Kaju Katli

A traditional, most common and a very expensive one among the diwali sweets..Kaju Katli. There is an interesting story behind this. This is my first try of this royal sweet...Thanks to my little one. This is one of her favourite among Indian sweets. This year the first sweet box that we received was kaju katli. That's when she cutely asked me if i could make this at home for her. I accepted the challenge and completed it successfully. I was overwhelmed with joy to see her relish every bite that she took. I surfed various recipes on the net and this one is a combination of many recipes.

Dry Fruit Choco Balls

Diwali, the festival of lights...The festival of crackers, sweets, savouries, meeting and greeting is finally here. I normally make tried and tested recipes. But this time I thought I will give it a twist and prepare something different. My friend once bought this to our yoga class and said its sugar free, ghee free and all natural. I tasted one and kept on popping one after the other non stop into my mouth. These are delicious and easy to make...I am sure all the kiddies will love it. Do try this fr diwali and surprise your family.

Godhumai Rava Payasam

Godhumai or Wheat Rava Payasam is made with jaggery and coconut milk. It can be made as prasad for all auspicious occassion. I have kept the ghee and coconut milk levels to the minimum. If you do not prefer coconut milk it can be replaced with normal mik. Please refer the notes section for details.

Eggless Butterless Red Velvet Cupcakes

Love is.... spending precious moments together. Love is...family, friends and nature. Should celebration of love be confined to one day? Love is something that should be celebrated and cherished every moment of one's life. Here's an Red Velvet CupCake that you can make anytime to bring a smile on your loved one's face. The best thing about these is that they are naturally coloured,are eggless and butterless. So they can be had guilt free. Recipe adapted from Here

Pomegranate Sheera/ Kesari

Sheera or Rava Kesari is a classic Indian sweet.Pomegranates are called Super Foods. But this fruit is not a favourite among most of the kids.I always wanted to include this rich fruit in my kids diet..as i was surfing one day came across this amazing recipe on a famous blog. It was loved by all. Since it is Valentine's Day special and I thought of giving it a heart shape.  

Jewel like seeds of pomegranates are packed with antioxidants and vitamins.This ruby-red fruit is a Cure-All for just about any ailments like stomach upsets, menopausal hot flushes, conjunctivitis, lowers BP and cholesterol, wards off flu, reduces inflammation and much more...

Eggless Wheat Flour and Banana Cake

Another year comes to an end!! This year was special...My dream of starting a blog came true. This dream would have not become a reality, if not for the support and encouragement from each one of you."THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!" As we begin a new year and a new chapter let us all pray and hope that 2015 will be filled with Happy and Fun filled Moments :) Keep encouraging and trying out our recipes....We will try our level best to keep up to your expectations :) Let us start this year with a sweet and a healthy cake. This cake was introduced to me by my Dear friend Jayashri Baleri. A cake that can be eaten guilt free...very healthy, easy to make and delicious. HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

Eggless Wheat And Honey Cake

Eggless Wheat And Honey cake is a low calorie, butterless, sugarless and eggless cake. Easy to make recipe, comes out soft and spongy anf its one  which everyone including the kids,will relish. 

This cake is a special dedication to my Dear Sister Gayatri Praveen Kamath on her Birthday Today. We grew up,laughed, smiled,cried and played together.We have so many special and unforgettable memories. I got into this world of posting in food groups, food photography and blogging after seeing her wonderful food posts. She has been very encouraging and a strong motivation.

This cake is one that I learnt from her. The recipe is adapted from Here. The original recipe uses maida/ all purpose flour. But Gayatri made it healthier by adding wheat flour instead of maida. Hope you will like it. This one for you Gatti :) Thanks for being there :)

Nankhatai

Nankhatai is an Indian version of a shortbread cookie. Very tasty and delicious and a super hit among kids. It contains ghee and is high in calories neverthless one can treat oneself on special occasions. Today is such an ocassion. Kitchen tales is celebrating the birthday of a very special person Mrs Usha Bhat, an expert cook and an admin of a very successful food group that we are a part of. A wonderful person with amazing qualities like patience, always full of love, always smiling and a true leader.She gave us a platform to exhibhit our cullinary skills which otherwise would have never come up. This opportunity that she gave me polished my culinary skills, I ventured into food photography, i discovered my passion for cooking and made some wonderful friends for life. She has always encouraged me,criticised my flaws and motivated me throughout. She gave me the courage and brought out the blogger in me. Kitchen tales and me express our gratitude to Ushakka and wish her a "Very Happy Birthday And always the Best In Her Life" This one specially for you :)

Normally nankhatai is made with maida. But here I have given a healthy twist by adding wheat flour and unbleached all purpose flour.

Rava/Sooji Ladoo

Festive Season Is Back!!! With that the season of sweets, namkeen and snacks is also back!! Rava ladoo,is one of the easiest mithai/sweets to make. I learnt this recipe from my Aunt Thara Bhat who has inherited this recipe from her Mother i.e my Grandmother Premila Bai :) Both are expert cooks and have magic in their hands...what ever they make may it be a glass of lime juice or a date cake tastes heavenly.

Sooji /Rava is said to be good for diabetics and for losing weight. It provides great energy. It provides a great supply of the vital vitamins and minerals.

Wheat Atta (Flour) Ladoo

"Diwali, The Festivals Of Lights" is here. With its arrival comes the time to get together and celebrate  with sweets and savouries. Here I start my festive delicacies with a easy and healthy ladoo made with Wheat flour. It happens to be a Konkani delicacy too and is known as Churmundo. We love this one, it just melts in the mouth. I have tried and kept the quantity of ghee lesser than normal. As its festive season we can afford to forget the calories.

Wheat helps control obesity, serves as a complete meal for diabetic patients, reduces bile acid secretions, improves body metabolism, helps control childhood asthma etc..

Mango Vanilla Pudding With Mango Rosettes

A dessert with the King Of Fruits is always welcome and with last few lots of this season mangoes coming in, something special had to be made. Just then my dear friend Jayshri Baleri  Queen of Bakes And Desserts as we call her came up with an post of mango vanilla pudding with mango rossetes. The entire dish was so attractive that it went viral in our food group. The viral caught on to me too and i decided to bid farewell to mangoes with this simple and yummillicious  dessert. My kids just loved it and the glasses were polished in no time!! Please follow the link given in the Notes section for a demo on how to make mango rosettes.

Mango Sago Pudding

It is the end of May and time for the King of Fruits to bid us Good Bye. My kids go to Chinmaya Mission's Balvihar classes and there I had the opportunity of tasting this  finger licking dessert made as prasad by one of the parents. I quickly noted down the recipe and immediately started working on it.

Mangoes have a generous amounts of Vitamin C and A. It boosts the immune system, acts as an antioxidant, lowers cholesterol levels, cleanses skin and prevents heat strokes. Enjoy the last few ones by trying out this dessert and tell me how much or how little you liked it :)