For those people who have a sweet tooth and for whom it's a must after a meal, here's a healthy option.

Just like my healthy Raagi Cake I experimented with dry fruits,with and without coconut and came up with healthy Dry Fruit Laddoos, a quick sweet to make. 

Date Laddoos without Coconut 

DATE LADDOOS WITHOUT COCONUT

AND 

DATE LADDOOS WITH  COCONUT

DATE  LADDOOS

These laddoos can be made with or without coconut.

If using dry coconut,you can either put the coconut inside the mixture and roll into balls or roll the date balls in the coconut powder once shaped.

Also, if you don't have dry coconut, grate fresh coconut and roast it till light brown, then powder it coarsely and use.


INGREDIENTS

Dates – 1 1/3 cup - without seeds

Walnuts – 1 1/2  cup - broken into pieces

Almonds – ¼ to ½ cup - powdered coarsely

Figs   -   ½ cup – chopped into pieces

Raisins – ¼ cup

Black manukas – ¼ cup

Khaskhas – ¼ cup

Cardamom powder – 1tsp

Nutmeg Powder – ¼ tsp

Pure Ghee – 1 tbsp

We can make these Date laddoos with 1/2 cup Dry Coconut also.

METHOD

1. De-seed the dates and mash them

2. In a pan add ghee and roast the Khaskhas slightly brown and remove and keep aside.

3. In the same pan roast the dry fruits separately.

4. Powder coarsely all the dry fruits and mix.

5. In ghee, slightly roast the dates.  Remove from the pan
    and cool.

6. Then either mash the dates with a fork or blend in a
    grinder and mix with the dry fruit powders.

7. Add the Cardamom and Nutmeg Powder.

8. Then Roll the mixture into Balls.

                     AND

9. If using Dry coconut, roast without ghee and powder coarsely and then mix with the dates and dry fruit powder.

10. Add Cardamom and Nutmeg powder. Mix all ingredients well.

11. Then Roll the mixture into Balls.

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WALNUT & APPLE DELIGHT 

Though Apple is a healthy fruit, many like me, do not like to eat it raw. So just cooked it with cinnamon and cloves and pureed it....

These days its safer to eat cooked food,so here's another quick and healthy desert for you to make......

       

 INGREDIENTS

Apples – 6

Walnut  - 1cup broken pieces

Cream – 1 cup or more depending on the size of the apples and serving dish

Cinnamon Powder – 1 inch piece

Cloves – 3

Breadcrumbs – 1cup

Butter – 1 tsp

Dried blackberries - 1  cup

Cherries - to decorate

Almond powder - for sprinkling on top of the final layer of cream in the absence of breadcrumbs

METHOD

1. Wash, peel and chop the apples and cook them with the cinnamon and cloves.

2.  When cooked, cool and puree.

3. Roast the breadcrumbs in the butter and keep aside.

4. Grease a corning dish with the butter and sprinkle breadcrumbs on the base.

5. Pour cream and cover the breadcrumbs.

6.  Now start layering with walnuts, dried blackberries, apple puree, cream then again breadcrumbs, cream, walnuts, blackberries,apple puree and finally cream. 

7. Finish with the cream on top and put powdered breadcrumbs on top. Decorate with dried red cherries and chill.

8. Serve cold.

Note :

In the absence of readymade breadcrumbs, toast bread and powder into breadcrumbs and use.

Incase no bread is there, just make it with alternate layers of walnuts and apple puree and cream and layer with almond powder on top.

If readymade cream is not available, use homemade cream blended in a mixer.

In the absence of cream at home, make alternate layers of walnut pieces, black manukas / dried black berries and apple puree and chill.

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While going through my mother's recipies for a quick sweet to make, I found one that made me go down memory lane. I still remember the black square box on the gas in which it was baked. I loved it as a child and even now when I made it just two days back. 

It has an unusual name "NINAVA" which means No Name!

Ninava

INGREDIENTS

Gram flour –( Besan) – 2 cups

Wheat Flour ( Atta) – ¼ cup

Jaggery – 1 ½ cup Jaggery (broken)

Nutmeg Powder – ½ tsp

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Coconut  Milk  - 1 Coconut (Grate Coconut and grind in a mixer. Take coconut milk by straining through the sieve the blended coconut )

Pure Ghee – 2 tbsp

METHOD

1. Roast Gramflour and wheat flour in pure ghee.

2. Add Jaggery and mix well.

3. Add Coconut Milk and mix thoroughly till slightly thick.

4. Care should be taken to see that no lumps develop in the mixture.  In case there are lumps, then blend in the mixer to make a smooth paste.

5. Add nutmeg and cardamom powder.

6. Pour the mixture in a greased dish

7. Bake for 35 to 40 min at 180 degrees  or till it looks done and smooth on the top and comes out clean when a fork is inserted in it .

8. Decorate with walnuts and serve with cream or custard .

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