Simple Cranberry – Mango Juice

This is a simple way to enjoy a healthy juice. This is a perfect drink with breakfast. 

Ingredients: (Serves 3)

• 2 cups Mango Juice
• ¼ cup Cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 ripe Banana

Preparation:

1. Just add cranberries + banana to a blender and pour mango juice on top and run it until cranberries become crushed. 
2. Remove and filter to remove any pulp. Pour into individual glasses and enjoy!!

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Spiced Pinto Beans Powder (Chutney Powder)

This is the second recipe I tried with these healthy Pinto Beans. I tried a Dosa with these beans before that tasted super-delicious. This time I wanted to make a spicy powder with these beans as I love powders to eat with rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Pinto Beans
• ¼ cup Coriander Seeds (Dhaniyalu, Dhaniya)
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• A pinch of Asafetida (Inguva, Hing)
• 2 tsp Red Chili Powder (Adjust according to your taste)
• Salt as needed

Preparation:

Heat a pan and add coriander seeds and roast until it changes color. Remove and transfer to a plate. 

In the same pan add pinto beans and roast until it changes color and transfer to a plate. 

When the coriander seeds and pinto beans become cold, add them to the blender along with cumin seeds + asafetida + chili powder + salt and run the blender until they are finely powdered. 

Don’t worry if you can’t get a smooth texture. It still tastes super good. 

Transfer the powder to an airtight container or bottle and store. 

Enjoy this yummy powder with steaming hot rice and ghee.

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Paneer Bhurji

This is the simplest and yummiest curry perfect for parties or just for home.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Paneer, cubed (I used store-bought paneer)
• ½ cup diced Tomatoes
• ¼ cup chopped Onions
• 3 or 4 Green Chilies, chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger – Garlic Paste
• ½ tsp Garam Masala
• A pinch of Turmeric Powder
• Few chopped Cilantro leaves
• Few Curry Leaves
• 1 tsp Oil
• ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds along with onions + tomatoes + green chilies + curry leaves and mix well.
2. To this, add turmeric + ginger-garlic paste + garam masala and mix well. Sauté well until the onions become translucent.
3. Then add paneer pieces and mix well. Leave the pan covered, on low flame for some time. Keep stirring now and then.
4. Finally remove from the flame and transfer the contents to a serving bowl. Garnish with cilantro and serve. Paneer bhurji goes well with chapathis as well as rice. 

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Quinoa Halwa

A VERY HAPPY BHOGI, SANKRANTHI AND KANUMA
TO ALL MY READERS AND FRIENDS!

This is another healthy sweet I tried today for Bhogi. It came out so good and everyone (including the kids) loved it. For me Quinoa tasted like sago.  Taste was superb and I will make this again and again. Tomorrow for Sankranthi I am going to make Sweet Pongal (Chakra Pongali) and Pappu Chekkalu.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Organic Quinoa
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 3 cups Water
• Few drops of food color (optional)
• Few Cashews + Raisins
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• Few Saffron Strands
• 1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Preparation:

Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews + raisins and fry until cashews become golden brown in color and raisins bubble up.

Then pour water and add saffron strands + food color (if using) + sugar and mix well. Bring the water to a boil. 

Wash quinoa well and add this to the boiling water and mix well. Also add milk and mix well. Cover and allow the mixture to thicken and quinoa gets cooked. Keep the flame on med. low as this tends to burn easily if put on a high flame. Keep an eye on it and keep stirring in between.

When the mixture becomes thick, transfer it to a serving bowl, garnish with more cashews and raisins and serve at room temperature.

Eat yummy stuff and enjoy the festivities!

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Barley Laddu – A Healthy Treat for a Happy Birthday

Yes, it’s a happy birthday to Trendy Relish (and also Essence of Andhra as it was previously called)!! It’s exactly been a year Trendy Relish was born and three years Essence of Andhra (Telugu Ruchi) was born. To be exactly clear: Trendy Relish came to life during the first week of January 2010 and Essence of Andhra has stepped into the wonderful world of blogging during the second week (around Pongal season) of January 2008. So I wanted to celebrate both birthdays in the middle that means today.

I am sooooo glad that I have decided to start my own blog in 2008. Or else how could I have made so many friends? Thank you so much dear friends, readers and visitors for keeping this little blog alive and for all the support you’ve been giving to my blog. Keep visiting and be encouraging!!

These days I’ve been trying to include many healthy ingredients (mostly I guess:)) as possible in my regular diet. I’ve been searching ways to make my kids also eat these healthy things. They always say, why all the healthy things taste so bad? So I thought why don’t we try to make these taste good for good health?

I wanted to celebrate the blog’s birthday with a healthy sweet treat which will make everyone craving for more. And it was a hit.

Coming to the recipe: I used Pearl Barley for making these laddus. These grains can be found in regular Grocery Stores. Pearl Barley is nothing but regular Barley where the hull and bran is removed by processing. This makes these grains cook faster and make them less chewy than the regular barley grains. They still possess all the health benefits as the regular barley.

If interested, all the health benefits of BARLEY can be read at this Site: WHFoods.

Ingredients: (Makes 16 small Laddus as in the picture)

• 1 cup Pearl Barley
• 1 cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Milk
• 2 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• Few Cashews + Few Raisins
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder

Preparation:

Check barley and remove any impurities it may contain. Then heat a pan and dry roast barley until it turns golden brown in color. Keep aside to cool.

When barley becomes cold, grind it into a fine powder along with sugar. Filter and grind the remaining coarse grains again until they become fine.

Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews + raisins and sauté until the raisins bubble up and cashews turn golden brown in color.

Pour this over barley + sugar mixture and mix well. Then add cardamom powder + milk and mix well by hand.

Note: Add little more milk if the mixture is still dry.

Take small portions of the mixture and shape into balls of desired size. Place them on a plate to dry for some time.

Enjoy these yummy and healthy laddus with a guilt-free feeling :)

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