A teaspoon of love and a platter loaded with food!
By: Poornima Hariharan
All you sweet sisters out there! It's time to impress your muscly and super kind brothers better than the last time. This Raksha Bandhan, discover more than just cooking and add a bit of nutrition and love with every dish you make. From preparing a savory to sweets and desserts, know your ingredient better than your next door neighbor!
Bawarchi brings you some of the fun facts to your recipes that’s not only worth trying, but knowing too! Check out.
Also Read: Bonding with Raksha Bandhan
From the sands of Rajasthan to happening restaurants
When we are musing what to do this Raksha Bandhan, year after year, Daal Bati has managed to catch the top list of kitchen enthusiasts. Made using wheat dough, this particular food is enjoyed for its flavour and what is more, a continuous munching is guaranteed from your kids’ end! Just like our many Indian recipes overloaded with facts and eye-popping tales, Daal Bati has one too to leaves us dumbstruck.
The story takes us back to a war prone Rajasthan that was inhabited by the Rajputs. This period demanded basic amenities like food and water in abundance for the armies and what could we do in this barren land where even water is such a scarcity? Apparently our ancestors just didn’t run out of ideas and this one was as clever as any other savory: baking dough in abundant quantity to meet the demand of the entire army. Now this baked dough was named as Bati and Daal was the primary side food that went this stomach filling food! There, we have the birth of Daal Bati.
But then, there is something more to the Batis and what makes it even more interesting is the fact how the Rajastani Tribal prepared this. Before going to work, the tribal people would place the wheat dough under the scorching sun in order to bake. This process made Batis a primary sources of food and they were as well cheap, effortless to prepare and very healthy. From then on, Batis seized a chief position in Indian kitchens and one of the savouries cooked often during festive occasions.
The priceless sweet of all time!No matter how many restaurants bombard me with cakes, pastries and rolls, nothing can replace the quintessential flavour of Ladoos! Puja at your house? Bring on the Ladoos for Prasad! Drinking in success? Again we have the Ladoos to celebrate! Happy occasion? There comes my old aunt with platters loaded with Ladoos!
It is an undeniable fact that we Indians love Ladoos and we look for the slightest chance to lay our hands on it. This is because, Ladoos are simply joyous to munch on and a Raksha Bandhan cannot be complete without Ladoos.
From
Besan Ladoos to
Rava (Suji) Ladoos and
Motichoor Ladoos, there are ample of varieties to try and each one is distinct and unique in its flavour. What amazes us most is some of the interesting facts that are associated with Ladoos. We are so fond of Ladoos that really, weight doesn’t matter to us especially during festive mood. One such eye popping fact is a 6300 kg weight 'Mega' Ladoo that was made in Andra Pradesh for Ganesh Chathurthi in 2012. Of course, how can we miss Thirupathi that is famous for its Ladoos? Apparently, a whopping number of 1, 50,000 Ladoos are prepared everyday as Prasad and for the devotees.
Well, there are n numbers of interesting facts associated with this traditional and mouth-watering sweet and I’m sure we can talk about it all day. But then it’s time we get back to our kitchens and start preparing this unbeatable sweet for Raksha Bandhan is just days away! New to Ladoo making? No worries,
checkout our collection of Ladoo recipes and make the best one on this Raksha Bandhan!Hail the Almonds!With all the savories and sweets, sure it is a great idea to add a bit of healthy food this Raksha Bandhan! Mmm how about including this nutty snack in our small bites?
Utter almonds and any budding chef can come up with a range of recipes to impress their brothers. But before divulging into our unique recipe, let us do some almond praising or rather discovery!
Compared to its peers, almond is a widely consumed nut by mankind. From cakes to burfies and shakes/smoothies, I have encountered almonds in almost everything favourite I pick. Interestingly, almonds are loaded with some fun facts like they require extreme weathers (sizzling hot summers and downright chilly winters) to grow. Did you know, bees are almonds’ soul mate? These tiny nuts are totally dependent on wild and honey bees for pollination. Tell almonds there are no bees and comeback with a big NO!
Another great fact is that, almonds can be pickled when they are still immature (greener stage) and this almond pickle are loved my many foodies too. Adding to this, almonds have ample health benefits too. If you are someone who wishes to shed some kilos, then definitely almonds are the right snack to munch on in between. If you are a diabetic, then grab some of these nuts during mid-morning for they assist in moderating blood sugar all day. Similarly, almonds are every good for heart health and they aids in absorption of carbohydrates and sugar. Isn’t that wonderful?
Well, that's enough almond praising done! Now look into our Almond and Coconut burfi and start cooking for the less-than-a-couple-of-days away Raksha Bandhan!Centuries' old dessert Missing out tantalising Kulfies on Raksha Bandhan? Now that's called incurring the wrath of your bro! This is a frozen dessert coming from the South Asian regions and one of the easy desserts to make. To make Kulfies, the milk is supposed to be boiled down and corn/sugar syrup must be added. No need of churning as it will set by itself like a custard.
Like many Indian food, even Kulfies are quite interesting. In fact, this cone and custards like dessert was known to Indian subcontinent right from 16th Century and it is very common to spot Kulfie Annas selling this unbeatable dessert. In order to keep the Kulfies cold, the wares are chilled and frozen in an ice pot. If we have to go by the traditional way, then Kulfies were served in terracotta cups and banana leaf. Like any other dessert, there is no harm in getting experimental with Kulfies too. Some of the flavours we can bravely try out are vanilla, ground pistachios, mango purée, saffron, cardamom and rose. On the other hand, an expert cook can try their hands at using flavours like avocado, tamarind, peanut and pomegranate.
This Raksha Bandhan, may you get the title of best Kulfie maker! Discover how to conjure extremely toothsome Kulfies now with Bawarchi!BananasUtter fruits and you cannot find a single Indian house without the famous and widely loved bananas. Using this fruit, a number of dishes can be prepared making the occasion of Raksha Bandhan much sweeter.
Apart from its sweet taste and easy grab, bananas are loaded with interesting facts. We call it the banana tree, but did you know bananas are actually not trees but a really tall herbaceous plant! You heard me right! They are actually "plants" that can reach up to a height of 20 feet. In each banana cluster that grows off from the stems has nearly 400 bananas and they weigh nearly 100 pounds. Well, the yellow bananas are common but actually sweet bananas come in various colours including red, brown, purple and red. Similarly, while bananas consist of 75% water, the nutritional value in this simple fruit is excess and the calorie intake is very less.
Just by eating one medium sized banana, you are guaranteed to get 20% of the daily dose of magnesium, 3 grams of fiber and 10% of daily potassium. Bananas are loaded with Vitamin C and a banana with water after a heavy workout is just enough to replace any so called energy drink in the market.
We very well know some of you just cannot eat a banana, but then you don’t have to! For using Bananas, a number of delicious desserts can be prepared as fête to your tastebuds!
Bringing you banana custards for this Raksha Bandhan! With every spoonful, let the goodness of banana imbibe in you!I hope you enjoyed reading the fun facts as much as I enjoyed penning it! Clock’s ticking! Get back to your kitchen and get started with the Raksha Bandhan fiesta! Impress your brother’s gustatory organ and we are sure he will shower you with all the blessings and of course loads and loads of gifts!
