Coconut- Jaggery Bars- A Festive Delicacy...

Festive season, everyone is busy cleaning their houses, bringing new furniture, making sweets, gifts, meeting family and friends. Festivals serve to unite people in celebrations and understanding. In India, food is associated with many festivals and Diwali is Festival of lights, fun, frolics and feasts.

As I spent my childhood in Andhra Pradesh, I remember my neighbors and friends sending the homemade festive delicacies, which we all enjoyed. Popular sweets like laddoos, halwas, jilebi, mysore pak and so on. Most importantly gujjiyas.

Festival is the time which reminds me of wanting to make something sweet and here I am today with one of my favorite, which my mom makes in the form of laddoos. This recipe, I saw in a blog which sounded like exactly the bars which I get from Bangalore, Nilgiri's supermarket. They are so firm and delicious. I am so excited that the bars turned out to be exactly like them.

Mix all the ingredients listed below in a low flame and within seconds a mouthwatering delicacy will be ready to eat. Just make sure, you don't burn the coconut while cooking it along with jaggery. In my house, everybody likes this. You can make ahead and pack and gift them to your family or friends. This will be a perfect Diwali sweet to make as it won't take much time and can be made ahead and stored.

Today, I am posting this delicious recipe of coconut- jaggery bars, which I am sure that everybody will like it. It is so delicious and yummy that you won't stop eating once you start.

Ingredients:

1. Desiccated Coconut- 2 Cups
2. Jagger Powder- 2 Cups
3. Milk- 4 Cups
4. Ghee- 3 tbsp
5. Cardamom Powder- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Combine the coconut and jaggery in a non stick pan and mix them using a wooden spatula on a low flame till it gets combined. 
2. Pour the milk and stir well gradually add the ghee and cardamom powder. Mix well till everything gets mixed well.
3. When it starts to leave the sides, switch off the flame. Grease a steel pan with some butter and pour this mixture into that. let it cool and keep refrigerated for 4-5 hours or overnight.
4. Cut into desired shape and enjoy with your friends.

Oats and honey Granola Bars

I am not a big fan of energy or granola bars. But these changed my thinking completely. I tasted these once when my daughter after her swimming class bought these granola bars from the vending machine.It was so crisp and not much sweet, I loved it. I thought of giving it a try at home as homemade is always the best.

I googled and got this recipe. It’s fun and easy to make the bars. This is a basic recipe. You can add different nuts, different cereals, different grains of your choice. This is so easy to make that before it gets over I will be ready with the next batch. Now this has become our family favorite. The specialty of these granola bars are you can make these as you wish, just that you should know the base. Try this out and let me know.

Adapted from Bettycrocker:

Ingredients:

1. Old fashioned oats- 2 ½ cups
2. Honey- ¼ Cup
3. Sugar- ¼ Cup
4. Organic Coconut oil- ¼ Cup
5. Vanilla Essence- ½ Cup
6. Raisins- ¼ Cup
7. Baking Powder- ½ tsp

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a bowl mix the coconut oil, honey, sugar along with vanilla extract.
3. Meanwhile grind ½ Cup oats in a blender till fine. Mix the regular oats along with powdered oats to the above made honey mixture.
4. Stir well so that all the ingredients blend well.
5. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spread the granola mixture evenly in the pan. Press firmly and evenly.
6. Bake for about 15- 20 minutes. When done, cut into desired shapes while still warm or else they will firm and crisp as they cool. Break into pieces and enjoy.