Eggless Dates Cake

This is a very simple cake which can be made in no time and is a healthy one too!!

Ingredients
15 dates (seedless)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp almonds for garnish

Preparation

Soak the dates in hot milk for 1 hour. In a food processor blend the milk, dates and sugar into smooth paste.
In a bowl sift the all purpose flour along with baking powder. To this add the puree, oil and mix well with a spatula. Sprinkle almonds over the batter. Pour the batter into a floured baking dish and set in a 150 degree celsius preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or till a clean knife inserted comes out clean. I used microwave so I baked it for 10-15 minutes on high.
You can also add raisins and other nuts. To make it more special for kids during Christmas you can add tutti- frutti to it:)

Sorakaya Podi Kura / Ghiya Sabzi (Bottle gourd curry)

Roasted yellow Moong dal is roasted and added to this curry. This can be served with rice and rotis!

Ingredients
1/2 cup Yellow moong Dal
2 cups chopped bottle gourd
2 green chilli slit length wise
4 tbsp fresh grated coconut
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
handful of curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
salt
2 tsp oil
a dash of asafoetida

Preparation

In a pan dry roast the moong dal till light brown. Let it cool. Powder it in the mixer coarsely and set aside. Heat a pan, add oil, splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and asafoetida. To this add chopped bottle gourd, salt and turmeric powder and cover with lid.
Cook for 10-12 minutes till the bottle gourd gets soft. Add grated coconut and ground moong dal powder. Mix well and leave it on low heat for 2 minutes.
Serve hot with Rice or rotis

Dal Panchmel / Panchmeli Dal

Our Sunday dinner was at a nice restaurant with an elegant buffet. There was this Dal Panchmeli which was very mild and nice. I got the recipe from the chef and made it today:) Any five dals can be used, so I used the dals which I need not soak as it would be time consuming for a busy mommy:) This dal is very healthy for kids!!

Ingredients

Split Bengal gram (chana dal) 1/4 cup
Whole green grams (sabut moong) 1/4 cup
Split yellow moong dal 1/4 cup
Split pigeon pea (toor dal/arhar dal) 1/4 cup
Whole red lentils (sabut masoor) 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Oil 3 tablespoons
Asafoetida a pinch
Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Green chilli 2
handful of curry leaves
Roasted cumin powder 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon
Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons for garnish



Preparation

Wash the dals and pressure cook with 3-4 cups of water and turmeric. I cooked it for 4-5 whistles.
Heat oil in a pan. Add asafoetida, cumin seeds and curry leaves. When cumin seeds start to change colour, add green chilli and sauté for one minute. Add cumin powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder. Add the tomatoes and cook till oil surfaces. Add cooked dals, salt and water if required. Cook for ten minutes stirring well. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

This one goes to Bookmarked recipes hosted by Priya