INSTANT DATES FIGS N MIXED NUT LADOO

After a Saturday late night bash, how do we feel actually? I do not know about you all but I wish to be treated as a queen, get even more lazier... throw myself in the cosy corner of the couch and do what we usually do on Sundays ... watch movies one after another on either You Tube or Netflix or listen to music. I very much need to go out for a warm up jog and then to the gym after having two rounds of desserts last night shamelessly and I am too tired and unwilling to.... on such occasions, I really get jealous of my chopsticks with a high metabolic rate. As I recall last night, I find myself eating a weird combination of food.... cheese poppers, chilli prawn, papri chaat to start with... then some tahini with pita, mixed green salad, Russian salad and mutton Stroganoff. I skipped the Sarson Saag, Jeera Rice, Makhni Dal, Chicken Tikka Masala .... I do them pretty well.Then came the real killers.... melt in the mouth cakes with mango cream layers and jalebi with rabri. The shameless self had three jalebi.... aww I turned into jalebi bai out of joy... each spoonful of the cake .... each bite on the crisp jalebi were as pleasureful as... as .... as... well anything from watching a butterfly sipping honey from a flower to looking deep into the dark, doe eyes of a deer off course... haha or sitting alone in the woods with a book and some music... these are the things I loved / love doing then, today, tomorrow and always..... yet such crowded, jazzy parties are welcome at times. 

The funny thing last night was the varied combination of food .... off course keeping in mind the fact that the mariner's come from different communities there with different taste buds. Ain't that is exactly what we are doing in the food world .... we cater to varied kinds of readers within and beyond the boundaries. We cannot get regional at all times. It feels good to see some of us who practice what they or their blog aimed for .... maximum of their readers identifying themselves with what they share. All said and done a macher jhol is long due and it should be there soon; back there the movie 'Macher Jhol' is doing the rounds.

Sunday is a no cook day for me, however angry the mother gets, I will not cook everyday. Today I will neither cook nor share an elaborate recipe .... people are already in a festive mood. If they are as lazy as I am, they must be looking for some quick to do handmade goodies. I remember grandma preparing naru, nimki, goja and lot more for Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Bijoya Dashami along with other ladies at home ..... this was the picture in the entire community and beyond in a larger India .... no wonder the super excited, still primitive at heart grand daughter will call and say.... 'didu... mani jano shakkarpara aar amader mishti nimki aki jinish prai' .... even the locals in the island eat a kind of sweetened twister fries which I find similar to our goza in taste.... if not in looks. 

This sweet share is the resultant of some hired idea / inspiration drawn from the friends around. Fig is not something common among us Bengalis, in my tireless effort to get my men rid of this under weight tag I keep on adding dried fruits, nuts, a generous amount of ghee, butter in their food..... I feel the urge to do some constructive reading on food nutrition too. Before that, I bet you will love my 'INSTANT DATES FIGS N MIXED NUT LADOO' .... that has that unique flavour of our desi ghee and oh so quick to make without any fire to lit.... I am aging, I do not have 1/4 of energy of our mother and I do love quick and easy recipes..... with a heart that treasure and respect the tireless effort the yesteryear ladies have given for their family and also them who do the same following tradition ..... Each one of us have something good in us as an offer to the world .... we should applaud each other for that. This 'INSTANT DATES FIGS N MIXED NUT LADOO' of mine is done without any cooking, one we can do quickly and give a sweet treat to even the sudden guests.... isn't that a cool idea? Let us do it together with the help of few stepwise pictures this festive season or anytime.

INGREDIENTS :

Date / Khajur / Khejur : 8-10
Dried Fig / Anjeer : 6-8
Peanut : 1small cup
Pistachio : 8-10
Almond : 1-2tbsp
Sugar : 1/4small cup [optional]
Milk Powder : 1/2small cup
Cardamom Powder : 1tsp
Ghee / Clarified Butter : 2tbsp or little more
Garnish as you wish...

METHOD :

We will take the skinless peanut, pistachios and almonds in a glass bowl and microwave for 1-11/2 minutes stirring every 30 seconds.

We will take the bowl out and put the mixed nuts in a blender.

We will blend them in to a coarse powder and keep it in a plate, add the sugar and cardamom powder and fold in well.

We will wash and pat dry the dried figs or anjeer and the dates. It is better to soak the dried figs in warm water for 15-20 minutes before chopping. We will chop both the dates and figs roughly.

We will add both of them to the blender.

We will pulse it for 1-2 minutes at intervals, add the mixture to the mixed nut powder.

We would mix the entire thing well. We will now add the ghee and milk powder and fold in well further.

We will wash and pat dry our hands. We will apply little of ghee on the palms, take out small portions of a tennis size ball and smoothen between two palms. Our instant, no cook dates, figs n mixed nut ladoo is ready. We will refrigerate for an hour or two before serving. It has to be always served straight from the refrigerator.