Quick Sunflower seeds Ladoo

How to make Sunflower seeds Ladoo

      Sunflower seeds are loaded with antioxidants.They are a good source of selenium, a proven enemy of cancer. They contain bone-healthy minerals and also contain Vitamin E, which helps ease arthritic pain. The Vitamin E in them brings a glow to your skin. A quarter cup of sunflower seeds a day can keep heart troubles away. With their crunchy, nutty taste, sunflower seeds can easily become a regular part of your daily diet and prevent food cravings. You can also sprinkle them on your salads, and stir-fries. I chew down on a handful of these seeds, during snack time to cut down on other cravings and to keep me satiated until meal time. I wrote down this recipe in my recipe diary, as I was making it so I could use up some of the sunflower seeds in my pantry.

Ingredients for about 15 ladoos:

1 cup of  roasted (unsalted) sunflower seeds

1 cup of powdered jaggery

1/2 cup of pottukadalai/roasted channa dal

1/2 tsp, cardamom/elaichi powder

1/4 cup of ghee

1/4 to 1/2 cup of raisins

Stovetop method:

• If you have raw sunflower seeds, dry roast them on low heat until crisp, and aromatic. Let cool.
• Dry grind in a food processor to desired coarseness. Transfer to a heat-resistant bowl.
• Grind/powder crumbled jaggery to a fine powder; transfer to the bowl.
• Powder the chutney dal finely & add to the rest of the powders. Add the cardamom powder & give it a stir.
• Heat a small pan with the ghee & fry the raisins until plump. Add raisins to the powdered mixture & mix it in.

• Continue to keep the ghee on very low heat. Add one ladle/spoon of hot ghee to one small portion of the sunflower seed, jaggery, chutney dal mixture. Blend the ghee with the nutty mixture & make firm balls with your fist. NOTE: Use only a small quantity of the powdered mixture to add ghee - make balls. These ladoos should not require much ghee as the sunflower seeds are oily in the first place.
• Repeat the process until you have turned all of the powder into balls of your desired size.
• Store in an air-tight container at room temperature & enjoy.

NOTES:

• Roasted sunflower seeds are readily available in specialty food stores, if not in regular grocery stores.

Sharing this recipe with my fellow bloggers at Sri Valli's CCC# 51: November Week 3.

Coconut Macaroons

How to make Coconut Macaroons (six ingredients only)

                If you are looking to bake something sweet, in under thirty minutes, you gotta try these chewy macaroons. With just six ingredients, you can whip this baby up in no time & make your friends & family happy. You don't even need to beat the egg whites for these macaroons. Although I'm not a fan of coconut sweets, I thought I would bake these for my in laws & hubby; that's why I chose to add no frills (check notes below) to these beauties. I knew, I had to eat at least one, to write about it, but to my surprise, I had gobbled up a couple of these, as soon they came out of the oven. The whole house was smelling divine from these coconut delights - who could resist that ? I am sharing this simple, yet delicious recipe, I found at the back of Baker's sweetened coconut flakes pack, with my friends over at CCChallenge. 

Easy mix - Easy bake - Easy serve - Easily gone!!