Beetroot Halwa

Beetroot Halwa

Made this halwa due to my daughter's request. She has been an ardent fan of beetroot halwa since her childhood. Instead of grating the beetroot for the halwa which I regularly do, I steam cooked the beetroot and grinded it. This process was super quick and the halwa consistency was achieved faster than expected. As Beetroot is very healthy vegetable, this sweet item is very sutiable for kids.

Ingredients

Beetroot - 2 Big ( 4 Cup )

Sugar - Between 1 Cup and 2 cups

Cardamom Powder / Elachi Powder - 3 tsp

Cashewnuts - 1 Handful

Melted Butter / Ghee - 3 tbsp

Rose Essence - 2 Drops

Method

Peel the skin and steam cook the beetroot using a pressure cooker. Grind the beetroot using a mixer grinder and transfer it into a thick bottomed pan/ kadai. Add the sugar, cardamom powder and a drop of rose essence and stir them well.  When the consistency of the Halwa is perfect, then add the ghee to the halwa and stir them for few more minutes. After the halwa is done, transfer the halwa into a serving bowl. Decorate the halwa with ghee roasted cashew nuts on its top just before serving..

Tips/Variations

Grate the beetroot using a grater and cook them directly in the kadai/pan and try..

Black Eyed Beans Vada / Vellai Karamani Vengaya Vadai / Alasanda Ullipaya Vadai

Black Eyed Beans Vada / Vellai Karamani Vengaya Vadai / Alasanda Ullipaya Vadai

During this vacation, I felt like making some healthy snack for the kids. Meantime, I did not want to spend more time too. Black Eyed beans vadai suddenly flashed in my mind which I made couple of times before. As black eyed beans is a good source of protein, dietary fiber, its a good choice for making the vadas. Taste of these crispy vadais is unique and to me, it has a mix of both Dal Vada and Medhu Vada. I added a bunch of spinach leaves to add more nutrient value to the snack. Try this out and serve this delicious crispy, tasty vadas to the kids..

Ingredients

Black Eyed Beans /  Alasanda / Vellai Karamani / Lobia-- 2 Cups

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1 tbsp

Rice Flour - 1 tbsp

Red Onion shredded - 1 to 2 cups depending on your taste.

Spinach Leaves shredded - 1.5 cups

Salt - To Taste

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Ginger - 1 small square

Green Chillies - 3 or 4

For Extra Punch to Adults

Crushed Garlic - 2 tbsp

Sombu / fennel seeds / Somfu - 1 tbsp

Fine cut green chillies - 5 or 6 big ones

Method

Soak the Black eyed beans and urad dal in warm water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain the water and grind the black eyed beans along with urad dal, ginger, green chillies to a coarse paste. Add rice flour, salt, red onion pieces, shredded spinach leaves , hing to the vadai mixture and mix everything together.  Meantime, heat oil in the frying pan. When you see some slight fumes on top of the oil, start dropping the vadas into the oil carefully. Fry them equally on both sides and drain them out of the oil when they turn into golden brown. Serve hot with hot chutneys.

Variations / Tips

No need to add water at all while grinding. If required, just sprinkle some water on its top and grind.

For adults, add the extra ingredients to the vadai mixture and make them. The vadais would exactly taste like street side hot vadas...