Gluten Free Valentine's Sweets for Your Sweetheart

This Valentine's Day surprise your "sweetie" with sweets that don't break their diets!

Ragi Laddus

Go the distance and make something healthy for your loved ones. Ragi Laddus made with Indira Foods Ragi Huri Hittu Special are rich in calcium, iron, protein, fiber and gluten free. These laddus or balls can be enjoyed as a dessert or for breakfast.

The mix contains popped ragi (finger millet) powder, sugar, dried coconut, cashew nut, milk powder, cardamom and nutmeg. 

It is very easy to make these laddus with this mix. For every cup of the mix, you add 1/2 cup of milk and mix into a dough like consistency. Then you roll into lime size round balls. 

Quick Tips

- Indira Foods Ragi Huri Hittu Special can be purchased at most Indian grocery stores; we bought ours from Patel Brothers. 

  
For other gluten free dessert ideas, please check out Ricotta Kalakand (milk sweet) and Mango Rice Pudding. Wishing you and yours a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Sweet For My Sweetie - Chakkar Pongali

Serve it hot & enjoy!

Oh My Word!! Just look at those glistening cashews just waiting to be eaten. 

bout to Go ahead and drool all over this dessert! 

I've already told you about "Namkeen" pongali which is made on Pongal as prasad. 

However, did you know that you can slightly change the recipe and make a sweeter version? Today is your lucky day.

Ingredients (makes 10 servings of 1/2 cup size):

- 3/4 cup Basmati Rice

- 3/4 cup Moong dal

- 1/4 cup Sugar

- 1/2 cup Brown sugar or Jaggery

- 1 cup Milk

- 5 pods, seeded and powdered Cardamom

- 15 - 20 halves Cashew nuts

- 5 tbsp Butter (unsalted)

Procedure:
1) Cook rice and dal together with 5 cups of water either in rice cooker or stove top. Select the cooker or container size slightly bigger to avoid water spillage. Use low to medium heat level for stove top cooking. 

2) If using rice cooker, transfer the cooked pongal into a saucepan. 

Add milk, sugar, brown sugar and cardamom powder to the pongal and cook on low heat until it is well cooked and all the liquid is absorbed. Add 3 tbsps of butter and mix well.

3) In a small pan, heat the remaining butter and fry the cashews to golden brown and mix it into the pongail.

Basmati Rice

Daddojanam - My Favorite Childhood Dish

Question of the day: What is your favorite childhood meal or dish?

Feeding time was always a challenge for my mom. I'm sure most new moms and experienced ones would agree; especially for toddlers versus any other age group. My mom told me that whenever she cooked something for the night, I never ate it. I would just runaway and be a menace. After many such days, she couldn't take it anymore and tried something different. She started to feed me yogurt rice (plain white rice mixed with homemade yogurt). Now that may sound awful to some people who don't eat yogurt to begin with. Well,what can I say except that it worked. Slowly she added vegetables to the mixture and that's how I got my nutrition.

When I told my mom I was going to share the recipe of my favorite meal, she thought that it wasn't anything special. Oh, was she wrong! See, yogurt rice doesn't sound fancy but it's the revised version that I find more scrumptious these days. Think of it as an upgrade. It's called Daddojanam and it's mixed with spices that make it taste different. We always serve this along with our other dishes for family parties. My mom tells me that the guests enjoy eating daddojanam after eating anything spicy because it refreshes their palate and calms the stomach.

By the way, we served this at the Diwali Dinner and it was gone by the end of party. Guess who ate most of it? ME...if you haven't guessed it by now. 

Daddojanam 

(Popular in Andhra Pradesh)

Ingredients (for 4 servings) 

1 cup Plain Rice (white or brown)

1 cup Plain Yogurt

1/4 cup Sour Cream (Regular or Non-Fat)

2 to 3 Tbsp Milk

Half Cucumber or Carrot (optional), grated

A pinch of Salt, for taste

Seasoning (Chaunk, Taalimpu or Thadka)

1/2 tsp Mustard

1/2 tsp Jeera

A pinch of Turmeric (optional)
1/2" Ginger, grated

1 Green Chili, chopped

1 to 2 Tbsp Oil

5 Curry Leaves, fresh or dry (optional)

Procedure

1) Cook rice to a slightly softer grain so that it can be mushed easily after done. (Hint: easier to do when rice  is hot)

2) Mash the rice and mix in yogurt, sour cream and some milk and mix well until the mixture is somewhat liquidity.

Seasoning:
- Heat some oil (1-2 tbsp) and add jeera and mustard. When they splatter, add green chillies, ginger, salt and curry leaves. Stir for few minutes until the leaves are crisp.

3) Transfer the seasoning into the rice mixture and add salt as needed and mix well.

4) The dish will taste better if it is allowed to stand for 2-3 hrs. If you have more time, leave it in the fridge overnight.

Quick Tips:
- This dish can also be made by using cooked Quinoa, rice noodles or vermicelli.
- Additional milk or sour cream can be adjusted to your desired consistency.
- 4 to 5 cracked black peppercorn can be used as a substitute for green chilies.