Almond Mysore Pak

Mysore pak - Yes Most of the sweet lovers love to have Mysore Pak.  It is delicious sweet, no doubt it has its fame and name. Preparing Mysore Pak one has to do it very slow and with lots of patience.

I do prepare yum yum yummy Mysore Pak and all my friends and relatives pour loads of love and appreciation, sweet words after eating Mysore Pak.
Here I have prepared Almonds Mysore Pak 

 Here I have tried " Almond Mysore Pak " and its super good I can say. You try and taste and You do agree my words.

Let us see what all I used and how did I do this Yummy, delicious Sweet " Almond Mysore Pak".
All I used is Almonds, besan/channa flour, ghee, sugar and little cardamom.
Let us see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

Besan / Channa flour : 2 Cups
Sugar : 1 3/4 or 2 Cups
Ghee : 1 Cup
Cardamom : 5 to 6 Pods
Almonds : 1 Cup
Water : 1/2 Cup

Method :

1. Dry roast besan till the raw smell disappear.

2. Powder almonds and keep it aside.

3. Remove the seeds from cardamom pods and powder.

4. Keep a pan on the fire and put sugar and half cup of water.

5. Let sugar dissolve in water completely. Add a tsp spoon of ghee.
6. It starts to bubble. Let it boil for 2 minutes. See that it gets one string consistency.

7. Add roasted besan /channa flour and powdered almonds. ( Let the flame be very low)..

8. Stir nicely and see that there are no lumps. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of ghee and stir.
9. The ghee you pour mixes well with besan and sugar mixture. Continue stirring and adding ghee in between. 5 to 6 minutes or little more.

10. Slowly the colour changes  in to slight golden brown.  Leave the mixture for 10 seconds and stir again slowly but do not allow the mixture  to burn at the bottom.
11. Let the mixture slowly come up slightly. Stir again. Do this process at least 4 to 5 times. ( Strictly on low flame ). Add powdered cardamom and mix it again. It starts to leave the edges.

12. Allow the mixture to slowly come up again and pour this mixture to a ghee spread tray or plate.

13. Spread it nicely and leave it to cool.  Cut Almond Mysore Pak once it is completely cooled.

14. Serve or enjoy eating these delicious Almond Mysore Pak pieces. Store it in a airtight box.

Note :
The sugar should melt completely before it gets in to syrup consistency. One should prepare this Almond Mysore Pak on low flame. Adding more ghee is optional. Almond Mysore Pak should be cut in to pieces only when it cools completely.
Time : 30 Minutes.
25 to 30 pieces can be made : According to size and shape.

Watch the process : 

Channa Dal Payasa / Kheer

Shravana the month of festival is here. It is a festival of nature. Naagapanchami , Nagara chowthi, Raksha bhandhan, Shri Krishna Janmastami, so and so many festivals in this month. It looks like almost all the days in this month people are busy with poojas, naivedya and pooja functions.

So every day you need to prepare some or the other sweet dishes for Neivedya to God/Goddess.
Here is one such sweet dish which is prepared for festivals, feast and other happy functions.
Channa dal/kadale bele payasa is one of the easiest dish which we can prepare and serve as neivedya.
I have used channa dal, avalakki/flattened rice, jaggery, cardamom and coconut
This Channa Dal Payasa is done during poojas, festivals and feast. It is cooked and then mixed with jaggery, coconut milk, cardamom, and avalakki./flattened rice. Some use cooked rice instead of avalakki.
This Channa Dal Payasa is one of the Traditional Dish from South Canara /Karnataka and we can prepare them for festivals, feast and parties.

Let us see the recipe now :

Ingredients :

Channa Dal : 1 Cup
Avalakki /Aval/Poha : 1 small cup./2 handful.
Jaggery : 3/4 Cup
Cardamom : 5 to 6 Pods
Coconut : 1 Cup
Salt : A pinch.

Method :

1. Wash channa dal and pressure cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Let it cool.

2. Grate coconut and grind it with cardamom pods. Grind it nicely. Remove coconut mixture  in a bowl. Wash avalakki/flattened rice and keep it aside.

3. Keep a pan on the fire and put jaggery. Add a cup of water and mix it. Let jaggery melt and it turns as liquid. Sieve it with a siever and keep it aside.
. Let it get cool. Strain it keep cleaned jaggery aside.

4.Keep cooked dal on the fire and put cleaned jaggery water to it. Add washed avalakki and boil.
Let it boil nicely. Add a pinch of salt.

5. Now add ground coconut mixture and mix it well. Let it boil for at least 5 minutes.

6. Shift Channa Dal Payasa /Kheer to a serving bowl.
7. Keep a small pan on the fire and heat. Put a tablespoon of ghee and fry cashews and raisins till raisins get fluffy.

8. Add this ghee fried nuts to Payasa/kheer.
9. Serve ready payasa after a lunch/dinner as desert.

Note :
Channa Dal should be cooked softly to get the best payasa. Adding coconut milk instead of ground coconut is optional.
Use of fresh coconut milk is a must to get good taste. Use of more/less ghee is optional.
Using coconut milk adds to the taste. You can use cooked rice instead of avalakki. (Optional). You can also use little raw rice grains while grinding coconut. It adds to the thickness of payasa.
Adding boiled and cooled fresh milk to Payasa , just before serving is optional. It adds to the taste. Do not add hot milk. Payasa might get curdled.
Time : 30 Minutes 
Serves : 4 to 5 
Purely : South Canara Sweet Dish.

Jaggery Kesari Baath/ Gul Pavate

Gul Pavate/Jaggery Kesari is a sweet dish.

It is prepared  using jaggery, rava, ghee and cardamom.Gul Pavate is one of the traditional and healthy dish. Loads and loads of ghee used in preparing Gul Pavate. May be some thing like Chooran Halwa which is prepared with wheat, sugar and ghee. In olden days this dish was one of the kids special too. There is a proverb in Kannada " Kallu tindu jeerna Maadi kolluva kaala ". This means kids can digest whatever they eat. in the younger age. But as the time changed, the favour for using sugar grown and sugar replaced the jaggery in most of the items and it became more fancy and the status too. So lots of sweets prepared using sugar loaded the market too. It made easy for people to have more crave for sugar made sweets. Now again people prefer to intake jaggery and reduced the consumtion of sugar.

There are innumerable benifits of jaggery. Jaggery is a great remedy for anemia, astama, joint pains and menstrual pains. It also aids in digestion, purifies blood and keeps the skin away from problems like pimples and acnes. It is a great enery booster as it provides us lots of energy. Jaggery is a very good source of minerals for the body.

Semolina is made from durum wheat and it is digested slowly. Semolina improves kidney function. It contains potassium. Samolina is an ideal food for active, energetic people. It contain protein and variety of minerals. Samolina contains Vitamin E and Vitamin B.

Remember Samolina is high gluten content and it should be avoided by those who are sensitive to gluten.

Here is a Gul-Pavate recipe. As I said, gulpavate is prepared using rava-jaggery, ghee and cardamom. I added carrots to Gulpavate. Carrots provid the natural colour and taste to the Gul Pavate. I am sure the whole family will enjoy eating Gulpavate and all age group will surely like this dish.

Things Needed :

Rava : 1 Cup
Jaggery : 1/2 Cup
Ghee : 1/2 Cup
Cardamom Powder : 1/2 Tea spoon
Carrots : 1 Cup

Water : 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Cashew nuts : 1 Table spoon

 :

Method :

1. Wash and grate carrots, cut cashew nuts and powder the cardamom. (5 to 6 pods)

2. Keep water for boiling.
3. Keep a pan on the fire and heat.
4. Add 1 spoon of ghee and fry cashew nuts and carrots for 2 minutes. Keep it aside.
5. Keep a bigger pan on the fire. Heat and put 2 to 3 table spoons of ghee and fry rava until the raw smell disappear. (3 to 5 minutes).

6. Add boiling water and stir slowly. Let the rava cook and become thick.

7. Add jaggery and stir kesari. Let it mix it nicely.
8. Add fried carrots and cashew nuts. Stir and mx it well.
9. It starts to become thick Stir until it starts leaving the pan.
10. Now add cardamom and remaining ghee.
11. Mix it well and shift the Jaggery Kesari to a serving bowl.
12. Serve Jaggery kesari with any savoury or as it is .

Note:

You must roast Rava well to get good Kesari baat. You can add jaggery according to your taste. I have used organic jaggery. You can also prepare jaggery syrup and filter it and get the clean jaggery. Adding ghee increases the taste of the Kesari. You can also use ripe banana or pineapple or ripe mango pulp to give a fruit taste and natural flavoural.   

Time : 30 minutes 

Serves : 3 to 4

Doodhi Sorekai Carrots VEGGY HALVA

VEGGY HALVA  is a sweet dish.  Veggy Halva is a combination of Bottle gourd (Sorekai), Local Carrots and White Pumpkin. These vegetables are grated and mixed with sugar, milk, ghee and cardamom.

White Pumkin or  Doodhi or boodu kumbala kai (Kannada language) is highly nutritious and it is low in calories and high in vitamins A, C and E. It contains minerals like magnesium, phosphorus and iron. It also lowers the cholesterol, Antidepressant and good for eyes too.
Carrots are notably rich in anti-oxidants, vitamins and dietary fiber. Carrots contain Beta carotene which is powerful and natural anti oxidant and it helps to protect body from any harmful injury.
Bottle gourd or Lauki (Hindi) or Sorekai (in Kannada) has many good qualities. It is good for weight loss. (especially the juice). It helps to reduce the high blood pressure and keeps the heart healthy. The fiber and the minerals in the bottle gourd supports healthy digestion and helps to overcome constipation problems.
Veggy Halva can be prepared for parties, festivals or to celebrate some thing special. It can be eaten at any time of the day too.

Things Needed :
Bottle Gourd : 1/2 Portion.
Carrots : 2 to 3
White pumpkin 1/4 potion of the medim size
Ghee : 1/2 Cup
Sugar : 1 to 1 1/2 cup
Cardamom :  6 to 8 Pods.
Milk Powder : 2 Tablespoons
Cashew Nuts : 2 Tablespoons

Method : 
1. Wash and remove the outer skin of the vegetable and grate it. Keep it aside.

2. Powder the cardamom with a spoon of sugar and keep it aside.

3. Now keep a pan on the fire and heat. Put 1 Teaspoon of ghee and fry cashew nuts and remove the nuts when it turn reddish.

4. Now squeeze out the extra water from pumpkin. Keep the juice aside.
5. Put grated carrots, bottle gourd and pumpkin. Keep the flame medium.

6. Fry them for 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar and stir niely.
7. Put a tablespoon of ghee while stirrring. Stir the mixture till it leaves the sides. Add ghee in between while stirring. (Littlt by little). Continue stirring.
8. Add milk powder and mix it well. When the halwa starts to leave the pan stir for another 2 to 3 minutes and put off the gas. Add the remaining ghee and the fried cashew nuts and mix again.

 9. Shift this sweet Veggy Halwa to the serving bowl.

10. Serve Halwa after dinner or along with breakfast.

Note : You must be very careful while stirring. Do not allow the Halva to get it burnt. Even Bottle gourd also will leave out the its water. You can use this for curry or juice. You can also try this halva in the micro wave oven. Every 2 minutes you need to mix the mixture until its done. You can also use more sugar and ghee if you like. Use of milk powder helps to absorb the moisture. Use of jaggery is optional. Taste may differ. This halva is good for kids.
Time :

Preparation : 20 minutes
Cooking : 25 to 30 minutes
Serves : 6 to 8.