Oatmeal Jaggery cookies

Extremely tasty, these healthy cookies are a perfect tea time snack. With these cookies made of Oatmeal and jaggery, you will have a guilt free and a delicious treat.

It has been quite some time since I baked anything at home. I tried baking some wheat grass bread which did not come out that good. So, I thought I will try something more simple yet healthy as my first bake for the new year. Since I am trying to cut on sugar, I made cookies without sugar but jaggery. I wanted to make these cookies as healthy as possible since I also wanted to give it for my dad for his regular snack. He is diabetic so he has to cut on white sugar and can eat jaggery once a while. He usually keeps some snacks(made with jaggery) in his bag for when his sugar level drops.

Moving on..., here is the recipe for one of the healthiest and tastiest cookies for this new year. I have used Ghee(clarified butter) since my dad loves it but you can replace ghee for butter or oil. You can also skip choco chips if you want.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving) (1 Serving = 1 Cookie)
Energy	19		Calories
Fat	0.6		%
Carbohydrates	1.5		%
Dietary Fiber	0.2		%
Sodium	0		mg
Vitamin A	0.2		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	0		%
Iron	0.2		%
Protein	0.3		Grams
Sugar	0.4		Grams

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour	3/4 cup
Oatmeal	1/2 cup
Jaggery grated/powdered	2 tablespoons
Vanilla essence	1 teaspoon
Ghee	1 tablespoon
Baking powder	1 teaspoon
Salt	a pinch
Chocochips	a handful

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Sift together wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Add oatmeal and mix well. Melt jaggery with ghee, add vanilla essence and whisk for few minutes till they are combined well.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and form a dough. If the dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of milk. Sprinkle the chocochips and knead the dough. Make sure you do not knead it too much.

Flatten the cookies into shape and arrange them on a lined baking tray. Bake on the preheated oven for 20 minutes or till the cookies turn brown.
Make sure the cookies are still soft to touch when you remove from oven since cookies get hard after cooling.
Let the cookies cool on tray for about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and store in air tight container once cooled completely.

* You can replace ghee for butter or oil. Also, increase the amount of fat for softer cookies.
* Melting jaggery is a must since chunks of jaggery left will melt out of dough while baking, making cookies very sticky.
* You can also add eggs if you wish for more flaky version.

Cream cheese mini buns

Addictive, fluffy, light and delicious mini buns that make a perfect treat with your morning coffee or an evening tea. Serve them as a snack or as breakfast, these cute mini buns will make you fall in love with them.

Cream cheese has high fat content yet a healthy choice compared to other cheeses. It has a strong flavor and is a versatile ingredient. You can make a sweet or a savory dessert. I usually spread it on my wheat cracker for my evening tea. It has been a while since I have been wanting to bake something with it. Recently, I bought a pack of Cream cheese muffins and it tasted just delicious. That gave me an idea of what to do with the cream cheese spread I had.

This recipe is my own and I have added the ingredients that I had at home when I planned to make it. You can modify it however you like and don't forget to let me know your version if you did modify it. :) I have used brown sugar and absolutely no butter since cream cheese has very high fat content. I had to add eggs though but you can make it egg less by adding a banana or some ground flax seeds mixed in water(1 tbsp flaxseed+3 tbsp water for 1 egg).

I have also added some chopped dark chocolate but you can replace it with some chocochips or nuts. It goes very well with a cup of hot coffee or just cold some milk. You can also reduce the sweet content and serve it for breakfast. You can store them for a week without refrigerating and 2 weeks in refrigeration. Now, to the recipe-

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	82		Calories
Fat	3.4		%
Carbohydrates	10.4		%
Dietary Fiber	0		%
Sodium	87.1		mg
Vitamin A	3.2		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	6		%
Iron	0		%
Protein	1.7		Grams
Sugar	8.6		Grams

Ingredients
Wheat flour/Atta	1&1/2 cups
Eggs	2
Brown sugar	1/2 cup
Vanilla essence	1 teaspoon
Baking powder	1 teaspoon
Baking soda	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	a pinch
Cream cheese	4 tablespoons
Chopped dark chocolate/Chocolate chips	a handful

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Blend Brown sugar, eggs and vanilla essence. Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and mix. Add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients + cream cheese and mix well.

Add chopped chocolate and knead into a dough. Roll the dough into balls and punch them to make flat.
Place them on a baking plate lined with baking sheet.

Bake them for about 20-30 minutes according to your oven settings. Serve then warm.

Jolada mudde - Bassaru, Palya ~~Karnataka recipes

A warm and comfort platter for a Sunday lunch or a hearty dinner on a chilly evening, this combination of north and south Karnataka's delicacies will make your mouth water wanting for more!

Jolada mudde/ Jowar ball is not so different to cook compared to ragi ball though the taste is so very different. Jowar balls are a popular part of the platter in every North Canara's households. Jowar balls are usually served with a spicy curry.

Bassaru is made from the filtered stock from cooked dill leaves with lentils and once filtered, the remaining residue is made in to palya/stir fry. Bassaru- Palya is popularly made in Mysore and Mandya.

This platter is a perfect comfort home-food and it is light on your tummy even though you eat a ball of cooked Jowar flour! I have always loved Jowar balls since it is a part of my favorite childhood memories. I tasted Jolada mudde for the first time in my Aunty's place where my little brother and I spent our summer vacations. She cooked excellent North Canara food and she used to distribute each morsel to every one of us sitting around her. Her kaituttu (morsel served from hand to hand) is the best ever food I have eaten in my entire life. That's a lot of memories.. Anyway, back to Jowar ball - It is a healthy, tasty and perfect choice if you are in mood for a pure North Canara food.

Coming to Bassaru- Palya, they make a perfect combination with Ragi balls and Jowar balls. They are spicy, tangy and keep you smacking your lips for a long time. Bassaru and palya are (again) a healthy choice because the filtered stock is boiled again with ground spices which kind of acts as an appetizer. Palya is milder than bassaru and you can modify as you desire. I have prepared exactly how my mom prepares though there are a lot of versions to Bassaru. Hope you like this version too! :)

(Calories per serving of Jowar ball (45 gms), bassaru(1 cup), palya (45 grams) and broken wheat cooked (1 cup))

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	400		Calories
Fat	3		%
Carbohydrates	80		%
Dietary Fiber	16		%
Sodium	1		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	2		%
Iron	14		%
Protein	31		Grams
Sugar	1		Grams

Ingredients
For Bassaru and Palya: Any Lentil(I used Toor dal) 2 tablespoons Dill leaves chopped 2 cups Horse gram or any legumes(optional) 2 tablespoons Water  As needed Salt to taste Sambar powder 1 teaspoon Oil 2 teaspoons Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon Chana dal 1/2 teaspoon Urad dal 1/2 teaspoon
For Jolada mudde:
Water	1 & 1/4 cup (divided)
Jowar flour	1 &1/2 cups
Salt	a pinch
Oil	1/2 teaspoon

To Grind:
Copra chopped or grated	1/4 cup
Onion chopped	1 whole
Red Chillies	5
Coriander leaves	a small bunch
Garlic cloves	2-3 cloves
Jeera/Cumin seeds	2 teaspoons
Tamarind	small lemon size

Bassaru:

Pressure cook Toor dal, washed and chopped dill leaves and horse gram with enough water. You can also add green beans.
Grind together the ingredients under "To Grind" table along with a tablespoon of ingredients that were pressure cooked.

Filter the pressure cooked ingredients. Add the ground mixture to the filtered stock and bring it to boil.

Add salt and boil it for another 5 minutes. I forgot to temper it  but you can temper Bassaru with mustard seeds and chopped garlic. 

Palya: 

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add chana dal and Urad dal. 

Once Urad dal turns brownish, add cooked dal, dill leaves and horse gram and fry for a minute.

Add salt and sambar powder and fry for few more minutes. Serve hot.

Jolada Mudde:

Boil a cup of water in a pan/Aluminium vessel. Add a pinch of salt and oil. Bring to boil.

Mix 1/4 cup of Jowar flour with 1/2 cup of water and make thick paste. Add it to the boiling water and stir well. Simmer the flame.

Once the mixture starts boiling, Add the remaining flour and cover with a lid. Cook for at least 7-8 minutes under low flame.

Stir well till there are no lumps and cover again. Cook for another 3 minutes. Make balls and serve piping hot.

* I forgot to temper Bassaru. Try tempering it with mustard seeds and garlic. It tastes so good.

* You can add chopped onions and greenchillies for palya instaed of sambar powder. I did this to save some time.

* You can add green beans for bassaru and palya. Tastes even better.

* I have served dishes with cooked cracked wheat. It reduces the carbohydrate level of this rich thali. 

Wheat Sprout Usli/Stir fry

A delicious, spicy and very nutritious dish that can be eaten as a salad or as a side dish with our popular south Indian lunch/dinner.

Wheat sprouts are more in nutrient density than regular wheat. When you sprout wheat for 3-4 days, most of the carbohydrate in wheat is converted to natural sugars making it a healthier option. The vitamin E content can increase 300%, vitamin C increase 600%, and the B vitamins have been found to increase from 20% to 1200%, with B17, the ‘anti-cancer vitamin’ 100% more than in unsprouted seed. The protein content increases by 300% in the third day of sprouting, compared to the unsprouted wheat seed.
(Info source: http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au)

Wheat and Sprouted wheat

Also, wheat sprouts are a healthy option for people with Diabetes. It controls blood sugar levels and keeps cholesterol levels to minimum. Make sure the wheat is soaked for at least 3 days and should be washed everyday. You can either wait for the sprouts to grow a little long if you want it to be less chewy, but I prefer 1/8" of growth. For me, wheat sprouts is an important part of my weight loss diet. A simple serving keeps me full for at least 4-5 hours. You can actually eat the sprouts raw but cooking them will make digestion easier. You can add the sprouts in soups, toss them in your salad, even add them to any vegetable stir fry or eat alone as a morning cereal. Here is a simple recipe that I prepare regularly.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	99		Calories
Fat	1		%
Carbohydrates	7		%
Dietary Fiber	2		%
Sodium	0		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	2		%
Calcium	1		%
Iron	6		%
Potassium	2		%
Protein	4		Grams
Sugar	0		Grams

Ingredients
Wheat Sprouts	1 cup
Water	to sprinkle
Salt	as per taste
Curry leaves	a handful
Oil	2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds	1/2 teaspoon

To Grind:
Coconut chopped or grated	1/2 cup
Green chillies	2
Coriander leaves	a small bunch
Ginger grated	1 teaspoon
Garlic	2-3 cloves

• Chop the coconut to small pieces.
• Grind the ingredients listed under "to grind" with little or no water. 
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add coriander leaves.

• Add the wheat sprouts, sprinkle some water and cover the lid. Cook for 6-7 minutes.
• Keep mixing every few minutes and simmer when the sprouts look transparent. Check if the sprouts are cooked enough and soft.
• Add the ground mixture and salt. mix well. Cover the lid and fry for another 3-4 minutes until the raw coconut smell is gone. Serve hot.

• The sprouts will be a little chewy no matter how long you cook. So, if you want it to be soft and not at all chewy, grind the sprouts to pieces (Just a spin in your mixer will do) and then cook them.
• You can skip the coconut if you want. Also, you can add cooked veggies while frying for a mix veggie sprouts stir fry.

Comeback to the Blogging world...

Hello Foodies and Friends!! Yes, I am back. Yes, I took a very long break (a year I guess :D) A YEAR! how time flies and it is hard to believe I stayed away from my dear old laptop for such a long time.

After this huge break from the blogging world, I just wanted to jump into blogging with posts of exciting new recipes that have been playing in my mind. But the truth is, I was/am tired, struggling to find time to cook something, let alone a blog post. My LO keeps me busy all day though she is not much of a trouble at night. So here I am, back where I love to be the most. Even though I love blogging, I needed this break to take care of my bump and enjoy it till my little one was ready to see the world.

Now, I am happy to write that I am blogging with new sense of eagerness and excitement. I will be back in a few days with a recipe that is something new, healthy, low-calorie and tasty. Stay tuned! >:D< :-h