Raw Mango Drink aka Kairee Panha

What comes in your mind when you hear the word Summers??? It's "Mango Season", isn't it...Mango is a gift of nature in the summer, not only for its delicious taste but also for its numerous health benefits.It's loaded with various Carotenoids especially Beta Carotene which protects us from dangerous summer rays.Also rich in Vitamin A,Vitamin C & E,B complex(anti stress) Vitamins,Potassium,Magnesium,Zinc,Folic acid ,and last but not the least its exceptional flavor and aroma. So in a summer of Mango love I am here with my other recipe "Kairee Panha" to beat the scorching Indian heat. Kairee refers to Raw Mango which is mostly used to make pickles,Salads, Chutneys and Panha . Here ,unlike sugar I have added Jaggery as I prefer the taste of it and benefits too.

Preparation Time: 40 min
Cooking Time : 10 min

Ingredients :

4 Raw Mangoes
2 teaspoon Rock Salt
2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
3 teaspoons paste of coriander, Mint leaves, Ginger and Curry Leaves
1/2 cup Jaggery


Directions :

Pressure cook the raw mango and let it cool.After cooled , remove the skin and seed and keep aside. Dry roast Cumin , Black pepper , Fennel seeds and powder them . Now add the salt , paste, jaggery and powdered spices in the pulp and blend it all together to get a uniform concentrate. You can adjust the amount of salt and jaggery as it depends on the sourness of Mango.You can store the concentrate in a bottle in your fridge for a week.To serve , fill the half glass with concentrate and add water with crushed ice .Garnish with Mint leaves and enjoy your sip in a hot summer afternoon.

p.s : If you like gol gappas you can use this panha instead of traditional tamarind khatai.

Spiced almond drink- "Thandai"

Ah Summer! time for heat,but you know the best part of India

Summers are special homemade summer coolers as they are more healthier and tastier than the packaged drinks we get in the market....Here i am sharing one of my favourite summer cooler recipe "Thandai" ,the traditional Indian drink made with milk,dry fruits and spices.The ingredients present in thandai have numerous health benefits, apart from its excellent body cooling property .

Preparation time:5 hours
Cooking time : 20 min

Ingredients :

Dry fruits : Handful of  almonds,pistachios,Cashew nuts,melon seeds
Spices : 1 Teaspoon Fennel seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Black pepper
4 Cardamom
1 Teaspoon Poppy seeds

1 litre Milk
1 Teaspoon Rose Petals or Gulkand
A few Saffron strands

Directions :

Soak the almonds, Pistachios, Cashew nuts , Melon seeds and Poppy seeds for 3-4 hours and grind them to a paste and keep aside. Boil the milk in low flame, add sugar and saffron strands,allow it to cool .Crush cardamom,Black pepper,Fennel seeds. Now add the dry fruit paste and crushed spices to milk and strain it(Straining is optional). Add this mixture to the milk along with Gulkand and Rose Petals and refrigerate it for 4-5 hours.Serve chilled.

Very Berry Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal makes a very hearty staple breakfast, but on its own its very bland so just finding some new ways of eating oats ... This is my variation from traditional  Oatmeal cookies which uses whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour and honey in place of sugar and off course lots of healthy berries.Now my hubby and I are really really digging these Healthy Cookies.  Where have they been all my life? It's such an easy way to eat your oats.  I'm trying to eat a serving of oats a day, but sometimes I just can't face another bowl ... So these cookies are coming in mighty handy!  And depending on the size I make them, three or four cookies are a half cup serving oats.  I love eating four cookies for breakfast ~ it seems so indulgent, but it's not! I think it's a great evening snack for my husband after coming from office. Needless to say, these are the new favorite way to eat oats.  It just amazes me that they have no refined flour and sugar added.  Eating cookies is just so much more fun than eating a bowl of Oatmeal, wouldn't you agree?  :) 

Preparation Time : 30 min

Cooking Time : 10 min

Ingredients :

1 Cup whole wheat flour stiffed

Pinch of salt 

1/4 Teaspoon Baking soda

1/2 Cup Oats (I have used Quaker Oats here)

1 egg

1/2 Cup Margarine/Butter

1/4 Cup Honey 

1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla essence

3-4 Teaspoon Milk

Handful of berries(I have used dried blueberry and Cranberry)

Direction :

Preheat the Oven.Take a Butter,Honey,Egg,vanilla essence in a large bowl and whisk it. In another bowl add flour,salt,baking soda, and stiff it.Now add Oats and the wet ingredients from the first bowl slowly. Add a little milk if needed to make a ball of dough.Take a greased baking Tray and divide the dough in to equal balls and arrange them on the pan , pat them to get a round shape.Bake them for about 10 min or until light brown.Remove from oven and let it cool.Store them in an air tight container and enjoy with your evening tea 

Ragi Laddoos

Ragi is also known as Finger Millet. This healthy food is rich in calcium,protein,iron and fiber. It has many health benefits, some of which are treating anemia,Bone development, controlling Diabetes, Cholesterol and also aids to weight loss.In some recipe you can try include ragi and convert it into healthy recipes ,Like ragi dosa , laddos , idli, roti. Here is the first recipe of delicious and healthy Ragi laddoos.




Preparation Time : 10 min
Cooking Time  : 40 min

Ingredients :

2 Cup Ragi flour
1/2 Cup Ghee
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Spoon Cardamom powder

You can also add handful of dry fruits like almond, cashews , raisins

Recipe :

Heat the ghee in thick bottom pan , add ragi flour and saute in low flame for 15-20 min till you get nice aroma.Add sugar ,cardamom and dry fruits . Let it cool for some time. Start making small balls and the laddoos are ready to eat.

Chattisgarhi Delight "Fara - Rice Dumplings"

Chattisgarh is a small state in Central India also known as "Bowl of Rice". Having an age-old tradition of delicious items, Chhattisgarh Recipes truly give a real treat to the taste buds.Most of the dishes uses Rice as a main ingredient . Here i am sharing one of my favorite recipe "Fara" or you can call it rice dumplings in simpler version.

Ingredients :

1 Cup Rice flour
1 Cup Cooked rice
Salt to taste
Pinch of Sugar
1 tablespoon Sesame oil

For Tempering:
1 small tablespoon Mustard seeds
2 table spoon white sesame seed
2 dry red chilis
5-6 garlic cloves
Sesame Oil

Chutney 
 1 riped tomato
1 green chili
coriander
 

Direction :

Take a cooked rice in a bowl and add rice flour, sesame oil, salt and sugar. Prepare a tight dough.Spread some oil in your palm and start preparing small sticks out of the dough. Take a pan, heat some oil and add mustard seeds, Let it splutter then add garlic , sesame seeds ,red chili. Add 1/4 cup of water , then slowly add the sticks prepared from dough and let it cook in slow flame till it turns golden brown.

For Chutney ,Roast the tomato in burner . Peel the outer skin and mash it . Add chopped coriander, Green chili and salt. Enjoy Hot Fara with Tomato Coriander chutney.

Chocolate Blueberry Carrot Cake

Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too? Birthdays, holidays and other celebrations just aren't complete without cake! However, traditional cake recipes are often loaded with fat, sugar and calories, taking some of the joy out of enjoying dessert. We have transformed the typical cake recipe by limiting the use of full-fat ingredients, making healthier substitutions that will satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth. So bake up one of these delicious healthier cake recipes for your next celebration—and enjoy eating it too.
Recipes for baked goods are actually very flexible.They can withstand a considerable amount of toying, alteration and experimentation . I have subjected a good number of recipes to a torture test to see how much alteration they could handle to make them healthier. Most of them have turned out very well.

Preparation Time : 30 min

Cooking time : 4-5 min

Recipe

Ingredients :

- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup  Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sugar
-  2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 flat  teaspoon baking soda
- 1 flat teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 & 1/2 cups grated carrots
- a couple handfuls of semisweet chocolate chips,walnuts and Blueberry

Directions :

Preheat microwave oven to 180 C , lightly grease a cake pan . Place eggs, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder,cinnamon, salt, and cocoa powder in another bowl. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla mixture until pale, add flour mix and beat until well mixed (I used an electric mixer), add grated carrots,blueberry and walnuts and mix well. Bake for about 4-5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes, and now you can enjoy the healthy and yummy cake.

The Very First Post...

Cooking always excites me as I am hardcore foodie.A passion since childhood.I remember as a kid how i used to watch cookery shows and trying out dishes .... Also baking cake with my mum and sis , so much fun we had cooking together although it was occasionally :) But once I got married I realized I couldn't get away the limited kitchen knowledge i had... As soon as we got married we moved to Chicago for an year or so and there my tryst with Cooking started.. I learn by experimenting with tastes that i experience.Sometimes they don't always work and sometimes i can create heaven on spoon.I am always on the look out for that odd recipes that is easy to whip ,more healthy and tastes yummy as hell.. 

Here's hoping that I manage to do what i set out to do when i created this blog, and provide you an informative and entertaining place to get great healthy recipes and loads of other stuff !!!!