Home » Festive bites, nutri bombs

Recipes | Two Healthy Festive Treats – Cherishing all the Happy Moments

17 October 2013 8 Comments

healthy diwali sweets

Here is your copy from editors’ desk” said the delivery man and handed over the parcel to me. My heart started pounding faster and my fingers flipped the pages recklessly. “Relax mom, your articles will be there in it” son understood my eagerness and took the magazine from my hand.

Whoosh…a small booklet slipped from inside the magazine and fell on the ground. My eyes popped out to see my picture there.

Hmm…the thrill of seeing yourself in print ….the best adrenaline rush you could ever get I suppose.

Well, adrenaline rush or not, this assignment did make my diet graph plunge into a nose-dive. Yes, I am struggling to ward off those calories I gained after each recipe was done with 🙂

I was skeptical when Vaidehi (editor of a regional magazine) asked me to take up the assignment of 30 sweets for their Diwali edition. What with the amount of time I could hardly spare for my online work.

Creating thirty sweets, styling, clicking and then drafting the recipes made me hesitant to take up the assignment.  Term exams for children and a styling project lurking around to be completed in the same month pulled me back. I had a sigh of relief when she informed that I could also send some of the recipes already posted on Lite Bite.

Doing this assignment and recreating some of the recipes long forgotten was a complete fun. Making authentic Churma Ladoo, grandma’s way and then adding Millet in her recipe for a healthy indulgence. I never expected the humble Ragi ladoos  vanish as soon as the shoot was over.

And I could hardly manage to sneak in a few pieces of soft saffron Sandesh with cottage cheese for Vaidehi who visited home for translating the recipes in regional language that day.

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Friends and relatives started calling and asking if I take orders for sweets…Huh….Felt happy when a close family friend (Saranya) who is also featured in the same issue called to congratulate. How true is the saying…”Cherish all your happy moments, they make a fine cushion for old age.”

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

A few pages from the booklet. I tried to keep the recipes simple, easy and closer to rustic Indian sweets. I avoided deep fried recipes and sweets with maida (all purpose flour) in it.  Many recipes are done using indigenous ingredients such as Ragi, millet, jaggery and sesame seeds.

Here are two of the recipes from the magazine with detailed pictures.

Black sesame ladoo recipe is a popular sweet in many parts of India and is normally prepared during winter days. Ragi Ladoo is a healthy take on ghee laden Pearl Millet or Bajra Ladoos made in Rajasthan and undoubtedly one of my favorite sweets of all. Do not miss the raisins in Ragi Ladoos.

1. Finger Millet or Ragi Ladoos

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Ingredients :

  • 1 cup Ragi or Finger Millet flour
  • 3/4th cup grated jaggery or powdered sugar
  • 4 tbsp. Ghee
  • 10-12 Almonds
  • Raisins as desired
  • 1 tsp. cardamom powder

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Method; Heat ghee in a pan and fry almonds in it. Take out the almonds and crush into coarse powder.

Roast Ragi flour in the same pan for about 6-7 minutes on medium heat.

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Add grated jaggery and cook for 2 minutes. If you are using powdered sugar, just add it to the warm flour mix and make Ladoos.

Take the pan from flame. Add coarse almond powder, raisins, cardamom powder and mix well.

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Oil your palm slightly, take about a tablespoon of mixture in between palm and roll into small balls. Make all ladoos from the above mix and store them in an airtight container.

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

2. Black Sesame & Oats Ladoos 

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Ingredients;

  • 1/2 cup black sesame seeds
  • 1/4 cup Oats
  • 1/4 cup groundnuts + almonds
  • 1/4 cup grated jaggery
  • 2 tbsp. Ghee
  • 1 tsp. cardamom powder
Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Melted jaggery and ground sesame and Oats

Method; Dry roast sesame seeds (till), oats, groundnuts and almonds in a non-stick pan for 3-4 minutes and take it out.

Powder all the above in a blender when slightly warm.

Add grated jaggery, cardamom powder add ghee in the powder and mix well. The mixture should be slightly warm when adding jaggery to it.

Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos

Oil your palm, take a tablespoon of mixture and roll into small balls with the mixture. Make all the sesame ladoos and store in an air tight container.

Notes;

  1.  To make Ladoos or balls the mixture should be slightly warm to bind it.
  2. You can replace powdered sugar with jaggery if you cannot find the same.
  3. Do not avoid raisins in the recipe of Ragi laddos, it gives a wonderful sweet and sour bite to the bland tasting Ragi flour.
  4. You can replace whole sesame with de-skinned white sesame in the recipe if you wish.
  5. Sprinkle a few drops of water if you find it difficult to make Ladoos.

....

Follow Me on Pinterest

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

8 Comments »

  • Deepa said:

    Healthy and tasty looking ladoos. Excellent preparation.
    Deepa

  • Priya said:

    Congrats Sanjeeta,proud of you..Both laddoos are just simply out of the world.

  • Kiran @ KiranTarun.com said:

    Congrats Sangeeta!! What a great undertaking. Beautiful images in the print 🙂

  • Priya Baby said:

    I can understand your feelings, though I just started with my own blog. You have many wonderful healthy sweets..will be trying them soon.

  • Sonal said:

    They look so good and def healthy. I will have to try them this winter.

  • Sihi said:

    Hi Sanjeeta, First time here, and absolutely love. Truly a lovely space.

    Best,
    Sihi

  • Sis said:

    Thank you so much for this very healthy one. I always prefer jaggery because it is whole some and loaded with vitamins & minerals.
    Please share more recipes if you have any.
    Planning to do the pearl millet barfi(kambu barfi)from the news paper.

    If you have the digital version of the 30 recipes pls share also.I don’t know we can get the magazine in USA.

  • Raji said:

    Hi Sanjeetha, I am thrilled with your recipes! They are very easy to follow with few ingredients and amazing outcomes! Keep up the great work! I love your sweet recipes! I wish we could see all 30.

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

© 2009-2020 Lite Bite