Monday, February 3, 2014

Kaju Katli

This is a one of the Indian sweets that doesn't have ghee in it. At least in my recipe. My daughter doesn't really like Indian sweets but this sweet she loves.

Ingredients

4 cups powdered cashew nuts ( grind about  4/12 to 5 cups of raw cashews and then measure)
2 cups sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp powdered cardamom powder

Directions

1.  Boil sugar with a bit of water until it reaches soft ball stage (syrup should form a soft ball when poured into a bowl of water)
2. Add in cashew flour and cardamon powder and mix until mixture starts to gather together and forms a soft ball. Burfi should look wet and you should be able to pour it onto the parchment paper.
3. Pour mixture into a on-stick parchment paper and cover it with another piece of parchment paper
4. Taking a rolling pin and smooth out the kaju mixture or kaju burfi to about 5 mm thickness.
5. Cut out into desired shapes when the burfi is slightly hard.
6. Once the kaju katlis are cool, store in a airtight container.

Note:
1. Make sure that cashew nuts are at room temperature before grinding it into flour
2. Grind one cup of raw cashews at a time.
3. I used the Preethi mixer and used the small grinder. Grind the cashews at one go until the cashews turns into powder and the cashew flour looks a little heavy. Dont grind until the cashew turns oily.
4. If the kaju burfi or kaju katli is too dry, you can crumble the burfis and add a little water and heat the burfi again until it becomes a soft ball.

Power Packed Banana Chia Smoothie

I made this power packed smoothie after my workout today and it tasted simply delicious. Just mildly sweet and filling and refreshing.

Ingredients

1 medium ripe banana (about 90g)
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup 0% fat greek yogurt
1 tbsp chia seeds
some crushed ice
a little bit of water

Directions

Blend all the ingredients together and enjoy.

Makes 2 servings. About 120 calories per serving.