Beet root halwa in microwave.

I had made beetroot halwa once earlier a kadhai on gas stove once.I had not posted it then. This time in Navratri, I decided to make this halwa in the microwave.

A few words about malai or cream. I remove malai daily from the milk which has been heated up & cooled as I don't like malai in tea, coffee , chaas etc.I cannot use this malai for making butter or ghee as it is low fat .I get low fat milk . .Every once in the month, when malai has accumalated to nearly 1 cup or more, I make some sweet dish using malai like carrot halwa, doodhi halwa etc.

Ingredients : 1.5 cups peeled & grated beetroot, 1 cup malai, 1/2 cup sugar,1/2 tsp elaichi powder, 1 tbsp ghee, assorted dry fruits for garnsihing.

Method : Take a microwaveable vessel.Add ghee to it & grated beetroot to it. Mix gheee with beetroot .Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove the vessel .Stir the beetroot nicely.Add the malai to it & mix with the beetrroot. Microwave on high for two minutes. Remove vessel from microwave. Give the ingredients a good stir. Microwave on high again for 2 minutes .Give one more good stir to the ingredients of the vessel & once gain microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Add sugar to the vessel.Mix all the ingredients in the vessel nicely so that sugar is evenly distributed. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Give the ingredients astir & repeat heating in microwave on high. Repeat process one or two  times.Add cardamom powder to the vessel. Mix all ingredients nicely. Microwave on hih for one minute. Put off microwave.

Let the vessel cool in microwave for 15-20 minutes. Remove the vessel from microwave. Add thinly sliced dry fruits as garnish. Serve beetroot halwa hot with assorted dry fruits as garnish.

I used thinly sliced pistas as garnish & the green colour of pistas perfectly compliments the rich red hue of the beetoot halwa ! I read that beetroot halwa will taste divine with ice cream, ! Next time, I make this halwa, I will get ice cream to go with it ! 

Whole wheat flour halwa in Microwave.

I was craving for atte ka sheera. I thought why not make it in microwave. I googled & came caross this Tarla Dalal recipe.

I tried it by mixing whole wheat flour with ghee & microwaving on high for 3 minutes at one go. Obviously , some part got burnt. So I discarded it & made gain. It turned out yumm !

Ingredients : 1/ 2 cup atta, 1/ 4 cup ghee, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp cardamom powder, dry fruits of choice for garnish.

Method : Take ghee in a microwaveable vessel & microwave on high for 10 seconds. The ghee should be in  clear liquid form. Then only it will mix properly with the flour. If ghee has not melted properly, microwave more for 5-10 seconds. Add the atta or flour to the ghee & mix  both nicely.

Microwave on high for 1 minute. Put off microwave. Remove the vessel & stir the atta ghee mixture .Keep vessel with mix in microwave. Microwave on high for 1 more minute. Again remove, stir & microwave on high for 1 more minute. Repeat one more time .

Take out vessel.Add  1 cup water. Mix nicely so that no lump remain. While adding water, be careful as the atta ghee. mix is extremely hot .Water will give bubbles when it is added to atta ghee mix.Add sugar. Mix all ingredients nicely.

Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove vessel.Stir the ingredient mix in vessel.Again microwave for 1 more minute. Repeat one more time. Add cardamom powder. Mix properly with the halwa.

Serve attae ka halwa garnished with dry fruits of choice.

Since I had walnuts, I toasted walnut bits  in microwave for 30 seconds.I used these walnut bits as the garnish .

Adai lapsi dhokla

I had made adai during  the weekend.Some batter was left over And then I saw this Daliya dhokla using lapsi rava. I knew that I had to try making dhokla with leftover adai batter & lapsi rava.

So I set about making the batter for this new fusion dhokla .And well, it turned out yumm !

Ingredients : 1 cup leftover adai batter, 1 cup lapsi rava ( thin variety or if it is thick, then make it thin by grinding it in mixer three to four times. It will be not be uniformly thin. It does not matter ) , 1/ 2 - 1 cup dahi or chaas, 1/2  tsp  hing, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp unpolished til , 2-3 tbsp oil, 1 packet eno fruit salt, 1 green chilly finely chopped, 1 tsp grated ginger, some finely chopped coriander for garnish.

Method : Add lapsi rava to leftover adai batter. Mix so that no lumps remain. Curds or chaas will hve to be added to get idli batter type consistency. Add curds or chaas little by little as batter needs to be thick with no lumps.Add 1 tbsp oil to this batter. Mix nicely.Keep it overnight to soak.

Next morning, add grated ginger, finely chopped green chillies,,hing , haldi & salt to taste to batter. MIx nicely .

Get a steamr ready. Even acooker can be used. Let the water already be boiling in the steamer or cooker. Grease the inside of vessel with oil .Keep aside.

Add eno slt to batter. Mix nicely & pour batter into greased vessel/ vessels. Steam in steamer or cooker for 15-20 minutes.Check if dhokla is cooked by inserting a toothpik or fork. If not, steam for 5 more minutes.

Prepare tempering by heating oil in a kadhai .Add mustard seeds. After they splutter, put off gas. Add til seeds to kadahi. Pour this tadka over steamed dhokla. Cut dhokla into desired shapes after it cools off. Garish with chopped corainder & serve.

Chutni pudi poha.

Whenever we have to go to attend any function in temple or whenever we have a puja at home or any socio religious function like gruh pravesh etc in the mornings,in our community ( Madhva Brahmin community), it is preferred, to eat fruits or a no cook snack.The most common item is any snack of poha. Poha dahi or chutni pudi poha, or banana poha is common. We can eat poha any time, ...actually, all the time !

Cooked poha  like the batata poha & upma is allowed for upvaas as well.

Even for ekadashi upvaas, poha cooked as also uncooked versions are allowed. Even upma is fine for ekadashi.

Ingredients : 1 cup thin poha, 2-3 tsp chutni pudi, 2-3 tsp kachha tel (raw oil without warming or heating even ) , 1 small cucumber peeled & grated, 1 small carrot peeled & grated,1/2 capsicum finely chopped, 1 tsp lemon juice, finely chopped coriander for garnish, salt to taste.

Method : Mix poha, oil & chutni pudi in bowl.Sprinkle salt.Salt must be added very carefully. This is because, poha has salt & chutni pudi has salt as well.Add grated carrot, grated cucumber, chopped capsicum .Mix all nicely. Add lemon  juice .Mix Garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Enjoy the taste as you tuck into it !

Vegetables are optional....one can add any raw vegetable except onion & garlic as that will make it unsatvic.Cucumber is most common. Carrots, capsicum , coriander are optional.For tangy poha, add lemon juice.