Banana milkshake - healthy and yummy

 Last weekend after Ganesh Chaturthi was over, other than Ganesh’s blessings, we were left with dozens of bananas😀. Some were already there from our weekly grocery shopping, and the rest came as prasad from Ganesh Chaturthi. 

Seeing the pile of bananas, my mother in law kept on reciting “why don’t we make some banana milkshake?“ I knew that “we” actually meant “you” 😒but I was not in a mood to make milkshake during a busy weekday.

Finally, I gave up! I was fasting on Friday and by the evening I needed something to boost my energy😰. Banana milkshake felt like the perfect choice at that time. Also, it is Baby S’s most loved drink.😋

Bananas and dates are powerhouses of energy💪, a rich source of dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, vitamins, and various antioxidants, an instant energy booster.

So here comes my simple banana milkshake recipe, nutritious, healthy, and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, chopped, over-riped ones are best
• ½ liter chilled milk
• 2-4 deseeded and chopped dates
• 1 tbsp crushed dry fruits, I used almonds, cashews, and pistachios
• 1 tsp sugar (optional), I didn’t add sugar, bananas, and dates were naturally sweet

Method:

• Add chopped bananas and dates along with the milk in a blender
• Blend until smooth and frothy
• Garnish with crushed dry fruits
• Serve immediately

My other fasting foods are sabudana khichdi, sabudana kheer, sabudana vada, boiled, and sautéed veggies.

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Rice kheer – Creamy and aromatic Indian rice pudding

Rice kheer (rice pudding) is an integral part of a Bengali birthday, it was Daddy S’s birthday, so I had to prepare kheer. He likes rice kheer very much with lots and lots of raisins in it; he likes raisins so much that if possible, he would put raisins in mutton biriyani also 😊😊.

Two days before Daddy S’s birthday, I had ordered 1 liter of full cream milk and 1 kg of Gobindho bhog rice from an online shop, but alas, in the morning they said Gobindo bhog rice was out of stock….oh God!!! What do I do now? With this Corona think going on, I just can’t step out of the house and get your stuff, but I had no option. Reluctantly, I put on all my protective gear and went to the nearest supermarket, no luck; then I went to another grocery shop, no luck there also ☹. I started feeling nervous and started blaming myself, why didn’t I stock it up earlier; I almost felt like crying in the middle of the road 😨. Suddenly, the shopkeeper of the grocery store told me to check one of the nearby chicken shops, the owner of that shop is a Bengali, they might stock this kind of rice…ohh, what a relief. I almost ran to that shop, I needed that rice before this shop also runs out of stock, and thank God, they had a couple of packets in store. My day was saved. Along with the rice, I bought some chicken drumsticks also for preparing evening snacks, as eating out was not an option we needed something spicy in the evening for @home celebration 😊😊.

I started the birthday preparation from the evening before Daddy S’s birthday; marinated the chicken and kept in the fridge for preparing chicken drumsticks next day and then I started preparing the kheer.

You can prepare kheer for any special occasion or even when you just want something sweet.

Ingredients for preparing kheer:

• 1-liter full cream milk
• ½ cup of rice, I prefer Gobindo bhog rice because of its aroma, you can use any kind of aromatic rice
• 4 green cardamoms, slit open or slightly crushed
• 1 cup of sugar or jaggery, Daddy S likes his kheer real sweet
• 2 tbsp raisins, soaked in water
• 2 tbsp chopped cashews, I soak the cashews and make a paste out of it to make the kheer more creamy

Method:

• Wash the rice under running water till water turns clear and keep it soaked for 30 mins
• After 30 mins, drain the water and keep the rice aside
• Heat a heavy bottom pan, I used a non-stick kadhai
• Add the milk and keep stirring so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom (even in non-stick it gets stuck), keep the flame at medium to high
• Once the milk starts boiling, lower the heat add the rice and keep stirring
• Add the crushed cardamom pods at this time
• Keep cooking till the milk reduces to half and the rice is cooked very well
• Add in the cashew paste and stir it well
• Add the sugar or jaggery and mix well, cook for another 5 minutes
• Squeeze the water out from the raisins add it in the kheer and switch off the gas. I add the raisins at the end because sometimes due to the sourness of the raising the milk might curdle and all your effort will go down the drain ☹

Now let your kheer cool down, and as it cools it will continue to thicken and give that creamy texture to the kheer.

We like our kheer chilled but it's up to you, you can serve it hot also. You can garnish it with more chopped dry fruits, add a splash of rose water to add more flavor to it 😊

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Air fried Chicken drumsticks – yummy as well as healthy

It was Daddy S’s birthday and obviously, due to this pandemic situation, we couldn’t go out for the celebration. Also, it was a weekday, so the day simply started with me and Baby S wishing him on his special day 😊.

In the evening, Daddy S started missing the celebration 😔, he wanted something special, something yummy, and I knew it was coming. I kept my arrangements ready and quickly made chicken drumsticks for him 😊.

Homemade healthy and tasty air-fried chicken drumsticks, Daddy S’ favorite snack. Actually, we all love it, and when it is homemade and healthy you don’t have to feel guilty and you can eat as much as you want 😊😊.

 Baby S gifted him a cute hand-made card. She drew a scenery that she just learned in her drawing class. 

Drawing is one activity, other than watching cartoons or videos of course 😉, that she enjoys very much; and when it comes to giving a surprise gift to Daddy S, she is always ready. She had spent the entire evening, the day before, preparing this card for him; while I was preparing kheer, a must for any Bengali birthday.

Finally, Daddy S's birthday was spent well😍

Here is the recipe for my simple chicken drumsticks

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 3 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
• ¼ tsp of soy sauce (optional)
• 1 tbsp of mustard oil
• Salt as per your taste
• ¼ tsp of black pepper powder
• 2 tbsp of chicken tikka masala
• Juice of a half lemon
• 1 tbsp chaat masala

Method:

• Wash the chicken drumsticks very well and drain out the water completely, make 2 slices on the side so that the masala can go inside
• Marinate in vinegar for 30 mins
• After 30 minutes, take out the drumsticks and put them in another bowl
• Add ginger-garlic paste, soy sauce, mustard oil, chicken tikka masala, black pepper powder, and salt with the drumsticks and mix well
• Keep it in the refrigerator overnight, or a minimum of 2 hours
• Once marinated well, mix them well again.
• Pre-heat your Air-fryer for 5 minutes at 200-degree centigrade, and grease the air-fryer basket
• Place the drumsticks in the air-fryer basket and fry for 12 minutes, no need to add extra oil, the chicken will cook in its own juice
• Take out the basket, flip the drumsticks and fry for another 12 minutes

Yummy drumsticks are ready 😋, take them out carefully, squeeze the juice of a half lemon and pour on top of the drumsticks, sprinkle some chaat masala, and serve hot with salad.

If you don’t have an air fryer, don’t worry, you can make them on a non-stick pan on a stovetop, just lightly grease the pan and place the drumsticks, once brown from one side, flip it and fry from the other side till done. You can do it in the microwave also, just bake them on a baking tray.

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Kids T-shirt - fabric painting, Goldfish design on White T-shirt

Yesterday, while arranging Baby S’ cupboard, I found a plain white T-shirt along with some of her last year’s unopened birthday gifts. It was inside a gift box called Finger painting for kids.

The box contained this pain white T-shirt, some rubber stamps, and some washable watercolors.

Baby S was super excited to get messy 😊😊, her intention was to get her hands dirty and put paints all over her room. She wanted to paint the T-shirt with her fingers, but I knew if I would have allowed her, the paints would have ended up more on the walls and floors rather than the shirt and then 3^rd world war would have started between the father and daughter duo 😨. I didn’t want to waste my Sunday getting caught between them. So, I convinced Baby S that I will do a nice design on the T-shirt and she will get to choose the design from my kid’s collection.

She chose this one;

Now, I was super excited to paint after such a long time. Thankfully, I had all the colors I needed in my stock. Sunday afternoon and evening were well spent. No world war and Baby S was also very happy after seeing the final outcome 😍.

Art really has a soothing and relaxing effect on your mind, what do you say??

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Sabudana Vada – Air fried healthy cousin of the deep-fried version

 Sabudana vada, a very popular Maharastrian dish, is one of our favorite snacks.

They are instant energy boosters, high in carbs and glucose; made with tapioca pearls (sabudana), mashed potatoes, roasted peanuts, and herbs; crispy from outside and soft, light, and chewy from inside. Also, as it is mostly prepared during fasting, the recipe does not contain onions, garlic, wheat products, lentils, or pulses.

I first tasted it in Delhi when one of my colleagues brought it for lunch during Navaratri fasting. As it is, she was fasting, so I finished half of her lunch box 😊😊, it was really yummy. The next time, I tasted it in a very popular Maharastrian restaurant in Bangalore when we went out for an office lunch, I couldn’t resist myself from taking the second serving.😋

You can understand how much I liked it, so it was high time that I learn the recipe and prepare it myself. The only thing that was bothering me was the deep-frying part, traditionally it is made by deep-frying ☹. So, I had to give the recipe a twist, I tried Air frying them and the result was absolutely delicious, a healthy version without compromising the taste 😊😊, and the brownie point was both my picky eaters, Daddy S and Baby S liked it.

I have also tried preparing them in appe pan and baking them in microwaves, the results were more or less the same every time.

You can serve them hot with some green chutney or sauce as a teatime snack also.

How to prepare Sabudana Vada

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sabudana or tapioca pearls, medium-sized, soaked overnight or for a minimum of 5 hours
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, boiled and mashed
• ½ cup peanuts, roasted, deskinned, and crushed
• ½ tsp ginger paste
• ½ tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• 1 green chili, finely chopped, you can adjust the amount as per your taste
• 4 tbsp freshly chopped coriander leaves
• ½ tsp rock salt or sendha namak if preparing during fasting
• 1 tsp chat masala (optional)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Oil as needed for deep frying, (I used only for greasing the Air fryer basket or appe pan and my hands while preparing the patties)

Method:

• In a large bowl take the sabudana, wash them once under running water, then soak in enough water. I generally wrap them in a kitchen towel, soak them and leave overnight
• The next day, Sabudana will soak all the water, swell up and become soft
• If there is excess water drain them out completely and keep the sabudana aside
• Wash the potatoes very well and boil them with skin, make sure not to make them mushy
• Once boiled, let them cool down, then peel off the skin and mash them. Keep them aside
• Heat a kadhai and dry roast the peanuts till the skin peels off
• Remove the skin and coarsely grind them
• Now put all the ingredients except oil, in a large container and mix them well, you can grease your hands with a little oil as the starch from sabudana starts getting sticky
• I added a little bit of chat masala also, you can skip this if you are preparing for fasting
• Mixing well helps to bind the sabudana vada well and prevents breaking. You can use little rice flour or cornflour also for binding if you are not fasting. If you are fasting, you can use kuttu ka atta (buckwheat flour)
• Prepare medium sized balls from the mixture and flatten them between your palms to give the desired shape to the vadas
• Preheat the Air Fryer for 5 minutes at 160 degrees, then put the vadas in the Air Fryer basket and fry for 10 minutes, once done, flip and cook from the other side as well for another 10 minutes
• If you are preparing in appe pan, grease the grooves of the appe pan lightly with oil and place the vadas and fry till golden brown from one side, once done flip and cook from the other side as well

Sabudana Vadas are now ready to be served hot with green chutney or curd or sauce!!!😋

If you don't have an Air fryer, don't worry, you can still prepare these healthy and yummy snacks, simply grease a non-stick frying pan and shallow fry the sabudana vadas. Just make the vadas a little thin so that it can cook nicely from inside. 

My other favorite fasting recipes are Sabudana Khichdi and Sabudana kheer, boiled veggies with a pinch of rock salt, sauteed cubed paneer with a pinch of rock salt, and the best is a banana milkshake, the easiest one 😀

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