Showing posts with label FASTING DISHES... Show all posts
Showing posts with label FASTING DISHES... Show all posts

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

FASTING SPECIAL...



Shengdana Batata Bhaaji


Simple to make. Yet so good. The potato marries the fresh shelled peanuts with just the right amount of spice from the green chilies. The cumin seasoning with ghee imparts a fragrance that associates it immediately to the divine.

A hot plate of Shengdana Batata Bhaaji, a squeeze of lemon and a bowl of curd and you will keep promising your favorite God that you will fast more no. of times.

This bhaaji is never garnished with cilantro though you might want to do it to add color. Hey but hold it. Cilantro is out of boundaries during fasting.

You want to give it a try then here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1/4 kg Boiled potatoes
1/2 cup shelled fresh peanuts
2 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon ghee
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar

Peel and dice the boiled potatoes.

In a wok heat the ghee to smoking point. Add the cumin and before it burns be quick to add the chopped green chilies. Follow in with diced potatoes and fresh shelled peanuts. Stir well and cover and cook for 5 mins. Add the salt and sugar and stir. Cook for another 2-3 mins and you are ready to serve it.

Never use dried peanuts for this recipe. It is all about fresh shelled peanuts in this recipe. Biting into well cooked peanuts and just right cooked potatoes is bliss. I can gorge on entire platefuls.

This is again one of my Aai's recipes that I flip on. This month is when I lost her and it is also the month of a mother n daughter's birthdays. It is in her memory this recipe is posted here today.

"While I don't want to pull back your spirits to the world that you have left, I am still in those bonds that you brought me into. I remember you"




Sabudana Vada


Making Sabudana Vadas taught me this lesson. Small batches make better vadas.

So new joinees here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 cup sabudana/ sago
1 cup butter milk

Prepare sabudana by soaking in butter milk and storing it overnight.

3/4 cup boiled mashed potato
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, crushed
3-4 green chilies, fine chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt to taste

Oil for frying

Mix everything together with overnight soaked sabudana to get a dough. Divide into ping pong sized balls. Flatten them for frying. This helps to use lesser oil and they can be shallow fried. Fry until golden and crisp.

Serve with Upavasa chi Chutney and curd if you are fasting. These can be shaped and frozen but after frying need to be served immediately. Once cold they turn rubbery and cannot be enjoyed.

He he... we don't fast anymore in the family. It's a tradition long lost. Hey but let me check with Mothi Aai if she does, Aruna Kaki does not I know for sure.


Upavasa chi Chutney


Ingredients

1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 tablespoon roasted groundnuts
1 tablespoon curds
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 green chilli

Grind all the the ingredients together to make the chutney.

EKADASHI RECIPES


Aloo Tikki

Ingredients
3 large potatoes, boiled, peeled, mashed coarsely, 1/2 cup Singhare ka atta, (water chestnut flour)*, 1/4 tsp. kala namak (black salt), 1/4 tsp. black pepper powder, 5 Green chilies, finely chopped, 1 tbsp. Fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped, Salt to taste, Oil to shallow fry.
Method
Mix all ingredients (except oil) till smooth. Knead into pliable dough. Shape into 2" round thick flat patties (grease hands if it sticks). Grease griddle with a little oil, heat. Place patties, allow cooking on low flame till golden. Flip and cook other side, drizzling more oil if required. Serve hot with green chutney or peanut curd chutney.

Tip: If you are on low cal diet, just roast tikkias on nonstick tawa, without using any oil.

*Singhara ka atta: This is available in most departmental stores, for example Nilgiris on Brigade Road, Bangalore.




Aloo Pakoda


Ingredients
2 large potatoes washed and thinly sliced, 1 cup singhara atta (water chestnut flour)*, 1 tsp. salt, 2 green chilies, finely crushed in mixie, Oil for deep frying.
Method
Mix together flour, salt, chilies. Add enough water to make a thick pouring consistency. Batter should coat back of spoon well. Add 1 tsp. hot oil. Mix well. Heat oil to deep fry in a frying pan. Dip potato slices in batter, one at a time, and let into hot oil. Allow to turn light golden brown. Flip and allow other side to fry. Drain and place on absorbent paper, to remove excess oil. Serve hot, with chutney.




Sabudana Vada

Ingredients
Sabudana 200 gms, Potatoes 3 [medium sized], Groundnuts 100 gms [roasted], Red Chili Powder -3 tsp, Coriander Leaves, Salt to taste.
Method
Wash the sabudana and then drain the excess water. Leave the sabudana for at least 4 hours. Do not add more water as the sabudana will become very soggy. Boil the potatoes and mash them. Grind the groundnuts along with the red chili powder in a mixie till it turns into a coarse powder. Mix all the above ingredients along with chopped coriander and salt. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Take small portions of the above mixture and flatten them in between your palms. Fry these in the oil till they become golden-brown. Serve hot with Coconut Chutney / Tomato Sauce / Sweetened Yoghurt.



Sabut Aloo


Ingredients
500 gms Potatoes (small, whole) boiled, peeled, ½ cup (100 gms) curd beaten smooth, 2 tsp Dhania powder, ¼ tsp powdered black pepper, 1 tbsp rock salt, 2-3 Green chilies, 2 tsp Ginger, chopped, 2 tbsp Ghee, 1 sprig curry leaves, 1 tsp jeera, 2 tsp Sugar , ½ tsp cloves, ½ tsp cinnamon broken into pieces, ½ tsp cardamom seeds
Method

Grind together green chilies and ginger. Powder together sugar, laung, daalchini, elaichi. Mix together, potatoes, curds, coriander, black pepper, green chili, ginger paste, and the salt. Heat ghee in a pan, and add curry leaves and jeera. When jeera splutters, add potato mixture, and sauté till oil separates. Remove from flame, mix in the powdered ingredients and serve immediately.


Stuffed Bananas

Ingredients
6 ripe, peeled rajali bananas, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh coconut green cardamom, ghee for frying

Method
Cut banana into 3-inch pieces. Cook sugar and coconut with cardamom seeds on slow fire, until sugar melts and the mixture thickens. Slit each banana piece, and fill in coconut mixture. Hold together with a toothpick. Fry in ghee over medium flame till golden brown.


Sabudana Uppittu

Ingredients
2 cups sabudana, 1 cup roasted, coarsely pounded peanuts, 1 tsp. cumin seeds, 6 green chilies, 4 tbs. ghee, 1/2 lemon, finely chopped fresh coriander for garnishing, 1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut.
Method
Wash sabudana, drain and set aside for one hour. Heat ghee. Add cumin seeds. Then add green chilies, letting it fry briefly. Mix in sabudana, peanuts, salt and sugar to taste. Keep covered and cook on slow flame for 5-10 minutes. You can add small cubes of boiled or fried potatoes. Garnish with coconut and coriander leaves. Serve hot.



Sweet Potato Kheer


Ingredients
1 cup grated sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh coconut scraped, 5 cardamoms, ground, 4 cups full cream milk
Method
Wash, peel and grate sweet potatoes. Cook in milk till it turns soft and the mixture thickens. Then add sugar, cardamom powder and coconut and cook for a few minutes. Serve hot or cold. This kheer looks like vermicelli kheer and tastes excellent.


Sweet Potatoes Kap


Ingredients
1 kg sweet potatoes, 250 gm sugar, ghee for frying, cardamom powder
Method
Wash and remove skin of sweet potatoes. Cut into round thin slices and fry in ghee. Take sugar (1/4 in equivalent volume of the slices) and make sugar syrup of one thread consistency. Add cardamom powder to it. Place fried sweet potato slices in syrup and stir lightly. Keep for some time and then remove. They will turn crisp.




Varai Khichdi

Ingredients
2 cups varai (available at the Dharani store at ISKCON, Bangalore),1 cup roasted, coarsely pounded peanuts, salt and jaggery to taste, 4 green chilies, 1 tsp. cumin seeds, 2 cloves and 2 pieces cinnamon, powdered finely chopped fresh coriander leaves, 1/2 cup fresh coconut, 2 tbs. ghee.

Method
Heat ghee. Add cumin seeds and green chilies. Then add varai and roast for a while. Put 4 cups of hot water in the varai along with salt and jaggery. When almost cooked, add ground peanuts and clove-cinnamon powder. Put a little ghee over it and cover and cook for some more time. Garnish with coconut and coriander. Just before serving, squeeze lemon juice over it. For variation, add small cubes of fried potatoes to the dish.



Fruit Rabri


Ingredients
1½ liters of milk, 1-1½ tablespoons of sugar, ½ cups each of apple, banana, orange, sapota, pomegranate and slit grapes, 2 deseeded and powdered green cardamom, 1 teaspoon rose water.
Method
Condense the milk by boiling to less than one-fourth quantity. Add the sugar and boil for a couple of minutes more and turn off the heat. Sprinkle the powdered cardamom. When at room temperature, mix in the rose water and chill. Add the fruits just before serving as it tends to water.

FOR JANMASHTAMI


Bread murukku

Ingredients
Bengal gram flour 1 cup, rice flour half cup, bread 8 to 10 slices, powered salt 1 tsp, red chili powder 3/4 tsp, asafetida powder 1/4 tsp, hot oil for the dough 1 1/2 tbsp, oil for frying.
Method
Remove the brown crust from bread slices. Dip one slice at a time in water, remove immediately and squeeze out water. Add rice flour, gram flour, salt, chili powder to the squeezed bread and mix well. Pour hot oil, asafetida powder and then sprinkle water to prepare thick dough use star disc or ribbon disk, fill dough in murukku maker and squeeze directly in hot oil to prepare murukkus. Fry till crisp in medium flame.



Chakli

Ingredients
Rice flour 4 cups (washed and dried), urad dal 1 cup, hot oil or ghee for dough 75 ml, salt to taste, white sesame seeds 2 tsp.

Method
Pressure cook dal in just enough water for 10 minutes. Drain excess water and grind dal to a smooth paste.

Mix it with rice flour, salt and sesame seeds. Pour hot oil on top and mix well. If necessary, add a little water to thicken the dough. Pass through a greased Chakli making device with a single or three-holed plain disc to prepare small Chaklis on top of a polythene sheet.

Deep fry a few at a time, depending on the size of your frying pan. Store in a dry-air-tight container.



Coconut laddus

Ingredients
Condensed milk one tin, desiccated coconut powder 2 cups, Cherries half cup.

Method
Mix the condensed milk and one and a half cup of desiccated coconut powder in a bowl and stir on a low flame for about ten minutes. Set aside until the mixture has slightly cooled down and shape in laddus. Roll each laddu in the desiccated coconut powder and decorate with cherries.




Sesame laddus


Ingredients
White sesame seeds100 gms, jaggery 150 gms, a little grated dry coconut.

Method
Wash the sesame and dry it on a white muslin cloth. After it dries roast it till golden brown. Half powder it in mixer. In a kadai put the jaggery with little water and bring it to thread consistency, switch off the gas and add dry coconut power, sesame powder and make laddus when hot.



Groundnut laddus

Ingredients
Groundnut 1 cup, jaggery half cup, dry coconut (grated) 1/4 cup, Rice 100 gms, green gram dal 100 gms.

Method
Roast the groundnuts until the skin comes out. Fry rice and green gram dal till golden. Powder both in the mixer. In a kadai put the jaggery with little water and boil till it comes into thread consistency.
Add the roasted groundnut, rice and dal flour and dry coconut and make laddus when it is still hot.



Besan laddu


Ingredients
225 gms pure ghee, 225 gms besan, 350 gms castor sugar, 1 tsp cashew nuts chopped, 1 tsp almonds chopped, 1 tsp pistachio.

Method
Roast besan in pure ghee on low flame. Keep stirring the mixture to avoid lumps. Remove and set aside to cool. Add sugar and cashew nuts to the besan mixture and mix well. Mould into laddus.



Groundnut chikki

Ingredients
Groundnuts one and a half cup, sugar one cup, ghee 2 tbsp.

Method
Roast the groundnuts in a kadai over moderate heat. After it cools rub off the skin. Melt sugar on a slow fire in a thick pan without adding water, but stirring continuously. When it has melted and turns light gold in colour remove pan from fire and immediately add the nuts stirring briskly. Quickly pour on a greased plate and cut it to required shapes.



Rice marbles (Cheedai)

Ingredients
Ready-made Chakli flour 2 cups; butter 2 tbsp; sesame seeds 1 tbsp; ghee 2 tsp; oil for frying.

Method
Add butter to the flour and rub well to get crumbs. Add sesame and ghee and make into stiff dough with water. Knead well and make tiny marble sized baits and deep fry in hot oil and drain; store when cool. Makes about 50 numbers. A very crunchy marble nibble.
Note: Chakli flour can also be prepared at home by mixing roasted rice flour and urad dal flour in the ratio of 1:1/4 and adding a little of salt, jeera and asafetida.



Sweet balls (Chithundai)


Ingredients

For the filling, coconut gratings 2 cups, jaggery powder 1 cup, cardamom powder 1/4 tsp, cashew bits and raisins a few, oil for deep-frying. For the casing: Urad dal half cup, rice flour half cup, butter 1 tbsp, salt a pinch.

Method
Soak urad dal for 2/3 hours, drain and grind to a smooth paste until fluffy. Mix salt to butter and rub till fluffy, add rice flour and mix well. Add this to the ground paste and mix thoroughly to make a batter of very thick coating consistency.

Cook coconut gratings with jaggery till well blended and dry. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well. Make into lemon sized balls.

Heat fat, dip each ball in to the batter and deep fry till brown and crisp. Drain and store when cool. Serves four.




Chukku-vellam


Ingredients
Ginger powder 1 cup (sieved), powdered jaggery 3/4 cup, cardamom powder 1/4 tsp, ghee 2/3 tbsps.
Method
Add ginger, jaggery and cardamom powder in a blender and whisk for a few seconds to blend well. Add ghee, mix into dough consistency. Store in a dry box as a single ball. Serve a marble sized ball. This is considered a digestive too.

Veg Cake for Fastting

Ingredients :

2 Cups Flour or Maida
1 and ½ Cup Sugar
6 tsp Chocolate Powder or 6 tsp orange juice for orange cake or 6 tbsp for any other flovour
1 tsp Baking Powder
Grated Coconut for decoration
2 Cups Soy Milk/or simple milk will be fine too.

Oven :
Preheat the oven at 150' C for 20 minutes

Method:
Mix Flour , Sugar , Chocolate Powder or other flavored , Baking powder together.
Put Milk in the above mixture and beat till smooth.
Grease the baking Tray with oil and pour some flour and put the smooth batter(mixture) on it.
Decorate with Coconut.
Bake for 30-40 Minutes

SABUDANA KHICHDI

Ingredients:
2 cups sago (sabudana)
1 cup roasted, coarsely pounded peanuts
1 tsp. cumin seeds
6 green chilies
4 tbs. ghee
1/2 lemon finely chopped
fresh coriander for garnishing
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut

What you do:
Wash sago, drain and set aside for one hour. Heat ghee. Add cumin seeds. Then add green chilies, letting it fry briefly. Mix in sago, peanuts, salt and sugar to taste. Keep covered and cook on slow flame for 5-10 minutes. You can add small cubes of boiled or fried potatoes. Garnish with coconut and coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Source : http://www.lifepositive.com/body/holistic-recipes/recipes/food-fast.asp

Sabudaana Vada

Most fattening, but delicious !

Ingredients:
- 1 kg Potatoes, boiled, peeled, mashed
- 1 cup (150 gms) Saboodana (sago)
- 2 tsp Sendha namak (rock salt)
- 1 tsp Chilli powder
- 1 tbsp (heaped) Hara dhania (green coriander), chopped
- 1 tsp Green chillies, chopped
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- Ghee (clarified butter)/*Oil for deep frying

*Peanut oil or Olive oil or Palm oil - not corn oils.

Wash saboodana till water clears. Soak in water, with level coming upto 3 cms / 1½" above the saboodana, for about 1½ hours.

Drain in a colander and mix in potatoes, salt, chilli powder, hara dhania, green chillies and lemon juice.

Shape potato mixture into flat, round vadas 5 cms / 2" in diameter (grease hands if it sticks).

Heat ghee/oil for frying. Fry vadas golden and crisp on both sides and serve hot, with a chutney

Ekadashi Recipes- PIZZA POTATOES

PIZZA POTATOES

Serves: 4
Some steamed broccoli and a large tossed salad complete this simple meal.
Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes
1 cup marinara sauce, or more as needed
1 to 1/2 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

pizza sauce mix
1 can of chopped tomatoes or 4 medium tomatoes cooked skinned and chopped
2 tble spoons virgin olive oil
1 tsp sweet basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1tsp salt

Bake or microwave the potatoes until done. When cool enough to handle, cut each in half lengthwise. Fluff the inside of each potato half with a fork.

Spread about 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce on each potato half, followed by 2 to 3 tablespoons grated cheese. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve at once.

EKADASHI Drinks

Sweet Lassi - yogurt drink
Ingredients:
1 scoop Ice
2 scoops Yoghurt
1 splash Lemon juice
8 handfuls Sugar
3 pinches Salt
1 squirt Rosewater

Mixing instructions:

Mix them all together in a blender. The measurements are not precise because
you oughtta just throw everything in to taste. This is mainly here to help out
those, like myself, who tried making the Sweet Lassi with the other Sweet
Lassi recipe, and found out that it was pretty bad - watery, not sweet, et
cetera. Ice is the key.



Lavender Mint Tea - Recipe

Excerpted from Excerpted from 500 Treasured Country Recipes, by Martha Storey.
Lavender adds a pleasant but not too flowery contrast to the
sweetness of mint in this herbal tea that is refreshing hot or
cold.
Simple Solution:
There are teas for all occasions: for morning, afternoon, and bedtime, teas to soothe, and teas to stimulate. In recent years, our appreciation of tea has expanded to include herbal tisanes (some of which are centuries old) and a wide array of green teas, barks, and spices. Taking a break for tea or making a pot to share with a companion is somehow very relaxing.

Lavender Mint Tea
1 teaspoon fresh lavender flowers or 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves or 2 teaspoons dried mint
1 cup boiling water
1. In a teapot, combine the lavender flowers and mint. Pour boiling water over the mixture; steep 5 minutes.

Yield: 1 cup

Variation: For more interesting blends, add rosemary, lemon balm or lemon verbena, and rose geranium.

Three ways to Make Iced Tea
Brewed Tea. Make tea approximately double strength and steep only 5 minutes. Pour into a pitcher over an equal amount of ice. (If you are using a glass pitcher, let the tea cool before pouring it in.) If you sweeten the tea while it is hot, you'll need only half as much sugar.
Refrigerator Tea. Follow the procedure for sun tea, except let the mixture brew in the refrigerator overnight. This method has two advantages: When it's done, it's already cold, and no matter how long it sits, it doesn't get cloudy.
Sun Tea. In a glass jar or pitcher, place 1 teaspoon of loose tea or 1 tea bag per pint or tap water (with sugar, if you wish). Cover and set in the sun for 1 hour or so. Timing is not critical - because the water doesn't boil, the tea will not get bitter.


Sally Champe's Masala Chai - Recipe


Adapted from Chai, the Spice Tea of India, by Diana Rosen
Author Diana Rosen's friend, Sally Champe, a veteran traveler who has lived in India, has the simplest at-home chai recipe for Chai Diana has ever tried, thinking it makes a perfect beverage every time.
[prrple]Simple Solution:
Sally keeps a can of spice-infused unsweetened condensed milk in the refrigerator; it is at the ready whenever the craving for chai surfaces. She just puts on a tape of Indian music, relaxes, and savors the taste of India.

INGREDIENTS
1 14-ounce can unsweetened condensed milk (low-fat or nonfat, if desired)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Pour the entire can of milk into a clean, dry jar.
2. Add all the spices and cover tightly with a lid.
3. Place in the refrigerator. The longer it stays refrigerated, the better it gets.
4. To use, stir the mixture, and scoop out 2 to 3 tablespoons directly into a cup of very strong, very hot black tea. Ah!
1 3/4 cups
Source :http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/food/303

We recommend Kaffree Tea or similar caffeine free teas.