Thunder Cake

Ok, there is small story behind this cake baking experiment.
My daughter came home from her last day of school before summer break. She asked me to bake a thunder cake to mark the beginning of a fun filled summer break.
She said "I can help you with the recipe mommy, I got the recipe from school. There you go"
and this is what she gave me.

She confirmed with me if I had all the ingredients at home. 

Now the measurements were up to me.. haha... Isn't the cute ?

I quietly googled the recipe of the thunder cake. I did not tell her that I was doing so, of course. 

I kept her under an impression that I was strictly following her recipe. 

Well, then I came across the thunder cake recipe by Patricia Polacco

Here's the link:

http://www.patriciapolacco.com/participation/kidstalk/questions_week/week_3/cake_recipe.html

I followed this recipe with a few modifications. 

Ingredients :

• All Purpose Flour - 2 1/2 cups
• Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup
• Baking Soda - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Pureed Tomatoes - 1/3 cup
• Milk - 1 cup ( the original recipe says 1 cup of water but I added milk because my daughters recipe called for milk )
• Eggs - 3
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Butter - 1 stick (cup)
• Vanilla - 1 tsp  ( I did not add it because I did not have it. It still tasted good)

Directions: 

• Pre heat oven to 350 deg F.
• Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.
• In a mixing bowl beat the eggs, add melted butter, sugar, vanilla and blend together.
• Add milk and pureed tomatoes and blend well.
• To this mixture add the dry mixture which we kept aside. 
• Take a cake pan, grease and flour it. 
• Pour this cake mix into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes.
• You can frost it and add slices fruits of your choice ( strawberries according to my daughter's list ). But I skipped the frosting part. It was too good as is.

My daughter was happy that her recipe was a success.... ;) hushh !!

Thank you Patricia !!!

Double ka Meetha

Double ka meetha is a very popular dessert in Hyderabadi Cuisine.
It is a cousin of Shahi Tukda from Pakistani cuisine, Very similar in taste and recipe.
Double ka meetha is a bread pudding made of fried bread  and various dry fruits soaked in milk.

Ingredients :

• Bread - 4-5 slices
• Cashewnuts - few
• Raisins - few
• Almonds - few
• Pistachios - few
• Ghee - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 1 1/2 cups
• Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder - 2 pinches
• Ghee for deep frying

For Syrup :

• Water - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Saffron - 1/2 tsp
• Lemon Juice - 4-5 drops

Directions :

To make sugar syrup:

• Add sugar to water and bring it to boil.
• Add 4-5 drops of lime juice to prevent sugar from solidifying.
• Add saffron to this for a nice color.
• Syrup is ready. Keep aside.

To make double ka meetha: 

• Cut bread slices diagonally into 2 halves.
• Now deep fry these bread pieces in ghee till they turn golden brown in color just for 15-20 seconds on each side. 
• Remove it from the pan and soak it in the sugar syrup while the syrup is warm. Repeat this with other slices of bread.
• Boil milk on a low-medium flame and bring it to boil.
• Add condensed milk.
• Add 1-2 tsp of sugar or to taste.
• Keep stirring. 
• Heat till the milk is thickened and reduced to 1/2 in quantity.
• Add cardamom powder.
• Add the bread pieces soaked in sugar syrup to the milk mixture and mash gently. Leave the crispy corners. It's nice to get a bite of it while eating the pudding.
• Roast all the dry fruits in a little ghee till golden. Pour this over the pudding and mix.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Check out the recipe of shahi tukda here. 

Flax Seed Ladoo

Ladoos made of flax seeds and roasted gram dal are very tasty and healthy too.
My daughter loves ladoos and whenever she asks for them, it doesn't take me much time to make these. These can literally be made within 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• Flax Seeds Powder - 1/2 cup
• Roasted Gram Dal ( Dalia ) - 1 cup
• Powdered Almonds - 1/4 cup
• Powdered Jaggery - 1/2 cup
• Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup or adjust to taste
• Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ghee ( Clarified Butter ) - 1/4 cup

Directions: 

• Dry roast the dalia until it slightly changes the color and a nice roasted aroma is released.  Let it cool and then grind it into a fine powder. Transfer it into a mixing bowl.
• Powder the almonds and add it in the mixing bowl.
• Add flax seeds powder, cardamom powder, sugar and jaggery in the mixing bowl too. Mix well. 
• Add melted ghee and make small balls out of the mixture. The ghee will help the powder bind. 
• You can store it in an air tight container for a few days.

Note: 

• You can either make it with only sugar or only jaggery or mix of both. You can also replace white sugar with brown sugar. 
• You could add raisins to the mixture before you start making ladoos. 

Pumpkin Halwa

Easy to make and good to taste Pumpkin Halwa :

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin (grated) - 5 cups
• Milk - 1 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup or to taste
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Cashew Nuts - 8-10
• Ghee - 1/4 cup

Directions: 

• Peel and grate the pumpkin. 
• In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of ghee and add the grated pumpkin. Cook on low-med heat till the raw smell disappears.
• Now add milk and cook till the pumpkin is cooked. keep stirring to avoid burning at the bottom of the pan.
• Add sugar mix well. Cook till the ghee separates.
• In a separate small pan, heat ghee and roast cashew nuts till golden. Add roasted cashew nuts and cardamom powder to the halwa and give it a good mix.

Enjoy !!

Banana Muffins

Easy to make Banana Muffins.

Ingredients :

• All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups
• Ripe Bananas - 3
• Baking Powder - 1 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Melted Butter - 1/3 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Egg - 1

Directions: 

• Preheat the oven at 350°F. 
• Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt . You may strain through a sieve. Keep aside. 
• In a mixing bowl , mash the bananas. Add sugar, melted butter and egg to it. Combine. 
• Add the flour mixture to it and mix well until smooth. 
• Coat the muffin pan with a cooking spray or use paper liners. 
• Spoon batter into the muffin pan cups. ( 3/4th filled )
• Bake the muffins for half an hour ( or 15 minutes for small muffins ) Or until the toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. 

Enjoy !! :))

Lauki Kheer

I was a little skeptical about this dish. This is a kheer made of lauki or bottle gourd and I am not quite a fan of this vegetable. However, I decided to give it a try. And.. to my surprise I just loved it. Moreover, my daughter, who is a picky eater, loved it too.. So, now this is something I am gonna  make more often.

Ingredients:

• Lauki ( Bottle Gourd )  - 1 medium
• Milk - 5 cups ( I prefer whole milk )
• Sugar - 3/4 cup or to taste
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Dry Fruits ( Cashew Nuts or Raisins or Pistachios or Almonds ) - to garnish
• Ghee - 2 tbsp

Directions:

• Peel, slit lengthwise and deseed the bottle gourd. 
• Shred it and keep aside for 10 minutes. 
• Squeeze out all the water from the shredded lauki.
• Heat ghee in a pan and add shredded lauki. Stir fry for about 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
• Boil milk in another pan or pot. Cook till the milk is reduced a bit. Keep stirring occasionally to avoid sticking at the bottom of the pan.
• Now add the lauki to the milk and cook for 8-10 minutes stirring often.
• Add sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
• Garnish with your favorite nuts and serve either at room temperature or chilled.

Enjoy !!

Sweet Pongal ( Chekkara Pongali )

Sweet Pongal is a popular dish made on the festival of Pongal or Makar Sankranti. Sweet pongal when served on a banana leaf is just heavenly. Hmmm.... Nevertheless, it tastes equally good otherwise.

It is easy to make with not too many ingredients. Here's the recipe :


Ingredients:

• Sona Masuri rice - 1 cup
• Moong Dal ( pesara pappu ) - 1/2 cup
• Jaggery - 1 cup ( adjust to taste )
• Ghee ( clarified butter ) - 1/4 cup
• Cashew Nuts - 4-5
• Raisins - 1 tbsp
• Cardamom Powder - 2 pinches
• Milk - 2 cups ( for cooking rice )
• Water - 2 cups ( for cooking rice )
• Evaporated Milk - 1 small can ( 12 fl oz )
• Water - 1 cup ( for melting jaggery )

Directions: 

• Roast moong dal in very little ghee, say just a teaspoonful ghee, on medium heat. Keep stirring continuously till they just start to slightly change color. ( you can even dry roast it ) Do not brown them. Remove and keep aside.
• In the same pan, add one more tsp of ghee and roast cashew nuts and raisins till cashews turn slightly golden and raisins puff up .
• In a pressure cooker or electric rice cooker, cook rice in milk and water. The cooked  rice should be soft and mushy.
• Grate or powder the jaggery.
• In a separate pot, melt jaggery in a cup of water on a medium heat. Let this syrup cool. Strain this syrup to remove dirt particles ( if any ). Transfer it back to the same pot.
• Add cooked rice and dal to the jaggery syrup and cook on low- medium heat.
• Add the  evaporated milk , remaining ghee, roasted cashew nuts and raisins and also cardamom powder. Give it a good mix.
• Simmer and cook it covered for around 10-15 minutes . Pongal thickens a lot on cooling , so you can turn off the heat when it still is in pouring consitency.
• Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving this heavenly sweet dish. 

Tip:  Jaggery can be replaced with white or brown sugar.
(If you use the dark jaggery, the color of pongal is darker and that is how I like it. I used the light colored jaggery , hence the color is lighter in the picture. )

Chimmili ( Sesame Laddu )

Chimmili is a laddu made with roasted sesame seeds and jaggery. It is usually made on Nagula Chavithi as an offering to the Snake God . Today, I performed this puja and made Chimmili and Chalimidi as naivedyam.
There are various ways to make this sweet, I shall mention a couple of them.


Ingredients:

• Sesame Seeds - 1 cup
• Grated Jaggery - 3/4 th cup or to taste
• Ghee - 1 tbsp

Directions:

• Dry roast sesame seeds for a few seconds till they turn slightly golden. Remove and let it cool.
• Grind the sesame seeds for just a couple of pulses. Do not powder them. Just 1 or 2 pulses so that they are slightly crushed. You can avoid this and use them as whole as well.
• Grate jaggery finely.
• Mix sesame seeds and grated jaggery, add little ghee and make small balls.

Another Method:

• In a pan, add jaggery and 1/4th cup of water and make a thick syrup.
• Add roasted sesame seeds to the syrup and mix well.
• Let it cool and then make small balls.

Variation:

• As I mentioned earlier, it can be made in various ways. It can also be made by grinding the sesame seeds into powder.
• You can add cardamom powder to the jaggery syrup.
• You can add small dry coconut pieces to the jaggery syrup.

Kalakand / Milk Cake / Milk Barfi ( Microwave Method )

Happy Diwali to all of you :)
Kalakand is a delectable Indian sweet. It is made on various festivals. I made it on this Diwali.
There are various ways to make this sweet.
It is Traditionally made of whole milk which is made into chhana, mixed with home made khoya and sugar which easily takes 2-3 hours (stove top method ).
But making with store bought  ricotta cheese and condensed milk in microwave is a shortcut method and can be ready in half an hour. Who doesn't like to save some time afterall, in such a busy lifestyle ;)
So here's the procedure of making kalakand in microwave:

Ingredients:

• Ricotta Cheese – 15 oz tub
• Sweetened Condensed Milk – 14 oz can
• Rose Water – 1/4 tsp
• Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
• Chopped almonds – 1/2 tbsp
• Chopped Pistachios – 1/2 tbsp

Method:

•  In a microwave safe bowl, mix the Ricotta Cheese and the Condensed Milk well with the help of a whisk so that there are no lumps.
•  Cook uncovered in the microwave for 5 min.
•  Take out and mix well. Clear the edges.
•  Microwave for another 12 minutes, uncovered taking out and stirring every 2 minutes, which means you would be taking out 6 times and stirring.
•  At the end add in the Powdered Cardamom and Rose Syrup and mix well.
• If you are using a square shaped or rectangle shaped dish, then you can let it be in the same dish, however if you used a round dish or bowl, then transfer it to a square dish or a flat plate.
•  Press down and flatten the mixture in square shape.
• Sprinkle chopped pistachios and almonds on top and press them down with the back of the spoon so that they hold on to the kalakand.
•  Let it sit for a couple of hours so that it sets.
•  Cut into squares or rectangles.

Enjoy your festival with this extremely delicious sweet.

Minapa Sunnundalu (Urad Dal Laddu )

Sunnundalu, a traditional Andhra sweet made of urad dal, sugar and ghee. I am making these on the occassion of Diwali.

So, Happy Diwali to all of you :) Have lots of sweets and have loads of fun on this Diwali.

It reminds me of my ammamma ( granny ) , she used to make the best sunnundalu in the world. Yummmm...

I tried to make many times but it never tasted like her's. Well, the ingredients are the same, the proportions are the same , hmmmm wonder what made her laddoos better than mine. Probably, 'Love' was her secret ingredient.

Well , no matter how much we try we can never make half as good as our moms or grandmoms. However, that should not stop us from trying.

So, here is my attempt:


Ingredients:

• Black Gram Lentil ( Urad Dhuli ) - 2 cups
• Grated Jaggery or Sugar - 1 cup ( Adjust to taste )
• Ghee ( Clarified Butter ) - 3/4 cup
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp ( optional )

Directions:

• In a wide pan, dry roast urad dal on low heat till golden color. Keep stirring often. Be careful not to burn the dal. Since it is being roasted on low heat, it would take a long time, but it is worth the patience.
• Turn off the heat and let it cool.
• In a grinder, grind urad dal and sugar together to fine powder. If sugar is already powdered you don't need to grind. But it is granules, then you need to grind along.
• If you are using jaggery then, grate it separately and them mix with urad dal powder.
• Add cardamom powder to the mixture of urad dal and sugar/jaggery and mix well till all the ingredients are well incorporated.
• You can avoid cardamom powder , if you are not a fan of elaichi flavor , like me.
• Melt ghee. Bring it to room temperature. Add melted ghee to the mixture slowly as required and keep mixing.
• When you see the mixture has begun to hold together, stop adding ghee. Do not add too much ghee, else it will drip while making the laddus.
• Make lime sized laddus out of the mixture.
• It can be stored in an air tight container for a couple of weeks.

Note: The taste of sunnundalu when made with jaggery is definitely different from that made of sugar, but both are equally good. You should try both and then stick to the one you like.

Enjoy the toothsome sunnundalu !!

Candied Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes cooked with jaggery syrup makes an excellent dish for a quick sweet tooth.

Ingredients:

• Sweet Potato - 1
• Jaggery - 3/4 cup
• Water - 1.5 cups
• Cardamom Powder - a pinch

Directions:

• Clean and peel the potato. Slice them or cube them.
• Boil them in water in a pan till soft. Don't overcook them, else they will turn mushy.
• Drain and keep aside.
• Boil jaggery in water. Let the jaggery dissolve in water. Strain this jaggery water to remove dirt.
• Boil this clean jaggery water , keep stirring . Cook till the jaggery syrup thickens.
• Add the potato chunks and cardamom powder to this thick and sticky syrup and mix well but gently making sure not to mash up the potatoes.
• Cook for a couple of minutes till all the potato pieces are well coated and caramelized with the jaggery syrup. Turn off the heat.
• Serve warm.

Tip : If the potatoes are mashed up accidentally, do not worry , it still tastes great. Or you can eat it with a scoop of ice cream on it.

Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun is the most popular dessert in the countries of Indian Subcontinent and is a part of most of the festivals and weddings and other functions. Oh who doesn't love gulab jamuns. I am sure Gulab Jamun has innumerable fans. These milky balls soaked in rose scented sugar syrup makes an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G dessert.


Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour ( Maida ) - 1 cup
• Khoya ( Mawa ) - 1 1/2 cups
• Baking Soda - 2-3 pinches
• Oil / Ghee - for deep frying

For Syrup:

• Water - 1 cup
• Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Saffron - a few strands
• Rose Water - 3-4 drops
• Lemon Juice - 2 drops

Directions :

For Syrup :

• Take water in a pan and mix sugar in it. Heat it on medium , till all the sugar dissolves and it reaches one thread consistency.
• Add cardamom powder, rose water, saffron and lemon drops and mix it. Lemon drops is to avoid the sugar from solidifying.
• Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let it be. We need the syrup to be warm when we drop the jamuns in them.

For Jamuns :

• In a mixing bowl, add maida, khoya and baking soda and knead gently.
• Add little by little water ( may be 1 tsp at a time ) to form a smooth pliable dough.
• Make smooth balls out of the dough of the size smaller than a ping pong ball. They will rise after they are soaked in the syrup, hence keep that in mind while making the balls and keep them small.
• Grease your palms with ghee, while making balls, that would make them smooth with no cracks. Also roll them very gently, do not apply too much pressure.
• Heat the oil for deep frying on medium heat. Test for the right temperature. Drop a pinch of the dough into the oil. It should reach the bottom of the pan and come up in 4-5 seconds sizzling. It should neither pop up immediately nor should it sit at the bottom for long.
• If the oil is smoking hot, it will brown the jamuns fast, but will be uncooked from within. So make sure the oil is at the right temperature.
• Drop 4-5 jamuns at a time in the oil depending on the size of your pan. Do not over crowd them. That would bring the temperature of oil down.
• Fry the jamuns over low-medium heat till golden brown. You don't really need to turn the jamuns. These jamuns have the tendency to turn themselves floating in the oil. You might just want to rotate the oil once. The jamuns float in the direction of oil.
• Once they are golden brown uniformly, remove them from oil and drop them in the warm sugar syrup.
• Fry the remaining jamuns and soak all of them in the syrup for atleast 2 hours. I know it looks very tempting and you want to pop it in your mouth right away, but No cheating , Be patient. Let the jamuns absorb the sweet syrup before you eat this heavenly dessert.
• You will notice the size of the jamuns is almost doubled after sitting in the syrup for 2 hours.
• Gulab Jamuns can be store in room temperature for about 4-5 days or in fridge for longer period.

Serve them warm, or at room temperature or cold.

Enjoy !!!!!! :)


Note : Do not put too much baking soda. Jamuns will ger disintegrated in the oil while deep frying.

Tip : Sometimes it so happens that the jamuns are turned out to be hard. Microwave them for 8 -10 sec just before serving, that will make the gulab jamuns softer.

Poornam Boorelu

Poornam Boorelu is one of the most famous Andhra's festive sweet.
It is mostly made during Sankranthi or Varalakshmi Vratham etc. These are the sweet balls made of bengal gram and jaggery coated with the batter made of urad dal and rice.


Ingredients:

• Black Gram Dal ( Urad dal )- 1/2 cup
• Rice - 1 cup
• Bengal Gram ( Chana dal ) - 1 cup
• Grated Jaggery or Sugar - 1 cup or to taste
• Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - for deep frying

Directions :

• Soak Urad dal and rice for around 5 hours.
• Drain them and grind to a thick paste ( to the consistency of thick dosa batter ).
• Add 1/4 tsp of salt , mix well and keep aside. This is the batter in which we have to dip the filling before deep frying.

• Cook chana dal in a pan with just enough water to cover the dal. Cook till done. Drain any leftover water after the dal is cooked.
• You can also cook chana dal in pressure cooker, without the weight.(We want the dal to be dry and not runny.) You can even spread it on a kitchen towel after it is cooked to soak any extra water. 

• Either mash the dal with a masher or put it in a dry grinder and grind it coarsely without any water. It should be more like powder than a paste.

• Add grated jaggery or sugar to the chana dal powder and mix well and cook it on medium in a heavy bottom pan.

• Keep stirring and cook till it is like a thick paste . The mixture should be such that you should be able to make balls out of it.
• Turn off the heat, add cardamom powder and mix well.
• Make small lime sized balls and keep aside.
• Heat oil for deep frying.
• Dip each ball into the batter , coat evenly and put it in the hot oil for deep frying.

• You can fry around 4-5 balls at a time depending upon how big the pot is.
• Fry till golden brown.
• Remove on a paper towel.

Enjoy the poornam boorelu when they are warm. They taste equally good at room temperature.

You can also make a small hole on top of the boorelu and fill it with a couple of drops of ghee ( Clarified Butter ) and eat.

Sooji Halwa

Sooji Halwa is made on several occasions especially on Navratri festival and Krishnashtami as prasad.
It is a sweetdish so it is best eaten by itself, however it is wonderful when combined with Poori and chana.
I remember as a kid we used to be invited to Kanjak which is performed on ashtami and navami of navratri wherein they carry out mata pooja and hold a seating for young girls ( 5 or 7 or 9 or 11 ) and are given poori, halwa, chana and some money or some small gift . I remember people used to give Rs 2 or Rs 5 in those days. It used to be lots of fun and earning for us girls on those 2 days.
Aah good old days !!! ~ sigh ~

Anyways, let me get back to the recipe of Halwa.

Ingredients:

• Sooji ( Semolina ) - 1 cup
• Milk / Water / Milk+Water - 2 1/2 cups
• Ghee ( Clarified Butter ) - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Saffron - a pinch ( optional )
• Cardamom Powder - a pinch
• Almonds, Raisins, Cashew Nuts , Pistachios - for garnish

Directions:

• Mix sugar and cardamom powder in water/milk and bring it to boil to make a syrup. ( you can either use water entirely or milk entirely or even mix the both of them in any proportion ).
• Turn off the heat , add saffron and keep aside.
• In a pan , heat ghee, roast all the nuts except pistachios just for half a minute till they slightly change color. Remove from ghee and keep aside for garnishing at the end.
• In the same ghee , add sooji and roast till golden brown color on medium heat. Keep Stirring to avoid burning.
• Slowly add the sugar syrup to the roasted sooji while stirring and let it cook till all the water is absorbed. This will not take more that 2 minutes. So keep stirring.
• Garnish with the roasted nuts and raw pistachios.
• Eat warm or at room temperature.

Besan ke Ladoo

Besan ke ladoo are made of roasted chickpea flour and are amazingly easy to make.
This is my sister's favourite and so are mine.
Enjoy this extremely easy yet extremely tasty sweet on any festival esp. diwali or navratri or Ganeshotsav.

Ingredients :

• Besan ( chickpea flour ) - 1½ Cups
• Semolina - 2-3 tbsp
• Ghee - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup or to taste
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Sliced pistachios or almonds - for garnishing

Directions :

• Take a pan and put besan, semolina and ghee and mix well.
• Roast this mixture on low-medium heat.
• Keep stirring making sure the besan doesn't burn.
• Keep roasting the mixture until the besan is aromatic and slightly brownish.
• Turn off the heat and let it cool down a bit. Do not cool it completely, it should be warm.
• Add sugar and cardamom powder while the besan is warm. That temperature would be enough for sugar to dissolve. Mix it well.
• Make lime sized balls out of the mixture , pressing gently between your palms.
• Garnish the ladoos with your favourite nut.
• Let it cool down to the room temperature.
• You can store it in air tight container for 2 weeks.

Tip : You can make it in microwave . Put besan , sooji and ghee in a microwave safe bowl. Mix well and heat for 5 minutes, mixing it every 1 minute. At the end of 5 minutes, you will see besan changing color to brownish and it will become aromatic. Remaining steps remain the same.
Enjoy !!! :)

Bellam Paramannam (Jaggery Rice Pudding)

Bellam Paramannam is a sweet rice dish which is prepared on almost every festival or puja in south India as a part of Naivedyam ( offering to God ).
It is prepared with rice, milk and jaggery.
I make it for almost all the pujas.
 Here's the recipe for the same :

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Milk - 4 cups
• Grated Jaggery - 2 cups
• Water - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - a pinch
• Cashew nuts, raisins - for garnishing
• Ghee - 2-3 tbsp

Directions :

• Wash and soak rice in water for about half an hour. Drain and keep aside.
• Boil the milk in a heavy bottom pan or pot, then simmer it and add rice to it. Cook until the rice is soft and cooked. Turn off the heat.
• In a separate pan, heat water and add grated jaggery to it and let it melt on medium heat. Do not cook for too long, you just want the entire jaggery to melt . it might be done in, say, 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it stand for 2 minutes.
• Now add this jaggery to the cooked rice and cook on low heat for 4-5 minutes .
• Add cardamom powder just one minute before turning off the heat.
• In a small pan, heat ghee, and roast cashewnuts and raisins till golden , pour all of it ( along with the remaining ghee ) over the rice and mix well.
• You can serve it hot or cold or at room temperature.

Tip : Some people prefer to cook jaggery along with rice and milk. However, that would be a little risky as it might separate the milk. So it would be better to cook them both separately and mix it after they cool down a bit.

Gajar ka Halwa ( Carrot Pudding )

Gajar ka halwa is a mouthwatering dessert made of carrots and milk. It is prepared as a special treat in India. It is a very rich pudding made of lots of ghee , dry fruits, nuts and khoya.
I remember mom used to make it in a very big vessel and store it in fridge for atleast 4-5 days.
I have eaten the best gajar ka halwa when we were in Delhi. We used to get those red carrots there in Delhi.
However, red carrots are sadly not easily found everywhere. In hyderebad, we used to get orange ones. In US, I found those red carrots only once, never again.
Halwa made of red ones are definitely better than the orange ones, nevertheless, that should not stop us from making this halwa. This one is absolutely delicious too.

Ingredients:

• Grated Carrots - 4 cups
• Whole Milk - 4 cups
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 1/4 cup
• Dry Fruits - cashewnuts, raisins, pistashios ( for garnishing )

Directions:

To make Khoya:

• Divide milk into two portions. We will make khoya with half of the milk.
• To make khoya, take 2 cups of milk in a heavy bottom pan, bring it to boil.
• Reduce the heat and continue to cook. Keep stirring , making sure milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Milk will gradually reduce to a thick dry lump. This is khoya , also known as mawa.
• Keep aside.
• You can also use store bought khoya, instead of home made one.

To make Gajar ka Halwa:

• Heat ghee in a wide non-stick pan, roast cashew nuts and raisins for few seconds till cashews turn slightly golden. Remove and keep aside for garnishing at the end.
• In the same ghee , add grated carrots. Fry them on low-medium heat, continously stirring.
• Simultaneously, boil the remaining milk in another pot. Cook till the milk is reduced to half the quantity.
• The carrots should be 3/4th cooked in about 10-12 minutes. This is when you have to add the boiled milk. Cook till all the milk is evaporated. Stir continuously.
• When you see the milk dried up, add khoya( mawa ), sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well.
• After you add sugar, it will make the halwa moist, so keep stirring and let it cook for another 5-7 minutes till the halwa is no longer moist and starts to ooze out the ghee.
• Turn off the flame, transfer it onto a serving plate and garnish with roasted cashew nuts, raisins and sliced pistachios.
• You can serve it hot, cold or even at room temperature.

You can store it in fridge for about 3-4 days and warm it just before serving.

Microwave Method:

You can make this halwa in microwave as well. This is much easier and less time consuming than the stove top method for sure.

• Just add grated carrots and milk in a microwave safe deep bowl and cook for 10 minutes uncovered.
• Take it out of the microwave, mix it well and cook again for 10 minutes uncovered.
• Add sugar and mix well and cook again uncovered for 10 minutes.
• Take it out and mix well . Check for the moisture. If you still find moisture, cook again for 5 minutes. Repeat this process till all the moisture evaporates.
• Add the powdered cardamom to the halwa and mix well.
• Now heat ghee in a pan, and roast cashew nuts and raisins. Pour this over the halwa nad mix well.

Tip:  You can replace sugar with sweetened condensed milk.

Enjoy !!!

Fruit Custard

This is a very rich and healthy dessert made of milk, tropical fruits and nuts.

Ingredients :

• Milk - 4 cups
• Sugar - 1 cup or to taste
• Custard Powder ( any brand ) - 2 tsp
• Cardamom Powder - a pinch
• Fruits - as many as you like ;)
• Nuts - as many as you like :)

Fruits : Typically, Banana, Mango, Apple, Grapes, pomegranate . ( However, you can alter the choice of fruits according to your taste )

Nuts: Typically, Cashewnuts, Raisins , Almonds, Pistachios.

Directions:

• Peel and chop all the fruits into a bite size and keep aside. I prefer to peel the skin of the apple, but u can keep it, if you wish. And I prefer to cut the grapes into half. But you can add as whole if you wish.
• Boil milk in a heavy bottom deep pan or pot.
• When milk comes to a boil , add sugar and mix well. You can adjust sugar according to your taste.
• Now in a small cup, take little cold milk ( say 1/4 cup ) and dilute custard powder in it without any lumps.
• Add this custard mix to the boiling milk and stir continuosly, making sure the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. If it did, it is better to change the pan/pot.
• After you add the custard mix, the milk should thicken in 5-6 minutes.
• That is when you add cardamom powder. Mix well and turn off the heat.
• Let it cool. Once the custard cools down, store it in fridge.
• Add the chopped fruits and nuts to the custard just before serving.

Serve Chilled !!!

Banana Peda

Banana Peda is made out of ripe bananas and can be made with minimum ingredients. When the banana gets too ripe and gets those black spots all over, no one in my family likes to eat it. So , this is one of the ways to use such bananas.

Ingredients :

• Ripe Bananas - 2
• Sugar - 2 tsp
• Ghee ( Clarified Butter )- 1 tbsp
• Roasted Cashewnuts - 4

Directions :

• Heat ghee in a pan, roast the cashew nuts in it for just about a minute till they turn golden. Remove them and keep aside for garnishing at the end.
• Mash the bananas and put them in the same ghee.
• Add sugar and keep stirring .
• Fry till banana turns dark in color. It might take around 6-8 minutes. Stir continuously.
• Off the flame when the banana paste thickens.
• Let it cool. When it cools it turns little harder. You should be able to make balls out of it.
• They are balls of halwa consistency ( not as hard as other ladoos )
• Garnish with placing roasted cashew nut on each of the peda.

Each banana will make 2 pedas.

Jalebi

Jalebiiiiiiiii...... Remember that cute kid in Dhara advertisement, who had left his house because he thought no one loved him but returned for jalebis... ha ha ha.. I would too... who doesn't love jelebis...
jalebi has to be a part of any party, wedding or birthday buffet. Or even when it is raining. You really don't need reason for it. Aahh... my mouth waters while I write this.
For instant preparation, you can buy the jalebi mix from the store and make it, but incase you want to make the mix at home, here is the recipe..

Ingredients :

For Jalebi Batter :

• All Purpose Flour ( Maida ) - 1/2 cup
• Gram Flour ( Besan ) - 1 tsp
• Yeast - 1/2 tsp
• Lukewarm Water - 1/3 cup
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp

For syrup:

• Sugar - 1 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder - a pinch
• Food color ( Yellow or Orange ) - a pinch
• Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

We also need :

• Oil - for deep frying
• Piping bag / empty ketchup or musturd bottle

Directions :


Batter :

• Dissolve the yeast in luke warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
• In a mixing bowl, mix both the flours, sugar and oil together.
• Add the yeast solution and food color to this flour mixture and mix well making sure no lumps are formed.
• The consistency of the batter should be like that of a pancake batter or Dosa batter, neither too thick nor too thin.
• Leave the batter for fermentation for one hour. Do NOT over ferment it.

Syrup:

• Boil sugar and water together on medium till it reaches one thread consistency.
• Add cardamom powder and lemon juice. Turn off the heat. We add lemon juice to the syrup so that the syrup does not solidify when it cools.

Note: One-Thread Consistency can be tested like this : Take out one or two drops of syrup and when it cools down a bit, take it with your forefinger , and then touch your forefinger and thumb together and pull apart gently. While doing so if the single thread is formed without breaking immediately, that is called One-Thread Consistency.

Jalebi :

• In a flat frying pan, heat the oil for deep frying.
• Check if the oil has reached the right temperature. There are two ways to check. One, if you have candymaking thermometer, the temperature should be 350 F. Second, if you do not have it, then put a drop of batter in the oil . That batter should neither puff up immediately, nor should it take too long. It should sit at the bottom for 2-3 seconds before it pops up. That is the right temperature.
• Fill the jalebi batter into the empty ketchup bottle or piping bag ( I use the bottle ).
• Squeeze the batter into the hot oil in round pretzel shape . ( Traditionally , round is the shape, but if you are crazy enough, try star or square shape ... why not ?? ) But whatever shape you chose make sure you do it in 2-3 seconds before the jalebi puffs up on the surface.
• Let them fry for 30-40 seconds and toss them to the other side. Fry till jalebis are golden on both the sides.
• Transfer the jalebi into the warm sugar syrup. Let them soak in the syrup for 2-3 seconds and take out in the serving plate.
• Serve hot.

Slurrpppppp !!!!!

Note : The measurements I have mentioned will make 8-10 jalebis. If you want more, you can increase the quantity accordingly.