Showing posts with label Dates. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Tamarind Dates Chutney | Sweet Chutney | Chaat Chutney

Tamarind Dates Chutney, a sweet & sour chutney that goes well with many Indian Chaat items. Already i have one recipe for sweet chutney here in my blog, but the recipe that i'm sharing today is quite different in making from the previous one, even though the ingredients are almost same. The consistency of the chutney is thick and can be diluted with water if needed for the recipe. If you're chaat lover and would love to make them often, then make this chutney in bulk and store in refrigerator, it comes handy while making any chaat items. The biggest advantage of making this kind of chutney at home is that you can season the chutney as per your liking. More sour or more sweet, whatever it is, make as you wish !!!

Tamarind Dates Chutney

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Makes : 1&1/2 cup
Recipe Category: Condiments | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Tamarind - 1/4 cup
Dates - 1/2 cup
Red chili - 2
Salt - to taste
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Water - 1 & 1/4 cup

Procedure

Take the tamarind, dates & red chili in a sauce pan, add the water and bring into boil.

Let it simmer for 5 mins, then switch off the flame and let it cool completely. Then transfer the whole into mixie jar and add salt & cumin powder into it and grind into smooth paste.

Tada, Tamarind Dates Chutney is ready.Store it in air tight bottle and keep it in refrigerator for long life.

Notes:

Add more or less water as per the consistency you want.
Instead of red chili, you can use the red chili powder also.
If the tamarind has more fibre in it, strain the chutney once.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Dates Truffles | Dates Nuts Truffles | Truffles Recipe

Dates Truffles, an easy to make truffle recipe(no cooking) with natural sweetened.This recipe was inspired from pailinskitchen,as i liked the idea of making truffles with dates & nuts,I have made few changes as per my liking and the available ingredients in my pantry on last weekend and it turned out so chocolatey and tasty,even you couldn't identify that these are made with dates.So bookmark this to try on coming Valentine day for your loved ones.

Dates Truffles

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Makes : 12
Recipe Category: Dessert | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Dates(chopped & pitted) - 2/3 cup
Nuts & dried fruits - 1 cup(i used walnut,cashew & raisins)
Cocoa Powder - 11/2 to 2 tbsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Unsweetened Coconut flakes - 1/4 cup

Procedure

Chop the dates into small pieces and put it in the mixie jar and pulse it twice or thrice in mixie/blender until it becomes fine paste.

Transfer the dates paste into a bowl and then add the nuts & dried fruits and then shift the cocoa powder into it.

Then add the cinnamon powder and mix it well with your fingers until it becomes single mass.

Then divide the mixture into 12 equal parts and roll into balls.Finally roll the balls in the coconut flakes. Do the same for the remaining balls.

Tasty Dates Nuts Truffles is ready to serve.

Notes:

Chop the nuts into small pieces.
You can use any nuts and dry fruits like almonds, apricot, cherries,pistachio.
I used 11/2 tbsp of cocoa powder, but you can add up to 2 tbsp of cocoa powder for strong flavor.
If the dates is very hard to process in blender/mixie, soak it in a tbsp of hot water for 15 mins.
Instead of coconut flakes, you can use the cocoa powder also for rolling the balls to make it more chocolaty.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Eggless Fruits & Nuts Cake | Eggless Christmas Cake | Christmas Recipe

Christmas Fruits and Nuts cake, after the biryani, christmas cake comes to my mind when i think of christmas. In my childhood, we brought this christmas cake/plum cake from the nearby shop(sugi sweet stall) in our area.It was not a whole cake, they sliced them as pieces like the commercial modern cake that are available in stores nowadays and wrapped it in the butter paper and placed it in the big tray, i was once a big fan of this cake,whenever i went out with my mom for shopping groceries or vegetables in the evening(Yep,that cake was available only after 4pm and almost it was over by the time 7PM), i pestered her to buy this and it was only 2 rupees then. Don't know whether that sweet stall still making that kind of cake.

Now coming to today's recipe, i have tried christmas cake twice before and it didn't turned out as expected. Last weekend when i was searching again for christmas cake recipe, found this recipe in joyofbaking, i tried few recipes from her website and it turned absolutely delicious,so without hesitation,make notes of the recipe and i changed few things to our preference and tried it. It was so moist & delicious and i personally like her idea of using loaf pan to bake,so you can slice and wrap them in butter paper for single serving and it reminds me of childhood memories.It's eggless and ready to make cake,no need of soaking,give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you.

Eggless Christmas Cake

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 1 hr | Makes : 2
Recipe Category: Cake | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
Dried fruits & nuts - 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups
Light brown sugar - 3/4 cups
Butter - 1/2 cup
Butter milk - 1 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

Take the flour in a large bowl,then add the baking soda,cinnamon & ginger powder and salt in a sieve and sieve it on the flour.

Mix it well with the flour and keep aside, now chop the dry fruits and nuts roughly into small pieces (i used black raisins,dates,almond,cashew and walnut) and add into the flour. Mix well such that all the nuts and dried fruits coated well with the flour.

Melt the butter and let it comes to room temperature and then add the sugar into it.

Then add the butter milk and vanilla extract and whisk it well till the sugar dissolves.

Add this sugar mixture into the flour and mix it gently. Take the loaf pan, butter it well and dust it with all purpose flour.

Transfer the cake mix into the loaf pan and bake it in the preheated oven of 350F for 55 to 60 mins. Remove it from the oven when tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.Mine got ready in 60 mins.

Let it cool completely on wire rack before slicing.Delicious Fruits and Nuts cake is ready.

Notes:

Add more dry fruits compared to nuts,it will help to keep the cake moist.
You can use any dry fruits and nuts as per your liking.
The original recipe calls for 1/4 tsp of cloves and nutmeg powder, but i feel that are overpowering,so skip it, but you can add if you like more spices in your cake.
Dont cut the cake when it's warm, there is a chance of crumbling, so let it cool completely on wire rack.
If you're worried about the cake sticking at the bottom, you can use parchement paper on the bottom,but mine cake out clean from the pan.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Dates Maamoul | Maamoul | Dates Cookie | No Sugar Cookies

Dates Maamoul ,a short bread kind of pastry filled with dates mixture. It's quite famous in middle eastern countries. Few weeks before, i borrowed a book named as "Middle Eastern Basics" from our local library. This book have very detailed explanation for some of the basic recipes of middle eastern countries and i came to know about this cookies from that book and i liked it so much because it's a no-sugar cookie expect the sugar for dusting,that too optional.

And i have all the ingredients in hand,so immediately i tried and it turned out so yummy.Buttery crust with dates on every bite is purely divine.Though this cookies are not authentic christmas cookies, it will be a great gifts to your friends and families during this holiday season and also it will be ideal for those who counts on their sugar intake.

Dates Maamoul

Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Makes : 10
Recipe Category: Cookies | Recipe Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Ingredients
Dates(pitted) - 20
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Butter - 1/3 cup + 2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Milk - as needed
Powdered sugar for dusting(optional).

Procedure

First let's make the inner stuffing, take the dates and cut into small pieces, heat 2 tsp of butter in a sauce pan.

Once the butter is all melted, add the chopped dates and cook it on low flame till it becomes mushy and turns into single mass.Switch off the flame and let it cool.

Now for the outer layer, take the flour in a bowl, add the salt, 1/3 cups of butter & vanilla extract, mix it well with flour till it looks like a crumb.

Now add milk little by little to form a dough. The dough should be easily pliable. Divide the dough into 10 equal parts.

Similarly divide the dates mixture into 10 equal parts. Take a dough and spread it with your fingers like a small disc,place the dates ball into the dough.

Seal the edges together well and keep the sealed edges downside and roll into round shape using your palm, do the same for the remaining dough and dates mixture and place it in the baking tray.

Take a fork and press it on the cookie to give nice impression and bake it in the preheated oven at 300F for 20 to 25 mins. Remove from the oven and cool it in the wire rack completely before serving.

That's it. Tasty Dates Maamoul cookie is ready.

Notes:

These cookies must not brown,so after 20 to 25 mins, tap the surface of the cookie,it should resist the pressure slightly. if it's too soft then cook it for few more mins and check again.
Butter should be at room temperature.
You can omit the salt to the dough if you're using salted butter.
The original recipe calls for Orange blossom water, as i dont have i used vanilla extract.
As i pressed very lightly with fork on the cookies, the impression is not visible once it's baked,so press it firmly if you want nice impression on the top.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Dates Nuts Ladoo | Dry Nuts Ladoo| Dates Ladoo| Sugar Free Diwali Sweet

Dates Nuts Balls/Ladoos, a healthy and protein rich energy ball made from dates and nuts without any sugar. It is one of the easiest ladoo/energy balls that you can make in minutes. It's a perfect snack to pack for your kids lunch box or have it as after school snacks. We like to pack this ladoo for long trip or day hike or to a park visit in order to avoid the unhealthy munching on packed fried foods. It's truly satisfying your sweet tooth and keep your energized, what else you need, right??

Though i'm not a big fan of dates as it is, i like them as sugar substitute in my smoothies, oats and this kind of ladoos/energy balls. You never miss the sugar and at the same time it's healthy. I have very strong sweet tooth and these are the few tricks that i do to keep satisfy my sweet cravings.

Here in today's recipe, i have used cashews, almonds, peanuts & walnuts. But you can use whatever nuts you have in hands and make them. I have seen that this ladoos are coated with poppy seeds or with dried coconut on the top in sweet shops.So if you wish, you can do that !!

Also Instead of making them as ladoo, you can roll into log and refrigerate the whole for a while and then slice them into circles like how you get it in some sweet stalls. Ok, now let's check out how to make this healthy and tasty dates nuts ladoo. If you haven't tried it before, trust me and try it, even the pickiest eater in your home will approve !!!

Sugar Free Dates Nuts Ladoo

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Makes : 15
Recipe Category: Sweets/Snack | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Dates - 1 & 1/2 cup

Dry Nuts - 3/4 cup (i have cashews, almonds, peanuts & walnuts )

Flax Seed - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp(Optional)

Procedure

Heat the pan with ghee, add all the nuts and roast till it's crunchy.

When the nuts are almost roasted, add the flax seed and roast till the flax seeds started to pop. Remove from the flame and let it cool a bit. In the mean time, chop the dates finely.

Add the nuts into mixie/blender jar and grind into coarse powder and then add the dates.

Grind till it all comes together.Give a mix in between. Add the dates nuts mixture into a large bowl/pan and add the cardamom powder.

Mix it all well and start making ladoos/balls.

That's it, Tasty & healthy Dates Nuts Ladoo/Energy Balls are ready. Store it in air tight container. For more sweets and snacks, check out here & here

Notes:

You can roast the nuts without ghee also, just for flavor, i have used 1/2 tsp of ghee & cardamom powder.
Instead of ghee, you can also use butter.
If your dates is dry & want them soft before grinding, then saute it in pan for a while until it's warm.
It stay well for days at room temperature.
Without flax seed also, you can make this energy balls.

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018