Weekly recap - Super seeds no bake energy bar, beet kofta and party custard

Last week I tried a couple of new recipes, so I thought this is a good week for a weekly recap to showcase them.

I had ordered an energy bar from bigbasket since there was an offer on it. Otherwise, those things are expensive! The daughter loved the bar, so I saved the wrapper for reference to create my version of it. It contained seeds like sesame and pumpkin along with figs. The daughter is not excited about eating seeds on their own and she kind of hates the look and texture of dates. So I looked at it as an opportunity to feed her superfood seeds and dates.
I based it on my dates ladoo recipe.

Super Seeds Energy Bar (nobake)

Seed and fruit energy bar

Ingredients:

1 cup	mix of raisins, dates, and figs*
1 tbsp	ghee
1 tbsp	honey
1/4 tsp	rock salt
1/4 tsp	cinnamon powder
3/4 cup	oats
1 cup	nuts and seeds*

Method

• Dry roast oats in a small iron kadhai till crisp; about 4 minutes.
• You can dry roast the seeds and nuts if they are not very fresh and crisp otherwise it is optional.
• Coarsely grind the dates, raisins, and figs in a small mixer jar and remove it into a bowl.
• Grind the oats into a powder in the same jar so that the small amount of paste stuck to the jar will stick to the oats and be easier to remove.
• Add honey, ghee, salt and cinnamon powder to the sticky date paste and mix well.
• Add the oat powder and mix.
• Add the seeds and nuts and mix well.
• Transfer to a greased tray and spread it in an even layer. Wet your fingers to make it easier.



Super seeds energy bar

• Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours and then cut into desired shapes. I cut into squares.

Notes:

• I used an almost equal amount of raisins and dates amounting to 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup of figs.
• I used pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, melon seeds, flax seeds and sesame seeds along with a small amount of cashews and walnuts.

The other new recipe that I tried was beetroot koftas from this recipe which was lying in my bookmarks for a few years now. It looks and tastes quite unique. A good recipe to have on hand for entertaining.

beetroot koftas

beetroot kofta curry with paratha and salad

Another dessert recipe for entertaining is this "customized custard bar". Sounds so fancy but it is really quite simple.
Make a big pot of custard using your favorite custard powder. Make it on the thicker side and preferably use full-fat milk.
Cut fruits into small pieces and arrange them separately. I used cherries, kiwi, pomegranate. I cut apple and pears just before serving.
Cut some nuts and dried fruit and arrange them separately. I used cashews, raisins, and dried figs.