Flax Seed Laddu

I happened to see these flax seeds based laddus on a Telugu cook show a couple of days ago, when I was leisurely browsing the television. The laddus made with a medley of healthy ingredients sounded and looked so tempting that I had to prepare them immediately. The original recipe used about 2 cups flax seeds and 1/4 cup each of whole black gram / urad dal and roasted chickpeas aka the chutney dal. I didn't bother to toast and grind the flax seeds as I had a big bottle of flax meal sitting in my pantry and so used it instead. I reduced the flax meal quantity and added some peanuts. Even though urad dal is added in small quantity, these laddus tasted almost similar to sunnundalu, earthy and delicious. Another reason for me to fall in love with these laddus as sunnundalu are a favorite of mine.
 
Ingredients: (Yield 16 - 18)
1 cup flax seeds / flax meal
1/4 cup skinned whole urad dal / black gram
1/4 cup roasted chickpeas / chutney dal
1/2 cup toasted and skinned peanuts
3/4 to 1 cup powdered jaggery
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. cashews
Lukewarm milk as needed

Method:
* Toast the cashews in ghee until golden brown and keep it aside.
* If using flax seeds, toast them in a pan on low flame until they start to splutter. Transfer them onto a wide plate to let cool.
* To the same pan add urad dal and toast, stirring constantly on medium flame until they change lightly brown or until you start to feel the aroma. Let the toasted ingredients cool down.
* Grind urad dal slightly coarse and transfer to a wide bowl.
* Next grind flax seeds, chutney dal and peanuts together finely and add the powder to the urad dal flour bowl. Add jaggery, cardamom and toasted cashews along with the ghee used to toast, to the bowl and combine the mixture well using hand.
* Add milk, starting with a tbsp. or so to the mixture and combine to see whether the mixture holds together to shape. If not, add milk in 1 tsp. increments until the desired consistency is reached.
* Fist a lime sized portion of the mixture and shape into a smooth ball using your dominant hand. Repeat the step with the remaining mixture.  

Note:
1.  The laddus can be made without using milk and by increasing the ghee quantity to shape them. Using milk will reduce their shelf life and need to be refrigerated.
2. If by any chance the mixture becomes too wet, add some ground chutney dal or peanut powder so that laddus can be shaped.
 
This goes to blogging marathon #57 under the theme 'Bookmarked Posts' and check here to find out what other marathoners are cooking today.

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Eggless Flapjacks

 
Event: Blogging Marathon #56
Theme: Breakfast
My choice: U.S.A & Canada

I chose to go today with one of my kid's favorite breakfast items, the flapjacks. These get made regularly in my home and surprisingly it took me so long to share them. Flapjacks also referred to as griddlecakes / hotcakes are the American and Canadian version pancakes that are served as a breakfast. Flapjacks are soft, fluffy and are easy to whip up in no time.
I am giving the basic version here but you can make them fancier by going with your choice of add-ons into the batter. Fruits, cheese chocolate chips to name a few and ditto with the toppings though maple syrup and the butter are the traditional choices. I used a flax egg here but your choice of an egg substitute or an egg can be used instead. If using an egg reduce the liquid quantity by 1/3 cup. Milk can be substituted with butter milk too.
Ingredients for 6 pancakes:
1 tbsp flax meal (Or one egg substitute)
1 cup all purpose flour (Substitute half the quantity with wheat flour for an healthier version.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 cup milk (I prefer it at room temperature.)
Butter and maple syrup to serve
 
 Method:
1. Whisk flax meal and 3 tbsp. warm water together and leave aside for about 5 minutes.
2. Heat a griddle / non stick pan on medium heat such that a drop of water beads when dropped on it.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Whisk the flax meal from step 1, melted butter and milk in another bowl. Combine both dry and wet ingredients and whisk the mixture to a thick batter. 
4. Pour about 1/4 cup batter of batter onto the pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom side turns golden brown. Flip the pancake with a spatula and cook for about 30 - 40 seconds more. Tranfer onto a serving plate. Repeat the steps with the remaining batter.
5. Serve the flapjacks warm with maple syrup and honey.
 

 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56

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An InLinkz Link-up

Eggless, Butterless Wheat - FlaxSeed Meal Rolls

These wheat - flax meal rolls are a part of "Taming the Yeast" theme for this month's BM. They are made with wheat flour and flax meal and this healthy option came from  Priya Suresh. Adding flax meal to our diet is beneficial as flaxseeds are rich in heart healthy Omega-3 essential fatty acids and dietary fiber. Our bodies can digest flaxseeds better in ground form. Adding flax meal to baking goods is one way to sneak it in into our diets besides adding a nutritional punch. You can either grind flax seeds home or use the store bought flax meal. I halved the original recipe and got six buns.
 
Ingredients: (yield six buns)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour (Indian style roti atta can be used.)
1/4 cup flax seed meal / ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 tsp sugar
1 & 1/4 tsp. rapid rise yeast (I used dry active yeast)
3/4 cup warm milk
1 - 2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp milk for brushing
 
Method:
* Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Next add luke warm milk and oil to the bowl.
* Knead together to form a soft and smooth dough. (Priya's dough was firmer compared to what I got, going by her pictorial post. My dough was all wet and sticky and so, I added extra 3 - 4 tbsp. of wheat flour to reach her dough consistency. I guess it is ok even if 
the dough is sticky.)
 
* Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and place it in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours or until it doubles in volume. (It took about 90 minutes for my dough to rise.)

* Deflate the dough and knead for a minute. Divide the dough into six portions.
 
* Shape each portion into a ball. Place a ball on the work surface. Cup it with your palm and roll it into a smooth ball. (Try not lifting the ball at any point of time during rolling and this will hep you to shape). Repeat the steps with the remaining balls.
 
* Place the balls on a parchment paper lined / greased baking sheet, with space in between. 
* Cover the balls with a towel and keep it in a warm place for the second rise, for about 45 minutes or until the balls puff up nicely. (My second rise took 30 minutes.)

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 180 deg C.
* Brush the tops of balls with milk and bake them for 30 - 40 minutes or until they turn golden brown. 
 
* Transfer them to a wire rack to cool. 
* They can be used to make sandwiches or just spread some jam / butter / cream cheese and enjoy. I sliced the buns and stuffed with spicy potato curry.

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Eggless Nutella Brownies with Four Ingredients

When I decided to go with "Kids' Desserts" theme for the final week of blogging marathon, I went to the experts, my kids to see what would they prefer if given a choice. Actually I should admit that there were no prizes for guessing considering my daughter's love for chocolate. Her list went something like this - chocolate pudding, fudge, brownie, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies. :)

For the first day, I decided to go with this easy, quick nutella brownie recipe adapted from here. They are delicious and have a soft cake like texture. I have converted the recipe into an eggless one. If you don't mind using the egg, replace the flax meal in the following recipe with it.

Ingredients: (Make 6 brownies or 12 bite sized ones)
1/2 cup nutella (cocoa-hazelnut spread)
5 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts / walnuts
1 Tbsp flax meal

Method:
* Add 3 Tbsp warm water and flax meal in a bowl. Whisk well and leave aside for 5 minutes.
* Heat the oven to 350 deg F. Line a muffin pan with paper cups.
* Add nutella to the flax meal bowl and whisk well. Next slowly add the flour and again whisk to incorporate the flour into the mixture.
* Spoon the batter equally, up to 3/4th level of each of the muffin cup. Sprinkle the nuts on top of each of the muffin cups equally.
* Bake for about 10 - 12 minutes or until they set.
* Cool on a wire rack and enjoy. They can be refrigerated or can be stored at room temperature for 3 days.

Check what other marathoners of BM#23 are cooking, here.

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