Home made Natual Energy Powder

Home Made Natural Enegy Powder 

There are innumerable Protien powders and energy powders and drinks available in market, yet I choose to make my own power packed powder, rich in protein, good Fats, vitamins and micronutrients . It has no added sugar or any other artificial sweetner. It can be used in making milk shake along with fruits, can be added to curd, Lassi. It can be added to cereals along with milk. In short it can be used as per your liking. It has lots  macro and micro nutrients,no added sugar. Children and grownups, old, ill or recouping persons, pregnant or lactating mother, in short any and every one can use it. 

Making time :

Roasting time :15 minutes 

Grinding time: 10 - 15 minutes 

Nutritional Value (approx) :

Energy- 3100

Protien - 110-120 gm

Carbs- 330 gm

Fats- 180 - 190gm

Sugar-75-80 gm

Fibers - 65-78 gm

Rich in Magnesium, Potassium, Copper,Iron and selinium 

Abundant amount of Vitamin E, K, B 2 and B6 

• Ingredients for Making Natural energy powder 

1. Talmakhana / Foxnut - 100 gm 
2. Almonds - 100 gm
3. Cashew - 100 gm 
4. Sunflower seeds - 100 gm
5. Dry Dates Powder - 100gm
6. Pumpkin Seeds-100 gm 
7. Muskmelon Seeds - 100gm

Directions For Making Energy Powder :

• Roast on low to medium heat Talmakana /Fox nut till it turns crispy. 
• Roast Almonds, Cashew, and all seeds separately on low heat till they turn light brown. Almonds will change color to darker shade. Each nuts and seeds will take maximum 4-5 minutes to roast. 
• Let all roasted material cool to room temperature. 

Some of the roasted nuts and seeds 

• Grind roasted talmakana /Foxnut first to fine powder. 

Foxnut for grinding

Roasted Foxnut powder 

• Once Talmakana becomes fine powder, take 1/4th of talmakana powder, add 1/4th of mixture of roasted nuts and seeds in small proportion. Grind in pulse mode, this will made sure fine grinding without oil oozing out of seeds and nuts. 

 Roasted almonds cashew and seeds added for grinding to the powder of foxnuts

Finely ground mixture of roasted nuts and seeds

• Remove the finely ground mixture in a bowl. 
• Repeat this process of grinding with rest of talmakana powder and roasted seeds and nuts and collect the mixture powder in after each grind in same bowl. 
• While grinding nuts and seeds let the mixture in mixer cool. If the mixture is not cooled it will cause the nuts and seeds essential oil to ooze out causing lump formation. 
• Add dry dates powder. 

With the help of a spoon mix all mixture powder. 

After adding Dry Dates powder

• Energy drink powder rich in protein, micro nutrients, vitamins, good Fats and natural sugars is ready. 

• Store in an airtight jar. 

• How to use Energy Drink Powder :

1. Add two tablespoons of this powder to your hot /cold milk daily. Mix. Enjoy 
2. Take 200 ml chilled milk in a blender add one banana, two teaspoons of energy drink powder, two teaspoons dark chocolate /regular chocolate powder. Blend nicely. Tasty healthy Protien rich milk shake is ready. 
3. Add two teaspoons in turmeric milk (made by boiling milk with turmeric). Drink hot turmeric milk with high nutrional value. 
4. This powder can be added to Curd /Yogurt. 
5. Can be added to Lassi (drink made from curd). 
6. Add it to your breakfast cereals along with milk. 

• Tips : 

1. Always roast on low to medium heat with constant stirring to ensure proper roasting. 
2. Use pulse mode to avoid oil leeching from nuts and seeds. 
3. Cool the roasted material to room temperature before grinding. 
4. Store in dry airtight container in a cool place. 
5. It can be kept in fridge to avoid it getting rancid in extreme heat of summers. 

• Suggested Variations:

1. Walnuts 50 - 100 gm can be added. I am allergic to Walnuts tao I omit them. 
2. Divide it into two parts in one part add green cardamom powder and kesar /Saffron and to other part unsweetened chocolate powder. Two different flavors of protein rich energy drink powder is ready to use. 

कटहल का अचार - Jackfruit pickle

Jackfruit Pickle / कटहल का अचार 

Jackfruit has a special place in my heart, mind and kitchen. We had a big jackfruit tree in our government bungalow in IAT and It used to give big round (like a foot ball) fruit. It had very less central woody part but thick base with soft fibrous part and soft juicy seeds. It was of very high quality. God bless the previous resident who must have planted it. 

I used to make vegetable, cutlets and pickle. My family used to wait impatiently 😀 for pickle to mature and then it would vanish fast. So I used to make two three batches till the raw jackfruit would last and then the last batch would be biggest as it had to last whole year. 

Now we live in flat, children are busy with their family and pickle has shrunk to one batch for my daughter and one for husband. 

I want to keep my passion alive. 

Preparation Time : - 30 minutes 

Steaming Time : - 15 minutes 

Mixing and other : - 20-25 minutes 

Nutritional Value : - Sometimes enjoy things without bothering about  nutritional value. This pickle is too good so just enjoy😜

Ingredients Required For Jackfruit Pickle: 

• Jackfruit - 500 gm (peeled and made to pieces) or 750 gm with peel 
• Raw mango - 250 gm 
• Fennel seeds - 50gm
• Fenugreek seeds - 15 gm 
• Nigella seeds - 25 gm 
• Yellow mustard ground coarsely - 4 Tablespoons
• Kashmiri red chili powder - 100 gm 
• Whole red chilies - 5-6 or according to the hotness one wants in pickle
• Turmeric powder - 4 Teaspoons
• Asafoetida powder - 2 Teaspoons 
• Salt 6 Table spoons + 2 Teaspoons, or according to taste 
• Mustard oil -  500 ml. If your container is big then requirement may change. 
• Apple cider - 2+4 tablespoon 

Direction For Making Jackfruit Pickle : - 

• Remove the spiky thick peel of jackfruit and cut it to small pieces removing the hard central portion.
• Wash raw mango and cut to long pieces without removing the peel. 
• To the pieces of कटहल /jackfruit add :
• 2 Teapoons of salt 

• 2 Tablespoons apple cider
• 1 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
• Mix nicely
•  Put water in a steamer and let it boil.
• Place the mixture of jackfruit pieces on  steaming plate and place the steaming  plate with jackfruit pieces inside the      steamer. Place the mango pieces on the  top and steam for 15 minutes. 

Kept for steaming 

• The white portion of mango will become soft and translucent. The pieces of jackfruit will become soft enough to break with fingers. Or knife will go through it easily. 

Steamed jackfruit pieces

Just Soft but not mushy 

• Remove the mango pieces and jackfruit pieces and place them on a neat cloth or a plate (separately or together your choice) and keep under sun for an hour so that the top moisture gets evaporated. 

Kept under sun 

After two hours under bright sun 

• Roast fennel seeds, Nigella seeds, Fenugreek seeds on low flame till they attain a light brown color and aromatic flavor starts coming out.
• Roast whole red chillies and with 2Tablespoons of salt. 
•  Grind roasted red chillies and salt coarsely. 

Spices for pickle 

• Mix all spices. 
• Add the above spice mixture to the mixture of mango and jackfruit pieces 

Spices added 

• Mix nicely 

Spices mixture mixed to pickle pieces 

• Add 

1. 3 Teaspoons of Turmeric 
2. 4Teaspoons of Kashmiri red chili powder 
3. Remaining salt 
4. 4 Tablespoons of Apple cider Mix nicely 

Salt, spices all mixed 

• Put it in wide mouth container. Cover and keep under sun for five six hours. Turn the pickle mixture with a dry spoon so that spices are nicely mixed with pieces. 

After keeping the pickle mixture under sun 

• Heat 300 ml mustard oil (do not bring to smoking point) 
•  Let it cool a bit. 
• Add 1 Teaspoon asefotida, and rest of Kashmiri red chili powder. Mix and add to the mixture of jackfruit mango pieces with spices. 

Hot oil with red chili powder and asafoetida 

Oil added 

•   Mix nicely
• Cover and Keep the pickle for two three days in the same wide mouth container under sunlight. 
•  Keep turning pickle at least twice a day with a dry spoon to make sure oil and spices get mixed with pickle pieces evenly. 
•  Fill in a glass jar. Cover and keep under sun for few days. 
•  As per the requirement heat mustard oil cool it and top up the pickle with oil. 
•  Let it mature for at least a month. The spices and mango flavor will get incorporated in jackfruit pieces. 

Your jackfruit pickle /कटहल अचार is ready. 

Enjoy with daal chawal, roti, parantha. Tips : Do not boil the jackfruit as it absorbs water and the pickle will not last long without adding preservatives. 

Tips :

• Do not keep steamed pieces under bright sunlight for more than two hours as they will become too dry and will become unfit for pickle. We just require to remove the extra moisture.
• After adding oil keep the pickle under sunlight in a wide mouth container for two three days. Keeping in wide mouth container helps in turning the pickle with spoon (Dry wooden or steel) so that the spices get mixed nicely with oil, jackfruit and mango pieces. 
• Top the pickle with oil to make it last long.
• Do not use plastic as the plasticizers leach into oil. Plasticizers are harmful to health. 

Suggested Variations : 

• Chickpeas washed with vinegar can be added. They absorb the flavor of pickle taste amazing also give a crunch to pickle. 
• 10-15 peeled cloves of garlic can be added to pickle 

Happy Pickling ☺️ 

पनीर भुर्जी / Paneer Bhurji (Cottage Cheese savory)

Paneer Bhurji

Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) is full of Protien, and many micro nutrients. Mixed with lots of vegetables it's nutritional value increases so does the taste. Matar-Paneer, butter-paneer, shahi-paneer are all very tasty and delicious savory of paneer, but tare very high on fats and cholesterol as they require lots of butter/nuts etc. Paneer Bhurji (पनीर भुर्जी) requires very less cooking oil. The moisture of vegetables and paneer renders the bhurji soft texture. 

Nutritional value (approx.) 

• Energy : 400 cal
• Carbohydrates :  2-3 gm
• Fats : 40 gm
• Sugar :
• Protein : 22 gm
• Calcium : 450 - 460 gm 
• Micronutrients:Magnesium, Phosphorus, vitamins 

Preparation Time : 15 minutes 

Cooking Time : 10 minutes 

Servings : 4Medium helpings 

Ingredients for Making Paneer Bhurji : 

• Paneer : 100 gm
• Onion : 1medium size (50 gm approx) 
• Capsicum : 50 gm
• Tomatoes : 100 gm 
• Ginger :1inch piece 
• Green chilies :1-2 according to taste (optional) 
• Green coriander : 10 - 15 leafs 
• Salt :1teaspoon or to taste 
• Cooking oil : 10 ml 

Directions For Making Paneer Bhurji :

• Wash and chop all vegetables 

Chopped vegetables 

• Break the paneer into crumbs.

Paneer crumbs

• Heat oil in cooking pan. Add chopped green chillies and grated ginger to hot oil. Sautee for 30 seconds then add chopped onions. 

Green chillies ginger and onions in oil 

• Sautee for a minute or two till onions become transparent. Add chopped capsicum. 

 Onion sautéed 

Capsicum added 

Capsicum after cooking for a minute 

• Mix and cook for a minute or so.
•  Add chopped tomatoes. Mix and cover, allow it to cook for two minutes stirring it atleast once 

All vegetables cooked

• The vegetables should be little crunchy not mushy after cooking.
• Add paneer to cooked vegetables. 

Paneer added 

• Add salt and mix. 
• Cover and cook for two to three minutes on low heat with stirring in between. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool. Paneer Bhurji is ready. 

Paneer Bhurji

• Add chopped coriander and mix. Paneer Bhurji is ready to serve. 

Paneer Bhurji

Tips: 

• Vegetables should be finely chopped. 
• Vegetables should be sautéed not cooked fully. 
• After adding paneer stirring regularly is must and cooking should be done on medium heat. 
• Do not over cook, else paneer bhurji will become dry not juicy and soft. 

Alternate Suggestions :

• Boiled green reen peas can be added to increase the taste and Protien content.
• Red chilli powder can be added, if one wants spicy bhurji. 

Vegetable Suji Idli /सब्जी और सूजी की इडली /Semolina vegetable Idli

Vegetable - Suji Idli with Peanut Chutney 

Idli and dosa are traditionally made of rice and urd daal. Urd daal is called Black Lentil in English. It's botanical name is Vigna Mungo. 

But many variants of idli, dosa are made, like Sabudana dosa, suji dosa, suji idli etc. In this post I am going to explain how suji idli with the goodness of vegetables is made. Suji/Semolina idli is easy to digest. When vegetables are added to batter then these idlies become more tasty and nutritious. Paired with coconut chutney /peanut chutney and Sambhar it becomes healthy, nutritious, tasty full meal. 

Preparation Time : 4hrs. Soaking time included 

Cooking Time: 20 minutes 

Servings : 20 Idlies (approx) depends upon the size of idli slots in idli stand. 

Nutritional Value  of whole idli mix from given ingredients : (approx. Values) 

Calories : 1600

Carbs : 285 gm

Proteins: 65 gm

Sugar : 16 gm 

Iron : 14 mg

Fats : 20 gm

Dietary Fibers : 16. 5 gm

Folates : 612 mcg 

Calcium : 300 mg

Potassium : 2452mg

Sodium : 1gm

Vitamin C : 10mg

Vitamin A:According to Cooks.com,

30941.91 IU 

For nutrional value (approx) of one idli divide the given values with the number of idlies you make from the idli mix. 

Ingredients Required for Suji Idli :

• Suji/Semolina :  200 gm or 2 bowls (measuring 150 ml.) 

Suji/Semolina 

• Carrot grated : 100 gm. Or 1bowl 
• Beans : 3-4 Finely chopped 
• Cauliflower grated : 1/2 bowl 
• Peas : 1/2 bowl 

Grated Carrot and Cauliflower 

• Fresh Coriander leafs finely chopped :  2Tes spoons 
• Curry leafs : 6-8 
• Grated Ginger : 1teaspoon 
• Dhuli moong daal (Yellow moong daal) : 2 teaspoons 

Dhuli Moong Daal 

• Mustard seeds : 1 Tea spoon 
• Cooking oil : 2 Tea spoons 
• Salt : 1 Tea spoon 
• Curd : 250 gm or 2 bowl 
• Eno : 1sachet 

or 1teaspoon baking powder +1/4 tea spoon cooking soda 

• Lemon juice : 1 Tea spoon 
• Oil for lining idli stand 

When measurement is done by bowl or cup then it should be same size bowl or cup for all measurements. 

Directions For Making Suji Idli : 

• Wash moong daal and soak it in water for at least 30 minutes. Once daal is soaked drain and keep soaked daal aside for further use. 
• Dry Roast suji till it gets light golden color. 
• Shred curry leafs. 
• Take a thick bottom cooking pan. Put 2tea spoon oil in it and heat. When the oil is hot add mustard seeds. 

Mustard seeds sputtering in hot oil 

• When mustard seeds start sputtering add shredded curry leafs and grated ginger . Let it cook for 10 sec. max. 

Curry leafs and Ginger added 

• Immediately add:

1. Grated carrots 
2. Finely chopped beans 
3. Grated cauliflower 

Beans, Cauliflower and Carrots added 

• Cook on low flame with continuous stirring till the beans and carrot become tender and change color. It will take 2-3 minutes. 

Vegetables cooked nicely 

• Add roasted suji (Semolina), mix and cook for 1-2 minutes with continues   

Suji/Semolina added to cooked veggies 

• Add : 

1. Salt 
2. Turmeric 
3. Kashmiri mirch

•  Mix nicely and cover. Cook for a minute. 

• Add soaked drained moong daal, mix and cook for a minute. 

Moong daal added 

Mixture with cooked Moong daal 

• Mash green peas and add to the mixture. Cover and cook for 1-2 minutes. 

Mashed Green Peas added 

• Add finely chopped coriander leafs. Mix and switch off the heat. 
• Cover and let it cool. This will infuse the flavor of coriander in suji mixture. 
• Once the mixture is cooled it can be used immediately or stored in fridge for future use. 

Idli mix is ready 

• To the cooled cooked mixture of suji and vegetables add the curd (200 gm) and mix nicely. Keep it aside for at least for 1/2 hr. Or till suji gets soaked and becomes soft. This mixture can be used immediately or can be kept in fridge. for 2-3 days for further use. 

Curd added to idli mixture 

Curd mixed nicely 

Idli mix nicely soaked in curd suji is soft 

• To make idli stir the soaked mixture nicely. It will be thick so add about 50-100 ml water in small batches . Mix nicely. 

Water added to bring it to correct pourable thick batter 

• Coat the idli stand with oil. 
• Fill 500 ml water in idli steamer and keep it on high heat. 
• Add Eno/cooking soda +baking soda and lemon juice. Mix in circular motion but in one direction only. Either clockwise or anticlockwise for 1minute. 

Eno added

Thick pourable Idli batter 

• Immediately pour the prepared idli mixture into idli slots and place the idli stand inside idli steamer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes on medium heat.

Batter in Idli stand 

• Lower the heat. Remove the lid and poke any one idli with clean knife or long needle. If it comes clean then idlies are cooked. If any thing sticks to the knife /needle then cook for another 5minutes. 
• Remove the idli stand from steamer and let it cool slightly. Pry the idlies from edges and take out from idli slots. 
• Serve hot suji-vegetables idli with chutney and Sambhar. 

Vegetable - Suji Idli ready 

Tips : 

• Preferably take suji (Semolina) of bigger grain size.
• Curd and water requirement may vary little depending upon the grain size of suji(Semolina).  I use big grained semolina/Suji 
• If your curd is not thick then lesser amount may be required. 
• Make sure the water inside steamer is near boiling before Eno /baking soda +cooking soda is added to suji mixture
• If using cooking and baking soda make sure it is mixed evenly else brown spots will appear on idli. 
• I prefer Eno. 

Suggested Variations : 

• Green chillies can be chopped and added to idli mix as per taste. 
• Thin curd or butter milk can be added instead of water to soaked idli mix for bringing batter to correct consistency. 
• Break cashews into two halves. Place one half on idli stand then pour the idli batter. Cook. Idli with cashew on it looks beautiful and appealing. 

Enjoy healthy Idli for breakfast /lunch /snacks /dinner.