Sankranti special – Batter Up With Sujata

Ranga Aloor Pithe/Sweet Potato Dumplings

Ranga aloor pithe or sweet potato dumplings. A sankranti special delicacy from Bengali cuisine. Sugar syrup soaked and stuffud with mawa/dried or thickened milk, coconut and khajur gur or date palm jaggery dumplings taste heavenly.

As I mentioned in my last year Sankranti post that in Bengal different types of pithe, puli, paesh or rice kheer/pudding are usually made to celebrate Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti. On sankranti our lunch is Bhuni khichuri or khichdi with different types of vegetable fry or bhaja, Dum aloo , beguni, papad, tomato chutney or Khejur aamsotto or date mango bar chutney and for dinner different types of pithe puli, paesh or kheer, malpua, green peas stuffed kachodi, aloor nonta or savoury pithe. A day to enjoy all the traditional dishes. Here are some recipes that you can try to celebrate Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti. Click on the name below for recipe.

1. Til badam laddu

2. Moong dal fried and baked pithe

3. Baked dudh puli

4. Malpua

5. Nolen gur paesh or date palm jaggery kheer

6. Gokul pithe

7. Date palm jaggery and coconut barfi

8. Rice kheer

9. Narkol naru or coconut laddu

And not traditional as above recipes but absolutely delicious two innovative baked recipes with all the sankranti special ingredients.

1. Semolina or rawa cake

2. Date palm jaggery oats dry fruits cookies

Monday again and our this week’s 280 #Foodiemonday bloghop theme is Sankranti Special.

To make these ranga aloor pithe or sweet potato dumplings you need rice flour and maida or refined flour for binding with mashed sweet potatoes. You have to mash the sweet potatoes really well. Dough should be completely lump free. Some sweet potatoes have fiber. Discard the fiber if any. And we don’t need thick sugar syrup for this pithe. Make a stuffing with khoya or mawa/dried whole milk, khajur gur or date palm jaggery, dry fruits and coconut. Cook the mixture on low heat until dried up. Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the bottom. Add little cardamom powder and remove from heat. Let it cool down completely before stuffing.

I always use homemade mawa. Get the method to make mawa here.

Recipe

Sweet potato- 4

Rice flour- 3 tablespoon

Refined flour or maida- 1 tablespoon

Sugar- 1 cup

Water- 2 cup

Cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon

For Stuffing click here

Refined oil or ghee for deep frying

Method

1. First make the stuffing as we made for Moong dal bhaja pithe and keep aside.

2. For sugar syrup boil 2 cup water with 1 cup sugar till sugar completely dissolved. Let it boil on low heat for 5 – 6 minutes more. Add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder, mix and remove from heat. You can use half cup khajur gur or date palm jaggery and half cup sugar to make jaggery flavoured syrup.

3. Boil the sweet potatoes. Don’t make the potatoes mushy, boil till potatoes becomes tender. If you are using pressure cooker, cook for 2 whistle.

4. Peel the sweet potatoes when cool. Mash the potatoes well. Break all the lumps and make lump free dough. Discard the fiber if any.

5. Add rice flour, refined flour or maida and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder. Mix well and make a smooth dough.

6. Make equal size balls. I have made 13 – 14 balls. You can make small sized pithe if you want. Flatten the balls with your palm. Place one teaspoon stuffing in the middle.

7. You can use little more stuffing but be careful while sealing, stuffing should be remain inside. Seal the edges and give cylindrical shape.

8. You can also make round pithe just like gulab jamun if you want.

9. Heat sufficient oil in a pan or wok. Slide the stuffed pithe into the hot oil. Slide 3 – 4 pithe one by one. But don’t overcroud. Fry on low medium heat till pithe becomes golden brown.

10. Dip the fried pithe in warm sugar syrup. Let it soak in syrup for 30 – 40 minutes or until all the pithe soaked well and swelled.

11. Use a large vessel to soak the stuffed and fried pithe. Don’t place the pithe over each other. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you tried my recipe, you can share your food pictures with me in the social network sites by using hashtag, #batterupwithsujata I would love to see your creations.

I would love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and suggestions in comment.

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Til Badam Laddu Or Sesame Almond Laddu

Happy makar sankranti in advance.
Sesame seeds almond laddu or til badam laddu/nadu with khajur/nolen gur or date palm jaggery and khoya/mawa or dried milk. Try this winter delicacy and enjoy the delectable taste.
Til or sesame seeds, jaggery and almond everything have some nutritious benefits and perfect for winter.

I have used homemade soft khoya/mawa or dried milk. Get the recipe here.
But you can also use store bought mawa. Grate the mawa before using.
Normal cane jaggery can also be used to make this laddu. I have used date palm jaggery and we love the flavour of this jaggery so I didn’t use cardamom powder. But if you are using cane jaggery, don’t forget to add cardamom powder at the end.

You may like some more recipes with khajur or nolan gur or date palm jaggery and some sankranti special recipes on this blog. Click on the name below for recipe.

1. Date palm jaggery oats dry fruits cookies

2. Payesh or rice pudding with date palm jaggery

3. Coconut jaggery barfi

4. Moong dal fried and baked pithe

5. Semolina or rawa cake

6. Coconut sandesh with date palm jaggery

7. Baked dudh puli

8. Gokul pithe

9. Malpua

I have used sesame seeds, almonds and date palm jaggery to make these laddu.
Sesame seeds are a good source of healthy fats, protein, B vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and other beneficial plant compounds.

Almonds contain lots of healthy fats, fiber, protein, magnesium and vitamin E.
The health benefits of almonds include lower blood sugar levels, reduced blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels. They can also reduce hunger and promote weight loss.

Jaggery contains more nutrients than refined sugar because of its molasses content.
Molasses is a nutritious by-product of the sugar making process, which is usually removed when making refined sugar.
Jaggery may also contain small amounts of B vitamins and minerals, including calcium, zinc, phosphorus and copper.
One commercially available product, SugaVida, is a granulated palm jaggery that is claimed to be a good source of naturally occurring B vitamins.
Source

This week our 229 #Foodiemonday bloghop theme is sankranti special recipes. And my humble contribution is this til badam laddu with khajur or nolen gur.
You don’t need much ingredients to make this delicious sweet. Only four ingredients are used to make these laddu. Til or sesame seeds, jaggery, almond and khoya or mawa. Make this quick, healthy, easy and heavenly laddu to serve on makar sankranti or enjoy anytime as a sweet. You can also double the recipe.

Recipe

Sesame seeds or til – 1/4 cup

Almond – 1/4 cup

Khoya or dried milk – 1/4 cup, tightly packed

Khejur gur or date palm jaggery – 1/2 cup, grated or finely chopped

Cane jaggery – 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder – 1/2 teaspoon, optional

Method

1. Dry roast the almonds in a pan till crisp. Grind the roasted almonds when cool.

2. In a pan dry roast the sesame seeds or til on low heat. Stir constantly, sesame seeds should not be burn. When seeds becomes light brown and fragrant remove from heat. Transfer the seeds on a plate.

3. Heat khoya/mawa or dried milk in a heavy bottom or nonstick pan. Cook on low heat for 1 – 2 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid sticking to the bottom.

4. Add jaggery and mix well. Cook again and keep stirring.

5. When the mixture about to dried up add roasted sesame seeds and ground almonds and mix.

6. If you are using cane jaggery add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder and mix. I have used khaju/nolen gur or date palm jaggery so I didn’t.

7. Cook till everything combine well and dried up.

8. Grease your palm with little ghee or clarified butter and make small balls.

9. Roll the balls into laddu when still warm. You will feel difficulty to give shape if the mixture cool down.

10. Make balls small or little larger or your desired size. I like small bite size balls.
Serve immediately or store in airtight container when the Laddu completely cool down.

Enjoy as a sankranti delicacy or to satisfy your everyday sweet cravings.

Notes
1. Normal cane jaggery can be used instead of date palm jaggery.
2. You can also use any dry fruits of your choice.

3. Double the ingredients if you want to make a large batch.

If you tried my recipe, you can share your food pictures with me in the social network sites by using hashtag, #batterupwithsujata
I would love to see your creations.

I would love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and suggestions in comment.
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Moong Dal Bhaja / Fried And Baked Pithe

Moong dal bhaja/fried and baked pithe.
A deep fried delicacy from Bengal. Mildly sweet and spicy outer layer made of moong dal or yellow lentil and coconut and date palm jaggery or khajur gur stuffing. Interesting isn’t it 😊
Usually it should be deep fried but I have also baked it to make it guilt free. Sharing both methods. I have baked these in halogen oven but you can use your microwave convection mode or OTG to bake.

I remember my mother used to make different types of pithe puli on sankranti. Like bhapa or steamed pithe, ranga aloor/sweet potato pithe, gokul pithe, nolen gur paesh or kheer, green peas stuffed potato or aloor nonta/salty pithe, patishapta, dudh puli, narkol nadu or coconut laddu, malpua and this moong dal bhaja pithe. On sankranti day these was our dinner. I have made all the pithe except this bhaja pithe. It was my most favourite but I can’t remember the exact recipe. Only remember the mildly spicy and lip-smacking taste and some ingredients. My mother is no more so now whom to ask.
In a facebook group Swati Chatterjee Mookherjee posted this. So I have asked her about the recipe. And she gave me her mom’s recipe. Tried it and got the same taste of mom made pithe. Thanks Swati and a big thank to your mother.

Only difference is in her recipe she used green chilli but I remember my mother used red chilli powder. So I have used red chilli powder instead of green chilli paste. If you want you can use paste of 1 – 2 green chilli or black pepper powder instead. As I mentioned above this pithe taste better next day.

You can get some more sankranti delicacies on this blog.

Gokul pithe

Malpua

Coconut laddu or larkol nadu

Baked dudh puli

Sending this post to 182 #Foodiemonday bloghop Down memory lane theme. This beautiful theme suggested by our bloghop member Swaty Malik who blog at Food Trails.
Do visit her space for some delicious recipes.

Down the memory lane yes this pithe is perfect for the theme. It was my childhood favourite. After a long time got the same taste. I have used 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder to make it mildly spicy but if you want to make it more spicy, then you can add 3/4 to 1 teaspoon red chilli powder.
I have fried half of the pithe and baked remaining half. Baked version is also too good. Loved both the version fried and baked.

Recipe

For stuffing

Coconut – 1 cup, grated

Mawa/khoya or dried milk – 3/4 cup

Date palm jaggery or khajur gur – 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder – 1/2 teaspoon

For outer layer

Moong dal or split yellow lentil – 1 cup

Ghee or clarified butter – 1 tablespoon

Ginger paste – 1/2 teaspoon

Red chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Salt – 1/4 teaspoon

Water – 2 & 1/2 cup or as require

Date palm jaggery or khajur gur – 1/2 cup, grated

Rice flour – 3 tablespoon

Oil for frying

Method

1. Heat a nonstick or heavy bottom pan. Add coconut, mawa/khoya or dried milk and date palm jaggery or khajur gur. Mix well.

2. Cook on low heat, stir continuously to avoid sticking to the bottom.

3. When the mixture dried up and becomes like a dough remove from heat. Add cardamom powder and mix. Stuffing is ready. Let it cool down.

4. Rinse the lentil well. Spread on a plate or paper towel for 30 minutes.

5. Heat ghee or clarified butter in a pan. Add the lentils.

6. Fry the lentils till fragrant and change it’s colour to light golden brown.

7. Add salt ginger paste and red chilli powder. If you want more spicy add 3/4 to 1 teaspoon red chilli powder.

8. Mix well and add water. Let it cook on low flame till the lentils becomes soft. You can add more water if require.

9. Add jaggery and mix. Cook until jaggery melted and the mixture dried up. Remove from heat.

10. Let the mixture cool down. Add rice flour gradually and mix.

11. Mix well and knead into a smooth dough. You can add 1 tablespoon more rice flour if require for binding but don’t add more than it.

12. Make small balls. Flatten the ball with your palm and place one teaspoon full stuffing in the middle.

13. Bring the edges together and make a ball again. Give the balls cylindrical shape.

14. Heat sufficient oil for deep frying. Oil should be enough hot.

15. Slid the cylindrical pithe in the oil reduce the flame and fry on low medium heat till golden brown from all the sides.

16. Remove from oil and place on paper towel. These taste best next day.

Baked method

For halogen oven

1. Brush all the pithe with oil. Place on the nonstick baking tray or plate which you got with oven.

2. Press speed up mode and set the temperature 200°. Set the timing 10 minutes. Press start to bake.

3. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or till pithe becomes golden brown. Keep an eye after 8 minutes. Mine takes 10 minutes to bake one side and 8 minutes after turning.

4. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or till pithe becomes golden brown. Turn over and bake other side too in this method.

For microwave convection mode or OTG

1. Preheat the at 200° for 10 minutes.

2. Bake at 200° for 8 – 10. Or until pithe becomes golden brown. Keep an eye after 6 minutes. Every oven takes different time.

Serve warm or cold. It will taste better next day. Enjoy…….

Notes

1. Instead of red chilli powder you can use green chilli paste or black pepper powder.

2. You can drizzle date palm jaggery syrup over the pithe just before serving.

If you tried my recipe, you can share your food pictures with me in the social network sites by using hash tag, #batterupwithsujata
I would love to see your creations.

I would love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and suggestions in comment.

Please visit my facebook page and hit the like button to get the latest update
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