Diwali with a Millet Twist - Bajra Ki Halwa

 Happy Diwali from my family to yours!

Holidays/ festivals are better with family and friends. This year is the first time in a while that I was home with my parents on Diwali. We ate pheni, drew rangoli, lit diyas, made sweets, and did fireworks. We're continuing the celebration into the weekend when my sister and husband join us too. Check out the 'sweet' recipe we made today. Hope you enjoy it! 

Bajra ki Halwa (Pearl Millet Flour Halwa) - Gluten Free

Pearl Millets are rich in fiber, protein, and essential minerals; above all, they are gluten-free. 

Ingredients

• ½ cup (80 g) Bajra flour
• 2 Tbsp less ½ cup (80 g) sugar
• 5 Tbsp Ghee (Clarified butter)
• 1 and 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp coconut powder (desiccated)
• 10 to 12 cardamom pods, seeded and powdered
• 8 Roasted cashews, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 cup sliced almonds

Preparation

1) Heat ghee in a small skillet and add bajra flour and stir constantly until the ghee is mixed in. Roast the flour in ghee until a nutty aroma is felt (3-5 minutes), stirring all the time to avoid over roasting or browning. 

2) Add water and sugar and keep mixing until the water is absorbed (2-4 minutes) and the flour thickens into halwa. Continue on low heat and mixing as the halwa thickens further and forms a silky smooth lump without sticking to the walls of the skillet. 

3) Mix in coconut and cardamom powder and ¾ of almonds and cashews and stir for another 1 to 2 minutes and transfer the halwa into a bowl or a plate to cut into pieces. After transferring into a plate, using a spatula press the halwa flat and evenly. Sprinkle the remaining cashews and almonds and slightly press them in. 

4) Allow it to cool for 30 minutes and cut them into the desired shape of squares or diamonds.  

Alternately transfer into a serving bowl and garnish the halwa with the remaining cashews and almonds. Enjoy the warm halwa in the cold winter; it boosts your strength with nutrition. 

Garam, Garam Air Fried Samosas by Meagan

We love working with guest bloggers and readers who enjoy Indian cuisine as much as we do.

Meagan is a self-taught chef that has worked in many different types of professional kitchens. Growing up with traditional American Southern food, she didn’t really know about food from other cultures. She ate mostly unhealthy, fried, salty foods. When she was an adult, she got a job at a bagel shop in Charleston, South Carolina. Learning how to make omelets, assorted cream cheeses, and making the perfect latte catapulted her into the food industry. She found she was very interested in cooking and started working towards growing her skills and knowledge in the kitchen. It has been 11 years, and she continues her journey of learning as much as she can about food, flavor, and cultures around the world. Indian food is one of her many favorites!

Meagan has tried samosas at restaurants, but this was her first time making them herself! She tries to keep her food relatively healthy most of the time. Her air fryer saves her from having a kitchen that smells like frying oil, so she uses it whenever she can.  

We hope you enjoy Meagan's Samosas made using the air fryer.

Ingredients for the Samosa Dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 cup avocado oil*
• ¼ tsp black cumin, toasted
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp water

Ingredients for Potato Filling

• 2 medium potatoes
• ¼ cup peas (blanched)
• ½ tsp ghee
• ½ Tbsp ginger, minced
• Pinch of asafoetida
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cumin, ground
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped

You will also need

Extra oil for rolling dough Pastry Brush & Rolling Pin Water for sealing samosas

Procedure 1) Boil potatoes until just done; so, a fork can go through. Crumble potatoes and set aside. Add ghee, ginger, and spices to a pan until it sizzles, saute for about 30 seconds, stirring, add peas and cook for another 2 minutes. Add mixture to potatoes along with vinegar and stir well. Set aside to cool. 2) Mix together flour ingredients, except water. Rub the flour well for a few minutes to mix the oil in well. The dough should be able to hold shape and not crumble when it is ready to add water. Mix in the water a little at a time to make a stiff dough. Cover and rest for 30 minutes. 3) Knead the dough to smooth, cut into three pieces, and roll into balls. Cover remaining dough while rolling out each piece. Oil the rolling area and flatten a ball, drizzle oil on ball. Roll ball into an oval shape about 8 x 6 inches. Cut into two parts, this will be two samosas.

4) Take one part and add water over the straight edge, joining edges to make a cone. Press down carefully to seal the cone from the inside also.

5) Add cilantro to potato filling and mix well.

6) Fill the cone with potato masala and gently push filling inside the cone. Brush water on both remaining edges bring together, and seal, pinching the edges together. Cover to keep from drying while working on the others.

7) Once finished, turn on the air fryer to 350. Brush or spray samosas generously with avocado oil. Bake in the air fryer for about 30 minutes or until light golden brown.

Quick Tips

-  If avocado oil is not readily available, you can use substituted with ghee or canola oil. 
- If baking in the oven, turn on the oven about 10 minutes prior to forming samosas.

We thank Meagan for sharing her love of Indian cooking with us. Like these vegetarian Samosas, follow Meagan: on Twitter and on YouTube.

Gluten Free Diwali Sweets - Badam Burfi (Almond Treats)

Are you excited about Diwali as much as I am??

🪔 Diwali, the festival of lights, is just days away. Every year, we celebrate this holiday with family and friends, yummy dishes, and desserts. 🪔

🪔 This year, it will be a bit different because of COVID-19. We are only celebrating within our family and keeping the group small. However, I'm still planning to make yummy dishes to enjoy the festivities. 🪔

My sister and I 💓 classic Indian sweets like Kaju Katli or Kaju burfi which is made with cashews. I never thought 🤔 about making the nutty burfis at home. 

Almond Burfi

My mom decided to give it a try. Instead of making Kaju burfi, she made Almond burfi. She also wanted to make a sweet that is easy and requires few ingredients and calories 😀. 

Costco to the rescue 👍! She found Almond flour at Costco and made the sweet without making the flour herself. Read below to see how easy it is to make this yummy dessert. 😋

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups Almond flour (we used Kirkland brand)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup room temperature water
• 1/4 cup Mavva/Kova (milk powder) optional if not use 1&1/2 cups of almond flour
• 6 to 7 cardamom, seeded and powdered
• 1 tsp of ghee (clarified butter)
• 4 to 5 pistachios, finely chopped 

Procedure

1) Heat water and sugar and cardamom powder in a medium non-stick saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. 

2) Slowly add the almond flour, mavva, and ghee and stir continuously until the water is absorbed and the mixture is not sticking to the fingers when tested. It took about 9 minutes until the mixture came together. 

3) Remove from heat and immediately press the burfi dough onto wax paper evenly that is rubbed with ghee to help make it non-stick. Make sure there aren't any bumps. Use a rolling pin gently to press down and adjust to even sides to a rectangle shape.

4) Then, sprinkle the pistachios all over pressed burfi dough and press them down gently with the rolling pin. We evened out the edges so we could cut burfi dough into diamond shapes (as shown below). 

5) Cover the cut burfis with wax paper and put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to set. Then place the burfi pieces onto your favorite plate or serving dish and enjoy! 

🪔 From my family to yours...Diwali Mubarak 🪔