Gul paavate ( Kesari with Jaggery).

Gul Paavate is  a sweet dish prepared with Rava , jaggery( Bella in Kannada, gud in Hindi) and ghee.
This is a traditional and healthy dish and mainly for kids its very nutritious since lots of  dry fruits are used in Gul  Paavate( traditional name).

Things Needed :
Rava ( Samolina) : 1 cup .( Medium sized).
Ghee: 1/2 cup.
Jaggery : 1/2 cup
Dry Fruits:  1/4 cup.( Cashew nuts, Almonds and Raisins ).
Cardamom: 5 to 6.
Saffron   :( Kesari) : 3 to 4 rakes. ( Optional).
Water : 2 cups.
Method:
Powder cardamom and jaggery  separately and keep it aside. Cut nuts into small pieces , Keep water for boiling. Now take a  big pan and put 2 table spoons ghee and fry dry fruits for 1 minutes and add   Rava
( samolina ) and fry till the raw smell disappear.  Add boiling water and mix rava thoroughly and cook  for 2 minutes on low flame.  now add powdered jaggery and stir until it thickens.  Add ghee while stirring .  ( Can add more ghee to get better taste.  Add cardamom to the mixture and put  Gul Paavate mixture in a serving bowl.
Note : Fry Rava nicely on low flame . Can add more ghee to Gul paavate to get better taste. ( Especially when serving to kids ).  Can add dry dates( Uttutte in kannada ).  Adding Saffron is also optional since jaggery also will give good natural colour to the food.

Serves : 2 to 3

Yummy Mango Pulp

Mango fruit is every one's all time favourite fruit and we can prepare many tasty items. Here is a Mango recipe with nuts and dates which even children like to have this and yummy too. This mango pulp is good to have with chapatis, pooris, dosa, plain home made shavige and as desert.

Mango fruit is every one's all time favourite fruit and we can prepare many tasty items. Here is a Mango recipe with nuts and dates which even children like to have this and yummy too. This mango pulp is good to have with chapatis, pooris, dosa, plain home made shavige and as desert.

Things needed:

Mango Fruits : 4 to 5
Mixed Nuts : 2 to 3 Tablespoons.
Honey or Jaggery : 2 to 3 Tablespoons.
Milk : 1 cup.
Dates : 6 to 8

Method:

1. Wash and squeeze out the pulp in a big bowl. Take some water in an another bowl and dip mango outer layer and squeeze out the remaining pulp.
2. Cut dates into small pieces and grind it with mango pulp.
3. Add jaggery and grind it for 2 minutes.
4. Powder /crush almonds/cashews and keep it aside.
5. Add 1/2 cup of milk and grind for a few seconds and remove the mango pulp mixture from the jar to serving bowl.

6 .Add nuts and mix the pulp well and serve as desert or as side dish.

Note :

Do not use much water. You need to get good ripe mangoes to do this desert/sides. Adding honey instead of jaggery is optional. Roasting dry nuts is optional. Dry roast and then powder or crush it.
Time : 10 Minutes.
Serves : 2 to 3 .

Coconut - Nuts and Dates Ball.

Coconut - Nuts and Dates Ball is a sweet dish and you can munch them any time of the day. It is an healthy laddu since it contain no sugar.

Lets see some benefits of having Dates in our diet. 
Eating dates everyday is a healthy habit especially for women. It is full of minerals, vitamin and fiber.
Lets see some benefits of having dates every day.
Dates helps in anemia, intestinal disorder, diarrhea and constipation. They are good for gaining weight. They contain calcium, sulfur, iron and potassium, manganese, copper, phosphorous and magnesium. These minerals are necessary for balanced and healthy diet.

I have used some dates, figs, cashews, almonds, poppy seeds and a little copra. (Dry coconut). 

Lets see the recipe now:

Things Needed 

Dates : 500 Grams (Fresh and soft )

Figs : 4 to 5 

Poppy Seeds : 2 Tablespoons

Cashews :  1/2 Cup or 4 to 5 Tablespoons. (Cut it into small pieces).

Almonds : 10 to 15

Dry coconut : 1 Cup (Grated)

 Method :

1. Cut cashews, figs in to small pieces. 

2. Dry grind almonds into powder form.

3. Dry grind coconut and keep it aside. 

4. Remove seeds from dates and smash it nicely. (Use fresh dates).

5. Now take a big bowl. Put dates, cashews figs and kneed it. Add coconut powder and powdered almonds.

6. Kneed it slowly and let it form a dough. Now divide the dough in to small portions.

7. Take a small portion of the dates mixture and form a round shape like a small ball.

8. Keep poppy seeds in a tray. Roll the dates ball on poppy seeds and arrange in a tray or plate.

9. Repeat the same and do the rest of date and Nuts ball.

10. Arrange them on a tray and serve/eat any time of the day

Note : 

Use fresh dates to prepare laddu. It helps to hold the ingredients tightly. You can also use some jaggery if you like more sweets in the laddu. (Grate or powder jaggery and then add it). Adding any nuts is optional. It is a healthy laddu which can be sent school kids with their lunch/snack box. Diabetic people also can have them since no sugar is added in this laddu. Adding some glucose biscuits is optional. ( I have not added). You need to kneed the ingredients well. You can fry cashews in ghee if you want to. (optional).

Time : 30 Minutes

20 Laddus can be prepared. (Depending on the size).