Mawa Gujiya

For this month SNC, Santosh Bangar of Santosh's Kitchen has challenged us with this yummy sweet Mawa Gujiyas. This Mawa Gujiya is prepared during Holi festival in north India especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh. 

Ingredients:

For Gujiyas:

All Purpose Flour / Maida 2 cups
Salt 1/4 tsp
Hot oil 1 tbsp
Water for kneading

For Filling:

Mawa 1/2 cup
Grated coconut 1/4 cup
Powdered Sugar 1/2 cup
Almond Flakes 1 tblsp
Raisins 1 tblsp
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp

For sealing (sealant) :

All purpose flour 1 tblsp
Water 1 tblsp or as needed

Method:

Combine All purpose flour and salt in a bowl. Add hot oil to the flour mixture. Knead with water to form a soft dough. Keep it aside for half an hour.

Fry the mawa in a pan until brown, add other ingredients and give it a mix. Keep it aside.

Mix All purpose flour with water which is used to seal the gujiyas later.

Roll the dough into small poori. Keep the filling inside. Seal the edges with the sealant and a fork. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough and cover it with wet kitchen towel. 

Now heat oil to deep fry the gujiyas. Fry till light brown. Remove the excess oil with paper towel and then serve. 

Dates and Nuts Laddoo

As we get different varieties and good quality dates here , we buy it often and also take it to our home during every vacation without fail. But I had rarely made any desserts out of them. If nuts and dates are served to me, I would love to finish off the nuts first. Nuts is something that I love to have anytime. I thought of preparing dates and nuts halwa, I ended up making something easy; dates and nuts laddoo. ;-) This doesn't take much time and very simple. The aroma of ghee along with the coconut and nutty flavor was extremely good. And do I need to mention that it was absolutely delicious ?!!

Ingredients:

Dates - chopped -1 1/2 cup
Mixed Nuts - chopped - 1/3 cup
Ghee 1 tbsp
Desiccated coconut / coconut powder 2 tsp

Method:

Chop dates and nuts.

Heat ghee in a pan on a low flame. Add chopped nuts. Fry for a few seconds until a nutty aroma arises.

Now add chopped dates. Mix well. Sprinkle desiccated coconut. Give it a mix.

Make small balls or laddoos when it is bearable hot and then serve.

Makes 12-13 medium sized balls.

Notes: I used walnuts, pistachios and almonds. You can add any other nuts of your choice. I didn't add sugar as there is enough sweetness in the dates. 

You can also chop dates and nuts using blender, but make sure it doesn't ground much like a paste. You can avoid coconut powder if you do not want it. 

Banana Bread

I've started experimenting fruit breads recently. After Apple Walnut Bread, I wanted to try this banana bread. I made bananas sit in our pantry for few more days so as to over ripe just to make this bread. The flavor of banana and vanilla came out excellent. I couldn't wait till the bread to rise. It was so delicious and those who like banana ice cream will definitely love this bread. Though I am not much fond of banana flavor, I liked this yumm soft bread. 

Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

Over ripe Banana - 3 long or mashed 1 cup
All Purpose Flour 1 1/2 cups
Powdered Sugar 1 cup
Plain Yogurt 1/2 cup
Eggs 2
Butter 90 g
Vanilla Powder 1 tsp
Baking Powder 1 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp

Method:

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, vanilla powder, salt and baking powder. Mix well and keep it aside.

Preheat the oven at 180 deg C for 10 minutes.

In a stand mixer or with a electric beater, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat till creamy. Now add eggs and beat till everything gets combined well.

Then add yogurt, mashed banana and give it a mix.

Now add the flour mixture little by little until everything gets mixed well.  Finally  add chopped walnuts; give it a mix.

Butter the loaf pan. Pour in the mixture. Bake at 180 deg C for 55-60 minutes or until the tooth prick inserted comes out clean. Mine got done at 60 minutes.

Notes: If using vanilla essence, add it along with the wet ingredients. Walnuts can be replaced with other nuts. 

This goes to Love 2 bake @ spicy treats, a lovely event where we share baked recipes every monday.