Apple Pear Oats Smoothie

Well it’s almost weekend friends.Weekend seems to come and go like jiffy. Last time on weekend, when we were out in a park, our dear daughter asked us to hand over our point and shoot camera to her. She is one chirpy girl who always is fascinated by nature and loves to spend time around the activities of park.She is a nature girl for sure.Give her a choice of picking study book or stroll around in a park, she would always pick the latter option happily.
Below are some of the pictures she clicked........

 I had just set the camera in different modes our point and shoot camera has. And I was amazed when we downloaded the pictures. Some of them left me in awe.

DD- Row of trees, Now how should I get the zoom shot, Pa could you please tell me ?

Pa- Ask Ma, she is the one using this camera most of the time for her food blog.I cant remember when was the last time I got hold of it.

DD- Yeah, I know tat, but I want the pictures of Ladybugs....

A gorgeous ladybug ..(Although when Ma slowly slided that over my palms last time,I shrieked.....shhh!!

another ....

Another on a dry brown leaf..I got shadow of a tree in background as well...

How is like the other side of leaf ?

Now who's eaten those portions ? I wonder !!

Why is these long patches on leaf  Ma ?

Look what I found, a friendly and daring squirrel.Have you ever seen this Ma and Pa ?

Fall colors couldn’t seem beautiful earlier……these are perhaps some of the best shots from our our dear daughter.What you say?

Now to the recipe

This smoothie recipe is a request from my daughter, who loves yogurt drinks. So, when we were doing our weekly grocery shopping together, she told me to buy yogurt drink. I told her we can make this in home. But then after coming to home, I forgot about it. However, somehow the idea kept going inside her mind, she didn’t forget. The other morning she came to me and reminded about her yogurt drink. So, here is what I added in her smoothie. I had apples, pears and oats granola and also some walnuts. Her yogurt drink or smoothie was ready in minutes. I would say sometimes recipes just come to your mind in jiffy as well.Isn’t?

Apple Pear Oat Smoothie

1 apple

3-4 tbs of  Oats Granola

1 pear

½ cup of plain yogurt (onken)

Some walnut chunks

¼ cup of double cream

Sugar as per taste

Method

Peel the outer skin of apple and pear. Slice them into pieces.

Pulse through all yogurt, cream, fruits, oat granola and toasted walnuts in a grinder/mixer. Add in sugar.

Add cream and pulse through for 1 mint. Check for the sweetness.

Serve and enjoy.

If you wish to make it light then add water and replace double cream with condensed milk.

Or you may add honey in place of sugar.

And up close and personal, stock your food before the winter hits hard.

Enjoy your weekend friends , Happy Cooking

Wheat Flour Laddu- Atta Laddo and Happy Deepawali

Deepawali greetings to all the readers, friends and well wishers. Many of you have already started to cook storms in your kitchen. Well, I am yet not decided what I should be making this Deepawali other than these wheat flour laddos which I made few days back.

I was planning all day long that I need to make besan laddos.My day passed doing other chores and when it was almost evening , I realized that I haven’t made any laddos.So, realizing this I went to check my pantry, a disappointment struck me when I noticed there is no besan in my pantry, Murphy’s law or something else perhaps ? But I was determined to make some sweets defying Murphy's law or whatever, what, that still was elusive for me.

I saw the large packet of wheat flour the normal ones which I use for making our rotis daily and a can of condensed milk smiling in refridgetaror.Well I checked how much butter I had, luckily the butter a new packet was all glowing in one corner of our refridgerator, which meant, I can use it generously. Now who say running a house doesn’t need proper planning,imagination and implementations!

I won’t start again giving you lectures on the benefits of whole wheat flour. You all know well, perhaps better than me.
To keep it short and simple ,these were great and delicious, even my daughter who doesn’t like too much of sweet, liked it a lot.Dear Husband seems to like it too, as I caught him couple of times peeking inside the refridgerator and reaching out to the air-tight food container which had these laddos. Points scored well for that!!

We will stay out of having fireworks just like last year, but will try to spend the Deepawali evening with lighting candles and diyas.We used to make Rangoli back home but things are not same here in abroad. Outside our apartment the area is carpeted and we share the hallway with others. So, I would say stick to basics of lighting up diya and candles in home, although my daughter is excited to make a rangoli, I don’t see that’s happening this year.Quite sad part.

Anyways now to the recipe for wheat laddos

Wheat Flour laddos/Atta Laddu
Recipe Requirements
(Measurements are approx)
3-4 cups of whole wheat flour
¼ cup of coarse semolina
6-7 heaped tbs of sugar
½ cup of condensed milk
3-4 tbs of water or milk
½ cup of ghee/butter

Method

• Melt butter in saucepan. Now add the whole wheat flour and semolina.
• Roast wheat flour on very low flame. Mine took about 15-18 mints stirring frequently at regular intervals.
• When a nice aroma hits your nose and flour color changes to golden. Take off the pan from flame
• Add granulated sugar to this roasted flour. Again transfer the saucepan over a low flame.
• Now add slowly condensed about 2 tbs a time mixing well with flour.
• When you have used up entire condensed milk, the flour mixture will start to collect approx within a span of 3-4 mints, the flour mixture, will be little crumbly or dry. I would say if you use more ghee or butter than the measurements given in this recipe, you will get a very moist mixture. But I was quite reluctant to use more butter, so I end up using more condensed milk to give correct amount of moistness.
• With a small amount of mixture, try to roll the content. If it does then the flour mixture is appropriate to form laddos.Otherwise add little bit of more water or milk if you don’t want anymore sweetness to laddos to give the correct amount of moistness. Alternately you can add more melted ghee or condensed milk to the flour mixture.
• Now let it cool a little bit. Start making laddos working with your palms and hand, rotating the mixture in circular motion. Clean your hand when the mixture gets sticky in your hand and you are unable to mold the laddos.The flour mixture if gets cooled and you are unable to mold the laddos, transfer the content over a low flame, stir it well for 3-4 mints at low, the mixture will retain the correct amount of moistness and warmth required to form laddos.
• Some like to keep a bowl of water while making laddos so they never have to run towards the tap water to clean their hands. I would say this is very useful.
• Let the laddos cool a bit, it will become quite solid. Store in refrigerator, stay fresh for 4-5 days. Consume within 3-4 days if possible as laddos made this way has less shell life.
• If you want to increase the shell life sticks to using only ghee/butter in place of milk/condensed milk.

Alright then, cook delicious food this Deepawali and many more Deepawalis to come.

May this Deepawali lights up to eradicate darkness from every corner of your surrounding and your heart.

Happy Deepawali to all of you.....

Diwali Sweets E-Book By Indusladies

IndusLadies has compiled an eBook for this Diwali consisting of "100 Yummy Sweets & Desserts recipes", contributed by various Food Bloggers.

And it is now available for free download.

Go ahead and download it  here-  E-Book

I have also contributed    Microwable Sandesh       for this E-book.

Happy Cooking Friends.Enjoy this festive season cooking delicious food.

Tomato Chicken

 

Today is Vijayadashmi .Well today no sweet recipe like the last year post of Darbesh, but a flavorful chicken recipe. Although this recipe was saved in draft as we made this perhaps last week.
This day brings so many nostalgic memories of growing up years. Years gone by spending time with family and friends during childhood and of late ,recent times also.And memories are always to there to cherish deep inside your heart. So be it that way, right?

Sharodiya Shubecha and Pujor Recipes

These are special autumn days or "Ashwin mash" as in Bengali calendar.This is the time when every Bengali is very active in terms of food, socializing, wishing, shopping and what not.
I don’t have anything particular today on this auspicious day of "Bodhon  or Shashti "except my list of Pujo cooking.As Pujo means good food with good company of friends and family.Pujo also means  Ashtami Pushpanjali ,and ofcourse Shahsti for married ladies.

Meanwhile here is a list of good food for this Puja (and many more Pujas to come...) for you can make and surprise your family.

Vegetarian

• Pui labra  - A labra recipe with malabar spinach/pui in Bengali with kumro/pumpkin and potato tempered with panch phoron.Click Here
• Luchi, aloo torkari, cholar dal and begun bhaja - A unique Bengali Niramish combo.Click Here 
• Choto aloor Dom- Baby Potatoes cooked in spicy onion/ginger/garlic and tomato gravy.Click Here 
• Vegetarian cutlets/chop -  Vegetarian cutlets , a famous street and home food in Bengal as well.click here

Non-vegetarian

• Kosha mangsho- Well a quintessential Bengali favourite.Click Here
• Matar paneer- or Chanar Dalna -Panner and green peas in red spicy gravy.Recipe Link
• Chicken Shahi Korma- Kormas are royal foods.This chicken shahi korma smelled heaven when last time we made it, almost a restaurant style recipe.recipe link
• Hassle free chicken curry- an easy preparation of chicken in case you are in hurry to catch up with Puja Pandal hopping etc...Recipe Link
• Bhetki jhal- Bhetki may be a cousin of long lost Sea Bass , is simmered in a nice spicy gravy.Recipe Link .
• Bhetki'r Chop - A starter which has been part of menus in any marriage party.A famous food and one of our favourites.Recipe Link .
• Ilish shorshe/dim bhaja- Hilsa in mustard seed paste..Khanti Bengali preparation.Recipe Link
• Chicken kabab- Chicken mince kababs, spicy and delicious.Recipe Link

Rice

• Chingri pulao- Shrimp and Basmati rice/gobindo bhog rice pulao.Recipe Link
• Chicken yakhni pulao-Chicken Pulao made with aromatic water/yakhni -Recipe Link
• Vegetable pulao- Recipe Link

Sweets

• Darbesh-an easy recipe to make a delicious sweets.Recipe Link
• Narkel naru-Coconut sweet snowballs- Recipe Link
• Dodh peda- Recipe link
• Kalakand- Recipe Link
• Sandesh-Recipe link
• Mishti Doi -Recipe Link
• Payesh and Chatni- and last Bengals very own favourite recipe- Recipe Link

Wishing all my readers a very very Happy Durga Puja.

Apnader Shobaye Ke Pujor Onek Onek Shubhecha O Priti.