Fruits and Nuts Urundai / Fudge

Fruits and Nuts Urundai / Fudge is an interesting, quick, tasty and healthy sweet. You can use any choice of nuts. With lot of festivals lined, we can do this sweet which will be quick and easy but a crowd pleaser.. Another interesting point about this sweet is there are no processed ingredients making it so much healthier. I got this recipe from here and it is a huge hit with my family.

Ingredients
Almonds – ½ cup
Cashews – ½ cup
Pistachio – ½ cup
Quick Cooking Oats – 1 ½ cups
Raisins – ½ cup
Dates – 1 ½ cups (22 – 24)
Ghee – 1 tea spoon + to grease
Cardamom Powder – ½ tea spoon
Nutmeg Powder – ¼ tea spoon
Salt – A pinch

Method
Dry roast oats for 2 to 3 minutes and grind it to a powder when cool and set aside
Dry roast the nuts separately and grind it to a powder when cool and set aside
Grind the raisins to a fine paste and set aside.
Grind the dates to a fine paste and set aside. You can add the nuts powder or the oats powder to make grinding easier
In a mixing bowl, add the oats powder, nuts powder, ground dates and raisins and mix well
Add cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and ghee and mix them all very well until they resemble wet bread crumbs
Consistency we are looking is – if this mixture binds and holds together when you can make a fist
Grease a plate with ghee and also your hands with ghee
Make golf sized or little smaller than golf size balls from the mixture
Fruits and Nuts Fudge / Urundai is ready to be served!!!

Points to note – about Dates (from Wikipedia) - Dates have a high tannin content and are used in traditional medicine as a detersive (having cleansing power) and astringent in intestinal troubles.^{[citation needed]} One traditional belief is that it can counteract alcohol intoxication. The seed powder is also used in some traditional medicines.
from http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dates.html - The fruit is rich in dietary fiber, which prevents LDL cholesterol absorption in the gut. Additionally, the fiber works as a bulk laxative. It, thus, helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time and as well as binding to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon. Dates are an excellent source of iron, contains 0.90 mg/100 g of fruits (about 11% of RDI). Iron, being a component of hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, determines the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Further, they are very good in potassium. 100 g contains 696 mg or 16% of daily-recommended levels of this electrolyte. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that help controlling heart rate and blood pressure. They, thus, offers protection against stroke and coronary heart diseases. They are also rich in minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. Calcium is an important mineral that is an essential constituent of bone and teeth, and required by the body for muscle contraction, blood clotting, and nerve impulse conduction. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Copper is required for the production of red blood cells. Magnesium is essential for bone growth. Further, the fruit has adequate levels of B-complex group of vitamins as well as vitamin K. It contains very good amounts of pyridoxine(vitamin B-6), niacin, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin. These vitamins are acting as cofactors help body metabolize carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Vitamin K is essential for many coagulant factors in the blood as well as in bone metabolism.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#21
Sending this to my own event – Anniversary event, Navarathri 2012 event, Favorite recipe - Vegetarian, Celebrate - Navrathri / Diwali, Jagruti's page, My Diwali Basket, Vardhini's Diwali Bash, WTML - Sweets and Savories, Celebrate - Indian Sweets, Nupur's What is With my Cuppa, Surabhi's let's party, Preeti's page, Show me your HITS - Healthy Sweets, Sangeetha's page, CWS – Oats, Priya’s page