GOND LADDOOS: POWERHOUSE OF NUTRIENTS

In our childhood, Mom gave a Gond laddoo with a glass of warm milk for breakfast all through winters. I often asked: how come you give these tasty laddoos only in winters but never in the summer.  Mother always replied: these keep you warm in the winters and make your very smart in studies.

That struck in my mind. So other day I made these Gond (edible gum) and almond, walnuts, cashews and melon seeds laddoos but I wanted to find out the benefits in detail. What amazed me that something so tasty could be such a powerhouse of nutrients.

Gond or edible gum is the sap of the thorny shrub Tragacanth.  This gum is odourless, tasteless and water soluble mixture  and it is obtained from the sap of the plant and then dried.  This has medicinal properties and often used in ailments like  cough, cold and diarrhoea.  This has long been used as a binding and thickening agent by the food and pharmaceutical industry.   It is rich in calcium and protein and is excellent for people with lung related issues, weakness and fatigue. It also helps lactating mothers.

Other than Gond or edible gum, these laddoos have almonds, walnuts, cashews and melon seeds.  All these nuts contain lot of vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants. 

Almonds contain healthy fat, protein, fibre, magnesium and vitamin E.  Almonds help with lowering blood sugar level and managing your weight.

Cashews provide us with vitamins like E, K and B6 along with copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and selenium.  Eating cashews in moderation can do wonders to your health.

Walnuts are rich in Omega3 and helps in fighting heart disease.  Walnuts contain vitamin E, folate and anti oxidants.  They have neuroprotective compounds so they support the brain health.

Melon seeds provide us with Vitamins B1,B3, B6 and folate as well as vitamin K, potassium, magnesium, copper and fibre.

Now you can imagine if all the above mentioned ingredients are  put in a laddoo with wheat flour and ghee(clarifying butter), why won’t they become a powerhouse of nutrients and minerals, which we don’t get in our day to day dishes. These laddoos should not be taken more than one per day, although their taste tempts you to go for second or third helpings. They strengthen and nourish the bone tissues and wholesome nourishment for winters.

  

Here is my simple recipe of Gond Laddoos:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup wheat flour, 1 cup walnuts, 1 cup almonds, 1/2 cup cashews, 1/4cup melon seeds, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup ghee(clarifying butter), 1/3 cup gond(edible gum), 1/4 tsp cardamom powder(optional)

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan, when ghee gets heated, lower the flame to sim. Fry Gond. It will pop like pop corns. Gond should always be fried on low flame otherwise it won’t cook from inside which can make stomach upset. Once all Gond is cooked, take it out in a plate. When it cools off, either crush it with pastel or grind it in a mixer.

In another pan on a low flame roast wheat flour without adding anything to it. It will take 7 to 8 minutes for it to roast well. Take it out and keep aside.

Now grind almonds in a mixer. You may leave them a bit coarse. Take these out. In the same grinder pulse walnuts, cashews and melon seeds. If you pulse it more than half a minute they will become powdery. Not that there is any harm in making it powdery. Mix all the ground nuts together.

Now in the first pan, pour rest of the ghee, heat it on medium flame. Add roasted wheat flour. Stir it for 2 minutes, add brown sugar and mix it well. Cook for two more minutes on low flame.  Now add ground nuts and crushed or ground Gond to it. Turn off the stove.  You may add cardamom powder to it. 

Let it cool off a bit, take a tbsp of mix at a time in your palm and make round ball. Make round balls of the whole mix and put them in an airtight container. Their shelf life is 2 to 4 weeks.

Note: some people like to fry nuts and then ground them. This enhances the taste but reduces the nutrient value of the nuts. 

NO BAKE ORANGE PIE

Other day I got some oranges from the market. I generally like semi sweet and sour oranges. But this batch of oranges was way too tart, more than my teeth could handle. So I decided to turn these tart oranges into a dessert.

This dessert does not need any baking so it can be made very fast.  This is not made with any whipping cream, instead I have used hung yogurt or Greek yogurt, so you can enjoy this dessert without any guilt of adding calories.

This recipe is very simple.  You can make hung yogurt, ahead of time, by putting 1 litre of plain yogurt through a fine strainer for five six hours. Make sure you put it in the refrigerator during the straining process otherwise yogurt can turn a bit sour.

Ingredients for the pie crust : 

24 semi sweet Marie biscuits, 1 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil

Method for pie crust:

Powder the Marie biscuits in a grinder. Pour this powder on the base of the pie pan, drizzle the olive oil on it and press it with a spatula or your fingers. When it covers the pie pan, put it in the freezer for ten minutes. Your pie crust is ready.

Ingredients for the filling:

2 cups hung yogurt,  6 tsp honey( you may add or dercrease quantity of honey as per your taste), 1/4 cup orange juice, 1 tbsp white sugar,  orange pieces, 1/4 tsp of orange rind.

Method:

Take out the seeds from the orange pieces. In a pan put white sugar with one tsp of water. Add orange pieces. After boiling for five  seven minutes oranges will turn into sugary candy. Take them out and place them on a piece of parchment paper to cool off.

In the meanwhile, whip together hung yogurt, orange juice, orange rind and honey till mixture becomes smooth and well blended. Pour it in already prepared pie pan and freeze for a couple of hours or till it is set.

Before serving decorate with orange candied pieces. Enjoy this guilt free dessert.

POTATOES WITH GARLIC AND CHIVES: a new twist

POTATOES WITH GARLIC AND CHIVES: a new twist

Potato is one vegetable which is eaten the world over.  It is everyone’s favourite. There is an old saying once there was a fight between a potato and Okra (lady finger).  Okra was so proud of her slim body she made fun of potato teasing him of being overweight Humpty Dumpty. Other vegetables didn’t like this so they extended their friendship to potato. Since then potato can be cooked along with any other vegetable, like onion potato,  spinach potato, squash potato, cauliflower potato, and many other combinations but okra stays alone.

Potatoes can be cooked in varied ways but here I am going for potatoes with garlic and chives. I am sure you have seen many recipes of potato and chives. Most people make it with red small potatoes, at times they are made with yellow/ cream potatoes too. Sometimes potatoes are mashed or even smashed a little. But I didn’t adopt any of these traditional methods. I gave a new twist to the age old recipe.

Ingredients:

4  medium potatoes, 1 big clove of garlic, 1 tbsp of dry chives or fresh chives,

1/2 tsp of lemon pepper, 1 1/2 tsp of bread crumbs, salt to taste, 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil.

Method:

Boil potatoes. Once cool peel off the skin. Cut them into cubes.

Heat a bit one tsp of olive oil in a pan, add chopped garlic. 

 Now add potato cubes, salt, chives and lemon pepper.

Toss them for a minute and turn off the stove.

Now transfer these potatoes on a baking dish.

Sprinkle bread crumbs and left over olive oil on it.

Bake in 200 C(350F)  pre heated oven for 25 minutes.

Potatoes will be crispy and yummy. 

Enjoy as a snack or a side dish.

QUESADILLA: all time Favourite Mexican dish

Quesadilla means a tortilla(chapati like bread) filled with cheese and mixture of cooked meats or vegetables, then folded and fried on the griddle.  Basically it is a turnover flat bread.

Quesadilla was developed when Spanish settlers came to Mexico in the 16th century.   Cheese was brought to America by the Spanish and other Europeans along with dairy products. Mexico had the tortillas. Some guys in Northern Mexico(parts of what is now Southwestern US) invented flour tortillas and started making quesadillas which started to gain popularity in the rest of US.

A quesadilla is a tortilla made with white flour or corn, filled with cheese and then folded into half or semi circle. It can have other ingredients but it should always have melting cheese inside.  Melting cheese works to glue two halves together.

Quesadillas have a universal appeal among the children. The combo of white or wheat flour tortilla and melted cheese is quite easy for kids to get attracted. The best part is, this dish is a win win situation even for mothers with kids who do not like to eat vegetables. Cooked vegetables or chicken can be stuffed along with melting cheese to provide nutrients of all food groups to your little ones.

I made my own wheat flour tortilla or chapati. Stuffed it with boiled potato, carrot and peas combo by adding some spices.   Placed cheese slice on the vegetables and folded into a semi circle. Then pan fried it by adding a half teaspoon of oil till it turned golden brown. Once cool a bit, cut into slices with pizza cutter or sharp knife.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour dough to make 4 chapatis.  2 medium size potatoes, 1 big carrot, 1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas, 1/2 tsp chaat masala, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp dry mango powder, 4 cheese slices, 1 tbsp of cooking oil or butter.

Method:

Take a small piece of dough, roll into a thin chapati, roast it on the griddle and put it aside. This is your wheat tortilla.

Boil potatoes, peel off and mash them. Then peel off carrot, cut into small slices and boil them along with peas. Drain the water. Now mix mashed potatoes, carrot and peas with spices. Let it sit for a few minutes. Divide into four parts. Take one part, spread inside a cooked chapati. Place a cheese slice by dividing into two parts. Fold it into a semi circle. Heat a non stick pan. Put 1/2 tsp of oil on the pan. Place the filled tortilla on it. Fry till golden brown. Flip the side and cook till golden brown .  Do the same with other three tortillas. Your quesadillas are ready. Cut into small slices and enjoy.