“Methi (Fenugreek) Laddoos” to ward off winter blues … Completing today "5 years of Gayathri Pai's Food Bytes~ Blogging" ... the culinary journey I started as just a filing of my recipe to be shared as and when I want has today crossed over 2200 entries on recipes and other subjects ... I am very thankful to all my friends for the constant encouragement given over the years which gave way to staring of Konkani Delicacies (Our Food Group) too ... wanted to share something healthy this time ... Relish these scrumptious methi laddoos this winter season when there is chill in air … it not only keeps the body temperature warm but is also an excellent source of soluble fiber and antioxidants … Yummilicious ..…... A Big Thank You ...
** It is indeed a Blessing that the completion of my 5 years of Blogging falls this year on this auspicious day today. It is "Mahalasa Narayani Shashti- Manjeshwar Shashti- Dahisar RatHa Saptami- Subrahmanya Champa Shasthi" ... an auspicious day for GSB's Konkani Saraswats worldwide ... marking many festivals together ... May "Lord Ganesha" always show me the right path in life and shower his choicest Blessing on all of us ... Stay Blessed~ Spread Happiness .... 🙏🙏🙏
** 5 years is a very long period in one’s life, but when spent fruitfully it gives immense satisfaction to one’s soul. My life throughout has been one roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs but I have tried my level best to give my 100% every time be it physically, mentally or in relations. The last decade has been comparatively a very tough one in every way possible; almost everything went topsy-turvy with my health at doldrums. I took the backseat in business, which was my lifeline on hubby’s suggestion to take it slow. The journey was tough, but I owe it all to my hubby, the only person who stood by me through thick and thin. A year into doing nothing put me back into some action but there were still miles to go. I joined FB food groups, chat groups, hobby groups, etc. and it kept me occupied and engrossed.
** Reading has always been one of my best buddy and has always been there to keep me happy and comfortable in my own zone. Now, I got so much to read and network became an obsession with me. I went back to reading, which had taken a backseat due to hectic lifestyle, and I enjoyed every bit of it with still a lot to go. Food had always been a passion, so now that I had some time I started keeping myself busy in the mornings for a few hours making it a point to prepare all the Konkani Saraswat dishes that we loved and relishing them to heart’s content. Ahhhaa, life was smiling a bit on me and a wee bit of health and peace began crawling into my life. Soon, I was so engrossed into so many things like community service, reading, blogging, writing etc. but above all these my first priority has always been my home.
** I started sharing my dishes on food groups somewhere in the middle of 2014. This kept me occupied and ticking, but again I found sharing of recipes difficult as copy pasting the whole thing here and there was irritating. Hubby suggested I start my page, I did, but found it had limitations in search option, so finally started this Blog on 2nd Dec. 2014 and today I cannot believe it is 5 yrs old with over 2200 entries. Not all are recipes; I have maintained the Blog on my own style, writing some of my thoughts, notes, stories etc. but recipes are always in the forefront. One thing led to another and before I knew, I had started my own food group “Konkani Delicacies” which is fondly called KD where in my dear friends share their delicious dishes too. Today the group has crossed a strong strength of 23 K members reaching worldwide.
** Life moves on and so do people, some have moved on to better lifestyle, many have now been promoted to being beautiful grandmothers too. Life and my journey with all my friends have been beautiful with lovely memories to cherish. I have learnt a lot from each one of them, and I am and will always remain indebted to all those who joined me in my journey and stood by giving a huge moral support. Five years back in my wildest of dreams I never ever thought I would come across something like this in my life, what a surprise life has in store for us.That is why I always encourage all my friends to pursue their interests a few hours a day, anything you love to do, be it cooking, dancing, singing, writing, drawing, painting. Life is beautiful, but time just keeps rushing ahead. There is nothing more satisfying than doing what you like doing the best, so go for it.
** Coming to Methi/Fenugreek, as you all know the seeds and leaves both are loaded with nutrients and are very good for health. During winter, the leaves are available abundantly and there are so many delicious dishes that can be prepared using them. Methi seeds is an important staple used in almost every Indian kitchen in various preparations. It will not be wrong if said that an Indian home cannot do without adding of methi seeds or leaves into dishes specially so during winter. Apart from adding on flavor to daily dishes, these seeds are loaded with health benefiting properties that is the very reason why these are prepared into laddoos and relished during winter season. I will not run into health benefits as all of you know about it very well, but do try out these laddoos this winter and reap in maximum health benefits for your family and yourself.
** Here is my recipe for “Methi (Fenugreek) Laddoos” to ward of winter blues … My Style …
** Ingredients :
Methi/Fenugreek Powder : 100 gms (approx) (Store bought)
Cow’s Milk Ghee / Toop : 1 cup (approx)
Kesar/ Saffron : ½ tsp
Multi Grain Atta/ Flour : ½ kg (store bought)
OR
Wheat Atta/ Flour : ½ kg (store bought)
Cow’s Milk Ghee / Toop : 350 gms (approxi)
Jaggery/ Goda : ½ kg grated (I used Organic dark colored jaggery)
** To be roasted and powdered :
Cus Cus/ Poppy Seeds : ¾ to 1 cup
Kajjubi/ Cashew Nuts/ Kaju : ½ cup
Badam/ Almonds : 1 cup
Pista/ Pistachios : ¼ cup
Desiccated Coconut/ Kobri/ Kopra : 1 cup
** Important Note : The first step to be carried out minimum 48 hours before preparing the Methi Laddoos which is very important step in the preparation of these laddoos is to mix the methi powder in ghee and allow it to get soaked in well. The same can be prepared and kept a few weeks before too and prepared as and when you want to prepare the laddoos. It remains good for over 3-4 months without losing out on taste or healthy properties.
** Heat one cup of cow’s ghee, until just a little bit warm only. Add in the methi powder and mix well, there should be no lumps whatsoever. Keep it tightly covered aside for a minimum 48 hours. You can prepare this even in MW proof glassware for easy management of the same.
** Once the methi powder has got soaked well for 48+ hours, just warm it a little bit in MW for 1 minute or keep it in vessel in which you have added hot water just to warm it up a bit. Now add in the kesar/saffron and mix well. Leave this covered aside for an hour or so and it is ready for preparing of laddoos.
** Roast the desiccated coconut on low heat for a few minutes only, say about 3-4 minutes, until it is just warmed remove and put it in a mixer grinder. Now roast poppy seeds, cashew nuts, almonds, pista all separately again till just warmed well and add it into the mixer grinder. Grind all to a fine rava textured mixture. Remove and keep aside ready.
** Grate the jaggery finely and keep it also ready aside. Check out for unwanted particles if any and discard the same. Also there should be no small pieces left while grated to enable proper mixing while preparing the laddoos.
** Note : It is very important to keep all the above ingredients prepared and kept ready before we begin the process of frying wheat/multi grain flour. So see to it that you have prepared them and kept them all ready before you.
** In a thick bottomed kadai heat the 350 gms of ghee, when it melts add in half of the flour, mix well and then add the remaining flour little by little while mixing it all the time. You can raise the heat a little bit now and begin to fry the flour till a lovely aroma fills your kitchen and the rawness off the flour is gone.
** The flour frying process will take about minimum 15-20 minutes depending upon the heat and also the flour used. The flour will first absorb the ghee and may look dry but once it gets fried well, the ghee begins to start once again leave out making the flour get a good binding texture. The colour of the flour to changes to a lovely brownish tinge. Check out the pictures.
** Now add in the soaked methi-saffron mixture, the powdered dry fruits-coconut mixture and further mix well till it gets mixed well with the flour mixture. This is very important step and you should not hurry with the process here. The mixture should get well mixed for even distribution of the methi and dry fruit mixture.
** Remove from fire and mix in the grated jaggery and mix well till the jaggery mixes in properly with the hot flour. The grated jaggery mixes very easily with the hot flour, so do not worry, all you need is to make it quickly and not allow the mixture to cool. See to it that there are no lumps at all and now the mixture is ready to be bound into laddoos.
** Start binding the laddoos when the mixture is hot and warm as once it cools down it becomes difficult to prepare the same. Take handful of warm mixture say about 2-3 tblsp in hand and press firmly to bind them into even sized round laddoos the size of lemons.
** The laddoos are similar in procedure to making of churmundo. But when binding if they develop cracks on the surface or break up add in a little bit of melted ghee, well and then continue to prepare the laddoos. Addition of ghee helps you bind it into smoother and even surfaced laddoos. Prepare all laddoos and put them in an air-tight container and store in cool place away from sunlight. You can store it in fridge too, just keep it out for 5 minutes before serving.
** “Methi (Fenugreek) Laddoos” are done and ready to be served. Do relish these laddoos in limits not exceeding one laddoo a day, as they are body warmers, giving heat to body and best consumed during winter or when there is chill in air. Children are a little bit hesitant to eat them as methi is bitter in taste, though once you develop the taste there is nothing delicious than it. Insist that your children eat small bites of the same till they get used to the taste of the same.
** Note : This mixture gives you about approximately 60-70 medium sized laddoos. Again, you can make smaller or larger size depending on how you like to serve them. But I suggest you keep them from small to medium in size and do not make them too large. These will remain good for about 3 weeks at room temperature and for over a month in fridge.
** Note : I have added store bought Multi grain flour instead of wheat flour which is usually added in preparation of these laddoos. The addition of multi grain flour adds on the protein levels and makes it more healthier. This way the laddoos are very healthy and full of proteins etc. However, you can use any wheat flour or multi grain flour as per your choice. Both turn out equally good.
** Note : These laddoos are prepared in similar pattern to that of Churmundo and if you are altogether new to it you can either watch the process of preparation in any you channel or you can watch your relative or friendly neighbor while preparing the same. There is nothing more precise in learning than by watching when someone prepares it as it gives you the correct picture of the same.
** Note : You can always add hot melted ghee at later on stage if you find the binding of the laddoos are still difficult. Addition of ghee helps in binding of laddoos easily, however do not overdo with ghee as it is good only in limited quantities. Once you get the knack of binding the laddoos, you can slowly decrease the amount of ghee as and when you prepare at later on dates.
** Note : I have used Organic Jaggery from a town called Satara, in Maharashtra State, which I purchased from a friend of mine. It has a lovely taste, darker in shade and is free of dust particles. You can use any jaggery available but do try and use darker shades of jaggery for that beautiful color and also check out for purity as we are mixing it outright her in making of laddoos.
** Note : You can check out on more similar "Laddoo" recipes on the link provided below ....
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