Apple Sheera (Apple rawa halwa)

It is just yesterday i.e.15th dec '11, that I was craving to try something new and also some dessert. I started to look up in my kitchen as to what I had to make some good dessert. I found red apples. So I thought why not give a try with some red apple dessert. The first thing that came to my mind was Apple sheera.

Serves - 2 to 3 persons
Preparation time - 15min

Ingredients:
Red apples - 2nos
Ghee - 4 tsp
Rawa - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Powdered Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Dry fruits (Cashew and raisins)

Method:
1. Take 1 tsp of ghee in a kadhai. Add Rawa to it and roast it well. Take the rawa out of the kadhai and let it cool down.
2. In the same kadhai, put in the powdered jaggery and 1 tsp ghee and allow to melt.
3. Meanwhile, de-skin the apples and chop them in to small pieces. Now add small chopped apples to the melted jaggery. Cook the apples well till they are very soft.
4. Now add the roasted rawa and mix well.
5. Now add the milk and stir well. Also add the cashew and raisins.
6. Add the water, stir and close kadhai with a lid and allow it to cook well.
7. Now add 2 tsp of ghee and mix well. Apple sheera is ready to be served.

Dahi wada

What made me think of Dahi wada suddenly?
I had few guests coming home. Wanted some more yogurt, so got half a litre from outside. Also had some yogurt at home as well. My guests cancelled their visit. I had this youghurt left over. Lots of thoughts went around what to do with this yogurt. Was thinking of Kadi, felt a little bored to eat kadi and rice. Then was thinking of some dosa with curd. But found that it uses just 1 cup of youurt. Finally decided to make the yummy dahi wada.

Now here goes the recipe.

Cooking Time : 45-50 minutes
Servings : 4

Constituents:
For wada
Urad daal - 1 Cup
Split Moong daal - 1 fist
Flattened rice (Poha) - 1 table spoon
Jeera - 2 tea spoons
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

For Curd
Curds - 1 litre
Dhaniya jeera powder
Black Salt powder
Freshly chopped Cilantro
Red chilly powder
Tamarind chutney
Chat masala
Sugar
Salt

Process:
Wada
1. Soak the Urad daal, Moong daal and Poha for 4-5 hours in water.
2. Grind it into thick consistency paste by adding very little water to grind.
3. Add salt and Jeera. Mix well.
4. Keep oil to heat to fry the wadas. To test if oil is hot, just put a small ball of the above batter in oil and see if it splutters. If yes, keep on low flame and fry the wadas by making lemon sized balls. Fry to golden brown.
5. After fry the wadas, allow them to cool down. Then dump these wadas into a bowl of water. Keep in the water for 10min or till the next batch of fried wadas are ready.
6. Squeeze the wadas tight so that there is minimal amount of water left in the wadas. Then dip them in the masala curd.


Masala Curd
1. Beat the curd in a large bowl to accomodate the curd and the wadas.
2. Add salt, black salt, sugar, dhaniya-jeera powder, red chilly powder, cilantro leaves, chat masala and mix well.

Curd is ready.

How to serve this?
1. Take a serving bowl.
2. Put curd-wada from the big bowl.
3. Sprinkle dhaniya-jeera powder, red chilly powder, cilantro leaves, chat masala.
4. Now add some tamarind chutney according to taste. Chill it and serve.

Lauki Muthia

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
2 cups grated bottle gourd (doodhi / lauki)
1/4 cup grated onions (optional)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
1 cup semolina (rava)
1/2 cup besan (bengal gram flour)
2 tsp ginger-green chilli paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
2 pinches of soda bi-carb
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
salt to taste
3 1/4 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1 tsp sesame seeds (til)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
Curry Leaves

For The Garnish
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (dhania)


Method
1. Squeeze out excess water from the grated bottle gourd and onions and keep the liquid aside to knead the dough if required.
2. Combine the bottle gourd, onions, whole wheat flour, semolina, besan, ginger-green chilli paste, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, lemon juice, sugar, coriander, soda bi-carb, asafoetida, salt and 1 tsp of oil in a bowl, mix well and knead into a soft dough adding lauki water (if required use extra water)
3. Apply ¼ tsp of oil on your hands and divide the mixture into portions.
4. Shape each portion into a cylindrical roll approximately 150 mm. (6") length and 25 mm. (1") in diameter.
5. Arrange the rolls on a greased sieve and steam in a steamer for 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Remove, cool slightly and cut into 12 mm. (½”) slices and keep aside.

For the tempering:
1. Heat the remaining 2 tsp of oil in a non-stick kadhai and add the mustard seeds with curry leaves.
2. When the seeds crackle, add the sesame seeds and asafoetida and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds, while stirring continuously.
3. Add the muthia pieces and sauté on a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes or till they turn light brown in colour and crisp.
4. Serve immediately garnished with coriander.


Tips
To check if the muthias are done, insert a toothpick in the centre. If it comes out clean, the muthias are cooked.

VARIATION :
You can use cabbage or methi instead of bottle gourd.

Health tip:

1. For a heathy living, drink lots of water throughout the day.
2. Drink atleast a glass of water before lunch or dinner.
3. Do not drink water immediately after lunch or dinner. Drink warm water (if possible add some lemon juice to it) after about half hour post lunch or dinner. This will help in proper digestion of the food taken in.
4. Have Apricot sized jaggery (gud) after lunch or dinner. This helps in digestion and will reduce acidity.