SUGAR FREE SEMOLINA & DRY FRUITS SWEET

Today is a very auspicious day, "Rakhi Poornima"; "RakshaBandhan." We have been celebrating this day in our home for many years now; ever since my brother turned five years old. In our family, "Bhai Phota" is given and a Rakhi is tied only after the brothers turn five. It is for ten years now we stay away from Kolkata and I wish my brother over phone. Once I finish with this post, I will call him, exchange wishes, pray to the Almighty for his long, healthy life. We are two middled aged siblings now, I will be turning 50 in few months. In this celebration, there cannot be any darkness, a little hurt that is caused is the thought that our's is a single child who have never experienced the depth of such days. In the case of this home, I personally have tried to include our child in the discussion of Indian Celebrations & Festivals; explaining to it their importance and significance in our lives; it has not taken much of interest. It feels a little sad to think that such loner kids never got a Rakhi thread or Bhai Phota from anyone, such days do not have any significance to a lone kid like ours'. In this scenario, I would always want them to have wonderful cohorts in future, may the bond of friendship be very strong and pure in their lives. On this occasion, I can only think of sharing a recipe, a dish that we can enjoy as a family, never is it possible to bypass the choices of any of my own. My brother cannot have too sweet stuffs, neither can I these days or allow my family to have too sugary stuffs. I use either brown sugar or honey to sweeten sweet meats without which life does not seem normal. Here is a wonderful, mildly sweet vegetarian sweet share for you; SUGAR FREE SEMOLINA & DRY FRUITS SWEET.

Our yesterday's lunch too was also what we enjoy, my brother too; KFC chicken meals. At night, it was egg meal, not something my brother is fond of but he has, enjoys egg roll I know! I definitely prefer egg over any sea fish these days. Given to choose between  pomfret and egg, I will have a hearty meal with an egg curry, "shaak, dal, aloo bhaja." Our life will see some changes at this home. Cooking would get simpler for the major time period in the year. Wish the other senior member had been a foodie. It is also true that I have realised on reaching this age, I feel uneasy if I eat a little more. I love food; hence I do this blunder often but I am trying to control the amount of food intake in general. The other senior member is in control for many years now. I cannot discard fried stuffs entirely but I can put a control on it. Keeping the health factor in mind and my changed taste buds, I prepared this vegetarian sweet SUGAR FREE SEMOLINA & DRY FRUITS SWEET. I do not do a suji ladoo / semolina ladoo the way rest of India does, I find that usual way tough that requires expertise and too much use of ghee. I doubt if Bengalis can digest a copious amount of ghee. So, I prepared it in the simplest way you may take interest in. Yes, I used all the dry fruit varieties that I store at home.

INGREDIENTS :

SEMOLINA : 150 GM
ALMOND : 7-8
PISTACHIO : 8-10
WALNUT : 6-7
CASHEW NUT : 12-13
RAISIN : 10-12 [ I FORGOT TO ADD]
HONEY : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE [ OR USE AS PER YOUR PREFERENCE]
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1 TSP
GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 75-100 ML [YOU CAN USE BUTTER TOO]

PROCEDURE :

We are using the following ingredients, just forgot keep the ghee tin in the frame.

Take the semolina in a blender and blend it to a powder. It would still remain a bit coarse.

Heat the ghee in a wok, not to the smoking point.

Add the powdered semolina, and roast for 4-5 minutes, folding in well. Keep the heat at minimal.

Ask someone else to stir and prepare a powder with the dry fruits except the raisins.

Add the powdered dry fruits to the roasted semolina.

Fold in well and roast further for 3-4 minutes. Add the green cardamom powder and fold in well.

Next, add the honey and fold in well.

Thereafter add 1 tbsp of ghee / butter and keep sprinkling water and keep stirring simultaneously.

Just sprinkle water sparingly, never add cups of it. Now we are ready to transfer it to a plate. At this stage we had to add the raisins, I forgot; you should not.

We will let it cool a bit but would shape them when still warm. We will grease our palms with little ghee before shaping them.

Cristine always gives the finishing touch of getting them superbly round.

They taste the best when eaten fresh. If refrigerated, they should be brought back to the room temperature before consuming.