FOX NUTS (MAKHANA) TRAIL MIX

30.08.2020: I had 50 gms of Makhana remaining after I had made Caramel Makahana. Though Skip insisted that I make the Caramel ones again, I wanted to try a different recipe. “I need content for the blog”.

I decided to make a savoury version this time.

I’ve had some moments in the kitchen where I’ve frozen in panic after tasting my dish. I tend to add too much salt at times. A trick to pull out excess salt from gravy-based dishes is to drop a few raw potato slices in it. Let it soak in the excess salt and fish the slices out just before serving. What do you do with excess salt in your trail mix?

Skip ate a mouthful and said this wouldn’t have happened if I had just listened to him and used sugar instead of salt.

Barring the slight overdose of salt, which gradually settled at the bottom, we did manage to finish these in good time. If you like "namkeen" of the sweet and savoury kind, you will definitely enjoy this too.

Do not season the fox nuts again, immediately after you take it off the flame. Give it a good mix, let it cool down and then taste and decide if you need to add more salt. 

I’ve used ingredients that were available at home, feel free to use whatever seeds, nuts, dried fruits you have at home and eyeball the quantities. Just don’t add too much salt.

FOX NUTS TRAIL MIX

Ingredients:

Fox nuts (Makhana) – 50 gms

Butter / Clarified butter (ghee) – 2 tbsp

Cashews /Peanuts (or both) – 3 tbsps

Almonds (whole) – 3 tbsps

Raisins – 1 tbsp

Sunflower seeds – 2 tbsps

Watermelon seeds – 2 tbsps

Powdered sugar- 1 tsp

Pepper – ½ tsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Chaat masala / Aamchur powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Method:

1.     Add butter/ghee to a pan and roast the nuts and seeds separately. Set aside.   

2.     In the same pan, toast the fox nuts until they begin to brown (for about 10 minutes). Add the salt, sugar, chaat masala and turmeric and give it a good mix.

3.     Dump the roasted nuts, seeds and raisins into the pan and mix it well for about 2 minutes more. (Keep an eye on the fox nuts, you don’t want them to burn)

4.     Let it cool. Store in an airtight jar.

5.     Done.

JACKFRUIT SEED LADOOS

22.06.2020: Do you prefer Jackfruit ripe, as a fruit or raw, as a vegetable? I like to eat it as a fruit.

In Coorg, where Jackfruits are abundantly available, an assortment of dishes is made with not only the ripe/raw flesh but also the seeds. The seeds are most commonly used whole, in curries or ground into chutneys. The seed by itself doesn’t have a distinct flavour and to me, they taste like creamy, bland potatoes. These seeds are rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

The other day I got a huge chunk of the fruit from Coorg and while most of the seeds found their way to the bin, I came across a recipe of Jackfruit Seed Ladoos made by Mrs. Chottemanda Hema Lalu on a Facebook group (Coorg Food Lovers) and began to save the remaining seeds. I had only 13 seeds but decided to make the Ladoos anyway as I was fascinated with the idea of making Ladoos with Jackfruit seeds and had never, ever made any Ladoos before.

The aroma of coconut, cardamom and nuts toasted in Ghee wafted across the kitchen and brought a big smile on my face until I began to roll the mixture into balls. Why cannot I ever have an easy experience making Indian sweets! The first three balls were easy to roll but thereafter they just began to break apart, try as much as I would to squish them all together to form a ball. After what felt like a 5 minute manicure session with gritty bits being rubbed against my palms (my hands were soft and smooth by the end of this), I called Mamma who asked me to use a little milk. It was easy-peasy after I added a little milk. These are the mistakes I may have probably made – waited too long to roll the mixture into balls, added too many big sized cashews,  cooked the mixture for too long as it appeared to look a bit dry. If any of you have any suggestions, please do mention it in the comment section below as I definitely plan on making these again.

The Ladoos taste amazing! Coconut is the dominating flavour, the Jackfruit seed gives you a slight nutty aftertaste and the ghee soaked cashews and raisins give it the rich flavour. These Ladoos are nutritious and delicious and can be eaten guilt-free.

JACKFRUIT SEED LADOO (11 tiny Ladoos from 13 seeds)

Ingredients:

Jackfruit seeds – 1 cup

Powdered Sugar – ¾ cup

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Cardamom Powder- ¼ tsp

Ghee – ½ tbsp

Dry fruits (cashews and raisins) – 2 tbsp  

Method:

1.  Dry roast Jackfruit seeds for about 25-30 minutes on low flame until the shell begins to lighten in colour. Once it cools, peel off the skin and grind it into a fine powder. CAUTION: Please be careful while roasting these seeds. I had a seed burst and pop out of the pan while roasting.

2.      In a pan, shallow fry the cashews and raisins in Ghee. Once they brown, add the Jackfruit seed powder, grated coconut, powdered sugar and cardamom powder to it and stir it until well combined on low flame, for about 2-3 minutes.

3.      Let it cool for a few minutes, roll it into tiny balls while the mixture is still warm.

4.      Done.

Recipe Notes:

·        You may use milk (very little of it) while rolling the mixture into balls if you find it tough to bring the ingredients together.