Gulachi Poli (Jaggery stuffed Flatbread)

 

Happy Sankranti my dear friends! Til Gul Ghya ani goad goad bola!!

The staple sweet for Sankranti, Gulachi Poli is nicknamed 'crunchy sweet poli' in our household :) It is an absolute favorite. In the past, I have made it for my hubby's colleagues and friends. It is well loved by everyone.

Many of my friends recently requested recipe for Gulachi Poli so I though blog was best way to share with so many people.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:  Jaggery (powdered) - 2 cups, ideally it should be 'chikki cha gul' (sticky yellow jaggery grated) but here in USA, it is not available so we have to make do with what we have :(  wheat flour - 3 cups, all purpose flour (maida) - 1/2 cup, poppy seeds (khus khus) - 1/4th cup, Besan flour - 1/4th cup, oil - 1/2 cup, Oil - about 1/2 cup, cardamom powder - (made from 8-12 cardamoms) - 2-3 tsp.

Procedure: Take a pan and heat 1/4th cup oil and add it to the wheat flour in a bowl and add a pinch of salt to it and knead with adequate water. The dough should not be too hard or too soft. 

Then add jaggery to a bowl and add about 1-2 tsp oil to it and pound it with pounder (khal/batta) and keep aside. You can also pulse it in a food processor. Take another pan and put a 1/4th tsp oil and roast the besan flour in it till it turns pink/light brown and out aside. 

Similarly dry roast the poppy seeds too. Then  add the roasted besan and poppy seeds to the jaggery. Add crushed cardamon powder to it and knead and mix well and pulse everything in food processor if possible. The mixture should not be powdery but as sticky as possible. (hard to achieve lot of stickiness since powdered jaggery we get here in USA tends to be dry - but do it as much as possible)

To make poli, keep a pan to heat on the stove and then make 2 small balls of the wheat dough and flatten and spread them with your hand a little bit to make 2 discs. One should be slightly smaller than the other. Then put the jaggery mixture on the smaller disc and cover it with the larger disc and seal everything properly. 

Roll it with a roller. make sure the jaggery spreads evenly throughout the poli. Then put the flattened poli on the tava (pan) and roast it properly on both sides. Serve hot with ghee. Enjoy!!

Till my next post, take care everyone.

Banana Walnut Bread

It was almost the end of the week and 2 ripe bananas were staring at me. If I didn't do something, they would definitely end up in trash by Monday. Thanks to this recipe, after a couple of hours, they wound up in a delicious Banana Walnut bread :))

Actually, I got this recipe from a recipe book borrowed from our local library. Unfortunately, I forgot to copy down the title/author :(       

Anyhow here is the recipe:

Ingredients needed: 2 cups All purpose/Wheat flour ( I used wheat flour), 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2 small bananas - mashed, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp - baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4th tsp - salt, handful of chopped Walnuts.

Method: Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Butter/spray with non stick spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Mix together butter and sugar with hand mixer, add eggs and mashed banana.and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix. Fold in the chopped Walnuts at the end.

Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake for 50-55 mins (time will vary depending on your oven and type of baking dish). Bake for additional 15-20 mins at 325 deg F if not done.

Cool for 15-20 mins, cut into slices and enjoy this nutty and delicious bread for breakfast, snack, teatime or just anytime :)))

Holiday season is here........ Wishing everyone Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018!!! 🎅🎄🎆

Till my next post, take care everyone!! 

Water Chestnut Flour (Shingada), Almonds, Walnut and Date Cake (Sugar and Egg free)

Recently we celebrated my mom's birthday. She is a diabetic and can no longer enjoy sweet desserts. All through our growing years, she unfailingly and enthusiastically baked a variety of delicious cakes for us at home. So, I wanted to do something for her this time around. So I literally thought of all healthy things she could eat and baked them into a cake, and that is how this cake was created :) It is diabetic friendly: sugar free, gluten free, and egg free (vegetarian friendly) healthy cake.

Ingredients: Water Chestnut Flour (Shingada or Singoda): 1 cup, Almonds: 5-10, walnuts: 5-10, dates: about 20-25, yogurt: 1 tbsp, baking soda: 1/2 tsp, baking powder: 1 tsp, vanilla essence: 2 tsp, cardamoms: 5-6 pods crushed (optional).

Procedure: Soak Almonds, walnuts and dates in milk for about an hour. Grind to a fine paste (along with the milk they were soaked in - remove excess milk  while grinding - it should be about 3/4th cup while grinding). Grease a baking pan. Sift the Water Chestnut Flour (Shingada or Singoda), add baking powder and ground paste and yogurt. Mix thoroughly. Add vanilla essence and crushed cardamom pods (optional) and mix. Now add baking soda. Mix well and pour into greased pan (I used a loaf pan) and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 mins. Insert toothpick and check if the cake is done. If not bake for additional 5 mins on 300 degrees F. Let it cool. When the sides of the cake start leaving the pan, flip it over in a flat dish. Cake is ready to enjoy.

Tip: This cake can be made with sugar too if desired for non-diabetic people. It is really healthy. You can add 1/4th cup sugar or 1/2 cup condensed milk since it already has dates. Adjust sugar/condensed milk quantity as per desired level of sweetness. 

Till my next post, take care everyone.