Procedure 1 Preheat the oven at 350F.

2 Grease and dust a 13×9 inch pan with little flour.

3 In a large bowl whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground ginger (if using) and light brown sugar.

4 Also add the chopped dried fruits and nuts of your choice. Make sure that the dried fruits are not lumped together. Use your fingers mix it thoroughly.

5 In a liquid measuring mug, measure 3/4th cup of buttermilk and vanilla extract; whisk it nicely.

6 Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix it well. Since it’s a lot of dried fruits and nuts, chances are the flour mixture in the bottom may not be combined well.

7 Spread the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to evenly press it.

8 I baked for 30 minutes first and then slowly increased the time and around 37th minute took the pan from the oven. Check the center of the cake with a toothpick to see if it’s done and time it accordingly because ovens may vary.

9 Once out of the oven, leave the pan on a wire rack and let it cool completely before cutting it. Let it cool completely; don’t be in a hurry or else you will end up with broken pieces. Anyways the bars taste better the next day and gets even better later, so be patient. These bars will keep good for 2 weeks in room temperature and store for months in the refrigerator.

My Notes 1 Any combination of nuts and dried fruits can be used in this fruitcake/bars. The only thing to be followed is that it should be 3 cups of nuts and 3 cups of dried fruits. This time I used one pound (16oz) box of Old English style fruit and citrus peel instead of dried fruits and a mixture of cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts.

2 The fruit and citrus peel mix saves the time chopping dry fruits into small pieces and also the bars taste exactly like the fruit cake we get from stores. But I have to agree that it’s not as healthy as using actual dried fruits because the fruit is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. I used it because I had bought that tub in a whim and had to use it.

3 The original recipe uses 3/4th cup of brown sugar, but I used only 1/2 cup because the fruit mix is also sweetened.

4 I used 1.5% fat buttermilk. The buttermilk which we get in US is pretty thick, it’s more liked thinned yogurt. I did not dilute it with water because I did not want it to lose its acidity since we are replacing it for 3 eggs in the recipe.

5 As soon as I removed the pan from the oven the cake looked pale/whitish on the top. I had done the toothpick test and it came out clean and that’s why I took out the pan. When I saw the cake I was worried may be the buttermilk had curdled or something. But as it cooled, it looked very normal with a brown color. Also the bar was little hard on the day I baked. I thought I had baked too long. Again by the next day it had become soft and got only even better after that.

Basic Payasam & Kheer Recipe 1. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes. If using a pressure cooker, drop the pumpkin cubes and add water just to cover it and leave it for 1 whistle and switch off the stove. Once the pressure releases, take out the pumpkin, remove the skin (it will peel off easily) and blend it smooth in a blender. Alternatively, you can also peel the skin and then pressure cook it. The pumpkins can also be cooked in a microwave oven. Remove the skin and grate the pumpkin, place it in a microwave safe bowl with little water, cook it for 5-6 minutes and then blend it.

2. Meanwhile in a saucepan bring the milk to a boil.

3. Add the pumpkin puree to the milk and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. Switch of the stove and add the sugar. The sugar will melt in the heat itself.

Kheer Recipe:

You can also do the following. This gives a badam kheer taste, which we all love and I always prepare the kheer like this.

1. Soak the almonds overnight, so that removing the skin will be easy the next morning. If your are using blanched almonds, soaking is not necessary. Cook the almonds with the pumpkin and blend it together.

2. In the 3rd step above, also add the MTR Badam Feast to the milk along with the pumpkin puree.

3. In a small frying pan add the ghee and once it heats fry the cashews and add it at the end after adding the sugar. If you wish to add saffron strands, in a small cup add 2-3 tablespoons of the boiling milk and put the saffron in it and leave it for a while. At the end the saffron strands, cardamom powder can also be added.

My Notes 1. Sometime back I tried this recipe with the canned pumpkin puree. I don’t know for what reason, but the milk curdled once I added the puree. But recently I tried a pumpkin milkshake with the canned puree and it tasted awesome. Simply blend a couple of tablespoons of the pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated and/or regular milk (preferably whole or 2%), sugar (according to your taste) and optional flavorings like saffron strands and cardamom powder. Note one thing though, canned pumpkin puree has a strong smell, which I’m not a fan in particular. So I used only little puree. The pumpkin puree which we prepare right from scratch does not have that smell at all.

Procedure1. Dry grind the grits in a blender to the consistency of regular rava/sooji.

2. Combine together all the ingredients listed for the batter. Add water if necessary to get the consistency of idli batter.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan and add the items to be tempered one by one and pour this in the batter and mix it well.

4. Grease the idli moulds (on both sides) using a non stick oil spray and fill with batter. I also grease the back because the batter from the lower plate does not stick to the top plate and you will be able to get full idlis.

5. Steam the idlis for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

My NotesI prepared the idlis 1 hour after preparing the batter. But I guess that it’s not necessary, because rava idlis can be prepared as soon as the batter is ready.