Almond Cashew Brittle(Vegan)

Know what you Eat – Deepavali the festival of light is synonymous to sweets and celebration. But not all sweets are sinful this brittle made with toasted Almonds and cashews and made with Jaggery(Panela) not only tastes great, easy to make and very easy on your waist line.
Almonds which is high in monounsaturated fats, that is good for the body and is associated with reduced risk of heart disease. In addition to healthy fats and vitamin E, Magnesium and Potassium. Not only do cashews have a lower fat content than most other nuts, approximately 75% of their fat is unsaturated fatty acids, plus about 75% of this unsaturated fatty acid content is oleic acid, the same heart-healthy monounsaturated fat found in olive oil.  This nut is also rich in magnesium. Magnesium plays a very important role in controlling blood pressure and heart health. Jaggery (Panela) is a "natural" sweetener made by the concentration of sugarcane juice WITHOUT the use of any chemicals / synthetic additives or preservatives. It contains an enormous wealth of minerals / protein / vitamins and iron.

Ingredients

Almonds – 2 cups
Cashew – 1 cup
Jaggery(Panela) – 1 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder – pinch
Ghee or Coconut oil for greasing the tray
Water just enough to cover the surface of the jaggery

Method

1) In a toaster oven toast the almonds for 5-8 minutes stirring in between till they are crisp. Pay attention or they will brown or black quickly.
2) Toast the Cashews for 3-5 minutes stirring in between.
3) Once the Almond is cool enough to handle, chop them into small pieces and mix them with the cashew and keep it aside.
4) Now heat a pan add the jaggery and just enough water to cover it. Once the jaggery is completely dissolved, start stirring and heat it till the jaggery becomes thick and if you pour the dissolved jaggery with your spoon you will see threads coming out of it.
4) At this point switch of the stove and add the cardamom powder, the mixed nuts and  stir fast so that the nuts are evenly coated with the jaggery.
5) Immediately transfer the contents to a big greased tray and using a spatula even the surface out. Keep it aside for 5 minutes, once it is slightly cool, cut them into pieces and enjoy. Enjoy these guilt free snacks.



Event Participation:


Diwali Dhamaka 09 going on in Purva's Daawat
Sweet- Series in Mom's recipes hosted by Sireesha

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Sweet Mixed Nuts Ball & Janmashtami Prasadams

Know what you Eat - Eating a handful of nuts daily may help prevent weight gain and possibly promote weight loss. The fat, protein and fiber in nuts help you feel full longer, so you may eat less during the day. By helping induce a feeling of satiety, nuts may help people feel less deprived and not like they're "dieting." Just limit your portion to a healthy handful.

I was running in a crazy schedule so couldn't post the recipes earlier, i know i am little late, but just wanted to share these recipes with you all. I didn't want to flood the dashboard with all the posts at the same time, so made the last 4 posts with the date of Aug 26. But don't know what went wrong, all of them got published as of today's date.

Preparation Time - 20 mins
Cooking Time - 15 mins
Serves - Makes around 18 balls

Ingredients

Roasted Peanuts - 1/2 Cup
Roasted Cashews - 1/4 Cup
Roasted Almonds - 1/4 Cup
Chopped Coconut Pieces - 1 Tbsp
Panela(Powdered Jaggery) - 1/2 Cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Water

Method
1) Roast all the nuts and keep them aside, remove the skin of the peanuts and chop the cashews and almonds into small pieces, combine and set them aside.

2) Now in a pan add the jaggery and add little bit of water just to cover the jaggery and heat it.

3) Once the jaggery is completely dissolved, start stirring and heat it till the jaggery becomes thick and if you pour the dissolved jaggery with your spoon you will see threads coming out of it.

4) At this point switch of the stove and add the cardamom powder, the mixed nuts and Coconut pieces and stir fast so that the nuts are evenly coated with the jaggery.

5) Set it aside for 5 minutes, now take small amounts of this mixture and make them into a ball and enjoy these nutritious guilt free snacks.



I also made Uppu Seedai(Fried Rice Balls), Whole Wheat Sweet Appam, Ulundu Vadai(Urad Lentil fried dumplings) and Doodh Peda.

Event Participation
1) This dish goes to the Janmashtami & Ganesh Chaturthi event hosted by Purva.
2) This dish goes to Cooking for Kids, evening snacks hosted by Divya started by Sharmi.
3) This dish also goes to Food for Seven stages of Life-Zero hour hosted by Radhika and co-hosted by Sudeshna.
4) This dish goes to Sweet & Savouries Event hosted by Sara's Corner.

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Mysterious Mango Cake

Good To Know: Mango: The good part is it is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. A good source of Dietary Fiber and Vitamin B6, and a very good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Mango's are a gr8 way to replenish that lost potassium, besides an average sized mango can contain upto 40% of your dietary fibre requirement. so mango a day keeps irregularity reg. constipation, piles and spastic colon away, as well as lower down blood cholesterol levels. The bad part, A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars, so I added less sugar to incorporate the naturall sweet flavor of Mango. But if you have a sweet tooth, its fine sometimes to digg in.


I love cakes, and specially baking them for my kids, just to hear "cool mom", Initially I used to bake the same cake using semolina/rava & added dry fruits, tutty-fruitty, with pineapple essence, but, as Mango is in the season, so I came up with this recipe off adding mango pulp, instead of other things just for a change, I guess with any pulp like strawberry, raspberry, even banana would taste equally good. Try this its FOOL PROOF, NO ERRORS recipe.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time : 20-25 mins
It yeild medium sized 8 cup cakes and med sized 8" square cake.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C of Semolina/Rava/Sooji ( fine variety )
1-1/2 C Mango pulp (fresh / readymade kesar mango pulp )
3/4 C Ricotta Cheese (Part skim)
1/2 C Half & Half or regular whole milk should be fine too
1/2 C Butter (melted)
1/2 C Brown Sugar (as mango pulp is already sweet)
1-1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom(elaichi)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 C chopped cashew & walnuts, raisins (optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees No need to roast rava/ sooji.
2. Take a mixing bowl, mix sooji/semolina/rawa, ricotta cheese, 1/2 & 1/2,butter, sugar, cardamom pwd,nutmeg pwd,chopped cashew & walnuts, finally add mango pulp and mix it again . Let it sit for 10 minutes.
3. Put it in a baking tray, place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. Be careful and keep a close watch.
5. Check with a fork to see if properly baked. If the knife comes out clean remove immediately. 6. Allow to cool completely and then cut and serve.

Event Participation:

This dish is our contribution to Srivalli's Mithai Mela hosted by Cooking 4 all Seasons.
The photo goes Click Central (Stacks) hosted by Jugalbandi.

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