori, in order to get a flat poori try making marks on the rolled disc with a fork and then slide in the oil. Fry on med-high flame. Do not fry too much that you get brown color.

Fried Modak

Modak is considered as a favorite food(nevaidya) of Lord Ganesha and all his bhakts(devotees) love to prepare it on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi or any other festival/days related to HIM, like sankashti. It is a stuffed deep fried ball with a modak shape (shaped like Kisses Hershey's: my mom says modak chocolates even to this day :P). It is stuffed with coconut and jaggery mixture!

Mostly every house in Maharashtra will have this as an offering in front of the Ganesha Idol. It is given to all the guests who attend the aarti (pooja) as a prasad (offerings).

Now coming to an interesting story, who knew one day I would start blogging about food! My first post was way back in 2003(maybe?) and it was none other than MODAK recipe on bawarchi.com, if anyone remembers that site. I had searched for the recipe of modak in vain and had not found one (ya can you believe that? I remember getting steamed modak recipes but not fried one's) I finally got it from my mom [Well, my Mom has no concept of measurements, she knows only eyeballing... was tough for me to understand her eyeball measurements :)] I gotta mention, if not for this blog, I would be falling in the same category of eye-balling lol. I somehow managed and the modaks turned out great! I had then sent my recipe to www.bawarchi.com thinking that it would help others who were in the same boat as me! Till recently the recipe was available on the internet, but not anymore :( Maybe they purged the data or something.

So in a way, this is a very special recipe!

One other thing, an interesting game is played while making modaks during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. My aunt usually did this ritual. One has to make modaks in odd numbers like 5, 11, 21, 51 etc (any offering to Ganesha must be in odd numbers). While stuffing the modaks, add extra salt or extra sweetness in one of the modaks and when you serve, keep all the fried modaks together. Whoever gets that odd modak is considered lucky and will have a fantastic year ahead :) Some silly fun to look forward to. But now when I think of it, maybe it was a trick to make everyone eat the modaks haha (smart MOMs :))

Bappa Morya: Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All purpose flour ( or 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup all purpose flour(maida))
• 1 tsp semolina (rava) - optional
• water to knead 
• salt as per taste
• 1 tbsp oil

For filling

• 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut (can use dry coconut too)
• 1/2 cup powdered jaggery
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (roasted)

For frying:

• 1 cup oil or ghee

Preparation:

• Add 1 tbsp of warm oil to all purpose flour. Mix it very well with your fingers in the maida. 
• Add salt and water little by little to make it a very stiff dough.
• Keep the dough aside for about 10-15 minutes, covered.
• Heat jaggery and coconut together till jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture with coconut. Add the roasted sesame seeds in the mixture. It smells great.
• Remove from heat and add cardamom powder. Mix everything together.
• Now make the modaks, take small balls of the dough, roll it into small puris (3-4 inch diameter disc)
• Place 1 tbsp of stuffing on the disk(puri) and bring the edges together towards the centre making folds. Seal it at the centre giving a shape of modak.
• Heat oil and deep fry the modaks on medium heat till all sides are brown. Take it out with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel to drain out the excess oil. Let it cool completely before you store it in air tight container.

njoY!! happY cookinG & fryinG!!

Notes:*- You can use whole wheat flour too, to make modaks, but when you use all purpose flour you get flaky, crunchy and perfect modaks.