Finally a big hyper-mart in Bannerghatta road with ample parking space. Now that’s a deal right. SPAR India Hyper market has launched their new store at the Vegacity Mall. I live in Bannerghatta road and I really wanted to check out the place. It was the Bhogi day of 2018 and I did not expect the store that was inaugurated just a few days back to be so well stocked and people were already flocking to the store. I was asked to come and review the store and there was a contest going on the same day. I had a lot of fun and here is how it all went!
Five 🙎♂️🙎♂️🙎♀️🙎♀️🙎♀️lucky winners were given a minute to loot the store. So much energy !!! WOW!!!!😱😱😱😱😱. The contestants went crazy 😝 ……You can witness the madness🙃🤣🤪 that I tried to shoot today!!!! What fun…..😎😎😎
There are a lot of things I like about this store and the main one is the space! Its huge covering a total of 55000 sq.ft. The aisles are wide. Wide enough for you to park the trolley and explore the products without having to worry about someone interrupting you to move. That happens all the time right…..Now, you can explore at peace. They have thought this well.
Next is the billing counters. One thing I dread about shopping is standing in the queue to get billed. SPAR has got this sorted for you. This store has about 25 billing counters and that means very minimal queues if any!
The main thing that needs to said is the parking space. The mall has a parking lot that can fit 1200 vehicles. So that’s ample space for all of us shopping.
Now about the store. The store is unique and has a lot of things planned very well. One thing that caught my eye was the section “Taste of India” and “Taste of the world”. These sections have products sorted in the shelves according to the geography. They have sorted the shelves state / country wise. Its a winner there. Taste of Tamilnadu, Taste of Kerala and so on!
They also have SPAR naturals focussing on organic food like millets, seeds, etc… I really loved the Grandmas corner that has pickles, chutneys and the like prepared and sold home style.
The store is also well equipped with its techno stuff. They have a self assist kiosk to help the shoppers looking for something. Apart from that they have a 3D virtual showroom that can help in choosing the right color of your curtain to matching the colors in your bedroom. They also have a self checkout option just like the west now.
The aisles are packed with products. One has a lot of choice and variety!
And more products!
Free flowing groceries. This is one of my favorite.
More free flowing groceries!
An amazing meat and fish section that is so well organised and neat!
So that’s about the new store at Vegacity mall. If you are nearby, do checkout the place.
Thinai Maavu Laddu – தினை மாவு லட்டு. Recipe for laddu made with thinai (foxtail millet). Healthy laddu made with foxtail millet, peanuts and jaggery.
This is a very traditional laddu made during pongal time in Kongunad. Roasted foxtail millet flour is mixed with melted jaggery and made into laddus. Some households add peanuts while some dont. Its a very very simple recipe. But I messed this recipe up royally for our first pongal after marriage at my in laws place. Nacha (my mil’s cook then) had just returned after grinding the foxtail millet flour. My mother in law had already gotten the jaggery melted and was ready for making laddus as the plan was to take the laddus to the temple that evening. I told my mother in law that I wanted to help. She eagerly gave me the melted jaggery and asked me to keep mixing while she will come in a minute after serving the evening coffee to my father in law. For this recipe, the melted jaggery needs to be added little by little so that we know to stop adding after the laddu consistency is reached. The great “me” added all of the jaggery at once and started mixing everything so enthusiastically that within seconds, i ended up with this millet goop. Nacha who just entered the kitchen just froze. She asked “enna ma panni vechirukeenga – what have you done?” My mil too was just in time to watch my goop trophy!!! She was calm. She did not say a word. She and Nacha went and prepared more roasted millet flour and got the goop converted into laddus! We did make it to the temple that evening. Now after a lot of pongal’s later, I can make decent thinai laddus.
Wash and soak the millet in water for five minutes. Drain the water and spread the millet on a cloth lined plate for it to dry.
Spread the millet evenly and let it dry for an hour.
The dried millet is now ready for making laddu.
Dry roast the millet in a heavy pan on a low flame for 6-7 minutes until the foxtail millet is very fragrant and the millets turn brown here and there.
Set aside on a plate to cool.
In the same pan, dry roast peanuts. Roast until the outer skin is dark here and there. Remove from the pan and let it slightly cool. Remove the husk and set aside.
Heat the jaggery in a pan along with two tablespoon of water. Let the jaggery melt. Strain the melted jaggery to get rid of the sand and impurities. Set aside.
Take a heavy duty mixie and grind the roasted foxtail millet along with whole cardamom to a fine powder. Its important that we grind it to a fine powder. Else it will have a sandy mouth feel that is not very desirable. So take your time and pulse several times till the millet is ground to a very fine powder. Once the millet is ground, add in the roasted peanuts and pulse couple of times. The peanuts should get ground.
Empty the mixture on a plate. Add in half of the melted jaggery. A note on adding jaggery – Please add melted jaggery in instalments. Do not add all the melted jaggery at once. There might be some melted jaggery that is left over.
Keep adding melted jaggery little by little until the millet mixture becomes one cohesive ball. Stop adding the jaggery at this stage when the millet mixture all comes together.
Make small laddus and set aside on a plate.
Store the laddus in an airtight container and use it within 3-4 days. Store the laddus at room temperature.
- 1 cup foxtail millet (thinai arisi)
- 1 cup peanuts
- 1 cup jaggery
- 2 tablespoon water
- 3 cardamom
- Wash and soak the millet in water for five minutes. Drain the water and spread the millet on a cloth lined plate for it to dry.
- Dry roast the millet in a heavy pan on a low flame for 6-7 minutes until the millets are very fragrant and the millets turn brown here and there. Set aside on a plate to cool.
- In the same pan, dry roast peanuts. Roast until the outer skin is dark here and there. Remove from the pan and let it slightly cool. Remove the husk and set aside.
- Heat the jaggery in a pan along with two tablespoon of water. Let the jaggery melt. Strain the melted jaggery to get rid of the sand and impurities. Set aside.
- Take a heavy duty mixie and grind the roasted foxtail millet along with whole cardamom to a fine powder. Add in the peanuts and pulse couple of times so the peanuts are powdered too!
- Empty the mixture on a plate. Add in half of the melted jaggery. Keep adding melted jaggery little by little until the millet mixture becomes one cohesive ball. Stop adding the jaggery at this stage when the millet mixture all comes together.
- Make small laddus and set aside on a plate.
- Store the laddus in an airtight container and use it within 3-4 days. Store the laddus at room temperature.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
