Amla Chutney (Gooseberry Chutney)

"Sniff, sniff", that's what I have been doing all day long. It's strange how I don't get affected by cold when I am in North India - seriously guys I have stayed in UP for 8 years, spent considerable time in Delhi, Gurgaon, visited Amritsar in January where the fog refuses to go before 1:00 PM, and venturing out without a head scarf, socks and gloves is close to suicidal. However Pune winters -  I simply fail to understand. In my 2 years in this city, every time the temperature dips, bang strikes the flu, cold & cough. Each time to combat the cold, my mother has fed me with amla chutney instead of medicines to get me better. So the recipe that I am going to share with you all today is of the same chutney that my mother ensures I take with every meal during winters. Not only is it tangy and tasty - being a rich source of Vit C, it also boosts immunity.

Ingredients :

Amla - 200 gms (cleaned and finely chopped)

Jaggery or Gur - 100 gms

Garlic - 10-12 pods

Finely chopped ginger - 1.5 inch

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Panch foran - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 1tsp

Salt to taste

Clean and finely chop the amla into small pieces. Add the jaggery, ginger, garlic & pressure cook for 1 whistle. Allow the mixture to cool. Blend it in a mixer or with a hand blender. Not heat the oil in a small non stick kadai and add the panch foran powder. When it begins to crackle, add the blended mixture along with the salt and red chilli powder. Cook it till the oil starts separating. Store it in an air tight jar.

Date Gujiyas (sugar free)

Gujiya is a sweet dumpling made of suji or maida flour and stuffed with khoya (thickened milk). It is very popular in North India and is made in almost every North Indian household during Diwali & Holi. It's outer covering is like that of a samosa, however the stuffing is of roasted dry fruits, grated coconut, khoya and a it of suji to give it a grainy texture.

Sugar Free Date Gujiyas:

Ingredients

For the outer covering :
Maida - 4 cups
Ghee - 8 tbsp
Sail - 1 tsp

For the filling : 
Seedless dates finely chopped - 2 cups
Dried anjeer/figs finely chopped - 2 cups
Finely chopped nuts (almonds, cashews & pistachios) - 1cup
Raisins - around 25 to 30
Green cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 6 tbsp
Melted ghee - 4 tbsp

For preparing the covering, sift refined flour and rub in the ghee and salt. Add cold water and knead into a stiff dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and set aside. 

For preparing the stuffing, mix the dates and anjeer in a bowl. Add the dry fruits, raisins, cardamom powder and the milk. Mash lightly with your fingers and adjust the consistency.

Roll out the dough peda and place it on the karanji mould. Full it with a small portion of the stuffing and seal the edges with a bit of water. Deep fry the gujiyas on a low flame.

Tip : You can replace the chopped dates with date puree ( for recipe click HERE)
        You can also add dessicated coconut to the stuffing

These gujiyas were especially made on order for one of our customers on Diwali for gifting. If you are based put of Pune, please visit our store www.chocoholic.co.in to know more about our products

Date Puree

Most of us have become very health conscious these days. The weight watchers and diabetics have a hard time resisting the tempting sweets which are suddenly found in every nook and corner of the house during the festive season. I myself have one big kaju katli ka dabba lying in the fridge which seems to be getting more and more irrestible day by day :P

While the market is flooded with artificial sweetners for the weight watchers and diabetics, studies have shown that if taken for a long peiod of time, they can prove to be carcinogenic or cancer causing. And lets admit it - mithais and halwa somehow don't have the same flavors when made with Equal or Sugarfree.

Date puree is something that I came across a few years back at a gourmet store. The guy at the counter told me that it can be used as a sugar substitute to make mithais and is completely natural. I didn't pick it up at that time because it seemed to be a bit expensive. However that very week my sister in law gifted us a box full of dates which she had got from Dubai. Since no one in my family is really fond of dates, they kept lying in the fridge until one day it struck me that I could try making puree out of it. Not only did the puree come out well but I was also able to make sugar free gujiyas out of it. It is a perfectly simple recipe and hardly takes 15 minutes

Ingredients :

1 cup seedless dates

1 cup hot water

Add the dates to the hot water and microwave for 2 minutes to soften. Add more hot water if needed and blend it in the blender. You can change the consistency by adjusting the amount of water. I usually prefer it to be a bit on the thicker side so that it seems more like a paste. You can transfer this to an air tight container and store it in the refrigerator for further use. It has a pretty long shelf life

Image source : http://www.kaiwhenua-ancestralfoods.com