Tag Archives: Coconut

Breakfast time, Desserts, Millet recipes, Snacks

Ragi Ela Ada | Steamed Finger Millet snack | Vegan, Gluten free and Oil free

May 8, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

Click on the image to save the recipe on Pinterest

Kids’ schools have started after Eid holidays and days have started flying again. Waking up early, preparing their snack boxes, sending them to school, morning walk, cleaning the house, relaxing till they come back and after that hearing about their day at school, teaching them, walking again in the evening while they play outside, finally preparing for their next day at school and putting them to sleep.

Days are super busy but I would not want it any other way. I have realized being busy is actually great than sitting idle and overthinking. So it’s a blessing in disguise for me. ❤️

In midst of this, is cooking which I love and which brings me happiness. I listen to bhajans and songs while cooking which makes it so peaceful. Music is truly therapeutic. ❤️

Apart from breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is one meal of the day which is most difficult for me – Snack time. Finding a quick, healthy and tasty snack which the kids also love is very hard. So when I tried this Ragi ada inspired by my Kochi memories of the regular ada and it came out so well that we all loved it, I knew I had to share it with all of you too. ❤️

I don’t know why some people think Ragi is bitter. Ragi is such a tasty millet and I use it regularly in my cooking. It is tasty and very healthy too. Have shared all the recipes that I make using Ragi in the notes section towards the end. Do try and I think if you follow the recipe well, adapt it in your cooking, in few days, you will love Ragi too, just like we do. ❤️

Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { to make about 5 adas }

1 Cup = 240 ml

Banana leaves to make the ada

To make outer covering:

1 Cup Ragi flour ( finger millet powder)

Salt to taste

Approx 1 Cup hot water

To make inner filling:

3/4 Cup Jaggery

3/4 Cup freshly grated Coconut

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Step by step recipe:

1. Dry roast Ragi flour ( do NOT add oil while roasting) on medium flame till you get an aroma of the flour and it changes colour to a darker tone.

Note: Even if you have roasted ragi flour with you, dry roast for few minutes as it enhances the flavour a lot.

2. Transfer it to a bowl. Add salt.

3. Now add hot water, little by little. Mix as you add water.

4. As you add hot water, little by little, after mixing, the dough will look like this. Do NOT add water after this.

5. Now the dough will be warm. Using hands, mix together to form a smooth and soft dough.

6. Now make the inner filling. Take coconut and jaggery in a pan. Heat it together on medium flame till the jaggery melts and coconut will stick to jaggery. Remove from flame. Add Cardamom powder. Mix well.

7. Now cut the banana leaf into rectangle pieces as shown. Clean it with water and wipe it dry.

Also divide the ragi dough into equal sized balls. If you have taken 1 Cup (240 ml) of Ragi flour, you will get 5 balls.

8. Take a ball of ragi dough and spread it using slightly wet fingers as thin as possible.

9. Take a spoonful of the filling and place it on one half side. Spread it on the half side using spoon as shown in the image below.

10. Fold the banana leaf while closing both the halves as shown.

11. Seal the edges of the dough using fingers so that the filling does not come out.

12. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough balls. Place it on a idli steamer.

13. Steam for 20 to 25 mins on high flame till the ada cooks thoroughly. Remove from flame. Allow it to cool for 5 mins.

14. Now peel off the banana leaf, discard it and enjoy the warm Ragi ela adas. 😍

Just look at the inside of the ada. Sweet, juicy and so delicious 😍

Notes:

* As you can see from the above picture, the ada is of the right thickness and also steamed fully. This is due to spreading the dough thin over the banana leaf and also steaming for atleast 20 mins.

* Even if you have roasted ragi flour with you, dry roast for few minutes to get perfect aromatic ragi adas.

* Do use only hot water while preparing the dough. It took me around 1 Cup hot water for 1 Cup Ragi flour. Add only 1/4 Cup at a time and mix well till you get the dough as in step number 4. Then mix using hands to form a smooth dough.

* Don’t add a lot of water while making dough. It will be difficult to spread if dough is too soft.

* For 1 Cup Ragi flour, 3/4 Cup coconut and 3/4 Cup jaggery made the right filling for me. If you add a lot of filling, it will be difficult to seal the edges. So add only a spoonful to cover half of the ada.

* I have not made this without banana leaves. So can’t say the alternative to it. Spreading the dough on the leaf is easy and the ada turns aromatic too. So try to get the leaves if you can.

* These adas are best eaten soon after they are steamed but tastes yummy even after few hours too. So you can carry it in tiffin box and during travel too.

* A similar recipe with coconut jaggery filling is this Kerala style Nendrapazham nirachathu or stuffed Nendran Bananas..

Nendrapazham nirachathu

* I make many dishes using Ragi flour. You can check the recipes here:

Instant Ragi Rava dosa

Ragi Set Dosas

Instant Ragi Idlis

Ragi Urad Idlis

Ragi Malpuas/ Ragi Pancakes

Ragi Jaggery Ladoos

Ragi Butter cookies

Eggless Ragi Chocolate Cake

Curry house

Kerala style Vegetable stew | easy stew recipe

April 26, 2023 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

I love different varieties of mixed vegetable curries and Vegetable Kurma is one of my favorite. Apart from that, I also make Vegetable stew for a change as it’s very quick to make, tastes divine and so aromatic too.

Though it is usually eaten with Appam and Idiyappam, it is a great combination with chapatis and pulav too. Today I made it with dosas for breakfast and it was amazing as well. The soft dosas dipped in this stew was a tasty and healthy breakfast.

Hope you all try this delicious stew and enjoy it’s aroma in your kitchen too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

(Sorry for short writeups nowadays. My kids hardly give me time to write blogs as they need me always. But I really wanted to share this recipe right away. So writing this quickly for all of you. 😍)

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Coconut oil

2 Cardamom pods

2 Cloves

1 inch Cinnamon stick

1 Bay leaf

1 inch Ginger, finely chopped

1 medium sized Onion, finely chopped

1 long Carrot, diced (about 1 Cup)

10 to 15 medium sized Beans, chopped

2 medium sized Potatoes, diced

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

2 Cups thin Coconut milk

A sprig of Curry leaves

1 Cup thick Coconut milk

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Prepare the vegetables first by peeling and dicing carrots, chopping beans into 1 inch pieces (discard the ends), peel and dice potatoes. Keep aside. Also cut green chillies into long pieces and finely chop onions and ginger.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add a bay leaf, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Also add ginger, green chillies and onions. Fry till onions turn translucent.

3. Now add the vegetables along with curry leaves and mix well. Add the thin Coconut milk (about 2 Cups). Also add salt and pepper powder. Cover and cook till the veggies turn soft.

4. Once vegetables turn soft (about 10 mins), add thick Coconut milk ( 1 Cup) and mix well.

5. Let it simmer on medium flame for about 10 mins till the gravy thickens. Now adjust water and salt. Done ❤️

6. Vegetable stew is served with Appam or Idiyappam. You can also serve it with rice or pulav, chapatis or dosas. It is so simple yet aromatic and delicious. ❤️

Notes:

* You can also add fresh/ frozen/ dried peas if you have.

* There are so many variations to stew as some add turmeric powder and even Garam Masala powder but this is a basic recipe close to the authentic Kerala style Vegetable stew. You can make variations as per your taste.

* Thick Coconut milk means when you grind fresh coconut with little water and sieve.

* Thin Coconut milk means when you grind the sieved coconut again with water and sieve again. That is the second coconut milk.

* What I do is, I use coconut milk powder diluted with water to get thin Coconut milk and use canned coconut milk for thick Coconut milk.

* You can use fresh, powder or canned coconut milk in this recipe as per what is easily available for you.

* Cooking the vegetables in thin Coconut milk is what gives the stew it’s flavour. So don’t skip it.

* After adding thick Coconut milk, don’t cook it on high flame for long. Just simmer it till it boils and remove from flame.

* You can also try this recipe of Restaurant style Vegetable Kurma.

Desserts

Coconut Badam Ladoo | Easy Vegan ladoo recipe | Coconut Jaggery Ladoo

October 20, 2022 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

In three days, it’s Deepavali and we will all soon be busy decorating our houses, lighting lamps, making sweets and savouries, enjoying this festive time with our families. Even though Deepavali is not the same here in Qatar, being far away from our dear ones, I still make sure kids don’t miss out on the essence of the festival by telling them the story of Ramayana, lighting lamps, wearing new clothes and making sweets to celebrate the festival. ❤️

Today morning I made these Coconut Badam ladoos which are the kids’ favorite as they love coconut based sweets a lot. They have holidays for the next four days and I will be busy with them, listening to their chatter. 😍 So I decided to share this recipe today itself to wish all of you a very Happy Deepavali. ❤️

Hope this beautiful festival of lights bring peace and happiness into your lives. Happy Deepavali to you and your family. Jai Shri Ram. 🙏

Do try these easy ladoos if you find time and you are sure to relish it. Happy and healthy cooking ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes about 12 small ladoos }

1 Cup = 240 ml

2 Cups Desiccated Coconut (or freshly grated coconut)

About 15 Almonds/ Badam

1/4 Cup Water (to make Almond paste)

3/4 Cup Jaggery powder (or grated jaggery)

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder, for flavour

Step by step recipe:

1. Soak Almonds one night before making the ladoos. Just immerse in little water for about 8 hours.

2. Drain the water and peel the almonds. The peels come off easily as they have been soaked well.

3. Add to a mixer along with 1/4 Cup water and grind to a fine paste.

4. In a thick bottomed pan add coconut gratings or desiccated coconut, jaggery powder or grated jaggery and the almond paste. Don’t keep it on flame yet.

5. Now mix well using a spatula.

6. Now keep the pan on medium flame and start mixing using the spatula. Jaggery will melt and the mixture will start becoming soft and blend well. Keep mixing for about 8 to 10 mins. Add cardamom powder.

7. Mix once and remove the mixture into a bowl.

8. When the mixture is warm, start making ladoos using your hands. It is very easy to make when the mixture is warm and moist. Take a small portion and open close your right hand till the mixture binds well to form a round shaped ball.

9. Make ladoos with all of the mixture. You can also decorate the ladoos with fine sliced Almonds. Done ❤️

Notes:

* I have used desiccated coconut to make these ladoos. You can use freshly grated coconut too.

* Soaking Almonds overnight makes it easier to peel and also increases the nutrition of the Almonds.

* Once you mix coconut, jaggery and almond paste before keeping on the flame, it might seem dry but when you heat it, the jaggery will melt and help combine the mixture well.

* Heat it on medium flame though, else jaggery will burn if heated on high flame.

* When the mixture is warm and moist itself, make ladoos as it is easy that time.

* Store in a dry container for a day or two and then if leftover, you can refrigerate.

* Jaggery can be substituted with sugar too in case your family does not like jaggery flavour.

* Almonds can be substituted with Cashews too.

* I make Coconut Burfis with Cashews and sugar which I learnt many years back from Konkani Saraswat Cookbook by Asha Satish Philar mai. Here is the recipe – Coconut Burfis.

* Other Ladoos with Coconut that I make –

Microwave Mango Coconut Ladoos

Mango Coconut Ladoos

Dry fruit Coconut Ladoos

* All my easy sweet recipes that can be made within 15 mins – Easy sweet recipes Compilation

Chutneys

Walnut Chutney

October 6, 2022 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 1 Comment

Recently I got a lot of walnuts (at super cheap price 😁✌️) which are so crunchy and tasty that I munch couple of them when I have mid meal hunger pangs. Apart from eating the walnuts as it is, I looked up for recipes so that I can add it in my kids’ diet too without them knowing (sshhh 🤫😄).

That’s when I found that they could be added in chutneys and what better an idea as my kids love their dosa and idli with chutney. So I tried in many ways and finally found this way the best. In this chutney you can never say it has walnuts in it as the flavour of red chillies and hing masks the nuttiness of walnuts really well.

Today made this chutney with Rava Idlis and they made such a great combination that I felt like sharing it with you all instantly. Hope you all try it too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Serves 2 to 3 people }

3/4 Cup freshly grated Coconut or Desiccated coconut

4 Walnuts

4 Kashmiri Red Chillies or to taste

1 tsp Tamarind paste

Pinch of Hing / Asafoetida

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

2 tsp Coconut Oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

5 to 6 Curry leaves

Step by step recipe:

1. Take coconut, red chillies, tamarind paste, hing and salt in a mixer.

2. Roast walnuts in a small pan for few seconds. It just needs to heat a bit. Then remove from the flame.

3. Add to the mixer.

4. Add water as needed and grind to a smooth paste.

5. Remove to a bowl. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add curry leaves and roast a little. Pour over the chutney. Mix well.

6. Serve with dosas or idlis.

Notes:

* I add 4 Kashmiri red chillies for 3/4 Cup Coconut. It does not turn out very spicy and I make it so as I make for my kids. You can increase as per your taste.

* 4 to 5 Walnuts are perfect for this measurement. If you add more, the walnut nuttiness might become more prevalent.

* I made this chutney with Instant Rava Idlis today.

* You can check my Variety Idli Recipes Compilation.

* I make more than 30 types of Dosas including many no rice dosas too. You can check:

All Dosa recipes

No Rice Dosa recipes

Desserts, Konkani Recipes

Madgane | Konkani traditional Chana dal sweet/ payasa/kheer

October 4, 2022 Healthy Cooking with Mitha Leave a comment

Though I am not an expert at making traditional Konkani dishes, if there is one Konkani sweet dish I can make really well, it is Madgane. Madgane is made on Ugadi day which is new year for us, as per Hindu calendar. When I made it for Ugadi few months back, I realized I had not shared this delicious recipe on the blog.

That’s when I decided to make it again during Navaratri which is yet another important festival for us and share with all of you. Today is a final day of Navaratri, tomorrow being Vijayadashami or Dussehra. 🙏

If there is something I miss the most living in Qatar, it is going to temples specially during festivals. My dad has been going to all Devi temples across Udupi and sends me pictures of beautifully adorned Devis. 🙏 Feels so happy for him. ❤️ It is a great blessing from the divine which we don’t realize the value untill we are away from it.

Wishing all of you a blessed Navaratri and Vijayadashami. 🙏

Hope you all try Madgane and relish it like we do. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: ( makes about 6 bowls/ servings)

1/2 Cup Chana dal

1 3/4 Cups Coconut milk ( about 400 ml)

1 Cup Jaggery powder

2 Tbsp Rice flour

1 Tbsp Ghee

About 10 Cashews and few raisins

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

Step by step recipe:

1. Roast Chana dal on medium to low flame till it starts letting out an aroma and starts browning.

2. Immediately remove from flame and wash well. Add fresh water, a little above the level of Chana dal, as shown in the picture.

3. Pressure cook till soft but not mushy. Chana dal should retain shape. I cook on high till 2 whistles, then keep on medium flame for 10 mins in my electric stovetop.

4. Now add cooked Chana dal, coconut milk and Jaggery in a thick bottomed pan.

5. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 mins on high flame.

6. Take 2 Tbsp Rice flour and mix with 2 to 3 Tbsp water to form a paste free form lumps.

7. Add it to the Chana dal payasa while stirring continually so that it does not form lumps. Cook for 5 to 10 mins on medium flame till the mixture becomes thick. Remove from flame.

8. In another pan, take ghee, add cashews and raisins. Fry till raisins plump up. Add to the payasa. Also add Cardamom powder. Mix well.

9. Serve warm.

Click on the image to save the recipe on

Notes:

* I have used tinned coconut milk from Lulu hypermarket. If you are making fresh coconut milk, then take about 2 Cups of coconut gratings, grind it with little water to a fine paste in a mixer. Sieve it once to get thick coconut milk. Grind again with water, sieve to get thin coconut milk. Add thin coconut milk along with jaggery in step 4 and thick coconut milk along with rice flour paste.

* Be careful while roasting Chana dal as it burns very quickly. Roast on medium flame and remove as soon as it starts turning brown. Roasting is an important step as it gives a wonderful flavour to the payasa.

* While pressure cooking Chana dal, ensure that it retains shape and is not mushy. In Madgane, the bite of chana dal is important.

* Don’t add a lot of water while pressure cooking and even after that as that payasa will become watery.

* 1/2 Cup Chana dal to 1 Cup Jaggery works perfectly for me. You can vary as per your taste.

* Rice flour paste is added to give thickness to the Madgane. Don’t skip it as it enhances the texture so much.

* Traditionally, fresh Cashew or Bibbo is added to Madgane. I don’t get it, so I add regular Cashews roasting only slightly along with raisins.

* Don’t forget Cardamom powder as it gives a wonderful aroma to Madgane.

* Leftover Madgane can be refrigerated and had next day.

Desserts, Snacks

Nendrapazham Nirachathu | Stuffed Nendran Banana

October 1, 2022 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

It’s a special weekend day today as my daughter Ashritha’s half yearly exams are finally over and it really feels like my exams are over too. 😅 Teaching her for her second standard exams was not less than my engineering semester exams for me. 😁

Planning her lessons, teaching her, preparing notes, asking her questions while I do my work, then finally heaving a sigh of relief when she says the exams were easy… All of these were my last two weeks in short. 😄 So since yesterday, I have been making her favorite dishes to celebrate “freedom from exams” and today was the day to give freedom to these fast ripening Nendran Bananas too. 😍

Nendran Bananas are her favorite and apart from slicing round, frying in ghee, I also make this Nendran Banana Halwa when the bananas turn overripe. I also learned to make this Nendrapazham nirachathu last month which she loved a lot. So I decided to make it today with these bananas and took some pictures to add on the blog too.

This is very easy to make and tastes so delicious for words, specially if you love Nendran Bananas. Hope you all try it too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { For two stuffed bananas }

Two Ripe Nendran Bananas (should not be very soft or over ripe)

4 Tbsp Freshly grated Coconut

2 to 3 Tbsp Jaggery powder

1 tsp Ghee + 1 Tbsp Ghee

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat 1 tsp Ghee in a small pan and add freshly grated coconut and jaggery powder.

2. On medium to low flame, fry the coconut- jaggery well in ghee for a minute.

3. Remove from flame. Add Cardamom powder. Mix well.

4. Take the ripe Nendran Bananas. If they are very soft, we can’t use it as it will break when we fill and fry it. Just see that they are ripe yet firm.

5. Peel the bananas. Make a small slit with knife in the center leaving the ends as shown. Don’t make a very deep cut too. Just slit until 3/4th depth of the banana.

6. Now stuff the bananas with the coconut jaggery mixture using hands. Divide the mixture between the two bananas.

7. Now heat 1 Tbsp Ghee in a pan and roast all three sides of the bananas till they turn slight brown. Do it on medium to low flame, else they can burn.

8. Done. Slice into three to four pieces and serve. Enjoy! ❤️

Notes:

* If you have very soft or over ripe bananas, you can make this Quick Nendran Banana Halwa that I make regularly.

* This recipe requires the bananas to be ripe yet firm to hold.

* While frying the bananas, be careful while turning and see that you do so on medium to low flame, else the stuffing can burn as it has jaggery in it.

Breakfast time, Konkani Recipes, Snacks

Instant Sweet Appo | Wheat Jaggery appe | Easy Sweet Paniyaram | Godu Appo

December 16, 2021 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

The bowl of sweet appes that you can see above has been finished off by my sweet 3 year old son as I write this. After I made it and gave him one, he took a bite and asked me innocently, “mmm yummy Amma, ye hotel?” 😄. I felt very happy and like a chef that my son found the appes so good that he thought they were from hotel. 😍

He wanted more and finally ate the whole bowl of it. My heart filled up as a mother by seeing him eat happily and I wanted to share my happiness with all of you too as soon as possible. So, sat to write down this blog now itself. ❤️

These appes were one among the first I learnt to make when I got the Appe pan as we have grown up eating them. My kids love it a lot and I make it regularly for them as a tasty snack. It’s so quick to make yet fills up their tummies in a healthy way. ❤️

I also want to share a glimpse of my kitchen counter with all of you today seeing which makes me very happy each day. I love arranging it and love to keep the house clean. Took this picture to send my Amma and felt like sharing with you all too. A peek into my kitchen and my favorite place in the house. 😍

The popsicle molds are my recent purchase and I am loving making new varieties of fruit popsicles each day for the kids. Their excitement while enjoying them is one of a kind. 😍 Will share the recipes when I find time. ❤️

Hope you all loved reading this blog. Do try these appes and I am sure you will love them. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes about 24 small sized appos }

1 Cup Wheat flour (Chapati Atta)

1/2 Cup Jaggery powder or to taste

2 to 3 Tbsp freshly grated Coconut

A pinch of Salt

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

1/2 Cup Milk

1/2 to 3/4 Cup water (to make the batter)

1 small Indian Banana (1/4 Cup mashed banana)

Ghee to cook the appos

Step by step recipe:

1. Take 1 Cup wheat flour, 1/2 Cup Jaggery powder, about 2 Tbsp freshly grated coconut, salt and Cardamom powder in a mixing bowl.

2. Add 1/2 Cup Milk and water (1/4 Cup each time) to make a slightly thick lump free batter. It takes about 1/2 Cup to 3/4 Cup water to make this batter depending on the brand of wheat flour and how much water it absorbs. The consistency should be neither very thin nor very thick. It should be thicker than dosa batter.

3. Now add the mashed banana to the batter. Mix well. I add 1 small Indian Banana which is 1/4 Cup when mashed.

4. Now heat the Appe pan and when it becomes hot, reduce the flame to medium. Now add a drop of ghee in each of the holes of the pan. Add one spoonful of batter in each of them. Don’t keep the flame on high as the appes may turn black in colour. Always keep the flame on medium to get golden coloured appes.

5. Cover and cook for a minute or till the surface looks slightly cooked.

6. Flip and cook for a minute again.

7. Serve them warm or at room temperature. Tastes so yum! 😍

Notes:

* You can skip banana if you don’t have but trust me, these appes taste really heavenly with the banana flavour and the slight bite of bananas in them.

* If you are not adding bananas, you will need to add a pinch of baking soda to help the appos fluff up. I don’t like to use soda and hence I add bananas everytime while making appos.

* This is how I make Wheat banana pancakes too. So you can use appe batter to make pancakes.

* The measurements I have shared above works very well for me. You can add or reduce jaggery, coconut and milk as per your taste.

* Always cook the appes in medium flame for perfect golden coloured appes.

* I also make Mixed dal Appes which comes out delicious. You can check the recipe here.

Chutneys, Konkani Recipes

Sambarpalli Chutney | Panikoorka/ Doddapatre chutney – version 2

June 30, 2021 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

Sambarpalli leaves are also known as Panikoorka in Malayalam, Doddapatre in Kannada, Ajwain Patta in Hindi and Indian Borage in English. They are very good for digestion and also to cure common cold.

It’s amazing how good music can change your mood completely. This morning as I woke up, checked my YouTube subscriptions and saw that T series has released something called a mixtape which is a combination of two beautiful songs. Today’s was a mix of Tera Chehra and Jaan Meri, both of which are soothing songs, the mixtape sung beautifully by Jubin Nautiyal and Tulsi Kumar. It gave a wonderful start to my day and I loved it so much that I listened to it on repeat. ❤️

So since I am in a pleasant mood, I decided to utilize it to blog a new recipe (Make hay while the sun shines 😀). This chutney might look like a simple recipe but it’s a very special one. Not only does it taste super delicious, is healthy, made from our home grown leaves and importantly learnt from one among my favorite people, Mamta mai. ❤️

Me and her are so similar in many many ways that she calls us as twins with 25 years difference 😂😂. We met each other through food groups, then realized we are related distantly and now we bond just like two long lost siblings and gel along like best friends. 😍 It’s super sweet how she cares for me and her love is very precious for me. ❤️

So when she shared this recipe of Sambarpalli chutney, I had to try it as we have loads of these leaves in our backyard, all thanks to my husband’s gardening skills. For him, plants are his love and passion in midst of his hectic work life, something which makes him very happy. Here is the sambarpalli bush which came in as a small plant but look at how well it has grown. 😍

So, here’s sharing the recipe of this chutney made from homegrown leaves. A very healthy yet delicious chutney. Hope you all try and love it. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

Thank you so much Mamta mai for this recipe. ❤️🙏

RECIPE:

Recipe Credit : Mrs Mamta Shenoy

Ingredients:

About 8 to 10 Sambarpalli leaves

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp Jeera/ Cumin seeds

3 to 4 Green chillies

4 Garlic pods

3/4 Cup Coconut

1 tsp Tamarind paste

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Fry for few seconds. Add green chillies and garlic. Fry till garlic turns slightly brown in colour. Add sambarpalli leaves and fry till it wilts.

2. Allow it to cool. Then add it to a mixer jar along with coconut, tamarind and salt.

3. Add little water as needed and grind to a smooth paste. Serve as a rice accompaniment or with idlis or dosas.

Notes:

* You can another version of chutney with these leaves here – Sambarpalli leaves Chutney . This version is without garlic.

* The leaves I have taken are tender, small ones. If the leaves in your plant are large ones, 5 to 6 will suffice for the amount of coconut mentioned.

* These leaves are very healthy and I use them in two ways apart from making chutney:::

1. I put couple of leaves in a vessel along with water. Heat it and take steam inhalation when even having the slightest of cold symptoms.

2. Heat the leaves in a pan as shown in the first picture. Then when it starts oozing water, remove it and crush it using mortar and pestle. Sieve the juice and mix honey (for kids above one year old) . Give as medicine for kids and adults when suffering from cold or stomach ache. Works very well. Take about 6 to 8 small leaves for one dose.

Hope these home remedies are helpful to you too. These leaves are really magic!

Desserts

Mango Coconut Ladoos | Healthy version without condensed milk

June 13, 2021 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

Don’t the ladoos look pretty? I loved how this picture came out. 😍 Even though I have been making these ladoos since some time now, the cashew bits idea came while presenting them for the blog and they looked so cute that I felt so happy. ❤️

I have a Microwave Mango Coconut ladoos recipe on the blog which many of my readers have tried but the recipe is with condensed milk which they wanted to avoid and I got requests for alternatives. So, I started experimenting and substituted condensed milk with cashew paste. And it worked very well. 😍

The ladoos come out very soft yet melt in the mouth delicious. I still remember the first time that I made it, I shared it with my neighbor Trinita and she showered me with so many wonderful words saying it tasted really delicious. Happiness is sharing, everything tastes much more yummier once you have shared it with your loved ones! ❤️

**Wish I could share with all of you too** 😍

Similar is with my daughter. She can’t colour alone and needs me (only me, mind you! Mr daddy is invisible to her 😅😁) to colour along with her. I guess sharing the colouring page and pencils make it much more pleasurable an activity. So, we both colour together listening to our favorite songs. Her current favorite is “Mere Sohneya” from Kabir Singh movie. Listening with her, I too love the song now (super cute music and lyrics ❤️) which is coming very close to “Tujhe kitna chahne lage” which has been my most favorite from the movie. How kids change our song choices too! 😍

On the note, sharing this sweet recipe made from my favorite Mango. Hope you all try and love it. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { About 15 small ladoos }

2 Cups Freshly grated/ Desiccated Coconut

1 Cup thick Mango Pulp (fresh/canned)

1/2 Cup Cashews

1/4 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Jaggery powder

1 Tbsp Ghee

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Step by step recipe:

1. Grind 1/2 Cup Cashews with 1/4 Cup Milk to a smooth paste.

2. In a pan, add 2 Cups desiccated Coconut, 1 Cup Mango pulp, 1/4 Cup Jaggery powder along with cashew paste.

3. Now mix everything well into an even mixture.

4. Keep this pan on medium flame and cook till moisture evaporates and the mixture turns dry. Takes about 10 mins depending on the moisture content of the mango pulp. Now add ghee.

5. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Add cardamom powder and mix well.

6. When it cools, using your palms form ladoos. It will be very soft and you can make ladoos easily. If the mixture sticks to the palm, apply ghee on your palms while making ladoos.

7. Repeat the same with the rest of the ladoos. Garnish with bits of cashews for it to look pretty. 😍

Notes:

* If using freshly grated Coconut, dry roast in a pan first to remove the moisture and then mix in mango pulp, jaggery and cashew paste like in step 2. Do not brown the coconut though. Just light toasting will do.

* You can use both fresh or store bought mango pulp during off season. If using fresh pulp, do not grind using water. Just slice mangoes and grind the mixer without water for a thick pulp.

* During off season, I use Mother’s recipe brand of Alphonso mango pulp. It works really well for this recipe.

* You can skip jaggery if the mangoes are very sweet. You can taste the mixture slightly and then add jaggery only if needed.

* You can use grated Jaggery in place of jaggery powder as anyhow it will melt when we cook it.

* For a Vegan version, you can skip milk and grind cashews with equal amount of water. Also you can skip ghee and use any neutral flavoured oil while greasing your palms while forming ladoos.

* Cook the mixture really well such that the moisture evaporates. Else it will be difficult to form ladoos is the mixture is sticky. But don’t cook a lot that mangoes lose flavour. It took me about 10 mins on medium flame in my cooktop.

* These ladoos are not like regular ladoos and very soft but tastes delicious.

* If you have difficulty forming ladoos even after applying ghee on your palms, then refrigerate the mixture for an hour or so. You can form ladoos easily after that.

* After a day, refrigerate the ladoos in a moisture free container.

* You can also check out these recipes:

# Microwave Mango Coconut ladoos

# Coconut Burfis

# Dry fruit Coconut Ladoos

# All Mango recipes list

# Easy, healthy sweet recipes ready in 15 mins compilation

Curry house, Konkani Recipes, Salads

Banana stem salad | Banana stem Kosambari | Banana stem Upkari | Gabbo recipes Konkani

May 24, 2021 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

There was a time when I used to make only one or two curries for our matta rice meals. Since I cook the matta rice very soft like a gruel, a side dish would be sufficient to enjoy a simple dinner. Don’t know when I started cooking more, maybe lockdown effect 😄 or to deviate my mind 😅 or listen to more music 😍, I now make atleast 3 to 4 varieties of curries daily. It makes me very happy to see the thali with different colours and nutrients too.❤️

My son is also a huge fan of his plate filled with curries and says, “Amma, Wow 😍” when I bring his meal to feed him. I am glad that this boy needs no extra efforts to make him eat veggies. He already loves vegetables (even traditional ones) so much that I am sure he was a farmer in his past life and a Konkani for sure. 😅

As for me, due to him, I too have learned to like these vegetables which I did not like as a kid (Amma, true na? 😂). So, as a mother, at 31 year old, I am learning healthy eating habits from my 2.5 year old son ( how cool is that 😄). But honestly, not only this, if I have learned to be happy at the simplest things, it is through my kids, if I have learned to enjoy life with whatever we have, it is through them. Even if I scold them, they still come back to me with the same amount of love and hug me saying, “Love you, Amma”. That forgiving, non judging, free thinking, trusting nature of kids and the innocence, which gets lost as we grow up, have to be learned from kids. Maybe that’s what is a part of the circle of life. ❤️

So, on this thoughtful note, sharing the recipes with Banana stem. Hope you all like it. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

Banana stem (inner pith)/ Gabbo as available {mine was 35 cm in length}

For Kosambari:

1/4 Cup Moong dal

1 Cup finely chopped Banana stem

3 Green chillies

2 Tbsp Coriander leaves

2 Tbsp grated Coconut

A pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida

1 tsp Oil, 1 tsp Mustard seeds, A sprig of Curry leaves – for seasoning

Lemon juice from 1 Indian lemon for garnish

Salt to taste

For Salad:

1 Cup finely chopped Banana stem

1 Cup Curd / Yogurt

2 Green chillies

Salt to taste

1 tsp Oil or ghee, 1 tsp Mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds, A sprig of Curry leaves – for seasoning

Step by step recipe:

1. First wash well and soak the moong dal in enough water and keep aside till use. This is for the kosambari.

2. Next, wash the Banana pith well. I get the outer parts of the stem already removed. So I don’t have pictures of how to remove that. Please check YouTube videos on how to use banana stem if using for the first time. Cut into roundels while removing any fibres which may come out. Immediately put in a vessel filled with water as shown.

3. Now finely chop these roundels and add little to a bowl for the salad. Also add finely chopped green chillies.

4. Now add curd and salt. Mix well.

5. Season oil or ghee by spluttering mustard seeds and adding cumin seeds and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the salad. Mix well. Salad is ready.

6. For the Kosambari, now again finely chop the banana stem and add to the soaked, drained moong dal along with green chillies and coriander leaves.

7. Now add coconut along with the seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil.

8. Add lemon juice and salt. Mix well. Kosambari is ready.

9. For the Gabbe Upkari, cut the rest of the Banana stem into long pieces. Heat about 2 tsp Oil in a pan. Add a pinch of Hing along with 3 to 4 broken red chillies and the chopped Banana stem pieces with salt and little water. Cover and cook till the stem pieces turn soft. Garnish with grated Coconut and mix well.

10. Serve the Banana stem salad, Banana stem Kosambari and Upkari with rice meals.

Notes:

* I also make a simple sambar along with these three dishes as it makes a great combination and a very wholesome meal.

* Remember to remove the outer parts of the Banana stem if you have the stem with outer parts intact. Check YouTube videos on how to use Banana stem. I get it with the innermost pith in my nearest supermarket.

* While chopping the pith, you will get some fibres come out. Discard it.

* Keep the chopped pieces in plain water or tumeric water till use, else the pieces turn black very quickly.

* Don’t worry about using banana stem without cooking it in salad and Kosambari. It can be had raw and tastes really good too. Just chop it very finely.