Almond/badam halwa

Ingredients:

Almonds (soaked over night & peeled) 1 cup

Sugar 1 to 1 1/2 cups (Adjust to suit your taste)

Ghee - 1/4 cup(You may add more if you want it richer)

Milk - 1 cup

Yellow color - a pinch(optional)

Saffron to decorate

Method:

1. Grind the almonds with milk (after removing the skin) into a smooth paste. Mix the yellow color.

2. Take two tablespoons ghee and cook the paste with the remaining milk in a tawa and add the sugar.

3. Keep stirring until the sugar blends. Add the saffron at the end when everything starts to blend. Remember this starts to burn if you are not continuously stirring.

4. When the paste becomes thick and leaves the side of the vessel without sticking to the bottom, halwa is ready. It ideally looks like sheera (a rava/sooji sweet). The halwa will not stick to the pan. It usually takes around 30 minutes.

Merry Christmas!

Santa comes to say Merry Christmas! :) Have a lovely time folks!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Mixed vegetable upma

I tried this from this site.

Ingredients:

1 cup Rava (Sooji)

1 Onion, chopped

1 Tomato, chopped

1 cup Mixed vegetables, chopped and cooked (I used carrots, beans and peas)

2 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Urad Dal

1/2 tsp Chana Dal

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

1 Red Chilli, broken into pieces

1 tsp Green Chilli paste

1 tsp Ginger Paste

Salt to taste

1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Coriander Leaves for garnish

Method:

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the urad and chana dals. When the urad dal begins to brown a little, add the mustard and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the red chilli, curry leaves, onions, ginger and chilli pastes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato and fry for a minute more. Add the mixed vegetables and the rava and fry the entire mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups of boiling hot water and salt to this. Mix well, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on a low flame.

When done, take it off the heat and pour the ghee on top. Mix well, garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy it with coconut chutney.

Banana bread cake

I tried the banana bread cake out from Nag's site. It came out so yummy. Having it for breakfast today!

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar, I may add slightly less next time
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour/maida
1/2-3/4 cup nuts of your choice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt ( I didn't use this)

Method:

Mash the banana well and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and the sugar has blended well. Add the eggs and beat more until well combined.
Add the mashed banana and mix well. Then add the vanilla extract and mix again.
Next, add the flour and a pinch of salt. Combine without beating, to form the dough without any lumps.
Transfer to a greased loaf pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting into slices.