BESAN-SOOJI HALWA

An irresistible sweet dish made from gram flour and semolina, flavoured with cardamom powder and enriched with nuts to keep your energy levels high. Many halwas are made as an evening snack which leads to a ‘glass of milk for dinner’ or no dinner at all. Whenever there is a special occasion in my family like a festival, a birthday or anniversary or a pleasant rainy day, my mother treats us to some delicious besan or sooji halwa. The regular gajar, besan, atta or sooji halwa is in the past. Try this mixed ingredients recipe of besan and sooji halwa made it with a lot of desi ghee, flavoured with cardamom and dry fruits add a nice crunch to the otherwise melt in mouth halwa. It came out delicious. Prepared this on the first day of Navratri to offer as naivedya. So here is the step-by-step picture recipe of besan-sooji halwa. Do try it and let me know if any suggestions in the comment box below.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Besan Flour / Chana Dal Atta / Gram Flour

½ Cup Sooji / Rawa / Semolina

½ Cup Ghee

1 tablespoon Cashews, Almonds, Raisins

½ Cup Sugar [adjust according to your taste]

2 Cup Milk [see notes]

¼ teaspoon Cardamom Powder

More nuts for garnishing

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Heat a pan with ½ cup ghee in it.

STEP 2 – When ghee heats up, add chopped nuts and raisins in it and roast for 1 minute.

STEP 3 – Now add besan flour and sooji in it and mix it well.

Start roasting it stirring continuously.

STEP 4 – Roast it for almost 10-15 minutes or until colour changes to golden brown. You can feel a nice aroma when it is roasted properly.

STEP 5 – Add sugar and give a nice mix.

Cook it for next 3-4 minutes till the lumps dissolves.

 STEP 6 – Then add milk in it and 

mix well to avoid lump formation.

STEP 7 – Cook further till it get thickened and cooked properly.

STEP 8 - Turn off the flame and add cardamom powder and give a nice mix. Halwa is ready to serve.

 Take it out in a serving plate, garnish with chopped nuts and serve it hot.

NOTES: You can use milk or water or use both in 1:1 ratio. 

BESAN KI NANKATAI

There is no difference in the preparations of simple, regular nan khatai with maida and this with besan. Here you only need to add besan  instead of maida in this recipe. The difference is in it's taste. It is soft but crunchy and crumbly at the same time. As you all know nan khatai is an eggless cookie or biscuit made with besan/ wheat flour/ maida and sugar. However they can be made with wheat flour alone or with the combination of besan and maida ir wheat flour. Nan katai is a mix of three cultures have created this great snack, starting from Dutch to Persian and then its amalgamation in to Indo-Pak tradition. The name Nan is derived from Persian which means soft bread and khatai/ katai from Afghan language, which means biscuit. Soft nan katai that melts in mouth and goes perfect with a cup of tea/ coffee. As I have already shared the other version of nan khatai earlier, I did not posted step by step pictures here in this recipe. Nan katai is a great tea time snack of sub continent.  

 

INGREDIENTS:

2½ cup Besan flour

¼ teaspoon Baking Soda

1 cup powdered Sugar

1 cup Ghee

¼ teaspoon Yogurt

Green Coriander Powder

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Sieve together besan flour, baking powder in a bowl.

STEP 2 – Then sieve powdered sugar in the same bowl.

STEP 3 – Add ghee, yogurt, cardamom powder and knead into a soft dough. Set aside for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

STEP 4 – Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius. Make lemon size balls of the dough and plate them on the baking tray.

STEP 5 – Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

STEP 6 - Let them cool in the oven itself for 5minutes and then remove and cool then on a wire rack.
Serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

BHINDI MASALA

Bhindi masala is a very simple recipe made with bhindi / lady’s finger. Its name itself gets juices flowing in mouth. This gravy is a semi-liquid preparation and tastes well for roti/ chapati. There is this cute little thing that happens when buying bhindi in the Indian market. You can spot all the ladies trying to break the tip of each and every bhindi before putting it their basket. The theory being that if the tip breaks, it’s a good one and fresh. If it doesn’t, it’s not. A simple and yet a tasty bhindi masala curry made by roasting the lady’s finger along with some tomato paste which is spiced with simple indian spices which elevates the dish. The gravy is tomato based, creamy and has a burst of flavours. I love to create different recipes with different textures and cooking textures and ingredients.  By that logic, you need not always have the same kind of food for lunch or dinner. This is very simple recipe made with bhindi and  hope you will love it.

INGREDIENTS:
250 gms Bhindi/ Lady’s Finger
1 Big Onion, chopped finely
1 Bay Leaf
¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
½ teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
Chopped Coriander
2 tablespoon Oil for frying + 1 tablespoon more for gravy
Salt as per taste

For making paste-
3 Tomatoes
1/2”Ginger
2-3 Green Chillies
4-5 Garlic Cloves
2 Cloves/ Lavang
1 Green Cardamom
½”Cinnamon Stick
1 Mace Strand/ Javitri

METHOD:
STEP 1 – Rinse bhindi well and then drain them completely in a strainer. Wipe them with a clean kitchen towel.

STEP 2 – Cut them in to pieces about ½-1“ and set them aside.
STEP 3 – Now in a mixer pot, add tomato cut into big chunks, garlic cloves, ginger, green chillies, clove, cardamom, mace

and curd.

STEP 4 – Make a fine paste of it without using water. Remove in a bowl and keep aside.

STEP 5 – Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a kadai. Fry bhindi well until cooked and slighly golden in colour.

Transfer it on a tissue paper to remove excess oil from it.

STEP 6 – In the same pan, add more 1 tablespoon oil and heat it.
STEP 7 – Crackle mustard seeds in it and then add bay leaf. Roast it for few seconds.

STEP 8 – Then add chopped onion and salt and sauté it well until golden brown.

STEP 9 – Now add the tomato paste in it and mix well and roast it well till masala paste thickens and the oil starts floating from the sides.

   
STEP 10 – Add turmeric powder and other spice powders in it and mix it well. Roast for a minute.

STEP 11 – Add water as needed and mix it. [do not make it too thin or too thick]

STEP 12 – Add fried bhindi in it and let the curry simmer on  a medium flame for 4-5 minutes

or until the bhindi gets mixed with the gravy and the gravy thickens slightly.

STEP 13 – Finally add chopped coriander and switch off the flame.

Serve it with roti, paratha, naan or jeera rice and enjoy.