Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Entertainment | Young World | Quest | Folio |

Open sesame

IT IS during the festival of Pongal that sesame seeds are eaten in a variety of preparations.

Sesame seeds halwa

Ingredients:

Semolina-1/2 cup

Sesame seeds-1/2 cup

Butter-1/2 cup

Sugar-1/2 cups

Milk powder-2 tbsp

A few cashew nuts and pistas

Method:

Heat butter in a pan. Put semolina and fry till golden brown. Make syrup with sugar and 3 cups of water. Add syrup to semolina. Cook till thick. Add ground sesame seeds and milk powder. Cook till it leaves the sides of the pan. Serve hot decorated with nuts and pistas.

Sesame seed nan khatai

Ingredients:

Maida-150 gms

Butter (plain)-80 gms

Sugar-80 gms

Sesame seeds-2 tbsp, powdered

Whole sesame seeds-2 tbsp, powdered

Method:

Mix the butter and sugar till white and light. Add maida and sesame seed powder and make soft dough. Make small even flat balls. Press them over sesame seeds. Preheat the oven at 200 degree C. Bake the balls for 15 minutes

Sesame seed chutney

Ingredients:

Sesame seeds-4 tbsp

Salt to taste

Sugar-1 1/2 tbsp

Tamarind- 50 gms

Dried red chillies-5

Methi seeds-1/2 tsp

Coriander seeds-1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp

Urad dal-1/4 tsp

Channa dal - 1/4 tsp

Fresh ginger- 1 cm piece

Oil-1/2 tsp

Method:

Soak tamarind in enough hot water and strain through a sieve to extract thick pulp. Dry roast sesame seeds till golden. Remove from pan and set cool completely. Mix with salt and sugar and grind coarsely. Heat oil and fry red chillies, methi, cumin, coriander seeds, mustard, urad and channa dal. Leave to cool completely. Grind fine with the ginger. Add this to the tamarind pulp with the powdered sesame seeds. The chutney is ready to serve.

Sesame seed and date bars

Ingredients:

Sesame seeds, roasted and pounded-2 cups

Dates, seeded and chopped-11/2 cups

Sugar /gur-2 cups

Ghee-1 tbsp

Almonds-1 tbsp

Cardamom powder-1/2 tsp

Method:

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Add sugar or gur and1/2 cup water. Make a 2 thread syrup. Add dates, sesame seeds and cardamom powder.

Mix well. Pour the mixture in a greased sheet. Level and sprinkle chopped almonds. Make and cut 2" long and 1" wide pieces with a sharp, greased knife. Cool. When firm, cut and serve.

INDU NARAYAN

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Metro Plus    Bangalore    Chennai    Coimbatore    Delhi    Hyderabad    Kochi    Madurai    Thiruvananthapuram    Visakhapatnam