Kansar - Sheera with Fada - Broken Wheat pudding - Daliya Sweet Dish

Kansar or Fada Sheera

This month was very hectic - in terms of the no. of visitors we had - generally our home could be likened to a very sleepy village or town - but the past few weeks you could compare it to a bustling metropolis....

I guess, visitors from the fair climes prefer to come when it is a bit cool here for them (winter for us here in Mumbai) - it makes their stay more comfortable - but this year it seemed that everyone we knew - friends & relatives had come at the very same time...

While it was fun to meet up with all - and we had rollicking parties every second day [as much as our creaking bones would allow :-)] - the biggest question was what do I prepare for each one of our visitors...what are their preferences ...likes, dislikes....

Yesterday T's b-i-l was to arrive in Mumbai...so some of his favourite veggies, dhebra, etc were planned ...and for dessert, I decided to make a sheera  from fada - that is broken wheat - or daliya as it is called, the actual name for this dish is Kansar -  pronounced like kasar...I think the 'n' sound is silent...but anyways when I looked up the net - I saw it was spelled as kansar...so that is what I have put up on my title...though I prefer to think of it as fada sheera.

Ok - so coming back to this dish - I have seen while it was being made in A'bad, by our very talented cook B...and read a few different recipes for the same - but I made it slightly differently...and I think it turned out pretty good (so did T's bil ), so I decided to post the recipe.

Eggless Low-fat Chocolate Brownie....or cake...or something in middle

Now this is a sort of repeat of one of my earlier posts, but had to put it down - could have done a update - but decided that it needed it's own space :-)

How it all started...

End of last year I had discovered a low-fat brownie recipe which I liked a lot - and as I mentioned in that post - it was not a proper brownie recipe -which is supposed to have a high proportion of fat to flour ...whereas that one was more cake like - and the term low-fat brownie is sort of an oxymoron...but as I said since it was such an amazing recipe - and I added a chocolate drink powder on top to give it an icing look - and turn it into a yummy desert...I had been thrilled with the end product and with myself... :-)

Anyways so yesterday we were invited to a sort of snack fest by one of our cousins - and I was to bring brownies with me to the do...now many in my hubby's family are non egg eaters...hence the search last night for an egg less brownie...
Turned up quite a few - but none as quick and easy as the earlier mentioned "low-fat brownie recipe"....so decided to innovate and turn that into a egg less recipe...

And again am so thrilled with the recipe and the end product and myself too... that I had to put it down in a post of it's own - to celebrate the success...

Onion Bread

Onion Bread

Well, this was not the first bread that I had baked - and some of them have turned out pretty good - and some not that great ....some with yeast and some quick bread (of which banana bread is my all time fav.).

But somehow I was quite impressed with this bread that I had experimented with this morning...am not quite sure how I got around to doing this today - had not really planned it so...but sometimes I find myself just working on a new recipe without realising it...it just happens...and those are sometimes the best dishes.

This is one of them...I had earlier backed some buns with coriander, garlic & cheese stuffed in them - it was pretty good...and T and discussed that onion would be a good stuffing too...while reading up some recipes, I got this one which is not exactly a stuffing but the onions are fried ( browned ) and then mixed with the dough - so you get the flecks of it all thru - not just in the centre...
As usual I made some changes - added some garlic too (one of our favourite ingredients) - and also brushed the top with some milk and put some sesame seeds onto it...gave it a more professional look and feel.

Sabudana Kheer / Sago Pudding

Sabudana Kheer

Normally on the 1st of Jan - as a sort of celebration (New Year Day ! )  I make something sweet - or at least have been doing so for past some years now.

During a chat about what we had the previous year, and what we should make for this year, Mom came up with kheer ( which is like a sort of pudding - but without the egg )....and I got to thinking. Years ago, one of Mom's favourite kheer was the sabudana kheer...which like so many of her regular dishes was sort of forgotten as we discovered & adopted new recipes from others around. So thought let me surprise her with this kheer this year.

So as always trolling the net ( get a lot of ideas from there ) - and having some idea of how Mom used to prepare it - and having  had a fair bit of idea myself from all the different kheers that I have since prepared ...and thus armed with all the gathered intel...went about making it...
It was an eye opener - I had totally forgotten how amazing this kheer turns out - so smooth - so melt in the mouth...it can be had hot or cold ( though I prefer it cold, it becomes better the longer you keep it - say the next day... ) - the starch in the sago (sabudana) makes it yummy - that you just cannot stop at one bowl. It is like a comfort food...like a good soup...or chocolate - you get a long and lasting pleasure when you have it...

Nyways - so back to present day...why did I go down memory lane...cause we were expecting my hubby's friend to come over for lunch - and while planning the menu, and since he has a sweet tooth - decided to make this kheer (since it had been bought back to our notice this year)....
So within a span of a month I was back to boiling and reducing the milk, soaking the sabudana, frying the cashew & raisins, crushing the cardamoms....and this time managed to get a few pictures taken...so that this blog could be complete...with text & the pictorials..

Methi Dhebra / Methi Paratha / Methi Thepla

T's cousins were visiting...they had a late night flight (almost early morning ) - and I was wondering what I should make ...in case they are hungry and would like a bite...

Thought something light would be good...and hence decided on methi dhebra....traditionally dhebra is made of jowar or bajra flour....generally I stick to thepla or paratha which is made of wheat flour...

If the dhebra is made wholly of bajra - then it does not have to be rolled out - it is patted into a small circle and put on the tava to cook..

The ones I made were a mix of wheat flour, and bajra and methi leaves...so it could be rolled out into a thin circle of about 6-7 inches and then fried on the tava with oil.
It turned out real good...and this stays good for a couple of days - you could store it in the refrigerator and warm it before serving.

Amla Murabba

Amla Murubba

This year the winter was pretty severe in all parts of the world...even in India certain parts had very low temperatures and almost snow like conditions.

Mumbai which generally had very mild winters - was also showing signs of unusual weather - colder than norm - but the main problem here was that it was not uniformly cold.....the temperatures kept fluctuating - warm - to pleasant - to cold - to chill...brrr.....

Nyways the above is just so that you know the reason for almost everyone coming down with cold, cough, flu....and the sniffles is the most irritating thing to go thru....
My sister who generally has morning sniffles had come up with a few remedies to take care of it...and so she decided she should share it with me too...and that is how I landed up with a big bag of amla.

Now I have never tried eating amla raw - do not know if you have - but it is very sour ( khatta )....tried to have it like a medicine....buuuuuuuuuut....not too successful...

So then what do you do with the whole bag minus the one I tried to eat.....T came up with one option - it seems when they were young they used to immerse amla in salted water - and after a couple of days eat it - so that was what we did with 2-3 amlas...( it is still soaking ....)
The balance I decided to try and make murabba....went thru the net - got a few different recipes - but generally got the gist of the method and ingredients and proportions ...then set out to make my own...
Murubba makes a very nice accompaniment to any meal...it's sweet sour combination gives a different tang to the taste buds...and so it is greatly appreciated.

Measures, Weights, Conversions....

I had been wanting to do a post on measures for a long time, love reading recipes, but find it very difficult if the measures are not in the same .....as the country in which I am at the  moment...when I was in US it was very easy to use pounds, ounce, quart or whatever...whereas after I moved back to India - it is back to grams, kilograms, or litres etc...

Love it if the recipe is in cup measure  - or tsp or Tblspn... then it is universal - some of the recipe do give both grams and ounces, some cups and grams...and some recipes have conversion inbuilt...this does help a lot...I have a couple of sites I go to for conversions...though by now I have a little bit of an idea of the approximate measures - I would rather have an accurate conversion - esp. in baking....does not matter as much in curries etc...( anyways I find that for curry etc...I tend to have a general idea of the ingredients, quantities and method - and then do it my own way ) ....one of the reasons I do not always have the expected output...but then I feel cooking is all about innovation and creativity - if you have to copy page to page and dot to dot...then ?!?

Well having said all that let me get down to the conversions as I have it...


1 cup       =   16 Tablespoons ( Tblspn )
1/2 cup    =     8 Tblspns
1/4 cup    =     4 Tblspns
1 Tblspn  =      3 Teaspoon ( Tspn )

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Volume Conversions : Normally used for liquids

1 Tspn      =   5 ml
1 Tblspn   =  15 ml  =   1/2 fluid ounce
2 Tblspn   =   30 ml  =     1 fluid ounce = 1/8 cup
4 Tblspn   =   60 ml  =     2 fluid ounces = 1/4 cup
1 cup        =   240 ml  =   8 fluid ounces  =  1/2 a pint
2 cups       =   475 ml  =  16 ounces         =  1 pint
4 cups       =    950 ml  = 32 ounces         =  2 pints = 1 quart

4 quarts = 1 gallon = 3.8 L

Note : In case a higher precision is not required these approximations work

1 cup = 250 ml 
1 pint = 500 ml
1 quart = 1 litre
1 gallon = 4 litres

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Weight Conversions : ( Ounce here is different from fluid ounce )

1 ounce   =  28 grams
4 ounces  =  113 grams  = 1/4 pound
8 ounces  =  230 grams  = 1/2 pound
16 ounces = 450 grams  =    1 pound

2 pounds =   900 grams 

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Some common items in cups & grams as follows :
( i.e. given in volume & it's weight )

Flour             :  1 cup = 130 grams
Flour sifted    :  1 cup = 110 grams
Sugar             :  1 cup = 195 grams
Brown sugar   :  1 cup = 180 grams ( not firmly packed )
Butter            :  1  cup = 226 grams
Oats              :  1  cup =   90 grams


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The other very important conversion is of course of temperatures
esp. with re. to the oven for baking purposes...

I generally stick to the approximations given below :

320 F          = 160 C
340 F          = 170 C
360 - 375 F =  180 C
400 F          =  200 C

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Here's hoping the above will be of some help to you in deciphering the recipes given in various sites ....and am hoping to update the same in case I encounter any problems myself and am able to resolve the issue....

Would love to hear from you too...so please feel free to give your feedback ...thanks !!!