Besan Kheer(Split Chick Pea Flour Pudding) using Xylitol as Sweetener

Happy Varusha Pirappu, Vishu, Vishuva Sankranti, Poyela Boishakh to all my readers. If you are new to these names and are wondering what it means? This is the name of the New Year celebrated in different regions of India based on the Hindu Solar Calendar.  Kheer , Payasam or pudding is a must on such occasions and this is one of the easiest one to prepare, can be done in a jiffy. Most of the traditional Payasam/Kheer in the Southern parts of India is made with Jaggery and a very few are made with Sugar. This is one such sweet dish which is normally made with sugar and I substituted Xylitol instead of refined sugar. For those of you who are new to Xylitol, it is a low glycemic sweetener, a natural sugar substitute which looks like sugar but has a slight chilling effect when you taste it. One draw back about xylitol is, not every one can digest it. So try it in low quantities and if you can digest it  go ahead in replacing this instead of sugar. However, portion control is critical when using xylitol as a sugar substitute.

Preparation Time – None

Cooking Time – 20 Minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

Besan/Split Chick Pea Flour/Kadalai Maavu – 1 Cup

Water – 1 Cup

Milk – 21/2 to 3 Cups

Xylitol – 1/2 Cup(You can replace this with sugar if you want to and increase the quantity depending on your sweetness level)

Safrron – pinch

Clarified butter/Ghee – 1/4 Cup

Nuts – 2 Tbsp

Method

1) Heat a thick bottomed pan and once hot, add the ghee and toast the nuts till slightly golden and keep them aside.

2) Now to the warm ghee add the besan flour and roast till it becomes golden browns and a nice aroma comes.  Make sure to keep stirring the flour to prevent burning.

3) To the roasted flour add water and saffron and with a whisk keep stirring till it becomes a nice thick paste without any lumps and starts thickening.

4) At this stage add half of the milk and simmer till it starts bubbling/boiling and now add the xylitol and stir till it completely dissolves. Now add more milk to the desired thickness and set it aside to cool.

5) Top it with nuts and serve or, refrigerate and serve it chilled topped with the toasted nuts.

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Cook Eat Delicious Dessert – Desserts without refined sugar or flour round up and the winner is

Madhu of Madhur’s recipe and the winning entry is Granny Smith Apple Crisp . Congrats Madhu and you will be getting your book soon from Raven.

Thanks once again Raven for giving me a chance to host the Cook Eat Delicious Dessert Event. It surely was lot of fun. Thanks every one who had sent in your entries. I am going to surely try all these delicious desserts one by one and I am sure many of you will do so.

Once again I would like to mention the rule of the event “ Desserts made without any eggs and gelatin and not using any “REFINED SUGAR” and refined flour. So there were couple of more entries which I got but  since it didn’t fit in the rules of the event, sorry I couldn’t post them.

DESSERTS WITH HONEY AS SWEETENER

Thinking of desserts how about some Gulkand-e-khaas, Apple Candied Salad, Black berry Coulis, Strawberry banana smoothie, Fruit Salad with honey lime dressing, Banana Coconut Milk Ice Cream?

Interested Click on the pictures to check out the recipe.

Desserts with Jaggery/Panela as Sweetener

With jaggery as a sweetener the options are unlimited, next time when you crave for some thing sweet try one of this Oats payasam, Sweet Potato Dumplings, Ragi Pudding, Ulundu Kali, Soft Sesame Fudge, Cashew nut balls, Cracked Wheat and Corn Payasam, Aval Payasam, Peanut Ladoo, Jackfruit Pancake, Coconut Ladoo, Banana Thekua, Channa Dal Halwa, Undan Pori, Brown banana muffin, Appam with whole wheat flour, Healthy ground rice balls and Payatham Paruppu Payasam.

Tempted, I am sure. Click on the images to check out the recipes.

 

Desserts with Palm Sugar as Sweetener

Palm sugar is lower in glycemic index – so when you are counting carbs but want to eat something sweet check out the Granny Smith Apple Crisp, Mawa burfi, Oats Almond Raisin Cookies, Strawberry Choco Chip Cookies.

Desserts with Dry Fruits – Dates, Fig etc as Sweetener

Love something sweet but concerned with cavities – do try the Sandesh, Oats energy bar, Healthy Sesame balls, Beets halwa, No bake almond bars, Sarahs Raw brownie or the date fudge.

Desserts with Maple Syrup as Sweetener

Looking for vegan sweet something then try out these Avocado Chocolate Pudding or vegan granola bars.

Desserts with Agave, Stevia and Xylitol as Sweetener

Stevia and Xylitol or safe for people with diabetes. So try this without any guilt.

And finally how about a Fruit Kebab for dessert?

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Banana Coconut milk Ice cream with honey as sweetener

 

 

A gentle reminder to all "The Cook Eat Delicious Dessert Event with no refined sugar or flour will end in another two days”,  please send in your entries soon.

This ice cream was my first attempt in trying to make an ice cream with coconut milk. I made it almost two years back and was  lying in my drafts for a long time. I made this before I got my ice cream maker so had to blend the coconut milk and banana mixture to prevent crystallizing and to get a nice texture. But the only draw back was it tastes so yummy, I couldn’t resist myself in having few spoons of this mixture each time I blended it.  Very easy to make and tastes absolutely superb. But using the ice cream maker definitely makes a huge difference in the texture of the ice cream. So come summer, when you try all different treats, make sure to try this easy one and let me know how you liked it.

Preparation Time – 15 Minutes

Cooking Time – 10 Minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

Coconut milk – 2 Cups

Agar agar powder – 2 Tsp

Honey – 1/4 Cup

Banana – 3 small to medium sized

Vanilla extract – 1 Tsp

Hot  water – 1/4 Cup

Method

1)  Place the agar agar powder in hot water and let this sit for some time. Now heat this mixture and stir it till it dissolves. Remove from heat and set this aside.

2) In a high speed blender pour the coconut milk, banana slices, vanilla extract, honey and agar agar mixture and blend till smooth.

3) Pour the mixture in a container and place it in the freezer. After 2 hours remove the mixture and blend it till smooth and put it back in the freezer once again. Repeat this 2-3 more times and leave it to freeze over night.

4) Remove from the freezer and let this sit in room temperature for 5-10 minutes on a hot day and serve with some toasted nuts.

Recipe adapted from healthycookingcoach.com

Events

This goes to Cook Eat Delicious Desserts – Refined Sugar & flour free whole some desserts an event hosted by me and started by Raven

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Vegan Granola Bars with maple syrup as sweetener – A guest post for Kitchen Swathi

When Swathi asked me to do a Guest Post for her blog, I surely was super excited. I totally love her recipes and especially her step by step photo graphs.  It took me a while to decide which one  to share and then finally decided on this Granola Bars. Because I know for sure she loves baking from all those yummy bakes in her collection. The bake should be sweet to celebrate the Swathi’s new born. So let’s get on to this simple and easy to make recipe.

If you buy store brought granola bars then this recipe is for you. If you include Oats and Wheat in your diet, this recipe is a sure keeper.

Check out the recipe here in Swathi’s space.

So Swathi thanks once again for giving me an opportunity for doing the Guest post.

Events

This goes to Cook Eat Delicious Desserts – Refined Sugar & flour free whole some desserts an event hosted by me and started by Raven

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Cilantro Quinoa

Quinoa is a staple in my house. Traditionally we are rice eaters and make so  many varieties of rice. Since Quinoa has replaced rice, now I try out the different rice dishes with quinoa. Believe me instead of just adding it to salads and eating, the addition of spices give a totally new taste to this nutritious pseudo grain. Since quinoa is high protein and complex carbohydrate grain, even if you are weight watcher, diet watcher or carb watcher perfectly fits the bill.

For those of you who have questions on quinoa - Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is an ancient food that has been cultivated in South American Andes since at least 3,000 B.C. Technically quinoa is not a true grain, but is the seed of the Chenopodium or Goosefoot plant. It is used as a grain and substituted for grains because of it's cooking characteristics. Quinoa can be found in most natural food stores and if you are buying in bulk, look for deals online.

Cooking Time – 20 minutes

Serves – 2 to 3

Ingredients

Cooked Quinoa – 2 Cups(Preferably cooked previous day and refrigerated)

Cilantro leaves – 1 bunch(washed, stalks removed)

Tamarind – 1 inch piece

Red chilies – 2 or to taste

Salt – 1 Tsp or to taste

Asafoetida – 1 small piece

Mustard seeds – 1 Tsp

Split Urad Dal – 1 Tbsp

Coconut oil – 1 Tbsp

Water – 1/4 Cup or more

Roasted Peanuts - handful

Method

1) Heat a pan and add 1 Tsp of coconut oil. Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop spluttering add the asafoetida piece and urad dal. Once the urad dal slightly browns take a Tsp of spluttered mustard seeds and urad dal and keep it aside.

2) Now in the hot pan along with the rest of the ingredients add the tamarind piece, red chilies and saute till the chilies are slightly brown. Switch off and allow this to cool.

3) Now reheat the cold quinoa and once warm, add the spluttered mustard seeds and urad dal, roasted peanuts and keep it ready.

4) In a blender put the cilantro leaves, the roasted content, salt and add little bit of water and blend into a smooth paste. Add water as necessary and do not add more as we are not making a juice but a thick paste.

5)  Now add this cilantro paste to the warm quinoa and rest of the coconut oil and combine it. Serve with some vegetable raita and enjoy.



Events

Sending this to Sangee’s HITS- Fiber Rich foods.

Sending to Julie’s EP-Series Herbs & Spices Cilantro and Cumin.

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