Healthy protein ladoo

Ingredients:


2 cups fried dal
1 1/2 cups grated jaggery
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp ghee
Roasted nuts and raisins.



Method:

Powder the fried dal. Heat ghee, add grated jaggery and just about 2-3 tsp water to it. When it melts, immediately add the cardamom powder and fried dal powder. Add nuts, raisins and switch off the stove. Mix well and make ladoos.


Fried/roasted dal (pottukadalai/chutney dal) has a high protein content and jaggery also has proteins.

Oats Halwa

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered oats
1/2 cup milk powder (Check Sumathy's version for burfi with condensed milk)

1/2 cup sugar (add more according to your taste)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Few roasted nuts
3 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup water.

Method:

Melt the ghee and add the powdered oats to it. Keep cooking it till you start getting a nice aroma. Add the milk powder, sugar, water, cardamom powder and nuts to it and mix well. Cook till all of them gets mixed well and forms a single lump. Add more ghee if required.

Transfer it to a greased plate and cool for 10 minutes.and serve it.

Vellam Aval

Ingredients:


1 cup beaten rice/poha
1 cup grated jaggery
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tsp cardamom powder.


Method:

Sprinkle a few drops of water on the poha and keep mixing it with hands to make it soft. Add grated coconut, jaggery and cardamom powder and mix well.

Vellam aval ready to serve as a quick sweet.

Cashew and almond chikki

Ingredients: 


1 cup chopped cashews and almond
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ghee.



Method:

Heat 1 tsp ghee and sugar together without any water. Keep mixing well till the sugar melts. Switch off the gas and immediately add the chopped nuts.

Mix well and transfer to a greased board (you could use the chapati stone)and roll out using the chapati pin to the required thickness.

Cut into small squares using knife and slowly reverse the entire chikki.

Cool and break into pieces as marked.

Badam burfi

Ingredients:


1 cup badam soaked in warm water for 2 hours
1 cup gram flour
1 cup ghee
2 tsp cardamom powder
2 cups sugar (adjust as required)


Method:

Heat 2 tsp ghee and roast the gram flour till you get a nice aroma. Keep aside. Grind the badam to a smooth paste using a little milk.

Heat sugar with 1 cup water and allow it come to a 2 thread consistency. Add the badam paste and mix for 2-3 minutes. Then add the gram flour to it and keep stirring it well. Add cardamom powder and then ghee little by little to the mixture and continue to stir till the mixture starts frothing well. Transfer to a greased plate and allow it to cool for a while. Cut into desired pieces.

Bread halwa

Ingredients:


3-4 slices of bread
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp ghee
1 cup boiled milk
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Few roasted nuts.


Method:

Roast the bread slices in 1 tbsp ghee till golden brown. Cut into small pieces..It is optional to remove the corners. Heat the milk and add the bread pieces to it. Keep stirring till the bread absorbs the milk and becomes soft. Add sugar, cardamom powder and mix well till sugar melts. Add ghee and stir for a minute.

Garnish with roasted nuts and raisins.

The halwa would be the best if sweet bread is used. Other variations would be adding some fruits or some cocoa powder and choco chips.

Mysore burfi

Ingredients:




100 grams cashewnut
1 cup gram flour
3/4 cup ghee
2 cups sugar (adjust as per taste)
1/5 cup milk
Bit of red orange colour



Method:
Soak the cashews in hot water for 2 hours, drain and grind to smooth paste.

Heat the sugar with 1 cup water and allow it to boil till two thread consistency. Add the cashew paste to it and mix well. Then add gram flour slowly and mix well without lumps. Add the food colour and keep stirring. Start adding ghee slowly and keep mixing it till the mixture starts frothing. Transfer to a greased plate and allow it to cool before cutting into pieces.

Garnish with almond and cashew pieces.

Pal khova

Ingredients:




1/2 ltr milk (to get the quantity in the picture)
2 tsp ghee
3 tbsp sugar (adjust according to taste)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder.


Method:

Heat the milk on a deeper vessel on low heat. Keep stirring. For half a ltr milk, it takes a good 1 hour to reduce and become grainy.

Once it is done, add the sugar, ghee and cardamom powder to it and mix well.

This traditonal sweet takes a lot of time and patience, but the taste is worth it.


Optional: You could even add jaggery to it instead of sugar.