Carrot-Walnuts Fudge - Its Purely Decadent!

Gajjar-Akhrot Halwa:

Ingredients:

Carrots 1/4 kilo
Walnuts/Pecan 1 and 1/2 cups
Condensed milk 1/4 cup
Brown sugar 3/4 cup
Milk 1 cup
Cardamom powder 1 spoon
Ghee 1/4 cup.

Method:


Peel the carrot and chop them down.

Cook the carrots in milk till tender, puree the same.

Heat ghee in a deep, heavy bottomed vessel. Add sugar, condensed milk, cardamom and carrot paste. Keep stirring till the moisture is all sucked up.

Now add grated/pounded walnuts to it. Bring it to thick halwa consistency.

Grease a plate and spread the carrot halwa. Slice them into desired shapes.

Hope you all will enjoy this Carrot Fudge.

Shahi Murg Korma - Chicken in Rich Nuts Based Sauce

Ingredients:

For Marination:

Chicken(I used leg piece)
Onion bulb onion grated
Green chili 1 minced
Ginger-garlic paste 1/2 spoon
Yogurts/buttermilk
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Pepper powder 1/2 spoon
Coriander powder 1/2 spoon
Cumin powder 1/2 spoon
Garam masala powder 1/2 spoon.

Onion grated
Tomato 2 pureed
Saffron
Cardamon 6
Bay leaves 2
Almonds 15 - paste
Ghee for frying
Cilantro leaves few.

Method:

In a shallow pan, heat ghee and throw in the whole spices. Add onions and tomatoes, fry real good, once it is aromatic, add the marinated chicken. Cover and cook.

Further add almond paste, continue cooking. Once oil shows up on the top, add the chopped cilantro leaves, remove from heat.

Serve warm to go with your chappathis or rotis.

Navratan Korma - Vegetables,Fruits & Nuts in Rich Gravy

Navarathana Kuruma:(Restaurant Style)

Navarathana Korma. Restaurant Style Navrathan Korma.

Ingredients:

Green chili 1 minced
Ginger Garlic paste 1 spoon
Onion 1 large head grated
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Food color optional(I didn't use them)
Garam masala powder 1/2 spoon
Almonds/Cashew nuts paste 1/4 cup
Ghee few spoons
Cottage cheese/panir fried 1 cup
Carrots
Beans
Cauliflower
Peas
Bell peppers
Turnips
Beets
Apples
Pineapple
Mangoes
Cherry
Tomatoes
Cashew nuts - fried
Raisins - fried
Cilantro to garnish.

Method:

Heat a large wok, add ghee. Add chili, ginger-garlic paste and onion to it. Fry real good, till the raw odor is gone, add salt, turemric, chili and garam masala powder.

Followed by nuts paste. Prepare a thick gravy. Add vegetables, cover and cook till tender.

Add chopped fruits and fried panir plus nuts to it.Remove from heat. Serve to go with your rotis.

Badam Puri - Sinful Indulgence

Badam Puri:

Ingredients:

Almonds 10-15
Saffron few strands
Milk 1/4 cup
All purpose flour 1 cup
Ghee for shallow frying
Sugar syrup thick 1 cup
Sliced nuts to garnish.

Method:

Soak almonds ahead in warm water. Peel their skin off and wet-grind the nuts to thick paste.

In a wide bowl, bring the flour, crushed saffron and almond paste...if needed, add warm milk little by little and make a smooth dough. Add a spoonful of ghee finally.

Well, divide them into equal parts, roll them down like pooris, and fold them into tiny triangles. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry these triangle puris in them, once they are done with golden color...remove from oil and dip the same in sugar syrup. Repeat the same for the remaining dough.

Once the puris are well drenched in sugar syrup..remove and garnish them with sliced nuts.

Chill and serve as a dessert.

Thandai / Indian Bhang - Holi Festival Special Bhang Drink

Thandai:(Re posting)

Ingredients:

Milk 4 cups
Cashew nuts 10
Almonds 10
Poppy seeds 1 spoon
Pumpkin seeds 1 spoon
Peppercorns
Rose petals few/rose water few spoons
Cardamom pods 3
Cinnamon sticks 2
Sugar to taste
Saffron few strands.

Method:

Soak the nuts in warm milk for couple of hours. Wet grind these to thick paste.

Now mix the paste to the remaining milk, add the spices...boil this set-up over medium heat for long time, Maybe till the milk reduces into half.

Filter the same, chill this completely.

Serve cold, garnish with rose petals. Enjoy as bedtime drink.

Peanuts Sundal - Rainy Day Snack

Groundnut Sundal:(Country Style)

Verkadalai Sundal. Nilakadalai Sundal. Spiced Peanuts. Peanuts Fry. Spicy Ground Nuts.

Ingredients:

Fresh raw peanuts 1 cup
Salt
Turmeric 1 pinch
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Dry red chilies 2
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Boil raw fresh peanuts along with pod for at least half an hour. If you use pressure cooker, its going to be 2-3 whistles. Use enough salt.

Remove the shell and retain the nuts.

In a separate pan, heat oil and add all the spices.

Now run this seasoning to the peanuts. Serve warm as a tea time time.

Badam Paal / Almond's Milk - Vegan's Choice

Badam Milk:

Badam Palu. Badam Pal. Almond Milk. Raw Almond Milk - Warm Almond Milk. Bedtime Almond Milk.

Its time to post some milk alernate(cow's milk)recipes for my Vegan buddies. Inspired by bunch of Vegan-Vegetarian friends, I started appreciating greens and vegetables lately, but havent switched from my carnivore diet plan, yet...still going on:) Anyhow...coming upon to the recipe, its rich in protein, tryptopan present in them...helps to fall asleep and stay asleep(most important for insomia), and it turned out nearly silk and smooth(nearly, okay). However it is bit labour intensive, but worth it.:)

Ingredients:

Almonds 1 cup
Milk 1 cup
Sugar to taste
Saffron few strands
Piyal Seeds 4-7

Method:

Soak almonds in warm water, peel the skin off. Wet-grind them with milk or water, Run throw the strainer. Slightly warm the almond milk, add the other ingredients.

Serve warm as a bed time drink.

Al Naturale - Greens & Citrus Salad

Baby Spinach - Citrus Salad:

I rarely zero down myself in raw-food. Its like a cycle, I need my threshold level saying, ' whooo, had enough and come on...its time to consume something raw, fresh, counter made, bright colored stuff.

Well, I go nuts for spicy food, I am practically addicted to fried foods and quickly get carried away with delicacies all the time. Oh, what can this poor soul do, if there are thousands of food blogs out there, with all tantalizing recipes! Its so unfair, going weak each time, I browse a little.

Green is a very bad color to me. I can't live without meat/fish. Its one of the toughest thing for me to accept vegetarian meals. Finally, made my mind to go green for few days or at least pretending to do so.

I just threw in, all the greens and vegetables that are usually tossed into a salad, but took a back step on the dressing part. Completely avoided the dressing today. Its tasted good, guess I could have raw-food once in a while.

Honey & Nuts Milk Shake

Nuts and Honey Milk Shake:

Honey Milk Shake, Nuts Milk Shake.

Honey is truly an insect product. It has high nutritive value, loaded with vitamins. However the food value of honey may be estimated by the presence of sugar in it, approximately 80% of sugar. One should not be confused with honey is a direct plant product because of the nectar, pollen and cane-sugar being secretions of flowers!! As they are all digested by honey bees, get mixed with their saliva and undergo certain chemical changes due to enzyme action. At this stage sucrose (sucrose) is converted into dextrose and levulose (invert sugar). At this very same time, some of the ingredients of honeybees are also added to the mixture and the water content gets reduced (so honey thickens). The whole mixture is then collected into the crop of honeybees...until the bees reaches the hive. As the bees reaches the hive, this compound is regurgitated into the hive cell and now it is officially known as 'Honey'.

Ingredients:

Dry figs 3
Dates 6 ( de seed)
Almonds 5
Cashew nuts 5
Pistachios 5
Walnuts 5
Piyal seeds (sarai paruppu)few spoons
Banana 1 large
Honey 3-4 teaspoons
Organic whole milk 4 cups.

Method:

Blend all the above mentioned ingredients together till smooth.

Serve chilled in a tall glass. Makes a healthy choice for breakfast.

Nuts Kheer

Raw Nuts Kheer: (Version 2)

I don't know how many of you'll are going to agree with me! I believe that 'raw nuts' holds up that potent energy...than that of well cooked ones! Yeah, if you're following that fibre rich diet, then please try to eat 'raw nuts' to zap your energy. It is said that, chewing for a long period crushes that sturdy cells of the fibre and releases the nutients which are readily absorbed. Whereas when we cook these nuts...chewing part is cut down into half, and the unsaturated fatty acids tend to pass down the digestive track without being absorbed! Moreover cooking depletes lot of nutrients too!

So, how does that sound to you? Yes, its good to have them 'un cooked' isn't! So, there you go, I prepared this 'raw kheer' to maximize the energy. You still wanna know the authentic 'Nuts Kheer', then follow the link.

Ingredients:

Almonds 10
Cashew nuts 10
Sugar to taste
Whole milk 1-2 cups
Saffron few
Nuts to garnish.

Method:

Leave the almonds in warm water for about 20 minutes or so.

Then peel of its skin. (Again skin has more vitamins, anyway).

Now soak them (almonds, cashew nuts) in luke warm milk for an hour.

Puree these nuts. Mix them with sugar syrup (hope you will find how to make the syrup?!)

Just chill them, serve in a small bowl (high in calorie, alright).

Garnish with silvered nuts and saffron or as you wish.

Mutton-Cashew Nuts Fry

Mutton Kaju Fry:

Goat's meat & Cashew nuts Fry.

Brain is one of the powerful organ! About 1.4 kilo of brain is still a mystery to lot of scientists! If I want to talk about the brain chemicals and function...I could talk all day long. But let me stick to the area, I am blogging about!:)

Our fragile brain is coddled and curdled safely by cerebrospinal fluid! Besides...it also requires more pampering from the diet we eat! Does that make any sense? It can't take even the slightest abuse(too much alcohol, high cholesterol, high blood sugar). So we need to keep it pampered, all the time.

Brain cells needs fresh glucose, each time! A minute to minute supply! I am worried for those who are on crash/yo yo diet! As...any other organ gets its supply from breaking up the fat cells(storage cells). Whereas brain is the only organ, that demands fresh glucose! That is why, when glucose level drops, mental irritability and fainting happens!

Well...as we grow older, damaging of grey cells(comes as a package)! As you would have observed, short term memory loss is common among older citizens! Oxidative stress damages the grey cells and also the neurons. (The neurons are message carrying cells). Unfortunately...if a neuron is dead, its dead forever. There is no recovery!

When it comes to medication(any brain targeted drugs, could be for Alzheimer/Depression). Most of the drugs that are targeted to brain, just fails! Because there is big border-crossing guard cells! As these guard cells only allow molecules that have essential business in the brain. These guard cells are hyper vigilant! Almost 98% of drugs do not cross from blood stream into the Brain! So now pharma companies are working on some genetically engineered drugs that could be smuggled through this guard cells!

Well...buffing our brain through food and life style is an important, step! To give it simple...anything that is good for heart, is also good for our brain! Also oxidative stress is a worst enemy of brain cells...eat your vegetables and fruits, promptly. Think about more colorful vegetables to reduce oxidation. Never go on 'low carb diet' instead plan for 'good carb diet', the complex carbohydrate...to give a steady supply of glucose to it. An Australia based study says...vegetarian's brain size shrinks after certain age(50's 60's). They have severe memory loss than meat eaters. So try to fairly treat yourself with occasional meat diet. Once or Twice a week would be appropriate. Fish, Nuts, colorful berries are absolutely brain foods! A diet should be rich in variety of brain protective nutrients, including antioxidants(Fresh Fruits & Vegetables), omega-3 fatty acids(Fish & Olive oil), and vitamins C(every 4 hours), D(sunlight & Milk) and E(unpolished grains, nuts).

Ingredients:

Goat's meat/Mutton 1/2 kilo
Cashew nuts 1 cup
Ghee 1/4 cup
Cloves 2
Cinnamon 1 stick
Onion 1 grated
Ginger-garlic paste 1 spoons
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Pepper powder 1 spoon
Garam masala powder (optional)
Curry leaves to garnish.

Method:

Cook meat in a pressure cooker, using limited water...till tender.

In a wide wok, heat ghee. Fry curry leaves till crisp and set aside. Fry cashew nuts till golden color and set aside.

Wash and wipe off the wok. Heat few spoons of ghee. Add cloves and cinnamon to it.

Followed by ginger-garlic paste and onion paste. Fry real good, until raw aroma leaves the pan.

Now add cooked meat to it. Fry over high heat. Add salt, turmeric, chili and pepper powders. When the meat is really fried and aromatic...add nuts and curry leaves to it.

Serve warm to go with your South Indian meals.

Akhrot Halwa

Akhrot Halwa:(Version 2)

Walnut Halwa. Akhrot Halwa. Nuts Halwa. Pecan Halwa.

Its again my favourite Mughalai Style recipe. Akhrot Halwa is famous around North-Arcot belt. Its prepared during Ramadhan month! Rich in nuts satisfy you after long fasting hours! Myself and my Brother like to have it quite often. It is Yummy and has very different taste from regular halwa's. Probably because they use lots of 'milk gova/khoya' here. Hmmmm, cant wait to have it!!!

So...there is no great difference between my version 1 & 2. I have tossed plenty of whole nuts for decoration. Used home-made ghee and twist here is actually the food color! Although I hate to color my food with chemicals...I did it this time....just once!

Ingredients:

Walnuts 2 cup slightly toasted and grated
Ghee 2 cup
Sugar 2 cup
Milk gova/khoya 2 cup
Heavy cream/milk 1 litre
Condensed milk 1 cup
Cardamon seeds powder 1 spoon
Food color of your choice
Favourite nuts of your choice for decoration.

Method:


Toast/ fry in ghee...all the decoration nuts first and set aside.

Mix sugar and heavy cream and boil them, reduce it into half(maybe add cardamon seeds powder too)

In a separate pan, heat ghee and add gova, fry it real good. let it get loosened up first and slightly change color. That is golden brown. Do not fry beyond this point. It may become too brown.

So now to this fried gova add reduced milk. Further add condensed milk to.

Toss your grated walnuts + color and cook them. When the halwa consistency is achieved, it leaves the pan. Maybe one can run few more spoons of ghee at this point.

It turns up into dark velvety brown color. With distinct aroma. Now toss the fried nuts from step 1 to it. Mix well! Serve this after heavy meals as dessert. Heaven!!!

Cashew Rice:

Just like that....one day I invented this recipe! I had leftover, cashew puree and fried cashews. I tried to finish it! The recipe turned great. So here it is...Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice 1 cup
Cashew nuts 25 - halved
Cashew nuts 25 - pureed
Salt
Turmeric 1 pinch
Ginger 2" peeled & grated
Whole pepper 1 spoon
Cumin 1 spoon
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Curry leaves few
Ghee few spoons.

Method:

In a pressure cooker, heat ghee. Add pepper, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves. Wait till they crackle and turn crisp!

Then add ginger....let it turn aromatic too. Now add halved cashew nuts. Fry real good. Maybe till they turn to golden color.

Now add pinch of turmeric to this.

Add cashew puree and contine stirring! Maintaint he stove in low heat. Better to use non-stick cooker.

When it is aromatic....add rice, salt and just enough water. Thats it! Pressure cook till 1-2 whistle sounds.

Serve warm with coconut chutney or brinjal kotsu.

Nuts Kheer:

Arcot Muslim Style Kheer.

Ingredients:

Almonds 15
Cashew 20
Pista nuts 15
Whole milk 2-4 cups
Condensed milk 1 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Kewra essence few drops
Saffron few strands
Ghee 1/4 cup

Make puree using milk:

Almond 10 - paste 2 spoons
Cashew 10 -paste 2 spoons
Pista 10 - paste 2 spoons

Method:

In a wide, deep, non stick pan....heat ghee.

Add whole nuts and bring to golden color.

Now stir-in puree(all the 3)fry for a while.

In a seperate pan, make a sugar syrup.

Add this syrup, milk and saffron to the nuts+puree set up.

Yeah slow cook over medium with constant stirring. As u know....puree gets burnt at the bottom. So keep stirring!

When the milk reduced to half and nice saffron aroma fills the room....add condensed milk.

Let this be in simmer for some more time. Add kewra essence and remove from heat.

Serve chilled.

Cashew Candy:

Cashew Nuts Halwa.

Ingredients:
Cashewnuts 1 bowl full
Milk 1 cup
Sugar 1 bowl full
Saffron 1/2 spoon(optional)I didnt use any today
Ghee 1 cup.

Method:


1. Soak cashew nuts in warm milk for 20-30 minutes.

2. Blend this soaked cashew to thick puree. One should add only milk while grinding it to paste.

3. Optional step: Separately mix saffron to few spoons of milk and grind it. One can do this with simple mortar and pestle manually than a blender.

4. In a non-stick pan add ghee. Try to maintain the whole process on low flame only.

6. Now add sugar and 1/2 cup of water....bring the syrup to pearl consistency.

7. To this syrup add cashew paste and saffron. Constant stirring with well greased wooden spatula is advised. Better smear the spatula with ghee before hand.

8. Once the Halwa consistency is achieved transfer it to well greased container. Smear the container preferably with ghee.

The shelf life is more than a month. If refrigerated it stay long till 3-4 months.