Eggless Dates Honey Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup All Purpose flour
1 cup Whole Wheat flour
1 cup chopped Dates / Kharjura
1.5 - 1 3/4 cups powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cooking Soda
1/2 tsp Venilla Essence
Pinch of Salt
1/2 - 3/4 cup  melted Butter

2 - 2.5 cups Milk
1/4 cup Honey

4 tsp Chocolate Syrup

Recipe:
Remove the seeds from dates and chop them into medium sized pieces as shown in the picture below.

Put 1 cup of hot milk and keep it aside for about 20-30 mins.

Crush them in a mixer as shown in the picture below. Add half of the honey and mix well.

Put sugar in a mixer, grind it to very fine powder. Sieve the all purpose flour, wheat flour, powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, cooking soda as shown in the picture below.

Mix them well, add melted butter, venilla essence, required amount of milk and mix them well. The consistency of the batter should be as shown in the picture below.

Apply little ghee or flour to microwave safe pan, and pour this in a pan.

Preheat the oven at 180C in Convection mode and bake this for around 30-40 mins. (Put the knife/tooth pick and make sure that the cake does not stick to it. If it sticks, still bake it for few more mins.)

Remove the pan from microwave and pour the honey and chocolate syrup on top of it as shown in the picture below.

Keep this aside for few mins and allow it to cool. Put it in an airtight container and refrigerate for longer shelf life.

Heerekayi Sippe (Ridge Gourd Skin) Tambli

Ingredients:
1.5 cups chopped Tender Ridge Gourd skin / Heerekayi Sippe
1.5 cups grated Coconut
1 - 2 Green Chillies
4 - 5 black pepper
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (1/4 for Masala + 1/4 for Seasoning)
1.5 - 2 cups fresh Buttermilk
2 tsp Ghee
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
8 - 10 seeds of Fenugreek leaves
Salt to taste
1 strand of Curry leaves
1 - 2 broken Red Chillies

Recipe:
Chop the ridge gourd skin into small pieces as shown in the picture below. Cut the green chillies into small pieces.

Put 1.5 tsp ghee, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, black pepper in a thick bottomed vessel and heat. Once it turns golden in colour, add chopped green chillies, chopped ridge gourd skin and fry them for about 2 mins in medium flame. Add salt, little amount of water and cook them well.

Grind grated coconut, cooked ridge gourd skin into smooth paste by adding sufficient amount of water. (If it is frozen coconut, use hot water while grinding.) 

Add this ground coconut to a vessel. Add buttermilk, required amount of salt, water to the same vessel and mix them well. (If it is yogurt/curd, put it in a mixer for few seconds before adding it to Tambli.)

Put mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chilly pieces and 1/2 tsp ghee in a pan. Once it starts spluttering, add curry leaves and add it to Tambli. Mix well before serving. It goes well with Rice.

Bolu Darale(Bolu Peere / Luffa Gourd / Sponge Gourd) Dose

Ingredients:
3 - 4 medium sized Bolu Darale / Luffa Gourd
2 cups White Rice
1 cup grated Coconut
1/2 tsp Sambar powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
3 - 4 Red Chillies
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Jaggery
Button sized Asafoetida
8 - 10 strands of Curry Leaves

Grape sized Tamarind
Salt to taste
Oil/Ghee

Recipe:

Soak rice in water for about 4-5 hrs. Wash soaked rice 2-3 times and keep it aside. Grind soaked rice along with red chillies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, grated coconut, curry leaves, salt, asafoetida, sambar powder, jaggery, tamarind, turmeric powder and water into smooth paste. Pour this ground mixture in a vessel and add water if required. Don't make the batter too thin.

Peel the luffa gourd and cut it into thin round pieces as shown in the picture below.

Heat the Tava(Iron Tava preferred). Dip the luffa gourd pieces in the prepared rice batter and place it over the tava as shown in the picture below. Add 1 tsp of oil/ghee on top of dosa, cover it in a lid and cook it for a minute in medium flame.

Cook other side of the dosa as well for about 1-2 mins by covering the lid.

Serve hot along with any chutney/ sambar.  It also goes well along with chutney powders. The ingredients mentioned above will serve 8-10 Ridge Gourd Dosas.

Bolu Darale(Bolu Peere / Luffa Gourd / Sponge Gourd) Palya

Ingredients:
3 medium sized Bolu Darale / Bolu Peere / Luffa Gourd
3 - 4 tsp Grated Coconut
1/4 - 1/2 tsp Chilly powder
Big Pinch of Turmeric powder
Grape sized Jaggery
Salt to taste
3/4 tsp Black Gram Seeds
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 strand Curry leaves
1 - 2 tsp Oil

Recipe:

Peel the skin of sponge gourd and chop it into longer thin pieces(1 inch sized) as shown in the picture below.

Put mustard seeds, black gram seeds and oil in a thick bottomed vessel. Once it starts spluttering, add curry leaves and fry for few seconds.

Add turmeric powder, chopped sponge gourd, chilly powder, jaggery salt and mix them well.

Sprinkle few drops of water and cook them well by covering a lid.

Add grated coconut into mixer for about 1 min by adding little amount of water and keep it aside.

Once the water content is almost dried, add ground coconut to Palya and mix it well.

Keep the Palya in low flame for about 2 mins. It goes well with Rice, Chapathis and Rotti.

Bolu Darale(Bolu Peere / Luffa Gourd / Sponge Gourd) Raitha

Ingredients:
1 small tender Bolu Daarale / Bolu Peere / Luffa Gourd / Sponge Gourd
1 small Onion
1 Green chilly
2 - 3 strands of Coriander leaves
3 - 4 tsp grated coconut
1 - 1.5 cups Yogurt/Curd
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
8 - 10 Cumin seeds
Pinch of Asafoetida
1 strand Curry leaves
1 - 2 broken red Chillies

Recipe:

Peel sponge gourd and cut the sponge gourd, coriander leaves and onion into small pieces.

Add grated coconut into mixer for about 1 min by adding little amount of water and keep it aside.

Put all these chopped ingredients in a vessel. Add salt, ground coconut, curd/yogurt and mix well.(If curd is too sour, add the required amount of milk and mix.)

Put mustard seeds, cumin seeds, broken red chillies, oil in a pan and heat. Once it starts spluttering, add asafoetida powder and keep it for few seconds. Add curry leaves and then add it to Raitha. Mix well before serving. It goes well with Rice / Pulav/Biriyani.

Nerugala Soppu Chutney Powder

 Ingredients:

1 - 1.5 cups Nerugala Soppu (More Info: Click Here)
1 cup grated Dry Coconut / Kobbari
20 - 25 Red Chillies
1.5 - 2 tsp of Monkey Jack(Unde Huli) powder or Tamarind powder or Dry Mango(Amchoor) powder
Salt to taste

Recipe:

Remove the leaves from the stem as shown in the picture below.

Dry roast the red chillies, grated dry coconut and nerugala soppu, separately in a pan / microwave without adding any oil in medium flame until it gives nice aroma. Let it cool for about 20 mins.

Put this fried ingredients, tamarind powder, salt in a mixer and make smooth powder.

Store it in an airtight container. For longer shelf life store this in a refrigerator.

Mixed Vegetable Halwa

Ingredients:
7 cups grated Carrot
7 cups grated Beetroot
4 cups Ripen Raw Papaya
9 cups Milk
10 - 11 cups Sugar
10 - 12 Cardamom / Elachi / Elakki
1/2 cup Cashew nuts / Gerubeeja
1/4 cup Raisins / Ona Drakshi
11/4 - 1.5 cups Ghee / Thuppa
Few strands of Saffron / Kesari

Recipe:
Peel the skin of vegetables and grate them as shown in the picture below.

Put the grated vegetables in a pressure cooker container and cook them without adding water.(3-4 whistles). Once the pressure goes off, pour the cooked vegetables in a thick bottomed vessel. Add milk and bring them to boil.

Put broken of cashew nuts, 1-2 tsp ghee, fry them for few mins until they turn light golden in colour. Add raisins and fry them together for about 1-2 mins in low flame. Put Saffron in 3 - 4 tsp hot milk and keep it aside.

Add sugar, keep the halwa in medium flame and stir this mixture once in 2-3 mins until all the milk gets dried up.

Add half of the ghee and stir the halwa continuously in medium flame for about 10 mins.

Add saffron milk and stir the halwa in medium flame for about 10 mins. Add remaining ghee, fried cashew nuts, raisins and stir the halwa continuously in medium flame until ghee starts separating.

Add mashed cardamom and mix well.

Apply little amount of ghee to the plate, pour this halwa and spread it using one flat spoon as shown in the picture below.

Serve hot or cold.